ALBERT

Description: We report an investigation of a GeSn-based p-i-n photodetector grown on a Ge wafer that collects light signal from the back of the wafer. Temperature dependent absorption measurements performed over a wide temperature range (300 K down to 25 K) show that (a) absorption starts at the indirect bandgap of the active GeSn layer and continues up to the direct bandgap of the Ge wafer, and (b) the peak responsivity increases rapidly at first with decreasing temperature, then increases more slowly, followed by a decrease at the lower temperatures. The maximum responsivity happens at 125 K, which can easily be achieved with the use of liquid nitrogen. The temperature dependence of the photocurrent is analyzed by taking into consideration of the temperature dependence of the electron and hole mobility in the active layer, and the analysis result is in reasonable agreement with the data in the temperature regime where the rapid increase occurs. This investigation demonstrates the feasibility of a GeSn-based photodiode that can be operated with back-side illumination for applications in image sensing systems.

Description: The first indirect drive implosion experiments using Beryllium (Be) capsules at the National Ignition Facility confirm the superior ablation properties and elucidate possible Be-ablator issues such as hohlraum filling by ablator material. Since the 1990s, Be has been the preferred Inertial Confinement Fusion (ICF) ablator because of its higher mass ablation rate compared to that of carbon-based ablators. This enables ICF target designs with higher implosion velocities at lower radiation temperatures and improved hydrodynamic stability through greater ablative stabilization. Recent experiments to demonstrate the viability of Be ablator target designs measured the backscattered laser energy, capsule implosion velocity, core implosion shape from self-emission, and in-flight capsule shape from backlit imaging. The laser backscatter is similar to that from comparable plastic (CH) targets under the same hohlraum conditions. Implosion velocity measurements from backlit streaked radiography show that laser energy coupling to the hohlraum wall is comparable to plastic ablators. The measured implosion shape indicates no significant reduction of laser energy from the inner laser cone beams reaching the hohlraum wall as compared with plastic and high-density carbon ablators. These results indicate that the high mass ablation rate for beryllium capsules does not significantly alter hohlraum energetics. In addition, these data, together with data for low fill-density hohlraum performance, indicate that laser power multipliers, required to reconcile simulations with experimental observations, are likely due to our limited understanding of the hohlraum rather than the capsule physics since similar multipliers are needed for both Be and CH capsules as seen in experiments.

Description: The first measurement of the electron temperature (T e ) inside a National Ignition Facility hohlraum is obtained using temporally resolved K-shell X-ray spectroscopy of a mid-Z tracer dot. Both isoelectronic- and interstage-line ratios are used to calculate the local T e via the collisional–radiative atomic physics code SCRAM [Hansen et al. , High Energy Density Phys 3 , 109 (2007)]. The trajectory of the mid-Z dot as it is ablated from the capsule surface and moves toward the laser entrance hole (LEH) is measured using side-on x-ray imaging, characterizing the plasma flow of the ablating capsule. Data show that the measured dot location is farther away from the LEH in comparison to the radiation-hydrodynamics simulation prediction using HYDRA [Marinak et al. , Phys. Plasmas 3 , 2070 (1996)]. To account for this discrepancy, the predicted simulation T e is evaluated at the measured dot trajectory. The peak T e , measured to be 4.2 keV ± 0.2 keV, is ∼0.5 keV hotter than the simulation prediction.

Description: The present study analytically reinvestigates the two-dimensional lift-up problem for a rigid porous bed that was studied by Mei, Yeung, and Liu [“Lifting of a large object from a porous seabed,” J. Fluid Mech. 152 , 203 (1985)]. Mei, Yeung, and Liu proposed a model that treats the bed as a rigid porous medium and performed relevant experiments. In their model, they assumed the gap flow comes from the periphery of the gap, and there is a shear layer in the porous medium; the flow in the gap is described by adhesion approximation [D. J. Acheson, Elementary Fluid Dynamics (Clarendon, Oxford, 1990), pp. 243-245.] and the pore flow by Darcy’s law, and the slip-flow condition proposed by Beavers and Joseph [“Boundary conditions at a naturally permeable wall,” J. Fluid Mech. 30 , 197 (1967)] is applied to the bed interface. In this problem, however, the gap flow initially mainly comes from the porous bed, and the shear layer may not exist. Although later the shear effect becomes important, the empirical slip-flow condition might not physically respond to the shear effect, and the existence of the vertical velocity affects the situation so greatly that the slip-flow condition might not be appropriate. In contrast, the present study proposes a more general model for the problem, applying Stokes flow to the gap, the Brinkman equation to the porous medium, and Song and Huang’s [“Laminar poroelastic media flow,” J. Eng. Mech. 126 , 358 (2000)] complete interfacial conditions to the bed interface. The exact solution to the problem is found and fits Mei’s experiments well. The breakout phenomenon is examined for different soil beds, mechanics that cannot be illustrated by Mei’s model are revealed, and the theoretical breakout times obtained using Mei’s model and our model are compared. The results show that the proposed model is more compatible with physics and provides results that are more precise.

Description: Fusion targets imploded on the National Ignition Facility are subject to hydrodynamic instabilities. These have generally been assumed to be seeded primarily by surface roughness, as existing work had suggested that internal inhomogeneity was small enough not to contribute significantly. New simulations presented here examine this in more detail, and consider modulations in internal oxygen content in CH plastic ablators. The oxygen is configured in a way motivated by measurement of oxygen in the shells. We find that plausible oxygen nonuniformity, motivated by target characterization experiments, seeds instability growth that is 3–5× bigger than expected from surface roughness. Pertinent existing capsule characterization is discussed, which suggests the presence of internal modulations that could be oxygen at levels large enough to be the dominant seed for hydrodynamic instability growth. Oxygen-seeded growth is smaller for implosions driven by high-foot pulse shapes, consistent with the performance improvement seen with these pulse shapes. Growth is somewhat smaller for planned future pulse shapes that were optimized to minimize growth of surface ripples. A possible modified specification for oxygen modulations is discussed, which is about 1/5 of the current requirement.

Description: A novel method for very high resolution measurement of roll angle on a transparent plate is developed theoretically and tested experimentally. The new optical configuration is based on the interferometric readout of phase shift accumulated on the double passage through half wave plate, together with a careful control of polarization state by means of quarter wave plate, and optimizing the tilt of the folding mirror. Sensitivity to roll angle is greatly enhanced and a gain coefficient exceeding 700 is found theoretically, based on Jones’ matrix analysis, with a 6-fold increase respect to previous results. In the experimental setup, at the optimum 36° incidence to retroreflector, we measured a gain coefficient of 340. Correspondingly, with an interferometer phase meter resolving 0.01°, a roll-angle resolution 0.1-arc sec is attained.

Description: We report the magneto-transport, scattering mechanisms, and effective mass analysis of an ultra-low density two-dimensional hole gas capacitively induced in an undoped strained Ge/Si 0.2 Ge 0.8 heterostructure. This fabrication technique allows hole densities as low as p  ∼ 1.1 × 10 10  cm −2 to be achieved, more than one order of magnitude lower than previously reported in doped Ge/SiGe heterostructures. The power-law exponent of the electron mobility versus density curve, μ ∝ n α , is found to be α  ∼ 0.29 over most of the density range, implying that background impurity scattering is the dominant scattering mechanism at intermediate densities in such devices. A charge migration model is used to explain the mobility decrease at the highest achievable densities. The hole effective mass is deduced from the temperature dependence of Shubnikov-de Haas oscillations. At p  ∼ 1.0 × 10 11  cm −2 , the effective mass m * is ∼0.105 m 0 , which is significantly larger than masses obtained from modulation-doped Ge/SiGe two-dimensional hole gases.

Description: Non-degenerate four-wave mixing in an InAs/InP quantum dot Fabry–Perot laser is investigated with an optical injection-locking scheme. Wavelength conversion is obtained for frequency detunings ranging from +2.5 THz to −3.5 THz. The normalized conversion efficiency is maintained above −40 dB between −1.5 and +0.5 THz with an optical signal-to-noise ratio above 20 dB and a maximal third-order nonlinear susceptibility normalized to material gain of 2 × 10 −19 m 3 /V 2 . In addition, we show that injection-locking at different positions in the gain spectrum has an impact on the nonlinear conversion process and the symmetry between up- and down- converted signals.

Description: We report the design, the fabrication, and the magneto-transport study of an electron bilayer system embedded in an undoped Si/SiGe double-quantum-well heterostructure. Combined Hall densities (n Hall ) ranging from 2.6 × 10 10  cm −2 to 2.7 × 10 11  cm −2 were achieved, yielding a maximal combined Hall mobility ( μ Hall ) of 7.7 × 10 5  cm 2 /(V ⋅ s) at the highest density. Simultaneous electron population of both quantum wells is clearly observed through a Hall mobility drop as the Hall density is increased to n Hall 〉 3.3 × 10 10  cm −2 , consistent with Schrödinger-Poisson simulations. The integer and fractional quantum Hall effects are observed in the device, and single-layer behavior is observed when both layers have comparable densities, either due to spontaneous interlayer coherence or to the symmetric-antisymmetric gap.

Description: Ablation of silver (Ag) nanoparticles in the direction of laser polarization is achieved by utilizing femtosecond laser irradiation in air at laser fluence ranging from ∼2 mJ/cm 2 to ∼14 mJ/cm 2 . This directional ablation is attributed to localized surface plasmon induced localized electric field enhancement. Scanning electron microscopy observations of the irradiated particles in different gases and at different pressures indicate that the ablation is further enhanced by oxygen in the air. This may be due to the external heating via the reactions of its dissociation product, atomic oxygen, with the surface of Ag particles, while the ablated Ag is not oxidized. Further experimental observations show that the ablated material re-deposits near the irradiated particles and results in the extension of the particles in laser polarization direction, facilitating the interconnection of two well-separated nanoparticles.