One dimensional transport and gating of InAs/GaSb structures

Semimetallic InAs/GaSb structures are known to contain simultaneously both two dimensional electrons in the InAs and two dimensional holes in the GaSb layers. Following successful anodisation of undoped GaSb, we describe transport measurements performed on a wide area gated sample and also a single quantum point contact. In the large area gated sample, the electron density increases and the hole density decreases when a positive gate voltage is applied. Under negative bias, an additional layer of holes is created at the interface between the insulating and GaSb capping layers, which is confirmed by self-consistent modelling of the band profile under external bias. The conductance of the point contact is found to exhibit quantised values.PACS: 72.20My, 23.80Ey, 73.40Qv     

Study on the nano machining process with a vibrating AFM tip on the polymer surface

The polymer has been proved to be nano machined by a vibrating tip in tapping mode of Atomic Force Microscope (AFM). The force between the tip and the surface is an important factor which determines success of the machining process. Controlling this force with high accuracy is the foundation of nanomachining in AFM tapping mode. To achieve a deeper understanding on this process, the tip is modeled as a driving oscillator with damping. Factors affecting the nano machining process are studied. The Hertz elastic contact theory is used to calculate the maximum contact pressure applied by the tip which is employed as a criterion to judge the deformation state of the sample. The simulation results show that: The driven amplitude can be used as a main parameter of controlling the machined depth. Sharper tips and harder cantilevers should be used for successful nanomachining with the vibrating tip. Under the same conditions, a larger tip radius will not only result in the machining error, but also lead to failure of the nanomachining process. The higher driving frequency will lead to a larger tapping force. However it cannot be used as a parameter to control the machined depth because of its narrow variation range. But it is a main error source for the nanomachining process in AFM tapping mode. Moreover, a larger Young's modulus polymer sample will induce a smaller machined depth, a larger maximum contact pressure and a bigger tapping force.     

纳米接触过程中黏着规律的变化

本文应用大规模分子动力学方法, 模拟了两种具有不同粗糙形貌的、刚性球形探头与弹性平面基体之间的纳米尺度接触, 计算了探头与基体之间的拉离力和黏着功, 研究了接触过程中界面黏着力随载荷的变化规律, 分析了接触界面原子的法向应力分布. 研究发现, 原子级光滑接触的黏着力随着载荷的增大而线性增大, 而原子级粗糙接触的黏着力-载荷曲线分为以不同斜率增长的两个阶段. 相比于原子级光滑探头, 原子级粗糙探头与基体之间具有较小的拉离力和黏着功, 却在接触过程中形成了较大的黏着力. 因此, 拉离力和黏着功不能表征出纳米接触过程中原子吸引作用对界面法向力的贡献大小.     

A method to determine dynamic loads on spur gear teeth and on bearings

A method is described which can be used to calculate dynamic gear tooth force and bearing forces. The model includes elastic bearings. The gear mesh stiffness and the path of contact are determined using the deformations of the gears and the bearings. This gives contact outside the plane-of-action and a time-varying working pressure angle. In a numerical example it is found that the only important vibration mode for the gear contact is the one where the gear tooth deformation is dominant. The bearing force variation, however, will be much more affected by the other vibration modes. The influence of the friction force is also studied. The friction has no dynamic influence on the gear contact force or on the bearing force in the gear mesh line-of-action direction. On the other hand, the changing of sliding directions in the pitch point is a source for critical oscillations of the bearings in the gear tooth frictional direction. These bearing force oscillations in the frictional direction appear unaffected by the dynamic response along the gear mesh line-of-action direction.     

Quantum partition noise of photon-created electron-hole pairs

We show experimentally that even when no bias voltage is applied to a quantum conductor, the electronic quantum partition noise can be investigated with GHz radio frequency excitation. Using a quantum point contact configuration as the ballistic conductor we are able to make an accurate determination of the partition noise Fano factor resulting from the photon-assisted shot noise. Applying both voltage bias and rf irradiation we are able to make a definitive quantitative test of the scattering theory of photon-assisted shot noise.     

Possibility of superconductivity in rapidly quenched silicon

We observed the symmetric negative conductance spike structures at non-zero bias voltages in Si-Si point contact junctions. This observation will be understood in terms of the characteristics of a network of micro-Josephson junctions of ultrarapidly quenched granules of Si.     

Theoretical simulation of Kelvin probe force microscopy for Si surfaces by taking account of chemical forces

A new method of theoretical simulation for Kelvin probe force microscopy (KPFM) imaging on semiconductor or metal samples is proposed. The method is based on a partitioned real space (PR) density functional based tight binding (DFTB) calculation of the electronic states to determine the multi-pole electro-static force, which is augmented with the chemical force obtained by a perturbation treatment of the orbital hybridization. With the PR-DFTB method, the change of the total energy is calculated together with the induced charge distribution in the tip and the sample by their approach under an applied bias voltage, and the KPFM images, namely the patterns of local contact potential difference (LCPD) distribution, are obtained with the minimum condition of the interaction force. However, since the interaction force is due to electro-static multi-poles, the spatial resolution of the KPFM images obtained by PR-DFTB is limited to the nano-scale range and an atom-scale resolution cannot be attained. By introducing an additional chemical force, i.e., the force due to the orbital hybridization, we succeeded in reproducing atom-scale resolution of KPFM images. Case studies are performed for clean and impurity embedded Si surfaces with Si tip models.     

Evolution of real contact area during stick-slip movement observed by total reflection method

We build an experiment system based on total reflection(TR) method to observe the evolution of real contact area of polymethyl methacrylate(PMMA) in the continual stick-slip movement. The bilateral friction is adopted to overcome the bending moment in the lateral friction movement. Besides some classical phenomena of stick-slip movement such as periodical slow increase of frictional force in sticking phase and a sudden drop when slipping, a special phenomenon that the contact area increases with the tangential force is observed, which was called junction growth by Tabor in 1959.Image processing methods are developed to observe the variation of the junction area. The results show that the center of the strongest contact region will keep sticking under the tangential force until the whole slipping, the strongest point undergoes three stages in one cycle, which are named as sticking stage, fretting stage, and cracking stage, respectively. The combined analysis reveals a physical process of stick-slip movement: the tangential force causes the increase of the real contact area, which reduces the pressure between the contact spots and finally leads to the slipping. Once slipping occurs,the real contact area drops to the original level resulting in the pressure increase to the original level, which makes the sticking happen again.     

Effect of substrate bias on negative bias temperature instability of ultra-deep sub-micro p-channel metal--oxide--semiconductor field-effect transistors

The effect of substrate bias on the degradation during applying a negative bias temperature (NBT) stress is studied in this paper. With a smaller gate voltage stress applied, the degradation of negative bias temperature instability (NBTI) is enhanced, and there comes forth an inflexion point. The degradation pace turns larger when the substrate bias is higher than the inflexion point. The substrate hot holes can be injected into oxide and generate additional oxide traps, inducing an inflexion phenomenon. When a constant substrate bias stress is applied, as the gate voltage stress increases, an inflexion comes into being also. The higher gate voltage causes the electrons to tunnel into the substrate from the poly, thereby generating the electron--hole pairs by impact ionization. The holes generated by impact ionization and the holes from the substrate all can be accelerated to high energies by the substrate bias. More additional oxide traps can be produced, and correspondingly, the degradation is strengthened by the substrate bias. The results of the alternate stress experiment show that the interface traps generated by the hot holes cannot be annealed, which is different from those generated by common holes.     

The analysis of impact forces in randomly vibrating elastic systems

This work is concerned with the characteristics of the impact force produced when two randomly vibrating elastic bodies collide with each other, or when a single randomly vibrating elastic body collides with a stop. The impact condition includes a non-linear spring, which may represent, for example, a Hertzian contact, and in the case of a single body, closed form approximate expressions are derived for the duration and magnitude of the impact force and for the maximum deceleration at the impact point. For the case of two impacting bodies, a set of algebraic equations are derived which can be solved numerically to yield the quantities of interest. The approach is applied to a beam impacting a stop, a plate impacting a stop, and to two impacting beams, and in each case a comparison is made with detailed numerical simulations. Aspects of the statistics of impact velocity are also considered, including the probability that the impact velocity will exceed a specified value within a certain time.     

Simultaneous imaging and measurement of tensile stress on cornea by using a common-path optical coherence tomography system with an external contact reference

The objective of this study is to demonstrate that tensile stress resulting due to applied force on cornea can be accurately measured by using a time-domain common-path optical coherence tomography (OCT) system with an external contact reference. The unique design of the common-path OCT is utilized to set up an imaging system in which a chicken eye is placed adjacent to a glass plate serving as the external reference plane for the imaging system. As the force is applied to the chicken eye, it presses against the reference glass plate. The modified OCT image obtained is used to calculate the size of contact area, which is then used to derive the tensile stress on the cornea. The drop in signal levels upon contact of reference glass plate with the tissue are extremely sharp because of the sharp decline in reference power levels itself, thus providing us with an accurate measurement of contact area. The experimental results were in good agreement with the numerical predictions. The results of this study might be useful in providing new insights and ideas to improve the precision and safety of currently used ophthalmic surgical techniques. This research outlines a method which could be used to provide high resolution OCT images and a precise feedback of the forces applied to the cornea simultaneously.     

Influence of substrate bias voltage on the microstructure of nc-SiOx:H film

Amorphous silicon oxide containing nanocrystalline silicon grain(nc-SiO_x:H) films are prepared by a plasmaenhanced chemical vapor deposition technique at different negative substrate bias voltages.The influence of the bias voltage applied to the substrate on the microstructure is investigated.The analysis of x-ray diffraction spectra evidences the in situ growth of nanocrystalline Si.The grain size can be well controlled by varying the substrate bias voltage,and the largest size is obtained at 60 V.Fourier transform infrared spectra studies on the microstructure evolutions of the nc-SiO_x:H films suggest that the absorption peak intensities,which are related to the defect densities,can be well controlled.It can be attributed to the fact that the negative bias voltage provides a useful way to change the energies of the particles in the deposition process,which can provide sufficient driving force for the diffusion and movement for the species on the growing surface and effectively passivate the dangling bonds.Also the larger grain size and lower band gap,which will result in better photosensitivity,can also be obtained with a moderate substrate bias voltage of 60 V.     

Electric field and force on a conducting sphere in contact with a dielectric solid

This paper presents the analysis of electric field and force on a conducting sphere lying on a dielectric solid under a uniform field. To achieve high accuracy, we have applied the analytical method of successively placing three infinite sequences of point and dipole charges (zero- or first-order multipoles). The electric field is highest at the contact point, called the triple junction, where the conductor, the dielectric solid, and the surrounding medium (gas or vacuum) meet together. Both the contact-point field and the force increase with the permittivity ratio of the solid to that of the surrounding medium. The resulting force always attracts the sphere to the solid, in contrast to the repulsive force in the case of a conducting sphere lying on a plane conductor under an external field. We have given very simple formulae for approximating the contact-point field and the force which agree with the precise values within a difference of 3% for permittivity ratios up to 32 and 64, respectively.     

Changing exchange bias in spin valves with an electric current

We show that a high-density electric current, injected from a point contact into an exchange-biased spin valve, systematically changes the exchange bias. The bias can either increase or decrease depending upon the current direction. This observation is not readily explained by the well-known spin-transfer torque effect in ferromagnetic metal circuits, but could be evidence for the recently predicted current-induced torques in antiferromagnetic metals.     

Modification of electrical properties of tungsten oxide nanorods using conductive atomic force microscopy

Electrical conduction of tungsten oxide nanorods has been characterized by conductive atomic force microscopy (C-AFM). The conduction measurements were carried out in air using a conductive P⁺-type diamond-coated tip. This technique allows either the simultaneous measuring of the topography and the special current distribution or the recording of the current voltage distribution in a single point mode. We have proposed an equivalent electrical circuit which allows us to understand the I(V) curves. During C-AFM observations we have observed significant changes in image contrast and hysteresis in the I(V) characteristics which depend on the applied bias voltage. The bias dependence effect is interpreted as being due to a local oxidation-reduction phenomenon induced by the tip in the presence of water.     

Indentation analysis of nano-particle using nano-contact mechanics models during nano-manipulation based on atomic force microscopy

Atomic force microscopy is applied to measure intermolecular forces and mechanical properties of materials, nano-particle manipulation, surface scanning and imaging with atomic accuracy in the nano-world. During nano-manipulation process, contact forces cause indentation in contact area between nano-particle and tip/substrate which is considerable at nano-scale and affects the nano-manipulation process. Several nano-contact mechanics models such as Hertz, Derjaguin–Muller–Toporov (DMT), Johnson–Kendall–Roberts–Sperling (JKRS), Burnham–Colton–Pollock (BCP), Maugis–Dugdale (MD), Carpick–Ogletree–Salmeron (COS), Pietrement–Troyon (PT), and Sun et al. have been applied as the continuum mechanics approaches at nano-scale. In this article, indentation depth and contact radius between tip and substrate with nano-particle for both spherical and conical tip shape during nano-manipulation process are analyzed and compared by applying theoretical, semiempirical, and empirical nano-contact mechanics models. The effects of adhesion force, as the main contrast point in different nano-contact mechanics models, on nano-manipulation analysis is investigated for different contact radius, and the critical point is discussed for mentioned models.     

离散颗粒层被横向推移过程中的力学行为研究

研究发现,颗粒物质层被匀速推移挤压过程中,所需推移力先以线性规律增加,在某一确定点后,则会以指数规律增加.而颗粒物质是由众多离散颗粒组成的软凝聚态物质,其宏观上反映的是离散颗粒的个体性质和凝聚态物质的集体效应.颗粒与颗粒之间以及颗粒与边界之间的细观尺度接触力链的构成以及演变规律将会直接影响各种宏观受力情况,其摩擦力与挤压力便是力链的主要构成形式.围绕着定量描述细观力链特征,从而揭示力的变化规律这一目标,采用计算机模拟的方法,依照球形颗粒Hertz法向接触理论和Mindlin-Deresiewicz切向接触理论,对重力作用下不同数目的三维等径球体颗粒层的推移情况进行了离散元仿真模拟,量化分析了推移力变化规律、各摩擦力变化规律以及力链分布规律,发现摩擦力与挤压力在颗粒堆积的不同阶段对力链的构成起到了不同的主次作用,使得力链发生强弱演变,从而发现了推移颗粒物质层时推移力的变化规律及原因.这些结果有利于从力链角度揭示颗粒内部和颗粒与各边界之间的受力情况.     

外应力对铁磁/反铁磁体系交换偏置的影响及阶跃现象

采用能量极小原理及S-W模型研究了外应力对铁磁/反铁磁（FM/AFM）双层薄膜体系交换偏置的影响.不施加外磁场时,根据能量与铁磁层磁化强度方向之间的关系,指出体系存在单稳态和双稳态两种不同的状态,是由交换各向异性与单轴各向异性之间的竞争控制的.体系处于单稳态还是双稳态直接决定着交换偏置的角度依赖关系.分析磁化过程发现,外磁场沿内禀易轴及内禀难轴方向施加时,磁滞回线的一支转换场发生突变,而另一支转换场则保持不变,最终导致交换偏置场和矫顽场出现阶跃行为.数值计算表明,交换偏置场和矫顽场在阶跃点均具有较大的数值 关键词： 单稳态 双稳态 外应力     

隧道二极管伏安曲线二次微商与直流偏压关系的测量

本文提供测量隧道二极管伏安曲线二次微商与直流偏压关系的谐波分析法。着重讨论测量原理,电路设计和误差对结果的各种影响。同时,指出进行这项工作对隧道二极管应用和它的物理性质研究的意义。文中介绍了典型测量结果。并对隧道二极管作低电平检波器应用的价值作了一些定量的讨论。     

Approximations of inverse boundary element methods with partial measurements of the pressure field

Boundary element methods (BEMs) based near-field acoustic holography (NAH) requires the measurement of the pressure field over a closed surface in order to recover the normal velocity on a nearby conformal surface. There are practical cases when measurements are available over a patch from the measurement surface in which conventional inverse BEM based NAH (IBEM) cannot be applied directly, but instead as an approximation. In this work two main approximations based on the indirect-implicit methods are considered: Patch IBEM and IBEM with Cauchy data. Patch IBEM can be applied with a continuation procedure, which as its predecessor patch NAH (a well known technique that can be used on separable geometries of the wave equation) continues the pressure field using an iterative procedure, or it can be applied by a direct procedure. On the other hand, IBEM with Cauchy data requires measurements over two conformal patches and it will be shown that this technique will be reliable regardless of the position of the source. The theory behind each method will be justified and validated using a cylindrical surface with numerical data generated by point sources, and using experimental data from a cylindrical fuselage excited by a point force.