Pulsed laser annealing of GaAs in a high-pressure argon gas ambience

Pulsed laser annealing was carried out for n-type semiconducting GaAs in air, 1 bar nitrogen, 1 bar argon, and 100 bar argon gas ambiences. Depth profiles of the atomic ratio measured by SIMS indicate that pulse annealing in air results in As loss and penetration of oxygen into the crystal, both of which affect dopant redistribution and deteriorate electrical properties of the annealed layer. High electrical activity (100%) and electron mobilities were achieved for high-dose implants of Si⁺ (1 × 10¹⁵ cm⁻²) by pulsed laser annealing in the high-pressure ambience.     

Cross-correlation measurement without mechanical delay scanningusing electronically controlled wavelength-tunable femtosecond solitonpulse

A novel cross-correlation measurement system without mechanical action has been demonstrated in which the delay time between the reference and signal pulse can be electronically scanned by utilising the soliton self-frequency shift and the chromatic dispersion in the optical fibre. In this system, the reference pulse is the ideal femtosecond soliton pulse. The scanning range, the resolution and the scanning speed of the delay time can be arbitrarily changed only by the electronic control     

Structural studies of enzyme-based microfluidic biofuel cells

An enzyme-based glucose/O₂ biofuel cell was constructed within a microfluidic channel to study the influence of electrode configuration and fluidic channel height on cell performance. The cell was composed of a bilirubin oxidase (BOD)-adsorbed O₂ cathode and a glucose anode prepared by co-immobilization of glucose dehydrogenase (GDH), diaphorase (Dp) and VK₃-pendant poly-l-lysine. The consumption of O₂ at the upstream cathode protected the downstream anode from interfering O₂ molecules, and consequently improved the cell performance (maximum cell current) ca. 10% for the present cell. The cell performance was also affected by the channel height. The output current and power of a 0.1 mm-height cell was significantly less than those of a 1 mm-height cell because of the depletion of O₂, as determined by the shape of the E–I curve at the cathode. On the other hand, the volume density of current and power was several times higher for the narrower cell.     

Observation of the solid-state formation of a TTF–CA complex by terahertz spectroscopy

The solid-state synthesis of a tetrathiafulvalene–chloranil (TTF–CA) complex was demonstrated, and progress in the formation of the complex was monitored using a GaP Raman terahertz (THz) spectrometer. Clear transitions in the THz absorption spectra indicated that the mixture of TTF and CA became the black phase TTF–CA complex. The results of X-ray diffraction, Raman scattering, and FTIR spectra are presented as supporting evidence.     

Impedance characteristics of double-hetero structure laser diodes

The effects of the onset of lasing on the I-V characteristics, the impedance characteristics and the light modulation characteristics of laser diodes have been discussed by introducing the rate equations which involve carrier diffusion process in the active layer interacting with the radiation field intensity. The static I-V characteristics exhibit a kink at lasing threshold current, reflecting the decrease of effective lifetime of carriers. Effective carrier lifetimes decrease with increasing light intensity, which results in a steep attenuation of injected carrier density in the active region. The impedance and light modulation characteristics are obtained in the small signal approximation. The small signal light modulation characteristics depend strongly on whether the laser diode is excited by the constant current modulation or the constant voltage modulation. The impedance is changed drastically by the onset of lasing and exhibits a resonance which coincides exactly with the optical modulation resonance frequency.