Young-Dahl Jho

Temperature-Dependent Mean Free Path Spectra of Thermal Phonons Along the c-Axis of Graphite

Heat conduction in graphite has been studied for decades because of its exceptionally large thermal anisotropy. While the bulk thermal conductivities along the in-plane and cross-plane directions are well-known, less understood are the microscopic properties of the thermal phonons responsible for heat conduction. In particular, recent experimental and computational works indicate that the average phonon mean free path (MFP) along the c-axis is considerably larger than that estimated by kinetic theory, but the distribution of MFPs remains unknown. Here, we report the first quantitative measurements of c-axis phonon MFP spectra in graphite at a variety of temperatures using time-domain thermoreflectance measurements of graphite flakes with variable thickness. Our results indicate that c-axis phonon MFPs have values of a few hundred nanometers at room temperature and a much narrower distribution than in isotropic crystals. At low temperatures, phonon scattering is dominated by grain boundaries separating crystalline regions of different rotational orientation. Our study provides important new insights into heat transport and phonon scattering mechanisms in graphite and other anisotropic van der Waals solids.

Effect of indium composition on carrier escape in InGaN/GaN multiple quantum well solar cells

The influence of indium composition on carrier escape was studied considering recombination in InGaN/GaN multiple quantum well solar cells with indium compositions of 17% and 25%. Competition between tunneling and recombination turned out to act as a crucial role for the short-circuit current density (Jsc) and fill factor (FF). To enhance the Jsc and the FF, the tunneling-dominant carrier decay rather than recombination is required in the operating range of the solar cells which is possible by optimizing the band structures for a shorter tunneling time and by improving the crystalline quality for a longer recombination time.

Terahertz waves emitted from an optical fiber.

We report a simple method of creating terahertz waves by applying the photo-Dember effect in a (100)-oriented InAs film coated onto the 45-degree wedged-end facet of an optical fiber. The terahertz waves are generated by infrared pulses guided through the optical fiber which is nearly in contact with a sample and then measured by a conventional photo-conductive antenna detector. Using this alignment-free terahertz source, we performed proof-of-principle experiments of terahertz time-domain spectroscopy and near-field terahertz microscopy. We obtained a bandwidth of 2 THz and 180-microm spatial resolution. Using this method, the THz imaging resolution is expected to be reduced to the size of the optical fiber core. Applications of this device can be extended to sub-wavelength terahertz spectroscopic imaging, miniaturized terahertz system design, and remote sensing.

Influence of surface morphology on the optical property of vertically aligned ZnO nanorods

In this letter we have studied an influence of surface morphology on the optical property of vertically aligned ZnO nanorods. At low temperature the near band edge excitonic emission shows a strong dependence on surface morphology. A prominent and well resolved near band edge photoluminescence (PL) peak was obtained for nanowires with decreasing diameter and thus assigned due to the contributions to the optical properties of individual nanorods. Depending on surface morphology, the difference in low temperature PL property is attributed to the tailing of the density of states due to the potential fluctuations in randomly distributed intrinsic defects.

III-nitride core–shell nanorod array on quartz substrates

We report the fabrication of near-vertically elongated GaN nanorods on quartz substrates. To control the preferred orientation and length of individual GaN nanorods, we combined molecular beam epitaxy (MBE) with pulsed-mode metal–organic chemical vapor deposition (MOCVD). The MBE-grown buffer layer was composed of GaN nanograins exhibiting an ordered surface and preferred orientation along the surface normal direction. Position-controlled growth of the GaN nanorods was achieved by selective-area growth using MOCVD. Simultaneously, the GaN nanorods were elongated by the pulsed-mode growth. The microstructural and optical properties of both GaN nanorods and InGaN/GaN core–shell nanorods were then investigated. The nanorods were highly crystalline and the core–shell structures exhibited optical emission properties, indicating the feasibility of fabricating III-nitride nano-optoelectronic devices on amorphous substrates.

Enhancement of minority carrier lifetime of GaInP with lateral composition modulation structure grown by molecular beam epitaxy

We report the enhancement of the minority carrier lifetime of GaInP with a lateral composition modulated (LCM) structure grown using molecular beam epitaxy (MBE). The structural and optical properties of the grown samples are studied by transmission electron microscopy and photoluminescence, which reveal the formation of vertically aligned bright and dark slabs corresponding to Ga-rich and In-rich GaInP regions, respectively, with good crystal quality. With the decrease of V/III ratio during LCM GaInP growth, it is seen that the band gap of LCM GaInP is reduced, while the PL intensity remains high and is comparable to that of bulk GaInP. We also investigate the minority carrier lifetime of LCM structures made with different flux ratios. It is found that the minority carrier lifetime of LCM GaInP is ∼37 times larger than that of bulk GaInP material, due to the spatial separation of electrons and holes by In-rich and Ga-rich regions of the LCM GaInP, respectively. We further demonstrate that the minority ca...

Excitonic diffusion dynamics in ZnO

We investigate excitonic carrier diffusion in both bulk ZnO and nanorods (NRs). Using time-resolved differential reflectivity spectroscopy, we observe a fast decaying component together with a longer exponential relaxation. In bulk ZnO, we find that the fast decay term (∼1 ps) originates from excitonic diffusion along the growth direction. By probing at both the A and B excitons, we find different diffusion coefficients for each. In ZnO nanorods, the diffusion contribution is missing. We attribute this to two effects: (1) defects in the nanorods substantially slow the diffusion process and (2) excitons in nanorods are generated more uniformly than in bulk.

Separating the Contribution of Mobility among Different Quantum Well Subbands

Variable magnetic field Hall measurements were carried out to investigate carrier transport properties in a modulation-doped In0.53Ga0.47As/In0.52Al0.48As heterostructure over a broad temperature range from 10 to 300 K. Quantitative mobility-spectrum analysis (QMSA) and multicarrier fitting (MCF) analysis were then performed to separately extract information pertaining to the concentration and mobility associated with the first two quantum-well subbands. We thus present an analysis in which the scattering processes are relatively dominated by alloy disorder (optical phonon) for the first (second) subband to best fit the measured roll-over mobility characteristics in the high temperature region (>100 K).

Generation of superfluorescent bursts from a fully tunable semiconductor magneto-plasma

Quantum particles sometimes cooperate to develop a macroscopically ordered state with extraordinary properties. Superconductivity and Bose-Einstein condensation are examples of such cooperative phenomena where macroscopic order appears spontaneously. Here, we demonstrate that such an ordered state can also be obtained in an optically excited semiconductor quantum well in a high magnetic field. When we create a dense electron-hole plasma with an intense laser pulse, after a certain delay, an ultrashort burst of coherent radiation emerges. We interpret this striking phenomenon as a manifestation of superfluorescence (SF), in which a macroscopic polarization spontaneously builds up from an initially incoherent ensemble of excited quantum oscillators and then decays abruptly producing giant pulses of coherent radiation. SF has been observed in atomic gases, but the present work represents the first observation of SF in a solid-state setting. While there is an analogy between the recombination of electron-hole pairs and radiative transitions in atoms, there is no a priori reason for SF in semiconductors to be similar to atomic SF. This is a complex many-body system with a variety of ultrafast interactions, where the decoherence rates are at least 1,000 times faster than the radiative decay rate, an unusual situation totally unexplored in previous atomic SF studies. We show, nonetheless, that collective many-body coupling via a common radiation field does develop under certain conditions and leads to SF bursts. The solid-state realization of SF resulted in an unprecedented degree of controllability in the generation of SF, opening up opportunities for both fundamental many-body studies and device applications. We demonstrate that the intensity and delay time of SF bursts are fully tunable through an external magnetic field, temperature, and pump laser power.

Nexus between directionality of terahertz waves and structural parameters in groove patterned InAs

We performed terahertz (THz) time-domain spectroscopy in various geometries, for characterizing the directivity of THz waves emitted from groove patterned InAs structures. We first identified two transient transport processes as underlying THz emission mechanisms in InAs epilayers with different thicknesses. Carrier drift around the surface depletion region was predominant for the THz wave generation in the thin sample group (10–70 nm), whereas electronic diffusion overrode the drift currents in the thick sample group (370–900 nm) as revealed by the amplitude change and phase reversal. Through a combination of electron-beam lithography and inductively coupled plasma etching in 1 μm-thick InAs epilayers, we could further periodically fabricate either asymmetric V-groove patterns or symmetric parabolic apertures. The THz amplitude was enhanced, particularly along the line-of-sight transmissive direction when the periodic groove patterns act as microscale reflective mirrors separated by a scale of the diffus...