Strain relaxation in nano-patterned strained-Si/SiGe heterostructure on insulator

In order to evaluate the strain stability, arrays of strained Si/SiGe nano-stripes and nano-pillars were fabricated by Electron-Beam Lithography (EBL) and Reactive-Ion Etching (RIE). The strain relaxation in the patterned strained Si on SiGe-on-insulator (SGOI) was investigated by high-resolution UV micro-Raman spectroscopy. The Raman measurements before and after patterning indicate that most of the strain in the top strained Si is maintained until scaling down to 300 nm, and relaxation of <15% is observed in pillars with a dimension of 150 nm × 150 nm. In the nano-patterned heterostructure strained Si/SiGe, the observed relaxation is small, which is mainly attributed to the fully relaxed and dislocation-free SiGe virtual substrate fabricated by modified Ge condensation.     

Positive solutions for three-point boundary value problems with a non-well-ordered upper and lower solution condition

In this work, by using the fixed point index method, some existence results for positive solutions of certain three-point boundary value problems are obtained under a non-well-ordered upper and lower solution condition.     

Complexation of DNA with cationic surfactants as studied by small-angle X-ray scattering

The phase behaviors of the complex formed by didodecyldimethylammonium bromide(DDAB)and cetyltrimethylammonium bromide(CTAB)interacting with three different types of DNAs,salmon testes DNA(~2000 bp),21-bp double-stranded oligonucleotides(oligo-ds DNA),and 21-nt single-stranded oligonucleotides(oligo-ss DNA)were studied by synchrotron small-angle X-ray scattering.It was found that the DNA length and flexibility,together with the positive/negative charge ratio,determined the final structure.At higher charge ratios,the DNA length exhibited negligible effect.Both oligo-ds DNA and salmon DNA formed inverted hexagonal packing of cylinders with CTAB,as well as bilayered lamella with DDAB.However,at lower charge ratios,oligo-ds DNA formed a distorted hexagonal phase with CTAB and a new structure with DDAB,which was different from the behaviors of salmon DNA.The flexible oligo-ss DNA formed rich structures that were subject to environmental disturbance.Kinetic study also indicated that the structures of the complex formed by oligo-ss DNA took much longer to mature than the structures formed by oligo-ds DNA.We attributed this result to the conformational adjustment of oligo-ss DNA in the complex.     

Evolution and structure of low-angle grain boundaries in 6H–SiC single crystals grown by sublimation method

KOH etching and high-resolution X-ray diffractometry (HRXRD) were used to study the evolution and structure of low-angle grain boundaries (LAGBs), which extended along 〈1 -1 0 0〉 in 6H–SiC bulk crystals grown by the sublimation method. It was found that LAGBs formed in the growth process consisted of an array of threading dislocations and took different configurations under different radial temperature gradients (RTGs). HRXRD results proved that the domain at one side of LAGBs formed under a low radial temperature gradient has only tilts around the c-axis with respect to the other domain at another side of LAGBs.