Euyhwan Park

The arcuate NPY, POMC, and CART expressions responding to food deprivation are exaggerated in young female rats that experienced neonatal maternal separation.

This study was conducted to examine the effect of neonatal maternal separation on the hypothalamic feeding peptides expression in young female offspring. Sprague-Dawley pups were separated from dam for 3h daily during PND 1-14 (MS), or left undisturbed except routine cage cleaning (NH). Weanling female pups were housed in group and the arcuate mRNA levels of neuropeptide Y (NPY), proopiomelanocortin (POMC), and cocaine-amphetamine regulated transcript (CART) were examined at two months of age with or without food deprivation. The basal arcuate expression levels of these peptides did not differ between NH and MS group. However, a 48 h of food deprivation significantly increased NPY mRNA level, and decreased POMC and CART, in the arcuate nucleus of MS females, but not in NH females. Fasting-induced elevation of the plasma corticosterone tended to be greater in MS group than in NH, but the basal levels did not differ between the groups. Plasma leptin levels were decreased in MS females compared with NH, and food deprivation significantly suppressed the leptin levels both in NH and MS groups. Results suggest that MS experience may increase stress vulnerability in female rats and exaggerate the feeding peptides expression in the arcuate nucleus responding to metabolic stress food deprivation.

Schottky Barrier Tunnel Field-Effect Transistor using Spacer Technique

In order to overcome small current drivability of a tunneling field-effect transistor (TFET), a TFET using Schottky barrier (SBTFET) is proposed. The proposed device has a metal source region unlike the conventional TFET. In addition, dopant segregation technology between the source and channel region is applied to reduce tunneling resistance. For TFET fabrication, spacer technique is adopted to enable self-aligned process because the SBTFET consists of source and drain with different types. Also the control device which has a doped source region is made to compare the electrical characteristics with those of the SBTFET. From the measured results, the SBTFET shows better on/off switching property than the control device. The observed drive current is larger than those of the previously reported TFET. Also, short-channel effects (SCEs) are investigated through the comparison of electrical characteristics between the long- and shortchannel SBTFET .

Tunneling field-effect transistor with Si/SiGe material for high current drivability

In order to overcome the small current drivability of a tunneling field-effect transistor (TFET), we have introduced a TFET with the SiGe body and elevated Si drain region. The proposed TFET features large on-current and lower subthreshold swing (SS) compared with the Si TFET. Also, by using elevated Si drain region, it is expected that ambipolar current can be suppressed. Through the technology computer aided design (TCAD) simulation, the characteristics of the proposed TFET have been investigated to confirm its superiority in performance. The proposed TFET structure enables self-aligned doping process and has a strong immunity to short-channel effects compared with the conventional TFET. In addition, we have confirmed that both n- and p-channel characteristics can be simultaneously improved by using the proposed TFET.

GaN-based light emitting diodes using p-type trench structure for improving internal quantum efficiency

In order to improve the internal quantum efficiency of GaN-based LEDs, a LED structure featuring a p-type trench in the multi-quantum well (MQW) is proposed. This structure has effects on spreading holes into the MQW and reducing the quantum-confined stark effect (QCSE). In addition, two simple fabrication methods using electron-beam (e-beam) lithography or selective wet etching for manufacturing the p-type structure are also proposed. From the measurement results of the manufactured GaN-based LEDs, it is confirmed that the proposed structure using e-beam lithography or selective wet etching shows improved light output power compared to the conventional structure because of more uniform hole distribution. It is also confirmed that the proposed structure formed by e-beam lithography has a significant effect on strain relaxation and reduction in the QCSE from the electro-luminescence measurement.

Increased depression-like behaviors with dysfunctions in the stress axis and the reward center by free access to highly palatable food

This study was conducted to examine the behavioral consequences of unlimited consumption of highly palatable food (HPF) and investigate its underlying neural mechanisms. Male Sprague-Dawley rats had free access to chocolate cookie rich in fat (HPF) in addition to ad libitum chow and the control group received chow only. Rats were subjected to behavioral tests during the 2nd week of food condition; i.e. ambulatory activity test on the 8th, elevated plus maze test (EPM) on the 10th and forced swim test (FST) on the 14th day of food condition. After 8 days of food condition, another group of rats were placed in a restraint box and tail bloods were collected at 0, 20, 60, and 120 time points during 2h of restraint period, used for the plasma corticosterone assay. At the end of restraint session, rats were sacrificed and the tissue sections of the nucleus accumbens (NAc) were processed for c-Fos immunohistochemistry. Ambulatory activities and the scores of EPM were not significantly affected by unlimited cookie consumption. However, immobility duration during FST was increased, and swim decreased, in the rats received free cookie access compared with control rats. Stress-induced corticosterone increase was exaggerated in cookie-fed rats, while the stress-induced c-Fos expression in the NAc was blunted, compared to control rats. Results suggest that free access to HPF may lead to the development of depression-like behaviors in rats, likely in relation with dysfunctions in the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis and the reward center.

Analysis of trap and its impact on InGaN-based blue light-emitting diodes using current-transient methodology

A reversible increase in the current of InGaN-based blue LEDs is observed when constant forward voltage is applied. This characteristic is assumed to be the result of trapping process, and a trap activation energy of 0.30 eV is extracted. Through a numerical simulation, it is confirmed that the multi-quantum well (MQW) barrier height is reduced by the hole trapping process and that the current is increased by lowering this barrier. We also confirmed the effect of this trap on the optical characteristics of InGaN-based blue LEDs by a numerical simulation and measurement.

Effects of Localized Body Doping on Switching Characteristics of Tunnel FET Inverters With Vertical Structures

In order to verify the effects of localized body doping (LBD) on alternating current switching performances of tunnel FETs (TFETs) with vertical structures, The TFET inverter composed of n-/p-type TFET with the localized p+/n+ body doping is simulated with the help of mixed-mode device and circuit simulations. As a result, falling/rising delay is significantly improved due to the locally high channel-to-drain side energy barrier induced by the LBD. Furthermore, LBD conditions, such as doping concentration, depth, and width, are optimized to maximize the improvement of falling/rising delay. Based on the optimization results, it is found that enough wide doping width and deep depth are inevitable to minimize the drain voltage (

Reduction method of gate-to-drain capacitance by oxide spacer formation in tunnel field-effect transistor with elevated drain

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Analysis on temperature dependent current mechanism of tunnel field-effect transistors

)-induced lowering of the locally increased barrier and the increase of ambipolar current and too wide doping width cannot be applied due to the ON-current reduction caused by the degraded controllability of gate voltage on channel similarly to short channel effects. Moreover, the doping width and depth should be adjusted according to LBD concentration.

Improved internal quantum efficiency of GaN-based light emitting diodes using p-AlGaN trench in multi-quantum well

A novel fabrication method is proposed to reduce large gate-to-drain capacitance (C GD) and to improve AC switching characteristics in tunnel field-effect transistor (TFETs) with elevated drain (TFETED). In the proposed method, gate oxide at drain region (GDOX) is selectively formed through oxide deposition and spacer-etch process. Furthermore, the thicknesses of the GDOX are simply controlled by the amount of the oxide deposition and etch. Mixed-mode device and circuit technology computer aided design (TCAD) simulations are performed to verify the effects of the GDOX thickness on DC and AC switching characteristics of a TFETED inverter. As a result, it is found that AC switching characteristics such as output voltage pre-shoot and falling/rising delay are improved with nearly unchanged DC characteristics by thicker GDOX. This improvement is explained successfully by reduced C GD and positive shifted gate voltage (V G) versus C GD curves with the thicker GDOX.