Modeling current-voltage behaviour in oxide TFTs combining trap-limited conduction with percolation

Current-voltage behaviour of oxide TFTs is modeled based on trap-limited conduction and percolation theories. The mobility has a power-law dependence, in which percolation controls the exponent while trap states determine constant term in the power law. The proposed model, which is fully physically-based, provides a good agreement with measured transistor characteristics as well as transient operations of fabricated pixel test circuits for oxide-based OLED displays. © 2013 Society for Information Display.

Enhanced Proton Conduction in Polymer Electrolyte Membranes as Synthesized by Polymerization of Protic Ionic Liquid-Based Microemulsions

Proton-conducting membranes were prepared by polymerization of microemulsions consisting of surfactant-stabilized protic ionic liquid (PIL) nanodomains dispersed in a polymerizable oil, a mixture of styrene and acrylonitrile. The obtained PIL-based polymer composite membranes are transparent and flexible even though the resulting vinyl polymers are immiscible with PIL cores. This type of composite membranes have quite a good thermal stability, chemical stability, tunability, and good mechanical properties. Under nonhumidifying conditions, PIL-based membranes show a conductivity up to the order of 1 x 10(-1) S/cm at 160 degrees C, due to the well-connected PIL nanochannels preserved in the membrane. This type of polymer conducting membranes have potential application in high-temperature polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cells.

Spin splitting of conduction subbands in Al0.3Ga0.7As/GaAs/AlxGa1-x As/Al0.3Ga0.7As step quantum wells

By means of the transfer matrix technique, interface-induced Rashba spin splitting of conduction subbands in Al0.3Ga0.7As/GaAs/AlxGa1-xAs/Al0.3Ga0.7As step quantum wells which contain internal structure inversion asymmetry introduced by the insertion of AlxGa1-xAs step potential is investigated theoretically in the absence of electric field and magnetic field. The dependence of spin splitting on the well width, step width and Al concentration is investigated in detail. We find that the sign of the first excited subband spin splitting changes with well width and step width, and is opposite to that of the ground subband under certain conditions. The sign and strength of the spin splitting are shown to be sensitive to the components of the envelope function at three interfaces. Copyright (C) EPLA, 2009

Kinetic study for hopping conduction through deoxyribonucleic acid molecules

Recent experiments indicated that disorder effect in deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) may lead to a transition of the electronic hole transport mechanism from band resonant tunneling to thermally activated hopping. In this letter, based on Mott's variable-range hopping theory, we present a kinetic study for the hole transport properties of DNA molecules. Beyond the conventional argument in large-scale systems, our numerical study for finite-size DNA molecules reveals a number of unique features for: (i) the current-voltage characteristics, (ii) the temperature and length dependence, and (iii) the transition from conducting to insulating behaviors. (c) 2005 American Institute of Physics.

Comparative study for colloidal quantum dot conduction band state calculations

By comparing the results of some well-controlled calculation methods, we analyze the relative importance of bulk band structure, multi-bulk-band coupling, and boundary conditions in determining colloidal quantum dot conduction band eigenenergies. We find that while the bulk band structure and correct boundary conditions are important, the effects of multi-bulk-band coupling are small.

Conduction band offset and electron effective mass in GaInNAs/GaAs quantum-well structures with low nitrogen concentration

We have investigated the optical transitions in Ga1-yInyNxAs1-x/GaAs single and multiple quantum wells using photovoltaic measurements at room temperature. From a theoretical fit to the experimental data, the conduction band offset Q(c), electron effective mass m(e)*, and band gap energy E-g were estimated. It was found that the Q(c) is dependent on the indium concentration, but independent on the nitrogen concentration over the range x=(0-1)%. The m(e)* of GaInNAs is much greater than that of InGaAs with the same concentration of indium, and increases as the nitrogen concentration increases up to 1%. Our experimental results for the m(e)* and E-g of GaInNAs are quantitatively explained by the two-band model based on the strong interaction of the conduction band minimum with the localized N states. (C) 2001 American Institute of Physics.

Tuning of conduction intersublevel absorption wavelengths in (In, Ga)As/GaAs quantum-dot nanostructures

We demonstrate that by increasing the amount of (In, Ga)As deposit in a quantum dot layer, the intersublevel absorption wavelength for (In, Ga)As/GaAs quantum-dot infrared photodetectors can be blue-shifted from 15 to 10 mu m while the photoluminescence peak is red-shifted. We directly compare the measured energy spacing between intersublevels obtained from infrared absorption spectroscopy with those obtained from photoluminescence spectroscopy. We find that the intersublevel energy spacing determined from absorption measurements is much larger than that obtained from the photoluminescence measurements. (C) 2000 American Institute of Physics. [S0003-6951(00)04524-1].

Comparison of cooling rates for hot carriers in GaAs AlAs quantum wells based on macroscopic and microscopic phonon models

By using three analytical phonon models in quantum wells-the slab model, the guided-mode model, and the improved version of the Huang-Zhu model [Phys. Rev. B 38, 13 377 (1998)], -and the phonon modes in bulk, the energy-loss rates of hot carriers due to the Frohlich potential scattering in GaAs/AlAs multiple quantum wells (MQW's) are calculated and compared to those obtained based on a microscopic dipole superlattice model. In the study, a special emphasis is put on the effects of the phonon models on the hot-carrier relaxation process when taking the hot-phonon effect into account. Our numerical results show that, the calculated energy-loss rates based on the slab model and on the improved Huang-Zhu model are almost the same when ignoring the hot-phonon effect; however, with the hot phonon effect considered, the calculated cooling rate as well as the hot phonon occupation number do depend upon the phonon models to be adopted. Out of the four analytical phonon models investigated, the improved Huang-Zhu model gives the results most close to the microscopic calculation, while the guided-mode model presents the poorest results. For hot electrons with a sheet density around 10(12)/cm(2), the slab model has been found to overestimate the hot-phonon effect by more than 40% compared to the Huang-Zhu model, and about 75% compared to the microscopic calculation in which the phonon dispersion is fully included. Our calculation also indicates that Nash's improved version [J. Lumin. 44, 315 (1989)] is necessary for evaluating the energy-loss rates in quantum wells of wider well width, because Huang-Zhu's original analytical formulas an only approximately orthogonal for optical phonons associated with small in-plane wave numbers. [S0163-1829(99)08919-5].

Conduction-band offset in a pseudomorphic GaAs/In0.2Ga0.8As quantum well determined by capacitance-voltage profiling and deep-level transient spectroscopy techniques

The conduction-band offset Delta E-C has been determined for a molecular beam epitaxy grown GaAs/In0.2Ga0.8As single quantum-well structure, by measuring the capacitance-voltage (C - V) profiling, taking into account a correction for the interface charge density, and the capacitance transient resulting from thermal emission of carriers from the quantum well, respectively. We found that Delta E-C = 0.227 eV, corresponding to about 89% Delta E-g, from the C - V profiling; and Delta E-C = 0.229eV, corresponding to about 89.9% Delta E-g, from the deep-level transient spectroscopy (DLTS) technique. The results suggest that the conduction-band discontinuity Delta E-C obtained from the C-V profiling is in good agreement with that obtained from the DLTS technique. (C) 1998 American Institute of Physics.

Thermal test and analysis of concentrator solar cells - art. no. 684117

Under high concentration the temperature of photovoltaic solar cells is very high. It is well known that the efficiency and performance of photovoltaic solar cells decrease with the increase of temperature. So cooling is indispensable for a concentrator photovoltaic solar cell at high concentration. Usually passive cooling is widely considered in a concentrator system. However, the thermal conduction principle of concentrator solar cells under passive cooling is seldom reported. In this paper, GaInP/GaAs/Ge triple junction solar cells were fabricated using metal organic chemical vapor deposition technique. The thermal conductivity performance of monolithic concentrator GaInP/GaAs/Ge cascade solar cells under 400X concentration with a heat sink were studied by testing the surface and backside temperatures of solar cells. The tested result shows that temperature difference between both sides of the solar cells is about 1K. A theoretical model of the thermal conductivity and thermal resistance of the GaInP/GaAs/Ge triple junction solar cells was built, and the calculation temperature difference between both sides of the solar cells is about 0.724K which is consistent with the result of practical test. Combining the theoretical model and the practical testing with the upper surface temperature of tested 310K, the temperature distribution of the solar cells was researched.

Thermoelectric Cooling and Power Generation

In a typical thermoelectric device, a junction is formed from two different conducting materials, one containing positive charge carriers (holes) and the other negative charge carriers (electrons). When an electric current is passed in the appropriate direction through the junction, both types of charge carriers move away from the junction and convey heat away, thus cooling the junction. Similarly, a heat source at the junction causes carriers to flow away from the junction, making an electrical generator. Such devices have the advantage of containing no moving parts, but low efficiencies have limited their use to specialty applications, such as cooling laser diodes. The principles of thermoelectric devices are reviewed and strategies for increasing the efficiency of novel materials are explored. Improved materials would not only help to cool advanced electronics but could also provide energy benefits in refrigeration and when using waste heat to generate electrical power.

DETERMINATION OF THE CONDUCTION-BAND OFFSET OF A SINGLE ALGAAS BARRIER LAYER USING DEEP-LEVEL TRANSIENT SPECTROSCOPY

The tunneling from an AlGaAs confined thin layer to a GaAs layer in the GaAs/Al0.33Ga0.67As/GaAs structure during the trapped electron emission from deep level in the AlGaAs to its conduction band has been observed by deep level transient spectroscopy. With the aid of the tunneling effect, the conduction-band offset DELTAE(c) was determined to be 0.260 eV, corresponding to 63% of DELTAE(g). A calculation was also carried out based on this tunneling model by using the experimental value of DELTAE(c) = E2 - E1 = 0. 260 eV, and good agreement between the experimental and calculated curves is obtained.