Sputtered Gold as an Effective Schottky Gate for Strained Si/SiGe Nanostructures

Metallization of Schottky surface gates by sputtering Au on strained Si/SiGe heterojunctions enables the depletion of the two dimensional electron gas (2DEG) at a relatively small voltage while maintaining an extremely low level of leakage current. A fabrication process has been developed to enable the formation of sub-micron Au electrodes sputtered onto Si/SiGe without the need of a wetting layer.Comment: 3 pages, 3 figure

Stabilizing the surface morphology of Si1–x–yGexCy/Si heterostructures grown by molecular beam epitaxy through the use of a silicon-carbide source

Si1–x–yGexCy/Si superlattices were grown by solid-source molecular beam epitaxy using silicon carbide as a source of C. Samples consisting of alternating layers of nominally 25 nm Si1–x–yGexCy and 35 nm Si for 10 periods were characterized by high-resolution x-ray diffraction, transmission electron microscopy (TEM), and Rutherford backscattering spectrometry to determine strain, thickness, and composition. C resonance backscattering and secondary ion mass spectrometries were used to measure the total C concentration in the Si1–x–yGexCy layers, allowing for an accurate determination of the substitutional C fraction to be made as a function of growth rate for fixed Ge and substitutional C compositions. For C concentrations close to 1%, high-quality layers were obtained without the use of Sb-surfactant mediation. These samples were found to be structurally perfect to a level consistent with cross-sectional TEM (< 10^7 defects/cm^2) and showed considerably improved homogeneity as compared with similar structures grown using graphite as the source for C. For higher Ge and C concentrations, Sb-surfactant mediation was found to be required to stabilize the surface morphology. The maximum value of substitutional C concentration, above which excessive generation of stacking fault defects caused polycrystalline and/or amorphous growth, was found to be approximately 2.4% in samples containing between 25 and 30% Ge. The fraction of substitutional C was found to decrease from roughly 60% by a factor of 0.86 as the Si1–x–yGexCy growth rate increased from 0.1 to 1.0 nm/s

Quantum tunneling Sb-heterostructure millimeter-wave diodes

We have developed a new zero bias millimeter wave diode based on quantum tunneling in an InAs/AlSb/GaSb nanostructure. It is ideal for square law radiometry and passive millimeter wave imaging. Excellent sensitivity has been demonstrated at present up to 110 GHz, with higher bandwidth predicted for smaller area diodes

New tunnel diode for zero-bias direct detection for millimeter-wave imagers

High-resolution passive millimeter wave imaging cameras require per pixel detector circuitry that is simple, has high sensitivity, low noise, and low power. Detector diodes that do not require bias or local oscillator input, and have high cutoff frequencies are strongly preferred. In addition, they must be manufacturable in large quantities with reasonable uniformity and reproducibility. Such diodes have not been obtainable for W-band and above. We are developing zero-bias square-law detector diodes based on InAs/Alsb/GaAlSb heterostructures which for the first time offer a cost-effective solution for large array formats. The diodes have a high frequency response and are relatively insensitive to growth and process variables. The large zero- bias non-linearity in current floor necessary for detection arises from interband tunneling between the InAs and the GaAlSb layers. Video resistance can be controlled by varying an Alsb tunnel barrier layer thickness. Our analysis shows that capacitance can be further decreased and sensitivity increased by shrinking the diode area, as the diode can have very high current density. DC and RF characterization of these devices and an estimate of their ultimate frequency performance in comparison with commercially available diodes are presented

Analysing the Transverse Structure of the Relativistic Jets of AGN

This paper describes a method of fitting total intensity and polarization profiles in VLBI images of astrophysical jets to profiles predicted by a theoretical model. As an example, the method is used to fit profiles of the jet in the Active Galactic Nucleus Mrk501 with profiles predicted by a model in which a cylindrical jet of synchrotron plasma is threaded by a magnetic field with helical and disordered components. This fitting yields model Stokes Q profiles that agree with the observed profiles to within the 1-2 \sigma uncertainties; the I model and observed profiles are overall not in such good agreement, with the model I profiles being generally more symmetrical than the observed profiles. Consistent fitting results are obtained for profiles derived from 6cm VLBI images at two distances from the core, and also for profiles obtained for different wavelengths at a single location in the VLBI jet. The most striking success of the model is its ability to reproduce the spine-sheath polarization structure observed across the jet. Using the derived viewing angle in the jet rest frame, \delta' approximately 83 degrees, together with a superluminal speed reported in the literature, \beta apparent = 3.3, yields a solution for the viewing angle and velocity of the jet in the observer's frame \delta degrees and \beta approximately 0.96. Although these results for Mrk501 must be considered tentative, the combined analysis of polarization profiles and apparent component speeds holds promise as a means of further elucidating the magnetic field structures and other parameters of parsec-scale AGN jets

A compactness theorem for complete Ricci shrinkers

We prove precompactness in an orbifold Cheeger-Gromov sense of complete gradient Ricci shrinkers with a lower bound on their entropy and a local integral Riemann bound. We do not need any pointwise curvature assumptions, volume or diameter bounds. In dimension four, under a technical assumption, we can replace the local integral Riemann bound by an upper bound for the Euler characteristic. The proof relies on a Gauss-Bonnet with cutoff argument.Comment: 28 pages, final version, to appear in GAF

Measurement of the valence band offset in novel heterojunction systems: Si/Ge (100) and AlSb/ZnTe (100)

We have used x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy to measure the valence band offset in situ for strained Si/Ge (100) heterojunctions and for AlSb/ZnTe (100) heterojunctions grown by molecular-beam epitaxy. For the Si/Ge system, Si 2p and Ge 3d core level to valence band edge binding energies and Si 2p to Ge 3d core level energy separations were measured as functions of strain, and strain configurations in all samples were determined using x-ray diffraction. Our measurements yield valence band offset values of 0.83±0.11 eV and 0.22±0.13 eV for Ge on Si (100) and Si on Ge (100), respectively. If we assume that the offset between the weighted averages of the light-hole, heavy-hole, and spin-orbit valence bands in Si and Ge is independent of strain, we obtain a discontinuity in the average valence band edge of 0.49±0.13 eV. For the AlSb/ZnTe (100) heterojunction system, we obtain a value of –0.42±0.07 eV for the valence band offset. Our data also suggest that an intermediate compound, containing Al and Te, is formed at the AlSb/ZnTe (100) interface

More about Birkhoff's Invariant and Thorne's Hoop Conjecture for Horizons

A recent precise formulation of the hoop conjecture in four spacetime dimensions is that the Birkhoff invariant $\beta$ (the least maximal length of any sweepout or foliation by circles) of an apparent horizon of energy $E$ and area $A$ should satisfy $\beta \le 4 \pi E$. This conjecture together with the Cosmic Censorship or Isoperimetric inequality implies that the length $\ell$ of the shortest non-trivial closed geodesic satisfies $\ell^2 \le \pi A$. We have tested these conjectures on the horizons of all four-charged rotating black hole solutions of ungauged supergravity theories and find that they always hold. They continue to hold in the the presence of a negative cosmological constant, and for multi-charged rotating solutions in gauged supergravity. Surprisingly, they also hold for the Ernst-Wild static black holes immersed in a magnetic field, which are asymptotic to the Melvin solution. In five spacetime dimensions we define $\beta$ as the least maximal area of all sweepouts of the horizon by two-dimensional tori, and find in all cases examined that $\beta(g) \le \frac{16 \pi}{3} E$, which we conjecture holds quiet generally for apparent horizons. In even spacetime dimensions $D=2N+2$, we find that for sweepouts by the product $S^1 \times S^{D-4}$, $\beta$ is bounded from above by a certain dimension-dependent multiple of the energy $E$. We also find that $\ell^{D-2}$ is bounded from above by a certain dimension-dependent multiple of the horizon area $A$. Finally, we show that $\ell^{D-3}$ is bounded from above by a certain dimension-dependent multiple of the energy, for all Kerr-AdS black holes.Comment: 25 page

Quantum tunneling Sb-heterostructure millimeter-wave diodes

We have developed a new zero bias millimeter wave diode based on quantum tunneling in an InAs/AlSb/GaSb nanostructure. It is ideal for square law radiometry and passive millimeter wave imaging. Excellent sensitivity has been demonstrated at present up to 110 GHz, with higher bandwidth predicted for smaller area diodes