Ultrafast spatiotemporal photocarrier dynamics near GaN surfaces studied by terahertz emission spectroscopy

Gallium nitride (GaN) is a promising wide-bandgap semiconductor, and new characterization tools are needed to study its local crystallinity, carrier dynamics, and doping effects. Terahertz (THz) emission spectroscopy (TES) is an emerging experimental technique that can probe the ultrafast carrier dynamics in optically excited semiconductors. In this work, the carrier dynamics and THz emission mechanisms of GaN were examined in unintentionally doped n-type, Si-doped n-type, and Mg-doped p-type GaN films. The photocarriers excited near the surface travel from the excited-area in an ultrafast manner and generate THz radiation in accordance with the time derivative of the surge drift current. The polarity of the THz amplitude can be used to determine the majority carrier type in GaN films through a non-contact and non-destructive method. Unique THz emission excited by photon energies less than the bandgap was also observed in the p-type GaN film

Terahertz Dynamics of Quantum-Confined Electrons in Carbon Nanomaterials

Low-dimensional carbon nanostructures, such as single-wall carbon nanotubes (SWCNTs) and graphene, offer new opportunities for terahertz science and technology. Being zero-gap systems with a linear, photon-like energy dispersion, metallic SWCNTs and graphene exhibit a variety of extraordinary properties. Their DC and linear electrical properties have been extensively studied in the last decade, but their unusual finite-frequency, nonlinear, and/or non-equilibrium properties are largely unexplored, although they are predicted to be useful for new terahertz device applications. Terahertz dynamic conductivity measurements allow us to probe the dynamics of such photon-like electrons, or massless Dirac fermions. Here, we use terahertz time-domain spectroscopy and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy to investigate terahertz conductivities of one-dimensional and two-dimensional electrons, respectively, in films of highly aligned SWCNTs and gated largearea graphene. In SWCNTs, we observe extremely anisotropic terahertz conductivities, promising for terahertz polarizer applications. In graphene, we demonstrate that terahertz and infrared properties sensitively change with the Fermi energy, which can be controlled by electrical gating and thermal annealing.National Science Foundation OISE-0530220National Science Foundation OISE-096840

Increase in the infield critical current density of MgB₂ thin films by high-temperature post-annealing

We propose a novel fabrication technique based on the formation of a Nb protective layer on a MgB₂ hin film and high-temperature post-annealing to increase the critical current density (Jc) of MgB₂ films under an external magnetic field. Analyses of the crystal structure and the composition of the processed MgB₂ films confirmed the suppression of the evaporation and oxidation of Mg by high-temperature annealing above 550 °C. The MgB₂ film annealed at 650 °C exhibited a Jc of 1.62 MA cm⁻² under 5 T, which is the highest reported value for MgB₂ films, wires, and bulk samples to date

Probing low-density carriers in a single atomic layer using terahertz parallel-plate waveguides

As novel classes of two-dimensional (2D) materials and heterostructures continue to emerge at an increasing pace, methods are being sought for elucidating their electronic properties rapidly, non-destructively, and sensitively. Terahertz (THz) time-domain spectroscopy is a well-established method for characterizing charge carriers in a contactless fashion, but its sensitivity is limited, making it a challenge to study atomically thin materials, which often have low conductivities. Here, we employ THz parallel-plate waveguides to study monolayer graphene with low carrier densities. We demonstrate that a carrier density of ~2 × 1011 cm−2, which induces less than 1% absorption in conventional THz transmission spectroscopy, exhibits ~30% absorption in our waveguide geometry. The amount of absorption exponentially increases with both the sheet conductivity and the waveguide length. Therefore, the minimum detectable conductivity of this method sensitively increases by simply increasing the length of the waveguide along which the THz wave propagates. In turn, enabling the detection of low-conductivity carriers in a straightforward, macroscopic configuration that is compatible with any standard time-domain THz spectroscopy setup. These results are promising for further studies of charge carriers in a diverse range of emerging 2D materials

Polarization imaging of imperfect m-plane GaN surfaces

Surface polar states in m-plane GaN wafers were studied using a laser terahertz (THz) emission microscope (LTEM). Femtosecond laser illumination excites THz waves from the surface due to photocarrier acceleration by local spontaneous polarization and/or the surface built-in electric field. The m-plane, in general, has a large number of unfavorable defects and unintentional polarization inversion created during the regrowth process. The LTEM images can visualize surface domains with different polarizations, some of which are hard to visualize with photoluminescence mapping, i.e., non-radiative defect areas. The present study demonstrates that the LTEM provides rich information about the surface polar states of GaN, which is crucial to improve the performance of GaN-based optoelectronic and power devices

MgB₂ thin films fabricated on Fe tape and effects of annealing on their properties

Magnesium diboride (MgB₂) thin films were fabricated on Fe tapes by an electron-beam evaporation method and post-annealed at 650 °C for 1–5 h. Appropriate post- annealing (1 h) resulted in a critical temperature (Tc) of 34.4 K and infield critical current density (Jc) of 0.20 MA cm⁻² at 20 K under 6 T. Characterization suggests that annealing improves the crystallinity of the MgB₂ thin film; however, Fe diffuses into the MgB₂ layer when annealing for longer durations, which deteriorates the superconductivity. MgB₂ thin films on Fe tape can be utilized in diverse superconducting applications under external magnetic fields

Invited Article: Terahertz microfluidic chips sensitivity-enhanced with a few arrays of meta-atoms

We present a nonlinear optical crystal (NLOC)-based terahertz (THz) microfluidic chip with a few arrays of split ring resonators (SRRs) for ultra-trace and quantitative measurements of liquid solutions. The proposed chip operates on the basis of near-field coupling between the SRRs and a local emission of point like THz source that is generated in the process of optical rectification in NLOCs on a sub-wavelength scale. The liquid solutions flowing inside the microchannel modify the resonance frequency and peak attenuation in the THz transmission spectra. In contrast to conventional bio-sensing with far/near-field THz waves, our technique can be expected to compactify the chip design as well as realize high sensitive near-field measurement of liquid solutions without any high-power optical/THz source, near-field probes, and prisms. Using this chip, we have succeeded in observing the 31.8 fmol of ion concentration in actual amount of 318 pl water solutions from the shift of the resonance frequency. The technique opens the door to microanalysis of biological samples with THz waves and accelerates development of THz lab-on-chip devices