Low-power and high-detectivity Ge photodiodes by in-situ heavy As doping during Ge-on-Si seed layer growth

Germanium (Ge)-based photodetectors have become one of the mainstream components in photonic-integrated circuits (PICs). Many emerging PIC applications require the photodetectors to have high detectivity and low power consumption. Herein, we demonstrate high-detectivity Ge vertical p-i-n photodiodes on an in-situ heavily arsenic (As)-doped Ge-on-Si platform. The As doping was incorporated during the initial Ge-on-Si seed layer growth. The grown film exhibits an insignificant up-diffusion of the As dopants. The design results in a ∼45× reduction on the dark current and consequently a ∼5× enhancement on the specific detectivity (D*) at low reverse bias. The improvements are mainly attributed to the improved epi-Ge crystal quality and the narrowing of the device junction depletion width. Furthermore, a significant deviation on the AsH3 flow finds a negligible effect on the D* enhancement. This unconventional but low-cost approach provides an alternative solution for future high-detectivity and low-power photodiodes in PICs. This method can be extended to the use of other n-type dopants (e.g., phosphorus (P) and antimony (Sb)) as well as to the design of other types of photodiodes (e.g., waveguide-integrated)

Gourd-shaped hole array germanium (Ge)-on-insulator photodiodes with improvedresponsivity and specific detectivity at 1,550 nm

Gourd-shaped hole array germanium (Ge) vertical p-i-n photodiodes were designed and demonstrated on a germanium-on-insulator (GOI) substrate with the excellent responsivity of 0.74 A/W and specific detectivity of 3.1 × 1010 cm·Hz1/2/W. It is calculated that the gourd-shaped hole design provides a higher optical absorption compared to a cylinder-shaped hole design. As a result, the external quantum efficiency for the gourd-shaped hole array photodetector was enhanced by ∼2.5× at 1,550 nm, comparing with hole-free array photodetectors. In addition, the extracted specific detectivity is superior to that of commercial bulk Ge photodiodes. The 3-dB bandwidth for the hole array photodetectors is improved by ∼10% due to a lower device capacitance. This work paves the way for low-cost and high-performance CMOS compatible photodetectors for Si-based photonic-integrated circuits

Electroweak phase transition in a nonminimal supersymmetric model

The Higgs potential of the minimal nonminimal supersymmetric standard model (MNMSSM) is investigated within the context of electroweak phase transition. We investigate the allowed parameter space yielding correct electroweak phase transitoin employing a high temperature approximation. We devote to phenomenological consequences for the Higgs sector of the MNMSSM for electron-positron colliders. It is observed that a future $e^+ e^-$ linear collider with $\sqrt{s} = 1000$ GeV will be able to test the model with regard to electroweak baryogenesis.Comment: 28 pages, 5 tables, 12 figure

Half-Metallic Graphene Nanoribbons

Electrical current can be completely spin polarized in a class of materials known as half-metals, as a result of the coexistence of metallic nature for electrons with one spin orientation and insulating for electrons with the other. Such asymmetric electronic states for the different spins have been predicted for some ferromagnetic metals - for example, the Heusler compounds- and were first observed in a manganese perovskite. In view of the potential for use of this property in realizing spin-based electronics, substantial efforts have been made to search for half-metallic materials. However, organic materials have hardly been investigated in this context even though carbon-based nanostructures hold significant promise for future electronic device. Here we predict half-metallicity in nanometre-scale graphene ribbons by using first-principles calculations. We show that this phenomenon is realizable if in-plane homogeneous electric fields are applied across the zigzag-shaped edges of the graphene nanoribbons, and that their magnetic property can be controlled by the external electric fields. The results are not only of scientific interests in the interplay between electric fields and electronic spin degree of freedom in solids but may also open a new path to explore spintronics at nanometre scale, based on graphene

Computational Study of Tunneling Transistor Based on Graphene Nanoribbon

Tunneling field-effect transistors (FETs) have been intensely explored recently due to its potential to address power concerns in nanoelectronics. The recently discovered graphene nanoribbon (GNR) is ideal for tunneling FETs due to its symmetric bandstructure, light effective mass, and monolayer-thin body. In this work, we examine the device physics of p-i-n GNR tunneling FETs using atomistic quantum transport simulations. The important role of the edge bond relaxation in the device characteristics is identified. The device, however, has ambipolar I-V characteristics, which are not preferred for digital electronics applications. We suggest that using either an asymmetric source-drain doping or a properly designed gate underlap can effectively suppress the ambipolar I-V. A subthreshold slope of 14mV/dec and a significantly improved on-off ratio can be obtained by the p-i-n GNR tunneling FETs

A Phenomenological Description of the Non-Fermi-Liquid Phase of MnSi

In order to understand the non-Fermi-liquid behavior of MnSi under pressure we propose a scenario on the basis of the multispiral state of the magnetic moment. This state can describe the recent critical experiment of the Bragg sphere in the neutron scattering which is the key ingredient of the non-Fermi-liquid behavior.Comment: 3 page

Estimating the carbon dynamics of South Korean forests from 1954 to 2012

Forests play an important role in the global carbon (C) cycle, and the South Korean forests also contribute to this global C cycle. While the South Korean forest ecosystem was almost completely destroyed by exploitation and the Korean War, it has successfully recovered because of national-scale reforestation programs since 1973. There have been several studies on the estimation of C stocks and balances over the past decades in the South Korean forests. However, a retrospective long-term study that includes biomass and dead organic matter C and validates dead organic matter C is still lacking. Accordingly, we estimated the C stocks and their changes of both biomass and dead organic matter C during the 1954-2012 period using a process-based model, the Korean Forest Soil Carbon model, and the 5th South Korean national forest inventory (NFI) report. Validation processes were also conducted based on the 5th NFI and statistical data. Simulation results showed that the biomass C stocks increased from 36.4 to 440.4 Tg C at a rate of 7.0 Tg C yrg-1 during the period 1954-2012. The dead organic matter C stocks increased from 386.0 to 463.1 Tg C at a rate of 1.3 Tg C yrg-1 during the same period. The estimates of biomass and dead organic matter C stocks agreed well with observed C stock data. The annual net biome production (NBP) during the period 1954-2012 was 141.3 g C mg-2 yrg-1, which increased from ??'8.8 g C mg-2 yrg-1 in 1955 to 436.6 g C mg-2 yrg-1 in 2012. Because of the small forested area, the South Korean forests had a comparatively lower contribution to the annual C sequestration by global forests. In contrast, because of the extensive reforestation programs, the NBP of South Korean forests was much higher than those of other countries. Our results could provide the forest C dynamics in South Korean forests before and after the onset of reforestation programs.Korea Forest Service (S111314L100120, S111114L030100) and Korea Ministry of Environment (C314-00131-0408-0).Scopu

Extraction of electric field in heavily irradiated silicon pixel sensors

A new method for the extraction of the electric field in the bulk of heavily irradiated silicon pixel sensors is presented. It is based on the measurement of the Lorentz deflection and mobility of electrons as a function of depth. The measurements were made at the CERN H2 beam line, with the beam at a shallow angle with respect to the pixel sensor surface. The extracted electric field is used to simulate the charge collection and the Lorentz deflection in the pixel sensor. The simulated charge collection and the Lorentz deflection is in good agreement with the measurements both for non-irradiated and irradiated up to 1E15 neq/cm2 sensors.Comment: 6 pages, 11 figures, presented at the 13th International Workshop on Vertex Detectors for High Energy Physics, September 13-18, 2004, Menaggio-Como, Italy. Submitted to Nucl. Instr. Meth.

Direct Imaging of Graphene Edges: Atomic Structure and Electronic Scattering

We report an atomically-resolved scanning tunneling microscopy (STM) investigation of the edges of graphene grains synthesized on Cu foils by chemical vapor deposition (CVD). Most of the edges are macroscopically parallel to the zigzag directions of graphene lattice. These edges have microscopic roughness that is found to also follow zigzag directions at atomic scale, displaying many ~120 degree turns. A prominent standing wave pattern with periodicity ~3a/4 (a being the graphene lattice constant) is observed near a rare-occurring armchair-oriented edge. Observed features of this wave pattern are consistent with the electronic intervalley backscattering predicted to occur at armchair edges but not at zigzag edges