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A novel low specific on-resistance (Ron,sp) lateral double-diffused metal oxide semiconductor (LDMOS) with a buried improved super-junction (BISJ) layer is proposed. A super-junction layer is buried in the drift region and the P pillar is split into two parts with different doping concentrations. Firstly, the buried super-junction layer causes the multiple-direction assisted depletion effect. The drift region doping concentration of the BISJ LDMOS is therefore much higher than that of the conventional LDMOS. Secondly, the buried super-junction layer provides a bulk low on-resistance path. Both of them reduce Ron,sp greatly. Thirdly, the electric field modulation effect of the new electric field peak introduced by the step doped P pillar improves the breakdown voltage (BV). The BISJ LDMOS exhibits a BV of 300 V and Ron,sp of 8.08 mΩ·cm2 which increases BV by 35% and reduces Ron,sp by 60% compared with those of a conventional LDMOS with a drift length of 15 μm, respectively. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A new silicon-on-insulator (SOI) power lateral MOSFET with a dual vertical field plate (VFP) in the oxide trench is proposed. The dual VFP modulates the distribution of the electric field in the drift region, which enhances the internal field of the drift region and increases the drift doping concentration of the drift region, resulting in remarkable improvements in breakdown voltage (BV) and specific on-resistance (Ron,sp). The mechanism of the VFP is analyzed and the characteristics of BV and Ron,sp are discussed. It is shown that the BV of the proposed device increases from 389 V of the conventional device to 589 V, and the Ron,sp decreases from 366 mΩ·cm2 to 110 mΩ·cm2. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Nano metal-particle dispersed glasses are the attractive candidates for nonlinear optical material applications. Au/SiO2 nano-composite thin films with 3 vol% to 65 vol% Au are prepared by inductively coupled plasma sputtering. Au particles as perfect spheres with diameters between 10 nm and 30 nm are uniformly dispersed in the SiO2 matrix. Optical absorption peaks due to the surface plasmon resonance of Au particles are observed. The absorption property is enhanced with the increase of Au content, showing a maximum value in the films with 37 vol% Au. The absorption curves of the Au/SiO2 thin films with 3 vol% to 37 vol% Au accord well with the theoretical optical absorption spectra obtained from Mie resonance theory. Increasing Au content over 37 vol% results in the partial connection of Au particles, whereby the intensity of the absorption peak is weakened and ultimately replaced by the optical absorption of the bulk. The band gap decreases with Au content increasing from 3 vol% to 37 vol% but increases as Au content further increases. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this study, we report the influences of oxidation potential and holding time on the electrochromic (EC) stability of poly(3-methylthiophene) (P3MT) film during the electrochemical reaction. The cycle stability and transmittance changes of the film were investigated by optimizing the oxidation potential, and its chemical compositions were measured by x-ray photoelectron spectra after multiple electrochemical cycles. High oxidation potentials can increase the P3MT film color contrast and decrease its cycle stability because of accelerating chemical decomposition. Moreover, the holding time with potential pulsing was analyzed by using the optical memory of P3MT at an optimized oxidation potential, which revealed the reduced voltage duration saved energy consumption by 11.6% and improved the EC cycle stability without changing in color contrast. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Data-mining techniques using machine learning are powerful and efficient for materials design, possessing great potential for discovering new materials with good characteristics. Here, this technique has been used on composition design for La(Fe,Si/Al)13-based materials, which are regarded as one of the most promising magnetic refrigerants in practice. Three prediction models are built by using a machine learning algorithm called gradient boosting regression tree (GBRT) to essentially find the correlation between the Curie temperature (TC), maximum value of magnetic entropy change ((ΔSM)max), and chemical composition, all of which yield high accuracy in the prediction of TC and (ΔSM)max. The performance metric coefficient scores of determination (R2) for the three models are 0.96, 0.87, and 0.91. These results suggest that all of the models are well-developed predictive models on the challenging issue of generalization ability for untrained data, which can not only provide us with suggestions for real experiments but also help us gain physical insights to find proper composition for further magnetic refrigeration applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Yb:YAG is an excellent high-average power and ultra-short pulse laser crystal. Transition intensity parameters and Huang–Rhys factors are fitted to its emission spectrum by the full-profile fitting method. Calculated results indicate that the emission spectrum of Yb:YAG at cryogenic temperature consists of three pure electron state transitions and two phonon-assisted transitions, one vibronic transition releases one-phonon of 3 cm−1, and the other vibronic transition absorbs one-phonon of 22 cm−1. At 300 K, the phonon assisted transition of 3 cm−1 turns into two- or more-phonon assisted transitions. The procedure absorbing phonon can reduce the thermal load of Yb:YAG and improve the laser efficiency, which may be one of the reasons why Yb:YAG has excellent performance. The emission bands of Yb:YAG are broadened thermally, and the peak values decrease by several times. The emission cross sections of Yb:YAG determined by Fuchtbauer–Ladenburg (F–L) formula are remarkably different from those calculated with , which indicates that it is necessary for a laser material to determine its transition intensity parameters in order to reasonably evaluate the laser performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper reports a novel analytic model of this multichannel spark discharge, considering the delay time in the breakdown process, the electric transforming of the discharge channel from a capacitor to a resistor induced by the air breakdown, and the varying plasma resistance in the discharge process. The good agreement between the experimental and the simulated results validated the accuracy of this model. Based on this model, the influence of the circuit parameters on the maximum discharge channel number (MDCN) is investigated. Both the input voltage amplitude and the breakdown voltage threshold of each discharge channel play a critical role. With the increase of the input voltage and the decrease of the breakdown voltage, the MCDN increases almost linearly. With the increase of the discharge capacitance, the MDCN first rises and then remains almost constant. With the increase of the circuit inductance, the MDCN increases slowly but decreases quickly when the inductance increases over a certain value. There is an optimal value of the capacitor connected to the discharge channel corresponding to the MDCN. Finally, based on these results, to shorten the discharge time, a modified multichannel discharge circuit is developed and validated by the experiment. With only 6-kV input voltage, 31-channels discharge is achieved. The breakdown voltage of each electrode gap is larger than 3 kV. The modified discharge circuit is certain to be widely used in the PSJA flow control field. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Due to its high computational efficiency and ability to consider nonparallel and nonlinear effects, nonlinear parabolized stability equations (NPSE) approach has been widely used to study the stability and transition mechanisms. However, it often diverges in hypersonic boundary layers when the amplitude of disturbance reaches a certain level. In this study, an improved algorithm for solving NPSE is developed. In this algorithm, the mean flow distortion is included into the linear operator instead of into the nonlinear forcing terms in NPSE. An under-relaxation factor for computing the nonlinear terms is introduced during the iteration process to guarantee the robustness of the algorithm. Two case studies, the nonlinear development of stationary crossflow vortices and the fundamental resonance of the second mode disturbance in hypersonic boundary layers, are presented to validate the proposed algorithm for NPSE. Results from direct numerical simulation (DNS) are regarded as the baseline for comparison. Good agreement can be found between the proposed algorithm and DNS, which indicates the great potential of the proposed method on studying the crossflow and streamwise instability in hypersonic boundary layers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this work, performance enhancements of amplified spontaneous emission (ASE) from poly[2-methoxy-5-(2'-ethyl-hexyloxy)-1, 4-phenylene vinylene] (MEH-PPV) have been achieved via solvent vapour treatment. Correlations between the morphology of the film and the optical performance of polymer-based ASE are investigated. The active layers are characterised by atomic force microscopy and optical absorption. The results show that the solvent-vapour treatment can induce the MEH-PPV self-organisation into an ordered structure with a smooth surface, leading to enhanced optical gain. Thus the solvent-vapour treatment is a good method for improving the optical properties of the MEH-PPV. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An improved 4H-SiC metal-semiconductor field-effect transistors (MESFETs) with step p-buffer layer is proposed, and the static and dynamic electrical performances are analysed in this paper. A step p-buffer layer has been applied not only to increase the channel current, but also to improve the transconductance. This is due to the fact that the variation in p-buffer layer depth leads to the decrease in parasitic series resistance resulting from the change in the active channel thickness and modulation in the electric field distribution inside the channel. Detailed numerical simulations demonstrate that the saturation drain current and the maximum theoretical output power density of the proposed structure are about 30% and 37% larger than those of the conventional structure. The cut-off frequency and the maximum oscillation frequency of the proposed MESFETs are 14.5 and 62 GHz, respectively, which are higher than that of the conventional structure. Therefore, the 4H-SiC MESFETs with step p-buffer layer have superior direct-current and radio-frequency performances compared to the similar devices based on the conventional structure. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A novel reverse-conducting insulated-gate bipolar transistor (RC-IGBT) featuring a floating P-plug is proposed. The P-plug is embedded in the n-buffer layer to obstruct the electron current from flowing directly to the n-collector, which achieves the hole emission from the p-collector at a small collector size and suppresses the snapback effectively. Moreover, the current is uniformly distributed in the whole wafer at both IGBT mode and diode mode, which ensures the high temperature reliability of the RC-IGBT. Additionally, the P-plug acts as the base of the N-buffer/P-float/N-buffer transistor, which can be activated to extract the excessive carriers at the turn-off process. As the the simulation results show, for the proposed RC-IGBT, it achieves almost snapback-free output characteristics with a uniform current density and a uniform temperature distribution, which can greatly increase the reliability of the device. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

By using three-dimensional particle-in-cell simulations, externally injected electron beam acceleration and radiation in donut-like wake fields driven by a Laguerre–Gaussian pulse are investigated. Studies show that in the acceleration process the total charge and azimuthal momenta of electrons can be stably maintained at a distance of a few hundreds of micrometers. Electrons experience low-frequency spiral rotation and high-frequency betatron oscillation, which leads to a synchrotron-like radiation. The radiation spectrum is mainly determined by the betatron motion of electrons. The far field distribution of radiation intensity shows axial symmetry due to the uniform transverse injection and spiral rotation of electrons. Our studies suggest a new way to simultaneously generate hollow electron beam and radiation source from a compact laser plasma accelerator. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A novel ultralow turnoff loss dual-gate silicon-on-insulator (SOI) lateral insulated gate bipolar transistor (LIGBT) is proposed. The proposed SOI LIGBT features an extra trench gate inserted between the p-well and n-drift, and an n-type carrier stored (CS) layer beneath the p-well. In the on-state, the extra trench gate acts as a barrier, which increases the carrier density at the cathode side of n-drift region, resulting in a decrease of the on-state voltage drop (Von). In the off-state, due to the uniform carrier distribution and the assisted depletion effect induced by the extra trench gate, large number of carriers can be removed at the initial turnoff process, contributing to a low turnoff loss (Eoff). Moreover, owing to the dual-gate field plates and CS layer, the carrier density beneath the p-well can greatly increase, which further improves the tradeoff between Eoff and Von. Simulation results show that Eoff of the proposed SOI LIGBT can decrease by 77% compared with the conventional trench gate SOI LIGBT at the same Von of 1.1 V. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A novel high performance trench field stop (TFS) superjunction (SJ) insulated gate bipolar transistor (IGBT) with a buried oxide (BO) layer is proposed in this paper. The BO layer inserted between the P-base and the SJ drift region acts as a barrier layer for the hole-carrier in the drift region. Therefore, conduction modulation in the emitter side of the SJ drift region is enhanced significantly and the carrier distribution in the drift region is optimized for the proposed structure. As a result, compared with the conventional TFS SJ IGBT (Conv-SJ), the proposed BO-SJ IGBT structure possesses a drastically reduced on-state voltage drop (Vce(on)) and an improved tradeoff between Vce(on) and turn-off loss (Eoff), with no breakdown voltage (BV) degraded. The results show that with the spacing between the gate and the BO layer Wo = 0.2 μm, the thickness of the BO layer Lo = 0.2 μm, the thickness of the drift region Ld = 90 μm, the half width and doping concentration of the N- and P-pillars Wn = Wp = 2.5 μm and Nn = Np = 3 × 10 cm−3, the Vce(on) and Eoff of the proposed structure are 1.08 V and 2.81 mJ/cm2 with the collector doping concentration Nc = 1 × 1018 cm−3 and 1.12 V and 1.73 mJ/cm2 with Nc = 5 × 1017 cm−3, respectively. However, with the same device parameters, the Vce(on) and Eoff for the Conv-SJ are 1.81 V and 2.88 mJ/cm2 with Nc = 1 × 1018 cm−3 and 1.98 V and 2.82 mJ/cm2 with Nc = 5 × 10 cm−3, respectively. Meanwhile, the BV of the proposed structure and Conv-SJ are 1414 V and 1413 V, respectively. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A novel single order diffraction grating in the soft X-ray region, called quasi-random radius pinhole array spectroscopic photon sieves (QRSPS), is proposed in this paper. This new grating is composed of pinholes on a substrate, whose radii are quasi-random, while their centers are regular. Analysis proves that its transmittance function across the grating bar is similar to that of sinusoidal transmission gratings. Simulation results show that the QRSPS can suppress higher-order diffraction effectively. And the QRSPS would still retain its characteristic of single order diffraction when we take the effect of X-ray penetration into account. These properties indicate that the QRSPS can be used in the soft X-ray spectra measurement. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We present a novel numerical model and simulate preliminarily the charging process of a polymer subjected to electron irradiation of several 10 keV. The model includes the simultaneous processes of electron scattering and ambipolar transport and the influence of a self-consistent electric field on the scattering distribution of electrons. The dynamic spatial distribution of charges is obtained and validated by existing experimental data. Our simulations show that excess negative charges are concentrated near the edge of the electron range. However, the formed region of high charge density may extend to the surface and bottom of a kapton sample, due to the effects of the electric field on electron scattering and charge transport, respectively. Charge trapping is then demonstrated to significantly influence the charge motion. The charge distribution can be extended to the bottom as the trap density decreases. Charge accumulation is therefore balanced by the appearance and increase of leakage current. Accordingly, our model and numerical simulation provide a comprehensive insight into the charging dynamics of a polymer irradiated by electrons in the complex space environment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Fundamental understanding of the wettability of curved substrates is crucial for the applications of microdroplets in colloidal science, microfluidics, and heat exchanger technologies. Here we report via lattice Boltzmann simulations and energetic analysis that microdroplets show an ability of transporting selectively to appropriate substrates solely according to substrate shape (curvature), which is called the substrate-curvature-dependent droplet targeting because of its similarity to protein targeting by which proteins are transported to the appropriate destinations in the cell. Two dynamic pathways of droplet targeting are identified: one is the Ostwald ripening-like liquid transport between separated droplets via evaporating droplets on more curved convex (or less curved concave) surfaces and growing droplets on less curved convex (or more curved concave) surfaces, and the other is the directional motion of a droplet through contacting simultaneously substrates of different curvatures. Then we demonstrate analytically that droplet targeting is a thermodynamically driven process. The driving force for directional motion of droplets is the surface-curvature-induced modulation of the work of adhesion, while the Ostwald ripening-like transport is ascribed to the substrate-curvature-induced change of droplet curvature radius. Our findings of droplet targeting are potentially useful for a tremendous range of applications, such as microfluidics, thermal control, and microfabrication. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Relighting of jet engines at high altitudes is very difficult because of the high velocity, low pressure, and low temperature of the inlet airflow. Successful ignition needs sufficient ignition energy to generate a spark kernel to induce a so-called critical flame initiation radius. However, at high altitudes with high-speed inlet airflow, the critical flame initiation radius becomes larger; therefore, traditional ignition technologies such as a semiconductor igniter (SI) become infeasible for use in high-altitude relighting of jet engines. In this study, to generate a large spark kernel to achieve successful ignition with high-speed inlet airflow, a new type of multichannel plasma igniter (MCPI) is proposed. Experiments on the electrical characteristics of the MCPI and SI were conducted under normal and sub-atmospheric pressures (P = 10–100 kPa). Ignition experiments for the MCPI and SI with a kerosene/air mixture in a triple-swirler combustor under different velocities of inlet airflow (60–110 m/s), with a temperature of 473 K at standard atmospheric pressure, were investigated. Results show that the MCPI generates much more arc discharge energy than the SI under a constant pressure; for example, the MCPI generated 6.93% and 16.05% more arc discharge energy than that of the SI at 30 kPa and 50 kPa, respectively. Compared to the SI, the MCPI generates a larger area and height of plasma heating zone, and induces a much larger initial spark kernel. Furthermore, the lean ignition limit of the MCPI and SI decreases with an increase in the velocity of the inlet airflow, and the maximum velocity of inlet airflow where the SI and MCPI can achieve successful and reliable ignition is 88.7 m/s and 102.2 m/s, respectively. Therefore, the MCPI has the advantage of achieving successful ignition with high-speed inlet airflow and extends the average ignition speed boundary of the kerosene/air mixture by 15.2%. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Solid reactions between Ni and relaxed Si0.7Ge0.3 substrate were systematically investigated with different Al interlayer thicknesses. The morphology, composition, and micro-structure of the Ni germanosilicide layers were analyzed with different annealing temperatures in the appearance of Al. The germanosilicide layers were characterized by Rutherford backscattering spectrometry, cross-section transmission electron microscopy, scan transmission electron microscopy, and secondary ion mass spectroscopy. It was shown that the incorporation of Al improved the surface and interface morphology of the germanosilicide layers, enhanced the thermal stabilities, and retarded the Ni-rich germanosilicide phase to mono germanosilicide phase. With increasing annealing temperature, Al atoms distributed from the Ni/Si0.7Ge0.3 interface to the total layer of Ni2Si0.7Ge0.3, and finally accumulated at the surface of NiSi0.7Ge0.3. We found that under the assistance of Al atoms, the best quality Ni germanosilicide layer was achieved by annealing at 700 °C in the case of 3 nm Al. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A novel silicon controlled rectifier (SCR) with high holding voltage ( for electrostatic discharge (ESD) protection is proposed and investigated in this paper. The proposed SCR obtains high by adding a long N+ layer (LN+) and a long P+ layer (LP+), which divide the conventional low voltage trigger silicon controlled rectifier (LVTSCR) into two SCRs (SCR1: P+/Nwell/Pwell/N+ and SCR2: P+/LN+/LP+/N+) with a shared emitter. Under the low ESD current (, the two SCRs are turned on at the same time to induce the first snapback with high (. As the increases, the SCR2 will be turned off because of its low current gain. Therefore, the will flow through the longer SCR1 path, bypassing SCR2, which induces the second snapback with high (. The anti-latch-up ability of the proposed SCR for ESD protection is proved by a dynamic TLP-like (Transmission Line Pulse-like) simulation. An optimized of 7.4 V with a maximum failure current ( of 14.7 mA/ is obtained by the simulation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An all-optical scheme for high-density pair plasmas generation is proposed by two laser pulses colliding in a cylinder channel. Two dimensional particle-in-cell simulations show that, when the first laser pulse propagates in the cylinder, electrons are extracted out of the cylinder inner wall and accelerated to high energies. These energetic electrons later run into the second counter-propagating laser pulse, radiating a large amount of high-energy gamma photons via the Compton back-scattering process. The emitted gamma photons then collide with the second laser pulse to initiate the Breit–Wheeler process for pairs production. Due to the strong self-generated fields in the cylinder, positrons are confined in the channel to form dense pair plasmas. Totally, the maximum density of pair plasmas can be , for lasers with an intensity of . Both the positron yield and density are tunable by changing the cylinder radius and the laser parameters. The generated dense pair plasmas can further facilitate investigations related to astrophysics and particle physics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An analytical model for a novel triple reduced surface field (RESURF) silicon-on-insulator (SOI) lateral double-diffused metal–oxide–semiconductor (LDMOS) field effect transistor with n-type top (N-top) layer, which can obtain a low on-state resistance, is proposed in this paper. The analytical model for surface potential and electric field distributions of the novel triple RESURF SOI LDMOS is presented by solving the two-dimensional (2D) Poisson’s equation, which can also be applied to single, double and conventional triple RESURF SOI structures. The breakdown voltage (BV) is formulized to quantify the breakdown characteristic. Besides, the optimal integrated charge of N-top layer (Qntop) is derived, which can give guidance for doping the N-top layer. All the analytical results are well verified by numerical simulation results, showing the validity of the presented model. Hence, the proposed model can be a good tool for the device designers to provide accurate first-order design schemes and physical insights into the high voltage triple RESURF SOI device with N-top layer. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An analysis model of the dV/dt capability for a metal—oxide—semiconductor (MOS) controlled thyristor (MCT) is developed. It is shown that, in addition to the P-well resistance reported previously, the existence of the OFF-FET channel resistance in the MCT may degrade the dV/dt capability. Lower P-well and N-well dosages in the MCT are useful in getting a lower threshold voltage of OFF-FET and then a higher dV/dt immunity. However, both dosages are restricted by the requirements for the blocking property and the forward conduction capability. Thus, a double variable lateral doping (DVLD) technique is proposed to realize a high dV/dt immunity without any sacrifice in other properties. The accuracy of the developed model is verified by comparing the obtained results with those from simulations. In addition, this DVLD MCT features mask-saving compared with the conventional MCT fabrication process. The excellent device performance, coupled with the simple fabrication, makes the proposed DVLP MCT a promising candidate for capacitor discharge applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A low specific on-resistance SOI LDMOS with a novel junction field plate (JFP) is proposed and investigated theoretically. The most significant feature of the JFP LDMOS is a PP—N junction field plate instead of a metal field plate. The unique structure not only yields charge compensation between the JFP and the drift region, but also modulates the surface electric field. In addition, a trench gate extends to the buried oxide layer (BOX) and thus widens the vertical conduction area. As a result, the breakdown voltage (BV) is improved and the specific on-resistance (Ron,sp) is decreased significantly. It is demonstrated that the BV of 306 V and the Ron,sp of 7.43 mΩ·cm2 are obtained for the JFP LDMOS. Compared with those of the conventional LDMOS with the same dimensional parameters, the BV is improved by 34.8%, and the Ron,sp is decreased by 56.6% simultaneously. The proposed JFP LDMOS exhibits significant superiority in terms of the trade-off between BV and Ron,sp. The novel JFP technique offers an alternative technique to achieve high blocking voltage and large current capacity for power devices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper describes the successful fabrication of 4H-SiC junction barrier Schottky (JBS) rectifiers with a linearly graded field limiting ring (LG-FLR). Linearly variable ring spacings for the FLR termination are applied to improve the blocking voltage by reducing the peak surface electric field at the edge termination region, which acts like a variable lateral doping profile resulting in a gradual field distribution. The experimental results demonstrate a breakdown voltage of 5 kV at the reverse leakage current density of 2 mA/cm2 (about 80% of the theoretical value). Detailed numerical simulations show that the proposed termination structure provides a uniform electric field profile compared to the conventional FLR termination, which is responsible for 45% improvement in the reverse blocking voltage despite a 3.7% longer total termination length. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]