Anomalous Features in Surface Impedance of Y-Ba-Cu-O Thin Films: Dependence on Frequency, RF and DC Fields

Two high-quality Y-Ba-Cu-O thin films on MgO substrates have been investigated using the coplanar resonator technique at 8 and 16 GHz. Both films exhibit an anomalous decrease in their surface impedance, Zs as a function of microwave field, Hrf. In zero dc field, Hrf-dependences of Rs and Xs for both the samples are uncorrelated, and only one of the quantities, Rs or Xs, displays anomalous behavior. Here, application of relatively weak (~5 mT) dc magnetic fields, Hdc can produce a correlated decrease of Rs(Hrf) and Xs(Hrf). The dependences of Zs on Hdc in both low and high microwave power regimes were found to be non-monotonic. The frequency dependence of Rs ~ fn, 1.7<n<2.5, remained the same upon the transition from low to high microwave power ranges. The consequences of the reported findings for microwave device applications are briefly discussedComment: 4 pages, 4 figures. Submitted to ASC'2000 Conference Proceeding

Impact ionization and large room-temperature magnetoresistance in micron-sized high-mobility InAs channels

We report on hot electron induced impact ionization and large room-temperature magnetoresistance (MR) in micron-sized channels of n-type high-mobility InAs (μ=3.3m2V−1s−1 at T=300K): the MR reaches values of up to 450% in magnetic fields of 1 T and applied voltages of ∼1 V and is weakly dependent on temperature. We present Monte Carlo simulations of the hot electron dynamics to account for the large MR and its dependence on the sample geometry and applied electric and magnetic fields. Our work demonstrates that the impact ionization of electrons at room temperature, under small applied magnetic fields (<1 T) and small voltages (<1 V), can provide an extremely sensitive mechanism for controlling the electrical resistance of high-mobility semiconductors

Optical detection and spatial modulation of mid-infrared surface plasmon polaritons in a highly doped semiconductor

Highly doped semiconductors (HDSCs) are promising candidates for plasmonic applications in the mid-infrared (MIR) spectral range. This work examines a recent addition to the HDSC family, the dilute nitride alloy In(AsN). Post-growth hydrogenation of In(AsN) creates a highly conducting channel near the surface and a surface plasmon polariton detected by attenuated total reflection techniques. The suppression of plasmonic effects following a photo-annealing of the semiconductor is attributed to the dissociation of the N-H bond. This offers new routes for direct patterning of MIR plasmonic structures by laser writing

Long-Term Stability and Optoelectronic Performance Enhancement of InAsP Nanowires with an Ultrathin InP Passivation Layer

The influence of nanowire (NW) surface states increases rapidly with the reduction of diameter and hence severely degrades the optoelectronic performance of narrow-diameter NWs. Surface passivation is therefore critical, but it is challenging to achieve long-term effective passivation without significantly affecting other qualities. Here, we demonstrate that an ultrathin InP passivation layer of 2-3 nm can effectively solve these challenges. For InAsP nanowires with small diameters of 30-40 nm, the ultrathin passivation layer reduces the surface recombination velocity by at least 70% and increases the charge carrier lifetime by a factor of 3. These improvements are maintained even after storing the samples in ambient atmosphere for over 3 years. This passivation also greatly improves the performance thermal tolerance of these thin NWs and extends their operating temperature from <150 K to room temperature. This study provides a new route toward high-performance room-temperature narrow-diameter NW devices with long-term stability

Self-Catalyzed AlGaAs Nanowires and AlGaAs/GaAs Nanowire-Quantum Dots on Si Substrates

[Image: see text] Self-catalyzed AlGaAs nanowires (NWs) and NWs with a GaAs quantum dot (QD) were monolithically grown on Si(111) substrates via solid-source molecular beam epitaxy. This growth technique is advantageous in comparison to the previously employed Au-catalyzed approach, as it removes Au contamination issues and renders the structures compatible with complementary metal–oxide–semiconductor (CMOS) technology applications. Structural studies reveal the self-formation of an Al-rich AlGaAs shell, thicker at the NW base and thinning towards the tip, with the opposite behavior observed for the NW core. Wide alloy fluctuations in the shell region are also noticed. AlGaAs NW structures with nominal Al contents of 10, 20, and 30% have strong room temperature photoluminescence, with emission in the range of 1.50–1.72 eV. Individual NWs with an embedded 4.9 nm-thick GaAs region exhibit clear QD behavior, with spatially localized emission, both exciton and biexciton recombination lines, and an exciton line width of 490 μeV at low temperature. Our results demonstrate the properties and behavior of the AlGaAs NWs and AlGaAs/GaAs NWQDs grown via the self-catalyzed approach for the first time and exhibit their potential for a range of novel applications, including nanolasers and single-photon sources