Effect of Growth Interruption on Surface Recombination Velocity in GaInAsSb/AlGaAsSb Heterostructures Grown by Organometallic Vapor Phase Epitaxy

The effects of growth interruption on the quality of GaInAsSb/AlGaAsSb heterostructures grown by organometallic vapor phase epitaxy are reported. In-situ reflectance monitoring and ex-situ characterization by high-resolution x-ray diffraction, 4K photoluminescence (PL), and time-resolved PL indicate that GaInAsSb is extremely sensitive to growth interruption time as well as the ambient atmosphere during interruption. By optimizing the interruption sequence, surface recombination velocity as low as 20 cm/s was achieved for GaInAsSb/AlGaAsSb double heterostructures

Evidence for Factorization in Three-body B --> D(*) K- K0 Decays

Motivated by recent experimental results, we use a factorization approach to study the three-body B --> D(*) K- K0 decay modes. Two mechanisms are proposed for kaon pair production: current-produced (from vacuum) and transition (from B meson). The Bbar0 --> D(*)+ K- K0 decay is governed solely by the current-produced mechanism. As the kaon pair can be produced only by the vector current, the matrix element can be extracted from e+ e- --> K Kbar processes via isospin relations. The decay rates obtained this way are in good agreement with experiment. Both current-produced and transition processes contribute to B- --> D(*)0 K- K0 decays. By using QCD counting rules and the measured B- --> D(*)0 K- K0 decay rates, the measured decay spectra can be understood.Comment: 17 pages, 6 figure

Tunable Kondo effect in a single donor atom

The Kondo effect has been observed in a single gate-tunable atom. The measurement device consists of a single As dopant incorporated in a Silicon nanostructure. The atomic orbitals of the dopant are tunable by the gate electric field. When they are tuned such that the ground state of the atomic system becomes a (nearly) degenerate superposition of two of the Silicon valleys, an exotic and hitherto unobserved valley Kondo effect appears. Together with the regular spin Kondo, the tunable valley Kondo effect allows for reversible electrical control over the symmetry of the Kondo ground state from an SU(2)- to an SU(4) -configuration.Comment: 10 pages, 8 figure

Analysis of Recombination Processes in 0.5-0.6 eV Epitaxial GaInAsSb Lattice-matched to GaSb

Abstract. This work summarizes recent data on minority carrier lifetime in n-and p-type double heterostructures (DHs) of 0.5-0.6 eV GaInAsSb confined with GaSb and AlGaAsSb cap layers. Recombination times were measured by time-resolved photoluminescence (TRPL) and by optical frequency response (OFR) to sinusoidal excitation. It was shown that one of the mechanisms responsible for interface recombination in GaSb/GaInAsSb/GaSb DHs is thermionic emission of carriers over the heterobarrier. Considerable improvement of carrier confinement was obtained with 1 eV AlGaAsSb cap layers. Optimization of the epitaxial growth resulted in a recombination velocity at GaInAsSb/AlGaAsSb interface as low as 30 cm/s

Eliciting a predatory response in the eastern corn snake (Pantherophis guttatus) using live and inanimate sensory stimuli: implications for managing invasive populations

North America's Eastern corn snake (Pantherophis guttatus) has been introduced to several islands throughout the Caribbean and Australasia where it poses a significant threat to native wildlife. Invasive snake control programs often involve trapping with live bait, a practice that, as well as being costly and labour intensive, raises welfare and ethical concerns. This study assessed corn snake response to live and inanimate sensory stimuli in an attempt to inform possible future trapping of the species and the development of alternative trap lures. We exposed nine individuals to sensory cues in the form of odour, visual, vibration and combined stimuli and measured the response (rate of tongue-flick [RTF]). RTF was significantly higher in odour and combined cues treatments, and there was no significant difference in RTF between live and inanimate cues during odour treatments. Our findings suggest chemical cues are of primary importance in initiating predation and that an inanimate odour stimulus, absent of simultaneous visual and vibratory cues, is a potential low-cost alternative trap lure for the control of invasive corn snake populations

A review of assessment methods for river hydromorphology

The work leading to this paper has received funding for the EU’s FP7 under Grant Agreement No. 282656 (REFORM

Wafer Bonding and Epitaxial Transfer of GaSb-based Epitaxy to GaAs for Monolithic Interconnection of Thermophotovoltaic Devices

GaInAsSb/AlGaAsSb/InAsSb/GaSb epitaxial layers were bonded to semi-insulating GaAs handle wafers with SiO{sub x}/Ti/Au as the adhesion layer for monolithic interconnection of thermophotovoltaic (TPV) devices. Epitaxial transfer was completed by removal of the GaSb substrate, GaSb buffer, and InAsSb etch-stop layer by selective chemical etching. The SiO{sub x}/TiAu provides not only electrical isolation, but also high reflectivity and is used as an internal back-surface reflector. Characterization of wafer-bonded epitaxy by high-resolution x-ray diffraction and time-decay photoluminescence indicates minimal residual stress and enhancement in optical quality. 0.54-eV GaInAsSb cells were fabricated and monolithically interconnected in series. A 10-junction device exhibited linear voltage building with an open-circuit voltage of 1.8 V