Elongated hexagonal ZnO micro-fence optical resonator

A highly symmetric ZnO micro-fence is prepared to form an optical resonator, which a symmetric array consisting of six elongated hexagonal microcolumns. It is found that the luminescence emission could be enhanced at the edge of ZnO micro-fence and the wavelength dependent light intensity could be influenced by its geometry. The optical characterization along with theoretical calculations and computer simulation analysis suggest that the Fabry-Perot and Cross-whispering gallery modes are generated in ZnO micro-fence. The individual ZnO micro-fence can regarded as an optical resonator structure. Furthermore, it is proposed that the source concentration around the substrate during the growth is a crucial factor for forming such a micro-fence.     

Synthesis and photoluminescence characterizations of the Er3+-doped ZnO nanosheets with irregular porous microstructure

Er-doped ZnO nanosheets with high quality were synthesized by the hydrothermal and post-annealing techniques, and the effect of erbium dopant on the structures, morphologies and photoluminescence properties of the as-synthesized samples were determined using XRD, SEM, TEM, EDS, PL and Raman spectroscopy. The results showed that Er³⁺ ions were successfully incorporated into the crystal lattice of ZnO host, and some irregular porous microstructure with diameter of 3–10 nm could be seen on ZnO nanosheets as various doping concentrations. It was found that the crystallization and photoluminescence properties of ZnO nanosheets were strongly influenced by erbium doping concentration. The ultraviolet emission and deep level emission were both appeared in PL spectra, and the intensity of the whole deep level emission was enhanced with erbium doping, indicating the deep-level-defect luminescent centers were increased in the doped samples. Moreover, the crystallization of the samples became worse due to more defects by erbium doping.     

Effect of sputter deposited Zn precursor film thickness and annealing time on the properties of Cu2ZnSnS4 thin films deposited by sequential reactive sputtering of metal targets

Cu₂ZnSnS₄ (CZTS) is made of earth abundant elements and also have suitable optical properties for solar cell applications. But, in phase diagram, CZTS exists in a narrow range of temperature and composition. Therefore, optimizing the elemental composition and annealing time is very important for obtaining phase pure CZTS. In this study, the effects of elemental composition and short annealing time on the structural and optical properties of reactively sputtered CZTS thin films are reported. Thin films were deposited by reactive sputtering of Cu: Sn (60:40 wt%), Sn and Zn targets sequentially in the presence of H₂S at room temperature. Amount of Zn precursor was varied by changing the sputter time for Zn. The films were rapidly annealed in inert atmosphere for varying time. The band gap of sample changed with change in the composition as well as annealing time. Sample with higher Zn content showed better crystallinity. With increase in the annealing time the crystallinity of samples improved. Sample annealed for 12 min at 550 °C was phase pure. Obtaining good quality film even for very short anneal time is the novelty of reactive sputtering method as all the elements are already mixed and short annealing is required only for crystal growth. Through detailed experiments, the optimum composition and annealing time required for the growth of phase pure CZTS has been established.     

Synthesis and characterization of CuO–SnO2 nanocomposite and its application as liquefied petroleum gas sensor

Present paper reports the synthesis of CuO–SnO₂ nanocomposite via sol–gel route as a sensing material for a liquefied petroleum gas (LPG). X-ray diffraction analysis confirmed the formation of CuO–SnO₂ nanocomposite. Crystallite size was found 5 nm. The optical band gap of the nanocomposite was found 4.1 eV. The thin/thick films were fabricated using spin coating and screen printing technology respectively and investigated with the exposition of LPG at room temperature (25 °C). Surface morphology of the thin film exhibits that it has a number of gas adsorption sites. The sensitivities of the thick and thin film sensors were found 4.1 and 42 respectively. The response and recovery times of the fabricated film sensor were 180 and 200 s respectively. Maximum sensor response of thin film sensor was found 4100. Better sensitivity and percentage sensor response, small response and recovery times, and good reproducibility and stability recognize the fabricated thin film of CuO–SnO₂ as a challenging material for the detection of LPG.     

Effect of Al content on the performance of Cu(In,Al)Se2 powders prepared by mechanochemical process

Cu(In,Al)Se₂ (CIAS) powders with varying Al/(In+Al) ratios x (x=0, 0.15, 0.23, 0.38, 0.57) were synthesized by mechanochemical process (MCP). Composition, morphology of CIAS powders was investigated by energy dispersive analysis and scanning electron microscopy, respectively. Influence of Al content on structural and optical properties of CIAS was detected by X-ray diffraction and UV–Vis spectroscopy, respectively. The results show molecularity and stoichiometry deviation of composition were small. Particle aggregation and inhomogeneous distribution of Cu, In, Al and Se element is observed at early milling stage. Field emission transmission electron microscopy image confirms that the particles can be milled to several hundred nanometers. Chalcopyrite characteristic peaks of CuInSe₂ are clearly observed. CIAS crystalline size decreases as Al₂O₃ increases in the products. CIAS (1 1 2) peaks shifts to high value and lattice constants for CIAS samples decrease with the Al additions. The band gap enlarged from 1.01 eV to 1.29 eV by adding Al. Al₂O₃ impurities impact CIAS powder grain size and the band gap seriously. All CIAS samples detected by hot probe method show the p-type conductivity.     

Simple model for blistering mechanism

A simple model for blistering mechanism is proposed for energies higher than 20 keV. The model assumes that through the nucleation of smaller bubbles, a critical bubble radius is reached. The planar stress results of Jeffery for a semi-infinite plate with a circular hole subject to a uniform inner normal pressure are roughly taken as valid for the three-dimensional case. Under this assumption, the thickness of the blister's cover and critical ion dose for blister formation are calculated from the knowledge of the mean projected range of ions and blister diameter taken from experimental results. The resulting values are in agreement with the experimental values reported. The model can qualitatively explain breakage at the top of the dome-shaped blisters observed in molybdenum at 1100 K.     

Theoretical analysis of the radiation effect on the transient behavior of optoelectronic integrated devices

Theoretical analysis of the radiation effect on transient behavior of an optoelectronic integrated device composed of a heterojunction phototransistor and a light emitting diode is studied theoretically. First, the transient behavior and the rise time of this device before radiation are investigated based on the frequency response of the constituent devices and the optical feedback inside the device. Second, the effect of neutron irradiation flux on the transient behavior of this device is theoretically studied. The results show that, by increasing the optical feedback inside the device, the rise time in the amplification mode is increased along with an increasing output, while that in the switching mode can be reduced effectively, and the neutron irradiation reduces the transient response and the rise time in both the amplification and switching modes. This type of model can be exploited as optical amplifier, optical switching device, and other applications.     

Synthesis and optical nondestructive evaluation of GaN nanorods on silicon surfaces with gold catalyst

Nanometric gallium-nitride rods were grown on a silicon (1 1 1) substrate through a chemical vapor deposition process with gold particles as the catalyst. Randomly distributed gallium-nitride rods of 20–200 nm in diameter and of various densities and lengths were formed under different deposition conditions. Characterization analyses, such as scanning electron microscopy and optical reflection spectroscopy, have been carried out on samples containing gallium-nitride rods different in size, shape, length and density. While the scanning electron microscopy shows directly the images of the sample surfaces, the optical spectroscopy provides a nondestructive evaluation of the sample surfaces, especially helpful for checking the uniformity of the samples.     

3D photon counting imaging at 1550 nm with 1.5-GHz sine-wave-gated InGaAs/InP GAPD

We demonstrated a 3D laser imaging system at 1550 nm with a 1.5-GHz sine-wave gated Geiger-mode InGaAs/InP avalanche photodiode (APD). An optical fiber bundle with 100 individual fiber outputs was implemented at the focal plane of the telescope, providing a 2.5-mrad imaging view. The system used single-pixel near-infrared single-photon detector to measure photons at fiber outputs instead of a photon counting array. The 1.5-GHz gated Geiger-mode InGaAs/InP APD with a timing jitter of 290 ps was operated in quasi-continuous mode with detection efficiency of ∼4.3%. We achieved higher than 6-cm surface-to-surface resolution at single-photon level, showing a potential of low-energy and eye-safe laser imaging system for long-distance measurements.     

A maximum-efficiency-first multi-path route selection strategy for optical burst switching networks

In this paper, the impact of a path selection on other existing paths in optical burst switching (OBS) networks is studied by analyzing the contention among different traffic streams and the interaction between the route selection and traffic load balance. The results show that there exists a mutual reinforcement interaction among the traffic load of a path, the path burst loss ratio and the contention ability of the path when burst loss ratio based multi-path selection strategies are adopted, which may increase the unbalance of traffic and lead to severe congestion further. A maximum-efficiency-first multi-path selection strategy, which considers the performance of the burst flows and the impact of a path selection on existing OBS paths at the same time by a combined metric of route efficiency, is proposed to maximize the utility of the burst flows and minimize the increment of lost throughput on the path. The performance of the proposed multi-path selection strategy is evaluated through simulation. The results show that the presented strategy obviously outperforms the least burst loss ratio strategy and shortest path first strategy in terms of the burst loss ratio in the practical unbalanced background traffic, especially when the network is heavily loaded.