Systematic characterization of Cl2 reactive ion etchingfor improved ohmics in AlGaN/GaN HEMTs

Pre-metal-deposition reactive ion etching (RIE) was performed on an Al_0.3Ga_0.7N/AlN/GaN heterostructure in order to improve the metal-to-semiconductor contact resistance. An optimum AlGaN thickness for minimizing contact resistance was determined. An initial decrease in contact resistance with etching time was explained in terms of removal of an oxide surface layer and/or by an increase in tunnelling current with the decrease of the AlGaN thickness. The presence of a dissimilar surface layer was confirmed by an initial nonuniform etch depth rate. An increase in contact resistance for deeper etches was experienced. The increase was related to depletion of the two-dimensional (2-D) electron gas (2-DEG) under the ohmics. Etch depths were measured by atomic force microscopy (AFM). The contact resistance decreased from about 0.45 Ωmm for unetched ohmics to a minimum of 0.27 Ωmm for 70 Å etched ohmics. The initial thickness of the AlGaN layer was 250 Å. The decrease in contact resistance, without excessive complications on device processing, supports RIE etching as a viable solution to improve ohmic contact resistance in AlGaN/GaN HEMTs     

Reduced and differential parallel interference cancellation forCDMA systems

Since code division multiple access systems in multipath environments suffer from multiple access interference (MAI), multiuser detection schemes should be used in the receivers. Parallel interference cancellation (PIC) is a promising method to combat MAI due to its relatively low computational complexity and good performance. It is shown that the complexity of PIC is still high for realistic scenarios in terms of the symbol rate, the number of users, spreading gain, and multipath components. However, two novel methods are introduced to reduce significantly the complexity without sacrificing performance. The first approach, called reduced PIC, takes advantage of the composition of the interference to concentrate interference cancellation only on significant terms. The second approach, called differential PIC, exploits the multistage character of PIC to avoid unnecessary double calculations of certain terms in consecutive stages. It is shown that a combination of both approaches leads to a performance very close to the single-user bound whereas the complexity can be kept on the order of the conventional RAKE receiver     

软X射线对血液有形成分表面电荷的影响——2、淋巴细胞和血小板膜电荷的变化

软X射线不仅能引起红细胞表面电荷的变化,同时也能导致淋巴细胞和血小板表面电荷下降,表现为照射后它们的电泳率下降。低剂量范围内,这种电荷的变化是暂时性的,照后4小时降到最低点,24小时后恢复到对照的水平。细胞电泳率的下降与辐射剂量相关。淋巴细胞是一个复杂的细胞群,正常状态下,按细胞在电场中泳动速度的快慢,可分为两个组分:快峰为T细胞,慢峰为B细胞。软X射线照射以后,T和B细胞的电泳率皆减慢,频数分布峰值下降,离散度加大。血小板成分单一,电泳率较一致。 从照射浓集的血小板再加回自身血浆中电泳率的下降较照射血浆再加到血小板中的电泳率下降大得多;受照射的血小板在磷酸缓冲液中电泳率下降较在血浆悬液中严重得多;2000 rad照后,悬浮于血浆中的血小板电泳率能恢复,而悬浮于磷酸缓冲液中则不能恢复,三个方面来看,血浆中可能存在抗辐射因子。超氧化物岐化酶能有效地预防血小板电泳率的下降,从而可阻止血小板的凝聚。     

Symmetry-breaking transitions in equilibrium shapes of coherent precipitates: Effect of elastic anisotropy and inhomogeneity

We examine the symmetry-breaking transitions in equilibrium shapes of coherent precipitates in two-dimensional (2-D) systems under a plane-strain condition with the principal misfit strain components ε* _xx and ε* _yy . For systems with cubic elastic moduli, we first show all the shape transitions associated with different values of t=ε* _yy /ε* _xx . We also characterize each of these transitions, by studying its dependence on elastic anisotropy and inhomogeneity. For systems with dilatational misfit (t=1) and those with pure shear misfit (t=−1), the transition is from an equiaxed shape to an elongated shape, resulting in a break in rotational symmetry. For systems with nondilatational misfit (−1<t<1; t ≠ 0), the transition involves a break in mirror symmetries normal to the x- and y-axes. The transition is continuous in all cases, except when 0<t<1. For systems which allow an invariant line (−1≤t<0), the critical size increases with an increase in the particle stiffness. However, for systems which do not allow an invariant line (0<t≤1), the critical size first decreases, reaches a minimum, and then starts increasing with increasing particle stiffness; moreover, the transition is also forbidden when the particle stiffness is greater than a critical value.