David Troadec

Impact Features on Stardust: Implications for Comet 81P/Wild 2 Dust

Particles emanating from comet 81P/Wild 2 collided with the Stardust spacecraft at 6.1 kilometers per second, producing hypervelocity impact features on the collector surfaces that were returned to Earth. The morphologies of these surprisingly diverse features were created by particles varying from dense mineral grains to loosely bound, polymineralic aggregates ranging from tens of nanometers to hundreds of micrometers in size. The cumulative size distribution of Wild 2 dust is shallower than that of comet Halley, yet steeper than that of comet Grigg-Skjellerup.

Elemental compositions of comet 81P/Wild 2 samples collected by Stardust

We measured the elemental compositions of material from 23 particles in aerogel and from residue in seven craters in aluminum foil that was collected during passage of the Stardust spacecraft through the coma of comet 81P/Wild 2. These particles are chemically heterogeneous at the largest size scale analyzed (∼180 ng). The mean elemental composition of this Wild 2 material is consistent with the CI meteorite composition, which is thought to represent the bulk composition of the solar system, for the elements Mg, Si, Mn, Fe, and Ni to 35%, and for Ca and Ti to 60%. The elements Cu, Zn, and Ga appear enriched in this Wild 2 material, which suggests that the CI meteorites may not represent the solar system composition for these moderately volatile minor elements.

Testing the Temperature Limits of GaN-Based HEMT Devices

The high temperature stability of AlGaN/GaN and lattice-matched InAlN/GaN heterostructure FETs has been evaluated by a stepped temperature test routine under large-signal operation. While AlGaN/GaN high-electron mobility transistors (HEMTs) have failed in an operating temperature range of 500°C, InAlN/GaN HEMTs have been operated up to 900°C for 50 h (in vacuum). Failure is thought to be still contact metallization stability related, indicating an extremely robust InAlN/GaN heterostructure configuration.

Vertical "III-V" V-Shaped Nanomembranes Epitaxially Grown on a Patterned Si[001] Substrate and Their Enhanced Light Scattering

We report on a new form of III-V compound semiconductor nanostructures growing epitaxially as vertical V-shaped nanomembranes on Si(001) and study their light-scattering properties. Precise position control of the InAs nanostructures in regular arrays is demonstrated by bottom-up synthesis using molecular beam epitaxy in nanoscale apertures on a SiO(2) mask. The InAs V-shaped nanomembranes are found to originate from the two opposite facets of a rectangular pyramidal island nucleus and extend along two opposite <111> B directions, forming flat {110} walls. Dark-field scattering experiments, in combination with light-scattering theory, show the presence of distinctive shape-dependent optical resonances significantly enhancing the local intensity of incident electromagnetic fields over tunable spectral regions. These new nanostructures could have interesting potential in nanosensors, infrared light emitters, and nonlinear optical elements.

Optical waveguide loss minimized into gallium nitride based structures grown by metal organic vapor phase epitaxy

The waveguide properties are reported for wide bandgap gallium nitride (GaN) structures grown by metal organic vapor phase epitaxy on sapphire using a AlN/GaN short period-superlattice (SPS) buffer layer system. A detailed optical characterization of GaN structures has been performed using the prism coupling technique in order to evaluate its properties and, in particular, the refractive index dispersion and the propagation loss. In order to identify the structural defects in the samples, we performed transmission electron microscopy analysis. The results suggest that AlN/GaN SPS plays a role in acting as a barrier to the propagation of threading dislocations in the active GaN epilayer; above this defective region, the dislocations density is remarkably reduced. The waveguide losses were reduced to a value around 0.65dB/cm at 1.55 μm, corresponding to the best value reported so far for a GaN-based waveguide.

Nanometer-scale, quantitative composition mappings of InGaN layers from a combination of scanning transmission electron microscopy and energy dispersive x-ray spectroscopy

Using elastic scattering theory we show that a small set of energy dispersive x-ray spectroscopy (EDX) measurements is sufficient to experimentally evaluate the scattering function of electrons in high-angle annular dark field scanning transmission microscopy (HAADF-STEM). We then demonstrate how to use this function to transform qualitative HAADF-STEM images of InGaN layers into precise, quantitative chemical maps of the indium composition. The maps obtained in this way combine the resolution of HAADF-STEM and the chemical precision of EDX. We illustrate the potential of such chemical maps by using them to investigate nanometer-scale fluctuations in the indium composition and their impact on the growth of epitaxial InGaN layers.

Characteristics of the surface microstructures in thick InGaN layers on GaN

This paper focuses on a comparative study of optical, morphological, microstructural and microcompositional properties of typical InGaN samples which exhibit V-defects but also two additional surface defects features, referred to as inclusion#1 (Ic1) and inclusion#2 (Ic2). HR-XRD, AFM, SEM, STEM and EDX are used to characterize such defects. Furthermore, hyperspectral mapping, spot mode and depth-resolved CL measurements provided useful informations on the optical emission properties and microstructure. The main characteristic of Ic1 luminescence peak is a decrease in intensity and no obvious shift in the CL peak position when going from the outside to the middle of such defect. More interesting was Ic2 which is shown to be local 3D top surface In-rich InGaN domains embedded in an homogeneous InGaN matrix. In fact, this study pointed out that close to the interface GaN/InGaN, it exists a 30 nm thick fully strained InGaN layer with constant indium incorporation. As the growth proceeds spatial fluctuation of the In content is observed and local In-rich 3D domains are shown to emerge systematically around threading dislocations terminations.

100 nm period grating by high-index phase-mask immersion lithography

The interferogram of a high index phase mask of 200 nm period under normal incidence of a collimated beam at 244 nm wavelength with substantially suppressed zeroth order produces a 100 nm period grating in a resist film under immersion. The paper describes the phase mask design, its fabrication, the effect of electron-beam lithographic stitching errors and optical assessment of the fabricated sub-cutoff grating.

Large Array of Sub‐10‐nm Single‐Grain Au Nanodots for use in Nanotechnology

A uniform array of single-grain Au nanodots, as small as 5-8 nm, can be formed on silicon using e-beam lithography. The as-fabricated nanodots are amorphous, and thermal annealing converts them to pure Au single crystals covered with a thin SiO(2) layer. These findings are based on physical measurements, such as atomic force microscopy (AFM), atomic-resolution scanning transmission electron microscopy, and chemical techniques using energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy. A self-assembled organic monolayer is grafted on the nanodots and characterized chemically with nanometric lateral resolution. The extended uniform array of nanodots is used as a new test-bed for molecular electronic devices.

Novel heterostructured Ge nanowires based on polytype transformation.

We report on a strain-induced phase transformation in Ge nanowires under external shear stresses. The resulted polytype heterostructure may have great potential for photonics and thermoelectric applications. ⟨111⟩-oriented Ge nanowires with standard diamond structure (3C) undergo a phase transformation toward the hexagonal diamond phase referred as the 2H-allotrope. The phase transformation occurs heterogeneously on shear bands along the length of the nanowire. The structure meets the common phenomenological criteria of a martensitic phase transformation. This point is discussed to initiate an on going debate on the transformation mechanisms. The process results in unprecedented quasiperiodic heterostructures 3C/2H along the Ge nanowire. The thermal stability of those 2H domains is also studied under annealing up to 650 °C by in situ TEM.