Characterization of hot-electron effects on flicker noise in III-V nitride based heterojunctions

We report experiments on hot-electron stressing in commercial III-V nitride based heterojunction fight-emitting diodes. Stressing currents ranging from 100 mA to 200 mA were used. Degradations in the device properties were investigated through detailed studies of the I-V characteristics, electroluminescence, Deep-Level Transient Fourier Spectroscopy and flicker noise. Our experimental data demonstrated significant distortions in the I-V characteristics. The room temperature electroluminescence of the devices exhibited 25% decrement in the peak emission intensity. Concentration of the deep-levels was examined by measuring the Deep-Level Transient Fourier Spectroscopy, which indicated an increase in the density of deep-traps from 2.7 x 10(13) cm(-3) to 4.21 x 10(13) cm(-3) at E-1 = E-C - 1.1eV. The result is consistent with our study of 1/f noise, which exhibited up to three orders of magnitude increase in the voltage noise power spectra. Our experiments show large increase in both the interface traps and deep-levels resulted from hot-carrier stressing.

Electron irradiation and thermal annealing effect on GaAs solar cells

This paper describes the effect of electron irradiation and thermal annealing on LPE AlGaAs/GaAs heterojunction solar cells with various p/n junction depths. The electron irradiation experiments were performed with energy of 3 MeV, fluences ranging from 1 x 10(14) to 5 x 10(15) e/cm(2). The results obtained demonstrate that the irradiation-induced degradation of performances of the cells is mainly in the short circuit current and could be mostly recovered by annealing at 260 degrees C for 30 min. Four electron traps, E-c - 0.24 eV, E-c - 0.41 eV, E-c - 0.51 eV, E-c - 0.59 eV, were found by DLTS analysis, only two shallow levels of which could be removed by the annealing. (C) 1998 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.

High-field cyclotron resonance and electron-phonon interaction in modulation-doped multiple quantum well structures

A systematic study of electron cyclotron resonance (CR) in two sets of GaAs/Al0.3Ga0.7As modulation-doped quantum-well samples (well widths between 12 and 24 nm) has been carried out in magnetic fields up to 30 T. Polaron CR is the dominant transition in the region of GaAs optical phonons for the set of lightly doped samples, and the results are in good agreement with calculations that include the interaction with interface optical phonons. The results from the heavily doped set are markedly different. At low magnetic fields (below the GaAs reststrahlen region), all three samples exhibit almost identical CR which shows little effect of the polaron interaction due to screening and Pauli-principle effects. Above the GaAs LO-phonon region (B > similar to 23 T), the three samples behave very differently. For the most lightly doped sample (3 x 10(11) cm(-2)) only one transition minimum is observed, which can be explained as screened polaron CR. A sample of intermediate density (6 x 10(11) cm(-2)) shows two lines above 23 T; the higher frequency branch is indistinguishable from the positions of the single line of the low density sample. For the most heavily, doped sample (1.2 x 10(12) cm(-2)) there is no evidence of high frequency resonance, and the strong, single line observed is indistinguishable from the lower branch observed from sample with intermediate doping density. We suggest that the low frequency branch in our experiment is a magnetoplasmon resonance red-shifted by disorder, and the upper branch is single-particle-like screened polaron CR. (C) 1998 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.

Transmission electron microscopy study of triple-ribbon contrast features in a ZnTe epitaxial layer

A transmission electron microscopy study of triple-ribbon contrast features in a ZnTe layer grown epitaxially on a vicinal GaAs (001) substrate is reported. The ribbons go through the layer as threading dislocations near the [<(11)over bar 2>](111) or [112](<(11)over bar 1>) directions. Each of these (with a 40 nm width) has two narrow parts enclosed by three partial dislocations (with a 20 nm spacing). By contrast analysis and contrast simulation, the ribbons have been shown to be composed of two partially overlapping stacking faults. Their origin is attributed to a forced reaction between two crossing perfect misfit dislocations.

Growth and characterization of InGaAs/InAlAs/InP high-electron-mobility transistor structures towards high channel conductivity

High-quality InGaAs/InAlAs/InP high-electron-mobility transistor (HEMT) structures with lattice-matched or pseudomorphic channels have been grown by molecular-beam epitaxy (MBE). The purpose of this work is to enhance the channel conductivity by changing the epitaxial structure and growth process. With the use of pseudomorphic step quantum-well channel, the highest channel conductivity is achieved at x = 0.7, the corresponding electron mobilities are as high as 12300 (300 K) and 61000 cm(2)/V.s (77 K) with two-dimensional electron gas (2DEG) density of 3.3 x 10(12) cm(-2). These structures are comprehensively characterized by Hall measurements, photoluminescence, double crystal X-ray diffraction and transmission electron microscopy. Strong room-temperature luminescence is observed, demonstrating the high optical quality of the samples. We also show that decreasing the In composition in the InyAl1-yAs spacer is very effective to increase the 2DEG density of PHEMT structures. (C) 1998 Published by Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.

Electronic states of a two-dimensional electron system in a lateral superlattice and a perpendicular magnetic field

The electronic state of a two-dimensional electron system (2DES) in the presence of a perpendicular uniform magnetic field and a lateral superlattice (LS) is investigated theoretically. A comparative study is made between a LS induced by a spatial electrostatic potential modulation (referred to as a PMLS) and that induced by a spatial magnetic-field modulation (referred ro asa MMLS). By utilizing a finite-temperature self-consistent Hartree-Fock approximation scheme; the dependence of the electronic state on different system parameters (e.g., the modulation period, the modulation strength, the effective electron-electron interaction strength, the averaged electron density, and the system temperature) is studied in detail. The inclusion of exchange effect is found to bring qualitative changes to the electronic state of a PMLS, leading generally to a nonuniform spin splitting, and consequently the behavior of the electronic state becomes similar to that of a MMLS. The Landau-level coupling is taken into account, and is found to introduce some interesting features not observed before. It is also found that, even in the regime of intermediate modulation strength, the density dependence of the spin splitting of energy levels, either for a PMLS or a MMLS, can be qualitatively understood within the picture of a 2DES in a perpendicular magnetic field with the modulation viewed as a perturbation. [S0163-1829(97)02248-0].

Nanoelectronic Circuit Architectures Based on Single-Electron Turnstiles

Single-electron devices (SEDs) have ultra-low power dissipation and high integration density, which make them promising candidates as basic circuit elements of the next generation VLSI circuits. In this paper, we propose two novel circuit single-electron architectures: the single-electron simulated annealing algorithm (SAA) circuit and the single-electron cellular neural network (CNN). We used the MOSFET-based single-electron turnstile [1] as the basic circuit element. The SAA circuit consists of the voltage-controlled single-electron random number generator [2] and the single-electron multiple-valued memories (SEMVs) [3]. The random-number generation and variable variations in SAA are easily achieved by transferring electrons using the single-electron turnstile. The CNN circuit used the floating-gate single-electron turnstile as the neural synapses, and the number of electrons is used to represent the cells states. These novel circuits are promising in future nanoscale integrated circuits.

Monostable-Bistable Transition Logic Element (MOBILE) Model for Single-Electron Transistors

The traditional monostable-bistable transition logic element (MOBILE) structure is usually composed of resonant tunneling diodes (RTD). This letter describes a new type MOBILE structure consisting of single-electron transistors (i.e. SET-MOBILE). The analytical model of single-electron transistors ( SET) has been considered three states (including an excited state) of the discrete quantum energy levels. The simulation results show negative differential conductance (NDC) characteristics in I-DS-V-DS curve. The SET-MOBILE utilizing NDC characteristics can successfully realize the basic logic functions as the RTD-MOBILE.

Solid-state qubit measurement with single electron transistors

In this paper we consider the continuous weak measurement of a solid-state qubit by single electron transistors (SET). For single-dot SET, we find that in nonlinear response regime the signal-to-noise ratio can violate the universal upper bound imposed quantum mechanically on any linear response detectors. We understand the violation by means of the cross-correlation of the detector currents. For double-dot SET, we discuss its robustness against wider range of temperatures, quantum efficiency, and the relevant open issues unresolved.

Electron irradiation-induced defects in InP pre-annealed at high temperature

Electron irradiation-induced deep level defects have been studied in InP which has undergone high-temperature annealing in phosphorus and iron phosphide ambients, respectively. In contrast to a high concentration of irradiation-induced defects in as-grown and phosphorus ambient annealed InP, InP pre-annealed in iron phosphide ambient has a very low concentration of defects. The phenomenon has been explained in terms of a faster recombination of radiation-induced defects in the annealed InP. The radiation-induced defects in the annealed InP have been compared and studied. (c) 2006 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Effect of the implantation of fluorine on the mobility of channel electron for partially depleted SOI nMOSFET

The mobility of channel electron, for partially depleted Sol nMOSFET in this paper, decreases with the increase of implanted fluorine dose in buried oxide layer. But, the experimental results also show that it is larger for the transistor corresponding to the lowest implantation dose than no implanted fluorine in buried layer. It is explained in tern-is of a "lubricant" model. Mien fluorine atoms are implanted in the top silicon layer, the mobility is the largest. In addition, a positive shift of threshold voltage has also been observed for the transistors fabricated on the Sol wafers processed by the implantation of fluorine. The causes of all the above results are discussed.

Electronic states of InAs verfically-assembled quantum disks in magnetic fields and two-electron quantum-disk qubit

We have studied the single-electron and two-electron vertically-assembled quantum disks in an axial magnetic field using the effective mass approximation. The electron interaction is treated accurately by the direct diagonalization of the Hamiltonian matrix. We calculate the six criergy levels of single-electron quantum disks and the two lowest energy levels of two-electron quantum disks in an axial magnetic field. The change of the magnetic field as an effective potential strongly modifies the electronic structures. leading to splittings and crossings between levels The results demonstrate the switching between the around states with the total spins S = 0 and S = 1. The switching results in a qubit allowed to fabricate by current growth techniques.

Anomalous shift of the beating nodes in illumination-controlled In1-xGaxAs/In1-yAlyAs two-dimensional electron gases with strong spin-orbit interaction

The beating patterns in the Shubnikov-de Haas oscillatory magnetoresistance originating from zero-field spin splitting of two-dimensional electron gases (2DEGs) in In0.52Al0.48As/InxGa1-xAs/In0.52Al0.48As quantum wells with silicon delta doped on the upper barrier layer have been investigated by means of magnetotransport measurements before and after illumination. Contrary to the expectation, after each illumination, the beating nodes induced by the zero-field spin-splitting effect shift to lower and lower magnetic field due to the decrease in the zero-field spin-splitting energy of the 2DEGs. The anomalous phenomenon of the shift of the beating nodes and the decrease in spin-orbit coupling constants after illumination cannot be explained by utilizing the previous linear Rashba model. It is suggested that the decrease in the zero-field spin-splitting energy and the spin-orbit coupling constant arise from the nonlinear Rashba spin splitting.

On detection wavelength and electron-hole wave function overlap of type II InAs/In-x Ga1-x Sb superlattice infrared photodetector

In this paper, the detection wavelength and the electron-hole wave function overlap of InAs/IrxGa1-xSb type II superlattice photodetectors are numerically calculated by using the envelope function and the transfer matrix methods. The band offset is dealt with by employing the model solid theory, which already takes into account the lattice mismatch between InAs and InxGa1-xSb layers. Firstly, the detection wavelength and the wave function overlap are investigated in dependence on the InAs and InxGa1-xSb layer thicknesses, the In mole fraction, and the periodic number. The results indicate that the detection wavelength increases with increasing In mole fraction, InAs and InxGa1-xSb layer thicknesses, respectively. When increasing the periodic number, the detection wavelength first increases distinctly for small periodic numbers then increases very slightly for large period numbers. Secondly, the wave function overlap diminishes with increasing InAs and InxGa1-xSb layer thicknesses, while it enhances with increasing In mole fraction. The dependence of the wave function overlap on the periodic number shows the same trend as that of the detection wavelength on the periodic number. Moreover, for a constant detection wavelength, the wave function overlap becomes greater when the thickness ratio of the InAs over InxGa1-xSb is larger.

Electron concentration dependence of exciton localization and freeze-out at local potential fluctuations in InN films

InN films with electron concentration ranging from n similar to 10(17) to 10(20) cm(-3) grown by metal-organic chemical vapor deposition (MOCVD) and molecular beam epitaxy (MBE) were investigated by variable-temperature photoluminescence and absorption measurements. The energy positions of absorption edge as well as photoluminescence peak of these InN samples with electron concentration above 10(18) cm(-3) show a distinct S-shape temperature dependence. With a model of potential fluctuations caused by electron-impurity interactions, the behavior can be quantitatively explained in terms of exciton freeze-out in local potential minima at sufficiently low temperatures, followed by thermal redistribution of the localized excitons when the band gap shrinks with increasing temperature. The exciton localization energy sigma (loc) is found to follow the n (5/12) power relation, which testifies to the observed strong localization effects in InN with high electron concentrations.