M. Cahay

Dynamic work function shift in cold cathode emitters using current carrying thin films

We analyze a new cold cathode emitter which consists of a thin wide band gap semiconductor material sandwiched between a metallic material, and a low work function semimetallic thin film. We show that under forward bias operation the electrons captured in the low work function material are responsible for an effective reduction of the semimetallic film work function, together with a substantial increase of the cathode emitted current. The dynamic work function shift is shown to increase with the amount of injected current. Potential material candidates are suggested to achieve low‐voltage (<20 V), room‐temperature cold cathode operation with emission currents approaching several hundred A/cm2 and large efficiencies.

Simulation and design of InAlAs/InGaAs pnp heterojunction bipolar transistors

The performance capabilities of InP-based pnp heterojunction bipolar transistors (HBTs) have been investigated using a drift-diffusion transport model based on a commercial numerical simulator. The low hole mobility in the base is found to limit the current gain and the base transit time, which limits the devices cutoff frequency. The high electron majority carrier mobility in the n/sup +/ InGaAs base allows a reduction in the base doping and width while maintaining an adequately low base resistance. As a result, high current gain (>300) and power gain (>40 dB) are found to be possible at microwave frequencies. A cutoff frequency as high as 23 GHz and a maximum frequency of oscillation as high as 34 GHz are found to be possible without base grading. Comparison is made with the available, reported experimental results and good agreement is found. The analysis indicates that high-performance pnp InP-based HBTs are feasible, but that optimization of the transistors multilayer structure is different than for the npn device.

Possible origin of the 0.5 plateau in the ballistic conductance of quantum point contacts

A non-equilibrium Green function formalism (NEGF) is used to study the conductance of a side-gated quantum point contact (QPC) in the presence of lateral spin-orbit coupling (LSOC). A small difference of bias voltage between the two side gates (SGs) leads to an inversion asymmetry in the LSOC between the opposite edges of the channel. In single electron modeling of transport, this triggers a spontaneous but insignificant spin polarization in the QPC. However, the spin polarization of the QPC is enhanced substantially when the effect of electron-electron interaction is included. The spin polarization is strong enough to result in the occurrence of a conductance plateau at 0.5G0 (G0 = 2e2/h) in the absence of any external magnetic field. In our simulations of a model QPC device, the 0.5 plateau is found to be quite robust and survives up to a temperature of 40K. The spontaneous spin polarization and the resulting magnetization of the QPC can be reversed by flipping the polarity of the source to drain bias or the potential difference between the two SGs. These numerical simulations are in good agreement with recent experimental results for side-gated QPCs made from the low band gap semiconductor InAs.

Physical properties of lanthanum monosulfide thin films grown on (100) silicon substrates

Thin films of lanthanum monosulfide (LaS) have been deposited on Si (100) substrates by pulsed laser deposition. The films are golden yellow in appearance with a mirrorlike surface morphology and a sheet resistance around 0.1Ω∕◻, as measured using a four-probe measurement technique. The thin films are characterized by atomic force microscopy (AFM), x-ray diffraction (XRD) analysis, high resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM), ellipsometry, and Raman spectroscopy. The root-mean-square variation of (1μm thick) film surface roughness measured over a 1μm2 area by AFM was found to be 1.74nm. XRD analysis of fairly thick films (micrometer size) reveals the growth of the cubic rocksalt structure with a lattice constant of 5.863(7)A, which is close to the bulk LaS value. HRTEM images reveal that the films are comprised of nanocrystals separated by regions of amorphous material. Two beam bright field TEM images show that there is a strain contrast in the Si substrate right under the interface with the...

Design of a InP/In1−xGaxAsyP1−y/In0.53Ga0.47As emitter-base junction in a Pnp heterojunction bipolar transistor for increased hole injection efficiency

Starting with Burt’s envelope function theory, we calculate the transmission coefficients of holes across an InP/In1−xGaxAsyP1−y/In0.53Ga0.47As heterointerface while varying the width and gallium and arsenic fractions of the InP lattice-matched quaternary compound (x=0.47y). While comparing our results to the case of an abrupt InP/In0.53Ga0.47As interface, we find that the transmission coefficients of both heavy- and light-holes can be enhanced significantly for a 60-A-wide quaternary layer with an arsenic fraction y=0.4 (x=0.188). This should lead to an enhanced hole injection efficiency of Pnp heterojunction bipolar transistors using the heterointerface analyzed here as an improved design of the emitter-base junction.

Patchwork field emission properties of lanthanum monosulfide thin films

The field emission (FE) properties of lanthanum monosulfide (LaS) films, deposited on Si and InP substrates by pulsed laser deposition, have been thoroughly analyzed via the scanning anode field emission microscopy technique (SAFEM, Fig. 1) at different surface locations and at different temperatures. For one location, the full set of measured I-V characteristics (total measured current versus applied voltage) for different values of Z, the distance between the cathode surface and the probe ball, were then analyzed in order to extract the current density J versus actual applied field F (J-F data), within the approximation that the LaS surface is a plane. A characteristic J-F variation is shown in Fig. 2. The work function of the LaS thin film has been extracted from the slope of the plot ln(J/F/sup 2/) vs 1/F, by using the conventional Fowler-Nordheim relation, leading to a value of /spl sim/0.65 eV which is in agreement with the onset of the electric field needed to observe an emission current density of 1 mA/cm/sup 2/ at an applied electric field across the vacuum gap around 230 V//spl mu/m.

Evidence for adsorbate-enhanced field emission from carbon nanotube fibers

We used residual gas analysis (RGA) to identify the species desorbed during field emission (FE) from a carbon nanotube (CNT) fiber. The RGA data show a sharp threshold for H2 desorption at an external field strength that coincides with a breakpoint in the FE data. A comprehensive model for the gradual transition of FE from adsorbate-enhanced CNTs at low bias to FE from CNTs with reduced H2 adsorbate coverage at high bias is developed which accounts for the gradual desorption of the H2 adsorbates, alignment of the CNTs at the fiber tip, and importance of self-heating effects with applied bias.

Observation of a 0.5 conductance plateau in asymmetrically biased GaAs quantum point contact

We report the observation of a robust anomalous conductance plateau near Gu2009=u20090.5 G0 (G0u2009=u20092e2/h) in asymmetrically biased AlGaAs/GaAs quantum point contacts (QPCs), with in-plane side gates in the presence of lateral spin-orbit coupling. This is interpreted as evidence of spin polarization in the narrow portion of the QPC. The appearance and evolution of the conductance anomaly has been studied at Tu2009=u20094.2u2009K as a function of the potential asymmetry between the side gates. Because GaAs is a material with established processing techniques, high mobility, and a relatively high spin coherence length, the observation of spontaneous spin polarization in a side-gated GaAs QPC could eventually lead to the realization of an all-electric spin-valve at tens of degrees Kelvin.

Space-charge effects and current self-quenching in a metal/CdS/LaS cold cathode

We analyze the importance of space-charge effects in the cathode to anode gap region of a recently proposed metal/CdS(cadmium sulfide)/LaS(lanthanum sulfide) cold cathode. Our approach is based on an ensemble Monte Carlo description of electron transport assuming ballistic injection across the CdS and LaS layers. Under this approximation, the energy spectrum of the injected beam entering the air gap can be determined exactly as a function of the applied bias across the CdS layer. The effects of shot noise in the injected current are taken into account. For some of the biasing conditions considered here, space-charge effects are quite drastic and lead to dynamical effects which are responsible for the onset of current self-quenching similar to the Child–Langmuir regime of operation of thermionic cathodes. The limiting anode current density is found to be much larger than the Child–Langmuir limit. In the presence of strong space-charge effects, large oscillations in the minimum of the electrostatic potentia...

Multiscale model of heat dissipation mechanisms during field emission from carbon nanotube fibers

A multiscale model of field emission (FE) from carbon nanotube fibers (CNFs) is developed, which takes into account Joule heating within the fiber and radiative cooling and the Nottingham effect at the tip of the individual carbon nanotubes (CNTs) in the array located at the fiber tip. The model predicts the fraction of CNTs being destroyed as a function of the applied external electric field and reproduces many experimental features observed in some recently investigated CNFs, such as order of magnitude of the emission current (mA range), low turn on electric field (fraction of V/μm), deviation from pure Fowler-Nordheim behavior at large applied electric field, hysteresis of the FE characteristics, and a spatial variation of the temperature along the CNF axis with a maximum close to its tip of a few hundred u2009°C.