Vertical leakage mechanism in GaN on Si high electron mobility transistor buffer layers

Control of leakage currents in the buffer layers of GaN based transistors on Si substrates is vital for the demonstration of high performance devices. Here, we show that the growth conditions during the metal organic chemical vapour deposition growth of the graded AlGaN strain relief layers (SRLs) can significantly influence the vertical leakage. Using scanning capacitance microscopy, secondary ion mass spectrometry, and transmission electron microscopy, we investigate the origins of leakage paths and show that they result from the preferential incorporation of oxygen impurities on the side wall facets of the inverted hexagonal pyramidal pits which can occur during the growth of the graded AlGaN SRL. We also show that when 2D growth of the AlGaN SRL is maintained a significant increase in the breakdown voltage can be achieved even in much thinner buffer layer structures. These results demonstrate the importance of controlling the morphology of the high electron mobility transistor buffer layer as even at a very low density the leakage paths identified would provide leakage paths in large area devices.This work was funded by the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council under Grant Code Nos. EP/K014471/1 and EP/N01202X/1 and the European Research Council under the European Community's Seventh Framework Programme Grant Agreement No. 279361 (MACONS)

Defects in III-nitride microdisk cavities

Nitride microcavities offer an exceptional platform for the investigation of light-matter interactions as well as the development of devices such as high efficiency light emitting diodes (LEDs) and low-threshold nanolasers. Microdisk geometries in particular are attractive for low-threshold lasing applications due to their ability to support high finesse whispering gallery modes (WGMs) and small modal volumes. In this article we review the effect of defects on the properties of nitride microdisk cavities fabricated using photoelectrochemical (PEC) etching of an InGaN sacrificial superlattice (SSL). Threading dislocations originating from either the original GaN pseudosubstrate are shown to hinder the undercutting of microdisk cavities during the photoelectric chemical (PEC) etching process resulting in whiskers of unetched material on the underside of microdisks. The unetched whiskers provide a pathway for light to escape, reducing microdisk Q-factor if located in the region occupied by the WGMs. Additionally, dislocations can affect the spectral stability of quantum dot emitters, thus hindering their effective integration in microdisk cavities. Though dislocations are clearly undesirable, the limiting factor on nitride microdisk Q-factor is expected to be internal absorption, indicating that the further optimisation of nitride microdisk cavities must incorporate both the elimination of dislocations and careful tailoring of the active region emission wavelength and background doping levels.The original research shown in this article has been funded by the European Research Council under the European Community’s Seventh Framework Programme (FP7/2007-2013)/ ERC grant agreement no. 279361 (MACONS). RAO acknowledges the Royal Academy of Engineering Leverhulme Trust Senior Research Fellowship scheme.This is the author accepted manuscript. The final version is available from the Institute of Physics via https://doi.org/10.1088/1361-6641/32/3/03300

Analysis of defect-related inhomogeneous electroluminescence in InGaN/GaN QW LEDs

The inhomogeneous electroluminescence (EL) of InGaN/GaN quantum well light emitting diode structures was investigated in this study. Electroluminescence hyperspectral images showed that inhomogeneities in the form of bright spots exhibited spectrally blue-shifted and broadened emission. Scanning electron microscopy combined with cathodoluminescence (SEM-CL) was used to identify hexagonal pits at the centre of approximately 20% of these features. Scanning transmission electron microscopy imaging with energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (STEM-EDX) indicated there may be p-doped AlGaN within the active region caused by the presence of the pit. Weak beam dark-field TEM (WBDF-TEM) revealed the presence of bundles of dislocations associated with the pit, suggesting the surface features which cause the inhomogeneous EL may occur at coalescence boundaries, supported by trends in the number of features observed across the wafer.The European Research Council has provided financial support under the European Community’s Seventh Framework Programme/ ERC grant agreement no. 279361 (MACONS).This is the author accepted manuscript. The final version is available from Elsevier via http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.spmi.2016.03.03

Lyapunov-Based Reinforcement Learning for Decentralized Multi-Agent Control

Decentralized multi-agent control has broad applications, ranging from multi-robot cooperation to distributed sensor networks. In decentralized multi-agent control, systems are complex with unknown or highly uncertain dynamics, where traditional model-based control methods can hardly be applied. Compared with model-based control in control theory, deep reinforcement learning (DRL) is promising to learn the controller/policy from data without the knowing system dynamics. However, to directly apply DRL to decentralized multi-agent control is challenging, as interactions among agents make the learning environment non-stationary. More importantly, the existing multi-agent reinforcement learning (MARL) algorithms cannot ensure the closed-loop stability of a multi-agent system from a control-theoretic perspective, so the learned control polices are highly possible to generate abnormal or dangerous behaviors in real applications. Hence, without stability guarantee, the application of the existing MARL algorithms to real multi-agent systems is of great concern, e.g., UAVs, robots, and power systems, etc. In this paper, we aim to propose a new MARL algorithm for decentralized multi-agent control with a stability guarantee. The new MARL algorithm, termed as a multi-agent soft-actor critic (MASAC), is proposed under the well-known framework of "centralized-training-with-decentralized-execution". The closed-loop stability is guaranteed by the introduction of a stability constraint during the policy improvement in our MASAC algorithm. The stability constraint is designed based on Lyapunov's method in control theory. To demonstrate the effectiveness, we present a multi-agent navigation example to show the efficiency of the proposed MASAC algorithm.Comment: Accepted to The 2nd International Conference on Distributed Artificial Intelligenc

Moisture transport by Atlantic tropical cyclones onto the North American continent

Tropical Cyclones (TCs) are an important source of freshwater for the North American continent. Many studies have tried to estimate this contribution by identifying TC-induced precipitation events, but few have explicitly diagnosed the moisture fluxes across continental boundaries. We design a set of attribution schemes to isolate the column-integrated moisture fluxes that are directly associated with TCs and to quantify the flux onto the North American Continent due to TCs. Averaged over the 2004–2012 hurricane seasons and integrated over the western, southern and eastern coasts of North America, the seven schemes attribute 7 to 18 % (mean 14 %) of total net onshore flux to Atlantic TCs. A reduced contribution of 10 % (range 9 to 11 %) was found for the 1980–2003 period, though only two schemes could be applied to this earlier period. Over the whole 1980–2012 period, a further 8 % (range 6 to 9 % from two schemes) was attributed to East Pacific TCs, resulting in a total TC contribution of 19 % (range 17 to 22 %) to the ocean-to-land moisture transport onto the North American continent between May and November. Analysis of the attribution uncertainties suggests that incorporating details of individual TC size and shape adds limited value to a fixed radius approach and TC positional errors in the ERA-Interim reanalysis do not affect the results significantly, but biases in peak wind speeds and TC sizes may lead to underestimates of moisture transport. The interannual variability does not appear to be strongly related to the El Nino-Southern Oscillation phenomenon

KCC2 is required for the survival of mature neurons but not for their development

The K+/Cl- co-transporter KCC2 (SLC12A5) allows mature neurons in the CNS to maintain low intracellular Cl- levels that are critical in mediating fast hyperpolarizing synaptic inhibition via type A γ-aminobutyric acid receptors (GABAARs). In accordance with this, compromised KCC2 activity results in seizures, but whether such deficits directly contribute to the subsequent changes in neuronal structure and viability that lead to epileptogenesis, remains to be assessed. Canonical hyperpolarizing GABAAR currents develop postnatally which reflect a progressive increase in KCC2 expression levels and activity. To investigate the role that KCC2 plays in regulating neuronal viability and architecture we have conditionally ablated KCC2 expression in developing and mature neurons. Decreasing KCC2 expression in mature neurons resulted in the rapid activation of the extrinsic apoptotic pathway. Intriguingly, direct pharmacological inhibition of KCC2 in mature neurons was sufficient to rapidly induce apoptosis, an effect that was not abrogated via blockade of neuronal depolarization using Tetrodotoxin (TTX). In contrast, ablating KCC2 expression in immature neurons had no discernable effects on their subsequent development, arborization or dendritic structure. However, removing KCC2 in immature neurons was sufficient to ablate the subsequent postnatal development of hyperpolarizing GABAAR currents. Collectively, our results demonstrate that KCC2 plays a critical role in neuronal survival by limiting apoptosis, and mature neurons are highly sensitive to the loss of KCC2 function. In contrast, KCC2 appears to play a minimal role in mediating neuronal development or architecture

Control of railway wheelsets – A semi-active approach

This paper presents a detailed study of semi-active approach for railway wheelsets. A number of control strategies for active primary suspensions for both solid axle wheelset and independently rotating wheelsets are examined in detail and the key requirements of energy flows on both curved and straight tracks are investigated. A semi-active control scheme is then proposed for the independently rotating wheels and a comprehensive performance evaluation is provided to demonstrate that the proposed semi active control system can be used to continuously and reliably provide the necessary steering control without the need for the energy injection of full active control

Direct Measurement of Nuclear Dependence of Charged Current Quasielastic-like Neutrino Interactions using MINERvA

Charged-current $\nu_{\mu}$ interactions on carbon, iron, and lead with a final state hadronic system of one or more protons with zero mesons are used to investigate the influence of the nuclear environment on quasielastic-like interactions. The transfered four-momentum squared to the target nucleus, $Q^2$, is reconstructed based on the kinematics of the leading proton, and differential cross sections versus $Q^2$ and the cross-section ratios of iron, lead and carbon to scintillator are measured for the first time in a single experiment. The measurements show a dependence on atomic number. While the quasielastic-like scattering on carbon is compatible with predictions, the trends exhibited by scattering on iron and lead favor a prediction with intranuclear rescattering of hadrons accounted for by a conventional particle cascade treatment. These measurements help discriminate between different models of both initial state nucleons and final state interactions used in the neutrino oscillation experiments

Frequent Heterogeneous Missense Mutations of GGAP2 in Prostate Cancer: Implications for Tumor Biology, Clonality and Mutation Analysis

Prostate cancer is the most common visceral malignancy in Western men and a major cause of cancer deaths. Increased activation of the AKT and NFkB pathways have been identified as critical steps in prostate cancer initiation and progression. GGAP2 (GTP-binding and GTPase activating protein 2) is a multidomain protein that contains an N-terminal Ras homology domain (GTPase), followed by a PH domain, a C-terminal GAP domain and an ankyrin repeat domain. GGAP2 can directly activate signaling via both the AKT and NFkB pathways and acts as a node of crosstalk between these pathways. Increased GGAP2 expression is present in three quarters of prostate cancers. Mutations of GGAP2 have been reported in cell lines from other malignancies. We therefore analyzed 84 prostate cancer tissues and 43 benign prostate tissues for somatic mutations in GGAP2 by direct sequencing of individual clones derived from the GAP and GTPase domains of normal and tumor tissue. Overall, half of cancers contained mutant GAP domain clones and in 20% of cancers, 30% or more of clones were mutant in the GAP domain. Surprisingly, the mutations were heterogeneous and nonclonal, with multiple different mutations being present in many tumors. Similar findings were observed in the analysis of the GTPase domain. Mutant GGAP2 proteins had significantly higher transcriptional activity using AP-1 responsive reporter constructs when compared to wild-type protein. Furthermore, the presence of these mutations was associated with aggressive clinical behavior. The presence of high frequency nonclonal mutations of a single gene is novel and represents a new mode of genetic alteration that can promote tumor progression. Analysis of mutations in cancer has been used to predict outcome and guide therapeutic target identification but such analysis has focused on clonal mutations. Our studies indicate that in some cases high frequency nonclonal mutations may need to be assessed as well