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Search indexed NASA NTRS and DOE OSTI research on propulsion, heat transfer, battery materials and energy systems. Follow report and document links to the original sources.

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At least 19 records
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2017

High efficiency low threshold current 1.3 μ m InAs quantum dot lasers on on-axis (001) GaP/Si

We demonstrate highly efficient, low threshold InAs quantum dot lasers epitaxially grown on on-axis (001) GaP/Si substrates using molecular beam epitaxy. Electron channeling contrast imaging measurements show a threading dislocation density of 7.3 × 106 cm−2 from an optimized GaAs template grown on GaP/Si. The high-quality GaAs templates enable as-cleaved quantum dot lasers to achieve a room-temperature continuous-wave (CW) threshold current of 9.5 mA, a threshold current density as low as 132 A/cm2, a single-side output power of 175 mW, and a wall-plug-efficiency of 38.4% at room temperature. As-cleaved QD lasers show ground-state CW lasing up to 80 °C. The application of a 95% high-reflectivity coating on one laser facet results in a CW threshold current of 6.7 mA, which is a record-low value for any kind of Fabry-Perot laser grown on Si.

Jung, Daehwan↗
DOE OSTI2015

InAs-based interband-cascade-lasers emitting around 7 μm with threshold current densities below 1 kA/cm{sup 2} at room temperature

Interband cascade lasers (ICLs) grown on InAs substrates with threshold current densities below 1 kA/cm{sup 2} are presented. Two cascade designs with different lengths of the electron injector were investigated. Using a cascade design with 3 InAs quantum wells (QWs) in the electron injector, a device incorporating 22 stages in the active region exhibited a threshold current density of 940 A/cm{sup 2} at a record wavelength of 7 μm for ICLs operating in pulsed mode at room temperature. By investigating the influence of the number of stages on the device performance for a cascade design with 2 QWs in the electron injector, a further reduction of the threshold current density to 800 A/cm{sup 2} was achieved for a 30 stage device.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗
DOE OSTI2019

Effect of (Al)GaAs/AlGaAs quantum confinement region parameters on the threshold current density of laser diodes

An approach has been proposed for choosing parameters (width and depth) of an (Al)GaAs/AlGaAs quantum confinement region via calculation of the threshold current density of a semiconductor laser. A detailed assessment of its components has made it possible to find criteria for optimising the range of quantum well widths so as to minimise the threshold current for lasers with different heterostructure geometries. The data presented in this paper demonstrate the feasibility of further improving output characteristics of semiconductor lasers by optimising the design and technology of quantum well heterostructures. Owing to this, we have simultaneously reduced the threshold current, carrier escape and internal optical loss, which has allowed us to obtain high (60 % to 70 %) efficiencies of a semiconductor laser operating in the spectral range 800 – 850 nm. (paper)

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗
DOE OSTI2015

Highly temperature insensitive, low threshold-current density (λ = 8.7–8.8 μm) quantum cascade lasers

By stepwise tapering, both the barrier heights and quantum-well depths in the active regions of 8.7–8.8 μm-emitting quantum-cascade-laser (QCL) structures, virtually complete carrier-leakage suppression is achieved. Such step-taper active-region-type QCLs possess, for 3 mm-long devices with high-reflectivity-coated back facets, threshold-current characteristic temperature coefficients, T{sub 0}, as high as 283 K and slope-efficiency characteristic temperature coefficients, T{sub 1}, as high as 561 K, over the 20–60 °C heatsink-temperature range. These high T{sub 0} and T{sub 1} values reflect at least a factor of four reduction in carrier-leakage current compared to conventional 8–9 μm-emitting QCLs. Room temperature, pulsed, threshold-current densities are 1.58 kA/cm{sup 2}; values comparable to those for 35-period conventional QCLs of similar injector-region doping level. Superlinear behavior of the light-current curves is shown to be the result of the onset of resonant extraction from the lower laser level at a drive level of ∼1.3× threshold. Maximum room-temperature slope efficiencies are 1.23 W/A; that is, slope efficiency per period values of 35 mW/A, which are 37%–40% higher than for same-geometry conventional 8–9 μm-emitting QCLs. Since the waveguide-loss coefficients are very similar, we estimate that the internal differential efficiency is at least 30% higher than in conventional QCLs. Such high internal differential efficiency values reflect the combined effect of nearly complete carrier-leakage suppression and high differential efficiency of the laser transition (∼90%), due to resonant extraction from the lower laser level.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗
DOE OSTI2018

Temperature Dependences of the Threshold Current and Output Power of a Quantum-Cascade Laser Emitting at 3.3 THz

The active region of a THz (terahertz) quantum-cascade laser based on three tunnel-coupled GaAs/Al{sub 0.15}Ga{sub 0.85}As quantum wells with a resonance-phonon depopulation scheme is designed. Energy levels, matrix elements of dipole transitions, and gain spectra are calculated as functions of the applied electric-field strength F and temperature. It is shown that the maximum gain is implemented at a frequency of 3.37 THz and F = 12.3 kV/cm. Based on the proposed design, a quantum-cascade laser emitting at ~3.3 THz with a double metal waveguide and T{sub max} ~ 84 K is fabricated. The activation energy E{sub a} = 23 meV for longitudinal-optical (LO) phonon emission upon the stimulated recombination of hot electrons from the upper laser level to the lower one is determined from the Arrhenius temperature dependence of the output power.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2020

Resonance Suppression based on Predictive Control of Grid-following Inverters with LCL Filter in Weak Grid Condition

This paper presents an effective resonance suppression control when grid interactive inverter with LCL filter experience weak grid conditions. The resonance suppression mechanism is based on finite-set model predictive control (FSMPC) with adaptive cost function to alter the controller objectives seamlessly. The large parasitic impedance and low short circuit ratio (SCR) of weak grid challenges the operation of gridconnected inverters. Specifically, the LCL filter resonance may get excited, resulting in collapse of the inverter operation. To address this issue, an effective active damping approach is implemented in the proposed control. In the proposed active damping scheme for resonance suppression, the feedback currents are switched based on the operating conditions of inverter. During the stiff grid conditions, grid current serves as feedback to the controller. While in the weak grid conditions, the inverter current is selected as feedback signal. The toggling action between these two feedback currents is determined by comparing moving RMS of grid current with threshold current as constraint in the cost function of the proposed MPC scheme. The threshold current for toggling action is based on the reference active and reactive power setpoints plus an acceptable band of variation. The theoretical analysis is verified by several case studies.

Umar, Muhammad Farooq↗
DOE OSTI2015

Cr-doped Ge{sub 2}Sb{sub 2}Te{sub 5} for ultra-long data retention phase change memory

Phase change memory is regarded as one of the most promising candidates for the next-generation non-volatile memory. Its storage medium, phase change material, has attracted continuous exploration. Ge{sub 2}Sb{sub 2}Te{sub 5} (GST) is the most popular phase change material, but its thermal stability needs to be improved when used in some fields at high temperature (more than 120 °C). In this paper, we doped Cr atoms into GST and obtained Cr{sub 10}(Ge{sub 2}Sb{sub 2}Te{sub 5}){sub 90} (labeled as Cr-GST) with high thermal stability. For Cr-GST film, the sheet resistance ratio between amorphous and crystalline states is high up to 3 orders of magnitude. The crystalline Cr-GST film inherits the phase structure of GST, with metastable face-centered cubic phase and/or stable hexagonal phase. The doped Cr atoms not only bond with other atoms but also help to improve the anti-oxidation property of Cr-GST. As for the amorphous thermal stability, the calculated temperature for 10-year-data-retention of Cr-GST film, based on the Arrhenius equation, is about 180 °C. The threshold current and threshold voltage of a cell based on Cr-GST are about 6 μA and 2.7 V. The cell could be operated by suitable voltages for more than 40 000 cycles. Thus, Cr-GST is proved to be a promising phase change material with ultra-long data retention.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗
DOE OSTI2024

Photonic Crystal Surface Emitting GaSb-Based Type-I Quantum Well Diode Lasers

The GaSb-based epitaxially regrown monolithic diode PCSELs operating near 2 μm at room temperature in continuous wave regime and generating 30 mW of output power from 200 μm diameter aperture have been designed and fabricated. Here, the devices demonstrated CW threshold current density of about 500 A/cm 2 . The laser output power was enhanced thanks to increased buried void area fill-factor in the photonic crystal layer with multiple voids per unit cell. The PCSEL generated ultra-low divergence donut shape beams at the currents near threshold. At higher injection currents, the device brightness was limited by excitation of the higher order lateral modes. Generation of the vector-vortex beams of different types by different band edge states of the buried photonic crystal was observed.

77 NANOSCIENCE AND NANOTECHNOLOGY↗
DOE OSTI2016

Electrically Pumped Whispering Gallery Mode Lasing from Au/ZnO Microwire Schottky Junction

Au/ZnO microwire Schottky diodes are fabricated. The devices exhibit typical Schottky diode I – V behavior with a turn‐on voltage of about 0.72 V. The hexagonal ZnO microwires act as whispering gallery mode (WGM) lasing microcavities. Under forward bias, a three‐microwire device exhibits WGM ultraviolet lasing spectra with a quality factor of about 1287. Output power of the laser has been measured at various injection currents, indicating threshold behavior with a threshold current of about 59 mA. Due to limited hole injection in the operation of Schottky diode, the lasing is a result of an excitonic recombination within the WGM cavity.

Bashar, Sunayna B.↗
DOE OSTI2020

A Stabilizer based Predictive Control Scheme for Smart Inverters in Weak Grid

This paper presents a self-stabilization mechanism based on finite-set model predictive control (FCS-MPC) framework for smart inverters operating in weak grid conditions. As weak grid’s large parasitic impedance and low short-circuitratio (SCR) challenge the stable operation of grid-connected inverters. Specifically, the inverter may experience frequencies that might excite the LCL filter resonance phenomenon. The inverter stability collapses if this LCL resonance is triggered. To address this issue, a robust predictive controller is proposed that features a self-stabilization mechanism for smart inverters interacting with a weak grid. The proposed methodology utilizes the idea that in stiff grid conditions the grid current feedback (GCF) is stable and in weak grid conditions the inverter current feedback (ICF) is stable. Therefore, the proposed FCS-MPC toggles between GCF and ICF to achieve inherent LCL filter resonance damping. The toggling action between GCF and ICF is leveraged by comparing the moving RMS grid current with threshold current as a constrained in the proposed FCS-MPC cost function. The theoretical analyses are verified by several case studies for a single-phase grid-connected inverter. The analysis and results demonstrated that the proposed FCS-MPC operates well under weak, ultra-weak and stiff grid conditions.

Umar, Muhammad Farooq↗
DOE OSTI2025

Radiation-resilient InAs quantum dot lasers

Displacement damage from particle radiation increases the threshold current of semiconductor lasers, impeding the deployment of photonic systems in harsh radiation environments. Replacing conventional quantum well (QW) gain regions with quantum dots (QDs) has been shown to suppress the radiation-induced increase in threshold current owing to three-dimensional carrier confinement, which effectively segregates charge carriers away from radiation-induced defects. However, radiation-induced change in threshold current is also affected by extrinsic design elements of a laser, such as photon lifetime, and therefore provides only a partial assessment of the radiation hardness. In this work, we advance the understanding of the radiation resiliency of InAs QD lasers by extracting the change in the nonradiative recombination rate after radiation exposure, which provides a more fundamental assessment of the intrinsic radiation hardness of InAs QD gain regions. We find that carriers that populate InAs QD states have a nonradiative recombination rate that is over an order-of-magnitude less sensitive to neutron radiation relative to carriers in InGaAsP QWs. InAs QD lasers must be designed such that carriers primarily occupy QD states, preventing carrier spillover into surrounding barrier layers to obtain the maximum benefit. Furthermore, we show that enhanced radiation hardness is observed in InAs QD lasers grown on both highly lattice-mismatched silicon substrates and native GaAs substrates, further broadening the appeal of InAs QD lasers as reliable light sources for photonic systems operating in harsh radiation environments.

47 OTHER INSTRUMENTATION↗
DOE OSTI2015

InP-based type-I quantum well lasers up to 2.9 μm at 230 K in pulsed mode on a metamorphic buffer

This work reports on up to 2.9 μm lasing at 230 K of InP-based type-I quantum well lasers. This record long wavelength lasing is achieved by applying InP-based Sb-free structures with eight periods of strain-compensated InAs quantum wells grown on metamorphic In{sub 0.8}Al{sub 0.2}As template layers. The continuous-wave threshold current density is 797 A/cm{sup 2} and the idealized extrapolated threshold current density for infinite cavity length is as low as 58 A/cm{sup 2} per quantum well at 120 K. This scheme is a promising pathway for extending the wavelength range of type-I quantum well lasers on InP substrates.

77 NANOSCIENCE AND NANOTECHNOLOGY↗
DOE OSTI2015

An electrically injected AlGaN nanowire laser operating in the ultraviolet-C band

We have investigated the molecular beam epitaxial growth and characterization of nearly defect-free AlGaN nanowire heterostructures grown directly on Si substrate. By exploiting the Anderson localization of light, we have demonstrated electrically injected AlGaN nanowire lasers that can operate at 262.1 nm. The threshold current density is 200 A/cm{sup 2} at 77 K. The relatively low threshold current is attributed to the high Q-factor of the random cavity and the three-dimensional quantum confinement offered by the atomic-scale composition modulation in self-organized AlGaN nanowires.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗
DOE OSTI2015

Emission spectra of a laser based on an In(Ga)As/GaAs quantum-dot superlattice

The spectral characteristics of a laser with an active region based on a ten-layer system of In(Ga)As/GaAs vertically correlated quantum dots with 4.5-nm GaAs spacer layers between InAs quantum dots are studied under the conditions of spontaneous and stimulated emission, depending on the current and the duration of pump pulses. Data obtained by transmission electron microscopy and electroluminescence and absorption polarization anisotropy measurements make it possible to demonstrate that the investigated system of tunnel-coupled InAs quantum dots separated by thin GaAs barriers represents a quantum-dot superlattice. With an increase in the laser pump current, the electroluminescence intensity increases linearly and the spectral position of the electroluminescence maximum shifts to higher energies, which is caused by the dependence of the miniband density-of-states distribution on the pump current. Upon exceeding the threshold current, multimode lasing via the miniband ground state is observed. One of the lasing modes can be attributed to the zero-phonon line, and the other is determined by the longitudinal-optical phonon replica of quantum-dot emission. The results obtained give evidence that, under conditions of the laser pumping of an In(Ga)As/GaAs quantum-dot superlattice, strong coupling between the discrete electron states in the miniband and optical phonons takes place. This leads to the formation of quantum-dot polarons, resulting from the resonant mixing of electronic states whose energy separation is comparable to the optical-phonon energy.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2019

Temperature Dependence of the Parameters of 1.55-μm Semiconductor Lasers with Thin Quantum Wells Based on Phosphorus-Free Heterostructures

InGaAs/InGaAlAs laser diodes operating in the 1.55-μm spectral range are studied. It is demonstrated that a certain level of carbon doping (10{sup 12} cm{sup –2} per a single quantum well) allows one to reduce the temperature coefficient of variation of the lasing wavelength in such structures and raise the characteristic temperature of threshold current and differential efficiency at temperatures from 16 to ~50°C. These changes are accompanied by an increase in threshold current density and a reduction in differential efficiency.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗
DOE OSTI2014

Scattering assisted injection based injectorless mid infrared quantum cascade laser

An injectorless five-well mid infrared quantum cascade laser is analyzed which relies on phonon scattering injection in contrast to resonant tunneling injection, which has been previously used for injectorless designs. A Monte Carlo based self-consistent electron and photon transport simulator is used to analyze the performance of the analyzed design and compare it to existing injectorless designs. The simulation results show that the analyzed design could greatly enhance the optical gain and the characteristic temperatures of injectorless quantum cascade lasers (QCLs) which have typically been hindered by low characteristic temperatures and significant temperature related performance degradation. Simulations of the analyzed device predict threshold current densities of 0.85 kA/cm{sup 2} and 1.95 kA/cm{sup 2} at 77 K and 300 K, respectively, which are comparable to the threshold current densities of conventional injector based QCLs.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗
DOE OSTI2015

Hot-carrier-induced linear drain current and threshold voltage degradation for thin layer silicon-on-insulator field P-channel lateral double-diffused metal-oxide-semiconductor

Hot-carrier-induced linear drain current (I{sub dlin}) and threshold voltage (V{sub th}) degradations for the thin layer SOI field p-channel lateral double-diffused MOS (pLDMOS) are investigated. Two competition degradation mechanisms are revealed and the hot-carrier conductance modulation model is proposed. In the channel, hot-hole injection induced positive oxide trapped charge and interface trap gives rise to the V{sub th} increasing and the channel conductance (G{sub ch}) decreasing, then reduces I{sub dlin}. In the p-drift region, hot-electron injection induced negative oxide trapped charge enhances the conductance of drift doping resistance (G{sub d}), and then increases I{sub dlin}. Consequently, the eventual I{sub dlin} degradation is controlled by the competition of the two mechanisms due to conductance modulation in the both regions. Based on the model, it is explained that the measured I{sub dlin} anomalously increases while the V{sub th} is increasing with power law. The thin layer field pLDMOS exhibits more severe V{sub th} instability compared with thick SOI layer structure; as a result, it should be seriously evaluated in actual application in switching circuit.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗