Precision micro-mechanical components in single crystal diamond by deep reactive ion etching.

The outstanding material properties of single crystal diamond have been at the origin of the long-standing interest in its exploitation for engineering of high-performance micro- and nanosystems. In particular, the extreme mechanical hardness, the highest elastic modulus of any bulk material, low density, and the promise for low friction have spurred interest most notably for micro-mechanical and MEMS applications. While reactive ion etching of diamond has been reported previously, precision structuring of freestanding micro-mechanical components in single crystal diamond by deep reactive ion etching has hitherto remained elusive, related to limitations in the etch processes, such as the need of thick hard masks, micromasking effects, and limited etch rates. In this work, we report on an optimized reactive ion etching process of single crystal diamond overcoming several of these shortcomings at the same time, and present a robust and reliable method to produce fully released micro-mechanical components in single crystal diamond. Using an optimized Al/SiO2 hard mask and a high-intensity oxygen plasma etch process, we obtain etch rates exceeding 30 µm/h and hard mask selectivity better than 1:50. We demonstrate fully freestanding micro-mechanical components for mechanical watches made of pure single crystal diamond. The components with a thickness of 150 µm are defined by lithography and deep reactive ion etching, and exhibit sidewall angles of 82°-93° with surface roughness better than 200 nm rms, demonstrating the potential of this powerful technique for precision microstructuring of single crystal diamond.

Methane-induced Activation Mechanism of Fused Ferric Oxide-Alumina Catalysts during Methane Decomposition.

Activation of Fe2 O3 -Al2 O3 with CH4 (instead of H2 ) is a meaningful method to achieve catalytic methane decomposition (CMD). This reaction of CMD is more economic and simple against commercial methane steam reforming (MSR) as it produces COx -free H2 . In this study, for the first time, structure changes of the catalyst were screened during CH4 reduction with time on stream. The aim was to optimize the pretreatment conditions through understanding the activation mechanism. Based on results from various characterization techniques, reduction of Fe2 O3 by CH4 proceeds in three steps: Fe2 O3 →Fe3 O4 →FeO→Fe0. Once Fe0 is formed, it decomposes CH4 with formation of Fe3 C, which is the crucial initiation step in the CMD process to initiate formation of multiwall carbon nanotubes.

Catalytic Methane Decomposition over Fe-Al2 O3.

The presence of a Fe-FeAl2 O4 structure over an Fe-Al2 O3 catalysts is demonstrated to be vital for the catalytic methane decomposition (CMD) activity. After H2 reduction at 750 °C, Fe-Al2 O3 prepared by means of a fusion method, containing 86.5 wt % FeAl2 O4 and 13.5 wt % Fe(0) , showed a stable CMD activity at 750 °C for as long as 10 h.

Transverse mode discrimination in long-wavelength wafer-fused vertical-cavity surface-emitting lasers by intra-cavity patterning.

Transverse mode discrimination is demonstrated in long-wavelength wafer-fused vertical-cavity surface-emitting lasers using ring-shaped air gap patterns at the fused interface between the cavity and the top distributed Bragg reflector. A significant number of devices with varying pattern dimensions was investigated by on-wafer mapping, allowing in particular the identification of a design that reproducibly increases the maximal single-mode emitted power by about 30 %. Numerical simulations support these observations and allow specifying optimized ring dimensions for which higher-order transverse modes are localized out of the optical aperture. These simulations predict further enhancement of the single-mode properties of the devices with negligible penalty on threshold current and emitted power.

1D photonic band formation and photon localization in finite-size photonic-crystal waveguides.

A transition from discrete optical modes to 1D photonic bands is experimentally observed and numerically studied in planar photonic-crystal (PhC) L(N) microcavities of length N. For increasing N the confined modes progressively acquire a well-defined momentum, eventually reconstructing the band dispersion of the corresponding waveguide. Furthermore, photon localization due to disorder is observed experimentally in the membrane PhCs using spatially resolved photoluminescence spectroscopy. Implications on single-photon sources and transfer lines based on quasi-1D PhC structures are discussed.

Photonic-crystal microcavity laser with site-controlled quantum-wire active medium.

Site-controlled quantum-wire photonic-crystal microcavity laser is experimentally demonstrated using optical pumping. The single-mode lasing and threshold are established based on the transient laser response, linewidth narrowing, and the details of the non-linear power input-output characteristics. Average-power threshold as low as approximately 240 nW (absorbed power) and spontaneous emission coupling coefficient beta approximately 0.3 are derived.

Site-controlled InGaAs quantum dots with tunable emission energy.

Semiconductor quantum-dot (QD) systems offering perfect site control and tunable emission energy are essential for numerous nanophotonic device applications involving spatial and spectral matching of dots with optical cavities. Herein, the properties of ordered InGaAs/GaAs QDs grown by organometallic chemical vapor deposition on substrates patterned with pyramidal recesses are reported. The seeded growth of a single QD inside each pyramid results in near-perfect (<10 nm) control of the QD position. Moreover, efficient and uniform photoluminescence (inhomogeneous broadening <10 meV) is observed from ordered arrays of such dots. The QD emission energy can be finely tuned by varying 1) the pyramid size and 2) its position within specific patterns. This tunability is brought about by the patterning of both the chemical properties and the surface curvature features of the substrate, which allows local control of the adatom fluxes that determine the QD thickness and composition.

Highly conductive Ni steam reforming catalysts prepared by electrodeposition.

New highly conductive, active and stable Ni steam reforming catalysts were prepared through a method consisting of the calcination of a hydrotalcite-like compound electrodeposited in a single step on FeCrAlloy foams.