Photoreflectance for in-situ characterization of MOCVD growth of semiconductors under micro-gravity conditions

A contactless electromodulation technique of photoreflectance (PR) was developed for in-situ monitoring of metal-organic chemical vapor deposition (MOCVD) semiconductor growth for micro-gravity applications. PR can be employed in a real MOCVD reactor including rotating substrate (approximately 500 rev/min) in flowing gases and through a diffuser plate. Measurements on GaAs and Ga(0.82)Al(0.18)As were made up to 690 C. The direct band gaps of In(x)Ga(1-x)As (x = 0.07 and 0.16) were evaluated up to 600 C. In order to address the question of real time measurement, the spectra of the direct gap of GaAs at 650 C was obtained in 30 seconds and 15 seconds seems feasible

Contactless electroreflectance, in the range of 20 K \u3c T \u3c 300 K, of freestanding wurtzite GaN prepared by hydride-vapor-phase epitaxy

We have performed a detailed contactless electroreflectance study of the interband excitonic transitions on both the Ga and N faces of a 200-μm-thick freestanding hydride-vapor-phase-epitaxy grown wurtzite GaN sample with low defect concentration in the temperature range between 20 and 300 K. The transition energies of the A, B, and C excitons and broadening parameters of the A and B excitons have been determined by least-square fits to the first derivative of a Lorentzian line shape. The energy positions and separations of the excitonic transitions in the sample reveal the existence of residual strain. At 20 K the broadening parameter of A exciton deduced for the Ga (5×105 dislocation cm−2) and N (1×107 dislocation cm−2) faces are 3 and 7 meV, respectively, indicating a lower defect concentration on the former face. The parameters that describe the temperature dependence of the interband transition energies of the A, B, and C excitons as well as the broadening function of the A and B features are evaluated. The results from an analysis of the temperature dependence of the broadening function of excitons A and B indicate that GaN exhibits a very large exciton-phonon coupling

Reflection Anistropy Spectroscopy Study of the Near Surface Electric Field in Low-Temperature Grown GaAs (001)

We have evaluated an ‘‘effective depletion width’’ of =\u3c 45 Å and the sign (n-type/upward band bending) of the near surface electric field in low-temperature grown GaAs ~001! using the optical method of reflection anisotropy spectroscopy in the vicinity of the spin-orbit split E1 , E1 + Delta1 optical features. Our results provide evidence that surface Fermi level pinning occurs for air exposed (001) surfaces of undoped low temperature grown GaAs

Expression and Function of Macrophage Migration Inhibitory Factor (MIF) in Melioidosis

Melioidosis is a severe tropical infection caused by the bacterium Burkholderia pseudomallei. B. pseudomallei is the major cause of community-acquired septicemia in northeast Thailand with a mortality rate in severe cases of around 40% Little is known, however, about the mechanisms of the host defense to B. pseudomallei infection. Macrophage migration inhibitory factor (MIF) is a proinflammatory cytokine that has emerged as an important mediator of the host defense in severe bacterial infections. In this article, we studied the expression and function of MIF both in patients with melioidosis and in mice during experimental melioidosis. We found that MIF concentrations were elevated in patients with melioidosis. Furthermore, high MIF concentrations are associated with poor outcome in patients with melioidosis. Also, in mice with experimentally induced melioidosis, we observed an upregulation of MIF concentrations. Furthermore, mice with melioidosis that were treated with a MIF blocking treatment showed lower bacterial counts in their lungs during infection. In conclusion, MIF seems to impair host defense mechanisms during melioidosis

ARMY RESEARCH LABORATORY lffif%A^^4Sff-^'i^~'*■■■'' ■^ii>-iäfa'iitf*iiimiMT«»j[i<lr ; f~M r^: *■■' -■■■■»■»■»■■ ''^5A^>^iwi»i'At^* l -iv><ut*jgaMf»"■ liXr-th--.V^^^JJ* 2*ifeSä*g-a Band-Bending Effect of Low-Temperature GaAs on a Pseudomorphic Modulation-D

Abstract Low-temperature photoluminescence (PL) measurements on pseudomorphic modulation-doped transistors with a low-temperature (LT) GaAs layer in the GaAs buffer layer clearly show a decrease in the quantum-well/PL transition energies compared to a structure with no LT GaAs. Self-consistent calculations of the electron and hole band structure confirm that the observed increase in the redshift in PL energies with increasing quantum-well/LT-GaAs spacing can be attributed to band bending induced by the Fermi level pinning at the undoped-GaAs/LT-GaAs interface.