Surface morphology of AlGaN/GaN heterostructures grown on bulk GaN by MBE

In this report the influence of the growth conditions on the surface morphology of AlGaN/GaN heterostructures grown on sapphire-based and bulk GaN substrates is nondestructively investigated with focus on the decoration of defects and the surface roughness. Under Ga-rich conditions specific types of dislocations are unintentionally decorated with shallow hillocks. In contrast, under Ga-lean conditions deep pits are inherently formed at these defect sites. The structural data show that the dislocation density of the substrate sets the limit for the density of dislocation-mediated surface structures after MBE overgrowth and no noticeable amount of surface defects is introduced during the MBE procedure. Moreover, the transfer of crystallographic information, e.g. the miscut of the substrate to the overgrown structure, is confirmed. The combination of our MBE overgrowth with the employed surface morphology analysis by atomic force microscopy (AFM) provides a unique possibility for a nondestructive, retrospective analysis of the original substrate defect density prior to device processing

Извлечение серебра из азотнокислых технологических растворов радиохимического производства

Разработан способ селективного извлечения серебра из азотнокислых актинид-содержащих растворов в условиях радиохимического производства для регенерации серебра и возврата в технологический циклA method has been developed for the selective extraction of silver from nitric acid actinide-containing solutions under conditions of radiochemical production for the regeneration of silver and return to the technological cycl

Extraction of the active acceptor concentration in (pseudo-) vertical GaN MOSFETs using the body-bias effect

We report and discuss the performance of an enhancement mode n-channel pseudo-vertical GaN metal oxide semiconductor field effect transistor (MOSFET). The trench gate structure of the MOSFET is uniformly covered with an Al₂O₃ dielectric and TiN electrode material, both deposited by atomic layer deposition (ALD). Normally-off device operation is demonstrated in the transfer characteristics. Special attention is given to the estimation of the active acceptor concentration in the Mg doped body layer of the device, which is crucial for the prediction of the threshold voltage in terms of device design. A method to estimate the electrically active dopant concentration by applying a body bias is presented. The method can be used for both pseudo-vertical and truly vertical devices. Since it does not depend on fixed charges near the channel region, this method is advantageous compared to the estimation of the active doping concentration from the absolute value of the threshold voltage

Carbon-doped MBE GaN: Spectroscopic insights

The predicted acceptor impurity nature of carbon in hexagonal GaN grown by molecular-beam epitaxy (MBE) is revisited spectroscopically in the energy range between 1.6 and 3.5 eV. Photoluminescence (PL) spectra from ultra-pure GaN and material doped with carbon at a level of 1·18 cm⁻³ differ significantly in the energy range between 3.0 and 3.3 eV depending on the Ga/N stoichiometry during MBE growth. Acceptor-like features formerly attributed to carbon, beryllium or magnesium incorporation are found for both, undoped and carbon-doped GaN. The intensity of these features depends on the Ga/N stoichiometry during growth. While for Ga-lean surface regions, exhibiting multiple 10 nm deep pits, the observed PL features are found to be less intense compared to Ga-rich surface regions, the situation reverses for carbon-doped material. For all samples, the intensity of the yellow luminescence band around 2.2 eV is weak. The results point at crystal defects and the unintentionally present oxygen as the origin of the spectroscopic features traditionally attributed to carbon in GaN

Voting as a Signaling Device

In this paper, citizens vote in order to influence the election outcome and in order to signal their unobserved characteristics to others. The model is one of rational voting and generates the following predictions: (i) The paradox of not voting does not arise, because the benefit of voting does not vanish with population size. (ii) Turnout in elections is positively related to the importance of social interactions. (iii) Voting may exhibit bandwagon effects and small changes in the electoral incentives may generate large changes in turnout due to signaling effects. (iv) Signaling incentives increase the sensitivity of turnout to voting incentives in communities with low opportunity cost of social interaction, while the opposite is true for communities with high cost of social interaction. Therefore, the model predicts less volatile turnout for the latter type of communities

Public opinion polls, voter turnout, and welfare: An experimental study

We experimentally study the impact of public opinion poll releases on voter turnout and welfare in a participation game. We find higher overall turnout rates when polls inform the electroate about the levels of support for the candidates than when polls are prohibited. Distinguishing between allied and floating voters, our data show that this increase in turnout is entirely due to floating voters. When polls indicate equal levels of support for the candidates, turnout is high and welfare is low (compared to the situation without polls). In contrast, when polls reveal more unequal levels of support, turnout is lower with than without this information, while the effect of polls on welfare is nonnegative. Finally, many of our results are well predicted by quantal response (logit) equilibrium