Pt-Coated Ni Layer Supported on Ni Foam for Enhanced Electro-Oxidation of Formic Acid.

A Pt-coated Ni layer supported on a Ni foam catalyst (denoted PtNi/Nifoam) was investigated for the electro-oxidation of the formic acid (FAO) in acidic media. The prepared PtNi/Nifoam catalyst was studied as a function of the formic acid (FA) concentration at bare Pt and PtNi/Nifoam catalysts. The catalytic activity of the PtNi/Nifoam catalysts, studied on the basis of the ratio of the direct and indirect current peaks (jd)/(jnd) for the FAO reaction, showed values approximately 10 times higher compared to those on bare Pt, particularly at low FA concentrations, reflecting the superiority of the former catalysts for the electro-oxidation of FA to CO2. Ni foams provide a large surface area for the FAO, while synergistic effects between Pt nanoparticles and Ni-oxy species layer on Ni foams contribute significantly to the enhanced electro-oxidation of FA via the direct pathway, making it almost equal to the indirect pathway, particularly at low FA concentrations.

AlGaN/GaN on SiC Devices without a GaN Buffer Layer: Electrical and Noise Characteristics.

We report on the high-voltage, noise, and radio frequency (RF) performances of aluminium gallium nitride/gallium nitride (AlGaN/GaN) on silicon carbide (SiC) devices without any GaN buffer. Such a GaN-SiC hybrid material was developed in order to improve thermal management and to reduce trapping effects. Fabricated Schottky barrier diodes (SBDs) demonstrated an ideality factor n at approximately 1.7 and breakdown voltages (fields) up to 780 V (approximately 0.8 MV/cm). Hall measurements revealed a thermally stable electron density at N2DEG = 1 × 1013 cm-2 of two-dimensional electron gas in the range of 77-300 K, with mobilities µ = 1.7 × 103 cm2/V∙s and µ = 1.0 × 104 cm2/V∙s at 300 K and 77 K, respectively. The maximum drain current and the transconductance were demonstrated to be as high as 0.5 A/mm and 150 mS/mm, respectively, for the transistors with gate length LG = 5 µm. Low-frequency noise measurements demonstrated an effective trap density below 1019 cm-3 eV-1. RF analysis revealed fT and fmax values up to 1.3 GHz and 6.7 GHz, respectively, demonstrating figures of merit fT × LG up to 6.7 GHz × µm. These data further confirm the high potential of a GaN-SiC hybrid material for the development of thin high electron mobility transistors (HEMTs) and SBDs with improved thermal stability for high-frequency and high-power applications.

Evolution of Scintillation and Electrical Characteristics of AlGaN Double-Response Sensors During Proton Irradiation.

Wide bandgap AlGaN is one of the most promising materials for the fabrication of radiation hard, double-response particle detectors for future collider facilities. However, the formation of defects during growth and fabrication of AlGaN-based devices is unavoidable. Furthermore, radiation defects are formed in detector structures during operation at extreme conditions. In this work, study of evolution of the proton-induced luminescence spectra and short-circuit current has been simultaneously performed during 1.6 MeV proton irradiation. GaN and AlGaN (with various Al concentrations) epi-layers grown by metalorganic chemical vapour deposition technique and Schottky diode structures have been examined. Variations of spectral and electrical parameters could be applied for the remote dosimetry of large hadron fluences.

Dynamics within the exciton fine structure of colloidal CdSe quantum dots.

Evidence for an interaction between the quantum dot exciton fine structure states F = +/-1 is obtained by measuring the dynamics of transitions among those states, exciton spin relaxation or flipping. An ultrafast transient grating experiment based on a crossed-linear polarization grating is reported. By using the quantum dot selection rules for absorption of circularly polarized light, it is demonstrated that it is possible to detect transitions between nominally degenerate fine structure states, even in a rotationally isotropic system. The results for colloidal CdSe quantum dots reveal a strong size dependence for the exciton spin relaxation rate from one bright exciton state (F = +/-1) to the other in CdSe colloidal quantum dots at 293 K, on a time scale ranging from femtoseconds to picoseconds, depending on the quantum dot size. The results are consistent with an interaction between those states attributed to a long-range contribution to the electron-hole exchange interaction.