Time-resolved electron transport studies on InGaAs/GaAs-QWIPs

Due to the short internal response time, quantum-well infrared photodetectors (QWIPs) are interesting for high-speed applications such as heterodyne spectroscopy or laser pulse monitoring. We studied the photocurrent transients of InGaAs/GaAs-QWIPs after irradiation with infrared laser pulses of 250 fs duration. The excitation wavelength of about 9 μm matches the peak wavelength of the QWIP structure. The photocurrent transient consists of two different dynamical components, representing the fast photoionization in the quantum-wells and the slow injection current that compensates the remaining space charge. The investigations of the different components as a function of temperature and bias voltage were performed on a nanosecond time-scale. The experimental separation of the two photocurrent contributions allows us to determine the photoconductive gain. The Fourier transform of the photocurrent transient was compared with other experimental methods including heterodyne detection and microwave rectification. The quantitative agreement between these different measurement techniques is excellent.     

Complete structure determination of the astrophysically important nucleus Na below the proton threshold

The fusion–evaporation reaction ¹⁰B(¹²C, 2n) was used to make the first observation of in-beam γ decays from the astrophysically important nucleus ²⁰Na, lying adjacent to the proton drip-line. All states below the proton threshold in ²⁰Na were populated and identified in the experiment. These include new levels, previously unresolved levels, and states located with improved energy precision. The level structure of ²⁰Na, and its γ transitions, are compared to the mirror partner ²⁰F measured simultaneously in this experiment. In particular, a high degree of energy stability is found for all negative parity states. These results are discussed in the context of the nuclear shell model.     

InAs/GaSb superlattice focal plane arrays for high-resolution thermal imaging

The first fully operational mid-IR (3–5 μm) 256×256 IR-FPA camera system based on a type-II InAs/GaSb short-period superlattice showing an excellent noise equivalent temperature difference below 10 mK and a very uniform performance has been realized. We report on the development and fabrication of the detecor chip, i.e., epitaxy, processing technology and electro-optical characterization of fully integrated InAs/GaSb superlattice focal plane arrays. While the superlattice design employed for the first demonstrator camera yielded a quantum efficiency around 30%, a superlattice structure grown with a thicker active layer and an optimized V/III BEP ratio during growth of the InAs layers exhibits a significant increase in quantum efficiency. Quantitative responsivity measurements reveal a quantum efficiency of about 60% for InAs/GaSb superlattice focal plane arrays after implementing this design improvement. The paper presented there appears in Infrared Photoelectronics, edited by Antoni Rogalski, Eustace L. Dereniak, Fiodor F. Sizov, Proc. SPIE Vol. 5957, 595707 (2005).     

Modeling of real 20-component protein chains: Determination of the electronic density of states of aperiodic seven-component polypeptide chains containing strongly different amino acid residues

To model a real 20-component protein chain, the results of the electronic density of states (DOS ) of seven-component periodic and aperiodic polypeptide chains calculated on the basis of ab initio matrix block negative factor counting method are presented. The seven amino acid residues taken into account are rather different: glycine, serine, cysteine, asparagine, histidine, aspartic acid, and tryptophane. In the case of aperiodic chains, the energy states are found to be distributed over a much wider range of energy than in the corresponding periodic chains. In the intrinsic state, both periodic and aperiodic polypeptide chains are predicted to be insulators. The effect of the block copolymerization on the DOS distribution and the band gap values of both periodic and aperiodic polypeptide chains has been also investigated. Finally, the methods to calculate from the DOS curves hopping conductivities and the possibilities to compare them with experiment are outlined.     

Oxidation reactions of indapamide. A novel route to the indole derivative,N-(3-sulfamyl-4-chlorobenzamido)-2-methylindole

Indapamide ( 1 ) is readily oxidized with mild oxidizing agents to the indole derivative 2 . Dehydrogenation of indapamide is a convenient one step synthesis of a complex indole compound.