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QWIPs operate by photoexcitation of electrons between ground and first excited state subbands of multi-quantum wells (MQWs) which are artificially fabricated by placing thin layers of two dfferent, high-bandgap semiconductor materials alternately. The bandgap discontinuity of two materials creates quantized subbands in the potential wells associated with conduction bands.
High quantum efficiency and two-dimensional imaging capabilities make the microchannel plate (MCP) a suitable detector for a sky survey instrument. The Extreme Ultraviolet Explorer satellite, to be launched in 1987, will use MCP detectors. A feature which limits MCP efficiency is related to the walls of individual channels. The walls are of finite thickness and thus form an interchannel web. Under normal circumstances, this web does not contribute to the detector's quantum efficiency. Panitz and Foesch (1976) have found that in the case of a bombardment with ions, electrons were ejected from the electrode material coating the web. By applying a small electric field, the electrons were returned to the MCP surface where they were detected. The present investigation is concerned with the enhancement of quantum efficiencies in the case of extreme UV wavelengths. Attention is given to a model and a computer simulation which quantitatively reproduce the experimental results.
A new solar-cell structure utilizes a single, ultra-wide well of either gallium arsenide (GaAs) or indium-gallium-phosphide (InGaP) in the depletion region of a wide bandgap matrix, instead of the usual multiple quantum well layers. These InGaP barrier layers are effective at reducing diode dark current, and photogenerated carrier escape is maximized by the proper design of the electric field and barrier profile. With the new material, open-circuit voltage enhancements of 40 and 100 mV (versus PIN control systems) are possible without any degradation in short-circuit current. Basic tenets of quantum-well and quantum- dot solar cells are utilized, but instead of using multiple thin layers, a single wide well works better. InGaP is used as a barrier material, which increases open current, while simultaneously lowering dark current, reducing both hole diffusion from the base, and space charge recombination within the depletion region. Both the built-in field and the barrier profile are tailored to enhance thermionic emissions, which maximizes the photocurrent at forward bias, with a demonstrated voltage increase. An InGaP heterojunction barrier solar cell consists of a single, ultra-wide GaAs, aluminum-gallium-arsenide (AlGaAs), or lower-energy-gap InGaP absorber well placed within the depletion region of an otherwise wide bandgap PIN diode. Photogenerated electron collection is unencumbered in this structure. InGaAs wells can be added to the thick GaAs absorber layer to capture lower-energy photons.
The primary focus of aircraft icing research has been on ice accretion on wings for its serious adverse consequences. When icing occurs on a wing, the change in airfoil shape results in a decrease in lift and an increase in drag, leading to potentially fatal accidents. Although the issue was recognized in the 1920s, the icing problem is still an area of ongoing research due to the complexity of the icing phenomena. A much-improved understanding of how certain weather conditions produce different icing characteristics will lead to new mitigation methods and a better quantification of current methods. This can be done by better understanding of the molecular bonding energy produced by ice polytype combinations when interacting with different surface materials in various environments. This work is currently developing both models that more accurately describe the quantum signatures of H2O states (i.e. supercooled, ice, liquid, glass phase...) and chip-based detectors to evaluate these signatures. These sensors utilize ion defects in Silicon Carbide (SiC) as extremely sensitive atomic magnetic detectors. This effort leverages both the decades-long SiC development expertise and infrastructure at NASA Glenn and its growing capabilities in quantum metrology.
The development of radically new technological and economically efficient methods for obtaining chemical products and for producing new materials with specific properties requires the study of physical and chemical processes proceeding at temperature of 10(exp 3) to 10(exp 4) K, temperature range of low temperature plasma. In our paper, by means of Wigner matrix of quantum statistical theory, a formula is derived for the energy of quantum coherent oscillation of electron ground state in laser plasma at low temperature. The collective behavior would be important in ion and ion-molecule reactions.
In this paper we discuss the optimization of the detector design, material growth and processing that has culminated in realization of 15 micron cutoff 128 x 128 QWIP focal plane array camera, hand-held and palmize 256 x 256 long-wavelength QWIP cameras and 648 x 480 long-wavelength cameras, holding forth great promise for myriad applications in 6-25 micron wavelength range in science, medicine, defense and industry.
A broad program is reported of research in theoretical chemistry, particularly in molecular quantum and statistical mechanics, directed toward determination of the physical and chemical properties of materials, relation of these macroscopic properties to properties of individual molecules, and determination of the structure and properties of the individual molecules. Abstracts are presented for each research project conducted during the course of the program.
The development of optimized photoconductor arrays suitable for far infrared space astronomical applications are described. Although the primary impetus is the production of a 16 by 16 element Ge:Ga demonstration array for SIRTF, the extension of this technology to Large Deployable Reflector (LDR) is considered. The optimization of Ge:Ga and Ge:Be photoconductor materials is discussed. In collaboration with Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory, measurements of FIR photoconductors with quantum efficiencies greater than 20 percent at 100 micrometers, and dark currents below 300 electrons/s are presented. Integrating J-FET amplifier technology is discussed. The current generation of integrating amplifiers has a demonstrated read noise of less than 20 electrons for an integration time of 100 s. The design is shown for a stackable 16 x n Ge:Ga array that utilizes a 16-channel monolithic version of the J-FET integrator. A part of the design is the use of a thin, thermally insulating substrate that allows the electronics to operate at the optimum temperature of 50 K while maintaining thermal and optical isolation from the detectors at 2 K. The power dissipation for the array is less than 16 mW. The array design may particularly be applicable to high resolution imaging spectrometers for LDR.
We demonstrate a long wavelength (lambda(sub c)=20 microns) quantum well infrared photodetector using nonlattice matched In(x),Ga(l-x)As/GaAs materials system. High optical gains (low capture probabilities) were achieved by using GaAs as a barrier material in this system. A detectivity of D*=9.7 x 10(exp 10) cm square root of Hz/W at T= 10 K has been achieved.
This presentation covers research being performed on computational nanotechnology, carbon nanotubes and fullerenes at the NASA Ames Research Center. Topics cover include: nanomechanics of nanomaterials, nanotubes and composite materials, molecular electronics with nanotube junctions, kinky chemistry, and nanotechnology for solid-state quantum computers using fullerenes.
Diamond is a promising semiconductor material for novel electronic applications because of its chemical stability and inertness, heat conduction properties, and so-called negative electron affinity (NEA). When a surface has NEA, electrons generated inside the bulk of the material are able to come out into the vacuum without any potential barrier (work function). Such a material would have an extremely high secondary electron emission coefficient o, very high photoelectron (quantum) yield, and would probably be an efficient field emitter. Chemical-vapor-deposited (CVD) polycrystalline diamond films have even more advantages than diamond single crystals. Their fabrication is relatively easy and inexpensive, and they can be grown with high levels of doping--consequently, they can have relatively high conductivity. Because of these properties, diamond can be used for cold cathodes and photocathodes in high-power electronics and in high-frequency and high-temperature semiconductor devices.
We demonstrate the first longest-wavelength quantum-well infrared photodetector using non lattice-matched In_xGa_(1-x)As/GaAs materials system. The detectivity has been found to be comparable to those achieved with the usual lattice-matched GaAs/Al_xGa_(1-x)As detectors.
A proposed program of research and development would be devoted to exploitation of nanomaterials in pressuresensitive paints (PSPs), which are used on wind-tunnel models for mapping surface pressures associated with flow fields. Heretofore, some success has been achieved in measuring steady-state pressures by use of PSPs, but success in measuring temporally varying pressures has been elusive because of the inherent slowness of the optical responses of these materials. A PSP contains a dye that luminesces in a suitable wavelength range in response to photoexcitation in a shorter wavelength range. The luminescence is quenched by oxygen at a rate proportional to the partial pressure of oxygen and thus proportional to the pressure of air. As a result, the intensity of luminescence varies inversely with the pressure of air. The major problem in developing a PSP that could be easily applied to a wind-tunnel model and could be useful for measuring rapidly varying pressure is to provide very high gas diffusivity for rapid, easy transport of oxygen to and from active dye molecules. Most PSPs include polymer-base binders, which limit the penetration of oxygen to dye molecules, thereby reducing responses to pressure fluctuations. The proposed incorporation of nanomaterials (somewhat more specifically, nanorods) would result in paints having nanostructured surfaces that, relative to conventional PSP surfaces, would afford easier and more nearly complete access of oxygen molecules to dye molecules. One measure of greater access is effective surface area: For a typical PSP as proposed applied to a given solid surface, the nanometer-scale structural features would result in an exposed surface area more than 100 times that of a conventional PSP, and the mass of proposed PSP needed to cover the surface would be less than tenth of the mass of the conventional PSP. One aspect of the proposed development would be to synthesize nanorods of Si/SiO2, in both tangle-mat and regular- array forms, by use of chemical vapor deposition (CVD) and wet chemical processes, respectively. The rods would be coated with a PSP dye, and the resulting PSP signals would be compared with those obtained from PSP dye coats on conventional support materials. Another aspect of the proposed development would be to seek to exploit the quantum properties of nanorods of a suitable semiconductor (possibly GaN), which would be synthesized by CVD. These quantum properties of semiconductor nanorods include narrow-wavelength-band optical absorption and emission characteristics that vary with temperature. The temperature sensitivity might enable simultaneous measurement of fluctuating temperature and pressure and to provide a temperature correction for the PSP response.
Compact, highly efficient, 3.0 to 3.4 m light emitters are in demand for spectroscopic analysis and identification of chemical substances (including methane and formaldehyde), infrared countermeasures technologies, and development of advanced infrared scene projectors. The need for these light emitters can be currently addressed either by bulky solid-state light emitters with limited power conversion efficiency, or cooled Interband Cascade (IC) semiconductor lasers. Researchers here have developed a breakthrough approach to fabrication of diode mid-IR lasers that have several advantages over IC lasers used for the Mars 2009 mission. This breakthrough is due to a novel design utilizing the strain-engineered quantum-well (QW) active region and quinternary barriers, and due to optimization of device material composition and growth conditions (growth temperatures and rates). However, in their present form, these GaSb-based laser diodes cannot be directly used as a part of sensor systems. The device spectrum is too broad to perform spectroscopic analysis of gas species, and operating currents and voltages are too high. In the current work, the emitters were fabricated as narrow-ridge waveguide index-guided lasers rather than broad stripe-gain guided multimode Fabry-Perot (FP) lasers as was done previously. These narrow-ridge waveguide mid-IR lasers exhibit much lower power consumptions, and can operate in a single spatial mode that is necessary for demonstration of single-mode distributed feedback (DBF) devices for spectroscopic applications. These lasers will enable a new generation of compact, tunable diode laser spectrometers with lower power consumption, reduced complexity, and significantly reduced development costs. These lasers can be used for the detection of HCN, C2H2, methane, and ethane.
One of the simplest device realizations of the classic particle-in-the-box problem of basic quantum mechanics is the Quantum Well Infrared Photodetector (QWIP). In this paper we discuss the optimization of the detector design, material growth and processing that has culminated in realization of 15 micron cutoff 128x128 QWIP focal plane array camera, hand-held and palmsize 256x256 long-wavelength QWIP cameras and 648x480 long-wavelength cameras, holding forth great promise for myriad applications in 6-25 micron wavelength range in science, medicine, defense and industry.
We have investigated visible photoluminescence (PL) from thin porous Si(1-x)Ge(x) alloy layers prepared by stain etching of molecular-beam-epitaxy-grown material. Seven samples with nominal Ge fraction x varying from 0.04 to 0.41 were studied at room temperature and 80 K. Samples of bulk stain etched Si and Ge were also investigated. The composition of the porous material was determined using X-ray photoemission spectroscopy and Rutherford backscattering techniques to be considerably more Ge-rich than the starting epitaxial layers. While the luminescence intensity drops significantly with the increasing Ge fraction, we observe no significant variation in the PL wavelength at room temperature. This is clearly in contradiction to the popular model based on quantum confinement in crystalline silicon which predicts that the PL energy should follow the bandgap variation of the starting material. However, our data are consistent with small active units containing only a few Si atoms that are responsible for the light emission. Such units are present in many compounds proposed in the literature as the cause of the visible PL in porous Si.
One of the most important contributions of theoretical chemistry is the correct prediction of properties of materials before any costly experimental work begins. This is especially true in the field of electrically conducting polymers. Development of the Valence Effective Hamiltonian (VEH) technique for the calculation of the band structure of polymers was initiated. The necessary VEH potentials were developed for the sulfur and oxygen atoms within the particular molecular environments and the explanation explored for the success of this approximate method in predicting the optical properties of conducting polymers.
High-performance infrared hybrid focal plane arrays using 10- x 50-element Si:As blocked-impurity-band (BIB) detectors (cutoff wavelength = 28 microns) and matching switched MOSFET multiplexers have been developed and characterized for space astronomy. Use of impurity-band-conduction technology provides detectors which are nuclear-radiation-hard and free of the many anomalies associated with conventional silicon photoconductive detectors. Emphasis in the present work is on recent advances in detector material quality which have led to significantly improved detector and hybrid characteristics. Results demonstrating increased quantum efficiency (particularly at short-wavelength infrared), obtained by varying the BIB detector properties (infrared active layer thickness and arsenic doping profile), are summarized. Measured read noise and dark current for different temperatures are reported. The hybrid array performance achieved demonstrates that BIB detectors are well suited for use in astronomical instrumentation.