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We demonstrate a high power, widely tunable femtosecond MgO: PPLN optical parametric oscillator (OPO) at 151 MHz, pumped by a Kerr-lens mode-locked Yb: KGW laser. With a maximum pump power of 7 W, the OPO is capable of delivering as high as 2.2 W of the signal centered around 1500 nm with tunable signal spectrum ranges of 1377-1730 nm at an extraction efficiency of 31.4%, which exhibits a long-term passive power stability better than 0.71% rms over 4h. The maximum idler bandwidths of 185 nm at 3613 nm are obtained across the idler tuning ranges of 2539-4191 nm. By compensating intracavity dispersion, the signal has the shortest pulse duration of 170 fs at 1428 nm.

A direct Kerr-lens mode-locked Tm: LuYO3 ceramics laser without the aid of any mode-locked starting element is reported for the first time. The pulse duration as short as 259 fs and maximum average output power of 326 mW are obtained at a repetition rate of 97.1 MHz. The corresponding optical spectrum centered at 2053 nm exhibits a bandwidth of 19.8 nm, which indicates the presence of nearly Fourier transform-limited pulses. Such a Kerr-lens mode-locked Tm: LuYO3 ceramics laser is a promising ultrashort pulse source, with both the excellent laser characteristics of Tm: LuYO3 and the high-power 790 nm LD pumping scheme.

GaN-based p-channel heterostructure field-effect transistors (p-HFETs) face significant constraints on the on-state currents compared to the n-channel high electron mobility transistors (n-HEMTs). In this work, we propose a novel double-heterostructure which introduces an additional p-GaN insertion layer into the traditional p-HFETs. The impact of the device structure on the hole densities and valence band energies of both the upper and lower channels is analyzed by using Silvaco TACD simulations, including the thickness of the upper AlGaN layer and the doping impurities and concentration in the GaN buffer layer, as well as the thickness and Mg doping concentration in the p-GaN insertion layer. With the help of the p-GaN insertion layer, the C-doping concentration in the GaN buffer layer can be reduced, while the density of two-dimensional hole gas (2DHG) in the lower channel is enhanced at the same time. This work suggests that the double heterostructure with a p-GaN insertion layer is a better approach to improve p-HFETs compared to those devices with C-doped buffer layer alone.

A novel normally-off AlGaN/GaN high-electron-mobility transistor (HEMT) with a p-GaN Schottky hybrid gate (PSHG) is proposed, and compared with the conventional p-GaN normally-off AlGaN/GaN HEMTs. This structure can be realized by selective etching of p-GaN layer, which enables the Schottky junction and PN junction to control the channel charge at the same time. The direct current (DC) and switching characteristics of the PSHG HEMTs are simulated by Slivaco TCAD, and the p-GaN HEMTs and conventional normally-on HEMTs are also simulated for comparison. The simulation results show that the PSHG HEMTs have a higher current density and a lower on-resistance than p-GaN HEMTs, which is more obvious with the decrease of p-GaN ratios of the PSHG HEMTs. The breakdown voltage and threshold voltage of the PSHG HEMTs are very close to those of the p-GaN HEMTs. In addition, the PSHG HEMTs have a higher switching speed than the conventional normally-on HEMTs, and the p-GaN layer ratio has no obvious effect on the switching speed.

A novel vertical InN/InGaN heterojunction tunnel FET with hetero T-shaped gate as well as polarization-doped source and drain region (InN-Hetero-TG-TFET) is proposed and investigated by Silvaco-Atlas simulations for the first time. Compared with the conventional physical doping TFET devices, the proposed device can realize the P-type source and N-type drain region by means of the polarization effect near the top InN/InGaN and bottom InGaN/InN heterojunctions respectively, which could provide an effective solution of random dopant fluctuation (RDF) and the related problems about the high thermal budget and expensive annealing techniques due to ion-implantation physical doping. Besides, due to the hetero T-shaped gate, the improvement of the on-state performance can be achieved in the proposed device. The simulations of the device proposed here in this work show I ON of 4.45 × 10−5 A/μm, I ON/I OFF ratio of 1013, and SS avg of 7.5 mV/dec in InN-Hetero-TG-TFET, which are better than the counterparts of the device with a homo T-shaped gate (InN-Homo-TG-TFET) and our reported lateral polarization-induced InN-based TFET (PI-InN-TFET). These results can provide useful reference for further developing the TFETs without physical doping process in low power electronics applications.

PbZr0.2Ti0.8O3 (PZT) gate insulator with the thickness of 30 nm is grown by pulsed laser deposition (PLD) in AlGaN/GaN metal–insulator–semiconductor high electron mobility transistors (MIS-HEMTs). The ferroelectric effect of PZT AlGaN/GaN MIS-HEMT is demonstrated. The polarization charge in PZT varies with different gate voltages. The equivalent polarization charge model (EPCM) is proposed for calculating the polarization charge and the concentration of two-dimensional electron gas (2DEG). The threshold voltage (V th) and output current density (I DS) can also be obtained by the EPCM. The theoretical values are in good agreement with the experimental results and the model can provide a guide for the design of the PZT MIS-HEMT. The polarization charges of PZT can be modulated by different gate-voltage stresses and the V th has a regulation range of 4.0 V. The polarization charge changes after the stress of gate voltage for several seconds. When the gate voltage is stable or changes at high frequency, the output characteristics and the current collapse of the device remain stable.

A novel CMOS image sensor (CIS) pinned photodiode (PPD) pixel, named as O-T pixel, is proposed and investigated by TCAD simulations. Compared with the conventional PPD pixel, the proposed pixel features the overlapping gate (OG) and the temporary storage diffusing (TSD) region, based on which the several-nanosecond-level charge transfer could be achieved and the complete charge transfer from the PPD to the floating node (FD) could be realized. And systematic analyses of the influence of the doping conditions of the proposed processes, the OG length, and the photodiode length on the transfer performances of the proposed pixel are conducted. Optimized simulation results show that the total charge transfer time could reach about 5.862 ns from the photodiode to the sensed node and the corresponding charge transfer efficiency could reach as high as 99.995% in the proposed pixel with 10 μm long photodiode and 2.22 μm long OG. These results demonstrate a great potential of the proposed pixel in high-speed applications.

In this work, AlGaN/GaN FinFETs with different fin widths have been successfully fabricated, and the recessed-gate FinFETs are fabricated for comparison. The recessed-gate FinFETs exhibit higher transconductance value and positive shift of threshold voltage. Moreover, with the fin width of the recessed-gate FinFETs increasing, the variations of both threshold voltage and the transconductance increase. Next, transfer characteristics of the recessed-gate FinFETs with different fin widths and recessed-gate depths are simulated by Silvaco software. The relationship between the threshold voltage and the AlGaN layer thickness has been investigated. The simulation results indicate that the slope of threshold voltage variation reduces with the fin width decreasing. Finally, a simplified threshold voltage model for recessed-gate FinFET is established, which agrees with both the experimental results and simulation results.

A novel GaN-based vertical heterostructure field effect transistor (HFET) with nonuniform doping superjunctions (non-SJ HFET) is proposed and studied by Silvaco-ATLAS, for minimizing the specific on-resistance (R on A) at no expense of breakdown voltage (BV). The feature of non-SJ HFET lies in the nonuniform doping concentration from top to bottom in the n- and p-pillars, which is different from that of the conventional GaN-based vertical HFET with uniform doping superjunctions (un-SJ HFET). A physically intrinsic mechanism for the nonuniform doping superjunction (non-SJ) to further reduce R on A at no expense of BV is investigated and revealed in detail. The design, related to the structure parameters of non-SJ, is optimized to minimize the R on A on the basis of the same BV as that of un-SJ HFET. Optimized simulation results show that the reduction in R on A depends on the doping concentrations and thickness values of the light and heavy doping parts in non-SJ. The maximum reduction of more than 51% in R on A could be achieved with a BV of 1890 V. These results could demonstrate the superiority of non-SJ HFET in minimizing R on A and provide a useful reference for further developing the GaN-based vertical HFETs.

We report combined magnetic susceptibility, dielectric constant, nuclear quadruple resonance (NQR) and zero-field nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) measurements on single crystals of multiferroics CuBr$_2$. High quality of the sample is demonstrated by the sharp magnetic and magnetic-driven ferroelectric transition at $T_N=T_C\approx$ 74~K. The zero-field $^{79}$Br and $^{81}$Br NMR are resolved below $T_N$. The spin-lattice relaxation rates reveal charge fluctuations when cooled below 60~K. Evidences of an increase of NMR linewidth, a reduction of dielectric constant, and an increase of magnetic susceptibility are also seen at low temperatures. These data suggest an emergent instability which competes with the spiral magnetic ordering and the ferroelectricity. Candidate mechanisms are discussed based on the quasi-one-dimensional (1D) nature of the magnetic system.

A novel AlGaN/GaN high electron mobility transistor (HEMT) with a source-connected T-shaped field-plate (ST-FP HEMT) is proposed for the first time in this paper. The source-connected T-shaped field-plate (ST-FP) is composed of a source-connected field-plate (S-FP) and a trench metal. The physical intrinsic mechanisms of the ST-FP to improve the breakdown voltage and the FP efficiency and to modulate the distributions of channel electric field and potential are studied in detail by means of two-dimensional numerical simulations with Silvaco-ATLAS. A comparison to the HEMT and the HEMT with an S-FP (S-FP HEMT) shows that the ST-FP HEMT could achieve a broader and more uniform channel electric field distribution with the help of a trench metal, which could increase the breakdown voltage and the FP efficiency remarkably. In addition, the relationship between the structure of the ST-FP, the channel electric field, the breakdown voltage as well as the FP efficiency in ST-FP HEMT is analyzed. These results could open up a new effective method to fabricate high voltage power devices for the power electronic applications.

In this paper, the enhancement-mode AlGaN/GaN HEMT combined with the low damage recessed-gate etching and the optimized oxygen plasma treatment was fabricated. Scanning electron microscope/energy dispersive spectrometer (SEM/EDS) method and x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) method were used to confirm the formation of oxides. Based on the experimental results, the obtained enhancement-mode HEMT exhibited a threshold voltage of 0.5 V, a high peak transconductance of 210 mS/mm, and a maximum drain current of 610 mA/mm at the gate bias of 4 V. Meanwhile, the on/off current ratio of enhancement-mode HEMT was as high as 108, drain induced barrier lowering (DIBL) was as low as 5 mV/V, and subthreshold swing (SS) of 80 mV/decade was obtained. Compared with the conventional HEMT, the Schottky reverse current of enhancement-mode HEMT was three orders of magnitude lower, and the off-state breakdown voltage of which was higher. In addition, a power gain cutoff frequency (f max) of the enhancement-mode HEMT was larger than that of the conventional one.

In this paper, a novel AlGaN/GaN HEMT with a Schottky drain and a compound field plate (SD-CFP HEMT) is presented for the purpose of better reverse blocking capability. The compound field plate (CFP) consists of a drain field plate (DFP) and several floating field plates (FFPs). The physical mechanisms of the CFP to improve the reverse breakdown voltage and to modulate the distributions of channel electric field and potential are investigated by two-dimensional numerical simulations with Silvaco-ATLAS. Compared with the HEMT with a Schottky drain (SD HEMT) and the HEMT with a Schottky drain and a DFP (SD-FP HEMT), the superiorities of SD-CFP HEMT lie in the continuous improvement of the reverse breakdown voltage by increasing the number of FFPs and in the same fabrication procedure as the SD-FP HEMT. Two useful optimization laws for the SD-CFP HEMTs are found and extracted from simulation results. The relationship between the number of the FFPs and the reverse breakdown voltage as well as the FP efficiency in SD-CFP HEMTs are discussed. The results in this paper demonstrate a great potential of CFP for enhancing the reverse blocking ability in AlGaN/GaN HEMT and may be of great value and significance in the design and actual manufacture of SD-CFP HEMTs.

The transport mechanism of reverse surface leakage current in the AlGaN/GaN high-electron mobility transistor (HEMT) becomes one of the most important reliability issues with the downscaling of feature size. In this paper, the research results show that the reverse surface leakage current in AlGaN/GaN HEMT with SiN passivation increases with the enhancement of temperature in the range from 298 K to 423 K. Three possible transport mechanisms are proposed and examined to explain the generation of reverse surface leakage current. By comparing the experimental data with the numerical transport models, it is found that neither Fowler–Nordheim tunneling nor Frenkel–Poole emission can describe the transport of reverse surface leakage current. However, good agreement is found between the experimental data and the two-dimensional variable range hopping (2D-VRH) model. Therefore, it is concluded that the reverse surface leakage current is dominated by the electron hopping through the surface states at the barrier layer. Moreover, the activation energy of surface leakage current is extracted, which is around 0.083 eV. Finally, the SiN passivated HEMT with a high Al composition and a thin AlGaN barrier layer is also studied. It is observed that 2D-VRH still dominates the reverse surface leakage current and the activation energy is around 0.10 eV, which demonstrates that the alteration of the AlGaN barrier layer does not affect the transport mechanism of reverse surface leakage current in this paper.

The influence of an N2O plasma pre-treatment technique on characteristics of AlGaN/GaN high electron mobility transistor (HEMT) prepared by using a plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition (PECVD) system is presented. After the plasma treatment, the peak transconductance (gm) increases from 209 mS/mm to 293 mS/mm. Moreover, it is observed that the reverse gate leakage current is lowered by one order of magnitude and the drain current dispersion is improved in the plasma-treated device. From the analysis of frequency-dependent conductance, it can be seen that the trap state density (DT) and time constant (τT) of the N2O-treated device are smaller than those of a non-treated device. The results indicate that the N2O plasma pre-pretreatment before the gate metal deposition could be a promising approach to enhancing the performance of the device.

The degradation mechanism of enhancement-mode AlGaN/GaN high electron mobility transistors (HEMTs) fabricated by fluorine plasma ion implantation technology is one major concern of HEMT’s reliability. It is observed that the threshold voltage shows a significant negative shift during the typical long-term on-state gate overdrive stress. The degradation does not originate from the presence of as-grown traps in the AlGaN barrier layer or the generated traps during fluorine ion implantation process. By comparing the relationships between the shift of threshold voltage and the cumulative injected electrons under different stress conditions, a good agreement is observed. It provides direct experimental evidence to support the impact ionization physical model, in which the degradation of E-mode HEMTs under gate overdrive stress can be explained by the ionization of fluorine ions in the AlGaN barrier layer by electrons injected from 2DEG channel. Furthermore, our results show that there are few new traps generated in the AlGaN barrier layer during the gate overdrive stress, and the ionized fluorine ions cannot recapture the electrons.

Based on the moving least square (MLS) approximations and the boundary integral equations (BIEs), a meshless algorithm is presented in this paper for elliptic Signorini problems. In the algorithm, a projection operator is used to tackle the nonlinear boundary inequality conditions. The Signorini problem is then reformulated as BIEs and the unknown boundary variables are approximated by the MLS approximations. Accordingly, only a nodal data structure on the boundary of a domain is required. The convergence of the algorithm is proven. Numerical examples are given to show the high convergence rate and high computational efficiency of the presented algorithm.

In this paper, we present the combination of drain field plate (FP) and Schottky drain to improve the reverse blocking capability, and investigate the reverse blocking enhancement of drain FP in Schottky-drain AlGaN/GaN high-electron mobility transistors (HEMTs). Drain FP and gate FP were employed in a two-dimensional simulation to improve the reverse blocking voltage (VRB) and the forward blocking voltage (VFB). The drain-FP length, the gate-FP length and the passivation layer thickness were optimized. VRB and VFB were improved from −67 V and 134 V to −653 V and 868 V respectively after optimization. Simulation results suggest that the combination of drain FP and Schottky drain can enhance the reverse blocking capability significantly.

A GaN/Al0.3Ga0.7N/AlN/GaN high-electron mobility transistor utilizing a field plate (with a 0.3 μm overhang towards the drain and a 0.2 μm overhang towards the source) over a 165-nm sputtered HfO2 insulator (HfO2-FP-HEMT) is fabricated on a sapphire substrate. Compared with the conventional field-plated HEMT, which has the same geometric structure but uses a 60-nm SiN insulator beneath the field plate (SiN-FP-HEMT), the HfO2-FP-HEMT exhibits a significant improvement of the breakdown voltage (up to 181 V) as well as a record field-plate efficiency (up to 276 V/μm). This is because the HfO2 insulator can further improve the modulation of the field plate on the electric field distribution in the device channel, which is proved by the numerical simulation results. Based on the simulation results, a novel approach named the proportional design is proposed to predict the optimal dielectric thickness beneath the field plate. It can simplify the field-plated HEMT design significantly.

We present an AlInN/AlN/GaN MOS—HEMT with a 3 nm ultra-thin atomic layer deposition (ALD) Al2O3 dielectric layer and a 0.3 μm field-plate (FP)-MOS—HEMT. Compared with a conventional AlInN/AlN/GaN HEMT (HEMT) with the same dimensions, a FP-MOS—HEMT with a 0.6 μm gate length exhibits an improved maximum drain current of 1141 mA/mm, an improved peak extrinsic transconductance of 325 mS/mm and effective suppression of gate leakage in both the reverse direction (by about one order of magnitude) and the forward direction (by more than two orders of magnitude). Moreover, the peak extrinsic transconductance of the FP-MOS—HEMT is slightly larger than that of the HEMT, indicating an exciting improvement of transconductance performance. The sharp transition from depletion to accumulation in the capacitance—voltage (C—V) curve of the FP-MOS—HEMT demonstrates a high-quality interface of Al2O3/AlInN. In addition, a large off-state breakdown voltage of 133 V, a high field-plate efficiency of 170 V/μm and a negligible double-pulse current collapse is achieved in the FP-MOS—HEMT. This is attributed to the adoption of an ultra-thin Al2O3 gate dielectric and also of a field-plate on the dielectric of an appropriate thickness. The results show a great potential application of the ultra-thin ALD-Al2O3 FP-MOS—HEMT to deliver high currents and power densities in high power microwave technologies.