Anisotropic metal–insulator transition in strained VO_(2)(B) single crystal

Mechanical strain can induce noteworthy structural and electronic changes in vanadium dioxide, imparting substantial scientific importance to both the exploration of phase transitions and the development of potential technological applications. Unlike the traditional rutile(R) phase, bronze-phase vanadium dioxide [VO_(2)(B)] exhibits an in-plane anisotropic structure. When subjected to stretching along distinct crystallographic axes, VO_(2)(B) may further manifest the axial dependence in lattice–electron interactions, which is beneficial for gaining insights into the anisotropy of electronic transport.Here, we report an anisotropic room-temperature metal–insulator transition in single-crystal VO_(2)(B) by applying in-situ uniaxial tensile strain. This material exhibits significantly different electromechanical responses along two anisotropic axes.We reveal that such an anisotropic electromechanical response mainly arises from the preferential arrangement of a straininduced unidirectional stripe state in the conductive channel. This insulating stripe state could be attributed to the in-plane dimerization within the distorted zigzag chains of vanadium atoms, evidenced by strain-modulated Raman spectra. Our work may open up a promising avenue for exploiting the anisotropy of metal–insulator transition in vanadium dioxide for potential technological applications.

Band structures of strained kagome lattices

Materials with kagome lattices have attracted significant research attention due to their nontrivial features in energy bands.We theoretically investigate the evolution of electronic band structures of kagome lattices in response to uniaxial strain using both a tight-binding model and an antidot model based on a periodic muffin-tin potential.It is found that the Dirac points move with applied strain.Furthermore,the flat band of unstrained kagome lattices is found to develop into a highly anisotropic shape under a stretching strain along y direction,forming a partially flat band with a region dispersionless along ky direction while dispersive along kx direction.Our results shed light on the possibility of engineering the electronic band structures of kagome materials by mechanical strain.

Fabrication and Characterization of Strained Si Material Using SiGe Virtual Substrate for High Mobility Devices

The fabrication and characterization of strained-Si material grown on a relaxed Si0.79 Ge0.21/graded Si1-x- Gex/Si virtual substrate, using reduced pressure chemical vapor deposition, are presented. The Ge concentration of the constant composition SiGe layer and the grading rate of the graded SiGe layer are estimated with double-crystal X-ray diffraction and further confirmed by SIMS measurements. The surface root mean square roughness of the strained Si cap layer is 2.36nm,and the strain is about 0.83% as determined by atomic force microscopy and Raman spectra, respectively. The threading dislocation density is on the order of 4 × 10^4cm^-2. Furthermore, it is found that the stress in the strained Si cap layer is maintained even after the high thermal budget process, nMOSFET devices are fabricated and measured in strained-Si and unstrained bulk-Si channels. Compared to the co-processed bulk-Si MOSFETs at room temperature,a significant low vertical field mobility enhancement of about 85% is observed in the strained-Si devices.

Binding Energies of Screened Excitons in a Strained(111)-Oriented Zinc-Blende GaN/AlGaN Quantum Well Under Hydrostatic Pressure

We investigate the binding energies of excitons in a strained （111）-oriented zinc-blende GaN/Al0.3 Ga0.7 N quantum well screened by the electron-hole （e-h） gas under hydrostatic pressure by combining a variational method and a selfconsistent procedure. A built-in electric field produced by the strain-induced piezoelectric polarization is considered in our calculations. The result indicates that the binding energies of excitons increase nearly linearly with pressure,even though the modification of strain with hydrostatic pressure is considered, and the influence of pressure is more apparent under higher e-h densities. It is also found that as the density of an e-h gas increases,the binding energies first increase slowly to a maximum and then decrease rapidly when the e-h density is larger than about 1 ×10^11 cm^-2. The excitonic binding energies increase obviously as the barrier thickness decreases due to the decrease of the built-in electric field.

The KP Dispersion Relation Near the Δ~i Valley in Strained Si_(1-x)Ge_x/Si

Based on an analysis of symmetry, the dispersion relations near the Ai valley in strained Si1-x Gex （0≤x〈0.45）/ （001）, （111）, （101）Si are derived using the KP method with perturbation theory. These relations demonstrate that △^i levels in strained Si1-x Gex are different from the △1 level in relaxed Si1-x Gex, while the longitudinal and transverse masses （m1^＊ and mt^＊ ） are unchanged under strain. The energy shift between the △^i levels and the △1 level follows the linear deformation potential theory. Finally,a description of the conduction band （CB） edge in biaxially strained layers is given.

Band Edge Model of (101)-Biaxial Strained Si

A band edge model in （101）-biaxial strained Si on relaxed Si1-x Gex alloy,or monoclinic Si （m-Si）,is presented using the k · p perturbation method coupled with deformation potential theory. Results show that the [001], [001], [100], [100] valleys constitute the conduction band （CB） edge,which moves up in electron energy as the Ge fraction （x） increases. Furthermore,the CB splitting energy is in direct proportion to x and all the valence band （VB） edges move up in electron energy as x increases. In addition, the decrease in the indirect bandgap and the increase in the VB edge splitting energy as x increases are found. The quantitative data from the models supply valuable references for the design of the devices.

An analytical threshold voltage model for dual-strained channel PMOSFET

Based on the analysis of vertical electric potential distribution across the dual-channel strained p-type Si/strained Si1-xGex/relaxd Si1-yGey（s-Si/s-SiGe/Si1-yGey） metal-oxide-semiconductor field-effect transistor （PMOSFET）, analytical expressions of the threshold voltages for buried channel and surface channel are presented. And the maximum allowed thickness of s-Si is given, which can ensure that the strong inversion appears earlier in the buried channel （compressive strained SiGe） than in the surface channel （tensile strained Si）, because the hole mobility in the buried channel is higher than that in the surface channel. Thus they offer a good accuracy as compared with the results of device simulator ISE. With this model, the variations of threshold voltage and maximum allowed thickness of s-Si with design parameters can be predicted, such as Ge fraction, layer thickness, and doping concentration. This model can serve as a useful tool for p-channel s-Si/s-SiGe/Si1-yGey metal-oxide-semiconductor field-effect transistor （MOSFET） designs.

Calculation of Valence Subband Structures for Strained Quantum-Wells by Plane Wave Expansion Method Within 6×6 Luttinger-Kohn Model

The valence subband energies and wave functions of a tensile strained quantum well are calculated by the plane wave expansion method within the 6×6 Luttinger Kohn model.The effect of the number and period of plane waves used for expansion on the stability of energy eigenvalues is examined.For practical calculation,it should choose the period large sufficiently to ensure the envelope functions vanish at the boundary and the number of plane waves large enough to ensure the energy eigenvalues keep unchanged within a prescribed range.

GSMBE-Grown InGaAs/InGaAsP Strained Quantum Well Lasers at 1.84 Micron Wavelength

GSMBE grown 1 84 micron wavelength InGaAs/InGaAsP/InP strained quantum well lasers are reported. Lasers with 800 micron long cavity and 40 micron wide planar electrical stripe have been operated under the pulsed regime at room temperature. At 20℃, the threshold current density is 3 8kA/cm 2 and the external different quantum efficiency is 9 3%.

An Analytical Model of Electron Mobility for Strained-Si Channel nMOSFETs

An analytical model of electron mobility for strained-silicon channel nMOSFETs is proposed in this paper. The model deals directly with the strain tensor,and thus is independent of the manufacturing process. It is suitable for （100〉/ 〈110） channel nMOSFETs under biaxial or （100〉/〈 110 ） uniaxial stress and can be implemented in conventional device simulation tools .

Wide-Band Polarization-Independent Semiconductor Optical Amplifier Gate with Tensile-Strained Quasi-Bulk InGaAs

A semiconductor optical amplifier gate based on tensile strained quasi bulk InGaAs is developed.At injection current of 80mA,a 3dB optical bandwidth of more than 85nm is achieved due to dominant band filling effect.Moreover,the most important is that very low polarization dependence of gain (<0 7dB),fiber to fiber lossless operation current (70～90mA) and a high extinction ratio (>50dB) are simultaneously obtained over this wide 3dB optical bandwidth (1520～1609nm) which nearly covers the spectral region of the whole C band (1525～1565nm) and the whole L band (1570～1610nm).The gating time is also improved by decreasing carrier lifetime.The wide band polarization insensitive SOA gate is promising for use in future dense wavelength division multiplexing (DWDM) communication systems.

Compressively Strained InGaAs/InGaAsP Quantum Well Distributed Feedback Laser at 1.74μm

The compressively strained InGaAs/InGaAsP quantum well distributed feedback laser with ridge-wave- guide is fabricated at 1.74μm. It is grown by low-pressure metal organic chemical vapor deposition（MOCVD）. A strain buffer layer is used to avoid indium segregation. The threshold current of the device uncoated with length of 300μm is 11.5mA. The maximum output power is 14mW at 100mA. A side mode suppression ratio of 35.5dB is obtained.

Determination of conduction band edge characteristics of strained Si/Si1-xGex

The feature of conduction band （CB） of Tensile-Strained Si（TS-Si） on a relaxed Si1-xGex substrate is systematically investigated, including the number of equivalent CB edge energy extrema, CB energy minima, the position of the extremal point, and effective mass. Based on an analysis of symmetry under strain, the number of equivalent CB edge energy extrema is presented; Using the K.P method with the help of perturbation theory, dispersion relation near minima of CB bottom energy, derived from the linear deformation potential theory, is determined, from which the parameters, namely, the position of the extremal point, and the longitudinal and transverse masses （m1^＊ and mt^＊）are obtained.

Novel vertical stack HCMOSFET with strained SiGe/Si quantum channel

A novel vertical stack heterostructure CMOSFET is investigated, which is structured by strained SiGe/Si with a hole quantum well channel in the compressively strained Sil-xGex layer for p-MOSFET and an electron quantum well channel in the tensile strained Si layer for n-MOSFET. The device possesses several advantages including： 1） the integration of electron quantum well channel with hole quantum well channel into the same vertical layer structure; 2） the gate work function modifiability due to the introduction of poly-SiGe as a gate material; 3） better transistor matching; and 4） flexibility of layout design of CMOSFET by adopting exactly the same material lays for both n-channel and p-channel. The MEDICI simulation result shows that p-MOSFET and n-MOSFET have approximately the same matching threshold voltages. Nice performances are displayed in transfer characteristic, transconductance and cut-off frequency. In addition, its operation as an inverter confirms the CMOSFET structured device to be normal and effective in function.

The study on two-dimensional analytical model for gate stack fully depleted strained Si on silicon-germanium-on-insulator MOSFETs

Based on the exact resultant solution of two-dimensional Poisson＇s equation in strained Si and Si1-xCex layer, a simple and accurate two-dimensional.analytical model including surface channel potential, surface channel electric field, threshold voltage and subthreshold swing for fully depleted gate stack strained Si on silicon-germanium-on-insulator （SGOI） MOSFETs has been developed. The results show that this novel structure can suppress the short channel effects （SCE）, the drain-induced barrier-lowering （DIBL） and improve the subthreshold performance in nanoelectronics application. The model is verified by numerical simulation. The model provides the basic designing guidance of gate stack strained Si on SGOI MOSFETs.

ELECTRONIC STRUCTURES OF (CdSe)_n/(ZnSe)_m STRAINED-LAYER SUPERLATTICES

The electronic structures of (CdSe)n/(ZnSe)m strained-lager soperfattice (SLS) were investigated by the recursion method in the tight-bindiop opproximation. The total,local, and partial density of states were calculated for n=1, m=5.The total density of states (TDOS) for bulk CdSe, ZnSe and n=1, 3, m=1, 3, 5, for SLS were investigated.Fermi energy, the band gap, the valence of an atom, and the ionization potential and the electron affinity were discassed.

Screening influence on the Stark effect of impurity states in strained wurtzite GaN/Al_xGa_(1-x)N heterojunctions under pressure

The screening effect of the random-phase-approximation on the states of shallow donor impurities in free strained wurtzite GaN/AlxGa1-xN heterojunctions under hydrostatic pressure and an external electric field is investigated by using a variational method and a simplified coherent potential approximation. The variations of Stark energy shift with electric field, impurity position, A1 component and areal electron density are discussed. Our results show that the screening dramatically reduces both the blue and red shifts as well as the binding energies of impurity states. For a given impurity position, the change in binding energy is more sensitive to the increase in hydrostatic pressure in the presence of the screening effect than that in the absence of the screening effect. The weakening of the blue and red shifts, induced by the screening effect, strengthens gradually with the increase of electric field. Furthermore, the screening effect weakens the mixture crystal effect, thereby influencing the Stark effect. The screening effect strengthens the influence of energy band bending on binding energy due to the areal electron density.

Optical properties of InGaAsBi/GaAs strained quantum wells studied by temperature-dependent photoluminescence

The effect of bismuth on the optical properties of InGaAsBi/GaAs quantum well structures is investigated using the temperature-dependent photoluminescence from 12 K to 450 K.The incorporation of bismuth in the InGaAsBi quantum well is confirmed and found to result in a red shift of photoluminescence wavelength of 27.3 meV at 300 K.The photoluminescence intensity is significantly enhanced by about 50 times at 12 K with respect to that of the InGaAs quantum well due to the surfactant effect of bismuth.The temperature-dependent integrated photoluminescence intensities of the two samples reveal different behaviors related to various non-radiative recombination processes.The incorporation of bismuth also induces alloy non-uniformity in the quantum well,leading to an increased photoluminescence linewidth.

Time-dependent Early-age Behaviors of Concrete under Restrained Condition

To investigate the early-age behaviors of concrete under a restrained condition, a set of apparatus was developed. In this way, the tensile creep and other early-age properties can be investigated in depth. By measuring the modulus of elasticity of concrete, synchronous shrinkage of concrete and steel rings and free shrinkage of concrete, the deformations of concrete ring can be quantified respectively. The experimental results show the tensile stress in concrete is time-dependent, and the stress at cracking is much lower than the tensile strength at that age; the tensile creep plays an important role in relaxing the tensile stress and postponing the cracking of concrete.

Highly-Strained InGaAs/GaAs Single-Quantum-Well Lasers Grown by Molecular Beam Epitaxy

Highly stained InGaAs/GaAs Quantum Wells (QW) are grown by using molecular beam epitaxy.The room-temperature photoluminescence (PL) peak wavelength as long as 1160nm is obtained from QW with the In composition of 38% and the well width of 6 8nm.The full-width at half-maximum of the PL peak is 22meV,indicating a good quality.InGaAs/GaAs QW ridge-waveguide lasers with emission wavelength of 1120nm are demonstrated.For 100-μm-wide ridge-waveguide lasers with a cavity length of 800μm,the kink-free output power up to 200mW is achieved with the slope efficiency of 0 84mW/mA under the continue-wave operation.For 10μm-wide ridge-waveguide lasers,the lowest threshold current density of 450A/cm2 and the characteristic temperature of 90K are obtained.