From Long Infrared to Very Long Infrared Wavelength Focal Plane Arrays Made with HgCdTe n + n ?/ p Ion Implantation Technology

This paper aims at studying the feasibility of very long infrared wavelength (VLWIR) (12–18 μm) focal plane arrays using n-on-p planar ion-implanted technology. To explore and analyze the feasibility of such VLWIR detectors, a set of four Cd _x Hg_1−x Te LPE layers with an 18 μ cutoff at 50 K has been processed at Defir (LETI/LIR–Sofradir joint laboratory), using both our “standard” n-on-p process and our improved low dark current process. Several 320 × 256 arrays, 30-μm pitch, have been hybridized on standard Sofradir readout circuits and tested. Small dimension test arrays characterization is also presented. Measured photonic currents with a 20°C black body suggest an internal quantum efficiency above 50%. Typical I(V) curves and thermal evolution of the saturation current are discussed, showing that standard photodiodes remain diffusion limited at low biases for temperatures down to 30 K. Moreover, the dark current gain brought by the improved process is clearly visible for temperatures higher than 40 K. Noise measurements are also discussed showing that a very large majority of detectors appeared background limited under usual illumination and biases. In our opinion, such results demonstrate the feasibility of high-performance complex focal plane arrays in the VLWIR range at medium term.     

Erbium ion electroluminescence in p ++/n +/n-Si:Er/n ++ silicon diode structures

Results of experimental studies of erbium ion electroluminescence in p ⁺⁺/n ⁺/n-Si:Er/n ⁺⁺ silicon diode structures grown by sublimation molecular-beam epitaxy are discussed. The distinctive feature of these structures is that the regions of electron flux formation of (n ⁺-Si) and impact excitation of erbium ions (n-Si:Er) are spaced. The influence of the n ⁺-Si layer thickness on electrical and electroluminescent properties of diodes was studied. It was shown that n ⁺-Si layer thinning causes the transformation of the structure breakdown mechanism from tunneling to avalanche. The dependence of the Er³⁺ ion electroluminescence on the thickness of the heavily doped n ⁺-Si region is bell-shaped. At the n ⁺-Si-layer doping level n ≈ 2 × 10¹⁸ cm^?3, the maximum electroluminescence intensity is attained at an n ⁺-Si layer thickness of ～23 nm.     

Substrate Modes of (Al,In)GaN Semiconductor Laser Diodes on SiC and GaN Substrates

In semiconductor laser diodes layers with high refractive index can act as parasitic waveguides and cause severe losses to the optical mode propagating in the longitudinal direction. For (Al,In)GaN laser diodes, the parasitic modes are typically caused by the SiC or GaN substrate or buffer layers, hence the name substrate modes. A set of four different experiments shows the effect of substrate modes in the near-field (the most direct evidence of substrate modes), as side lobes in far-field, oscillations of the optical gain spectra, and as dependency of threshold current on n-cladding thickness. We derive several basic properties of the substrate modes by simple estimates. For a quantitative analysis we employ a 2-D finite element electromagnetic simulation tool. We simulate periodic variations in the cavity gain spectrum that explain the measurements in terms of absolute value and oscillation amplitude. We show that it is necessary to include the refractive index dispersion in order to get the correct period of the gain oscillations. Furthermore, we use the simulations to optimize the laser diode design with respect to substrate mode losses within the constraints given, e.g., by growth conditions     

Frequency Tunable Microstrip Patch Antenna Using RF MEMS Technology

A novel reconfigurable microstrip patch antenna is presented that is monolithically integrated with RF microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) capacitors for tuning the resonant frequency. Reconfigurability of the operating frequency of the microstrip patch antenna is achieved by loading it with a coplanar waveguide (CPW) stub on which variable MEMS capacitors are placed periodically. MEMS capacitors are implemented with surface micromachining technology, where a 1-mum thick aluminum structural layer is placed on a glass substrate with a capacitive gap of 1.5 mum. MEMS capacitors are electrostatically actuated with a low tuning voltage in the range of 0-11.9 V. The antenna resonant frequency can continuously be shifted from 16.05 GHz down to 15.75 GHz as the actuation voltage is increased from 0 to 11.9 V. These measurement results are in good agreement with the simulation results obtained with Ansoft HFSS. The radiation pattern is not affected from the bias voltage. This is the first monolithic frequency tunable microstrip patch antenna where a CPW stub loaded with MEMS capacitors is used as a variable load operating at low dc voltages     

Integration of 0/1-Level Packaged RF-MEMS Devices on MCM-D at Millimeter-Wave Frequencies

This paper reports on the development and optimization of 0/1-level packaged coplanar waveguide (CPW) lines and radio-frequency microelectromechanical systems (RF-MEMS) switches up to millimeter-wave frequencies. The 0-level package consists of an on-chip cavity obtained by flip-chip mounting a capping chip over the RF-MEMS device using BenzoCyclobutene (BCB) as the bonding and sealing material. The 0-level coplanar RF feedthroughs are implemented using BCB as the dielectric; gold stud-bumps and thermocompression are used for realizing the 1-level package. The 0-level packaged switches have been flip-chip mounted on a multilayer thin-film interconnect substrate using a high-resistivity Si carrier with embedded passives and substrate cavities. The insertion loss of a single 0/1-level transition is below -0.15 dB at 50 GHz. The measured return loss of a 0/1-level packaged 50-Omega CPW line remains better than -19 dB up to 71 GHz and better than -15 dB up to 90 GHz. It is shown that the leak rate of BCB sealed cavities depends on the BCB width, and leak rates as low as 10^-11 mbar.l/s are measured for large BCB widths (> 800 mum), dropping to 10^-8 mbar.l/s for BCB widths of around 100 mum. Depending on the bonding conditions, shear strengths as high as 150 MPa are achieved.     

Utilization of Anisotropic Metamaterial Layers in Waveguide Miniaturization and Transitions

We introduce a new approach which enables a waveguide to support propagation of electromagnetic waves below the cutoff frequency, as well as which avoids undesirable reflections in a waveguide. These are achieved through the usage of an anisotropic metamaterial layer by employing the concept of coordinate transformation. The proposed method can be utilized for the fabrication of miniaturized waveguides, and for the elimination of discontinuities in abrupt waveguide transitions. We demonstrate some numerical experiments for finite element simulations of parallel-plate and dielectric slab waveguides.     

Rapidly tunable optical add-drop multiplexer utilising relaxed beam splitters

A polarisation-independent four-port electro-optic tunable filter in the 1530 nm wavelength regime utilising non-polarising relaxed beam splitters and strain-induced polarisation converters on LiNbO₃ with 16 nm tuning range and 46 ns tuning speed is reported.     

The microstructure of Cu films deposited by the self-ion assisted technique

The microstructures of Cu films deposited by the self-ion assisted, partially ionized beam (PIB) deposition technique under two different accelerating potentials, 0 KeV and 6 KeV, are compared. The 6 KeV film shows a bimodal (111) fiber and (100) fiber texture with an abundance of twin boundaries and a relatively large average grain size with a typical lognormal distribution. The 0 KeV film consists of small, mostly (111) oriented grains with islands of abnormally large (100) grains. The controlling factors for the abnormal growth of the (100) grains are discussed in relation to the observed microstructures, showing that all factors necessary for abnormal (100) growth are present in the films.     

A Symbolic Pole/Zero Extraction Methodology Based on Analysis of Circuit Time-Constants

This paper introduces a methodology for symbolic pole/zero extraction based on the formulation of the time-constant matrix of the circuits. This methodology incorporates approximation techniques specifically devoted to achieve an optimum trade-off between accuracy and complexity of the symbolic root expressions. The capability to efficiently handle even large circuits will be demonstrated through several practical circuits.     

Stimulation of negative magnetoresistance by an electric field and light in silicon doped with boron and manganese

It is experimentally ascertained that light stimulates the negative magnetoresistance observed in a high electric field in silicon doped with boron and manganese. The optimum conditions (the electric field, temperature, illumination, and resistivity of the material) for observation of the largest magnitude of negative magnetoresistance in (Si:B):Mn are determined. The dependence of the negative magnetoresistance on the concentration of compensating impurity is established.