A Comparative Passivation Study for InAs/GaSb Pin Superlattice Photodetectors

Cataloged from PDF version of article.In the quest to find ever better passivation techniques for infrared photodetectors, we explore several passivation layers using atomic layer deposition (ALD). We compare the impact of these layers on detectors fabricated under same conditions. We use ALD deposited Al2O3, HfO2, TiO2, ZnO, plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition deposited SiO2, Si3N4, and sulfur containing octadecanethiol self assembled monolayer passivation layers on InAs/GaSb p-i-n superlattice diodes with an average cutoff wavelength of 5.1 mu m. Passivated and unpassivated photodetectors compared for their electrical performances

Dating the Sea of Marmara sediments by a uniform mixing model

The sedimentation rates and Pb-210 fluxes on sediment surfaces were measured in the north, northwestern and southwestern parts of the Sea of Marmara. Each core had varying thickness of constant Pb-210 activity regions followed by a decreasing part with sediment depth. The sedimentation rates of the samples collected from the Bosporus and the Dardanelles could not be analysed due to the homogenization of activity in the strong currents of these straits. A uniform mixing model is proposed for the simultaneous analysis of sedimentation rates, Pb-210 fluxes and mixing depths from the experimental data. In this model, the parameters were obtained by minimizing the multi-dimensional parameter space using a grid search algorithm. The Pb-210 fluxes were found to be about 0.048 Bq cm(-2) year(-1) for all sampling sites. The mass sedimentation rates were 0.19 and 0.073 g cm(-2) year(-1) at the shelves of the Bosporus and the Dardanelles and 0.055 and 0.064 g cm(-2) year(-1) in the northwestern and middle northern basins, respectively, of the Sea of Marmara. Copyright (C) 1996 Elsevier Science Limite

Femtosecond laser crystallization of amorphous Ge

Cataloged from PDF version of article.Ultrafast crystallization of amorphous germanium (a-Ge) in ambient has been studied. Plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition grown a-Ge was irradiated with single femtosecond laser pulses of various durations with a range of fluences from below melting to above ablation threshold. Extensive use of Raman scattering has been employed to determine post solidification features aided by scanning electron microscopy and atomic force microscopy measurements. Linewidth of the Ge optic phonon at 300 cm(-1) as a function of laser fluence provides a signature for the crystallization of a-Ge. Various crystallization regimes including nanostructures in the form of nanospheres have been identified. (C) 2011 American Institute of Physics. [doi:10.1063/1.3601356

Crystallization of Ge in SiO2 matrix by femtosecond laser processing

Cataloged from PDF version of article.Germanium nanocrystals embedded in a siliconoxide matrix has been fabricated by single femtosecond laser pulse irradiation of germanium doped SiO2 thin films deposited with plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition. SEM and AFM are used to analyze surface modification induced by laser irradiation. Crystallization of Ge in the oxide matrix is monitored with the optic phonon at 300 cm(-1) as a function of laser fluence. Both the position the linewidth of the phonon provides clear signature for crystallization of Ge. In PL experiments, strong luminescence around 600 nm has been observed. (C) 2012 American Vacuum Society. [DOI: 10.1116/1.3677829

Climatic controls on biophysical interactions in the Black Sea under present day conditions and a potential future (A1B) climate scenario

A dynamical downscaling approach has been applied to investigate climatic controls on biophysical interactions and lower trophic level dynamics in the Black Sea. Simulations were performed under present day conditions (1980–1999) and a potential future (2080–2099) climate scenario, based on the Intergovernmental Panel for Climate Change A1B greenhouse gas emission scenario. Simulations project a 3.7 °C increase in SST, a 25% increase in the stability of the seasonal thermocline and a 37 day increase in the duration of seasonal stratification. Increased winter temperatures inhibited the formation of Cold Intermediate Layer (CIL) waters resulting in near complete erosion of the CIL, with implications for the ventilation of intermediate water masses and the subduction of riverine nutrients. A 4% increase in nitrate availability within the upper 30 m of the water column reflected an increase in the retention time of river water within the surface mixed-layer. Changes in thermohaline structure, combined with a 27% reduction in positive wind stress curl, forced a distinct change in the structure of the basin-scale circulation. The predominantly cyclonic circulation characteristic of contemporary conditions was reversed within the southern and eastern regions of the basin, where under A1B climatic conditions, anticyclonic circulation prevailed. The change in circulation structure significantly altered the horizontal advection and dispersion of high nutrient river waters originating on the NW self. Net primary production increased by 5% on average, with much spatial variability in the response, linked to advective processes. Phytoplankton biomass also increased by 5% and the higher nutrient environment of the future scenario caused a shift in species composition in favour of larger phytoplankton. No significant change in zooplankton biomass was projected. These results constitute one of many possible future scenarios for the Black Sea, being dependent on the modelling systems employed in addition to the choice of emission scenario. Our results emphasise in particular the sensitivity of dynamical downscaling studies to the regional wind forcing fields extracted from global models (these being typically model dependent). As atmospheric warming is projected with a high degree of confidence warming of the Black Sea upper layer, increased water column stability, and erosion of the CIL are believed to be robust results of this study

Thiol passivation of MWIR Type II superlattice photodetectors

Poor passivation on photodetectors can result in catastrophic failure of the device. Abrupt termination of mesa side walls during pixel definition generates dangling bonds that lead to inversion layers and surface traps leading to surface leakage currents that short circuit diode action. Good passivation, therefore, is critical in the fabrication of high performance devices. Silicondioxide has been the main stay of passivation for commercial photodetectors, deposited at high temperatures and high RF powers using plasma deposition techniques. In photodetectors based on III-V compounds, sulphur passivation has been shown to replace oxygen and saturate the dangling bonds. Despite its effectiveness, it degrades over time. More effort is required to create passivation layers which eliminate surface leakage current. In this work, we propose the use of sulphur based octadecanethiol (ODT), CH3(CH2)17SH, as a passivation layer for the InAs/GaSb superlattice photodetectors that acts as a self assembled monolayer (SAM). ODT SAMs consist of a chain of 18 carbon atoms with a sulphur atom at its head. ODT Thiol coating is a simple process that consist of dipping the sample into the solution for a prescribed time. Excellent electrical performance of diodes tested confirm the effectiveness of the sulphur head stabilized by the intermolecular interaction due to van der Walls forces between the long chains of ODT SAM which results in highly stable ultrathin hydrocarbon layers without long term degradation. © 2013 SPIE

Thermally stimulated current observation of trapping centers in undoped GaSe layered single crystals

Undoped p-GaSe layered single crystals were grown using Bridgman technique. Thermally stimulated current measurements in the temperature range of 10-300 K were performed at a heating rate of 0.18 K/s. The analysis of the data revealed three trap levels at 0.02, 0.10 and 0.26 eV. The calculation for these traps yielded 8.8 × 10-27, 1.9 × 10-25, and 3.2 × 10-21 cm2 for capture cross sections and 3.2 × 1014, 1.1 × 1016, and 1.2 × 1016 cm-3 for the concentrations, respectively

Low dark current N structure superlattice MWIR photodetectors

Commercially available read out integrated circuits (ROICs) require the FPA to have high dynamic resistance area product at zero bias (R0A) which is directly related to dark current of the detector. Dark current arises from bulk and surface contributions. Recent band structure engineering studies significantly suppressed the bulk contribution of the type-II superlattice infrared photodetectors (N structure, M structure, W structure). In this letter, we will present improved dark current results for unipolar barrier complex supercell superlattice system which is called as "N structure". The unique electronic band structure of the N structure increases electron-hole overlap under bias, significantly. N structure aims to improve absorption by manipulating electron and hole wavefunctions that are spatially separated in T2SLs, increasing the absorption while decreasing the dark current. In order to engineer the wavefunctions, we introduce a thin AlSb layer between InAs and GaSb layers in the growth direction which also acts as a unipolar electron barrier. Despite the difficulty of perfect lattice matching of InAs and AlSb, such a design is expected to reduce dark current. Experiments were carried out on Single pixel with mesa sizes of 100 × 100 - 700 × 700 μm photodiodes. Temperature dependent dark current with corresponding R0A resistance values are reported. © 2014 SPIE

Low-frequency noise behavior at reverse bias region in InAs/GaSb superlattice photodiodes on mid-wave infrared

We describe a relationship between the noise characterization and activation energy of InAs/GaSb superlattice Mid- Wavelength-Infrared photodiodes for different passivation materials applied to the device. The noise measurements exhibited a frequency dependent plateau (i.e. 1/f-noise characteristic) for unpassivated as well as Si3N4 passivated samples whereas 1/f-type low noise suppression (i.e. frequency independent plateau) with a noise current reduction of more than one order of magnitude was observed for SiO2 passivation. For reverse bias values below -0.15V, the classical Schottky-noise calculation alone did not appear to describe the noise mechanism in a SL noise behavior, which shows a divergence between theoretically and experimentally determined noise values. We identify that, the additional noise appears, with and without passivation, at the surface activation energy of < 60 meV and is inversely proportional to the reverse bias. This is believed to be caused by the surface dangling-bonds (as well as surface states) whose response is controlled by the applied reverse bias. The calculated noise characteristics showed a good agreement with the experimental data. © 2013 SPIE