Reversible Phase Change for C-RAM Nano-Cell-Element Fabricated by Focused Ion Beam Method

A single nano-cell-element of chalcogenide-random access memory was fabricated by using the focused ion beam method. The minimum contact size between the Ge2Sb2Te5 phase change‘film and the top electrode film for the cell element is with diameter of 60nm. The reversible phase transition between the RESET state and the SET state was successively realized. The minimum SET current is obtained to be about 0.28mA.     

Total Dose Radiation Tolerance of Phase Change Memory Cell with GeSbTe Alloy

Phase change memory （PCM） cell array is fabricated by a standard complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor process and the subsequent special fabrication technique. A chalcogenide Ge2Sb2Te5 film in thickness 50hm deposited by rf magnetron sputtering is used as storage medium for the PCM cell. Large snap-back effect is observed in current-voltage characteristics, indicating the phase transition from an amorphous state （higher resistance state） to the crystalline state （lower resistance state）. The resistance of amorphous state is two orders of magnitude larger than that of the crystalline state from the resistance measurement, and the threshold current needed for phase transition of our fabricated PCM cell array is very low （only several μA）. An x-ray total dose radiation test is carried out on the PCM cell array and the results show that this kind of PCM cell has excellent total dose radiation tolerance with total dose up to 2 ×10^6 rad（Si）, which makes it attractive for space-based applications.     

Simulation of Voltage SET Operation in Phase-Change Random Access Memories with Heater Addition and Ring-Type Contactor for Low-Power Consumption by Finite Element Modeling

A three-dimensional finite element model for phase change random access memory is established to simulate electric, thermal and phase state distribution during （SET） operation. The model is applied to simulate the SET behaviors of the heater addition structure （HS） and the ring-type contact in the bottom electrode （RIB） structure. The simulation results indicate that the small bottom electrode contactor （BEC） is beneficial for heat efficiency and reliability in the HS cell, and the bottom electrode contactor with size Fx=80 nm is a good choice for the RIB cell. Also shown is that the appropriate SET pulse time is lOOns for the low power consumption and fast operation.     

An SPICE Model for PCM Based on Arrhenius Equation

Based on the temperature dependence of the Arrhenius law, an HSPICE compact module using Verilog-A language for phase change memory （PCM） is presented. In the model of this HSPICE compact module, the basic theory that the resistance of the amorphous semiconductor has relations with the activation energy and temperature is used, and an assumption that this theory can be expanded to describe the crystalline semiconductor is employed. Moreover, since an objective reality that the resistance of the semiconductor determines the temperature and the temperature affects the resistance inversely is inevitable, coupling with such positive feedback, this model can reproduce the real-time characteristics of the memory cell accurately. The simulation results show that this model can reproduce the features of the PCM cell well. It can be used in the PCM circuit design and further analysis.     

High Speed and Ultra-Low-Power Phase Change Line Cell Memory Based on SiSb Thin Films with Nanoscale Gap of Electrodes Less Than 100nm

Si16Sbs4-based line cell phase change random access memory （PCRAM）, in which the Si16Sbs4 phase change line is contacted by TiN electrodes with a nanoscale gap, is fabricated by electron beam lithography. The lowest current and measured pulse width for RESET operation are 115 μA and 18 ns, respectively. The measured shortest pulse width for recrystallization is 110ns, with applied pulse amplitude of 1.5 V. SET and RESET currents for line cells with different line lengths are determined. Endurance of 106 cycles with a resistance ratio of above 800 has been achieved.     

Synchrotron X-Ray Diffraction Studies on the New Generation Ferromagnetic Semiconductor Li(Zn,Mn)As under High Pressure

The pressure effect on the crystalline structure of the Ⅰ-Ⅱ-Ⅴ semiconductor Li(Zn,Mn)As ferromagnet is studied using in situ high-pressure x-ray diffraction and diamond anvil cell techniques. A phase transition starting at ~11.6 GPa is found. The space group of the high-pressure new phase is proposed as Pmca. Fitting with the Birch-Murnaghan equation of state, the bulk modulus B_0 and its pressure derivative B_0~' of the ambient pressure structure with space group of F43m are B_0 = 75.4 GPa and B_0~'= 4.3, respectively.     

Carrier Envelope Phase Effect of a Long Duration Pulse in the Low Frequency Region

Using the characteristic of small energy difference between two high Rydberg states, we theoretically investigate the carrier envelope phase （CEP） effect in a bound-bound transition of an atom in a low-frequency long laser pulse with tens of optical cycles. Particularly, we first prepare a Rydberg state of a hydrogen-like atom by a laser field with the resonant frequency between this state and the ground state. Then by using a low-frequency long laser pulse interacting with this Rydberg atom, we calculate the population of another Rydberg state nearby this Rydberg state at the end of the laser pulse and find that the population changes dramatically with the CEP of the low-frequency pulse. This CEP effect is attributed to the interference between the positive-frequency and negative-frequency components in one-photon transition. These results may provide a method to measure the CEP value of a long laser pulse with low frequency.     

Subwavelength asymmetric Au–VO_2 nanodisk dimer for switchable directional scattering

We propose an asymmetric Au–VO_2 nanodisk dimer for realizing a switchable directional scattering. Specifically, the directional scattering can be triggered on/off through controlling the phase transition of the VO_2 nanodisk from metallic to semiconductor state. More strikingly, an obvious directional scattering with the directivity of ～40 dB is achieved under the metallic state of VO_2 nanodisk. This tunable directional scattering is further explained with an interference model where the Au and VO_2 nanodisks are treated as two weakly interacting electric dipoles. The phase transition controlled scattering patterns of asymmetric Au–VO_2 nanodisk dimer are then well interpreted from the phase difference between these two dipoles.     

Phase evolution of the reemitted field in the semiconductor quantum wells under the femtosecond pulse train intersubband excitation

Property of the phase of the reemitted field in the semiconductor quantum wells (QWs) excited by femtosecond pulse train is investigated. It is shown that the phase evolution of the reemitted field is controlled by the relative phase between the successive pulses of the incident train. For all the odd pulses excitation, the reemitted field is from out-of-phase to in-phase, then again to out-of-phase with the incident pulses, whereas for all the even pulses excitation, the situation is the opposite, i.e., it is from in-phase to out-of-phase, then again to in-phase with the incident pulses.     

Carrier Envelope Phase Controlled High-Order Harmonic Generation in Ultrashort Laser Pulse

We investigate the carrier envelope phase （CEP） effects on high-order harmonic generation （HHG） in ultrashort pulses with the pulse duration 2.5 fs when the laser intensity is high enough so that the initial state is ionized effectively during the laser pulse but remains about 20% population at the end of the laser pulse. We find that the ionization process of the initial state is very sensitive to the CEP during the laser pulse. The ionization process of the initial state determines the continuum state population and hence influences dramatically the weights of the classical trajectories that contribute to HHG. In such a case we can not predict the cutoff and the structure of the harmonic spectrum only by the number and the kinetic energy of the classical trajectories. The harmonic spectrum exhibits abundant characters for different CEP cases. As a result, we can control the cutoff frequency and the plateau structure of the harmonic spectrum with CEP by controlling the time behaviour of the ionization of the initial state.     

First-Principles Study on the Electronic Structures for Y^3＋：PbWO4 Crystals

The possible defect models of Y^3＋：PbWO4 crystals are discussed by defect chemistry and the most possible substituting positions of the impurity Y^3＋ ions are studied by using the general utility lattice program （GULP）. The calculated results indicate that in the lightly doped Y^3＋ ：PWO crystal, the main compensating mechanism is [2Ypb^＋ ＋ VPb^2-], and in the heavily doped Y^3＋ ：PWO crystal, it will bring interstitial oxygen ions to compensate the positive electricity caused by YPb^＋, forming defect clusters of [2Ypb^＋ ＋Oi^2-] in the crystal. The electronic structures of Y3＋ ：PWO with different defect models are calculated using the DV-Xα method. It can be concluded from the electronic structures that, for lightly doped cases, the energy gap of the crystal would be broadened and the 420nm absorption band will be restricted; for heavily doped cases, because of the existence of interstitial oxygen ions, it can bring a new absorption band and reduce the radiation hardness of the crystal.     

Dependence of the interband transitions on the in mole fraction and the applied electric field in InxGa1−xAs/In0.52Al0.48As multiple quantum wells

Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and photocurrent (PC) measurements were carried out to investigate the microstructural properties and excitonic transitions in In_xGa_1−xAs/In_0.52Al_0.48As multiple quantum wells (MQWs) for x = 0.54, 0.57 and 0.60. TEM images showed that high-quality 11-period In_xGa_1−xAs/In_0.52Al_0.48As MQWs had high-quality heterointerfaces. The results for the PC spectra at 300 K showed that the peaks corresponding to the excitonic transitions from the ground state electronic sub-band to the ground state heavy-hole band (E₁-HH₁) and the ground state electronic sub-band to the ground state light-hole band (E₁-LH₁) became closer to each other with decreasing In mole fraction and that E₁-HH₁ and E₁-LH₁ excitonic peaks shifted to longer wavelength with increasing applied electric field. The calculated values of the E₁-HH₁ interband transition energies were in qualitative agreement with those obtained form the PC measurements with and without applied electric field. These results can be helpful in understanding potential applications of In_xGa_1−xAs/In_yAl_1−yAs MQWs dependent on In mole fraction and applied electric field in long-wavelength optoelectronic devices.     

Rotational Brownian Motion on Sphere Surface and Rotational Relaxation

The spatial components of the autocorrelation function of noninteracting dipoles are analytically obtained in terms of rotational Brownian motion on the surface of a unit sphere using multi-level jumping formalism based on Debye＇s rotational relaxation model, and the rotational relaxation functions are evaluated.     

A Complete Foliation of Schwarzschild Spacetime by Free Falling Hypersurfaces

Free falling hypersurfaces in the Schwarzschild geometry have been studied to provide a complete foliation of spacetime. The hypersurfaces do not cross into the maximally extended spacetime and are well behaved everywhere except at the singularity r =0 the mean extrinsic curvature becomes infinity.     

Self Mixing Fringes of Vertical-Cavity Surface-Emitting Lasers under Dual Reflector Feedback

The self-mixing fringes which shift due to every one-twentieth wavelength displacement of the target are observed. Taking advantage of the dual reflectors in the external cavity of lasers, the resolution of the sensors has been improved by 10 times. The role of the each reflector has been discussed in detail.     

Carrier confinement and interband transition properties of InAs/GaAs quantum dots grown by using atomic layer epitaxy

The electrical and the optical properties of InAs/GaAs quantum dots (QDs) grown by using atomic layer epitaxy (ALE) technique were investigated by using capacitance-voltage (C-V) and photoluminescence (PL) measurements. C-V curves showed that the plateaus related to the zero-dimensional carrier confinement effect existed and that the number of electrons occupying the InAs QD was approximately 7. The full width at half maxima of the interband transitions from the ground electronic subband to the ground heavy-hole subband and from the first excited electronic state to the first excited state heavy-hole subband were not significantly affected by the temperature variation, indicative of strong confinement of the carriers occupying the InAs QDs. These results can help improve understanding for applications of InAs/GaAs QDs grown by using ALE in high-efficiency electronic and optoelectronic devices.     

Application of Electron-Shelving Detection via 423 nm Transition in Calcium-Beam Optical Frequency Standard

A new scheme of small compact optical frequency standard based on thermal calcium beam with application of 423 nm shelving detection and sharp-angle velocity selection detection is proposed. Combining these presented techniques, we conclude that a small compact optical frequency standard based on thermal calcium beam will outperform the commercial caesium-beam microwave dock, like the 5071 Cs clock （from Hp to Agilent, now Symmetricom company）, both in accuracy and stability.     

Effects of in situ thermal annealing on the structural, optical, and electrical properties in Hg0.7Cd0.3Te epilayers grown on CdTe buffer layers

Scanning electron microscopy (SEM), Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) transmission, and Hall effect measurements were performed to investigate the structural, optical, and electrical properties of as-grown and in situ-annealed Hg_0.7Cd_0.3Te epilayers grown on CdTe buffer layers by using molecular beam epitaxy. After the Hg_0.7Cd_0.3Te epilayers had been annealed in a Hg-cell flux atmosphere, the SEM images showed that the surface morphologies of the Hg_0.7Cd_0.3Te thin films were mirror-like with no indication of pinholes or defects, and the FTIR spectra showed that the transmission intensities had increased in comparison to that of the as-grown Hg_0.7Cd_0.3Te epilayer. Hall-effect measurements showed that n-Hg_0.7Cd_0.3Te epilayers were converted to p-Hg_0.7Cd_0.3Te epilayers. These results indicate that the surface, optical, and electrical properties of the Hg_1 − xCd_xTe epilayers are improved by annealing and that as-grown n-Hg_1 − xCd_xTe epilayers can be converted to p-Hg_1 − xCd_xTe epilayers by in situ annealing.     

Suppression of Chaos and Phase Locking in Two Coupled Nonidentical Neurons under Periodic Input

Dynamical behaviour of two coupled neurons with at least one of them being chaotic is presented. Bifurcation diagrams and Lyapunov exponents are calculated to diagnose the dynamical behaviour of the coupled neurons with the increasing coupling strength. It is found that when the coupling strength increases, a chaotic neuron can be controlled by the coupling between neurons. At the same time, phase locking is studied by the maxima of the differences of instantaneous phases and average frequencies between two coupled neurons, and the inherent connection of phase locking and the suppression of chaos is formulated. It is observed that the onset of phase locking is closely related to the suppression of chaos. Finally, a way for suppression of chaos in two coupled nonidentical neurons under periodic input is suggested.