A new nonlinear photoconductive terahertz radiation source based on photon-activated charge domain quenched mode

We present a high-performance terahertz(THz)radiation source based on the photon-activated charge domain(PACD)quenched mode of GaAs photoconductive antennas(GaAs PCA).The THz radiation characteristics of the GaAs PCA under different operating modes are studied.Compared with the linear mode,the intensity of THz wave radiated by the GaAs PCA can be greatly enhanced due to the avalanche multiplication effect of carriers in the PACD quenched mode.The results show that when the carrier multiplication ratio is 16.92,the peak-to-peak value of THz field radiated in the PACD quenched mode increases by as much as about 4.19 times compared to the maximum values in the linear mode.

Photon-activated charge domain in high-gain photoconductive switches

We report our experimental observation of charge domain oscillation in semi-insulating GaAs photocon-ductive semiconductor switches (PCSSs). The high-gain PCSS is intrinsically a photon-activated charge domain device. It is the photon-activated carriers that satisfy the requirement of charge domain formation on carrier concentration and device length product of 1012 cm-2. We also show that, because of the repeated process of domain formation, the domain travels with a compromised speed of electron saturation velocity and the speed of light. As a result, the transit time of charge domains in PCSS is much shorter than that of traditional Gunn domains.

A 27-mW 10-bit 125-MSPS charge domain pipelined ADC with a PVT insensitive boosted charge transfer circuit

A low power 10-bit 125-MSPS charge-domain(CD) pipelined analog-to-digital converter(ADC) based on MOS bucket-brigade devices(BBDs) is presented.A PVT insensitive boosted charge transfer(BCT) that is able to reject the charge error induced by PVT variations is proposed.With the proposed BCT,the common mode charge control circuit can be eliminated in the CD pipelined ADC and the system complexity is reduced remarkably.The prototype ADC based on the proposed BCT is realized in a 0.18μm CMOS process,with power consumption of only 27 mW at 1.8-V supply and active die area of 1.04 mm^2.The prototype ADC achieves a spurious free dynamic range(SFDR) of 67.7 dB,a signal-to-noise ratio(SNDR) of 57.3 dB,and an effective number of bits(ENOB) of 9.0 for a 3.79 MHz input at full sampling rate.The measured differential nonlinearity(DNL) and integral nonlinearity (INL) are +0.5/-0.3 LSB and +0.7/-0.55 LSB,respectively.

A low power time-interleaved 10-bit 250-MSPS charge domain pipelined ADC for IF sampling

A 10-bit 250-MSPS two-channel time-interleaved charge-domain（CD） pipelined analog-to-digital converter （ADC） is presented.MOS bucket-brigade device（BBD） based CD pipelined architecture is used to achieve low power consumption.An all digital low power DLL is used to alleviate the timing mismatches and to reduce the aperture jitter.A new bootstrapped MOS switch is designed in the sample and hold circuit to enhance the IF sampling capability.The ADC achieves a spurious free dynamic range（SFDR） of 67.1 dB,signal-to-noise ratio （SNDR） of 55.1 dB for a 10.1 MHz input,and SFDR of 61.6 dB,SNDR of 52.6 dB for a 355 MHz input at full sampling rate.Differential nonlinearity（DNL） is ＋0.5/-0.4 LSB and integral nonlineariry（INL） is ＋0.8/-0.75 LSB.Fabricated in a 0.18-μm 1P6M CMOS process,the prototype 10-bit pipelined ADC occupies 1.8×1.3 mm2 of active die area,and consumes only 68 mW at 1.8 V supply.

A 12-bit 250-MS/s Charge-Domain Pipelined Analog-to-Digital Converter with Feed-Forward Common-Mode Charge Control

A feed-forward Common-Mode （CM） charge control circuit for a high-speed Charge-Domain （CO） pipelined Analog-to-Digital Converter （ADC） is presented herein. This study aims at solving the problem whereby the precision of CD pipelined ADCs is restricted by the variation in input CM charge, which can compensate for CM charge errors caused by a variation in CM charge input in real time. Based on the feed-forward CM charge control circuit, a 12-bit 250-MS/s CD pipelined ADC is designed and realized using a 1P6M 0.18-μm CMOS process. The ADC achieved a Spurious Free Dynamic Range （SFDR） of 78.1 dB and a Signal-to-Noise-and-Distortion Ratio （SNDR） of 64.6 dB for a 20.1-MHz input; a SFDR of 74.9 dB and SNDR of 62.0 dB were achieved for a 239.9-MHz input at full sampling rate. The variation in signal-to-noise ratio was less than 3 dB over a 0-1.2 V input CM voltage range. The power consumption of the prototype ADC is only 85 mW at 1.8 V supply, and it occupies an active die area of 2.24 mm^2.

A 10-bit 250 MSPS charge-domain pipelined ADC with replica controlled PVT insensitive BCT circuit

A low power 10-bit 250 MSPS charge-domain （CD） pipelined analog-to-digital converter （ADC） is introduced. The ADC is implemented in MOS bucket-brigade devices （BBDs） based CD pipelined architecture. A replica controlled boosted charge transfer （BCT） circuit is introduced to reject the influence of PVT variations on the charge transfer process. Based on replica controlled BCT, the CD pipelined ADC is designed and realized in a 1P6M 0.18μm CMOS process. The ADC achieves an SFDR of 64.4 dB, an SNDR of 56.9 dB and an ENOB of 9.2 for a 9.9 MHz input; and an SFDR of 63.1 dB, an SNR of 55.2 dB, an SNDR of 54.5 dB and an ENOB of 8.7 for a 220.5 MHz input at full sampling rate. The DNL is ＋0.5/- 0.55 LSB and INL is ＋0.8/- 0.85 LSB. The power consumption of the prototype ADC is only 45 mW at 1.8 V supply and it occupies an active die area of 1.56 mm2.

Experimental Research on Inhibition of Surface Flashover Based on High Power Gallium Arsenide Photoconductive Switches Triggered by Laser

Semi-insulating gallium arsenide （GaAs） photoconductive semiconductor switches （PCSS） have great potential for high voltage switching application, however, the utility is restricted by surface flashover which wouId result in breakdown. In this paper, a model of photo-activated charge wave was proposed based on the theory of photo-activated charge domain （PACD） in GaAs PCSS, and moderate suppression of PACD formation by loading the semiconductor surface with dielectric material was investigated theoretically and experimentally. Current as high as 3.7 kA was obtained at 28 kV, implying that this method can effectively inhibit the surface flashover and improve the service life of DC charged GaAs PCSS.

Experimental investigation of limit space charge accumulation mode operation in a semi-insulating GaAs photoconductive semiconductor switch

Experiments with the limited space-charge accumulation（LSA） mode of oscillation in a large gap semiinsulating （SI） GaAs photoconductive semiconductor switch（PCSS） are discussed.It has been observed that growth and drift of a photo-activated charge domain（PACD） are quenched only when the bias voltage is more than twice the threshold voltage.The original negative resistance characteristics are directly utilized in the LSA mode;during LSA operation the spatial average of the electric field varies over a large portion of the negative differential mobility region of the velocity-electric field characteristic.The work efficiency of an SI GaAs PCSS is remarkably enhanced by electric field excursions into the positive resistance region when the total electric field is only below the threshold part of the time.The LSA mode can only operate in the certain conditions that satisfy the quenching of the accumulation layer and the smaller initial domain voltage.

Light controlled prebreakdown characteristics of a semi-insulating GaAs photoconductive switch

A 4 mm gap semi-insulating （SI） GaAs photoconductive switch （PCSS） was triggered by a pulse laser with a wavelength of 1064 nm and a pulse energy of 0.5 mJ. In the experiment, when the bias field was 4 kV, the switch did not induce self-maintained discharge but worked in nonlinear （lock-on） mode. The phenomenon is analyzed as follows： an exciton effect contributes to photoconduction in the generation and dissociation of ex- citons. Collision ionization, avalanche multiplication and the exciton effect can supply carrier concentration and energy when an outside light source was removed. Under the combined influence of these factors, the S1-GaAs PCSS develops into self-maintained discharge rather than just in the light-controlled prebreakdown status. The characteristics of the filament affect the degree of damage to the switch.

铁电工程:铁电局部结构异质提高热电性能

GeTe是一种典型的铁电半导体,其性能可以通过掺杂各种元素进行优化.然而,由于难以直接观察铁电畴及其在温度和电流的实际工作条件下的演变,因此铁电畴壁对热电性能的影响仍然未知.本工作基于对未掺杂的和Sb掺杂的GeTe晶体中铁电畴和铁电畴壁的原位实验研究,探究了铁电畴和铁电畴壁在外加电场和温度下的动态演化.由于掺杂引入的Sb^(3+)和Ge空位的相互作用,产生了局部结构异质性,引入纳米尺寸的铁电畴,使畴尺寸减小、带电畴壁密度增大,从而大大提高了热电性能.这项工作揭示了铁电畴壁增强热电半导体性能的基本机制,为高性能热电材料的发展提供了新自由度.