Effects of chemical and plasma surface treatments on the O2-annealed Ni/Au contact to p-Gan

The effects of boiling Aqua Regia (AQ), N₂/Cl₂ plasma followed by AQ and O₂ plasma followed by AQ surface treatments prior to Ni/Au (20 nm/20 nm) metallization to p-GaN:Mg (∼ 3 × 10¹⁷ cm^− 3) have been investigated. N₂/Cl₂ plasma was employed in a bid to lower the Ga/N and O/Ga ratios of the GaN surface to improve the contact properties to p-GaN, while O₂ plasma was employed as an alternative to incorporate O into the Ni/Au system. Results show that a low Ga/N ratio does not necessarily correspond to a better contact. The positive effect of O₂ over N₂ anneal is observed only for the AQ-treated sample, although the mechanisms responsible for its positive effect: NiO formation and Ni/Au layer-reversal were observed for all O₂-annealed contacts. We conclude that the effect of O₂ anneal on the Ni/Au contact is dependant on the p-GaN surface prior to metallization.     

Anion Sensing Porphyrin Functionalized Nanoparticles

Disulfide and dithiocarbamate functionalized porphyrins have been synthesized and used as protecting ligands for gold nanoparticle formation either via ligand substitution reactions or by direct synthesis. These nanoparticles have been shown to recognize anions via changes in the absorbance spectrum of the surface adsorbed porphyrin moieties. Association constants, derived from quantitative titrations, indicate a remarkable surface enhancement effect where the surface bound porphyrins bind anions much more strongly than the free receptor in solution.     

Mapping surface temperature in large lakes with MODIS data

Satellite sensor MODIS on two platforms can produce Sea Surface Temperature over certain regions about three to four times per day. Our objective was to test if the MODIS SST product can be applied for lakes whose surface areas are large enough to be observed at the MODIS spatial resolution and to compare the satellite-derived lake surface temperatures with in situ measurements. Surface temperatures for Lakes Vänern and Vättern in Sweden, two of the largest European lakes, are extracted from the MODIS/Terra images for period 2001-2003. The results are analyzed on different quality levels, as all MODIS L2 products are equipped with an additional quality flag. We present temperature development over 2001-2003, and show the capability of the MODIS SST product to couple the known thermodynamical features in the lakes under study, where temperature varies greatly with space and time. These results can complement lake monitoring programs anywhere.     

Inside Front Cover: Homeotropic Alignment of Columnar Liquid Crystals in Open Films by Means of Surface Nanopatterning (Adv. Mater. 6/2007)

Columnar liquid crystals (LCs) are found to spontaneously form homeotropically‐aligned films when deposited on surfaces fabricated via friction transfer of polytetrafluoroethylene. The inside cover schematically shows the film structure of a phthalocyanine derivative together with the corresponding X‐ray diffraction pattern (inset). The results, reported on p. 815 by Dmitri Ivanov and co‐workers, indicate that not only are the columns homeotropically oriented but also that they form a single monodomain of macroscopic size. These findings can have an important impact for fabrication of LC‐based organic solar cells.     

Issues in modelling of advanced heterogeneous ceramics

Summary The conceptual and computational issues regarding the development of models to predict microstructure/mechanical-property relationships in advanced ceramics are discussed. Advanced ceramics provide a particular challenge because their higher toughness or reliability, relative to monolithic ceramics, is a result of stable, distributed damage evolution. Capturing the details of distributed damage at atomistic and microstructural length scales is computationally prohibitive, but only in certain systems does it appear plausible to neglect atomistic and crack-tip details in favor of larger-scale damage propagation and interaction. Examples, mainly from the author's own work, are briefly presented to indicate the range of problems that have been addressed and the relative successes and failures.     

Chemical-mechanical polishing of SiO2 thin films studied by X-ray reflectivity

Specular X-ray reflectivity from SiO₂ thin films prepared on silicon substrates by plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition showed the films to have a characteristic width of the decay in density at the free surface of 17 Å, to be about three-quarters the density of -quartz, and to have an interfacial layer at the silicon interface that was of the order of 100 Å wide and less dense than the bulk of the film. After chemical-mechanical polishing the characteristic width of the decay in density at the free surface was reduced to 10 Å; furthermore, the near-surface region to a depth of 30 Å had a greater density than the as-deposited film. Off-specular reflectivity confirmed that the decrease in characteristic width at the free surface was due to reduced roughness upon polishing and also revealed that the lateral correlation length in the limit of long wavelengths was the same for both polished and unpolished samples. The compression of the near-surface region during polishing is believed to enhance the dissolution of SiO₂ into the slurry which is necessary to achieve smooth surfaces.     

多孔硅发光的物理机制——纳米量子限制效应及表面态在发光中的作用

采用阳极氧化腐蚀的方法制备了多孔硅（ＰＳ），这种ＰＳ的微结构为纳米量级的，并具有光致发光特性，这无疑将对全硅光电子学的发展具有很大意义。根据大量实验与理论分析，提出了这种ＰＳ发光的物理机制：纳米量子限制效应和表面态及其物质在发光中的作用，从量子力学的薛定锷方程出发，用沟道势阱的近似模型，推导得到进入量子线的电子和空穴的能量势垒，ＰＳ的有效带宽Ｅ＝Ｅ＿０＋ΔＥ，对于Ｓｉ（Ｅ＿０＝１．１２ｅｖ）。完美地解释了目前在ＰＳ研究中的ＰＬ谱的篮移现象。     

AlGaAs／GaAs HBT表面效应的二维数值分析

采用表面效应集总模型综合考虑表面费米能级钉扎和表面复合效应，对ＡｌＧａＡｓ／ＧａＡｓＨＢＴ表面效应的影响进行了二维数值模拟。结果表明，表面态的存在对集电极电流几乎不产生影响，但显著增加基极电流，使得电流增益明显下降。同时还发现在台面结构ＡＩＧａＡｓ／ＧａＡｓＨＢＴ中外基区表面复合的集边效应，即外基区表面复合主要发生在发射极台面与外基区的交界处附近，与外基区长度基本无关。模拟还表明基区缓变结构可以减少表面复合，提高电流增益。     

提高大口径金属主镜面形精度的方法

分析了影响Ｒｉｔｃｈｅｙ－Ｃｈｒｅｉｔｉｅｎ光学系统中金属主反射镜面形精度因素，采用有限元法对立交易的加工过程及其安装进行了模拟，指出提高主镜的面形镜度，既要合理主镜材料的热处理工艺，也要对加工参数进行控制。良好的稳定化处理可以有效地消除材料内部的残余应力，保证主镜尺寸的稳定性。提高加工基准的精度，并采用组合加工镜面，可以大大提高主镜的面形精度，最后，给出了主镜的干涉仪检测结果。