1.3 /spl mu/m InGaAsN vertical cavity surface emitting lasers grown by MOCVD

The first InGaAsN VCSELs grown by MOCVD with CW lasing wavelength longer than 1.3 /spl mu/m are reported. The devices were of conventional p-i-n structure with doped DBR mirrors. CW lasing up to 65/spl deg/C was observed, with a maximum output power at room temperature of 0.8 mW for multimode devices and nearly 0.3 mW for single-mode devices.     

Compositional design of Pb(Zr, Ti)O3 for highly reliableferroelectric memories

We have investigated Pb(Zr,Ti)O₃ (PZT) film composition suitable for highly reliable ferroelectric RAM (FeRAM) application. To obtain a wide operational margin for 2T/2C (two transistors and two capacitors) FeRAMs, the PZT film capacitor is needed to have a low coercive voltage (V_c) and a high dielectric constant on the polarization switching (ϵ_S) and a low dielectric constant on the nonswitching (ϵ_N), or essentially a large ϵ_S/ϵ_N ratio. Concerning the B-site composition in the perovskite structure, it is found that lowering the Zr/Ti ratio from 47/53 to Ti-richer ones increases the ratio of ϵ_S/ϵ_N as a positive effect on the wide operational margin, but increased V_c as a negative effect. Taking the balance of these factors into consideration, it is concluded that an optimum composition, such as Zr/Ti=30/70, provides the maximum operational margin. The A-site composition, on the other hand, affects the long-term reliability of a PZT capacitor. The endurance to the fatigue and imprint are enhanced by reduction of the Pb-excess and dope of La in the A-site. A La-doped PZT (Zr/Ti =30/70) capacitor is successfully integrated to the 8 kbit FeRAM macro with double-layer Al wiring to confirm the feasibility of this capacitor     

A radio-telemetry system with a shape memory alloy microelectrode for neural recording of freely moving insects

A radio frequency (RF) telemetry system with a shape memory alloy microelectrode was designed and fabricated. The total size and weight are 15 mm x 8 mm and 0.1 g, respectively. Since the telemeter is small and light enough to be loaded on a small animal such as an insect, the system can be used for the neural recording of a freely moving insect. The RF-telemeter can transmit signals by frequency modulation transmission at 80-90 MHz. The transmitted signals can be received up to about 16 meters away from the telemeter with a high signal-to-noise ratio. The neural activity can be detected without attenuation by using an instrumentation amplifier with its input impedance set to 2 Mohms at 1 kHz. The telemeter was loaded on a cockroach and the neural activity during a free-walk was successfully measured through this telemetry system.     

Improving the photovoltaic performance of co‐evaporated Cu2ZnSnS4 thin‐film solar cells by incorporation of sodium from NaF layers

We have investigated the influence of sodium (Na) on the properties of co‐evaporated Cu₂ZnSnS₄ (CZTS) layer microstructures and solar cells. The photovoltaic performance and diode properties were improved by incorporating Na from NaF layers into the CZTS layers, while Na had a negligible effect on the microstructural properties of the layer. The best cell fabricated by using an optimal CZTS layer (Cu/(Zn + Sn) = 0.70, Zn/Sn = 1.8) yielded an active area efficiency of 5.23%. The analysis of device properties suggests that charge‐carrier recombination at CZTS/CdS interface is suppressed by intentional Na incorporation from NaF layers. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Detection of characteristic signals from as-doped (<1 at.%) regions of silicon by transmission electron microscopy and convergent-beam electron diffraction

Characteristic signals were detected from As-doped (< 1 at.%) regions of silicon by dark-field transmission electron microscopy and convergent-beam electron diffraction. A slight intensity increase was observed in 220 dark-field images, which may be explained by an increase of scattering amplitude due to the As doping. The doped region showed a much higher intensity in 004 dark-field images. The characteristic high intensity was observed for specimens with As concentrations of about 0.09-0.8 at.%. Convergent-beam electron diffraction patterns obtained from the As-doped region showed a characteristic rocking curve for 004 reflection. These characteristics should originate from incoherent elastically scattered electrons due to a static lattice distortion around the doped As atoms. The observed characteristics in dark-field images and rocking curves of the 004 reflection should be a good probe not only for investigating the concentration of doped atoms in Si lattice, but also for the amount of impurity and/or point defects in other crystalline materials.     

A 146-mm/sup 2/ 8-gb multi-level NAND flash memory with 70-nm CMOS technology

An 8-Gb multi-level NAND Flash memory with 4-level programmed cells has been developed successfully. The cost-effective small chip has been fabricated in 70-nm CMOS technology. To decrease the chip size, a one-sided pad arrangement with compacted core architecture and a block address expansion scheme without block redundancy replacement have been introduced. With these methods, the chip size has been reduced to 146 mm/sup 2/, which is 4.9% smaller than the conventional chip. In terms of performance, the program throughput reaches 6 MB/s at 4-KB page operation, which is significantly faster than previously reported and very competitive with binary Flash memories. This high performance has been achieved by the combination of the multi-level cell (MLC) programming with write caches and with the program voltage compensation technique for neighboring select transistors. The read throughput reaches 60 MB/s using 16I/O configuration.     

Robust porous SiOCH/Cu interconnects with ultrathin sidewall protection liners

Robust porous low-k/Cu interconnects have been developed for 65-nm-node ultralarge-scale integrations (ULSIs) with 180-nm/200-nm pitched lines and 100-nm diameter vias in a single damascene architecture. A porous plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition (PECVD)-SiOCH film (k=2.6) with subnanometer pores is introduced into the intermetal dielectrics on the interlayer dielectrics of a rigid PECVD-SiOCH film (k=2.9). This porous-on-rigid hybrid SiOCH structure achieves a 35% reduction in interline capacitance per grid in the 65-nm-node interconnect compared to that in a 90-nm-node interconnect with a fully rigid SiOCH. A via resistance of 9.7 /spl Omega/ was obtained in 100-nm diameter vias. Interconnect reliability, such as electromigration, and stress-induced voiding were retained with interface modification technologies. One of the key breakthroughs was a special liner technique to maintain dielectric reliability between the narrow-pitched lines. The porous surface on the trench-etched sidewall was covered with an ultrathin plasma-polymerized benzocyclobuten liner (k=2.7), thus enhancing interline time-dependent dielectric breakdown reliability. The introduction of a porous material and the control of the sidewall are essential for 65-nm-node and beyond scaled-down ULSIs to ensure high levels of reliability.     

Durable Ultraflexible Organic Photovoltaics with Novel Metal‐Oxide‐Free Cathode

Flexible and stretchable organic photovoltaics (OPVs) are promising as a power source for wearable devices with multifunctions ranging from sensing to locomotion. Achieving mechanical robustness and high power conversion efficiency for ultraflexible OPVs is essential for their successful application. However, it is challenging to simultaneously achieve these features by the difficulty to maintain stable performance under a microscale bending radius. Ultraflexible OPVs are proposed by employing a novel metal‐oxide‐free cathode that consists of a printed ultrathin metallic transparent electrode and an organic electron transport layer to achieve high electron‐collecting capabilities and mechanical robustness. In fact, the proposed ultraflexible OPV achieves a power conversion efficiency of 9.7% and durability with 74% efficiency retention after 500 cycles of deformation at 37% compression through buckling. The proposed approach can be applied to active layers with different morphologies, thus suggesting its universality and potential for high‐performance ultraflexible OPV devices.     

Single-Photon Interference Experiment Over 80 km With a Pulse-Driven Heralded Single-Photon Source

We have conducted a single-photon interference experiment over an 80-km optical fiber using a pulse-driven heralded single-photon source (HSPS). To the best of our knowledge, this is, thus far, the longest distance over which a single-photon interference experiment has been conducted using HSPSs (continuous-wave-pumped or pulse-driven). The effect of the 80-km transmission on the dispersion and fluctuation of polarization are more severe than those in our previous 40-km quantum key distribution (QKD) experiment. We have overcome the difficulties by some fine tunings and low-jitter controlling. By conducting ten consecutive transmission experiments over a total time of 30 min, an average quantum bit-error rate (QBER) of 7.9 plusmn 1.2% has been obtained. This QBER is lower than the threshold QBER of 10.55% which is considered as a limit for unconditional security for the QKD under negligible multiphoton emission.