Calculation of Valence Subband Structures for Strained Quantum-Wells by Plane Wave Expansion Method Within 6 * 6 Luttinger-Kohn Model

The valence subband energies and wave functions of a tensile strained quantum well are calculated by the plane wave expansion method within the 6 * 6 Luttinger-Kohn model. The effect of the number and period of plane-waves used for expansion on the stability of energy eigenvalues is examined. For practical calculation, it should choose the period large sufficiently to ensure the envelope functions vanish at the boundary and the number of plane waves large enough to ensure the energy eigenvalues keep unchanged within a prescribed range.

Effects of polarization field on formation of two-dimensional electron gas in (0001) and (11(2)over-bar0) plane AlGaN/GaN heterostructures

Photoluminescence (PL) and temperature-dependent Hall effect measurements were carried out in (0001) and (11 (2) over bar0) AlGaN/GaN heterostructures grown on sapphire substrates by metalorganic chemical vapor deposition. There are strong spontaneous and piezoelectric electric fields (SPF) along the growth orientation of the (0001) AlGaN/GaN heterostructures. At the same time there are no corresponding SPF along that of the (1120) AlGaN/GaN. A strong PL peak related to the recombination between two-dimensional electron gas (2DEG) and photoexcited holes was observed at 3.258 eV at room temperature in (0001) AlGaN/GaN heterointerfaces while no corresponding PL peak was observed in (11 (2) over bar0). The existence of a 2DEG was observed in (0001) AlGaN/GaN multi-layers with a mobility saturated at 6000 cm(2)/V s below 80 K, whereas a much lower mobility was measured in (11 (2) over bar0). These results indicated that the SPF was the main element to cause the high mobility and high sheet-electron-density 2DEG in AlGaN/GaN heterostructures. (C) 2004 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Diffractive microlens with a cascade focal plane fabricated by single mask UV-photolithography and common KOH:H2O etching

A diffractive microlens with a cascade focal plane along the main optical axis of the device is fabricated using a low-cost technique mainly including single mask ultraviolet (UV) photolithography and dual-step KOH:H2O etching. Based on the evolutionary behavior of converse pyramid-shaped microholes (CPSMs) preshaped over a {100}-oriented silicon wafer in KOH etchant, the first-step KOH etching is performed to transfer initial square micro-openings in a SiO2 film grown by plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition (PECVD) and patterned by single mask UV-photolithography, into CPSMs with needed dimension. After completely removing a thinned SiO2 mask, basic annular phase steps with a relatively steep sidewall and scheduled height can be shaped in the overlapped etching region between the neighboring silicon concave-arc microstructures evolved from CPSMs through the second-step KOH etching. Morphological measurements demonstrate a desirable surface of the silicon microlens with a roughness in nanometer scale and the feature height of the phase steps formed in the submicrometer range. Conventional optics measurements of the plastic diffractive microlens obtained by further hot embossing the fine microrelief phase map over the nickel mask made through a common electrochemical method indicate a highly efficient cascaded focusing performance.

In-plane stray field induced spin-filtering in a two-dimensional electron gas under the modulation of surface ferromagnetic dual-gate

Based upon a hybrid ferromagnet/semiconductor structure consisting of two-dimensional electron gas and a pair of surface ferromagnetic stripes on top, we have theoretically investigated the effect of in-plane stray field omitted frequently in previous studies on the spin-dependent ballistic transport properties in hybrid structure. It is demonstrated here that, in combination with an external-controllable electrostatic modulation, the concerned structure shows a similar function as a lateral spin-polarized resonant tunneling device, where the strong spin-filtering effect occurs and nearly single-mode polarization is anticipated for the proper modulation. More importantly, the spin polarity of transmission electron can be easily transferred from one extreme to the other by switching the magnetization of stripes, showing the promising application as an efficient spin aligner in the developing semiconductor spintronics.

Strain effects on optical polarisation properties in (11(2)over-bar2) plane GaN films

We present the theoretical results of the electronic band structure of wurtzite GaN films under biaxial strains in the (11 (2) over bar2)-plane The calculations are performed by the kappa p perturbation theory approach through using the effective-mass Hamiltonian for an arbitrary direction The results show that the transition energies decrease with the biaxial strains changing from -0 5% to 0 5% For films of (11 (2) over bar2)-plane, the strains are expected to be anisotropic in the growth plane Such anisotropic strains give rise to valence band mixing which results in dramatic change in optical polarisation property The strain can also result in optical polarisation switching phenomena Finally, we discuss the applications of these properties to the (11 (2) over bar2) plane GaN based light emitting diode and lase diode

Non-modal instabilities of two-dimensional disturbances in plane Couette flow of a power-law fluid

Instabilities of fluid flows have traditionally been investigated by normal mode analysis, i.e. by linearizing the equations of flow and testing for unstable eigenvalues of the linearized problem. However, the results of eigenvalue analysis agree poorly in many cases with experiments, especially for shear flows. In this paper we study the instabilities of two-dimensional Couette flow of a polymeric fluid in the framework of non-modal stability theory rather than normal mode analysis. A power-law model is used to describe the polymeric liquid. We focus on the response to external excitations and initial conditions by examining the pseudospectra structures and the transient energy growths. For both Newtonian and non-Newtonian flows, the results show that there can be a rather large transient growth even though the linear operator of Couette flow has no unstable eigenvalue. The effects of non-Newtonian viscosity on the transient behaviors are examined in this study. The results show that the "shear-thinning/shear-thickening" effect increases/decreases the amplitude of responses to external excitations and initial conditions. (C) 2010 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Instabilities and transient behaviors of a liquid film flowing down a porous inclined plane

The nonmodal linear stability of a falling film over a porous inclined plane has been investigated. The base flow is driven by gravity. We use Darcy's law to describe the flow in the porous medium. A simplified one-sided model is used to describe the fluid flow. In this model, the influence of the porous layer on the flow in the film can be identified by a parameter beta. The instabilities of a falling film have traditionally been investigated by linearizing the governing equations and testing for unstable eigenvalues of the linearized problem. However, the results of eigenvalue analysis agree poorly in many cases with experiments, especially for shear flows. In the present paper, we have studied the linear stability of three-dimensional disturbances using the nonmodal stability theory. Particular attentions are paid to the transient behavior rather than the long time behavior of eigenmodes predicted by traditional normal mode analysis. The transient behaviors of the response to external excitations and the response to initial conditions are studied by examining the pseudospectral structures and the energy growth function G(t) Before we study the nonmodal stability of the system, we extend the results of long-wave analysis in previous works by examining the linear stabilities for streamwise and spanwise disturbances. Results show that the critical conditions of both the surface mode and the shear mode instabilities are dependent on beta for streamwise disturbances. However, the spanwise disturbances have no unstable eigenvalue. 2010 American Institute of Physics. [doi:10.1063/1.3455503]

Three-Dimensional Linear Instability Analysis of Thermocapillary Return Flow on a Porous Plane

A three-dimensional linear instability analysis of thermocapillary convection in a fluid-porous double layer system, imposed by a horizontal temperature gradient, is performed. The basic motion of fluid is the surface-tension-driven return flow, and the movement of fluid in the porous layer is governed by Darcy's law. The slippery effect of velocity at the fluid-porous interface has been taken into account, and the influence of this velocity slippage on the instability characteristic of the system is emphasized. The new behavior of the thermocapillary convection instability has been found and discussed through the figures of the spectrum.