Low resistance ohmic contacts to p-Ge1-xCx onSi

We report on ohmic contact measurements of Al, Au, and W metallizations to p-type epitaxial Ge_0.9983C_0.0017 grown on a (100) Si substrate by molecular beam epitaxy (MBE). Contacts were annealed at various temperatures, and values of specific contact resistance have been achieved which range from 10^-5Ω·cm² to as low as 5.6×10 ^-6Ω·cm². Theoretical calculations of the contact resistance of metals on Ge_1-xC_x with small percentages of carbon, based on the thermionic field emission mechanism of conduction, result in good agreement with the experimental data. We conclude that Al and Au are suitable ohmic contacts to p-Ge_0.9983C_0.0017 alloys     

Carrier transport related analysis of high-power AlGaN/GaN HEMTstructures

Shubnikov-de Haas (SdH) oscillation and Hall measurement results were compared with HEMT DC and RF characteristics for two different MOCVD grown AlGaN-GaN HEMT structures on semiinsulating 4H-SiC substrates. A HEMT with a 40-nm, highly doped AlGaN cap layer exhibited an electron mobility of 1500 cm²/V/s and a sheet concentration of 9×10¹² cm at 300 K (7900 cm²/V/s and 8×10¹² cm^-2 at 80 K), but showed a high threshold voltage and high DC output conductance. A 27-nm AlGaN cap with a thinner, lightly doped donor layer yielded similar Hall values, but lower threshold voltage and output conductance and demonstrated a high CW power density of 6.9 W/mm at 10 GHz. The 2DEG of this improved structure had a sheet concentration of n_SdH=7.8×10¹² cm^-2 and a high quantum scattering lifetime of τ_q=1.5×10^-13 s at 4.2 K compared to n_SdH=8.24×10¹² cm^-2 and τ_q=1.72×10^-13 s for the thick AlGaN cap layer structure, Despite the excellent characteristics of the films, the SdH oscillations still indicate a slight parallel conduction and a weak localization of electrons. These results indicate that good channel quality and high sheet carrier density are not the only HEMT attributes required for good transistor performance     

GaAs VCSEL's at λ=780 and 835 nm for short-distance 2.5-Gb/splastic optical fiber data links

Selectively oxidized GaAs vertical-cavity surface-emitting lasers for λ=780- and 835-nm emission wavelength and 120-μm-core diameter step index plastic optical fiber (POF) are investigated for short distance interconnects. 2.5-Gb/s pseudorandom data transmission over up to 2.5 m of plastic fiber is demonstrated with a bit-error rate (BER) of better than 10^-11. Furthermore, bias-free data transmission at 2.5 Gb/s over 1-m fiber length again at a BER of better than 10^-11 is reported     

A comparison of optoelectronic properties of lattice-matched andstrained quantum-well and quantum-wire structures

The k·p formalism is used to study the absorption spectra, material and differential gain in quantum wires as a function of orientation, built-in strain, and wire dimensions. The results for material and differential gain are compared with those for an optimized quantum-well structure. We find that for quantum wires at 300 K, the gain becomes positive at a carrier density of 1.27·10¹⁸ cm^-3, while in quantum wells this density is calculated to be 1.82·10¹⁸ cm^-3. Incorporating tensile strain in the wires reduces the transparency carrier concentration to 0.96·10¹⁸ cm^-3 while compressive strain allows one to obtain positive gain for densities greater than 1.08·10¹⁸ cm^-3. Orienting the wire along the [111] direction reduces the transparency carrier density to 0.60·10¹⁸ cm^-3. The differential gain in quantum-well structures for injections near the threshold is on the order of 10^-14 cm^-4, while for 50 Å·100-Å quantum wires the differential gain near the threshold is found to be on the order of 10^-13 cm^-4 . The differential gain in wires whose wire axis is parallel to the [111] direction has also been found to be on the order of 10^-13 cm^-4 for carrier injections close to the threshold     

Ultra-submicrometer-gate AlGaAs/GaAs HEMTs

Ultra-submicrometer-gate AlGaAs/GaAs high-electron-mobility transistors (HEMTs) that have gate lengths ranging from 25 to 85 nm and were fabricated using electron-beam lithographic techniques on epitaxial wafers grown by molecular beam epitaxy are discussed. These devices show that velocity overshoot and short-gate geometry effects play an important role for the gate lengths less than 100 nm. The maximum intrinsic transconductance is 215 mS/mm, and the effective saturated electron velocity reaches 3×10⁷ cm/s for a 30-nm HEMT     

Fabrication and numerical analysis of AlGaAs/GaAs tandem solarcells with tunnel interconnections

High-efficiency (20.2% at 1 sun, AM 1.5) Al_0.4Ga_0.6As/GaAs tandem solar cells are successfully fabricated by molecular-beam epitaxy. The interconnection between the AlGaAs top cell and the GaAs bottom cell consists of a GaAs tunnel junction sandwiched between AlGaAs layers and provides a high-quality tunnel junction. Numerical analysis suggests that an efficiency of 30% can be realized by increasing the carrier lifetimes of AlGaAs layers to 10^-8 s. An efficiency of 35% is expected to be obtainable by replacing the GaAs tunnel junction with an Al_0.33 Ga_0.67As tunnel junction     

High performance 0.35 μm gate-length monolithicenhancement/depletion-mode metamorphicIn0.52Al0.48As/In0.53Ga0.47As HEMTs on GaAs substrates

Monolithic integration of enhancement (E)- and depletion (D)-mode metamorphic In_0.52Al_0.48As/In_0.53Ga_0.47 As/GaAs HEMTs with 0.35 μm gate-length is presented for the first time. Epilayers are grown on 3-inch SI GaAs substrates using molecular beam epitaxy. A mobility of 9550 cm²/V-s and a sheet density of 1.12×10^{12 -2} are achieved at room temperature. Buried Pt-gate was employed for E-mode devices to achieve a positive shift in the threshold voltage. Excellent characteristics are achieved with threshold voltage, maximum drain current, and extrinsic transconductance of 100 mV, 370 mA/mm and 660 mS/mm, respectively for E-mode devices, and -550 mV, 390 mA/mm and 510 mS/mm, respectively for D-mode devices. The unity current gain cutoff frequencies of 75 GHz for E-mode and 80 GHz for D-mode are reported     

Heterostructure devices using self-aligned p-type diffused ohmiccontacts

Describes the use of a p-type refractory ohmic contact in ohmic self-aligned devices. The contacts are based on self-aligned diffusion of zinc-doped tungsten film. The diffusion is nearly isotropic in the vicinity of silicon nitride sidewalls, allowing self-alignment of ohmic contacts with emitters and gates. Low-resistance contacts (<10^-6 Ω·cm²) are formed both to GaAs and GaAlAs, and the lifetime of the diffused region is superior to that obtained from implantation. Heterostructure bipolar transistors (HBTs) showing high current gains (⩾50 at 2×10³ A·cm^-2 and ⩾200 at 1×10⁵ A·cm^-2 with micrometer-sized emitter widths) and p-channel GaAs gate heterostructure field-effect transistors (HFETs) showing high transconductances (78 mS/mm at 2.2-μm gate length) have been fabricated using this contact     

Numerical simulation of a silicon-on-insulator waveguide structurefor phase modulation at 1.3 μm

This paper presents an analysis of a silicon-on-insulator (SOI) waveguide structure to be used for phase modulation at 1.3 μm. The device consists of a two-dimensional (2-D) strip waveguide and a p⁺ /N^-/N⁺ lateral diode to realize the effective index modulation by free-carrier injection. We have calculated that an effective index modulation between 5·10^-4 and 10^-3 could be obtained with current densities in the range from 500 to 1600 A/cm². A detailed numerical simulation of the device transient response is also reported. We demonstrate that an effective index modulation of 5·10^-4 could be obtained with a cutoff frequency of about 100 MHz. The phase modulator has a predicted figure-of-merit (FoM) of 160°/V/mm and a chirp factor of 25. Due to its full compatibility with complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor (CMOS)-SOI technology, the device is interesting for low-cost silicon-based optoelectronic systems     

A low-threshold polarization-controlled vertical-cavitysurface-emitting laser grown on GaAs (311)B substrate

We have demonstrated a GaAs (311)B vertical-cavity surface-emitting laser (VCSEL) with a threshold current as low as 250 μA, which is the lowest value ever reported for that on non-(100) oriented substrates. Also, the fabricated VCSEL shows a stable polarization state for wide during current ranges and a large polarization-mode suppression ratio over 30 dB between the [2¯33] and [011¯] axis modes at 5 mA. The electrical specific resistance of 1.2×10^-4 Ω·cm^-2 at the threshold was reasonably low due to carbon autodoping to AlAs in a p-type distributed Bragg reflector (DBR)     

Narrow-channel GaInP/InGaAs/GaAs MODFETs for high-frequency andpower applications

We have developed a new concept of narrow (50-80 Å) channel MODFETs. It is shown theoretically and experimentally that only the ground energy level is populated in the narrow-channel device. A new technique to measure mobility at the highest energies of the two-dimensional electron gas (2-DEG) was introduced. With the help of this technique it is shown that, in wide wells, electrons in the excited energy levels have low mobility and consequently degrade device performance. It is shown theoretically and experimentally that the narrow-channel device has a higher electron sheet density and mobility and consequently better performance than a conventional wide-channel MODFET. Excellent quality Ga_xIn_1-xP/In_yGa_1-yAs/GaAs MODFETs with a pseudomorphic barrier and a pseudomorphic channel were grown by MBE and OMVPE. Higher than 3.4·10¹² cm^-2 electron sheet densities for single-side-doped MODFETs on GaAs substrate were measured. One-tenth micron gate length MODFETs achieved f _T's over 100 GHz and f_max's over 180 GHz. These results are comparable to the previously reported results for GaInP MODPET with graded barriers, however the device structure is much simpler     

Experimental determination of electron drift velocity in 4H-SiC p+-n-n+ avalanche diodes

4H-SiC p⁺-n-n⁺ diodes of low series resistivity (<1×10^-4 Ω·cm²) were fabricated and packaged. The diodes exhibited homogeneous avalanche breakdown at voltages U_b=250-270 V according to the doping level of the n layer. The temperature coefficient of the breakdown voltage was measured to be 2.6×10^-4 k^-1 in the temperature range 300 to 573 K. These diodes were capable of dissipating a pulsed power density of 3.7 MW/cm² under avalanche current conditions. The transient thermal resistance of the diode was measured to be 0.6 K/W for a 100-ns pulse width, An experimental determination of the electron saturated drift velocity along the c-axis in 4H-SIC was performed for the first time, It was estimated to be 0.8×10⁷ cm/s at room temperature and 0.75×10⁷ cm/s at approximately 360 K     

Pilot symbol-assisted coherent multistage interference cancellerusing recursive channel estimation for DS-CDMA mobile radio

A pilot symbol-assisted coherent multistage interference canceller using recursive channel estimation is proposed for DS-CDMA mobile radio cellular system. Since the channel variation caused by fading is recursively estimated at each interference cancelling stage, the accuracy of channel estimation is improved successively. Computer simulation results show that the required E_b/N₀ at the average BER of 3×10^-2 is improved by ~3.5 dB compared to the matched filter receiver for 10 users and two paths with equal power, and where f_dT=10^-3 (f_d: fading maximum Doppler frequency, T: data symbol duration)     

Laser-pumped rubidium frequency standards: new analysis andprogress

We have achieved a stability of 3·10^-13 τ ^-1/2 for 3<τ<30 s with a laser-pumped rubidium gas-cell frequency standard by reducing the effects due to noise in the microwave and laser sources. This result is one order of magnitude better than the best present performance of lamp-pumped devices     

Alpha-particle-induced charge collection in p-n junction diodes insemi-insulating GaAs substrates

The bias and angle dependences of the alpha-particle-induced charge collected by GaAs p-n junction diodes are investigated. These diodes, in which the n-layer overlays the p-layer, are fabricated in a semi-insulating GaAs substrate by Si and Mg ion implantation. ²⁴¹ Am placed in a vacuum is used as an alpha-particle source with an initial energy of 4.03 MeV and a fluence of 5.4×10^-5/s/μm². The results show that the collected charge is nearly independent of the applied bias. This bias independence may be further evidence that the charge funneling process is not important in semi-insulating GaAs. A model not incorporating funneling can explain the measured angular dependence. Based on this model, the design principle for the buried p-layer structure is discussed     

Use of Sn-doped GaAs for non-alloyed ohmic contacts to HEMTs

Segregation of Sn to the surface of MBE grown n⁺-GaAs layers allows fabrication of non-alloyed Ti/Pt/Au, Al or Ti/W ohmic contacts with low specific contact resistivities (1.1×10^-6 Ω·cm^-2). These contacts were used to realise high performance HEMTs (g_m=230 mS/mm for 1.0 μm gate length) in which Si is used as the dopant in the donor AlGaAs layer and Sn is employed in the GaAs contact layer     

Emission cross sections and spectroscopy of Ho3+ laserchannels in KGd(WO4)2 single crystal

The spectroscopic properties of Ho³⁺ laser channels in KGd(WO₄)₂ crystals have been investigated using optical absorption, photoluminescence, and lifetime measurements. The radiative lifetimes of Ho³⁺ have been calculated through a Judd-Ofelt (JO) formalism using 300-K optical absorption results. The JO parameters obtained were Ω₂=15.35×10^-20 cm², Ω ₄=3.79×10^-20 cm², Ω₆ =1.69×10^-20 cm². The 7-300-K lifetimes obtained in diluted (8·10¹⁸ cm^-3) KGW:0.1% Ho samples are: τ(⁵F₃)≈0.9 μs, τ( ⁵S₂)=19-3.6 μs, and τ(⁵F₅ )≈1.1 μs. For Ho concentrations below 1.5×10²⁰ cm^-3, multiphonon emission is the main source of non radiative losses, and the temperature independent multiphonon probability in KGW is found to follow the energy gap law τ_ph ^-1(0)=βexp(-αΔE), where β=1.4×10^-7 s^-1, and α=1.4×10³ cm. Above this holmium concentration, energy transfer between Ho impurities also contributes to the losses. The spectral distributions of the Ho³⁺ emission cross section σ_EM for several laser channels are calculated in σ- and π-polarized configurations. The peak a σ_EM values achieved for transitions to the ⁵I₈ level are ≈2×10^-20 cm² in the σ-polarized configuration, and three main lasing peaks at 2.02, 2.05, and 2.07 μm are envisaged inside the ⁵I₇→⁵I₈ channel     

A low-noise K-Ka band oscillator AlGaAs/GaAsheterojunction bipolar transistors

The design considerations, fabrication process, and performance of the first K-Ka-band oscillator implemented using a self-aligned AlGaAs/GaAs heterojunction bipolar transistor (HBT) are described. A large-signal time-domain-based design approach has been used which applies a SPICE-F simulator for optimization of the oscillator circuit parameters for maximum output power. The oscillator employs a 2×10-μm² emitter AlGaAs/GaAs HBT that was fabricated using a pattern inversion technology. The HBT has a base current 1/f noise power density lower than 1×10^-20 A²/Hz at 1 kHz and lower than 1×10^-22 A/²/Hz at 100 kHz for a collector current of 1 mA. The oscillator, which is composed of only low-Q microstrip transmission lines, has a phase noise of -80 dBc/Hz at 100 kHz off carrier when operated at 26.6 GHz. These results indicate the applicability of the HBTs to low-phase-noise monolithic oscillators at microwave and millimeter-wave frequencies, where both Si bipolar transistors and GaAs FETs are absent     

Low emitter resistance GaAs based HBT's without InGaAs caps

Low emitter resistance is demonstrated for AlGaAs/GaAs heterojunction bipolar transistors using Pd/Ge contacts on a GaAs contact layer. The contact resistivity to 2-10×10¹⁸ cm ^-3 n-type GaAs is 4-1×10^-7 Ω-cm² . These are comparable to contact resistivities obtained with non-alloyed contacts on InGaAs layers. The non-spiking Pd/Ge contact demonstrates thermal stability and area independent resistivity suitable for scaled devices. The substitution of Pd/Ge for AuGe/Ni GaAs emitter and collector contacts reduced by an order of magnitude the emitter-base offset voltage at high current densities and increased f_t by more than 15% with significantly improved uniformity for devices with 2 and 2.6 μm wide emitters having lengths two, four and six times the width     

Hot carrier relaxation in InP and GaAs on a subpicosecond time scale

Hot carrier relaxation in InP and GaAs is investigated in a comparative study using three different time resolved optical techniques. At carrier densities between 10¹⁷ to 10¹⁸ cm⁻³ in both materials the relaxation is strongly influenced by carrier-carrier-scattering. Internal thermalization of electrons and holes occurs on a femtosecond time scale comparable to the duration of the excitation. The temperatures of electrons and holes, however, remain different on a time scale of picoseconds.