Physical unclonable functions on carbon fiber reinforced polymers using laser techniques.

We have successfully fabricated physical unclonable functions (PUF)s on carbon fiber reinforced polymers (CFRP) in the form of computer-generated holograms (CGH)s using an industrial friendly UV ns laser system. The topological randomness of the fiber network and laser absorption yield laser engraved CGH that are unique. The engraved CGH serve as PUFs and this is confirmed by the exceptionally low values of probability of cloning (POC), lower than 10-7, well below the commonly accepted threshold value of 10-5 in the literature. For the PUF evaluation we have developed a novel methodology that employs digital reconstruction of images of the engraved CGH obtained from low resolution cameras with moderate magnification.

Molecular beam epitaxy and properties of GaAsBi/GaAs quantum wells grown by molecular beam epitaxy: effect of thermal annealing.

We have grown GaAsBi quantum wells by molecular beam epitaxy. We have studied the properties of a 7% Bi GaAsBi quantum well and their variation with thermal annealing. High-resolution X-ray diffraction, secondary ion mass spectrometry, and transmission electron microscopy have been employed to get some insight into its structural properties. Stationary and time-resolved photoluminescence shows that the quantum well emission, peaking at 1.23 µm at room temperature, can be improved by a rapid annealing at 650°C, while the use of a higher annealing temperature leads to emission degradation and blue-shifting due to the activation of non-radiative centers and bismuth diffusion from the quantum well.

Experimental investigation and numerical modelling of photocurrent oscillations in lattice matched Ga1-xInxNyAs1-y/GaAs quantum well p-i-n photodiodes.

Photocurrent oscillations, observed at low temperatures in lattice-matched Ga1-xInxNyAs1-y/GaAs multiple quantum well (MQW) p-i-n samples, are investigated as a function of applied bias and excitation wavelength and are modelled with the aid of semiconductor simulation software. The oscillations appear only at low temperatures and have the highest amplitude when the optical excitation energy is in resonance with the GaInNAs bandgap. They are explained in terms of electron accumulation and the formation of high-field domains in the GaInNAs QWs as a result of the disparity between the photoexcited electron and hole escape rates from the QWs. The application of the external bias results in the motion of the high-field domain towards the anode where the excess charge dissipates from the well adjacent to anode via tunnelling.

Optical gain in 1.3-µm electrically driven dilute nitride VCSOAs.

We report the observation of room-temperature optical gain at 1.3 µm in electrically driven dilute nitride vertical cavity semiconductor optical amplifiers. The gain is calculated with respect to injected power for samples with and without a confinement aperture. At lower injected powers, a gain of almost 10 dB is observed in both samples. At injection powers over 5 nW, the gain is observed to decrease. For nearly all investigated power levels, the sample with confinement aperture gives slightly higher gain.

Low-temperature photoluminescence study of exciton recombination in bulk GaAsBi.

The exciton recombination processes in a series of elastically strained GaAsBi epilayers are investigated by means of time-integrated and time-resolved photoluminescence at T = 10 K. The bismuth content in the samples was adjusted from 1.16% to 3.83%, as confirmed by high-resolution X-ray diffraction (HR-XRD). The results are well interpreted by carrier trapping and recombination mechanisms involving the Bi-related localized levels. Clear distinction between the localized and delocalized regime was observed in the spectral and temporal photoluminescence emission.

Dilute nitride and GaAs n-i-p-i solar cells.

We demonstrate for the first time the operation of GaInNAs and GaAs n-i-p-i doping solar cells with ion-implanted selective contacts. Multiple layers of alternate doping are grown by molecular beam epitaxy to form the n-i-p-i structure. After growth, vertical selective contacts are fabricated by Mg and Si ion implantation, followed by rapid thermal annealing treatment and fabrication into circular mesa cells. As means of characterisation, spectral response and illuminated current-voltage (I-V) were measured on the samples. The spectral response suggests that all horizontal layers are able to contribute to the photocurrent. Performance of the devices is discussed with interest in the n-i-p-i structure as a possible design for the GaInP/GaAs/GaInNAs tandem solar cell.

Photoconductivity and photoluminescence under bias in GaInNAs/GaAs MQW p-i-n structures.

The low temperature photoluminescence under bias (PLb) and the photoconductivity (PC) of a p-i-n GaInNAs/GaAs multiple quantum well sample have been investigated. Under optical excitation with photons of energy greater than the GaAs bandgap, PC and PLb results show a number of step-like increases when the sample is reverse biased. The nature of these steps, which depends upon the temperature, exciting wavelength and intensity and the number of quantum wells (QWs) in the device, is explained in terms of thermionic emission and negative charge accumulation due to the low confinement of holes in GaInNAs QWs. At high temperature, thermal escape from the wells becomes much more dominant and the steps smear out.

GaInNAs-based Hellish-vertical cavity semiconductor optical amplifier for 1.3 µm operation.

Hot electron light emission and lasing in semiconductor heterostructure (Hellish) devices are surface emitters the operation of which is based on the longitudinal injection of electrons and holes in the active region. These devices can be designed to be used as vertical cavity surface emitting laser or, as in this study, as a vertical cavity semiconductor optical amplifier (VCSOA). This study investigates the prospects for a Hellish VCSOA based on GaInNAs/GaAs material for operation in the 1.3-µm wavelength range. Hellish VCSOAs have increased functionality, and use undoped distributed Bragg reflectors; and this coupled with direct injection into the active region is expected to yield improvements in the gain and bandwidth. The design of the Hellish VCSOA is based on the transfer matrix method and the optical field distribution within the structure, where the determination of the position of quantum wells is crucial. A full assessment of Hellish VCSOAs has been performed in a device with eleven layers of Ga0.35In0.65N0.02As0.08/GaAs quantum wells (QWs) in the active region. It was characterised through I-V, L-V and by spectral photoluminescence, electroluminescence and electro-photoluminescence as a function of temperature and applied bias. Cavity resonance and gain peak curves have been calculated at different temperatures. Good agreement between experimental and theoretical results has been obtained.

Non-resonant z-scan characterization of the third-order nonlinear optical properties of conjugated poly(thiophene azines).

The nonlinear optical properties of a functionalized poly(thiophene azine), namely, poly(3,4-didodecylthiophene azine), PAZ, at the optical telecommunication wavelength of 1550 nm are investigated by means of the closed-aperture z-scan technique in both thin films and solutions. Values of chi((3))=(2.4+/-0.4)x10(-13) esu, n(2)=(4.0+/-0.7)x10(-15) cm(2) W(-1), and gamma=(4.5+/-0.7)x10(-34) esu are estimated for the third-order (Kerr) susceptibility, the intensity-dependent refractive index, and the molecular second hyperpolarizability of solution samples, respectively. A very small dependence on the polymer chain length is found. Markedly higher values of (4.4+/-1.1)x10(-11) esu, (6.6+/-1.0)x10(-13) cm(2) W(-1), and (5.0+/-0.8)x10(-33) esu are measured for the corresponding quantities in thick (up to 20 mum) polymer films cast on quartz plates. The enhancement of the NLO responses on going from solution to solid samples is attributed to a partially ordered structure and to the presence of interchain interactions leading to greater pi-electron delocalization in the cast polymer films. The results are compared with those previously obtained by using third-harmonic generation (THG), taking into account that those data were measured under conditions of three-photon resonance, whereas our z-scan measurements are fully off-resonance.

Two-photon absorption of Zn(II) octupolar molecules.

In this work we present an investigation of the non-linear optical (NLO) properties of two octupolar chromophores: [Zn(4,4'-bis(dibutylaminostyryl)-[2,2']-bipyridine)(3)](2+) and [Zn(4,4'-bis((E)-2-(N-(TEG)pyrrol-2-yl)vinyl)-[2,2']-bipyridine)(3)](2+) with Zn(ii) as the coordination center, using two-photon emission technique (TPE) in fs-pulse temporal regime. Compared to the free ligands, our results do not show a net increase in the two-photon absorption (TPA) cross-section for the octupolar complexes, once normalized to the ligand unit. This is in partial disagreement with a previous theoretical study investigating the first molecule where a significant increase of the TPA cross-section was predicted (X. J. Liu, et al., J. Chem. Phys., 2004, 120, 11 493).