Single-Photon Detection at Telecom Wavelengths

A single-photon detector based on an InGaAs avalanche photodiode has been developed for use at telecom wavelengths. A suitable delay and sampling gate modulation circuit are used to prevent positive and negative transient pulses from influencing the detection of true photon induced avalanches. A monostable trigger circuit eliminates the influence of avalanche peak jitter, and a dead time modulation feedback control circuit decreases the afterpulsing. From performance tests we lind that at the optimum operation point, the quantum efficiency is 12% and the dark count rate 1.5 × 10^-6 ns^-1, with a detection rate of 500 kHz.     

Raman and X-Ray Investigation of Pyrope Garnet （Mg0.76Fe0.14Ca0.10）3Al2Si3O12 under High Pressure

The compressional behavlour of natural pyrope garnet is investigated by using angle-dlspersive synchrotron radiation x-ray diffraction and Raman spectroscopy in a diamond anvil cell at room temperature. The pressureinduced phase transition does not occur under given pressure. The equation of state of pyrope garnet is determined under pressure up to 25.3 GPa. The bulk modulus KTO is 199 GPa, with its first pressure derivative K′TO fixed to 4. The Raman spectra of pyrope garnet are studied. A new Raman peak nearly at 743 cm^-1 is observed in a bending vibration of the SiO4 tetrahedra frequency range at pressure of about 28 GPa. We suggest that the new Raman peak results from the lattice distortion of the SiO4 tetrahedra. All the Raman frequencies continuously increase with the increasing pressure. The average pressure derivative of the high frequency modes （650-1000 cm^-1） is larger than that of the low frequency （smaller than 650 cm^-1）. Based on these data, the mode Grǖneisen parameters for pyrope are obtained.     

First-Principles Prediction of High-Pressure Phase of CaC6

The lattice dynamics of rhombohedral GaG6 is studied as a function orpressure to probe Its high pressure phase with low superconducting transition temperature using the density functional liner-response theory. The pressureinduced phase transition in CaC6 is attributable to the softening transverse acoustic （TA） phonon mode at the zone boundary X （0.5, 0.0, 0.5） point. The high pressure phase is then explored by performing fully structural optimization in the supercell which accommodates the atomic displacements corresponding to the eigenvectors of the unstable mode of TA（X）. The high-pressure phase is predicted to be a monoclinic unit cell with space group P21/m.     

Growth and Characterization of A1GaN/A1N/GaN HEMT Structures with a Compositionally Step-Graded A1GaN Barrier Layer

A new A1GaN/A1N/GaN high electron mobility transistor （HEMT） structure using a compositionally step-graded A1GaN barrier layer is grown on sapphire by metalorganic chemical vapour deposition （MOCVD）. The structure demonstrates significant enhancement of two-dimensional electron gas （2DEG） mobility and smooth surface morphology compared with the conventional HEMT structure with high A1 composition A1GaN barrier. The high 2DEG mobility of 1806 cm2/Vs at room temperature and low rms surface roughness of 0.220 nm for a scan area of 5μm×5 μm are attributed to the improvement of interracial and crystal quality by employing the stepgraded barrier to accommodate the large lattice mismatch stress. The 2DEG sheet density is independent of the measurement temperature, showing the excellent 2DEG confinement of the step-graded structure. A low average sheet resistance of 314.5Ω/square, with a good resistance uniformity of 0.68%, is also obtained across the 50 mm epilayer wafer. HEMT devices are successfully fabricated using this material structure, which exhibits a maximum extrinsic transconductance of 218 mS/ram and a maximum drain current density of 800 mA/mm.     

GaN MOS-HEMT Using Ultra-Thin A1203 Dielectric Grown by Atomic Layer Deposition

We report a GaN metal-oxide-semiconductor high electron mobility transistor （MOS-HEMT） with atomic layer deposited （ALD） Al2O3 gate dielectric. Based on the previous work [Appl. Phys. Lett. 86 （2005） 063501] of Ye et al. by decreasing the thickness of the gate oxide to 3.5nm and optimizing the device fabrication process, the device with maximum transconductance of 150mS/mm is produced and discussed in comparison with the result of lOOmS/mm of Ye et al. The corresponding drain current density in the 0.8-μm-gate-length MOS-HEMT is 800mA/mm at the gate bias of 3.0 V. The gate leakage is two orders of magnitude lower than that of the conventional A1GaN/GaN HEMT. The excellent characteristics of this novel MOS-HEMT device structure with ALD Al2O3 gate dielectric are presented.     

Hyperbolic Bending of Vortex Lines with Finite Number and Length in Rotating Trapped Bose-Einstein Condensates

The minimal energy configurations of hyperbolic bending vortex lines in the rotating trapped Bose-Einstein condensates are investigated by using a variational ansatz and numerical simulation. The theoretical calculation of the energy of the vortex lines as a function of the rotation frequency gives self-consistently vortex number, curvature and configuration. The numerical results show that bending is more stable than straight vortex line along the z-axis, and the vortex configuration in the xy-plane has a little expansion by increasing z.     

Coherent Structures in Transition of a Flat-Plate Boundary Layer at Ma = 0.7

Direct numerical simulation （DNS） of a spatially evolving fiat-plate boundary layer transition process at free stream Mach number 0. 7 is performed. Tollmien-Schlichting （T-S） waves are added on the inlet boundary as the disturbances before transition. Typical coherent structures in the transition process are investigated based on the second invariant of velocity gradient tensor. The instantaneous shear stress and the mean velocity profile in the transition region are studied. In our view, the fact that the peak value of shear stress in the stress concentration area increases and exceeds a threshold value during the later stage of the trallsition process plays an important role in the laminar breakdown process.     

Phase Transition and EOS of Marmatite （Zn0.76Fe0.23S） up to 623K and 17 GPa

In situ energy dispersive x-ray diffraction for natural marmatite （Zn0.76Fe0.23S） is performed up to 17. 7 GPa and 623 K. It is fit, ted by the Birch-Murnaghan equation of state （EOS） that Ko and α0 for marmatite are 85（3）GPa and 0.79（16）＊10^-4 K^-1, respectively. Fe^2＋ isomorphic replacing to Zn^2＋ in natural crystal is responsible for high bulk modulus and thermal expansivity of marmatite. Temperature derivative of bulk modulus （OK/OT）p for marmatite is fitted to be -0.044（23） GPaK^-1. The unambiguous B3-B1 phase boundaries for marmatite are determined to be Pupper（GPa）= 15.50 - 0.016T（℃） and Plower （GPa）=9.94-0.012T（℃） at 300-623K.     

Ab Initio Comparative Study of Zincblende and Wurtzite ZnO

By employing the first-principles pseudopotential plane-wave method, the physical properties of zincblende ZnO are investigated in comparison with those of the common wurtzite structure. Zincblende ZnO is predicted to be a direct gap semiconductor. Compared to the wurtzite structure, the zincblende ZnO is characterized by smaller bandgap and pressure coefficient, larger electron effective mass, increasing static dielectric constants and more covalent bonding. Furthermore, the optical properties including dielectric function and energy loss function of zincblende ZnO were obtained and analysed with some features. These aspects reveal promising applications of zincblende ZnO in optoelectronic devices.     

Hydrogen Passivation Effect on Enhanced Luminescence from Nanocrystalline Si/SiO2 Multilayers

Nanocrystalline Si/SiO2 multilayers are prepared by thermally annealing amorphous Si/SiO2 stacked structures. The photoluminescence intensity is obviously enhanced after hydrogen passivation at various temperatures. It is suggested that the hydrogen trapping and detrapping processes at different temperatures strongly influence the passivation effect. Direct experimental evidence is given by electron spin resonance spectra that hydrogen effectively reduces the nonradiative defect states existing in the Si nanocrystas/SiO2 system which enhances the radiative recombination probability. The luminescence characteristic shows its stability after hydrogen passivation even after aging eight months.