Enhancement of microfluidic efficiency with nanocrystalline diamond interlayer in the ZnO-based surface acoustic wave device

Ultra-smooth nanocrystalline diamond (UNCD) films with high-acoustic wave velocity were introduced into ZnO-based surface acoustic wave (SAW) devices to enhance their microfluidic efficiency by reducing the acoustic energy dissipation into the silicon substrate and improving the acoustic properties of the SAW devices. Microfluidic efficiency of the ZnO-based SAW devices with and without UNCD inter layers was investigated and compared. Results showed that the pumping velocities increase with the input power and those of the ZnO/UNCD/Si devices are much larger than those of the ZnO/Si devices at the same power. The jetting efficiency of the droplet was improved by introducing the UNCD interlayer into the ZnO/Si SAW device. Improvement in the microfluidic efficiency is mainly attributed to the diamond layer, which restrains the acoustic wave to propagate in the top layer rather than dissipating into the substrate. © 2013 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg.

Sol-gel method for the preparation of solid-phase microextraction fibers

A novel sol-gel method is applied for the preparation of solid-phase microextraction (SPME) fibers. Scanning electron microscopy experiments suggested a porous structure for the poly(dimethylsiloxane) (PDMS) coating. SPME-GC analysis provided evidence that the sol-gel fibers have some advantages, such as high thermal stability, efficient extraction rates, high velocities of mass transfer, and spacious range of application.

Tuning photoluminescence of single InAs quantum dot by electric field

By using photoluminescence (PL) and time-resolved PL spectra, the optical properties of single InAs quantum dot (QD) embedded in the p-1-n structure have been studied under an applied electric field With the increasing of electric field, the exciton lifetime increases due to the Stark effect. We noticed that the decrease or quenching of PL intensity with increasing the electric field is mainly due to the decrease of the carriers captured by QD.

Single-photon-emitting diode at liquid nitrogen temperature

We report on the study of a single-photon-emitting diode at 77 K. The device is composed of InAs/GaAs quantum dots embedded in the i-region of a p-i-n diode structure. The high signal to noise ratio of the electroluminescence, as well as the small second order correlation function at zero-delay g((2))(0), implies that the device has a low multiphoton emission probability. By comparing the device performances under different excitation conditions, we have, in detail, discussed the basic parameters, such as signal to noise ratio and g((2))(0), and provided some useful information for the future application. (c) 2008 American Institute of Physics.

Single-photon emission at liquid nitrogen temperature from a single InAs/GaAs quantum dot

We report on the single photon emission from single InAs/GaAs self-assembled Stranski-Krastanow quantum dots up to 80K under pulsed and continuous wave excitations. At temperature 80 K, the second-order correlation function at zero time delay, g((2))(0), is measured to be 0.422 for pulsed excitation. At the same temperature under continuous wave excitation, the photon antibunching effect is observed. Thus, our experimental results demonstrate a promising potential application of self-assembled InAs/GaAs quantum dots in single photon emission at liquid nitrogen temperature.

Temperature dependence of photoluminescence from single and ensemble InAs/GaAs quantum dots

We investigate the temperature dependence of photoluminescence from single and ensemble InAs/GaAs quantum dots systematically. As temperature increases, the exciton emission peak for single quantum dot shows broadening and redshift. For ensemble quantum dots, however, the exciton emission peak shows narrowing and fast redshift. We use a simple steady-state rate equation model to simulate the experimental data of photoluminescence spectra. It is confirmed that carrier-phonon scattering gives the broadening of the exciton emission peak in single quantum dots while the effects of carrier thermal escape and retrapping play an important role in the narrowing and fast redshift of the exciton emission peak in ensemble quantum dots.

Spectroscopy of long wavelength coupled quantum dots

We obtained a low density of coupled InAs/GaAs quantum dots (QDs) with an emission wavelength of around 1.3 mu m at room temperature. Atomic force microscopy and transmission electronic microscopy reveal that the dot size difference and the lateral displacement between the two dots are related to the spacer thickness. Spectroscopy of the coupled QD ensembles is considerably influenced by the spacer thickness.

Optical study of lateral carrier transfer in (In,Ga)As/GaAs quantum-dot chains

We have studied the lateral carrier transfer in a specially designed quantum dot chain structure by means of time-resolved photoluminescence (PL) and polarization PL. The PL decay time increases with temperature, following the T-1/2 law for the typical one-dimensional quantum system. The decay time depends strongly on the emission energy: it decreases as the photon energy increases. Moreover, a strong polarization anisotropy is observed. These results are attributed to the efficient lateral transfer of carriers along the chain direction. (c) 2008 American Institute of Physics.

Photoluminescence energy and fine structure splitting in single quantum dots by uniaxial stress

We report a photoluminescence (PL) energy red-shift of single quantum dots (QDs) by applying an in-plane compressive uniaxial stress along the [110] direction at a liquid nitrogen temperature. Uniaxial stress has an effect not only on the confinement potential in the growth direction which results in the PL shift, but also on the cylindrical symmetry of QDs which can be reflected by the change of the full width at half maximum of PL peak. This implies that uniaxial stress has an important role in tuning PL energy and fine structure splitting of QDs.

Single-photon emission from a single InAs quantum dot

Excitation power-dependent micro-photoluminescence spectra and photon-correlation measurement are used to study the optical properties and photon statistics of single InAs quantum dots. Exciton and biexciton emissions, whose photoluminescence intensities have linear and quadratic excitation power dependences, respectively, are identified. Under pulsed laser excitation, the zero time delay peak of second order correlation function corresponding to exciton emission is well suppressed, which is a clear evidence of single photon emission.

Fine structural splitting and exciton spin relaxation in single InAs quantum dots

We have studied the exciton spin dynamics in single InAs quantum dots (QDs) with different exciton fine structural splitting (FSS) by transient luminescence measurements. We have established the correlation between exciton spin relaxation rate and the energy splitting of the FSS when FSS is nonzero and found that the spin relaxation rate in QD increases with a slope of 8.8x10(-4) ns(-1) mu eV(-1). Theoretical analyses based on the phonon-assisted relaxations via the deformation potential give a reasonable interpretation of the experimental results.

Electrically Driven InAs Quantum-Dot Single-Photon Sources

Electrically driven single photon source based on single InAs quantum dot (QDs) is demonstrated. The device contains InAs QDs within a planar cavity formed between a bottom AlGaAs/GaAs distributed Bragg reflector (DBR) and a surface GaAs-air interface. The device is characterized by I-V curve and electroluminescence, and a single sharp exciton emission line at 966nm is observed. Hanbury Brown and Twiss (HBT) correlation measurements demonstrate single photon emission with suppression of multiphoton emission to below 45% at 80K

Electron spin relaxation by nuclei and holes in single InAs quantum dots

Electron spin relaxation of charged excitons X+ and X2+ are investigated by time-resolved and polarization-resolved photoluminescence spectroscopy. For X+ configuration, the electron spin relaxation shows a typical decay curve induced by hyperfine interaction with nuclei, whereas for X2+ state the electron spin relaxation is affected not only by nuclei but also by electron-hole exchange interaction, leading to a power-law time dependence.