Infrared pulses of 1 picosecond duration tunable between 4 μmand 18 μm

The generation of infrared pulses via difference frequency mixing of Nd:glass laser pulses and infrared dye laser pulses is discussed. Tuning between 4 and 18 μm is achieved by various combinations of laser dyes (dye No. 5 and A 9860) and nonlinear crystals (AgGaS₂ and GaSe). The energy of the mid-infrared pulses is in the order of a microjoule; and the photon conversion efficiency is ≲2%. The duration of the nearly bandwidth limited pulses is measured to be 1 ps. The system operates with a repetition rate of 1 Hz     

Optical parametric oscillators

Recent developments in β-barium borate (BBO), lithium triborate (LBO), and potassium titanyl phosphate (KTP) optical parametric oscillators are reviewed. It is noted that, with suitable nonlinear optical crystals and pump sources, virtually any wavelength ranging from the UV to the mid IR can now be reached with optical parametric oscillators. The technology is better developed at the present time for the near-UV to 4.5 μm range, however, largely due to the availability of large, high-quality BBO, LBO, MgO:LiNbO₃, and KTP crystals. For the 1-10 μm range, AgGaS₂ and AgGaSe ₂ show great promise     

Phasematching of infrared nonlinear laser devices using AgGaS2

Refractive indexes of AgGaS₂ are measured using a tunable CO₂ laser at 9-11 μm, Nd:YAG, and He-Ne laser lines and compared with previous values. The phasematching angles calculated for difference-frequency mixing, upconversion, and parametric oscillation are found to agree better with the experimental values     

A New Family of Ternary Almost Perfect Nonlinear Mappings

A mapping f(x) from GF(pⁿ) to GF(pⁿ) is differentially k-uniform if k is the maximum number of solutions x isin GF(pⁿ) of f(x+a) - f(x) = b, where a, b isin GF(pⁿ) and a ne 0. A 2-uniform mapping is called almost perfect nonlinear (APN). This correspondence describes new families of ternary APN mappings over GF(3ⁿ), n>3 odd, of the form f(x) = ux^d + x^{d 2} where d₁ = (3^n-1)/2 - 1 and d₂ = 3ⁿ - 2.     

Gain measurement and upconversion analysis in Tm3+, Ho3+ co-doped alumino-zirco-fluoride glass

The small signal gain coefficients were measured in Tm³⁺,Ho³⁺ co-doped alumino-zirco-fluoride glass. A gain of 15%/cm at 2.05 μm was obtained for pump power density of 42 kW/cm². The temperature increase of the glass was found to be more than 150 K with this pump power, which was estimated from a comparison between fluorescence intensities of Tm^{3+ 3} F₄-³H₆ and Ho^{3+ 5} I₇-⁵I₈. An upconversion rate constant of 12.5×10^-17 cm³ sec^-1 from a coupled (Tm^{3+ 3}F₄, Ho^{3+ 5}I₇) level to a coupled (Tm^{3+ 3}H₅, Ho^{3+ 5}I₆) level was determined by fitting the experimentally obtained gain coefficients to the calculated one which takes into consideration any temperature increase     

Characteristics of GaAsSb single-quantum-well-lasers emitting near1.3 μm

We report data on GaAsSb single-quantum-well lasers grown on GaAs substrates. Room temperature pulsed emission at 1.275 μm in a 1250-μm-long device has been observed. Minimum threshold current densities of 535 A/cm² were measured in 2000-μm-long lasers. We also measured internal losses of 2-5 cm^-1, internal quantum efficiencies of 30%-38% and characteristic temperatures T₀ of 67°C-77°C. From these parameters, a gain constant G₀ of 1660 cm^-1 and a transparency current density J_tr of 134 A/cm² were calculated. The results indicate the potential for fabricating 1.3-μm vertical-cavity surface-emitting lasers from these materials     

High performance poly-crystalline silicon thin film transistorsfabricated using remote plasma chemical vapor deposition of SiO2

A remote plasma chemical vapor deposition (RPCVD) of SiO₂ was investigated for forming an interface of SiO₂/Si at a low temperature below 300°C. A good SiO₂/Si interface was formed on Si substrates through decomposition and reaction of SiH₄ gas with oxygen radical by confining plasma using mesh plates. The density of interface traps (D_it) was as low as 3.4×10¹⁰ cm^-2eV^-1. N- and p-channel Al-gate poly-Si TFTs were fabricated at 270°C with SiO₂ films as a gate oxide formed by RPCVD and laser crystallized poly-crystalline films formed by a pulsed XeCl excimer laser. They showed good characteristics of a low threshold voltage of 1.5 V (n-channel) and -1.5 V (p-channel), and a high carrier mobility of 400 cm²/Vs     

Highly nonlinear bismuth oxide-based glass fibres for all-opticalsignal processing

A highly nonlinear bismuth oxide (Bi₂O₃)-based glass fibre aiming at applications to all-optical signal processing is reported. This fibre features a high nonlinear coefficient γ of 64.2 W^-1 km^-1, low propagation loss of a=0.8 dB/m, low splicing loss of 0.48 dB, and high mechanical and chemical durability     

The performances of (InAs)1/(GaAs)2short-period superlattice strained single-quantum-well laser on GaAssubstrate

We fabricated an (InAs)₁/(GaAs)₂ short-period superlattice (SPS) strained quantum-well laser at 1.07 μm by MOVPE. The SPS active layer has 10 periods of (InAs)₁/(_GaAs)₂ and an average mismatch of over 2.2%. In highly strained conditions the device showed a lasing wavelength of 1.07 μm, a threshold of 130 A/cm², and a characteristic temperature T₀ of 175 K. We measured the gain characteristic by the Hakki and Paoli method at LED conditions and obtained a high differential gain of 2.0×10^-15 cm² at the threshold current     

Large purely refractive nonlinear index of single crystal P-toluenesulphonate (PTS) at 1600 nm

Z-scan measurements at 1600 nm on single-crystal PTS (p-toluene sulfonate) with single, 65 ps pulses gave a complex nonlinear refractive index coefficient of n₂=2.2(±0.3)×10^-12 cm²/W at 1 GW/cm² and α₂<0.5 cm/GW. This is the first highly nonlinear, organic material to satisfy the conditions imposed by the figures of merit     

Low-resistance bandgap-engineeredW/Si1-xGex/Si contacts

Bandgap-engineered W/Si_1-xGe_x/Si junctions (p⁺ and n⁺) with ultra-low contact resistivity and low leakage have been fabricated and characterized. The junctions are formed via outdiffusion from a selectively deposited Si_0.7Ge _0.3 layer which is implanted and annealed using RTA. The Si _1-xGe_x layer can then be selectively thinned using NH₄OH/H₂O₂/H₂O at 75°C with little change in characteristics or left as-deposited. Leakage currents were better than 1.6×10^-9 A/cm² (areal), 7.45×10^-12 A/cm (peripheral) for p⁺/n and 3.5×10^-10 A/cm² (peripheral) for n⁺/p. W contacts were formed using selective LPCVD on Si_1-xGe_x. A specific contact resistivity of better than 3.2×10^-8 Ω cm² for p ⁺/n and 2.2×10^-8 Ω cm² for n⁺/p is demonstrated-an order of magnitude n⁺ better than current TiSi₂ technology. W/Si_1-xGe _x/Si junctions show great potential for ULSI applications     

Electrical conduction and dielectric breakdown in aluminum oxideinsulators on silicon

Leakage currents and dielectric breakdown were studied in MIS capacitors of metal-aluminum oxide-silicon. The aluminum oxide was produced by thermally oxidizing AlN at 800-1160°C under dry O₂ conditions. The AlN films were deposited by RF magnetron sputtering on p-type Si (100) substrates. Thermal oxidation produced Al ₂O₃ with a thickness and structure that depended on the process time and temperature. The MIS capacitors exhibited the charge regimes of accumulation, depletion, and inversion on the Si semiconductor surface. The best electrical properties were obtained when all of the AlN was fully oxidized to Al₂O₃ with no residual AlN. The MIS flatband voltage was near 0 V, the net oxide trapped charge density, Q_0x, was less than 10¹¹ cm ^-2, and the interface trap density, D_it, was less than 10¹¹ cm^-2 eV^-1, At an oxide electric field of 0.3 MV/cm, the leakage current density was less than 10^-7 A cm^-2, with a resistivity greater than 10 ¹² Ω-cm. The critical field for dielectric breakdown ranged from 4 to 5 MV/cm. The temperature dependence of the current versus electric field indicated that the conduction mechanism was Frenkel-Poole emission, which has the property that higher temperatures reduce the current. This may be important for the reliability of circuits operating under extreme conditions. The dielectric constant ranged from 3 to 9. The excellent electronic quality of aluminum oxide may be attractive for field effect transistor applications     

Electrical properties of Si p+-n junctions for sub-0.25μm CMOS fabricated by Ga FIB implantation

p⁺-n junction diodes for sub-0.25-μm CMOS circuits were fabricated using focused ion beam (FIB) Ga implantation into n-Si (100) substrates with background doping of N_b=(5-10)×10 ¹⁵ and N_b⁺=(1-10)×10¹⁷ cm^-3. Implant energy was varied from 2 to 50 keV at doses ranging from 1×10¹³ to 1×10¹⁵ cm^-2 with different scan speeds. Rapid thermal annealing (RTA) was performed at either 600 °C or 700°C for 30 s. Diodes fabricated on N_b⁺ with 10-keV Ga⁺ exhibited a leakage current (^I_R) 100× smaller than those fabricated with 50-keV Ga⁺. Tunneling was determined to be the major current transport mechanism for the diodes fabricated on N_b⁺ substrates. An optimal condition for I_R on N_b⁺ substrates was obtained at 15 keV/1×10¹⁵ cm^-2. Diodes annealed at 600°C were found to have an I_R 1000× smaller than those annealed at 700°C. I-V characteristics of diodes fabricated on N_b substrates with low-energy Ga⁺ showed no implant energy dependence. I-V characteristics were also measured as a function of temperature from 25 to 200°C. For diodes implanted with 15-keV Ga ⁺, the cross-over temperatures between I_diff and I_g-r occurred at 106°C for N_b ⁺ and at 91°C for N_b substrates     

Reduction of oxide charge and interface-trap density in MOScapacitors with ITO gates

The electrical properties of MOS capacitors with an indium tin oxide (ITO) gate are studied in terms of the number density of the fixed oxide charge and of the interface traps N_f and N _it, respectively. Both depend on the deposition conditions of ITO and the subsequent annealing procedures. The fixed oxide charge and the interface-trap density are minimized by depositing at a substrate temperature of 240°C at low power conditions and in an oxygen-rich ambient. Under these conditions, as-deposited ITO films are electrically conductive. The most effective annealing procedure consists of a two-step anneal: a 45-s rapid thermal anneal at 950°C in N₂, followed by a 30 min anneal in N₂/20% H₂ at 450°C. Typical values obtained for N_it and N_f are 4.2×10¹⁰ cm^-2 and 2.8×10¹⁰ cm^-2, respectively. These values are further reduced to 1.9×10¹⁰ cm^-2 and ≲5×10⁹ cm^-2, respectively, by depositing approximately 25 nm polycrystalline silicon on the gate insulation prior to the deposition of ITO     

Thermal shifts of the spectral lines in the 4F3/2 to 4I11/2 manifold of anNd:YAG Laser

A report is presented of the thermal shifts of eleven of the twelve lines from the ⁴F_3/2 Stark energy levels to the ⁴I_11/2 energy levels in an Nd:YAG laser for a temperature change from 20-200°C. The thermal shift difference between the Stark sublevels R₁, R₂ in ⁴F_3/2 is found to be about -0.6±0.6 cm^-1/100°C. Within experimental uncertainty, all of the lasing lines either moved to longer wavelength or remained unchanged with increasing temperature     

Nondegenerate diffraction on transient gratings in InSb

Nondegenerate diffraction in InSb has been investigated. In experiments, the grating is excited by two CO laser beams with the frequency ω₁, and a third beam with a different frequency ω₂ is used to detect the grating. The diffraction efficiency can be represented by the nonlinear susceptibility χ⁽³⁾(ω₂, -ω₂ , ω₁), which can be obtained with the Bloch equation. The frequency dependence given by theory is in agreement with experiments, implying that the nonlinear index is caused by the saturation     

Tunable infrared generation using a femtosecond 250 kHz Ti:sapphireregenerative amplifier

A mode-locked Ti:sapphire regenerative amplifier system pumped with a single argon ion laser produces μJ energy 100 femtosecond pulses of 800 nm wavelength at 250 kHz repetition rate. Pumping a Type II BaB₂O₄ (BBO) optical parametric amplifiers (OPA) with this output generates 500 nJ infrared pulses and continuous tuning from 1.1 μm to beyond 2.5 μm. Difference frequency generation of the signal idler output from this OPA source in AgGaS₂ produces 60 nJ mid infrared pulses and continuous tuning from 2.4 μm to beyond 12 μm     

A Consistent Description of Scaling Law for Flux Pinning in ${hbox{Nb}}_{3}{hbox{Sn}}$ Strands Based on the Kramer Model (Corrected)*

There are a lot of experimental reports on the scaling of flux pinning in the form of F = F_mb^1/2(1 - b)², with b = B/B_c2.The temperature dependence of F_m is approximately proportional to B'.2 , whereas the strain dependence of Fm is reported to be proportional to the upper critical field Bc2. In this work, we re-analyze our previous data with the Kramer model including the pin-breaking dynamic pinning force (F_p) for a low field region. It is shown that the extrapolated upper critical field B_c2*, strongly depend on the ratio between the mean of the parameter K_p for F_p (p>) and the parameter K, for the flux line lattice shearing pinning force F_s. It is found that the strain dependence of F_m at 4.2 K is approximately proportional to (B_c2*)^1.5. We further compare the data with the prediction of our recent scaling theory based on Eliashberg theory of strongly coupled superconductors. It is shown that the strain dependence of F_m at 4.2 K is proportional to BC₂ ^5/2 kappa^-2, consistent with the temperature dependence of Fm. Moreover, this model agrees reasonably well even with the data in a high compressive strain region (<-0.8%).     

Carrier-dependent nonlinearities and modulation in an InGaAs SQWwaveguide

The authors report measurements of optically induced carrier-dependent refractive index changes and their saturation in an InGaAs single quantum well centered within a linear multiple quantum well guided-wave Fabry-Perot resonator using diode laser sources. A low-excitation nonlinear refractive cross-section, σ_n=-1×10^-19 cm³, was deduced for probe wavelengths near the TM (transverse magnetic) absorption edge, falling only to σ_n=-3.1×10^-20 cm³, at over 0.16 μm from the band edge. For an incident irradiance of 18 kW/cm ², refractive index changes in the InGaAs quantum well as large as -0.16 were deduced near the absorption edge, while the index change at a wavelength 0.16 μm from the absorption edge was -0.055. This large off-resonant index change is attributed to an enhanced free-carrier contribution within a 2D system