Chin-Yi Tsai

Theoretical modeling of nonequilibrium optical phonons and electron energy relaxation in GaN

The decay of the zone-center longitudinal optical (LO) phonon in GaN into a transverse optical (TO) phonon and a longitudinal acoustic (LA) phonon is theoretically investigated. Its decay into two LA phonons is forbidden. A theoretical model is presented to study the effect of nonequilibrium LO and TO phonons on the electron energy relaxation rate. The electron energy relaxation time is calculated, and its value is shown to strongly depend on the finite lifetimes of both LO and TO phonons. The individual contributions of A1 mode and E1 mode optical phonons in the overall electron energy relaxation processes are also discussed.

A small-signal analysis of the modulation response of high-speed quantum-well lasers: effects of spectral hole burning, carrier heating, and carrier diffusion-capture-escape

We present a small-signal analysis of the modulation response by simultaneously considering the effects of spectral hole burning, carrier heating, and carrier diffusion capture-escape. An explicit form of the small-signal modulation response is obtained and the nonlinear gain coefficients associated with each physical process are defined. Further simplifications in our results will give analytical forms for calculating the resonant frequency and damping rate of the modulation response. One of the simplified versions of our results is shown to agree with previous investigations. The effects of the carrier dephasing time, energy relaxation time, and diffusion-capture-escape times on the high-speed performance of QW lasers are theoretically investigated.

EFFECTS OF SPECTRAL HOLE BURNING, CARRIER HEATING, AND CARRIER TRANSPORT ON THE SMALL-SIGNAL MODULATION RESPONSE OF QUANTUM WELL LASERS

We present an analysis of the high‐speed characteristics of quantum well lasers by simultaneously considering the effects of spectral hole burning, carrier heating, and carrier transport. An exact form of the small‐signal modulation response is obtained. The effects of carrier dephasing time in spectral hole burning, energy relaxation time in carrier heating, and diffusion‐capture‐escape times in carrier transport on the modulation response of quantum well lasers are theoretically investigated.

Interplay between out-of-plane anisotropic L11-type CoPt and in-plane anisotropic NiFe layers in CoPt/NiFe exchange springs

Films of L11-type CoPt/NiFe exchange springs were grown with different NiFe (Permalloy) layer thickness (tNiFe = 0–10 nm). X-ray diffraction analysis reveals that the characteristic peak position of NiFe(111) is not affected by the CoPt-layer—confirming the absence of any inter-diffusion between the CoPt and NiFe layers. Magnetic studies indicate that the magnetization orientation of NiFe layer can be tuned through varying tNiFe and the perpendicular magnetic anisotropy of L11-type CoPt/NiFe films cannot sustain for tNiFe larger than 3.0 nm due to the existence of exchange interaction at the interface of L11-CoPt and NiFe layers. Magnetic force microscopy analysis on the as-grown samples shows the changes in morphology from maze-like domains with good contrast to hazy domains when tNiFe ≥ 3.0 nm. The three-dimensional micro-magnetic simulation results demonstrate that the magnetization orientation in NiFe layer is not uniform, which continuously increases from the interface to the top of NiFe layer. Furth...

Numerical simulations of the current-matching effect and operation mechanisms on the performance of InGaN/Si tandem cells

Numerical simulations are conducted to study the current-matching effect and operation mechanisms in and to design the optimized device structure of InGaN/Si tandem cells. The characteristics of short circuit current density (Jsc), open circuit voltage (Voc), fill factor (FF), and conversion efficiency (η) of InGaN/Si tandem cells are determined by the current-matching effect. The similar trend of η to that of Jsc shows that Jsc is a dominant factor in determining the performance of InGaN/Si tandem cells. In addition, the combined effects of the Jsc, Voc, and FF lead to an optimized η in the medium-indium, xpn-InGaNInGaN‒to‒Si, InGaN/Si tandem cell. At xpn-InGaNInGaN‒to‒Si, the Jsc of the InGaN subcell is equal to that of the Si subcell such that an InGaN/Si tandem cell reaches the current matching condition to operate at the maximum power point. Similar to the Jsc and FF, the η for low- xpn-InGaNxpn-InGaNInGaN‒to‒Si InGaN/Si tandem cells are InGaN- and Si subcell-limited, respectively. Furthermore, the p- and n-layer thicknesses, indium content, and position of depletion region of InGaN subcell should be adjusted to reapportion the light between the two subcells and to achieve the maximum conversion efficiency. With appropriate thicknesses of p- and n-InGaN, In0.5–0.6Ga0.5–0.4 N/Si tandem cells can exhibit as high as approximately 34% to 36.5% conversion efficiency, demonstrating that a medium-indium InGaN/Si tandem cell results in a high-efficiency solar cell. Simulation results determine that the current-matching effect and operation mechanisms of InGaN/Si tandem cells can be utilized for efficiency enhancement through the optimized device structures.

Effects of electron–hole energy transfer on the nonlinear gain coefficients in the small-signal modulation response of semiconductor lasers

The effects of energy transfer between electrons and holes on the small-signal modulation response of semiconductor lasers are theoretically investigated. We calculate the electron energy relaxation time due to electron–hole scattering from the first principle. We show that its value is comparable to the electron energy relaxation time due to the electron–LO phonon scattering with the effect of nonequilibrium LO phonons. In such a case, the nonlinear gain coefficient due to carrier heating defined in the small-signal modulation response of semiconductor lasers is no longer a simple sum of the term due to electron heating and that due to hole heating.

Theoretical modeling of carrier and lattice heating effects for frequency chirping in semiconductor lasers

A theoretical model is presented that is capable of simultaneously simulating the frequency response of the photon density, carrier density, electron temperature, hole temperature, populations of nonequilibrium longitudinal optical (LO) and transverse optical (TO) phonons at different wave vectors, and lattice temperature under the modulation of small-signal current. Our results not only provide a more consistent theoretical model for frequency chirping but also illustrate the different roles of carrier and lattice heating in the frequency response of semiconductor lasers.

Perpendicular exchange bias behaviors of CoPt/IrMn and CoPt/FeMn bilayers: A comparative study

In this study, FeMn was introduced as an antiferromagnetic (AFM) layer to couple with a single-layered Co49Pt51 alloy thin film, and it was compared with a Co49Pt51/IrMn bilayer system in exchange bias (EB) effect, to explore the mechanism of spontaneous perpendicular exchange bias (PEB), which has been recently observed in CoPt/IrMn bilayers. Bilayers of CoPt/IrMn and CoPt/FeMn were prepared under the same conditions by sputtering at room temperature without any inducing field. Although PEB was observed in as-grown CoPt/FeMn bilayers, the loop shape and PEB behavior were found to exhibit different characteristics from those of CoPt/IrMn bilayers. The CoPt (5 nm)/FeMn (10 nm) bilayer has a sheared loop that is similar to a double-shifted loop and a much lower squareness ratio (SQR = 0.52) and exchange bias field (He = 180 Oe) than the CoPt (5 nm)/IrMn (10 nm) system, which has a rectangular loop shape and a high SQR of 0.97 and large He of 290 Oe. The two systems present entirely different dependences of ...

Study on the occurrence of spontaneously established perpendicular exchange bias in Co49Pt51/IrMn bilayers

In this study, perpendicular exchange bias (PEB) effect in the as-grown Co49Pt51/IrMn bilayers was demonstrated at room temperature using single-layered Co49Pt51 alloy thin film as ferromagnetic (FM) layer. Several unusual features were observed in this system, viz.,: (i) the PEB was spontaneously established without any external magnetic field treatments, (ii) single-shifted loops were obtained rather than double-shifted ones, and (iii) the spontaneous PEB effect was accompanied by a reduction in perpendicular coercivity, Hc⊥ from 1024 to 632 Oe. The results of x–ray diffraction revealed the formation of IrMn (111) texture. Training effect studies indicate that the PEB effect is stable in this system with less than 5% variation in PEB value within 15 repetitive scans. Significant reduction in the PEB effect was found for the CoPt/IrMn films either grown or subjected to post-annealing under external magnetic field (Hind). The thickness dependence of PEB effect with respect to the FM and antiferromagnetic ...

Phonon–replica transitions in InGaN/GaN quantum well structures

A side-bump feature in a photoluminescence (PL) spectrum of an InGaN compound was widely observed. With reasonable fitting to PL spectra with three Gaussian distributions, the temperature variations of the peak positions, integrated PL intensities, and peak widths of the main and first side peaks of three InGaN/GaN multiple quantum well samples with different nominal indium contents are shown and interpreted. The existence of the side peaks is attributed to phonon–replica transitions. The variations of the peak position separations and the decreasing trends of the first side peak widths beyond certain temperatures in those samples were explained with the requirement of phonon momentum condition for phonon–replica transitions. In the sample with 25% nominal indium content, the phonon–replica transition could become stronger than the direct transition of localized states.