Low dark current density extended short-wavelength infrared superlattice photodetector with atomic layer deposited Al2O3 passivation.

We report on a low dark current density P-B-i-N extended short-wavelength infrared photodetector with atomic layer deposited (ALD) A l 2 O 3 passivation based on a InAs/GaSb/AlSb superlattice. The dark current density of the A l 2 O 3 passivated device was reduced by 38% compared to the unpassivated device. The cutoff wavelength of the photodetector is 1.8 µm at 300 K. The photodetector exhibited a room-temperature (300 K) peak responsivity of 0.44 A/W at 1.52 µm, corresponding to a quantum efficiency of 35.8%. The photodetector exhibited a specific detectivity (D ∗) of 1.08×1011 c m⋅H z 1/2/W with a low dark current density of 3.4×10-5 A/c m 2 under -50m v bias at 300 K. The low dark current density A l 2 O 3 passivated device is expected to be used in the fabrication of extended short-wavelength infrared focal plane arrays for imaging.

Stereoselective Pharmacokinetics and Residue Depletion of Praziquantel and Its Metabolites, 4-Hydroxypraziquantel Enantiomers, in Swine.

Praziquantel (PZQ) is administered as a racemic mixture during swine production to treat parasitic diseases. Despite its widespread application, the pharmacokinetics, residue depletion, bioactivity, and toxicity of PZQ enantiomers in swine remain largely unknown. In this study, a systematic investigation of the pharmacokinetics, tissue distribution, and residue depletion of PZQ, its major metabolites (trans- and cis-4-OH-PZQ), and their enantiomers was conducted in swine. The findings indicated that PZQ was absorbed and metabolized rapidly. In swine plasma, the concentrations of S-PZQ, S-trans-4-OH-PZQ, and R-cis-4-OH-PZQ were higher than those of their respective enantiomers. The three analytes exhibited significant tissue distribution and stereoselectivity in 10 swine tissues. Notably, the two enantiomers of PZQ demonstrated comparable tissue concentrations except in the liver and lung. Moreover, the concentrations of S-trans-4-OH-PZQ and R-cis-4-OH-PZQ were higher than those of their respective enantiomers in the 10 tissues. This study has significant implications for the development of rational dosing strategies, reducing drug usage, and minimizing side effects, as well as accurately assessing the risks associated with PZQ administration and, by extension, other chiral drugs. Furthermore, it lays a theoretical foundation for the future use of the active enantiomer, R-PZQ.

Cathodoluminescence Spectroscopy in Graded InxGa1-xN.

InGaN materials are widely used in optoelectronic devices due to their excellent optical properties. Since the emission wavelength of the full-composition-graded InxGa1-xN films perfectly matches the solar spectrum, providing a full-spectrum response, this makes them suitable for the manufacturing of high-efficiency optoelectronic devices. It is extremely important to study the optical properties of materials, but there are very few studies of the luminescence of full-composition-graded InxGa1-xN ternary alloy. In this work, the optical properties of full-composition-graded InxGa1-xN films are studied by cathodoluminescence (CL). The CL spectra with multiple luminescence peaks in the range of 365-1000 nm were acquired in the cross-sectional and plan-view directions. The CL spectroscopy studies were carried out inside and outside of microplates formed under the indium droplets on the InGaN surface, which found that the intensity of the light emission peaks inside and outside of microplates differed significantly. Additionally, the paired defects structure is studied by using the spectroscopic method. A detailed CL spectroscopy study paves the way for the growth and device optimization of high-quality, full-composition-graded InxGa1-xN ternary alloy materials.

Surface molecularly imprinted solid-phase extraction for the determination of vancomycin and norvancomycin in milk by liquid chromatography coupled to tandem mass spectrometry.

A simple and sensitive method based on surface molecularly imprinted solid-phase extraction (SMISPE) combined with liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) was developed to determine the residues of vancomycin (VCM) and norvancomycin (NVCM) in milk samples. The imprinted polymer prepared with teicoplanin as a virtual template can specifically recognize VCM and NVCM. The samples were purified with SMISPE and analyzed by LC-MS/MS in positive ionization mode. The results showed that the VCM and NVCM had a good linear correlation in the range of 0.5 µg/kg to 50 µg/kg. The recoveries of target analytes were from 83.3% to 92.1%, and the limits of quantification were both 1.0 µg/kg. The matrix effects of VCM and NVCM were -11.0% and -3.43%, respectively. The proposed method can efficiently eliminate the interference from matrix compounds and reduce baseline noise, which is useful for the monitoring of the residues of VCM and NVCM in milk samples.

Analytical Separation of Closantel Enantiomers by HPLC.

Closantel is an antiparasitic drug marketed in a racemic form with one chiral center. It is meaningful to develop a method for separating and analyzing the closantel enantiomers. In this work, two enantiomeric separation methods of closantel were explored by normal-phase high-performance liquid chromatography. The influences of the chiral stationary phase (CSP) structure, the mobile phase composition, the nature and proportion of different mobile phase modifiers (alcohols and acids), and the column temperature on the enantiomeric separation of closantel were investigated in detail. The two enantiomers were successfully separated on the novel CSP of isopropyl derivatives of cyclofructan 6 and n-hexane-isopropanol-trifluoroacetic acid (97:3:0.1, v/v/v) as a mobile phase with a resolution (Rs) of about 2.48. The enantiomers were also well separated on the CSP of tris-carbamates of amylose with a higher Rs (about 3.79) when a mixture of n-hexane-isopropanol-trifluoroacetic acid (55:45:0.1, v/v/v) was used as mobile phase. Thus, the proposed separation methods can facilitate molecular pharmacological and biological research on closantel and its enantiomers.

Hexagonal BN-Assisted Epitaxy of Strain Released GaN Films for True Green Light-Emitting Diodes.

Epitaxial growth of III-nitrides on 2D materials enables the realization of flexible optoelectronic devices for next-generation wearable applications. Unfortunately, it is difficult to obtain high-quality III-nitride epilayers on 2D materials such as hexagonal BN (h-BN) due to different atom hybridizations. Here, the epitaxy of single-crystalline GaN films on the chemically activated h-BN/Al2O3 substrates is reported, paying attention to interface atomic configuration. It is found that chemical-activated h-BN provides B-O-N and N-O bonds, where the latter ones act as effective artificial dangling bonds for following GaN nucleation, leading to Ga-polar GaN films with a flat surface. The h-BN is also found to be effective in modifying the compressive strain in GaN film and thus improves indium incorporation during the growth of InGaN quantum wells, resulting in the achievement of pure green light-emitting diodes. This work provides an effective way for III-nitrides epitaxy on h-BN and a possible route to overcome the epitaxial bottleneck of high indium content III-nitride light-emitting devices.

High-Mobility Two-Dimensional Electron Gas at InGaN/InN Heterointerface Grown by Molecular Beam Epitaxy.

Due to the intrinsic spontaneous and piezoelectric polarization effect, III-nitride semiconductor heterostructures are promising candidates for generating 2D electron gas (2DEG) system. Among III-nitrides, InN is predicted to be the best conductive-channel material because its electrons have the smallest effective mass and it exhibits large band offsets at the heterointerface of GaN/InN or AlN/InN. Until now, that prediction has remained theoretical, due to a giant gap between the optimal growth windows of InN and GaN, and the difficult epitaxial growth of InN in general. The experimental realization of 2DEG at an InGaN/InN heterointerface grown by molecular beam epitaxy is reported here. The directly probed electron mobility and the sheet electron density of the InGaN/InN heterostructure are determined by Hall-effect measurements at room temperature to be 2.29 × 103 cm2 V-1 s-1 and 2.14 × 1013 cm-2, respectively, including contribution from the InN bottom layer. The Shubnikov-de Haas results at 3 K confirm that the 2DEG has an electron density of 3.30 × 1012 cm-2 and a quantum mobility of 1.48 × 103 cm2 V-1 s-1. The experimental observations of 2DEG at the InGaN/InN heterointerface have paved the way for fabricating higher-speed transistors based on an InN channel.

Enhanced Hydrogen Detection Based on Mg-Doped InN Epilayer.

It is a fact that surface electron accumulation layer with sheet electron density in the magnitude of ~1013 cm−2 on InN, either as-grown or Mg-doped, makes InN an excellent candidate for sensing application. In this paper, the response of hydrogen sensors based on Mg-doped InN films (InN:Mg) grown by molecular beam epitaxy has been investigated. The sensor exhibits a resistance variation ratio of 16.8% with response/recovery times of less than 2 min under exposure to 2000 ppm H2/air at 125 °C, which is 60% higher in the magnitude of response than the one based on the as-grown InN film. Hall-effect measurement shows that the InN:Mg with suitable Mg doping level exhibits larger sheet resistance, which accords with buried p-type conduction in the InN bulk. This work shows the advantage of InN:Mg and signifies its potential for sensing application.

Impact of Cold Exposure on the Reproductive Function in Female Rats.

Female reproductive system diseases caused by exposure to a cold environment are widely considered as important human health challenges. Although the projection of female reproduction in cold temperature has been studied, a holistic view on the probable effects of cold exposure on the functions of the female reproductive system has not been achieved. Our aim was to evaluate the effects of cold exposure to the functions of the ovary and uterus in female rats. For this purpose, female rats were randomly grouped as follows: (1) the cold group was exposed to -10°C, 4 h per day for 2 weeks, and (2) the normal temperature (23 ± 1°C) group was used as control. Alterations were observed in different parameters, including body weight gain, organ coefficients, estrus cycle, and pathology of the cold-exposed female rats. Similarly, the serum reproductive hormones and mRNA expression were evaluated. Cold exposure induced estrus cycle irregularity and some alterations in the morphology of the ovary. Cold exposure impairs the function of the ovary probably by changing the level of serum LH and increasing LHR expression. Cold exposure induced a significant reduction of uterine epithelium height. Cold exposure causes alterations in the morphology of the uterus probably because of the effect of progesterone, the increase in the PR level, and the decrease in the ER level.

Direct evidence of recombination between electrons in InGaN quantum discs and holes in p-type GaN.

Intense emission from an InGaN quantum disc (QDisc) embedded in a GaN nanowire p-n junction is directly resolved by performing cathodoluminescence spectroscopy. The luminescence observed from the p-type GaN region is exclusively dominated by the emission at 380 nm, which has been usually reported as the emission from Mg induced impurity bands. Here, we confirm that the robust emission from 380 nm is actually not due to the Mg induced impurity bands, but rather due to being the recombination between electrons in the QDisc and holes in the p-type GaN. This identification helps to get a better understanding of the confused luminescence from nanowires with thin QDiscs embedded for fabricating electrically driven single photon emitters.

Exciton emission of quasi-2D InGaN in GaN matrix grown by molecular beam epitaxy.

We investigate the emission from confined excitons in the structure of a single-monolayer-thick quasi-two-dimensional (quasi-2D) InxGa1-xN layer inserted in GaN matrix. This quasi-2D InGaN layer was successfully achieved by molecular beam epitaxy (MBE), and an excellent in-plane uniformity in this layer was confirmed by cathodoluminescence mapping study. The carrier dynamics have also been investigated by time-resolved and excitation-power-dependent photoluminescence, proving that the recombination occurs via confined excitons within the ultrathin quasi-2D InGaN layer even at high temperature up to ~220 K due to the enhanced exciton binding energy. This work indicates that such structure affords an interesting opportunity for developing high-performance photonic devices.

Reflectance difference spectroscopy microscope for circular defects on InN films.

Reflectance difference spectroscopy microscope (µ-RDS) is presented to characterize microstructural defects on the surface of materials. We use this microscope to study the circular defects on InN films and obtain the real normal reflectivity image and reflectance difference (RD) image by averaging the results before and after a 90° rotation of the sample. We analyze the experimental data along with other methods and formally ensure the reliability of this microscope. Comparing with the results of AFM, we prove that the reflectivity image of our µ-RDS can characterize the surface topography, size and location of the defects. We find the RD image generated by uniform height fluctuation is a standard four polar distribution in an established ideal circular defect model. However, a non-four polar distribution of RD image can be caused by the strain field as well as nonstandard height fluctuations, which is verified by simulation and Raman mapping technique. So the µ-RDS is an ideal tool for optical anisotropy distribution induced by small changes in the height and strain field around the defect boundary in plane.

Lattice-Polarity-Driven Epitaxy of Hexagonal Semiconductor Nanowires.

Lattice-polarity-driven epitaxy of hexagonal semiconductor nanowires (NWs) is demonstrated on InN NWs. In-polarity InN NWs form typical hexagonal structure with pyramidal growth front, whereas N-polarity InN NWs slowly turn to the shape of hexagonal pyramid and then convert to an inverted pyramid growth, forming diagonal pyramids with flat surfaces and finally coalescence with each other. This contrary growth behavior driven by lattice-polarity is most likely due to the relatively lower growth rate of the (0001̅) plane, which results from the fact that the diffusion barriers of In and N adatoms on the (0001) plane (0.18 and 1.0 eV, respectively) are about 2-fold larger in magnitude than those on the (0001̅) plane (0.07 and 0.52 eV), as calculated by first-principles density functional theory (DFT). The formation of diagonal pyramids for the N-polarity hexagonal NWs affords a novel way to locate quantum dot in the kink position, suggesting a new recipe for the fabrication of dot-based devices.