High data rate modulation of high power 1060-nm DBR tapered lasers with separate contacts

Direct optical modulation at 2.5 Gb/s with amplitude of more than 0.5 W has been demonstrated in single longitudinal mode distributed Bragg reflector tapered lasers emitting at 1060 nm with separated injection of the ridge waveguide and tapered sections. The modulating signal of ~110 mA peak to peak was applied to the ridge waveguide section, yielding a high modulation efficiency of ~5 W/A. The large-signal frequency response of the experimental set-up was limited by the bandwidth of the electrical amplifier rather than by the internal dynamics of the laser, indicating that higher bit rates could be achieved with improved driving electronics.

High-Power High-Efficiency Laser Power Transmission at 100m Using Optimized Multi-Cell GaAs Converter

A high-power high-efficiency laser power transmission system at 100m based on an optimized multi-cell GaAs converter capable of supplying 9.7W of electricity is demonstrated. An I-V testing system integrated with a data acquisition circuit and an analysis software is designed to measure the efficiency and the I-V characteristics of the laser power converter (LPC). The dependencies of the converter’s efficiency with respect to wavelength, laser intensity and temperature are analyzed. A diode laser with 793nm of wavelength and 24W of power is used to test the LPC and the software. The maximum efficiency of the LPC is 48.4% at an input laser power of 8W at room temperature. When the input laser power is 24W (laser intensity of 60000W/m2), the efficiency is 40.4% and the output voltage is 4 V. The overall efficiency from electricity to electricity is 11.6%.

High power beam dump project for the accelerator prototype LIPAc: Cooling design and analysis

En el campo de la fusión nuclear y desarrollándose en paralelo a ITER (International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor), el proyecto IFMIF (International Fusion Material Irradiation Facility) se enmarca dentro de las actividades complementarias encaminadas a solucionar las barreras tecnológicas que aún plantea la fusión. En concreto IFMIF es una instalación de irradiación cuya misión es caracterizar materiales resistentes a condiciones extremas como las esperadas en los futuros reactores de fusión como DEMO (DEMOnstration power plant). Consiste de dos aceleradores de deuterones que proporcionan un haz de 125 mA y 40 MeV cada uno, que al colisionar con un blanco de litio producen un flujo neutrónico intenso (1017 neutrones/s) con un espectro similar al de los neutrones de fusión [1], [2]. Dicho flujo neutrónico es empleado para irradiar los diferentes materiales candidatos a ser empleados en reactores de fusión, y las muestras son posteriormente examinadas en la llamada instalación de post-irradiación. Como primer paso en tan ambicioso proyecto, una fase de validación y diseño llamada IFMIFEVEDA (Engineering Validation and Engineering Design Activities) se encuentra actualmente en desarrollo. Una de las actividades contempladas en esta fase es la construcción y operación de una acelarador prototipo llamado LIPAc (Linear IFMIF Prototype Accelerator). Se trata de un acelerador de deuterones de alta intensidad idéntico a la parte de baja energía de los aceleradores de IFMIF. Los componentes del LIPAc, que será instalado en Japón, son suministrados por diferentes países europeos. El acelerador proporcionará un haz continuo de deuterones de 9 MeV con una potencia de 1.125 MW que tras ser caracterizado con diversos instrumentos deberá pararse de forma segura. Para ello se requiere un sistema denominado bloque de parada (Beam Dump en inglés) que absorba la energía del haz y la transfiera a un sumidero de calor. España tiene el compromiso de suministrar este componente y CIEMAT (Centro de Investigaciones Energéticas Medioambientales y Tecnológicas) es responsable de dicha tarea. La pieza central del bloque de parada, donde se para el haz de iones, es un cono de cobre con un ángulo de 3.5o, 2.5 m de longitud y 5 mm de espesor. Dicha pieza está refrigerada por agua que fluye en su superficie externa por el canal que se forma entre el cono de cobre y otra pieza concéntrica con éste. Este es el marco en que se desarrolla la presente tesis, cuyo objeto es el diseño del sistema de refrigeración del bloque de parada del LIPAc. El diseño se ha realizado utilizando un modelo simplificado unidimensional. Se han obtenido los parámetros del agua (presión, caudal, pérdida de carga) y la geometría requerida en el canal de refrigeración (anchura, rugosidad) para garantizar la correcta refrigeración del bloque de parada. Se ha comprobado que el diseño permite variaciones del haz respecto a la situación nominal siendo el flujo crítico calorífico al menos 2 veces superior al nominal. Se han realizado asimismo simulaciones fluidodinámicas 3D con ANSYS-CFX en aquellas zonas del canal de refrigeración que lo requieren. El bloque de parada se activará como consecuencia de la interacción del haz de partículas lo que impide cualquier cambio o reparación una vez comenzada la operación del acelerador. Por ello el diseño ha de ser muy robusto y todas las hipótesis utilizadas en la realización de éste deben ser cuidadosamente comprobadas. Gran parte del esfuerzo de la tesis se centra en la estimación del coeficiente de transferencia de calor que es determinante en los resultados obtenidos, y que se emplea además como condición de contorno en los cálculos mecánicos. Para ello por un lado se han buscado correlaciones cuyo rango de aplicabilidad sea adecuado para las condiciones del bloque de parada (canal anular, diferencias de temperatura agua-pared de decenas de grados). En un segundo paso se han comparado los coeficientes de película obtenidos a partir de la correlación seleccionada (Petukhov-Gnielinski) con los que se deducen de simulaciones fluidodinámicas, obteniendo resultados satisfactorios. Por último se ha realizado una validación experimental utilizando un prototipo y un circuito hidráulico que proporciona un flujo de agua con los parámetros requeridos en el bloque de parada. Tras varios intentos y mejoras en el experimento se han obtenido los coeficientes de película para distintos caudales y potencias de calentamiento. Teniendo en cuenta la incertidumbre de las medidas, los valores experimentales concuerdan razonablemente bien (en el rango de 15%) con los deducidos de las correlaciones. Por motivos radiológicos es necesario controlar la calidad del agua de refrigeración y minimizar la corrosión del cobre. Tras un estudio bibliográfico se identificaron los parámetros del agua más adecuados (conductividad, pH y concentración de oxígeno disuelto). Como parte de la tesis se ha realizado asimismo un estudio de la corrosión del circuito de refrigeración del bloque de parada con el doble fin de determinar si puede poner en riesgo la integridad del componente, y de obtener una estimación de la velocidad de corrosión para dimensionar el sistema de purificación del agua. Se ha utilizado el código TRACT (TRansport and ACTivation code) adaptándalo al caso del bloque de parada, para lo cual se trabajó con el responsable (Panos Karditsas) del código en Culham (UKAEA). Los resultados confirman que la corrosión del cobre en las condiciones seleccionadas no supone un problema. La Tesis se encuentra estructurada de la siguiente manera: En el primer capítulo se realiza una introducción de los proyectos IFMIF y LIPAc dentro de los cuales se enmarca esta Tesis. Además se describe el bloque de parada, siendo el diseño del sistema de rerigeración de éste el principal objetivo de la Tesis. En el segundo y tercer capítulo se realiza un resumen de la base teórica así como de las diferentes herramientas empleadas en el diseño del sistema de refrigeración. El capítulo cuarto presenta los resultados del relativos al sistema de refrigeración. Tanto los obtenidos del estudio unidimensional, como los obtenidos de las simulaciones fluidodinámicas 3D mediante el empleo del código ANSYS-CFX. En el quinto capítulo se presentan los resultados referentes al análisis de corrosión del circuito de refrigeración del bloque de parada. El capítulo seis se centra en la descripción del montaje experimental para la obtención de los valores de pérdida de carga y coeficiente de transferencia del calor. Asimismo se presentan los resultados obtenidos en dichos experimentos. Finalmente encontramos un capítulo de apéndices en el que se describen una serie de experimentos llevados a cabo como pasos intermedios en la obtención del resultado experimental del coeficiente de película. También se presenta el código informático empleado para el análisis unidimensional del sistema de refrigeración del bloque de parada llamado CHICA (Cooling and Heating Interaction and Corrosion Analysis). ABSTRACT In the nuclear fusion field running in parallel to ITER (International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor) as one of the complementary activities headed towards solving the technological barriers, IFMIF (International Fusion Material Irradiation Facility) project aims to provide an irradiation facility to qualify advanced materials resistant to extreme conditions like the ones expected in future fusion reactors like DEMO (DEMOnstration Power Plant). IFMIF consists of two constant wave deuteron accelerators delivering a 125 mA and 40 MeV beam each that will collide on a lithium target producing an intense neutron fluence (1017 neutrons/s) with a similar spectra to that of fusion neutrons [1], [2]. This neutron flux is employed to irradiate the different material candidates to be employed in the future fusion reactors, and the samples examined after irradiation at the so called post-irradiative facilities. As a first step in such an ambitious project, an engineering validation and engineering design activity phase called IFMIF-EVEDA (Engineering Validation and Engineering Design Activities) is presently going on. One of the activities consists on the construction and operation of an accelerator prototype named LIPAc (Linear IFMIF Prototype Accelerator). It is a high intensity deuteron accelerator identical to the low energy part of the IFMIF accelerators. The LIPAc components, which will be installed in Japan, are delivered by different european countries. The accelerator supplies a 9 MeV constant wave beam of deuterons with a power of 1.125 MW, which after being characterized by different instruments has to be stopped safely. For such task a beam dump to absorb the beam energy and take it to a heat sink is needed. Spain has the compromise of delivering such device and CIEMAT (Centro de Investigaciones Energéticas Medioambientales y Tecnológicas) is responsible for such task. The central piece of the beam dump, where the ion beam is stopped, is a copper cone with an angle of 3.5o, 2.5 m long and 5 mm width. This part is cooled by water flowing on its external surface through the channel formed between the copper cone and a concentric piece with the latter. The thesis is developed in this realm, and its objective is designing the LIPAc beam dump cooling system. The design has been performed employing a simplified one dimensional model. The water parameters (pressure, flow, pressure loss) and the required annular channel geometry (width, rugoisty) have been obtained guaranteeing the correct cooling of the beam dump. It has been checked that the cooling design allows variations of the the beam with respect to the nominal position, being the CHF (Critical Heat Flux) at least twice times higher than the nominal deposited heat flux. 3D fluid dynamic simulations employing ANSYS-CFX code in the beam dump cooling channel sections which require a more thorough study have also been performed. The beam dump will activateasaconsequenceofthe deuteron beam interaction, making impossible any change or maintenance task once the accelerator operation has started. Hence the design has to be very robust and all the hypotheses employed in the design mustbecarefully checked. Most of the work in the thesis is concentrated in estimating the heat transfer coefficient which is decisive in the obtained results, and is also employed as boundary condition in the mechanical analysis. For such task, correlations which applicability range is the adequate for the beam dump conditions (annular channel, water-surface temperature differences of tens of degrees) have been compiled. In a second step the heat transfer coefficients obtained from the selected correlation (Petukhov- Gnielinski) have been compared with the ones deduced from the 3D fluid dynamic simulations, obtaining satisfactory results. Finally an experimental validation has been performed employing a prototype and a hydraulic circuit that supplies a flow with the requested parameters in the beam dump. After several tries and improvements in the experiment, the heat transfer coefficients for different flows and heating powers have been obtained. Considering the uncertainty in the measurements the experimental values agree reasonably well (in the order of 15%) with the ones obtained from the correlations. Due to radiological reasons the quality of the cooling water must be controlled, hence minimizing the copper corrosion. After performing a bibligraphic study the most adequate water parameters were identified (conductivity, pH and dissolved oxygen concentration). As part of this thesis a corrosion study of the beam dump cooling circuit has been performed with the double aim of determining if corrosion can pose a risk for the copper beam dump , and obtaining an estimation of the corrosion velocitytodimension the water purification system. TRACT code(TRansport and ACTivation) has been employed for such study adapting the code for the beam dump case. For such study a collaboration with the code responsible (Panos Karditsas) at Culham (UKAEA) was established. The work developed in this thesis has supposed the publication of three articles in JCR journals (”Journal of Nuclear Materials” y ”Fusion Engineering and Design”), as well as presentations in more than four conferences and relevant meetings.

AlGaAs/GaAs photovoltaic converters for high power narrowband radiation

AlGaAs/GaAs-based laser power PV converters intended for operation with high-power (up to 100 W/cm(2)) radiation were fabricated by LPE and MOCVD techniques. Monochromatic (lambda = 809 nm) conversion efficiency up to 60% was measured at cells with back surface field and low (x = 0.2) Al concentration 'window'. Modules with a voltage of 4 V and the efficiency of 56% were designed and fabricated.

Power Converter Topologies for a High Performance Transformer Rectifier Unit in Aircraft Applications

This paper presents some power converter architectures and circuit topologies, which can be used to achieve the requirements of the high performance transformer rectifier unit in aircraft applications, mainly as: high power factor with low THD, high efficiency and high power density. The voltage and the power levels demanded for this application are: three-phase line-to-neutral input voltage of 115 or 230V AC rms (360 – 800Hz), output voltage of 28V DC or 270V DC(new grid value) and the output power up to tens of kilowatts.

Impact of N2 plasma power and duration on AlGaN/GaN HEMT

urface treatments have been recently shown to play an active role in electrical characteristics in AlGaN/GaN HEMTs, in particular during the passivation processing [1-4]. However, the responsible mechanisms are partially unknown and further studies are demanding. The effects of power and time N2 plasma pre-treatment prior to SiN deposition using PE-CVD (plasma enhanced chemical vapour deposition) on GaN and AlGaN/GaN HEMT have been investigated. The low power (60 W) plasma pre-treatment was found to improve the electronic characteristics in GaN based HEMT devices, independently of the time duration up to 20 min. In contrast, high power (150 and 210 W) plasma pretreatment showed detrimental effects in the electronic properties (Fig. 1), increasing the sheet resistance of the 2DEG, decreasing the 2DEG charge density in AlGaN/GaN HEMTs, transconductance reduction and decreasing the fT and fmax values up to 40% respect to the case using 60 W N2 plasma power. Although AFM (atomic force microscopy) results showed AlGaN and GaN surface roughness is not strongly affected by the N2-plasma, KFM (Kelvin force microscopy) surface analysis shows significant changes in the surface potential, trending to increase its values as the plasma power is higher. The whole results point at energetic ions inducing polarization-charge changes that affect dramatically to the 2-DEG charge density and the final characteristics of the HEMT devices. Therefore, we conclude that AlGaN surface is strongly sensitive to N2 plasma power conditions, which turn to be a key factor to achieve a good surface preparation prior to SiN passivation.

High Temperature Pulsed and DC Performance of AlInN/GaN HEMTs

The AlGaN/GaN high-electron mobility transistors (HEMTs) have been considered as promising candidates for the next generation of high temperature, high frequency, high-power devices. The potential of GaN-based HEMTs may be improved using an AlInN barrier because of its better lattice match to GaN, resulting in higher sheet carrier densities without piezoelectric polarization [1]. This work has been focused on the study of AlInN HEMTs pulse and DC mode characterization at high temperature.

Ubiquitous green computing techniques for high demand applications in smart environments

Ubiquitous sensor network deployments, such as the ones found in Smart cities and Ambient intelligence applications, require constantly increasing high computational demands in order to process data and offer services to users. The nature of these applications imply the usage of data centers. Research has paid much attention to the energy consumption of the sensor nodes in WSNs infrastructures. However, supercomputing facilities are the ones presenting a higher economic and environmental impact due to their very high power consumption. The latter problem, however, has been disregarded in the field of smart environment services. This paper proposes an energy-minimization workload assignment technique, based on heterogeneity and application-awareness, that redistributes low-demand computational tasks from high-performance facilities to idle nodes with low and medium resources in the WSN infrastructure. These non-optimal allocation policies reduce the energy consumed by the whole infrastructure and the total execution time.

High Efficiency Envelope Amplifier Using The Slow-Envelope Technique

High efficiency envelope amplifiers are demanded in EER technique for RF transmitters, which benefits low maintaining cost or long battery time. The conventional solution is a dc-dc switching converters. This dc-dc converter should operate at very high frequency to track an envelope in the MHz range to supply the power amplifier. One of the alternative circuits suitable for this application is a hybrid topology composed of a switched converter and a linear regulator in series that work together to adjust the output voltage to track the envelope with accuracy. This topology can take advantage of the reduced slew-rate technique (also called slow-envelope technique) where switching dc-dc converter provides the RF envelope with limited slew rate in order to avoid high switching frequency and high power losses, while the linear regulator performs fine adjustment in order to obtain the exact replica of the RF envelope. The combination of this control technique with this topology is proposed in this paper. Envelopes with different bandwidth will be considered to optimize the efficiency of the dc-dc converter.

Statistical models for short-term wind power ramp forecasting

La predicción de energía eólica ha desempeñado en la última década un papel fundamental en el aprovechamiento de este recurso renovable, ya que permite reducir el impacto que tiene la naturaleza fluctuante del viento en la actividad de diversos agentes implicados en su integración, tales como el operador del sistema o los agentes del mercado eléctrico. Los altos niveles de penetración eólica alcanzados recientemente por algunos países han puesto de manifiesto la necesidad de mejorar las predicciones durante eventos en los que se experimenta una variación importante de la potencia generada por un parque o un conjunto de ellos en un tiempo relativamente corto (del orden de unas pocas horas). Estos eventos, conocidos como rampas, no tienen una única causa, ya que pueden estar motivados por procesos meteorológicos que se dan en muy diferentes escalas espacio-temporales, desde el paso de grandes frentes en la macroescala a procesos convectivos locales como tormentas. Además, el propio proceso de conversión del viento en energía eléctrica juega un papel relevante en la ocurrencia de rampas debido, entre otros factores, a la relación no lineal que impone la curva de potencia del aerogenerador, la desalineación de la máquina con respecto al viento y la interacción aerodinámica entre aerogeneradores. En este trabajo se aborda la aplicación de modelos estadísticos a la predicción de rampas a muy corto plazo. Además, se investiga la relación de este tipo de eventos con procesos atmosféricos en la macroescala. Los modelos se emplean para generar predicciones de punto a partir del modelado estocástico de una serie temporal de potencia generada por un parque eólico. Los horizontes de predicción considerados van de una a seis horas. Como primer paso, se ha elaborado una metodología para caracterizar rampas en series temporales. La denominada función-rampa está basada en la transformada wavelet y proporciona un índice en cada paso temporal. Este índice caracteriza la intensidad de rampa en base a los gradientes de potencia experimentados en un rango determinado de escalas temporales. Se han implementado tres tipos de modelos predictivos de cara a evaluar el papel que juega la complejidad de un modelo en su desempeño: modelos lineales autorregresivos (AR), modelos de coeficientes variables (VCMs) y modelos basado en redes neuronales (ANNs). Los modelos se han entrenado en base a la minimización del error cuadrático medio y la configuración de cada uno de ellos se ha determinado mediante validación cruzada. De cara a analizar la contribución del estado macroescalar de la atmósfera en la predicción de rampas, se ha propuesto una metodología que permite extraer, a partir de las salidas de modelos meteorológicos, información relevante para explicar la ocurrencia de estos eventos. La metodología se basa en el análisis de componentes principales (PCA) para la síntesis de la datos de la atmósfera y en el uso de la información mutua (MI) para estimar la dependencia no lineal entre dos señales. Esta metodología se ha aplicado a datos de reanálisis generados con un modelo de circulación general (GCM) de cara a generar variables exógenas que posteriormente se han introducido en los modelos predictivos. Los casos de estudio considerados corresponden a dos parques eólicos ubicados en España. Los resultados muestran que el modelado de la serie de potencias permitió una mejora notable con respecto al modelo predictivo de referencia (la persistencia) y que al añadir información de la macroescala se obtuvieron mejoras adicionales del mismo orden. Estas mejoras resultaron mayores para el caso de rampas de bajada. Los resultados también indican distintos grados de conexión entre la macroescala y la ocurrencia de rampas en los dos parques considerados. Abstract One of the main drawbacks of wind energy is that it exhibits intermittent generation greatly depending on environmental conditions. Wind power forecasting has proven to be an effective tool for facilitating wind power integration from both the technical and the economical perspective. Indeed, system operators and energy traders benefit from the use of forecasting techniques, because the reduction of the inherent uncertainty of wind power allows them the adoption of optimal decisions. Wind power integration imposes new challenges as higher wind penetration levels are attained. Wind power ramp forecasting is an example of such a recent topic of interest. The term ramp makes reference to a large and rapid variation (1-4 hours) observed in the wind power output of a wind farm or portfolio. Ramp events can be motivated by a broad number of meteorological processes that occur at different time/spatial scales, from the passage of large-scale frontal systems to local processes such as thunderstorms and thermally-driven flows. Ramp events may also be conditioned by features related to the wind-to-power conversion process, such as yaw misalignment, the wind turbine shut-down and the aerodynamic interaction between wind turbines of a wind farm (wake effect). This work is devoted to wind power ramp forecasting, with special focus on the connection between the global scale and ramp events observed at the wind farm level. The framework of this study is the point-forecasting approach. Time series based models were implemented for very short-term prediction, this being characterised by prediction horizons up to six hours ahead. As a first step, a methodology to characterise ramps within a wind power time series was proposed. The so-called ramp function is based on the wavelet transform and it provides a continuous index related to the ramp intensity at each time step. The underlying idea is that ramps are characterised by high power output gradients evaluated under different time scales. A number of state-of-the-art time series based models were considered, namely linear autoregressive (AR) models, varying-coefficient models (VCMs) and artificial neural networks (ANNs). This allowed us to gain insights into how the complexity of the model contributes to the accuracy of the wind power time series modelling. The models were trained in base of a mean squared error criterion and the final set-up of each model was determined through cross-validation techniques. In order to investigate the contribution of the global scale into wind power ramp forecasting, a methodological proposal to identify features in atmospheric raw data that are relevant for explaining wind power ramp events was presented. The proposed methodology is based on two techniques: principal component analysis (PCA) for atmospheric data compression and mutual information (MI) for assessing non-linear dependence between variables. The methodology was applied to reanalysis data generated with a general circulation model (GCM). This allowed for the elaboration of explanatory variables meaningful for ramp forecasting that were utilized as exogenous variables by the forecasting models. The study covered two wind farms located in Spain. All the models outperformed the reference model (the persistence) during both ramp and non-ramp situations. Adding atmospheric information had a noticeable impact on the forecasting performance, specially during ramp-down events. Results also suggested different levels of connection between the ramp occurrence at the wind farm level and the global scale.

Induction of engineered residual stresses fields and enhancement of fatigue life of high reliability metallic components by laser shock processing

Laser shock processing (LSP) is being increasingly applied as an effective technology for the improvement of metallic materials mechanical and surface properties in different types of components as a means of enhancement of their corrosion and fatigue life behavior. As reported in previous contributions by the authors, a main effect resulting from the application of the LSP technique consists on the generation of relatively deep compression residual stresses field into metallic alloy pieces allowing an improved mechanical behaviour, explicitly the life improvement of the treated specimens against wear, crack growth and stress corrosion cracking. Additional results accomplished by the authors in the line of practical development of the LSP technique at an experimental level (aiming its integral assessment from an interrelated theoretical and experimental point of view) are presented in this paper. Concretely, follow-on experimental results on the residual stress profiles and associated surface properties modification successfully reached in typical materials (especially Al and Ti alloys characteristic of high reliability components in the aerospace, nuclear and biomedical sectors) under different LSP irradiation conditions are presented along with a practical correlated analysis on the protective character of the residual stress profiles obtained under different irradiation strategies. Additional remarks on the improved character of the LSP technique over the traditional “shot peening” technique in what concerns depth of induced compressive residual stresses fields are also made through the paper

Dynamic response of a monolithic master-oscillator power-amplifier at 1.5 µm

We study experimentally the dynamic properties of a fully integrated high power master-oscillator power-amplifier emitting at 1.5 μm under continuous wave and gain-switching conditions. High peak power (2.7 W) optical pulses with short duration (~ 110 ps) have been generated by gain switching the master-oscillator. We show the existence of working points at very close driving conditions with stable or unstable regimes caused by the compound cavity effects. The optical and radio-frequency spectra of stable and unstable operating points are analyzed.

Technology and characterization of GaN-HEMTs devices: high temperature and trapping effects

Los transistores de alta movilidad electrónica basados en GaN han sido objeto de una extensa investigación ya que tanto el GaN como sus aleaciones presentan unas excelentes propiedades eléctricas (alta movilidad, elevada concentración de portadores y campo eléctrico crítico alto). Aunque recientemente se han incluido en algunas aplicaciones comerciales, su expansión en el mercado está condicionada a la mejora de varios asuntos relacionados con su rendimiento y habilidad. Durante esta tesis se han abordado algunos de estos aspectos relevantes; por ejemplo, la fabricación de enhancement mode HEMTs, su funcionamiento a alta temperatura, el auto calentamiento y el atrapamiento de carga. Los HEMTs normalmente apagado o enhancement mode han atraído la atención de la comunidad científica dedicada al desarrollo de circuitos amplificadores y conmutadores de potencia, ya que su utilización disminuiría significativamente el consumo de potencia; además de requerir solamente una tensión de alimentación negativa, y reducir la complejidad del circuito y su coste. Durante esta tesis se han evaluado varias técnicas utilizadas para la fabricación de estos dispositivos: el ataque húmedo para conseguir el gate-recess en heterostructuras de InAl(Ga)N/GaN; y tratamientos basados en flúor (plasma CF4 e implantación de F) de la zona debajo de la puerta. Se han llevado a cabo ataques húmedos en heteroestructuras de InAl(Ga)N crecidas sobre sustratos de Si, SiC y zafiro. El ataque completo de la barrera se consiguió únicamente en las muestras con sustrato de Si. Por lo tanto, se puede deducir que la velocidad de ataque depende de la densidad de dislocaciones presentes en la estructura, ya que el Si presenta un peor ajuste del parámetro de red con el GaN. En relación a los tratamientos basados en flúor, se ha comprobado que es necesario realizar un recocido térmico después de la fabricación de la puerta para recuperar la heteroestructura de los daños causados durante dichos tratamientos. Además, el estudio de la evolución de la tensión umbral con el tiempo de recocido ha demostrado que en los HEMTs tratados con plasma ésta tiende a valores más negativos al aumentar el tiempo de recocido. Por el contrario, la tensión umbral de los HEMTs implantados se desplaza hacia valores más positivos, lo cual se atribuye a la introducción de iones de flúor a niveles más profundos de la heterostructura. Los transistores fabricados con plasma presentaron mejor funcionamiento en DC a temperatura ambiente que los implantados. Su estudio a alta temperatura ha revelado una reducción del funcionamiento de todos los dispositivos con la temperatura. Los valores iniciales de corriente de drenador y de transconductancia medidos a temperatura ambiente se recuperaron después del ciclo térmico, por lo que se deduce que dichos efectos térmicos son reversibles. Se han estudiado varios aspectos relacionados con el funcionamiento de los HEMTs a diferentes temperaturas. En primer lugar, se han evaluado las prestaciones de dispositivos de AlGaN/GaN sobre sustrato de Si con diferentes caps: GaN, in situ SiN e in situ SiN/GaN, desde 25 K hasta 550 K. Los transistores con in situ SiN presentaron los valores más altos de corriente drenador, transconductancia, y los valores más bajos de resistencia-ON, así como las mejores características en corte. Además, se ha confirmado que dichos dispositivos presentan gran robustez frente al estrés térmico. En segundo lugar, se ha estudiado el funcionamiento de transistores de InAlN/GaN con diferentes diseños y geometrías. Dichos dispositivos presentaron una reducción casi lineal de los parámetros en DC en el rango de temperaturas de 25°C hasta 225°C. Esto se debe principalmente a la dependencia térmica de la movilidad electrónica, y también a la reducción de la drift velocity con la temperatura. Además, los transistores con mayores longitudes de puerta mostraron una mayor reducción de su funcionamiento, lo cual se atribuye a que la drift velocity disminuye más considerablemente con la temperatura cuando el campo eléctrico es pequeño. De manera similar, al aumentar la distancia entre la puerta y el drenador, el funcionamiento del HEMT presentó una mayor reducción con la temperatura. Por lo tanto, se puede deducir que la degradación del funcionamiento de los HEMTs causada por el aumento de la temperatura depende tanto de la longitud de la puerta como de la distancia entre la puerta y el drenador. Por otra parte, la alta densidad de potencia generada en la región activa de estos transistores conlleva el auto calentamiento de los mismos por efecto Joule, lo cual puede degradar su funcionamiento y Habilidad. Durante esta tesis se ha desarrollado un simple método para la determinación de la temperatura del canal basado en medidas eléctricas. La aplicación de dicha técnica junto con la realización de simulaciones electrotérmicas han posibilitado el estudio de varios aspectos relacionados con el autocalentamiento. Por ejemplo, se han evaluado sus efectos en dispositivos sobre Si, SiC, y zafiro. Los transistores sobre SiC han mostrado menores efectos gracias a la mayor conductividad térmica del SiC, lo cual confirma el papel clave que desempeña el sustrato en el autocalentamiento. Se ha observado que la geometría del dispositivo tiene cierta influencia en dichos efectos, destacando que la distribución del calor generado en la zona del canal depende de la distancia entre la puerta y el drenador. Además, se ha demostrado que la temperatura ambiente tiene un considerable impacto en el autocalentamiento, lo que se atribuye principalmente a la dependencia térmica de la conductividad térmica de las capas y sustrato que forman la heterostructura. Por último, se han realizado numerosas medidas en pulsado para estudiar el atrapamiento de carga en HEMTs sobre sustratos de SiC con barreras de AlGaN y de InAlN. Los resultados obtenidos en los transistores con barrera de AlGaN han presentado una disminución de la corriente de drenador y de la transconductancia sin mostrar un cambio en la tensión umbral. Por lo tanto, se puede deducir que la posible localización de las trampas es la región de acceso entre la puerta y el drenador. Por el contrario, la reducción de la corriente de drenador observada en los dispositivos con barrera de InAlN llevaba asociado un cambio significativo en la tensión umbral, lo que implica la existencia de trampas situadas en la zona debajo de la puerta. Además, el significativo aumento del valor de la resistencia-ON y la degradación de la transconductancia revelan la presencia de trampas en la zona de acceso entre la puerta y el drenador. La evaluación de los efectos del atrapamiento de carga en dispositivos con diferentes geometrías ha demostrado que dichos efectos son menos notables en aquellos transistores con mayor longitud de puerta o mayor distancia entre puerta y drenador. Esta dependencia con la geometría se puede explicar considerando que la longitud y densidad de trampas de la puerta virtual son independientes de las dimensiones del dispositivo. Finalmente se puede deducir que para conseguir el diseño óptimo durante la fase de diseño no sólo hay que tener en cuenta la aplicación final sino también la influencia que tiene la geometría en los diferentes aspectos estudiados (funcionamiento a alta temperatura, autocalentamiento, y atrapamiento de carga). ABSTRACT GaN-based high electron mobility transistors have been under extensive research due to the excellent electrical properties of GaN and its related alloys (high carrier concentration, high mobility, and high critical electric field). Although these devices have been recently included in commercial applications, some performance and reliability issues need to be addressed for their expansion in the market. Some of these relevant aspects have been studied during this thesis; for instance, the fabrication of enhancement mode HEMTs, the device performance at high temperature, the self-heating and the charge trapping. Enhancement mode HEMTs have become more attractive mainly because their use leads to a significant reduction of the power consumption during the stand-by state. Moreover, they enable the fabrication of simpler power amplifier circuits and high-power switches because they allow the elimination of negativepolarity voltage supply, reducing significantly the circuit complexity and system cost. In this thesis, different techniques for the fabrication of these devices have been assessed: wet-etching for achieving the gate-recess in InAl(Ga)N/GaN devices and two different fluorine-based treatments (CF4 plasma and F implantation). Regarding the wet-etching, experiments have been carried out in InAl(Ga)N/GaN grown on different substrates: Si, sapphire, and SiC. The total recess of the barrier was achieved after 3 min of etching in devices grown on Si substrate. This suggests that the etch rate can critically depend on the dislocations present in the structure, since the Si exhibits the highest mismatch to GaN. Concerning the fluorine-based treatments, a post-gate thermal annealing was required to recover the damages caused to the structure during the fluorine-treatments. The study of the threshold voltage as a function of this annealing time has revealed that in the case of the plasma-treated devices it become more negative with the time increase. On the contrary, the threshold voltage of implanted HEMTs showed a positive shift when the annealing time was increased, which is attributed to the deep F implantation profile. Plasma-treated HEMTs have exhibited better DC performance at room temperature than the implanted devices. Their study at high temperature has revealed that their performance decreases with temperature. The initial performance measured at room temperature was recovered after the thermal cycle regardless of the fluorine treatment; therefore, the thermal effects were reversible. Thermal issues related to the device performance at different temperature have been addressed. Firstly, AlGaN/GaN HEMTs grown on Si substrate with different cap layers: GaN, in situ SiN, or in situ SiN/GaN, have been assessed from 25 K to 550 K. In situ SiN cap layer has been demonstrated to improve the device performance since HEMTs with this cap layer have exhibited the highest drain current and transconductance values, the lowest on-resistance, as well as the best off-state characteristics. Moreover, the evaluation of thermal stress impact on the device performance has confirmed the robustness of devices with in situ cap. Secondly, the high temperature performance of InAlN/GaN HEMTs with different layouts and geometries have been assessed. The devices under study have exhibited an almost linear reduction of the main DC parameters operating in a temperature range from room temperature to 225°C. This was mainly due to the thermal dependence of the electron mobility, and secondly to the drift velocity decrease with temperature. Moreover, HEMTs with large gate length values have exhibited a great reduction of the device performance. This was attributed to the greater decrease of the drift velocity for low electric fields. Similarly, the increase of the gate-to-drain distance led to a greater reduction of drain current and transconductance values. Therefore, this thermal performance degradation has been found to be dependent on both the gate length and the gate-to-drain distance. It was observed that the very high power density in the active region of these transistors leads to Joule self-heating, resulting in an increase of the device temperature, which can degrade the device performance and reliability. A simple electrical method have been developed during this work to determine the channel temperature. Furthermore, the application of this technique together with the performance of electro-thermal simulations have enabled the evaluation of different aspects related to the self-heating. For instance, the influence of the substrate have been confirmed by the study of devices grown on Si, SiC, and Sapphire. HEMTs grown on SiC substrate have been confirmed to exhibit the lowest self-heating effects thanks to its highest thermal conductivity. In addition to this, the distribution of the generated heat in the channel has been demonstrated to be dependent on the gate-to-drain distance. Besides the substrate and the geometry of the device, the ambient temperature has also been found to be relevant for the self-heating effects, mainly due to the temperature-dependent thermal conductivity of the layers and the substrate. Trapping effects have been evaluated by means of pulsed measurements in AlGaN and InAIN barrier devices. AlGaN barrier HEMTs have exhibited a de crease in drain current and transconductance without measurable threshold voltage change, suggesting the location of the traps in the gate-to-drain access region. On the contrary, InAIN barrier devices have showed a drain current associated with a positive shift of threshold voltage, which indicated that the traps were possibly located under the gate region. Moreover, a significant increase of the ON-resistance as well as a transconductance reduction were observed, revealing the presence of traps on the gate-drain access region. On the other hand, the assessment of devices with different geometries have demonstrated that the trapping effects are more noticeable in devices with either short gate length or the gate-to-drain distance. This can be attributed to the fact that the length and the trap density of the virtual gate are independent on the device geometry. Finally, it can be deduced that besides the final application requirements, the influence of the device geometry on the performance at high temperature, on the self-heating, as well as on the trapping effects need to be taken into account during the device design stage to achieve the optimal layout.

Monolithic master oscillator power amplifier at 1.58 µm for lidar measurements

Nowadays the interest in high power semiconductor devices is growing for applications such as telemetry, lidar system or free space communications. Indeed semiconductor devices can be an alternative to solid state lasers because they are more compact and less power consuming. These characteristics are very important for constrained and/or low power supply environment such as airplanes or satellites. Lots of work has been done in the 800-1200 nm range for integrated and free space Master Oscillator Power Amplifier (MOPA) [1]-[3]. At 1.5 ?m, the only commercially available MOPA is from QPC [4]: the fibred output power is about 700 mW and the optical linewidth is 500 kHz. In this paper, we first report on the simulations we have done to determine the appropriate vertical structure and architecture for a good MOPA at 1.58 ?m (section II). Then we describe the fabrication of the devices (section III). Finally we report on the optical and electrical measurements we have done for various devices (section IV).

Equation of state for hot dense matter using a relativistic screened hydrogenic model

The study of matter under conditions of high density, pressure, and temperature is a valuable subject for inertial confinement fusion (ICF), astrophysical phenomena, high-power laser interaction with matter, etc. In all these cases, matter is heated and compressed by strong shocks to high pressures and temperatures, becomes partially or completely ionized via thermal or pressure ionization, and is in the form of dense plasma. The thermodynamics and the hydrodynamics of hot dense plasmas cannot be predicted without the knowledge of the equation of state (EOS) that describes how a material reacts to pressure and how much energy is involved. Therefore, the equation of state often takes the form of pressure and energy as functions of density and temperature. Furthermore, EOS data must be obtained in a timely manner in order to be useful as input in hydrodynamic codes. By this reason, the use of fast, robust and reasonably accurate atomic models, is necessary for computing the EOS of a material.