Breakdown behavior of GaAs/AlGaAs HBTs

Avalanche breakdown behavior at the collector junction of the GaAs/AlGaAs HBT (heterojunction bipolar transistor) has been studied. Junction breakdown characteristics displaying hard breakdown, soft breakdown, and negative resistance breakdown behavior were observed and are interpreted by analysis of localized microplasma effects, uniform microplasma-free behavior, and associated current gain measurements. Light emission from the collector-base junction of the GaAs/AlGaAs HBT was observed and used to investigate breakdown uniformity. Using a simple punchthrough breakdown model, the theoretical breakdown curves at different collector doping concentrations and thicknesses were computed and found to be in agreement with maximum breakdown voltages measured from devices displaying the most uniform junction breakdown. The serious current gain degradation of GaAs/AlGaAs HBTs at low current densities was analyzed in connection with the measurement of a large collector-emitter breakdown voltage. The unexpected functional relationship between the collector-emitter breakdown voltage and collector-base breakdown voltage is explained by the absence of a hole-feedback effect for devices not exhibiting transistor action     

Band offsets of In0.30Ga0.70As/In0.29Al0.71As heterojunction grown on GaAs substrate

Temperature-dependent current-voltage measurement was employed to study the band offsets of the In_0.30Ga_0.70As/In _0.29Al_0.71As heterojunction. The conduction band discontinuity was determined to be 0.71±0.05 eV which corresponds to a conduction band offset to bandgap difference ratio ~0.66. The comparison between experimental and theoretical results is presented     

Synthesis,and Antimycobacterial and Cytotoxic Evaluation of Certain Fluoroquinolone Derivatives

Certain 1‐ethyl‐ and 1‐aryl‐6‐fluoro‐1,4‐dihydroquinol‐4‐one derivatives were synthesized and evaluated for antimycobacterial and cytotoxic activities. Preliminary results indicated that, for 1‐aryl‐6‐fluoroquinolones, both 7‐(piperazin‐1‐yl)‐ and 7‐(4‐methylpiperazin‐1‐yl) derivatives, 9b and 11a , are able to completely inhibit the growth of M. tuberculosis at a concentration of 6.25 μg/ml, while the 7‐[4‐(2‐oxo‐2‐phenylethyl)piperazin‐1‐yl] derivative 13 exhibits only 31% growth inhibition at the same concentration. For 1‐ethyl‐6‐fluoroquinolones, both 7‐[4‐(2‐oxopropyl)piperazin‐1‐yl]‐ and 7‐[4‐(2‐oxo‐2‐phenylethyl)piperazin‐1‐yl]‐derivatives, 2a and 2b , respectively, show complete inhibition, while their 2‐iminoethyl and substituted phenyl counterparts 3a and 2c are less active. In addition, the 6,8‐difluoro derivative was a more‐favorable inhibitor than its 6‐fluoro counterpart ( 2b vs. 2d ). These results deserve full attention especially because 2a, 2b, 9b , and 11a are non‐cytotoxic at a concentration of 100 μM . Furthermore, compound 9b proved to be a potent anti‐TB agent with selective index (SI)>40 and an EC₉₀ value of 5.75 μg/ml.     

Synthesis and Cytotoxicity Evaluation of Metal‐Chelator‐Bearing Flavone,Carbazole, Dibenzofuran,Xanthone, and Anthraquinone

2‐(Aryloxymethyl)‐5‐benzyloxy‐1‐methyl‐1H‐pyridin‐4‐ones 8a – 8g , 2‐(aryloxymethyl)‐5‐hydroxy‐4H‐pyran‐4‐ones 9a – 9g , and 2‐(aryloxymethyl)‐5‐hydroxy‐1‐methyl‐1H‐pyridin‐4‐ones 10a – 10g were prepared from the known 5‐benzyloxy‐2‐(hydroxymethyl)pyran‐4‐one ( 3 ) in a good overall yield. These compounds were evaluated in vitro against a three‐cell lines panel consisting of MCF7 (breast), NCI‐H460 (lung), and SF‐268 (CNS), and the active compounds passed on for evaluation in the full panel of 60 human tumor cell lines derived from nine cancer cell types. The results indicated that 5‐hydroxy derivatives are more favorable than their corresponding 5‐benzyloxy precursors ( 10a – 10g vs. 8a – 8g ), and 1‐methyl‐1H‐pyridin‐4‐ones are more favorable than their corresponding pyran‐4(1H)‐ones ( 10a – 10g vs. 9a – 9g ). Among these three types of compounds, 2‐(aryloxymethyl)‐5‐hydroxy‐1‐methyl‐1H‐pyridin‐4‐ones 10a – 10g were the most cytotoxic; they inhibited the growth of almost all the cancer cells tested. On the contrary, compound 8a (a mean GI₅₀=27.8 μM ), 8b (38.5), 8d (11.0), and 8e (30.5) are especially active against the growth of SK‐MEL‐5 (a melanoma cancer cell) with a GI₅₀ of <0.01, 5.65, 0.55, and 0.03 μM , respectively (cf. Table 2).     

Distinguishing authentic and counterfeit banknotes by surface chemical composition determined using electrospray laser desorption ionization mass spectrometry

Electrospray laser desorption ionization mass spectrometry (ELDI/MS) was used to rapidly distinguish authentic banknotes from counterfeits of the US dollar and the New Taiwan dollar. The banknotes' surfaces were irradiated with a pulsed ultraviolet laser, after which the desorbed ink compounds entered an electrospray plume and formed ions via interactions with charged solvent species. Authentic banknotes were found to differ from their counterfeit equivalents in their surface chemical compositions. The detected chemical compounds included various polymers, plasticizers and inks; these results were comparable with those obtained using solvent extraction followed by electrospray ionization mass spectrometry analysis. Because of the high spatial resolution of the laser beam, ELDI/MS analysis resulted in minimal damage to the banknotes. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Terahertz Microchip for Illicit Drug Detection

To accurately detect minute amounts of substances without disturbing the surroundings of target molecules has been a major goal in bioanalytical technology. Here by integrating an optoelectronic terahertz (THz) microsource into a glass-substrated microchip within the near-field distance, we demonstrate a compact, label-free, noninvasive, and sensitive microbiosensing system with low-power consumption. The demonstrated THz microchip allows us to locally specify various illicit drug powders with weights of nanograms, with a promising future for rapid identification of the static status or even the dynamics of various biomolecules     

InGaAsSb/InP Double Heterojunction Bipolar Transistors Grown by Solid-Source Molecular Beam Epitaxy

This letter investigates the dc characteristics of a double heterojunction bipolar transistor (DHBT) with a compressively strained InGaAsSb base, which is grown by solid-source molecular beam epitaxy. The novel InP/InGaAsSb HBT has a lower base/emitter (B/E) junction turn-on voltage, a lower offset voltage, and a junction ideality factor closer to unity than the conventional InP/InGaAs composite collector DHBT. These characteristics are attributed to the transistor's type-I B/E junction and type-II base/collector junction, which facilitates carrier transport for low power, high current density, and high-speed operation. Heterojunction bipolar transistors (HBTs), InP/InGaAsSb, molecular beam epitaxy (MBE).     

On the symbol error probability of maximum-selection diversityreception schemes over a Rayleigh fading channel

The symbol error probability of two selection schemes, namely, maximum signal-to-noise ratio (Mγ) selection and maximum output (MO) selection, for M-ary multidiversity reception over a Rayleigh fading channel are discussed. The symbol error probability of the MO scheme is lower than that of the Mγ scheme. The more diversity receptions that are used, the larger is the difference. A simple expression of crossover average signal-to-noise ratio (per bit) is presented as a guideline for increasing the number of diversity receptions     

Directional Coupler Formed by Photonic Crystal InAlGaAs Nanorods

In this paper, we demonstrate the use of photonic crystal (PC) directional couplers to separate light of wavelengths at 1.31 and 1.55 m. The PC structure consists of InAlGaAs nanorods arranged in hexagonal lattice. The simulation of our device is implemented by the finite-difference time-domain method. The devices are fabricated by e-beam lithography and conventional photolithography. We use the strong inverse method (SIM) of e-beam lithography to make the pattern smoother. The measurement results confirm that 1.31/1.55-m wavelength splitter can be realized in PC structures formed by nanorods.     

Wavelength demultiplexing heterojunction phototransistor

Experimental and theoretical results on a wavelength demultiplexing receiver composed of an AlGaAs/GaAs heterojunction phototransistor (HPT) integrated within a resonant cavity are reported. A high quality factor cavity was formed using a very thin In/sub 0.05/Ga/sub 0.95/As active absorption layer in the collector depletion region of the HPT. Crosstalk attenuations of 15 dB for dual and 12 dB for triple wavelength demultiplexing were demonstrated. The individual HPTs had an optical gain of 500 at the resonant modes. Theoretical calculations predict crosstalk attenuation levels as high as 40 dB with high reflection mirrors on both ends of the cavity.<>