Very-low-threshold current density continuous-wave quantum-dot laser diode

Data are presented showing that a quantum-dot laser diode can achieve a continuous-wave room-temperature threshold current density as low as 11.7 A/cm². The broad-area laser diode operates at a wavelength of 1.22 mum and delivers a power level of 0.42 W with 40% maximum slope efficiency in p-up mounting without heatsinking. Spectral measurements indicate the onset of stimulated emission at ~6 A/cm².     

Spectroscopic Properties and Laser Performance of Er3+ and Yb3+ Co-Doped GdAl3(BO3)4 Crystal

An Er:Yb:GdAl₃(BO₃)₄ crystal was grown and room-temperature polarized absorption, emission, and gain spectra were investigated. Fluorescence decay curves of Er³⁺ at 1530 nm and Yb³⁺ at 1040 nm in the crystal were measured. Efficient laser operation of Er:Yb:GdAl₃(BO₃)₄ crystal at 1.5-1.6 mum was realized. Quasi-continuous-wave output powers of 1.8 W with slope efficiency of 19% and 0.78 W with slope efficiency of 14% were achieved in diode-pumped c-cut and c-cut and a-cut crystals, respectively. The output spectrum and polarization of Er:Yb:GdAl₃(BO₃)₄ laser were also investigated.     

Room-temperature InAs=AlSb quantum-cascade laser operating at 8.9 /spl mu/m

A room-temperature InAs/AlSb quantum-cascade laser operating at 8.9 mum is reported. The laser structure is grown on an n-InAs (100) substrate by solid-source molecular-beam epitaxy. The active region utilises a diagonal intersubband transition in an InAs/AlSb three-quantum-well structure. Observed threshold current density in pulse mode is 2.6 kA/cm² at 80 K and 12.0 kA/cm² at 300 K. The maximum operation temperature is 305 K     

Dopant Migration-Induced Interface Dipole Effect in n-Doped GaAs/AlGaAs Terahertz Detectors

A heterojunction interfacial workfunction internal photoemission (HEIWIP) terahertz detector with ~1times10¹⁸cm^-3 n-type doped GaAs emitters in a multilayer GaAs/Al_0.13Ga_0.87 As heterostructure is presented. The detection mechanism is based on free carrier absorption with a broad response extending to ~ 5.26 THz (57 mum), corresponding to an effective workfunction of ~ 21.8 meV, which is much smaller than the offset expected for an Al fraction of x = 0.13 at a 1times10¹⁸ cm^-3 doping. This is attributed to a reduction of the conduction band offset by interface dipole formation between the accumulated negative charges at the interface states and migrated positively charged donors in the barrier. The device has a peak responsivity of 0.32 A/W at ~ 26 mum at 5 K. It is demonstrated that the dopant migration-induced interface dipole effect can be used to extend the zero response threshold frequency (f ₀) of n-type HEIWIP detectors.     

Temperature Dependence of High Frequency and Noise Performance of Sb-Heterostructure Millimeter-Wave Detectors

The temperature dependence of the microwave and noise performance of zero-bias Sb-heterostructure backward diodes for millimeter-wave detection have been investigated experimentally. Both the junction capacitance and junction resistance were found to decrease with decreasing temperature, while the intrinsic cutoff frequency and sensitivity are observed to increase as the temperature is lowered. A simple physical model that captures these effects is described. The directly measured voltage sensitivity at 50 GHz for a 2times2 mum ² device increased from 3650 V/W at room temperature to 7190 V/W at 4.2 K. The measured noise equivalent power (NEP) decreased from 4.2 to 0.2 pW/Hz^1/2 as the temperature was lowered from 298 K to 4.2 K when driven from a 50- Omega source. Based on the measured RF sensitivity, S-parameters, and noise spectrum, a NEP of 0.3 pW/Hz^1/2 is projected for room-temperature operation at zero bias using a conjugately matched RF source     

A 1 Tb/s 3 W Inductive-Coupling Transceiver for 3D-Stacked Inter-Chip Clock and Data Link

A 1 Tb/s 3 W inter-chip transceiver transmits clock and data by inductive coupling at a clock rate of 1 GHz and data rate of 1 Gb/s per channel. 1024 data transceivers are arranged with a pitch of 30 mum in a layout area of 1 mm². The total layout area including 16 clock transceivers is 2 mm² in 0.18 mum CMOS and the chip thickness is reduced to 10 mum. Bi-phase modulation (BPM) is employed for the data link to improve noise immunity, reducing power in the transceiver. Four-phase time division multiple access (TDMA) reduces crosstalk and the bit-error rate (BER) is lower than 10^-13     

A 20 to 24 GHz $+$16.8 dBm Fully Integrated Power Amplifier Using 0.18 $mu{rm m}$ CMOS Process

A 20-24 GHz, fully integrated power amplifier (PA) with on-chip input and output matching is realized in 0.18 mum standard CMOS process. By cascading two cascode stages, the PA achieves 15 dB small signal gain, 10.7% power added efficiency, 16.8 dBm output saturation power and high power density per chip area of 0.137 W/mm², which is believed to be the highest power density to our knowledge. The whole chip area with pads is 0.35 mm², which is the smallest one compared to all reported paper.     

Quantum-well AlxGa1 - xAs-GaAs heterostructure lasers grown by metalorganic chemical vapor deposition

Data are presented on photopumped single- and multiple-quantum-well AlxGa1-xAs-GaAs heterostructures grown by metalorganic chemical vapor deposition (MO-CVD) showing that continuous room-temperature (CW 300 K) laser operation of such structures is possible in the range 0-150 meV above the GaAs active region band edge (Delta E equiv hbar omega - E_{g} = 0-150meV). Optically pumped multiple-quantum-well heterostructure lasers of short cavity length (l lsim 20 mum), and thus high edge-to-edge cavity end losses, are shown to operate at photo-excitation threshold levels as low as 900 W/cm²(J_{th} sim 375A/cm²). As the quantum-well dimension is reduced toL_{z} lsim 100Å, single-active-layer heterostructures shift their laser operation to higher confined-particle states, or fail to operate altogether, whereas multiple-active-layer heterostructures continue to operate as lasers on the lowest confined-particle statesn = 1 e rightarrow hhandn' = 1' e rightarrow lhtransitions). For a multiple-quantum-well heterostructure of small enough GaAs active region size,L_{z} < 80Å, recombination radiation at the energy gap is cut off, and as expected, laser operation on the lowest confined-particle states (1 - 1') is shifted to high energy (hbar omega - E_{g} > 50meV).     

Improved High-Temperature Leakage in High-Density MIM Capacitors by Using a TiLaO Dielectric and an Ir Electrode

We have fabricated high-kappa TaN/Ir/TiLaO/TaN metal-insulator-metal capacitors. A low leakage current of 6.6 times 10^-7 A/cm² was obtained at 125degC for 24-fF/mum2 density capacitors. The excellent device performance is due to the combined effects of the high-kappa TiLaO dielectric, a high work-function Ir electrode, and large conduction band offset.     

New insulated-gate thyristor structure with MOSFET coupled baseregions

A new insulated-gate thyristor (IGTH) structure in which the base of n-p-n transistor is coupled to the base of p-n-p transistor through a MOSFET is described for the first time, In the new structure, called base coupled insulated gate thyristor (BC-IGTH), the parasitic lateral p-n-p carrier injection inherent in previously reported thyristor structures such as the MCT, BRT, and IGTH is absent. The absence of parasitic lateral p-n-p carrier injection results in low on state voltage drop and high controllable current capability for this structure. The turn-on process in the new structure is fundamentally different from other MOS-gated thyristor structures in that in the new structure, the higher gain n-p-n transistor is turned-on first, which then provides the base drive for the lower gain p-n-p transistor. Multicellular 800 V devices of the new thyristor structure were fabricated using a double-diffused DMOS process, and were found to give on-state drop of 1.1 V at 200 A/cm², and controllable currents in excess of 100 A/cm² were obtained by forming MOS-gate controlled emitter-to-base resistive shorts     

Very low threshold current density 1.29 μm GaInNAs triple quantum well lasers grown by MBE

Very low threshold Ga_0.62In_0.38N_0.007As_0.993/GaN_0.011As_0.989/GaAs triple quantum well (QW) lasers emitting at 1.29 mum are demonstrated. The laser structure was grown by molecular beam epitaxy after extensive optimisations of growth and in situ annealing conditions. As- cleaved broad area lasers with a cavity length of 1 mm showed a record low threshold current density of 400 A/cm² (~130 A/cm² / QW), a high differential efficiency of 0.32 W/A/facet and a characteristic temperature of 94 K in the temperature range 10 to 110degC.     

Very-low-threshold current density 1.29 μm GaInNAs triple quantum well lasers grown by molecular beam epitaxy

Very-low-threshold Ga_0.62In_0.38N_0.007As_0.993/GaN_0.011 As_0.989/GaAs triple quantum well (QW) lasers emitting at 1.29 mum are demonstrated. The laser structure was grown by molecular beam epitaxy after extensive optimisations of growth and in situ annealing conditions. As-cleaved broad-area lasers with a cavity length of 1 mm under pulsed operation showed a record low-threshold current density of 400 A/cm² (~130A/cm²/QW), a high differential efficiency of 0.32 W/A/facet and a characteristic temperature of 94 K in the temperature range 10 to 110degC.     

Intersubband χ3 in coupled InGaAs-AlGaAs multiplequantum wells

The third-order nonlinearity, χ³(ω,ω,-ω), is measured for a mid-infrared intersubband transition in strained InGaAs-AlGaAs multiple quantum wells (MQW's). The high conduction band offset of this system allows an intersubband transition at 3.1 μm. The level structure of the quantum well is designed to include a meta-stable trapping level, resulting in a peak saturation intensity of 6 MW/cm² at Brewster's angle, approximately 20 times lower than would be found in a square quantum well with similar linewidth. A near-resonant n₂ of 8.4×10^-7 cm²/W at 3.1 μm is calculated. The off-resonant n₂ is also calculated and shown to be attractive at wavelengths as short as 1.55 μm     

InGaAsP/InP wavelength-selective heterojunction phototransistors

High-gain phototransistors with narrow spectral response (wavelength-selective phototransistors) have been developed by adding an absorption layer to a wide-bandgap heterojunction phototransistor using the InGaAsP/InP material system. The spectral response peaks at approximately 1.2 µm and the spectral half-width of 53 nm is achieved. This device exhibited an optical gain as high as 400 at the peak wavelength under an incident light power Pinof 3.6 µW. The rise time was measured to be 18 µs at Pin= 10 µW. The noise characteristic was also measured for this device, and the resultant detectivity D^*was estimated to be 3.7 × 10¹⁰cm . Hz^1/2/W at a frequency of 2 kHz under an optical bias level of 0.1 µW. These characteristics have been theoretically discussed in detail.     

Infrared saturation spectroscopy in p-type germanium

We investigate spectral changes induced by high-power CO2laser radiation in the direct intervalence band absorption of p-type germanium. Using a model of inhomogeneously broadened two-level systems, we deduce a room-temperature saturation intensity of 4 MW/ cm²from published observations of saturation of this absorption. The applicability of the two-level model to transitions between two electronic bands is discussed. We relate the linear absorption coefficient to the saturation intensity and the effective population difference, where the latter is obtained in a spherical band approximation. The result yields a value of 0.55 ps for the geometric mean of the phase and energy relaxation times. The meaning of these times is explained for our system, and quantitative agreement is found with published data on optical and acoustical lattice scattering probabilities. Specifically, we find a very short phase relaxation time of 0.09 ps. This allows the prediction of a burnt-hole spectral width of 57 cm^-1(HWHM) at small saturation. In a preliminary experiment, we have observed the modulation of a CW CO²laser beam by intense nanosecond pulses of a second CO²laser offset in frequency by up to 140 cm^-1.     

High-Performance Inversion-Type Enhancement-Mode InGaAs MOSFET With Maximum Drain Current Exceeding 1 A/mm

High-performance inversion-type enhancement- mode (E-mode) n-channel In_0.65Ga_0.35As MOSFETs with atomic-layer-deposited Al₂O₃ as gate dielectric are demonstrated. A 0.4-mum gate-length MOSFET with an Al₂O₃ gate oxide thickness of 10 nm shows a gate leakage current that is less than 5 times 10^-6 A/cm² at 4.0-V gate bias, a threshold voltage of 0.4 V, a maximum drain current of 1.05 A/mm, and a transconductance of 350 mS/mm at drain voltage of 2.0 V. The maximum drain current and transconductance scale linearly from 40 mum to 0.7 mum. The peak effective mobility is ~1550 cm²/V ldr s at 0.3 MV/cm and decreases to ~650 cm²/V ldr s at 0.9 MV/cm. The obtained maximum drain current and transconductance are all record-high values in 40 years of E-mode III-V MOSFET research.     

Integratable High Linearity Compact Waveguide Coupled Tapered InGaAsP Photodetectors

We investigate high linear response tapered photodiodes composed of bulk and multiquantum-well absorption layers based on the integratable asymmetric twin waveguide architecture. The tapered shape reduces space-charge induced nonlinearities, enhancing the saturation current densities at high input optical powers. The 1-dB compression current density for an InGaAsP bulk active layer photodiode (BPD) is in excess of (2.8 plusmn 0.3) kA/cm², compared to quantum-well photo- diodes (QWPD) in the same materials system that saturate at (1.2 plusmn 0.1) kA/cm². We find that the limited density of states of QWPDs leads to the early onset of current saturation. The BPD has a polarization sensitivity of S_Pol = (1.0 plusmn 0.5) dB and responsivity R = (0.3plusmn0.03) A/W at a wavelength of 1.55 mum, whereas the QWPD has S_Pol = (7plusmn1) dB and R = (0.55plusmn0.05) A/W, while both have a bandwidth of (11 plusmn 1) GHz.     

High-Performance Bound-to-Continuum Quantum-Cascade Lasers for Broad-Gain Applications

Based on the bound-to-continuum active region design, we shall present a high performance continuous-wave (CW) quantum-cascade laser. In contrast to high performance lasers based on a two-phonon resonance transition and a narrow linewidth (< 165 cm^-1), the device presented here exhibits a spontaneous emission full-width at half-maximum as large as 295 cm^-1. Thus, such devices are very suitable for broadband tuning. At 30degC, it shows a maximum output power and slope efficiency of 188 mW and 500 mW/A, as well as a threshold current density of only 1.79 kA/cm². Furthermore, at this temperature, the device demonstrates an internal differential quantum efficiency of 71% and a wall plug efficiency of 2.0%. The maximum CW operation temperature reached is 110degC. A thermal resistance of 4.3 K/W was attained by epi-down mounting on diamond submounts. The waveguide losses of 14 cm^-1 are explained by intersubband absorption in addition to free-carrier absorption.     

Raman Scattering and Nd3+ Laser Operation in NaLa(WO 4)2

The continuous-wave laser operation of Nd-doped tetragonal NaLa(WO ₄)₂ crystal is studied at room temperature by optical pumping in the spectral region overlapping AlGaAs diode laser emission. This crystal has inhomogeneously broadened optical bands. From the room-temperature spectroscopic parameters determined it is found that the optimum Nd concentration for the ⁴F_3/2rarr⁴I_J laser channels must be in the 3-5 at.% range. For J=11/2 and 13/2 channels (lambdaap1.06 and 1.3 mum) the most favourable polarization configuration is parallel to the crystallographic c axis, while for J=9/2 little polarization dependence of the laser efficiency is predicted. Laser operation was achieved with a 3.35 at.% Nd-doped sample grown by the Czochralski method. The laser operation was tested in an hemispherical optical cavity pumped by a Ti:sapphire laser. Stimulated emission at lambda=1056 nm was achieved for a wide spectral pumping range, lambda=790-820 nm. Stimulated Raman scattering was achieved in the picosecond regime with an efficiency similar to that of monoclinic KY(WO₄)₂ reference compound     

A BiCMOS process utilizing selective epitaxy for analog/digitalapplications

A 2-μm BiCMOS process that has been designed for 10-V analog/digital applications is described. This process utilizes selective epitaxial growth to integrate a vertical n-p-n bipolar with an f_T of 3.0 GHz, and a nonoptimized vertical p-n-p structure into a 2-μm CMOS process with poly-to-n⁺ capacitors. The insertion of the bipolar structures is accomplished with only two added masking steps, and with no changes to the critical process parameters that determine the performance of the MOS transistors. The circuit worthiness of the process is demonstrated by fabricating CMOS, vertical n-p-n RTL, and vertical p-n-p RTL ring oscillators, and demonstrating high yields for these circuits