An Array of One-Dimensional Porous Silicon Photonic Crystal Reflector Islands for a Far-Infrared Image Detector

With the aid of photolithography, an array of one-dimensional porous silicon photonic crystai reflector islands for a far infrared image detector ranging from 10 μm to 14 μm is successfully fabricated. Silicon nitride formed by low pressure chemical vapor deposition （LPCVD） was used as the masking layer for the island array formation. After etching, the microstructures were examined by a scanning electron microscope and the optical properties were studied by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, the result indicates that the multilayer structure could be obtained in the perpendicular direction via periodically alternative etching current in each pre-pattern. At the same time, the island array has a well-proportioned lateral etching effect, which is very useful for the thermal isolation in lateral orientation of the application in devices. It is concluded that regardless of the absorption of the deposition layer on the substrate, the localized photonic crystalline islands have higher reflectivity. The designed islands structure not only prevents the cracking of the porous silicon layers but is also useful for the application in the cold part for the sensor devices and the iliterconnection of each pixel.     

Study of He-induced nano-cavities as sinks of oxygen for forming silicon-on-insulator

In the present work, a Cz-Silicon wafer is implanted with helium ions to produce a buried porous layer, and then thermally annealed in a dry oxygen atmosphere to make oxygen transport into the cavities. The formation of the buried oxide layer in the case of internal oxidation （ITOX） of the buried porous layer of cavities in the silicon sample is studied by positron beam annihilation （PBA）. The cavities are formed by 15 keV He implantation at a fluence of 2×10^16 cm^-2 and followed by thermal annealing at 673 K for 30 min in vacuum. The internal oxidation is carried out at temperatures ranging from 1073 to 1473 K for 2 h in a dry oxygen atmosphere. The layered structures evolved in the silicon are detected by using the PBA and the thicknesses of their layers and nature are also investigated. It is found that rather high temperatures must be chosen to establish a sufficient flux of oxygen into the cavity layer. On the other hand high temperatures lead to coarsening the cavities and removing the cavity layer finally.     

Modeling of silicon-nanocrystal formation in amorphous silicon/silicon dioxide multilayer structure

The formation process of silicon-nanocrystals （Si-NCs） in the amorphous silicon/silicon dioxide （a-Si/SiO2） multilayer structure during thermal annealing is theoretically studied with a modified model based on the Gibbs free energy variation. In this model, the concept of average effective interfacial free energy variation is introduced and the whole formation process consisting of nucleation and subsequent growth is considered. The calculating results indicate that there is a lower limit of the silicon layer thickness for forming Si-NCs in a-Si/SiO2 multilayer, and the oxide interfaces cannot constrain their lateral growth. Furthermore, by comparing the results for a-Si/SiO2 and a-Si/SiNx multilayers, it is found that the constraint on the crystal growth from the dielectric interfaces depends on the difference between interfacial free energies.     

Polarization insensitive arrayed-input spectrometer chip based on silicon-on-insulator echelle grating

We demonstrate a polarization insensitive arrayed-input spectrometer using echelle diffraction grating(EDG)for hyperspectral imaging. The EDG consists of 65 input waveguides and 129 output waveguides, allowing spectral measurements of 65 image pixels at a time when used in combination with a micro-electromechanical system micro mirror array. The spectral resolution reaches 7.8 nm for wavelengths ranging from 1250 to1700 nm. The measured loss is-2 d B, and the crosstalk is lower than-20 d B. The 3 μm silicon-on-insulator platform provides the device with polarization insensitive characteristics. The chip size is only 6 mm × 10 mm.     

Nb5 N6 microbolometer arrays for terahertz detection

A novel room-temperature microbolometer array chip consisting of an Nb5N6 thin film microbridge and a dipole planar antenna, which is used as a terahertz (THz) detector, is described in this paper. Due to the high-temperature coefficient of the resistance of the Nb5N6 thin film, which is as high as -0.7% K-1 , such an antenna-coupled microbolometer is ideal for detecting signals in a frequency range from 0.22THz to 0.33THz. The dc responsivity, calculated from the measured I-V curve of the Nb5N6 microbolometer, is about -760 V/W at a bias current of 0.19mA. A typical noise voltage as low as 10 nV/Hz 1/2 yields a low noise equivalent power (NEP) of 1.3×10-11W/Hz 1/2 at a modulation frequency above 4kHz, and the best RF responsivity, characterized using an infrared device measuring method, is about 580V/W, with the corresponding NEP being 1.7×10-11W/Hz 1/2 . In order to further test the performance of the Nb5N6 microbolometer, we construct a quasi-optical type receiver by attaching it to a hyperhemispherical silicon lens, and the result is that the best responsivity of the receiver is up to 320V/W. This work could offer another way to develop a large scale focal-plane array in silicon using simple techniques and at low cost.     

Fabrication of CoFe_2O_4 ferrite nanowire arrays in porous silicon template and their local magnetic properties

CoFe_2O_4 ferrite nanowire arrays are fabricated in porous silicon templates. The porous silicon templates are prepared via metal-assisted chemical etching with gold(Au) nanoparticles as the catalyst. Subsequently, CoFe_2O_4 ferrite nanowires are successfully synthesized into porous silicon templates by the sol–gel method. The magnetic hysteresis loop of nanowire array shows an isotropic feature of magnetic properties. The coercivity and squareness ratio(M_r/M_s) of ensemble nanowires are found to be 630 Oe(1 Oe = 79.5775 A·m~(-1) and 0.4 respectively. However, the first-order reversal curve(FORC) is adopted to reveal the probability density function of local magnetostatic properties(i.e., interwire interaction field and coercivity). The FORC diagram shows an obvious distribution feature for interaction field and coercivity. The local coercivity with a value of about 1000 Oe is found to have the highest probability.     

UV–visible spectral characterization and density functional theory simulation analysis on laser-induced crystallization of amorphous silicon thin films

The effect of laser energy density on the crystallization of hydrogenated intrinsic amorphous silicon （a-Si：H） thin films was studied both theoretically and experimentally. The thin films were irritated by a frequency-doubled （λ= 532 nm） Nd：YAG pulsed nanosecond laser. An effective density functional theory model was built to reveal the variation of bandgap energy influenced by thermal stress after laser irradiation. Experimental results establish correlation between the thermal stress and the shift of transverse optical peak in Raman spectroscopy and suggest that the relatively greater shift of the transverse optical （TO） peak can produce higher stress. The highest crystalline fraction （84.5%） is obtained in the optimized laser energy density （1000 mJ/cm2） with a considerable stress release. The absorption edge energy measured by the UV- visible spectra is in fairly good agreement with the bandgap energy in the density functional theory （DFT） simulation.     

A restraining multipath effect method for the measurement of insertion loss of underwater acoustic materials

A method suppressing multipath effect when measuring the underwater acoustic materials in a reverberant field is proposed, which is called "virtual end-fire array method".To weaken the coherence of the same-frequency reflection interference of each path, signal of different phases at different positions was transmitted by a single transducer in the simulation design, and a sharp directionality in the direction of the array length was formed. All signals at the above positions were superimposed to eliminate the clutters. The insertion loss(IL) of the material was finally calculated by extracting the desired waveforms. In the measured frequency range of 3–20 k Hz, the aluminum plate with size of 1.1 m × 1.0 m × 8 mm and the round aluminum plate with 0.5 m in diameter and 8 mm in thickness were measured in a reverberant tank with size of 5.5 m × 3.5 m × 3.5 m. Results showed the measured lowest effective frequency limit can be reduced by the virtual end-fire array technique compared with the conventional method.In the measurement of round aluminum plate and rectangular aluminum plate, errors in the effective measurement band was less than 0.5 d B and the interference of the acoustic multipath propagation effects was reduced effectively. The ability of the transducer in reverberant tank to measure acoustic materials has been improved after implementing this method.     

The transient scattering mechanism of dipole array with reflector

The transient backscattering mechanisms of a dipole array with reflector have been investigated from different aspects： time-domain, frequency-domain, and combined time-frequency domain, using 4 × 8 dipole arrays with reflector as an example. The data of scattering from the arrays under the incidence of Gaussian pulses are obtained by finite differential time domain method. The influences of the array structural parameters, incident wave parameters, and incident angles on the waveforms, spectrum, and time-frequency representations of the backscattered fields of the arrays are analysed and conclusions are drawn. From these characteristics and conclusions, it is possible to deduce the array structure inversely from the backscattered field.     

Minority Carrier Lifetime in As-Grown Germanium Doped Czochralski Silicon

The minority carrier lifetime of as-grown germanium-doped Czochralski （GCZ） silicon wafers doped with germanium concentrations [Ge]=10^16-10^18 cm^-3 is investigated in comparison with conventional CZ silicon samples. It is found that the lifetime distribution along the ingot changes with the variation of[Ge]. There is a critical value of [Ge] = 10^16 cm^-3 beyond which Ge can obviously influence the lifetime of as-grown ingots. This phenomenon is considered to be associated with the competition or combination between the oxygen related thermal donors （TDs） and electrically active Ge-related complexes. The related formation mechanisms and distributions are also discussed.     

Residual Stress on Surface and Cross-section of Porous Silicon Studied by Micro-Raman Spectroscopy

Surface and cross-sectional residual stresses of electrochemical etching porous silicon are investigated quantitatively by micro-Raman spectroscopy. The results reveal that a larger tensile residual stress exists on the surface and increase linearly with the porosity. On the other hand, across the depth direction perpendicular to the surface, the tensile residual stress decreases gradually from the surface to regions near the interface between the porous silicon layer and the Si substrate. However, a compressive stress appears at the interface near to the Si substrate for balancing with the tensile stress in the porous silicon layer. The cross-sectional residual stress profile is due to the porosity and lattice mismatch gradients existing in the cross-section and influencing each other.Furthermore, the presented residual stresses of the porous silicon have a close relation with its microstructure.     

Thermal relaxation of exchange bias field in an exchange coupled CoFe/IrMn bilayer

This paper reports that a CoFe/IrMn bilayer was deposited by high vacuum magnetron sputtering on silicon wafer substrate; the thermal relaxation of the CoFe/IrMn bilayer is investigated by means of holding the film in a negative saturation field at various temperatures. The exchange bias decreases with increasing period of time while holding the film in a negative saturation field at a given temperature. Increasing the temperature accelerates the decrease of exchange field. The results can be explained by the quantitative model of the nucleation and growth of antiferromagnetic domains suggested by Xi H W et al. [2007 Phys. Rev. B 75 014434], and it is believed that two energy barriers exist in the investigated temperature range.     

A CVD diamond film detector for pulsed proton detection

A chemical vapour deposition （CVD） diamond film detector was prepared and the main characteristics for pulsed proton detection were studied at Beijing Tandem Accelerator. The result shows that the charge collection efficiency of the detector increases with increasing electric field intensity and reaches to 9.44% at 5 V/μm with the charge collection distance of 15.9 μm. The relationship between the sensitivity of the detector and proton energy is consistent with the Monte Carlo （MC） simulation result. Its plasma time for a pulse with 4.85×10^5 protons is 1l.2ns. The dose threshold for onset of damage under 9MeV proton irradiation in the detector is about 10^13 cm^-2. All of the results show that a CVD diamond detector has fast time response and high radiation hardness, and can be used in pulsed proton detection.     

Analytic solutions for degenerate Raman-coupled model

The Raman-coupled interaction between an atom and a single mode of a cavity field is studied. For the cases in which a light field is initially in a coherent state and in a thermal state separately, we have derived the analytic expressions for the time evolutions of atomic population difference W, modulus B of the Bloch vector, and entropy E. We find that the time evolutions of these quantities are periodic with a period of π. The maxima of W and B appear at the scaled interaction time points τ- = kπ（k = 0, 1, 2,...）. At these time points, E = 0, which shows that the atom and the field are not entangled. Between these time points, E ≠ 0, which means that the atom and the field are entangled. When the field is initially in a coherent state, near the maxima, the envelope of W is a Gaussian function with a variance of 1/（4n^-）（n^- is the mean number of photons）. Under the envelope, W oscillates at a frequency of n^-/π. When the field is initially in a thermal state, near the maxima, W is a Lorentz function with a width of 1/n^-.     

Primary result of ^236U measurement with accelerator mass spectrometry at CIAE

The rare isotope ^236U has a half-life of 2.342（3）×107 years, and is produced principally by thermal neutron capture on ^235U. The isotopic atom ratio of ^236U/^238U depends on the integral thermal neutron flux received by the material of interest. ^236U is potentially useful as a ＂fingerprint＂ for indicating the presence of neutron-irradiated uranium usually originating from nuclear activity. By extracting negative molecular ion UO^- from the uranium oxide target, simulating the ^236U^16O^- beam transport with ^238U^16O^- and ^208Pb2^16O^- pilot molecular ion beam, transporting the ^236U-containing ion beam with a high resolution injection magnet analyzer and electrostatic analyzer system, and finally identifying and detecting ^236U with a time-of-flight detector （TOF）, a method for AMS （Accelerator Mass Spectrometry） measurement of ^236U was established on the HI-13 Accelerator AMS system at China Institute of Atomic Energy.     

Design and development of compact readout electronics with silicon photomultiplier array for a compact imaging detector

This work aims at developing compact readout electronics for a compact imaging detector module with silicon photomultiplier (SPM) array. The detector module consists of a LYSO crystal array coupling with a SensL's 4×4 SPM array. A compact multiplexed readout based on a discretized positioning circuit (DPC) was developed to reduce the readout channels from 16 to 4 outputs. Different LYSO crystal arrays of 4×4, 8×8 and 12×12 with pixel sizes of 3.2, 1.6 and 1.0 mm respectively, have been tested with the compact readout board using a ¹³⁷Cs source. The initial results show that the compact imaging detector module with the compact multiplexed readout could clearly resolve 1 mm× 1 mm× 10 mm LYSO scintillation crystal array except those at the edges. The detector's intrinsic spatial resolution up to 1 mm can be achieved with the 3 mm×3 mm size SPMArray4 through light sharing and compact multiplexed readout. Our results indicate that this detector module is feasible for the development of high-resolution compact PET.     

Theory of phonon-modulated electron spin relaxation time based on the projection reduction method

This paper introduces a new method for a formula for electron spin relaxation time of a system of electrons interacting with phonons through phonon-modulated spin-orbit coupling using the projection-reduction method. The phonon absorption and emission processes as well as the photon absorption and emission processes in all electron transition processes can be explained in an organized manner, and the result can be represented in a diagram that can provide intuition for the quantum dynamics of electrons in a solid. The temperature （T） dependence of electron spin relaxation times （T1） in silicon is T1 ∝ T-1.07 at low temperatures and T1 ∝ T-3.3 at high temperatures for acoustic deformation constant Pad = 1.4 × 10^7 eV and optical deformation constant Pod = 4.0 × 10^17 eV/m. This means that electrons are scattered by the acoustic deformation phonons at low temperatures and optical deformation phonons at high temperatures, respectively. The magnetic field （B） dependence of the relaxation times is T1 ∝ B-2.7 at 100 K and T1 ∝ B-2.3 at 150 K, which nearly agree with the result of Yafet, T1 ∝ B-3.0- B -2.5.     

Thermal and mechanical characterizations of asubstrate-free focal plane array

We propose a substrate-free focal plane array (FPA) in this paper. The solid substrate is completely removed, and the microcantilevers extend from a supporting frame. Using finite element analysis, the thermal and mechanical characterizations of the substrate-free FPA are presented. Because of the large decrease in thermal conductance, the supporting frame is temperature dependent, which brings out a unique feature: the lower the thermal conductance of the supporting frame is, the higher the energy conversion efficiency in the substrate-free FPA will be. The results from the finite element analyses are consistent with our measurements: two types of substrate-free FPAs with pixel sizes of 200× 200 and 60× 60~μ m² are implemented in the proposed infrared detector. The noise equivalent temperature difference (NETD) values are experimentally measured to be 520 and 300~mK respectively. Further refinements are considered in various aspects, and the substrate-free FPA with a pixel size of 30× 30~μ m² has a potential of achieving an NETD value of 10~mK.     

Electromagnetic coupling reduction in dual-band microstrip antenna array using ultra-compact single-negative electric metamaterials for MIMO application

In this paper, an ultra-compact single negative(SNG) electric waveguided metamaterial(WG-MTM) is first investigated and used to reduce the mutual coupling in E H planes of a dual-band microstrip antenna array. The proposed SNG electric WG-MTM unit cell is designed by etching two different symmetrical spiral lines on the ground, and has two stopbands operating at 1.86 GHz and 2.40 GHz. The circuit size is very compact, which is only λ_0/33.6 ×λ_0/15.1(where λ_0 is the wavelength at 1.86 GHz in free space). Taking advantage of the dual-stopband property of the proposed SNG electric WG-MTM, a dual-band microstrip antenna array operating at 1.86 GHz and 2.40 GHz with very low mutual coupling is designed by embedding a cross shaped array of the proposed SNG electric WG-MTM. The measured and simulated results of the designed dual-band antenna array are in good agreement with each other, indicating that the mutual coupling of the fabricated dual-band antenna array realizes 9.8/11.1 d B reductions in the H plane, 8.5/7.9 d B reductions in the E plane at1.86 GHz and 2.40 GHz, respectively. Besides, the distance of the antenna elements in the array is only 0.35 λ_0(where λ_0 is the wavelength at 1.86 GHz in free space). The proposed strategy is used for the first time to reduce the mutual coupling in E H planes of the dual-band microstrip antenna array by using ultra-compact SNG electric WG-MTM.     

Variability on Raman Shift to Stress Coefficient of Porous Silicon

Porous silicon film is a capillary-like medium, which is able to reveal different meso-elastic modulus with porosity. During the preparation of porous silicon samples, the capillary force is a non-classic force related to the liquid evaporation which directly influences the evolution of residual stress. In this study, a non-linear relation of Raman shift to stress coefficient and the porosity is obtained from the elastic modulus measured with nano-indentation by Bellet et al. [J. Appl. Phys. 60 （1996） 3772] Dynamic capillarity during the drying process of porous silicon is investigated using micro-Raman spectroscopy, and the results reveal that the residual stress resulted from the capillarity increased rapidly. Indeed, the dynamic capillarity has a close relationship with a great deal of micro-pore structures of the porous silicon.