Ab-initio simulation of elastic constants for some ceramic materials

Athermal elasticity for some ceramic materials (α-Al₂O₃, SiC (α and β phases), TiO₂ (rutile and anatase), hexagonal AlN and TiB₂, cubic BN and CaF₂, and monoclinic ZrO₂) have been investigated via density functional theory. Energy-volume equation-of-state computations to obtain the zero pressure equilibrium volume and bulk modulus as well as computations of the full elastic constant tensor of these ceramics at the experimental zero pressure volume have been performed. The present results for the single crystal elasticity are in good agreement with experiments both for the aggregate properties (bulk and shear modulus) and the elastic anisotropy. In contrast, a considerable discrepancy for the zero pressure bulk modulus of some ceramics evaluated from the energy-volume fit to the computational zero pressure volume has been observed.     

Ultrafast creation and annihilation of space-charge domains in a semiconductor superlattice observed by use of Terahertz fields

We report an experimental study indicating ultrafast creation and annihilation of space-charge domains in a semiconductor superlattice under the action of a THz field. Our experiment was performed for an InGaAs/InAlAs superlattice with the conduction electrons undergoing miniband transport. We applied to a superlattice a dc bias that was slightly smaller than a critical bias necessary for the formation of space-charge domains caused by a static negative differential conductivity. Additionally subjecting the superlattice to a strong THz field, resulted in a dc transport governed by the formation of domains if the frequency of the field was smaller than an upper frequency limit (~3 THz). From this frequency limit for the creation and annihilation of domains we determined the characteristic time of the domain buildup. Our analysis shows that the buildup time of domains in a wide miniband and heavily doped superlattice is limited by the relaxation time due to scattering of the miniband electrons at polar optic phonons. Our results are of importance for both an understanding of ultrafast dynamics of pattern formation in nanostructures and the development of THz electronic devices.Received: 25 March 2004, Published online: 23 July 2004PACS: 72.20.Ht High-field and nonlinear effects - 72.30. + q High-frequency effects; plasma effects - 73.21.Cd SuperlatticesK.N. Alekseev: Permanent address: Department of Physical Sciences, P.O. Box 3000, University of Oulu FIN-90014, Finland.     

Crystallization of amorphous zirconium thin film using ion implantation by a plasma focus of 1 kJ

In this work preliminary results of amorphous zirconium crystallization using ion beam pulses are presented. Energetic argon- and oxygen-ion beams generated by a plasma focus device were used to promote crystallization on amorphous ZrO₂-2.5 mol% Y₂O₃ film deposited by chemical solution deposition onto silica glass substrate. The films were burnt at 370 °C for 1 h in normal atmosphere previous to plasma irradiation. The irradiation was performed by means of successive pulses of ion beams. The evolution of the surface morphology and crystallization was followed by AFM and X-rays diffraction in a grazing incidence asymmetric Bragg geometry (GIAB), respectively. Argon-irradiated films showed highly nucleated cubic zirconia after 10 pulses. On the other hand, oxygen-irradiated films showed a delayed and less extensive cubic nucleation, but a more ordered structure and well-defined grains.     

640 × 512 pixel narrow-band, four-band, and broad-band quantum well infrared photodetector focal plane arrays

A 9 μm cutoff 640 × 512 pixel hand-held quantum well infrared photodetector (QWIP) camera has been demonstrated with excellent imagery. A noise equivalent differential temperature (NEDT) of 10.6 mK is expected at a 65 K operating temperature with f/2 optics at a 300 K background. This focal plane array has shown background limited performance at a 72 K operating temperature with the same optics and background conditions. In this paper, we discuss the development of this very sensitive long-wavelength infrared camera based on a GaAs/AlGaAs QWIP focal plane array and its performance in quantum efficiency, NEDT, uniformity, and operability. In the second section of this paper, we discuss the first demonstration of a monolithic spatially separated four-band 640 × 512 pixel QWIP focal plane array and its performance. The four spectral bands cover 4–5.5, 8.5–10, 10–12, and 13.5–15 μm spectral regions with 640 × 128 pixels in each band. In the last section, we discuss the array performance of a 640 × 512 pixel broad-band (10–16 μm full-width at half-maximum) QWIP focal plane.     

Fabrication of bamboo-shaped GaN nanorods

Bamboo-shaped GaN nanorods were formed through a simple sublimation method. They were characterized by means of X-ray powder diffraction (XRD), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), high-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM) and selected-area electron diffraction (SAED). The TEM image showed that the nanorods were bamboo-like. XRD, HRTEM and SAED patterns indicated that the nanorods were single-crystal wurtzite GaN. Received: 8 January 2001 / Accepted: 28 April 2001 / Published online: 20 December 2001