Simply equipped ε-Ga2O3 film/ZnO nanoparticle heterojunction for self-powered deep UV sensor

In this paper, a ε-Ga2O3 film/ZnO nanoparticle hybrid heterojunction deep ultraviolet (UV) photodetector is described for 254 nm wavelength sensing application. The constructed ε-Ga2O3/ZnO heterojunction photodetector can operate in dual modes which are power supply mode and self-powered mode. Under reverse 5 V bias with 254 nm light intensity of 500 μW/cm2, the photoresponsivity, specific detectivity and external quantum efficiency are 59.7 mA/W, 7.83×1012 Jones and 29.2%. At zero bias, the advanced ε-Ga2O3/ZnO photodetector performs decent self-powered photoelectrical properties with photo-to-dark current ratio of 1.28×105, on/off switching ratio of 3.22×104, rise/decay times of 523.1/31.7 ms, responsivity of 4.12 mA/W and detectivity of 2.24×1012 Jones. The prominent photodetection performance lays a solid foundation for ε-Ga2O3/ZnO heterojunction in deep UV sensor application.

Evaluation of the Integrity Risk for Precise Point Positioning

Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) Precise Point Positioning (PPP) is an attractive positioning technology due to its high precision and flexibility. However, the vulnerability of PPP brings a safety risk to its application in the field of life safety, which must be evaluated quantitatively to provide integrity for PPP users. Generally, PPP solutions are processed recursively based on the extended Kalman filter (EKF) estimator, utilizing both the previous and current measurements. Therefore, the integrity risk should be qualified considering the effects of all the potential observation faults in history. However, this will cause the calculation load to explode over time, which is impractical for long-time missions. This study used the innovations in a time window to detect the faults in the measurements, quantifying the integrity risk by traversing the fault modes in the window to maintain a stable computation cost. A non-zero bias was conservatively introduced to encapsulate the effect of the faults before the window. Coping with the multiple simultaneous faults, the worst-case integrity risk was calculated to overbound the real risk in the multiple fault modes. In order to verify the proposed method, simulation and experimental tests were carried out in this study. The results showed that the fixed and hold mode adopted for ambiguity resolution is critical to an integrity risk evaluation, which can improve the observation redundancy and remove the influence of the biased predicted ambiguities on the integrity risk. Increasing the length of the window can weaken the impact of the conservative assumption on the integrity risk due to the smoothing effect of the EKF estimator. In addition, improving the accuracy of observations can also reduce the integrity risk, which indicates that establishing a refined PPP random model can improve the integrity performance.

Enhanced Photocurrent of the Ag Interfaced Topological Insulator Bi2Se3 under UV- and Visible-Light Radiations

Bi2Se3 is a topological quantum material that is used in photodetectors, owing to its narrow bandgap, conductive surface, and insulating bulk. In this work, Ag@Bi2Se3 nanoplatelets were synthesized on Al2O3(100) substrates in a two-step process of thermal evaporation and magnetron sputtering. X-ray diffractometer (XRD), high-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM), Raman spectroscopy, and x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) revealed that all samples had the typical rhombohedral Bi2Se3. Field-emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM)-energy dispersive x-ray spectroscopy (EDS), XPS, and HRTEM confirmed the presence of the precipitated Ag. The optical absorptance of Bi2Se3 nanoplatelets in UV-visible range decreased with the Ag contents. Results of photocurrent measurements under zero-bias conditions revealed that the deposited Ag affected photosensitivity. A total of 7.1 at.% Ag was associated with approximately 4.25 and 4.57 times higher photocurrents under UV and visible light, respectively, than 0 at.% Ag. The photocurrent in Bi2Se3 at 7.1 at.% Ag under visible light was 1.72-folds of that under UV light. This enhanced photocurrent is attributable to the narrow bandgap (~0.35 eV) of Bi2Se3 nanoplatelets, the Schottky field at the interface between Ag and Bi2Se3, the surface plasmon resonance that is caused by Ag, and the highly conductive surface that is formed from Ag and Bi2Se3. This work suggests that the appropriate Ag deposition enhances the photocurrent in, and increases the photosensitivity of, Bi2Se3 nanoplatelets under UV and visible light.

Method for noncontact measurement of 2DEG mobility and carrier density in AlGaN/GaN on semi-insulating wafers

We present a charge-assisted sheet resistance technique for noncontact wafer level determination of 2DEG mobility vs. sheet carrier density without any test structures or gates. Instead, the electrical biasing of 2DEG is provided by surface charge deposition, using a corona charging method. Analysis of the sheet resistance vs. deposited charge identifies the 2DEG full depletion condition and enables calculation of the 2DEG sheet carrier density required for the mobility. Results for AlGaN/GaN heterostructures on semi-insulating SiC and sapphire substrates show good agreement with Hall results at a zero-bias condition.

NAND And NOR Logic-In-Memory Comprising Silicon Nanowire Feedback Field-Effect Transistors

The processing of large amounts of data requires a high energy efficiency and fast processing time for high-performance computing systems. However, conventional von Neumann computing systems have performance limitations because of bottlenecks in data movement between separated processing and memory hierarchy, which causes latency and high power consumption. To overcome this hindrance, logic-in-memory (LIM) has been proposed that performs both data processing and memory operations. Here, we present a NAND and NOR LIM composed of silicon nanowidre feedback field-effect transistors, whose configuration resembles that of CMOS logic gate circuits. The LIM can perform memory operations to retain its output logic under zero-bias conditions as well as logic operations with a high processing speed of nanoseconds. The newly proposed dynamic voltage-transfer characteristics verify the operating principle of the LIM. This study demonstrates that the NAND and NOR LIM has promising potential to resolve power and processing speed issues.

High-performance broadband photoresponse of self-powered Mg2Si/Si photodetectors

Infrared optoelectronic devices are capable of operating in harsh environments with outstanding confidentiality and reliability. Nevertheless, suffering from the large band gap value, most semiconductor materials are difficult to detect infrared light signals. Here, Mg2Si/Si heterojunction photodetectors (PDs), which possess the advantages of low-cost, easy process, environmental friendliness, and compatibility with silicon CMOS technology, have been reported with a broadband spectral response as tested from 532 to 1550 nm under zero-bias. When the incident light wavelength is 808 nm, the Mg2Si/Si photodetector (PD) has a responsivity of 1.04 A/W and a specific detectivity of 1.51 × 1012 Jones. Furthermore, we find that the Ag nanoparticles (Ag_NPs) assembled on the Mg2Si layer can greatly improve the performance of the Mg2Si/Si PD. The responsivity and specific detectivity of Mg2Si/Si device with Ag_NPs under 808 nm illumination are 2.55 A/W and 2.60 × 1012 Jones, respectively. These excellent photodetection performances can be attributed to the high-quality of our grown Mg2Si material and the strong built-in electric field effect in the heterojunction, which can be further enhanced by the local surface plasmon effect and local electromagnetic field induced by Ag_NPs. Our study would provide significant guidance for the development of new self-powered infrared PDs based on silicon materials.

Fabrication and Characterization of Self-Powered Photosensor Based on Nanostructure TiO2/natural Dyes

Self-powered photosensor is fabricated based on nanostructure TiO2/natural dyes. TiO2 nanostructured thin film was prepared on FTO/glass substrates by hydrothermal method. Surface morphology, crystalline structure, as well as optical properties of the prepared sample are investigated. Three types of natural dyes, pomegranate, aubergine, and coffee are used as an active layer (absorber) of the fabricated photosensor. However, the solution of dye was casted onto TiO2 and left to dry naturally and carbon/FTO was used as a back contact of the device. Current-voltage (I-V) characteristic under dark and light case was characterized for all prepared sensors. Besides, the fabricated sensors appeared good response to whit light under zero bias voltage. Sensitivity, raise and decay time of the prepared photosensor are calculated.

Retrieval and Evaluation of Ice Water Content from the Airborne Wyoming Cloud Radar in Orographic Wintertime Clouds during SNOWNIE

The ice water content (IWC) in ice and mixed-phase clouds is retrieved from airborne Wyoming Cloud Radar (WCR) measurements aboard the University of Wyoming King Air (UWKA), which has a suite of integrated in situ IWC, optical array probes (OAP) and remote sensing measurements and provides a unique dataset for this algorithm development and evaluation. A sensitivity study with different idealized ice particle habits shows that the retrieved IWC with aggregate ice particle habit agrees the best with the in situ measurement, especially in ice or ice-dominated mixed-phase clouds with a correlation coefficient (rr) of 0.91 and close-to-zero bias. For mixed-phase clouds with ice fraction ratio less than 0.8, the variances of IWC estimates increase (rr = 0.76) and the retrieved mean IWC is larger than in situ IWC by a factor of 2. This is found to be related to the uncertainty of in situ measurements, the large cloud inhomogeneity, and the retrieval assumption uncertainty. The simulated reflectivity (Ze) and IWC relationships assuming three idealized ice particle habits and measured particle size distributions show that hexagonal columns with the same Ze have a lower IWC than aggregates, whose Ze-IWC relation is more consistent with the observed WCR Ze and in-situ IWC relation in those clouds. The 2DS images also indicate that ice particle habit transition occurs in orographic mixed-phase clouds, hence the retrieved IWC assuming modified Gamma PSD of aggregate particles tends to be biased larger in this kind of clouds.

Mechanism of Defects and Electrode Structure on the Performance of AlN-based Metal Semiconductor Metal Detectors

We used the metal-organic chemical vapor deposition(MOCVD) method to grow AlN material on a c-plane sapphire substrate and fabricate an AlN-based metal-semiconductor-metal (MSM) detector. Analyzing the influence mechanism of different dislocation densities in AlN materials and detector electrode structure on the detector performance, it was found that the lower the dislocations can effectively reduce the dark current of the detector under zero bias voltage, and help improve the performance of the detector. The study also found that when the finger spacing of the detector remained the same and the finger width increased, the efficiency of the detector decreased, while the response time of the detector increased, when the finger width of the detector electrodes remained unchanged and the finger spacing increased, the response time of the detector increased. Therefore, the electrode finger width and finger spacing must be compromised in the design of the electrode structure to improve the performance of the AlN-based MSM detector.

C-doping Anisotropy Effects on Borophene Electronic Transport

The electronic transport anisotropy for different C-doped borophene polymorphs (β12 and χ3) was investigated theoretically combining density functional theory (DFT) and non-equilibrium Green’s function (NEGF). The energetic stability analysis reveals that B atoms replaced by C is more energetically favorable for χ3 phase. We also verify a directional character of the electronic band structure on C-doped borophene for both phases. Simulated Scanning tunneling microscopy (STM) and also total density of charge confirm the directional character of the bonds. The zero bias transmission for β12 phase at E − EF = 0 shows that C-doping induces a local current confinement along the lines of doped sites. The I − V curves show that C-doping leads to an anisotropy amplification in the β12 than in the χ3. The possibility of confining the electronic current at an specific region of the C-doped systems, along with the different adsorption features of the doped sites, poses them as promising candidates to highly sensitive and selective gas sensors.