Hopping conduction and its photoquenching in molecular beam epitaxial GaAs grown at low temperatures

As the growth temperature of molecular beam epitaxial GaAs is increased from 250 to 400°C, the dominant conduction changes from hopping conduction to band conduction with a donor activation energy of 0.65 eV. A 300°C grown layer is especially interesting because each conduction mechanism is dominant in a particular temperature range, hopping below 300K and band conduction above. Below 140K, the hopping conduction is greatly diminished (quenched) by irradiation with either infrared (hv≤1.12 eV) or 1.46 eV light, but then recovers above 140K with exactly the same thermal kinetics as are found for the famous EL2. Thus, the 0.65 eV donor, which is responsible for both the hopping and band conduction, is very similar to EL2, but not identical because of the different activation energy (0.65 eV vs 0.75 eV for EL2).     

Modeling of neural systems by use of neuronal modes

A methodology for modeling spike-output neural systems from input-output data is proposed, which makes use of “neuronal modes” (NM) and “multi-input threshold” (MT) operators. The modeling concept of NMs was introduced in a previously published paper (V.Z. Marmarelis, ibid., vol.36, p.15-24, 1989) in order to provide concise and general mathematical representations of the nonlinear dynamics involved in signal transformation and coding by a class of neural systems. The authors present and demonstrate (with computer simulations) a method by which the NMs are determined using the 1stand 2nd-order kernel estimates of the system, obtained from input-output data. The MT operator (i.e., a binary operator with multiple real-valued operands which are the outputs of the NMs) possesses an intrinsic refractory mechanism and generates the sequence of output spikes. The spike-generating characteristics of the MT operator are determined by the “trigger regions” defined on the basis of data. This approach is offered as a reasonable compromise between modeling complexity and prediction accuracy, which may provide a common methodological framework for modeling a certain class of neural systems     

Attenuation predictions at extremely low frequencies formeasurement-while-drilling electromagnetic telemetry system

Extremely low frequencies (ELFs) are employed to transmit data from underground to the ground surface in the measurement-while-drilling electromagnetic (MWD-EM) telemetry system. Based on electromagnetic field theory, the present work is aimed at predicting the receivability of the signals at the surface. A unified analytic method that is suitable for vertical, directional, or horizontal wells is presented. Attenuation properties are examined for various parameters, including the Earth's conductivity, operating frequency and the length of the drill string. The frequency dependence of the receivability in reference to a noise level is illustrated for different depths of well and different cases. It is also demonstrated that the electric field distributions at the surface have the same features for the three types of well, and that the measurements should be carried out near the well heads for any type of well. A scale model experiment is made to test the authors' theoretical results. The measured data and the computed results are comparable     

Noise performance of a GaAs MESFET as an optical detector and as an optoelectronic mixer in analogue optical links

Noise measurements with a GaAs MESFET employed as a photodetector or as an optoelectronic mixer are reported. Despite its higher noise it is shown that with proper biasing the GaAs MESFET provided a higher carrier-to-noise ratio than a pin photodiode, and as an optoelectronic mixer provided a comparable signal-to-noise ratio to that of a conventional pin and microwave mixer combination. The implications of using GaAs MESFETs in these configurations are discussed.<>     

Analysis of a wide radiating slot in the ground plane of amicrostrip line

An analysis of a wide rectangular radiating slot excited by a microstrip line is described. Coupled integral equations are formulated to find the electric current distribution on the feed line and the electric field in the aperture. The solution is based on the method of moments and using the space domain Sommerfeld-type Green's function. The information about the input impedance or reflection coefficient is extracted from the electric current distribution on the microstrip line utilizing the matrix pencil technique. The theoretical analysis is described and data are presented and compared with other theoretical and experimental results     

Adaptive beam forming using split-polarity transformation forcoherent signal and interference

Split-polarity transformation (SPT), which is incorporated into conventional linearly constrained minimum variance (LCMV) beamformers to decorrelate the desired signal from interference, is presented. The SPT processor does not distort the direction vectors associated with wave fronts impinging on the array, but it does reverse the phase of the signal coming from a specified direction. With the aid of SPT processing, the signal cancellation due to correlation between the desired signal and interference is almost eliminated. The design of a robust SPT processor for combating the effects of mismatch between idealized array model and actual scenario arising from causes such as sensor location, amplitude, and phase errors is discussed. A detailed performance study of the SPT-LCMV beamformer shows it to be robust against direction uncertainty in the assumed look direction. Numerical results are presented to demonstrate the effectiveness of the SPT-LCMV beamforming scheme is a coherent interference environment     

Design of optimum signals for the simultaneous estimation of timedelay and Doppler shift

The problem of joint estimation of time delay and Doppler shift is considered from the point of view of the Wigner distribution of the signal. A very efficient method of obtaining the optimum signal with minimum estimation error based on the convexity of the design region is developed. Practical applications, however, require the signal to satisfy other constraints which present complications in acquiring the optimum signal. A design approach based on the method of simulated annealing is suggested to solve for the optimum signal under constraints. The performance of the signals so obtained is evaluated and compared with that of signals obtained by synthesis     

R&D activities on wireless systems in China

Various wireless systems and the research preceding their practical use in China are described. The topics discussed include research establishments, research and development projects underway, challenges inherent to digital radio, and expansion opportunities afforded by satellite communications     

High speed performance of 1.5 mu m compressive-strained multiquantum-well gain-coupled distributed-feedback lasers

1.5 mu m compressive-strained multiquantum-well gain-coupled distributed-feedback lasers have been fabricated on semi-insulating InP substrates with very low parasitic capacitance for studying the laser dynamic characteristics. A maximum 3 dB bandwidth of 12.8 GHz under small signal modulation, a 20 dB down chirping width of 0.33 nm under modulation, a 20 dB down chirping width of 0.33 nm under 5 Gbit/s NRZ pseudorandom modulation, and a low chirping short pulse of 20 ps under gain switching are obtained.<>     

Accurate measurement of capture cross sections in deep level transient spectroscopy: Application to EL2 in GaAs

A rigorous formulation of capacitance changes during trap filling processes is presented and used to accurately determine the electron capture cross section of EL2 in GaAs at a particular temperature, 377K, in this case. The value, σ_n (377K) = 2.7 × 10⁻¹⁶ cm², is compared with that predicted from the emission dependence.