Terahertz Superconducting Hot-Electron Bolometer Mixers and Their Application in Radio Astronomy

We review the latest developments, research, and radioastronomy applications of hot-electron bolometer (HEB) mixers operated in the terahertz waveband. The physical principles of operation of terahertz HEB mixers are presented, their manufacturing from ultrathin NbN films, the main HEB-mixer parameters and their measurement techniques are discussed, and practical terahertz radioastronomy projects based on heterodyne receivers with HEB mixers are considered.     

Noise Behaviour of a THz Superconducting Hot-Electron Bolometer Mixer

A quasi-optical superconducting NbN hot-electron bolometer （HEB） mixer is measured in the frequency range of 0.5-2.5 THz for understanding of the frequency dependence of noise temperature of THz coherent detectors. It has been found that noise temperature increasing with frequency is mainly due to the coupling loss between the quasioptical planar antenna and the superconducting HEB bridge when taking account of non-uniform distribution of high-frequency current. With the coupling loss corrected, the superconducting HEB mixer demonstrates a noise temperature nearly independent of frequency.     

Hot-Electron Magneto-Transport in InSb

The balance equations are used to investigate the hot electron magneto-transport in narrowgap semiconductor InSb at 77 K in crossed weak magnetic field and electric field. In the case of vanishing transverse velocity, the drift mobility and the Hall mobility are calculated and it is shown that the Hall factor in InSb at 77K is less than 1 and decreases with electric field. In the case of vanishing transverse electric field, the longitudinal velocity and the transverse velocity are calculated as a function of the magnetic field and the electric field. The effect of the magnetic field on the longitudinal velocity is different from that on the transverse velocity.     

Hot-Electron Transport and Coupled-Mode Optic Phonon in a Polar Semiconductor

The effect of coupled-mode-LO phonons on the electronic transport in a polar semiconductor is studied within a model which takes the internal thermalization time of the LO phonon system and the relaxation time of the whole lattice as parameters. Our analysis shows that although the hot-electron energy-loss to LO phonons is drastically enhanced and the LO-phonon-induced linear mobility is markedly reduced by the formation of coupled modes at low temperatures, in a realistic polar semiconductor when all the scattering mechanisms included, the coupled-mode effect on the transport properties is almost buried.     

Classical Theory of Hot-Electron Transport in Electric and Magnetic Fields

Balance equation approach to the hot-electron transport in electric and magnetic fields is reformulated.The balance equations are re-derived from the Boltzmann equation. A new expression for the distribution function isreported in the present paper. It is homogeneous steady solution of the Boltzmann equation in constant relaxation timeapproximation. It holds when ωocτ < i or ωc < Te. As an example, the mobility of 2D electron gas in the GaAs-AlGaAsheterojunction is computed as a function of electric field and magnetic field.     

Modelling of Hot-Electron Energy in Short-Channel MOSFETs by Electrical Method

Channel hot-electron （HE） energy in short-channel metal-oxide-semiconductor field-effect transistors （MOS-FETs） is estimated based on electrical characterization. The HE assisted gate leakage is monitored, and its energy dependent tunnelling probability is calculated, from which the excess energy of HE is estimated. The credibility of the proposed method is supported by the experimental and theoretical results, and its accuracy in ultra-small-feature-size device application is also discussed.     

Effect of Intersubband Coulomb Interaction on Hot-Electron Transport in Two-and One-Dimensional Electron Systems

We study the hot-electron transport properties of model GaAs-based quasi-two-dimensional(-quantum-well) and quasi-one-dimensional'(quantum wire) systems having two occupied subbands by using the Lei-Ting balance-equations for two types of carriers. Both the intersubband electron-phonon interaction and intersubband Coulomb interaction are taken into account. Our numerical results show that when the electron density is high enough, the intersubband Coulomb interaction is substantially strong in thermalizing the electrons between the different subbands. As a consequence, the one-type-of-carriers model (OTCM) is a good approximation for electron transport. However, in the cases of the lower electron densities, the intersubband Coulomb interaction is not strong enough to fire the electrons in differents-ubbands to share a common electron temperature and a more accurate two-types-of-carriers model (TTCM) must be used for analysis.     

An Improved Architecture of Sixth Subharmonic Mixers in E-Band

An improved architecture of sixth subharmonic mixers is proposed in this paper. In order to meet the need of low conversion loss, antiparallel diodes are selected and the length of four open/shorted microstrip stubs at both sides of the antiparallel diodes are carefully designed. For any important idle frequency components which can’t be reused by the four stubs, reactive terminations are presented by adjusting the length of main RF and LO microstrip. The tested results indicate the lowest conversion loss is 26.1 dB at the radio frequency of 72 GHz, with fixed LO at 12 GHz. The proposed circuit architecture is suitable for the implementation of subharmonic mixers in E-band as well as other millimeter and submillimeter-wave regions where high quality and high frequency LOs are difficult to realize. Supported in part by National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC) under Grants 60621002 and in part by NSFC under Grants 60471017.     

Semi-Analytical Calculation of Terahertz Signal Generated from Photocurrent Radiation in Traveling-Wave Photonic Mixers

A semi-analytical method based on distributed source transmission line model is proposed to analyze a traveling-wave terahertz photomixer integrated with a coplanar stripline waveguide. Multilayer spectral domain method along with complex image technique have been applied to calculate the distributed voltage source element in the transmission line representation. To find the coupled terahertz signal along the coplanar stripline, the transmission line equations are solved. The results obtained from the proposed method are verified by the full wave analysis.     

Performance of W-InSb Metal-Semiconductor Point-Contact Diodes as Detectors and Mixers in the Near Infrared

Metal-Insulator-Metal (MIM) and Schottky-barrier diodes have been used extensively in the past years as harmonic generators and mixers for frequency measurements in the spectral range from the far-infrared to the visible. MIM diodes present a very low fabrication cost and are easy to handle, while Schottky diodes are mechanically more stable and long-lived. In the present work we discuss the performance of a metal-semiconductor point-contact diode for the radiation around 1 m. This device, which may be viewed as a hybrid between a MIM and a Schottky diode, combines the simplicity and easiness of fabrication of the MIM diode with the stability and the long contact life typical of the Schottky diode. It proved to be very efficient even for visible light.     

Embedded Nanoparticles in Schottky and Ohmic Contacts: A Review

Schottky and Ohmic contacts are essential parts of electronic and optoelectronic devices based on semiconductor materials. Controlling the contact/semiconductor interface properties is the key to obtaining a contact with an optimum performance. Contacts incorporated by nanomaterials, i.e., nano-sized particles that are embedded at the interface of contact/semiconductor, can transform the conventional approaches of contact fabrication, resulting in more reproducible, tunable and efficient electronic, and optoelectronic devices. This article is a review of theoretical and fabrication progress on the last two decades to produce contacts with embedded nanoparticles (NPs). The review covers common routes of NPs deposition on different substrates (e.g., Si, Ge, SiC, GaN, GaAs₆₇P₃₃, and InP) for nanostructured contact fabrication and the theoretical models to investigate the NPs effects on the conduction mechanism and electrical properties of devices.     

A Way of Increasing Maximum Permissible Short-Circuit Surge Currents in Electrical Contacts

Technical Physics - Current passing through electrical contacts causes additional heat release due to the presence of a contact resistance. Heat release in contacts may be considerable. In...     

The Investigation of Copper-Chromium Contacts in Vacuum Interrpters Subjected to an Axial Magnetic Field

The characteristics of a vacuum arc between CuCr contacts under an axial magnetic field have been investigated. Test samples were made of CuCr contacts, and the arcing voltage was measured. The arcing voltage of the CuCr contacts under an axial magnetic field is lower than that of pure copper contacts by 10-20 V. From the measurement of the post-arc current and interruption test results, it was found that the arc concentrates and a part of the electrode melts at a rather low current, but that the electrode melting does not affect the interrupting capability. Also, the insulation characteristics were measured. With respect to voltage conditioning, high-current conditioning improved the breakdown voltage by 50 percent for a 20-mm gap and by 100 percent for a 3-mm gap. These test results show that CuCr contacts, used with axial magnetic fields, are promising for use in high-voltage and high-power vacuum interrupters.     

金刚石对顶砧原位电导率测量系统

 在金刚石对顶砧中进行原位高温高压电阻测量时,由于受到绝热层的限制,从而达不到理想的温度条件。采用普通的粉末绝热材料,会给电极的引入造成很大困难,而且不规则的电阻丝使电阻测量很难精确量化。利用溅射镀膜方法,在对顶砧的砧面上镀氧化铝膜作绝热层,溅射的金属钼膜作电极材料,成功地完成了高温高压条件下原位电阻的测量。利用此装置,测量了铁镁硅酸盐(Mg_0.875,Fe_0.125)₂SiO₄在高温高压环境下（31~35 GPa,1 500~3 400 K）的电导率,得到了样品的导电粒子激活能,发现其激活能随着压强的升高而增大,与低压低温（小于15 GPa,低于1 200 K）条件相比,其激活体积和激活能都明显减小。     

硅刻蚀现场研究的表面拉曼光谱技术

通过对拉曼谱仪和电极粗糙方法的优化,本文将表面拉曼光谱技术拓宽到了半导体硅电极表面的现场研究,文中观测了不同粗糙时间对硅刻蚀的影响,并实时考察了硅氢表面在开路电位下的氧化过程,实验结果表明,在以ＨＦ为主的湿法刻蚀中,硅表面的悬挂键主要被Ｈ而不是被Ｆ取代。     

Barrier Enhancement Effect of Postannealing in Oxygen Ambient on Ni/AIGaN Schottky Contacts

Al0.2 Ga0.8N/GaN samples are grown by metalorganic chemical vapour deposition （MOCVD） method on （0001） sapphire substrates. A 10nm-thick Ni layer is deposited on AlGaN as the transparent Schottky contact. The effect of postannealing in oxygen ambient on the electrical properties of Ni/AlGaN is studied by current-voltage- temperature （I-V-T） measurement. The annealing at a relatively low temperature of 300℃ for 90 s results in a decrease of the ideality factor from 2.03 to 1.30 and an increase of the Schottky barrier height from 0.77eV to 0.954 e V. The I-V-T analysis confirms the improvement originated from the formation of NiO, a layer with higher resistance, which could passivate the surface states of AlGaN and suppress the tunnelling current. Furthermore, the annealing also leads to an increase of the transmittance of the contacts from 57.5% to 78.2%, which would be favourable for A1GaN-based photodetectors.     

拉曼光谱原位表征在有机光电器件中的应用

拉曼原位表征(Raman in situ characterization)就是在不破坏样品的情况下利用拉曼光谱实时监测变化过程,以表征样品在真实环境下的结构性能变化或记录样品在整个过程中的实时信息。在器件的工作时,原位检测化学结构、物理结构的变化,有利于深入了解器件微观结构与光电性能间的关系,帮助我们优化器件结构,提高器件性能。本文主要针对有机光电器件,总结原位观察生长、老化、带电状态的特点和规律,探讨了原位拉曼光谱在有机光电器件原位表征中的应用和发展潜力。