Zhang Shengdong

Progress in AMS Measurement of 182Hf at CIAE

Accelerator mass spectrometry (AMS) is one of the most promising methods to detect minute amounts of 182Hf. However, the sensitivity of 5 × 10−11 for 182Hf/180 Hf obtained previously by the AMS method at China Institute of Atomic Energy (CIAE) cannot meet the requirement of some applications. We present some new improvements of measurement method for AMS measurement of 182Hf at the CIAE HI-13 tandem accelerator system. As a result, a sensitivity of 1.0 × 10−11 for 182Hf/180 Hf is achieved.

Reactive Radiofrequency Sputtering-Deposited Nanocrystalline ZnO Thin-Film Transistors

The structural and electrical properties of ZnO films deposited by reactive radiofrequency sputtering with a metallic zinc target are systematically investigated. While the as-deposited ZnO film is in a poly-crystalline structure when the partial pressure of oxygen (pO2) is low, the grain size abruptly decreases to a few nanometers as pO2 increases to a critical value, and then becomes almost unchanged with a further increase in pO2. In addition, the resistivity of the ZnO films shows a non-monotonic dependence on pO2, including an abrupt transition of about seven orders of magnitude at the critical pO2. Thin-film transistors (TFTs) with the nanocrystalline ZnO films as channel layers have an on/off current ratio of more than 107, an off-current in the order of pA, a threshold voltage of about 4.5 V, and a carrier mobility of about 2cm2/(V?s). The results show that radiofrequency sputtered ZnO with a zinc target is a promising candidate for high-performance ZnO TFTs.

Magnetic Properties of Co-Doped TiO2 Films Grown on TiN Buffered Silicon Substrates

Co-doped TiO2 thin films are grown on TiN buffered silicon substrates by the pulsed laser deposition method and then hydrogenated. Transmission electron microscopy and high-angle annular dark-field scanning transmission electron microscopy measurements have shown that the TiN buffer layer can suffer a 400°C deposition temperature and prevent the growth of silicon dioxide on silicon. After that, the room temperature ferromagnetism behaviors are observed in the hydrogenated samples, which are measured by the alternating gradient magnetometer. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy and x-ray absorption fine structure measurements have revealed the existence of cobalt clusters. According to the material analysis, the magnetic behavior after hydrogenation is suggested to be induced by the enhancement of cobalt clusters.

A time-domain digitally controlled oscillator composed of a free running ring oscillator and flying-adder

A time-domain digitally controlled oscillator (DCO) is proposed. The DCO is composed of a free-running ring oscillator (FRO) and a two lap-selectors integrated flying-adder (FA). With a coiled cell array which allows uniform loading capacitances of the delay cells, the FRO produces 32 outputs with consistent tap spacing for the FA as reference clocks. The FA uses the outputs from the FRO to generate the output of the DCO according to the control number, resulting in a linear dependence of the output period, instead of the frequency on the digital controlling word input. Thus the proposed DCO ensures a good conversion linearity in a time-domain, and is suitable for time-domain all-digital phase locked loop applications. The DCO was implemented in a standard 0.13 μm digital logic CMOS process. The measurement results show that the DCO has a linear and monotonic tuning curve with gain variation of less than 10%, and a very low root mean square period jitter of 9.3 ps in the output clocks. The DCO works well at supply voltages ranging from 0.6 to 1.2 V, and consumes 4 mW of power with 500 MHz frequency output at 1.2 V supply voltage.