Investigations on Ni-Ti-Al ohmic contacts obtained on p-type 4H-SiC

International audienceTransfer Length Method (TLM) based-structures were fabricated on 0.8 µm-thick epitaxial p-type Silicon Carbide (4H-SiC) layers. TLM mesas were defined by a 2 µm height using an SF 6 /O 2 reactive ion etching. TLM metal patterns were obtained by a lift-off procedure and electron beam deposition of Ni, Ti, Al and Pt. The patterned samples were annealed in Argon ambient at temperature ranging from 700°C up to 1000°C in a RTA furnace with a rapid heating ramp (up to 50°C/s) to complete the ohmic contact with the p-type SiC layer. Specific contact resistances were extracted from current/voltage measurements. To identify and follow the profile evolution of constituting element in the contacts and at the SiC/contact interface, the ohmic contacts were characterized using Secondary Ion Mass Spectrometry and Energy-Dispersive X-Ray spectroscopy before and after annealing. Ohmic contacts are obtained only for the Ni/Ti/Al and Ni/Ti/Al/Ni stacking layers and not for the Ti/Al/Ti/Ni and Ti/Al/Ti/Pt/Ni compositions. The specific contact resistance of Ni/Ti/Al/Ni stacking layers was observed to decrease from 2.7×10-4  .cm 2 at 700°C and 6.3×10-5 .cm 2 at 750°C to a minimal value of 1.5×10-5  .cm 2 at 800°C. Ohmic contacts are obtained with a reproducibility of 80 %

Cambios ambientales del último milenio en sedimentos lacustres del Lago Thompson, Patagonia Chilena Norte

Este estudio se enfoca en un análisis multiproxy de un testigo sedimentario del Lago Thompson (area 1 km2; 751 masl ; 45°38’S 72°47’W) obtenido en 2008 (LT08-E, 130 cm), con el objetivo de documentar la variabilidad climática durante el último milenio en la Patagonia Chilena Norte y su impacto sobre el ambiente. El modelo de datación se basó en cinco fechados de 14C. Los resultados de 210Pb y 137 Cs no permitieron estimar la tasa de sedimentación para la parte superficial del núcleo. El lago Thompson esta caracterizado por una pequeña cuenca de suaves pendientes y sus sedimentos están dominados por limo arcilloso y partículas amorfas (principalmente diatomeas). Esto último es sustentado por la relación atómica de carbono/nitrógeno (C/N) que indica el origen fitoplanctónico del sedimento (8-10). Los perfiles de rayos –X, susceptibilidad magnética y LOI 550ºC evidencian dos depósitos volcánicos en 1410-1440 y 1780-1790 AD. Los perfiles de C/N y sílice biogénica (SiB) sugieren una alta productividad durante un periodo equivalente a la Pequeña Edad del Hielo (1650-1850 AD), con una máxima intensidad durante ~1800 AD. Desde 1850 AD hasta la actualidad, los perfiles de LOI 550ºC y SiB evidencian una reciente eutrofización y aumento del nivel del lago (asociado con aumento de temperaturas y humedad). Además, los perfiles de SiB presentan una correlación inversa con las temperaturas reconstruidas por anillos de árboles en la Patagonia. El contenido de diatomeas es dominado por especies planctónicas (Aulacoseira sp. y Cyclotella sp.), mientras que taxa bentónicos no muestran una buena diversificación en comparación a otros lagos de la Patagonia. La abundancia de diatomeas muestra respuestas específicas a los depósitos volcánicos con una disminución de Aulacoseira sp.. La relación planctónica/bentónica permite identificar dos periodos de alto y bajo nivel del lago coincidiendo con fases húmedas y secas de la Pequeña Edad de Hielo (1200-1650 y 1650-1850 AD). La realización de análisis sedimentológicos, geoquímicos y de microfósiles permitiría una mejor caracterización de los modelos de depositación del sedimento (impregnación del núcleo sedimentario) y de la interacción entre depósitos volcánicos y diatomeas. Agradecimientos a Fondecyt Nº1070508, FNRS 1360 2007-2010 y ULg CFRA 1060 2009-2010

L-Grassf: A New Model for Simulating the Genetic Environment Interactions on the Reproductive Phenology of Grasses

Predicting the reproductive phenology in perennial grasses is a major concern because it determines the quantity and quality of forage. It varies a lot depending on site, year and cultivar. Projections of future climates suggest significant changes in seasonal temperature pattern, with new combinations of temperature and photoperiod, whose consequences on the floral induction of perennial grasses are unknown. L-GrassF is a new Functional Structural Plant Model simulating genetic variability of the phenology of perennial ryegrass in order to better understand the perenniality of grasslands and better anticipate the effects of climate change. L-GrassF stems from a previous model (L-Grass) and now simulates the reproductive stages by integrating the interactions between vegetative growth, floral induction and reproductive organ development. The sensitivity analysis of a set of parameters was studied in the range of oceanic temperate climate conditions, on several European cultivars. It was further calibrated and validated on two independent datasets from the French Variety and Seed Study and Control Group (GEVES), which include the observations of heading dates for seven cultivars of Lolium perenne grown in six French locations between 2001 and 2017

Generalised Mutual Information: a Framework for Discriminative Clustering

In the last decade, recent successes in deep clustering majorly involved the Mutual Information (MI) as an unsupervised objective for training neural networks with increasing regularisations. While the quality of the regularisations have been largely discussed for improvements, little attention has been dedicated to the relevance of MI as a clustering objective. In this paper, we first highlight how the maximisation of MI does not lead to satisfying clusters. We identified the Kullback-Leibler divergence as the main reason of this behaviour. Hence, we generalise the mutual information by changing its core distance, introducing the Generalised Mutual Information (GEMINI): a set of metrics for unsupervised neural network training. Unlike MI, some GEMINIs do not require regularisations when training as they are geometry-aware thanks to distances or kernels in the data space. Finally, we highlight that GEMINIs can automatically select a relevant number of clusters, a property that has been little studied in deep discriminative clustering context where the number of clusters is a priori unknown.Comment: Submitted for review at the IEEE Transactions on Pattern Analysis and Machine Intelligence. This article is an extension of an original NeurIPS 2022 article [arXiv:2210.06300

Étude téphrostratigraphique et bio-climatique du Tardiglaciaire et de l’Holocène de la Laguna Salinas, Pérou méridional

La présente étude est une contribution à la connaissance de l'évolution de l'environnement tardiglaciaire et holocène des régions andines. En raison de la présence de volcans à proximité de la ville d'Arequipa (800 000 habitants), l'accent est mis sur la récurrence de l'activité volcanique et il est démontré que sept téphras majeures ont recouvert la région après le dernier maximum glaciaire. La Laguna Salinas est une dépression fermée d'origine volcano-tectonique du département d'Arequipa (Pérou méridional) qui constitue un piège sédimentaire dont des carottes ont été extraites des niveaux couvrant les quinze derniers millénaires. L'ensemble des analyses multidisciplinaires (téphras, pollen, diatomées, datation au 14C) réalisées sur ces carottes et des coupes accessibles autour de la lagune ont conduit à rétablissement d'un modèle stratigraphique actuellement unique pour le Tardiglaciaire et l'Holocène du Pérou méridional.This study is a contribution to the Late glacial and Holocene environmental changes in the Andean Cordillera. Due to the presence of volcanoes near Arequipa city (800,000 inhabitants), particular importance is given to the frequency of volcanic activity and it is demonstrated that seven major tephras have covered the area after the last glacial maximum. Laguna Salinas is a volcano-tectonic closed basin in the Arequipa Department (southern Peru) which acts as a sediment trap in which cores were taken that correspond to the last 15,000 years. A multidisciplinary research (tephras, pollen, diatoms, 14C-dating) of a core as well as tephrostratigraphical investigations of nearby roadcuts have allowed to realize the first chronostratigraphical model for the Late Glacial and Holocene periods of southern Peru.Die vorliegende Arbeit stellt einen Beitrag zur Kenntniss von Unweltverânderungen im Spat und Postglazial in den Anden dar. Da die sudperuanische Stadt Arequipa (800 000 Einwohner) zwischen Vulkanen eingebettet ist, wird beim Studium dieser Region ein bezonderer Akzent auf den Ruckgang der vulkanischen Aktivitàt und Fôrdertâtigkeit gelegt. Dabei haben sich fur die Zeit seit dem letzten Hochglazial sieben Haupttephren ergeben. Die Laguna Salinas erstreckt sich im sudperuanischen Département Arequipa in einem vulkano-tecktonishen Becken, das als eigentliche Sedimentfalle wirkt. Darin wurden in einer Kernbohrung Proben genommen, die zeitlich die letzten 15 000 Jahre abstecken. Tephralagen, Pollen, Diatomeen, l4C-Alter wurden multidisziplinar untersucht. Zusammen mit dem Studium umliegender Aufschlusse konnte eine stratigraphische Pionniermodell bzw Referenzprofil fur Sùdperu entwickelt werden

Escherichia coli as Reservoir for Macrolide Resistance Genes

The plasmid-borne mph(A) gene that confers resistance to azithromycin and has recently emerged in Shigella sonnei is present in multidrug- and non–multidrug-resistant Escherichia coli isolates from 4 continents. Further spread of mph(A) to Shigella and Salmonella spp. may be expected