Studies of carrier transport mechanism in NiO/Ag/NiO transparent conducting electrode/ZnO metal-semiconductor-metal photodetectors.

Oxide/metal/oxide multilayers as a transparent conducting electrode (TCE) have been developed to replace metals due to their high transparency and low sheet resistance. Nickel oxide (NiO) film with a high work function was used as an oxide to form NiO/Ag/NiO (NAN) TCE, therefore a high barrier height between NAN/zinc oxide (ZnO) interface. In the study, NAN TCE was deposited on ZnO surface to fabricate metal-semiconductor-metal (MSM) photodetectors (PDs) and study its carrier transport mechanism. The NAN TCE has a low sheet resistance of 6.5 Ω/sq. and transmittance more than 40% in a 300-1000 nm wavelength range. Such issues result in the figure-of-merit is higher (2.3 × 10-4Ω-1) than that (2.5 × 10-7Ω-1) of pure single NiO thin film. As compared to the conventional Au/ZnO MSM-PDs, the NAN/ZnO MSM-PDs demonstrates a lower leakage current as a result of Ni atoms diffusing into ZnO and passivating the defects. Due to the high work function of NiO, the NAN/ZnO interface exhibits a barrier height as high as 0.91 eV. The Au/ZnO MSM-PDs reveals only one carrier conduction of ohmic due to the electrons tunnel form Au into ZnO through the surface defects. In contrast, two distinct carrier transport mechanisms were observed in the NAN/ZnO MSM-PDs. At low-voltage forV⩽0.64 V, ohmic conduction dominates and the electrons inject from NAN to ZnO, trapped by the defect states of ZnO. At high-voltage for V⩾0.64 V, the trapped electrons acquire enough energy and emit from trap to conduction band, entering Poole-Frankel emission transport.

Enhancing ultraviolet-to-visible rejection ratio by inserting an intrinsic NiO layer in p-NiO/n-Si heterojunction photodiodes.

Conventionally, p-NiO/n-Si (p-n) heterojunction photodiodes (HPDs) exhibit a larger visible response than the ultraviolet response due to the thick Si substrate; hence, it is used as a broadband photodetector with a poor ultraviolet (UV)-to-visible rejection ratio. Herein, an intrinsic NiO (i-NiO) layer is inserted between the p-NiO and the n-Si substrate to fabricate p-NiO/i-NiO/n-Si (p-i-n) HPDs, significantly suppressing leakage current and visible response. Compared with the conventional p-n HPDs, the insertion of the i-NiO layer significantly reduces leakage current by approximately 241 times and enhances the rectification ratio from 13.8 to 3228 for the p-n and p-i-n HPDs. The insertion of an i-NiO layer not only increases the UV-response but also suppresses the visible response. These issues enhance the UV-to-visible rejection ratio from 72.2 in p-n HPDs to 915.3 in p-i-n HPDs. The p-NiO reveals a poorer crystalline structure than the i-NiO film because the Ag dopants accumulate at the grain boundary and inhibit crystalline growth. The Ag diffusion in the Si substrate causes defect states within the Si bandgap, whereas it is retarded by the i-NiO layer in the p-i-n HPDs. The poor crystallinity in the p-NiO and defect states within the Si bandgap contributes to a high leakage current and visible response in p-n HPDs. The p-i-n HPDs demonstrate a higher UV-response due to absorption by the i-NiO layer. Because visible light cannot be absorbed by the i-NiO layer, visible response is suppressed in p-i-n HPDs.

MgZnO/ZnO Two-Dimensional Electron Gas Photodetectors Fabricated by Radio Frequency Sputtering.

MgZnO/ZnO two-dimensional electron gas (2DEG) structures with ZnO annealed at various temperatures (600-900 °C) and photodetectors (PDs) with and without a 2DEG structure were fabricated using a radio frequency magnetron sputtering system. It was found that the carrier concentration and mobility increase with the annealing temperature owing to the improved crystalline in ZnO; however, high-temperature (800 °C or higher) annealing can degrade the crystalline of the ZnO layer. Hall measurements showed that compared with that of bulk ZnO, the sheet carrier concentration of the 2DEG sample increased from 1.3 × 1013 to 1.2 × 1014 cm-2, and the mobility was enhanced from 5.1 to 17.5 cm2/V s. This is because the channel layer is the total thickness (300 nm) in bulk ZnO, whereas the carriers are confined to a 45 nm region beneath the MgZO layer in the 2DEG sample, confirming the 2DEG behavior at the MgZnO/ZnO interface. The PDs with 2DEG structures demonstrate a higher ultraviolet (UV) response and a UV/visible rejection ratio that is six times larger than that of the PDs without a 2DEG structure. The 2DEG structure also induces a photocurrent gain, which results in a 240% quantum efficiency for the 310 nm incident wavelength. The related mechanism is elucidated with a band diagram.

Single- and dual-wavelength photodetectors with MgZnO/ZnO metal-semiconductor-metal structure by varying the bias voltage.

By varying the bias voltage of an Mg x Zn1-x O/ZnO metal-semiconductor-metal photodetector (MSM-PDs), the detection wavelength can be modulated from a single to a dual wavelength. A long-wavelength band response is caused by the ZnO absorption and a short-wavelength band response is caused by Mg x Zn1-x O. At a 0 V bias voltage, the photogenerated electrons in ZnO are confined to the Mg x Zn1-x O/ZnO interface, arising from the piezoelectric polarization. The accumulated electrons hop the Mg x Zn1-x O layer through the assistance of defects; however, the photogenerated electrons in Mg x Zn1-x O cannot cross over the large barrier height at the Au/MgZnO interface, resulting in a single-wavelength photodetector with a long-wavelength band (345-400 nm) having a peak wavelength of 370 nm. By increasing the bias voltage to 1-2 V, the barrier height is lowered, enabling the photogenerated electrons in Mg x Zn1-x O to easily cross over the low barrier height, leading to dual-wavelength photodetectors having peak wavelengths of 370 and 340 nm. On further increasing the bias voltage beyond 2 V, the photogenerated electrons in ZnO sink deeply in the hollow at the Mg x Zn1-x O/ZnO interface owing to the large applied voltage. These electrons are effectively confined at the Mg x Zn1-x O/ZnO interface, which retards the tunneling of the photogenerated electrons in ZnO through the Mg x Zn1-x O layer; hence the MSM-PDs revert back to single wavelength photodetectors; however, the detection wavelength is different from that of the MSM-PDs biased at 0 V. Instead of having a long-wavelength band (345-400 nm), the MSM-PDs demonstrate a short-wavelength band (320-345 nm) at a 3 V bias voltage.

Wavelength-band-tuning photodiodes by using various metallic nanoparticles.

Wavelength-band tuning was easily achieved in this work by depositing various metallic nanoparticles (NPs) on silicon p-n junction photodiodes (PDs). The normalization spectrum of the PDs deposited with gold (Au) NPs reveals a high-wavelength pass characteristic; the PDs with silver (Ag) NPs coating behave as a low-wavelength pass, and the PDs with Au/Ag bimetallic NPs appear as a band-wavelength pass PD with a full width at half maximum of 450 âˆ¼ 630 nm. The issue of wavelength-band tuning is due to the different plasmonic resonance wavelengths associated with various metallic NPs. The extinction plot shows the Au NPs have a longer resonant wavelength of about 545 nm, leading to the incident light with a wavelength near or longer than 545 nm scattered by the Au NPs, hence a high-wavelength pass PD. The PDs with Ag NPs, due to the Ag NPs, exhibit a short resonant wavelength of 430 nm, and the short-wavelength incident light is absorbed near the silicon (Si) surface, where the Ag NPs is atop it. The shorter-wavelength incident light is enhanced by the plasmonic resonance of Ag NPs, making a low-wavelength PD. The Au/Ag NPs presents a resonant wavelength of 500 nm between the Au and Ag NPs. For the incident light with a wavelength close to 500 nm, a constructive interference causes a substantial increase in the local electromagnetic field, hence leading to a band-wavelength pass PD.

Enhancement of the Schottky barrier height of Au/ZnO nanocrystal by zinc vacancies using a hydrothermal seed layer.

Various seed layers were prepared on a Si substrate using the sol-gel (SG) or hydrothermal (HT) method and then ZnO nanocrystal was grown on the seed layer by an HT process. Au/ZnO nanocrystal Schottky diodes (SDs) were fabricated to study the effects of various seed layers on the electrical properties of Au/ZnO SDs. The observations showed that large numbers of Zn vacancies were present near the interface of Au/ZnO with an HT seed layer. The Zn vacancy plays an acceptor-like role, which raises the barrier height of the Au/ZnO SDs to 0.79 eV with a rectifying ratio of more than 8000. Hence, a non-surface-treated Au/ZnO SD was achieved as compared to those of other reported oxygen-plasma treated surfaces. In contrast, oxygen vacancies appear near the interface of Au/ZnO with an SG seed layer. The O vacancy plays a donor-like role, which reduces the barrier height of Au/ZnO, leading to an Ohmic behavior in the I-V characteristics. Zn out-diffusion is found during Au evaporation by of x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy measurements.

Abrogation of transforming growth factor-alpha/epidermal growth factor receptor autocrine signaling by an RXR-selective retinoid (LGD1069, Targretin) in head and neck cancer cell lines.

Clinical studies have demonstrated that retinoids, including retinol (Vitamin A) and its synthetic derivatives, can eradicate leukoplakia and suppress the formation of squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck (SCCHN). Nonselective retinoids have been shown to abrogate transcriptional activation of transforming growth factor-alpha (TGF-alpha) and epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR), which characterize SCCHN. LGD1069 (Targretin) is a potent RXR-selective retinoic acid agonist with a reduced toxicity profile compared with other nonselective retinoids. We examined the effect of LGD1069 (10 microm) on cellular proliferation and expression of putative intermediate biomarker genes including TGF-alpha, EGFR, and RAR-beta in seven SCCHN cell lines. A quantitative reverse transcription-PCR assay using a novel "primer dropping" method was used to determine expression levels of EGFR, TGF-alpha, and RAR-beta before and after treatment with LGD1069 (10 microM). SCCHN proliferation was reduced by a mean of 50% at 4 days in seven SCCHN cell lines after LGD1069 treatment (P < or = 0.05). EGFR expression levels were decreased by a mean of 58.4% (P = 0.007), TGF-alpha levels were decreased by a mean of 28.8% (P = 0.01), and RAR-beta levels were increased by a mean of 60% (P = 0.03). TGF-alpha stimulation of EGFR is associated with constitutive signal transducer and activator of transcription 3 (Stat3) activation in SCCHN. Abrogation of constitutive Stat3 activation was seen with LGD1069 treatment. These results suggest that an RXR-selective retinoic acid decreases SCCHN proliferation in part by interfering with TGF-alpha/EGFR autocrine signaling.

Studies of chemical interferences in an inductively coupled plasma using moment analysis of space-resolved emission profiles.

Interelement effects induced by sodium, aluminum, and phosphate ion on calcium and magnesium emission were studied with a two-channel spectrometer that could record spatially resolved emission profiles of an atom line and an ion line simultaneously. The statistical moments of the digitized emission profiles were calculated and were employed for rate-constant estimation using our previously established theory. Interelement effects are results of interferences in the analyte atomization, ionization, and/or recombination steps. Characteristic changes will be induced in the emission profiles by each of these interferences. These changes can be characterized by the statistical moments of the corresponding profiles. Therefore, by investigating variations in the rate constants caused by the specific concomitant, one may better understand the analyte atomization-excitation mechanisms. Sodium enhances the atomic emission of both calcium and magnesium but has little effect on their ionic emission. Based on the trends of variation in the rate constants, the atomic signal enhancement seems to be attributed more to the facilitation of analyte atomization rather than to the shift of ionization equilibrium. Aluminum and phosphate ion appear not to induce significant interferences on either elements.

Relationship between insecticide-induced short and wry neck and cervical defects visible histologically shortly after treatment of chick embryos.

In order to clarify the anatomical precursor of short and wry neck, 48-hr chick embryos were injected with 6.25-200 micrograms of the organophosphate (OP) insecticide diazinon and recovered either at 96 hr for histological evaluation or at 19 days for gross observation. Among embryos recovered at 96 hr, all receiving a dose of 25-200 micrograms showed, in serial cross sections, the cervical notochord severely folded in the vertical, horizontal, and diagonal planes and the adjacent neural tube variously folded (often with branching of its canal), deformed by the notochord, rotated, and/or displaced from the midline. Virtually all embryos injected with 6.25 or 12.5 micrograms were fully free of such abnormalities. The coinjection of 2-pyridinealdoxime methochloride (2-PAM, which protects the embryo from certain OP insecticide-induced teratisms) along with 200 micrograms of diazinon markedly reduced the notochord and neural wry neck at 19 days paralleled the 96-hr cervical histology: pronounced in all embryos receiving greater than or equal to 25 micrograms, virtually nonexistent in those receiving 6.25 or 12.5 micrograms. Though more marked at higher doses, wry neck occurred to varying extents at all doses, 6.25-100 micrograms. We conclude that 1) the primary insecticide effect is upon the notochord rather than the neural tube, 2) short neck is a direct consequence of notochord folding, 3) wry neck is apparently not linked with notochord folding, and 4) vertebral fusion is not the consequence solely of muscle paralysis as argued elsewhere. We propose that the notochord folds because diazinon disrupts normal formation of its sheath.

Arm wrestler's injury: report of seven cases.

Seven cases of fractures of the humerus from arm wrestling included 2 types of fractures. Two were spiral fractures of the humeral shaft with large butterfly fragments at the junction of the middle and distal one third caused by a violent uncoordinated muscular action. Five were fractures of the medial epicondyle of the humerus as a result of a sudden blow to the elbow. In all 7 cases, the fractures healed and arm function returned to normal.