| 1. |
- van Dishoeck, E. F., et al.
(författare)
-
Water in star-forming regions: Physics and chemistry from clouds to disks as probed by Herschel spectroscopy
- 2021
-
Ingår i: Astronomy and Astrophysics. - : EDP Sciences. - 0004-6361 .- 1432-0746. ; 648
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Context. Water is a key molecule in the physics and chemistry of star and planet formation, but it is difficult to observe from Earth. The Herschel Space Observatory provided unprecedented sensitivity as well as spatial and spectral resolution to study water. The Water In Star-forming regions with Herschel (WISH) key program was designed to observe water in a wide range of environments and provide a legacy data set to address its physics and chemistry. Aims. The aim of WISH is to determine which physical components are traced by the gas-phase water lines observed with Herschel and to quantify the excitation conditions and water abundances in each of these components. This then provides insight into how and where the bulk of the water is formed in space and how it is transported from clouds to disks, and ultimately comets and planets. Methods. Data and results from WISH are summarized together with those from related open time programs. WISH targeted ∼80 sources along the two axes of luminosity and evolutionary stage: from low- to high-mass protostars (luminosities from <1 to > 10Lpdbl) and from pre-stellar cores to protoplanetary disks. Lines of H2O and its isotopologs, HDO, OH, CO, and [O I], were observed with the HIFI and PACS instruments, complemented by other chemically-related molecules that are probes of ultraviolet, X-ray, or grain chemistry. The analysis consists of coupling the physical structure of the sources with simple chemical networks and using non-LTE radiative transfer calculations to directly compare models and observations. Results. Most of the far-infrared water emission observed with Herschel in star-forming regions originates from warm outflowing and shocked gas at a high density and temperature (> 10cm-3, 300-1000 K, v ∼ 25 km s-1), heated by kinetic energy dissipation. This gas is not probed by single-dish low-J CO lines, but only by CO lines with Jup > 14. The emission is compact, with at least two different types of velocity components seen. Water is a significant, but not dominant, coolant of warm gas in the earliest protostellar stages. The warm gas water abundance is universally low: orders of magnitude below the H2O/H2 abundance of 4 × 10-4 expected if all volatile oxygen is locked in water. In cold pre-stellar cores and outer protostellar envelopes, the water abundance structure is uniquely probed on scales much smaller than the beam through velocity-resolved line profiles. The inferred gaseous water abundance decreases with depth into the cloud with an enhanced layer at the edge due to photodesorption of water ice. All of these conclusions hold irrespective of protostellar luminosity. For low-mass protostars, a constant gaseous HDO/H2O ratio of ∼0.025 with position into the cold envelope is found. This value is representative of the outermost photodesorbed ice layers and cold gas-phase chemistry, and much higher than that of bulk ice. In contrast, the gas-phase NH3 abundance stays constant as a function of position in low-mass pre- and protostellar cores. Water abundances in the inner hot cores are high, but with variations from 5 × 10-6 to a few × 10-4 for low- and high-mass sources. Water vapor emission from both young and mature disks is weak. Conclusions. The main chemical pathways of water at each of the star-formation stages have been identified and quantified. Low warm water abundances can be explained with shock models that include UV radiation to dissociate water and modify the shock structure. UV fields up to 102-10times the general interstellar radiation field are inferred in the outflow cavity walls on scales of the Herschel beam from various hydrides. Both high temperature chemistry and ice sputtering contribute to the gaseous water abundance at low velocities, with only gas-phase (re-)formation producing water at high velocities. Combined analyses of water gas and ice show that up to 50% of the oxygen budget may be missing. In cold clouds, an elegant solution is that this apparently missing oxygen is locked up in larger μm-sized grains that do not contribute to infrared ice absorption. The fact that even warm outflows and hot cores do not show H2O at full oxygen abundance points to an unidentified refractory component, which is also found in diffuse clouds. The weak water vapor emission from disks indicates that water ice is locked up in larger pebbles early on in the embedded Class I stage and that these pebbles have settled and drifted inward by the Class II stage. Water is transported from clouds to disks mostly as ice, with no evidence for strong accretion shocks. Even at abundances that are somewhat lower than expected, many oceans of water are likely present in planet-forming regions. Based on the lessons for galactic protostars, the low-J H2O line emission (Eup < 300 K) observed in extragalactic sources is inferred to be predominantly collisionally excited and to originate mostly from compact regions of current star formation activity. Recommendations for future mid- to far-infrared missions are made.
|
|
| 2. |
- Papamichail, A., et al.
(författare)
-
Compositionally graded channel HEMTs towards improved linearity for low-noise RF amplifiers
- 2022
-
Ingår i: 2022 Compound Semiconductor Week, CSW 2022.
-
Konferensbidrag (refereegranskat)abstract
- Although AlGaN/GaN HEMTs with high power and current gain have been demonstrated in RF device applications, at high signal operation they show an inherent non-linear behavior which leads to gain compression and signal distortion. Polarization-doped AlGaN/GaN HEMTs, with a compositionally graded channel enables a linear response improvement through formation of a 3-D electron gas. In this work, we develop the growth process for graded channel HEMTs in a hot-wall MOCVD reactor. Control of the grading profile is established through growth parameter tuning. Afterwards, analysis by EDS allows for precise determination of Al composition across the channel. Conventional and graded channel HEMT structures were fabricated and characterized. Furthermore, the sheet resistance, carrier density and mobility in HEMT structures with different grading profiles are compared and discussed. The conventional (non-graded) structure revealed the highest electron mobility of ~2350 cm2/V.s, which is among the highest values reported.
|
|
| 3. |
- Zhang, Xiaofu, et al.
(författare)
-
Suppression of the transition to superconductivity in crystal/glass high-entropy alloy nanocomposites
- 2022
-
Ingår i: Communications Physics. - : NATURE PORTFOLIO. - 2399-3650. ; 5:1
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- High entropy alloys are multielement materials exhibiting enhanced properties compared to their binary or ternary equivalents. Here, the authors investigate the influence of microstructure and elemental distribution on the transport and superconducting properties of (TaNb)(1-x)(ZrHfTi)(x) thin films. Superconducting high entropy alloys (HEAs) may combine extraordinary mechanical properties with robust superconductivity. They are suitable model systems for the investigation of the interplay of disorder and superconductivity. Here, we report on the superconductivity in (TaNb)(1-x)(ZrHfTi)(x) thin films. Beyond the near-equimolar region, the films comprise hundreds-of-nanometer-sized crystalline grains and show robust bulk superconductivity. However, the superconducting transitions in these nanocomposites are dramatically suppressed in the near-equimolar configurations, i.e., 0.45 < x < 0.64, where elemental distributions are equivalently homogeneous. Crystal/glass high entropy alloy nanocomposite phase separation was observed for the films in the near-equimolar region, which yields a broadened two-step normal to superconducting transition. Furthermore, the diamagnetic shielding in these films is only observed far below the onset temperature of superconductivity. As these unusual superconducting transitions are observed only in the samples with the high mixing entropy, this compositional range influences the collective electronic properties in these materials.
|
|
| 4. |
- Chen, Ding-Yuan, 1991, et al.
(författare)
-
Structural investigation of ultra-low resistance deeply recessed sidewall ohmic contacts for AlGaN/GaN HEMTs based on Ti/Al/Ti-metallization
- 2023
-
Ingår i: Semiconductor Science and Technology. - : IOP Publishing Ltd. - 1361-6641 .- 0268-1242. ; 38:10
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- This study presents a novel approach to forming low-resistance ohmic contacts for AlGaN/GaN HEMTs. The optimized contacts exhibit an outstanding contact resistance of approximately 0.15 & omega;& BULL;mm. This is achieved by firstly recessing the barrier of the heterostructure to a depth beyond the channel. In this way, the channel region is exposed on the sidewall of the recess. The coverage of the Ti/Al/Ti ohmic metalization on the sidewall is ensured through tilting of the sample during evaporation. The annealing process is performed at a low temperature of 550 & DEG;C. The approach does not require precise control of the recess etching. Furthermore, the method is directly applicable to most barrier designs in terms of thickness and Al-concentration. The impact of recessed sidewall angle, thickness and ratio of Ti and Al layers, and the annealing procedure are investigated. Structural and chemical analyses of the interface between the ohmic contacts and epi-structure indicate the formation of ohmic contacts by the extraction of nitrogen from the epi-structure. The approach is demonstrated on HEMT-structures with two different barrier designs in terms of Al-concentration and barrier thickness. The study demonstrate large process window in regard to recess depth and duration of the annealing as well as high uniformity of the contact resistance across the samples, rendering the approach highly suitable for industrial production processes.
|
|
| 5. |
- Tholander, Christopher, et al.
(författare)
-
Ab initio calculations and experimental study of piezoelectric YxIn1-xN thin films deposited using reactive magnetron sputter epitaxy
- 2016
-
Ingår i: Acta Materialia. - : Elsevier. - 1359-6454 .- 1873-2453. ; 105, s. 199-206
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- By combining theoretical prediction and experimental verification we investigate the piezoelectric properties of yttrium indium nitride (YxIn1-xN). Ab initio calculations show that the YxIn1-xN wurtzite phase is lowest in energy among relevant alloy structures for 0≤x≤0.5. Reactive magnetron sputter epitaxy was used to prepare thin films with Y content up to x=0.51. The composition dependence of the lattice parameters observed in the grown films is in agreement with that predicted by the theoretical calculations confirming the possibility to synthesize a wurtzite solid solution. An AlN buffer layer greatly improves the crystalline quality and surface morphology of subsequently grown YxIn1-xN films. The piezoelectric response in films with x=0.09 and x=0.14 is observed using piezoresponse force microscopy. Theoretical calculations of the piezoelectric properties predict YxIn1−xN to have comparable piezoelectric properties to ScxAl1-xN.
|
|
| 6. |
|
|
| 7. |
|
|
| 8. |
- Zhang, Hengfang, et al.
(författare)
-
Polarity Control by Inversion Domain Suppression in N-Polar III-Nitride Heterostructures
- 2023
-
Ingår i: Crystal Growth and Design. - : American Chemical Society (ACS). - 1528-7483 .- 1528-7505. ; 23:2, s. 1049-1056
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Nitrogen-polar III-nitride heterostructures offer advantages over metal-polar structures in high frequency and high power applications. However, polarity control in III-nitrides is difficult to achieve as a result of unintentional polarity inversion domains (IDs). Herein, we present a comprehensive structural investigation with both atomic detail and thermodynamic analysis of the polarity evolution in low- and high-temperature AlN layers on on-axis and 4° off-axis carbon-face 4H-SiC (0001̅) grown by hot-wall metal organic chemical vapor deposition. A polarity control strategy has been developed by variation of thermodynamic Al supersaturation and substrate misorientation angle in order to achieve the desired growth mode and polarity. We demonstrate that IDs are completely suppressed for high-temperature AlN nucleation layers when a step-flow growth mode is achieved on the off-axis substrates. We employ this approach to demonstrate high quality N-polar epitaxial AlGaN/GaN/AlN heterostructures.
|
|
| 9. |
- Ding Yuan, Chen, 1991, et al.
(författare)
-
Impact of in situ NH3 pre-treatment of LPCVD SiN passivation on GaN HEMT performance
- 2022
-
Ingår i: Semiconductor Science and Technology. - : IOP Publishing. - 1361-6641 .- 0268-1242. ; 37:3
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The impact on the performance of GaN high electron mobility transistors (HEMTs) of in situ ammonia (NH3) pre-treatment prior to the deposition of silicon nitride (SiN) passivation with low-pressure chemical vapor deposition (LPCVD ) is investigated. Three different NH3 pre-treatment durations (0, 3, and 10 min) were compared in terms of interface properties and device performance. A reduction of oxygen (O) at the interface between SiN and epi-structure is detected by scanning transmission electron microscopy (STEM )-electron energy loss spectroscopy (EELS) measurements in the sample subjected to 10 min of pre-treatment. The samples subjected to NH3 pre-treatment show a reduced surface-related current dispersion of 9% (compared to 16% for the untreated sample), which is attributed to the reduction of O at the SiN/epi interface. Furthermore, NH3 pre-treatment for 10 min significantly improves the current dispersion uniformity from 14.5% to 1.9%. The reduced trapping effects result in a high output power of 3.4 W mm(-1) at 3 GHz (compared to 2.6 W mm(-1) for the untreated sample). These results demonstrate that the in situ NH3 pre-treatment before LPCVD of SiN passivation is critical and can effectively improves the large-signal microwave performance of GaN HEMTs.
|
|
| 10. |
- Plummer, G., et al.
(författare)
-
On the origin of kinking in layered crystalline solids
- 2021
-
Ingår i: Materials Today. - : Elsevier Science Ltd. - 1369-7021 .- 1873-4103. ; 43, s. 45-52
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Kinking is a deformation mechanism ubiquitous to layered systems, ranging from the nanometer scale in layered crystalline solids, to the kilometer scale in geological formations. Herein, we demonstrate its origins in the former through multiscale experiments and atomistic simulations. When compressively loaded parallel to their basal planes, layered crystalline solids first buckle elastically, then nucleate atomic-scale, highly stressed ripplocation boundaries - a process driven by redistributing strain from energetically expensive in-plane bonds to cheaper out-of-plane bonds. The consequences are far reaching as the unique mechanical properties of layered crystalline solids are highly dependent upon their ability to deform by kinking. Moreover, the compressive strength of numerous natural and engineered layered systems depends upon the ease of kinking or lack there of.
|
|
