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Plasma enhanced atomic layer deposition (PEALD) SiN gate dielectric is performed on AlGaN/GaN metal-insulator-semiconductor high-electron-mobility transistor (MIS-HEMT). The fabricated MIS-HEMTs with 5 nm SiN gate dielectric layer exhibits a tiny threshold voltage hysteresis (~ 0.04 V), sufficiently decreased leakage current of ~10−9 A/mm at ${V}_{\text {GS}} =-{60}$ V and good threshold voltage ( ${V}_{\text {TH}}$ ) stability even measured at 200 °C. The increased mobility of 2-D electron gas (2-DEG) and suppressed current collapse are demonstrated, thereby producing a power density of 7.05 W/mm with an associated 34.0 % power-added efficiency (PAE) and a peak PAE of 51.4 % in a continuous-wave mode at 30 GHz.

A Ka -band AlGaN/GaN metal–insulator–semiconductor high-electron-mobility transistor (MIS-HEMT) with SiN gate dielectric grown by plasma-enhanced atomic layer deposition (PEALD) is demonstrated. The gate reverse leakage current in a controlled HEMT is reduced by about three orders of magnitude by the PEALD-SiN, contributing to an improved breakdown voltage of 92.5 V (source–drain separation of $2.0~\mu \text{m}$ ) in the fabricated MIS-HEMTs. The MIS-HEMTs also feature small threshold voltage hysteresis in dc transfer and capacitance–voltage characterizations, suggesting a good PEALD-SiN/AlGaN interface. The fabricated MIS-HEMTs deliver a high output power density of 7.16 W/mm and a peak power-added efficiency of 60.3%, respectively, at ${V}_{\text {DS}} =30$ V and ${V}_{\text {DS}} =10$ V in pulse mode at 28 GHz. PEALD-SiN could be a compelling gate dielectric for fabrication of high-power and high-efficiency MIS-HEMTs.

Low damage atomic layer etching (ALE) gate recess is developed for fabrication of millimeter-wave AlGaN/GaN high-electron-mobility transistors (HEMTs). Plasma ion induced bombardments to the AlGaN barrier is effectively suppressed by the ALE recess, contributing to a well-controlled recessed surface morphology. The suppressed lattice damage to AlGaN/GaN heterostructure is also reflected by a significantly reduced gate leakage as well as an invisible threshold voltage shift associated with damage induced traps. With a 0.15- $\mu \text{m}$ T-gate fabrication technology, a high power-gain cutoff frequency ${f}_{\text {MAX}}$ of 205 GHz has been achieved. The ALE-recessed AlGaN/GaN HEMTs exhibits a record high power-added-efficiency (PAE) of 43.6% at 40 GHz in a continuous-wave mode. The associated gain and output power density are also remarkably improved compared with controlled HEMTs with conventional gate recess process.

Mechanical properties and geometries of printed products have been extensively studied in metal 3D printing. However, chemical properties and catalytic functions, introduced by metal 3D printing itself, are rarely mentioned. Here we show that metal 3D printing products themselves can simultaneously serve as chemical reactors and catalysts (denoted as self-catalytic reactor or SCR) for direct conversion of C1 molecules (including CO, CO2 and CH4) into high value-added chemicals. The Fe-SCR and Co-SCR successfully catalyze synthesis of liquid fuel from Fischer-Tropsch synthesis and CO2 hydrogenation; the Ni-SCR efficiently produces syngas (CO/H2) by CO2 reforming of CH4. Further, the Co-SCR geometrical studies indicate that metal 3D printing itself can establish multiple control functions to tune the catalytic product distribution. The present work provides a simple and low-cost manufacturing method to realize functional integration of catalyst and reactor, and will facilitate the developments of chemical synthesis and 3D printing technology., Metal 3D printing is a very promising technology to revolutionize catalytic systems. Here the authors show that metal 3D printing products themselves can simultaneously serve as chemical reactors and catalysts for conversion of C1 molecules into high value-added chemicals.

In this letter, a high-temperature (HT) gate recess technique is implemented into the fabrication of high-performance millimeter-wave AlGaN/GaN high-electron-mobility transistors (HEMTs). By virtue of the low damage feature of the HT recess, a high extrinsic transconductance of 422 mS/mm, a three-terminal breakdown voltage of 134 V with a source–drain separation of 2.4 $\mu \text{m}$ , and a remarkable low Schottky gate leakage current of $1.6\times 10^{-6}$ A/mm at ${V}_{\textsf {GS}} = -\textsf {60}$ V are achieved, which is at least two orders of magnitude lower than the HEMTs with gate recessed at room temperature. By employing a 0.2- $\mu \text{m}$ T-shaped gate technology, a current-gain cutoff frequency ${f}_{T}$ of 81 GHz and a unit-power-gain frequency ${f}_{\textsf {MAX}}$ of 194 GHz are realized. The current collapse in the HT-recessed AlGaN/GaN HEMTs is significantly suppressed, contributing to a record high power-added-efficiency of 42.8%, as well as high output power density of 5.1 W/mm at 35 GHz in a continuous-wave mode.

Silicalite-1 zeolite coating was coated on the honeycomb-like monolithic SiC foam via hydrothermal synthesis method. The as-made Silicalite-1-coated SiC (S-1/SiC) was used as catalyst support to prepare a novel supported Ni monolith catalyst (Ni/S-1/SiC) by impregnation method. The Ni/S-1/SiC monolith catalyst was characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), N 2 physical adsorption, scanning electron microscope (SEM), thermogravimetry (TG), etc. The analysis results of XRD and SEM disclosed that Silicalite-1 coating successfully grew in situ on the SiC surface under the employed hydrothermal conditions. The Ni/S-1/SiC monolith catalyst was employed for syngas production in a combined reforming reaction consisting of CO 2 dry reforming of methane (CDRM) and partial oxidation of CH 4 (POM). Activity results indicated that the Ni/S-1/SiC monolith catalyst exhibited better catalytic activity than Silicalite-1 supported Ni catalyst (Ni/S-1) and SiC supported Ni (Ni/SiC) catalyst. The Silicalite-1 coating on the Ni/S-1/SiC catalyst combined the SiC support and Ni-based species tightly, leading to the enhanced catalytic performance of Ni/S-1/SiC catalyst. The stability test indicated that the Ni/S-1/SiC monolith catalyst also presented excellent stability and strong resistance to carbon deposition, which was attributed to the high heat conductivity of SiC, the presence of Silicalite-1 being coated on SiC as well as the combined reforming reaction of CDRM-POM. Furthermore, the H 2 /CO molar ratio of syngas generated in the combined CDRM-POM reaction over Ni/S-1/SiC catalyst could be tuned facilely by adjusting the proportion of O 2 coexisting in feed gas.

A silicon carbide (SiC) foam monolith decorated with a carbon nanofibers (CNFs) layer was employed as the catalyst support for Ni-based catalyst preparation, used for the CO2 dry reforming of methane (DRM) reaction. The loading amount of CNFs on the SiC foam monolith was 6.6 wt.%, which obviously increased the surface area of the pristine SiC foam from 4 m2/g to 24 m2/g. The prepared CNFs layer strongly attached to the pristine SiC surface and was considerably stable even after 100 h time on stream (TOS) DRM reaction. The CNFs decorated SiC composite support provided more anchorage sites for improving the dispersion of the Ni particles and enhanced the metal-support interaction compared to the pristine SiC support. Compared with other catalysts such as Ni/SiC and Ni/CNFs, the Ni/CNFs-SiC catalyst exhibited not only the highest activity but also remarkable stability during DRM reaction. The XPS and SEM-EDS results showed that the carbon deposition over the nickel surface of Ni/CNFs-SiC catalyst was much less than those of Ni/SiC and Ni/CNFs catalysts. In addition, the XRD analysis verified that almost no sintering of nickel particle was detected over the Ni/CNFs-SiC catalyst, which was prepared with CNFs-SiC composite as catalyst support, even after 100 h TOS DRM reaction at 750 °C.

In this letter, we report high-performance enhancement-mode (E-mode) Al2O3/AlGaN/GaN metal–insulator–semiconductor high-electron-mobility transistors (MIS-HEMTs) fabricated with high-temperature low-damage gate recess technique. The high-temperature gate recess is implemented by increasing the substrate temperature to 180 °C to enhance the desorption of chlorine-based etching residues during the dry etching of AlGaN barrier. High-crystal-quality Al2O3 gate dielectric was grown by atomic-layer deposition using O3 as the oxygen source to suppress hydrogen-induced weak bonds. The fabricated E-mode MIS-HEMTs exhibit a threshold voltage of 1.6 V, a pulsed drive current of 1.13 A/mm, and very low OFF-state standby power of $6.8 \times 10^{\mathrm {-8}}$ W/mm at $V_{\mathrm {GS}} =0$ V and $V_{\mathrm {DS}} =30$ V. At 4 GHz and in pulse-mode operation, the output power density and power-added efficiency were measured to be 5.76 W/mm and 57%, both of which are the highest for GaN-based E-mode MIS-HEMTs reported to date.

Low-pressure chemical vapor deposition (LPCVD) technique is utilized for SiN x passivation of AlGaN/GaN high-electron-mobility transistors (HEMTs). A robust SiN x / AlGaN interface featuring high thermal stability and well-ordered crystalline structure is achieved by a processing strategy of “passivation-prior-to-ohmic” in HEMTs fabrication. Effective suppression of surface-trap-induced current collapse and lateral interface leakage current are demonstrated in the LPCVD-SiN x passivated HEMTs, as compared with conventional plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition-SiN x passivated ones. Energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy mapping analysis of SiN x /AlGaN interfaces suggests the interface traps are likely to stem from amorphous oxide/oxynitride interfacial layer.

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to report upon high power, internally matched GaN high electron mobility transistors (HEMTs) at Ku band with 1.5 GHz bandwidth, which employ a simple and cost‐effective lossless compensated matching technique.Design/methodology/approachTwo 4 mm gate periphery GaN HEMTs are parallel combined and internally matched with multi‐section reactive impedance transformers at the input and output networks. The output matching network is designed at the upper frequency of the design band for a flat power of the circuit, while the input matching network is designed at the upper frequency for a flat gain.FindingsWith the reactively compensated matching technique, the internally matched GaN HEMTs exhibit a flat saturated output power of 43.2+0.7 dBm and an average power added efficiency of 15 per cent over 12 to 13.5 GHz.Originality/valueThis paper provides useful information for the internally matched GaN HEMTs.

An obvious increase in the gate leakage current has been commonly observed in GaN HEMTs, after Plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition (PECVD) SiN passivation has been observed to obviously increase. This paper presents an Al/SiN stack layer passivation structure. The high gate leakage current in GaN HEMTs caused by the PECVD SiN passivation is distinctly reduced by 2 to 3 orders of magnitude by introducing a thin Al layer. It is mainly attributed to the Al layer blocking and minimizing the damage for the (Al)GaN surface in the build-up of the luminance process of PECVD SiN and then reducing the surface trap density. TEM mapping and SRIM software simulation reveal that neither damage nor inter-diffusion is demonstrated at the Al/AlGaN interface, where a continuous crystalline region is observed. The moderate current collapse suppression and 32.8% improvement in VBR are achieved in GaN HEMTs with Al/SiN passivation.

This letter reports a 0.2- μm gate AlGaN/GaN high-electron-mobility transistors (HEMTs) on an Si substrate passivated with an AlN/SiNx (4/20 nm) stack layer. The 4-nm-thick AlN was grown by plasma-enhanced atomic-layer-deposition. The AlN/SiNx-passivated HEMTs exhibit a high maximum drain current of 930 mA/mm, an three-terminal OFF-state breakdown voltage (BVDS) of 119 V, and a small threshold voltage shift of 130 mV in a wide drain bias range (VDS=3-24 V). Owing to the additional positive polarization charge in the AlN passivation layer, the access resistance Rs in the GaN-on-Si HEMTs is significantly reduced while maintaining small parasitic gate-drain capacitance Cgd, contributing to a high power-gain cutoff frequency fMAX of 182 GHz and a high Johnson's figure of merit of BVDS × f T of 6.43 × 1012 V/s simultaneously. The accuracy of the RF performance is verified by a small signal modeling based on measured S-parameters.

This paper concentrates on the impact of SiN passivation layer deposited by plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition (PECVD) on the Schottky characteristics in GaN high electron mobility transistors (HEMTs). Three types of SiN layers with different deposition conditions were deposited on GaN HEMTs. Atomic force microscope (AFM), capacitance–voltage (C–V), and Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) measurement were used to analyze the surface morphology, the electrical characterization, and the chemical bonding of SiN thin films, respectively. The better surface morphology was achieved from the device with lower gate leakage current. The fixed positive charge Q f was extracted from C–V curves of Al/SiN/Si structures and quite different density of trap states (in the order of magnitude of 1011–1012 cm−2) was observed. It was found that the least trap states were in accordance with the lowest gate leakage current. Furthermore, the chemical bonds and the %H in Si–H and N–H were figured from FTIR measurement, demonstrating an increase in the density of Q f with the increasing %H in N–H. It reveals that the effect of SiN passivation can be improved in GaN-based HEMTs by modulating %H in Si–H and N–H, thus achieving a better Schottky characteristics.

This paper presents an X-band high gain and high power three-stage PHEMT monolithic microwave integrated circuit (MMIC) power amplifier (PA). Based on 0.15-μm GaAs power PHEMT technology, this PA is fabricated on a 2-mil thick wafer. While operating under 7.2 V and 3300 mA dc bias condition, the characteristics of 29.2-dB small signal gain, 11.7-W output power, and 42.2% power added efficiency at 9.2 GHz can be achieved.

Temperature-dependent ON-state breakdown (BV ON ) loci of AlGaN/GaN high-electron-mobility transistors (HEMTs) were experimentally demonstrated for the first time. With gate-current extraction technique, impact ionization was revealed to be responsible for the ON-state breakdown in our device as the HEMTs is marginally turned on. The characteristic electric-field E i of impact ionization was extracted exhibiting an U-shaped temperature dependence from 40 to -30 o C, with minimum E i occurs at -10 o C. Such anomalous temperature dependence of E i together with the kink effect observed in our devices stem from coulomb scattering effect of the acceptor-like traps in AlGaN/GaN heterostructures.

We have performed constant voltage stress (CVS) tests on GaN-on-SiC HEMT to investigate the drain current drift. Two kinds of current drift behavior are observed in CVS. The off-state drain voltage step stress tests are carried out to confirm the electric field dependent current drift. A critical voltage for drain current recovery is observed. We suggest that the recovery of drain current is due to holes generation near the heterojunction interface or the detrapping of acceptors in the barrier layer. The drain current drift is balanced by the current degradation and recovery mechanism.

We use near-field scanning optical microscopy (NSOM) operating in collection mode to map the optical field distribution of continuous wave infrared light propagating along an air-bridged W3 silicon photonic crystal (PC) slab multimode waveguide in a subwavelength resolution. The detected near-field optical intensity distribution patterns show very different longitudinal propagation features and transverse field profiles at different wavelength ranges. We have analyzed the dispersion of the guided modes in the PC waveguide and the corresponding eigenfield profile for each guided mode by means of the three-dimensional plane-wave expansion simulations. It is found that the experimentally observed complex while interesting near-field pattern features can be well explained by the field profiles of the multiple waveguide modes and their superposition at different excitation wavelengths. The detection and analysis of this multimode PC slab waveguide via NSOM could help us to understand complex wave propagation behavior and to further design novel PC devices.

A high quality superconducting Li0.68NbO2 polycrystalline sample was prepared by deintercalation of Li ions from Li0.93NbO2. The field-dependent resistivity and specific heat were measured down to 0.5 K. The temperature dependence of the upper critical field is determined. A notable specific-heat jump is observed at the superconducting transition temperature T-c similar to 5.0 K at zero field. Below T-c, the electronic specific heat shows a thermal activated behavior and agrees well with the theoretical result for the BCS s-wave superconductor. It indicates that the superconducting pairing in Li0.68NbO2 has s-wave symmetry.

The out-of-plane resistivity (rho(c)) and magnetoresistivity (MR) are studied in antiferromangetic (AF) Nd2-xCexCuO4 single crystals, which have three types of noncollinear antiferromangetic spin structures. The apparent signatures are observed in rho(c)(T) measured at the zero-field and 14 T at the spin structure transitions, giving a definite evidence for the itinerant electrons directly coupled to the localized spins. One of the striking features is an anisotropy of the MR with a fourfold symmetry upon rotating the external field (B) within ab plane in the different phases, while twofold symmetry at spin reorientation transition temperatures. The intriguing thermal hysteresis in rho(c)(T,B) and magnetic hysteresis in MR are observed at spin reorientation transition temperatures.

In-plane (rho(ab)) and c-axis (rho(c)) resistivities and magnetoresistivity of NaxCoO2 with x=0.7, 0.5, and 0.3 and superconducting Na(0.3)CoO(2)center dot 1.3H(2)O single crystals were studied. A dimensional crossover from 2 to 3 occurs with decreasing Na concentration from 0.7 to 0.3. A striking feature is that intercalation of water leads to a reentrance of two dimensions (2D) in superconducting crystal. It suggests that the 2D plays an important role in superconductivity as the case of cuprates. The anisotropic magnetoresistivity with a d-wave-like symmetry at 2 K gives evidence for the existence of a special spin ordering like the stripes below 20 K in Na0.5CoO2.

We report the magnetization, specific heat, and transport measurements of a high quality Na0.85CoO2 single crystal in applied magnetic fields up to 14 T. At high temperatures, the system is in a paramagnetic phase. It undergoes a magnetic phase transition below similar to20 K. For the field H parallel to c, the measurement data of magnetization, specific heat, and magnetoresistance reveal a metamagnetic transition from an antiferromagnetic state to a quasiferromagnetic state at about 8 T at low temperatures. However, no transition is observed in the magnetization measurements up to 14 T for H perpendicular to c. The low temperature magnetic phase diagram of Na0.85CoO2 is determined.

High quality Al2O3 film grown by atomic layer deposition (ALD), with ozone (O3) as oxygen source, is demonstrated for fabrication of normally-off AlGaN/GaN metal-insulator-semiconductor high-electron-mobility transistors (MIS-HEMTs). Significant suppression of Al–O–H and Al–Al bonds in ALD-Al2O3 has been realized by substituting conventional H2O source with O3. A high dielectric breakdown E-field of 8.5 MV/cm and good TDDB behavior are achieved in a gate dielectric stack consisting of 13-nm O3-Al2O3 and 2-nm H2O-Al2O3 interfacial layer on recessed GaN. By using this 15-nm gate dielectric and a high-temperature gate-recess technique, the density of positive bulk/interface charges in normally-off AlGaN/GaN MIS-HEMTs is remarkably suppressed to as low as 0.9 × 1012 cm−2, contributing to the realization of normally-off operation with a high threshold voltage of +1.6 V and a low specific ON-resistance RON,sp of 0.49 mΩ cm2.

The effects of interface oxidation on the transport behavior of the 2-D electron gas (2DEG) in AlGaN/GaN heterostructures by plasma-enhanced-atomic-layer-deposited AlN (PEALD-AlN) passivation were investigated using temperature-dependent Hall-effect and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) characterizations. AlGaN/GaN heterostructure with a 4-nm-thick PEALD-AlN passivation exhibits good 2DEG transport behavior and stability at moderately high temperature (e.g., 275 °C). However, serious oxidation of the AlN/GaN (cap layer) interface occurs as the sample is heated up to 400 °C in low-pressure atmosphere, as verified by an increased Ga-O bond in Ga 3d core-level spectra. The oxidation leads to a significant reduction of 2.47 × 1012 cm−2 in the 2DEG density in the channel. A modified AlN passivation structure with Al2O3/AlN (10/4 nm) stack is shown to be able to effectively suppress the oxidation of the AlN/GaN interface, demonstrating an enhanced 2DEG density and high-temperature stability even when the sample is heated up to 500 °C. Based on XPS and 2DEG recovery experiments, it is suggested that acceptor-like deep levels have been generated in the near-surface region of AlGaN/GaN heterostructure because of the oxidation, and trapping of these deep levels results in significant depletion of the 2DEG in the channel. The effects of PEALD-AlN passivation on the strain in the AlGaN barrier of AlGaN/GaN heterostructures are also evaluated with high-resolution X-ray diffraction technique.

An ultrathin AlN layer is inserted between the GaN channel and buffer in the fabrication of deep-submicrometer AlGaN/GaN high-electron-mobility transistors (HEMTs). The wide bandgap of AlN establishes a high back barrier and thus enhances the confinement of two-dimensional electron gas under high drain bias voltages. Owning to the effective suppression of short-channel effects in the device with a highly scaled gate length, the fabricated AlN back barrier HEMTs show better pinch-off quality, lower subthreshold current, lower drain-induced barrier lowering factor, and better high-frequency response than the reference device without an AlN back barrier.

Gate-recessed AlGaN/GaN metal-oxide-semiconductor high electron mobility transistors (MOSHEMTs) on sapphire substrates are fabricated. The devices with a gate length of 160 nm and a gate periphery of 2 × 75 μm exhibit two orders of magnitude reduction in gate leakage current and enhanced off-state breakdown characteristics, compared with conventional HEMTs. Furthermore, the extrinsic transconductance of an MOSHEMT is 237.2 mS/mm, only 7% lower than that of Schottky-gate HEMT. An extrinsic current gain cutoff frequency fT of 65 GHz and a maximum oscillation frequency fmax of 123 GHz are deduced from rf small signal measurements. The high fmax demonstrates that gate-recessed MOSHEMTs are of great potential in millimeter wave frequencies.

In this work, Ti/Al/Ni/Au Ohmic contacts to AlGaN/GaN heterostructures with different Ti/Al relative thicknesses were fabricated and characterized. A contact with Ti/Al relative thickness of 20/180 nm presented non-linear current–voltage response and bumpy surface morphology, while a contact with Ti/Al relative thickness of 20/120 nm demonstrated low contact resistance and flat surface morphology. We verify the existence of two electron transport mechanisms, namely carrier tunnelling and direct link through a TiN conductive pathway, by scanning transmission electron microscopy and corresponding electron dispersive x-ray spectra. Ti/Al relative thickness exerts a decisive influence on the alloy reaction processing. Superfluous Al consumes Ti, thus impeding the formation of low-resistance TiN and N vacancies. As a result, electron transport is restricted by the low-efficiency tunnelling mechanism. At the same time, the consumption of Ni causes damage to its blocking effect and arouses the free diffusion of metal alloys, which should be responsible for the rough surface.

We have studied anisotropic magnetoresistance (MR) and magnetization with rotating magnetic field (B) within $CuO_2$ plane in lightly doped AF $Nd_{2-x}Ce_xCuO_{4}$. \emph{A giant anisotropy} in MR is observed at low temperature below 5 K. The c-axis resistivity can be tuned about one order of magnitude just by changing B direction within $CuO_2$ plane and a scaling behavior between out-of-plane and in-plane MR is found. A "Spin valve" effect is proposed to understand the giant anisotropy of out-of-plane MR and the evolution of scaling parameters with the external field. It is found that the field-induced spin-flop transition of Nd$^{3+}$ layer under high magnetic field is the key to understand the giant anisotropy. These results suggest that a novel entanglement between charge and spin dominates the underlying physics., 7 pages, 8 figures