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Two-dimensional electron systems in GaAs/AlGaAs heterostructures have provided a platform for investigating numerous phenomena in condensed matter physics. The quantum Hall effect is a particularly remarkable phenomenon due to its topological properties, including chiral edge states with quantized conductance. This report describes progress made in interference measurements of these edge states in electronic Fabry-Perot interferometers. Previous interference experiments in the quantum Hall regime have been stymied by Coulomb charging effects and poor quantum coherence. These Coulomb charging effects have been dramatically suppressed by the implementation of a novel GaAs/AlGaAs heterostructure which utilizes auxiliary screening wells in addition to the primary GaAs quantum well. Using this heterostructure, Aharonov-Bohm interference is measured in very small devices which have greatly improved coherence. Robust Aharonov-Bohm interference is reported at fractional quantum Hall states nu = 1/3 and nu = 2/3. Discrete jumps in phase at nu = 1/3 consistent with anyonic braiding statistics are observed. The report concludes with proposed future experiments, including extending these results to possible non-Abelian quantum Hall states.

abstract: Several key, open questions in astrophysics can be tackled by searching for and mining large datasets for transient phenomena. The evolution of massive stars and compact objects can be studied over cosmic time by identifying supernovae (SNe) and gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) in other galaxies and determining their redshifts. Modeling GRBs and their afterglows to probe the jets of GRBs can shed light on the emission mechanism, rate, and energetics of these events. In Chapter 1, I discuss the current state of astronomical transient study, including sources of interest, instrumentation, and data reduction techniques, with a focus on work in the infrared. In Chapter 2, I present original work published in the Proceedings of the Astronomical Society of the Pacific, testing InGaAs infrared detectors for astronomical use (Strausbaugh, Jackson, and Butler 2018); highlights of this work include observing the exoplanet transit of HD189773B, and detecting the nearby supernova SN2016adj with an InGaAs detector mounted on a small telescope at ASU. In Chapter 3, I discuss my work on GRB jets published in the Astrophysical Journal Letters, highlighting the interesting case of GRB 160625B (Strausbaugh et al. 2019), where I interpret a late-time bump in the GRB afterglow lightcurve as evidence for a bright-edged jet. In Chapter 4, I present a look back at previous years of RATIR (Re-ionization And Transient Infra-Red Camera) data, with an emphasis on the efficiency of following up GRBs detected by the Fermi Space Telescope, before some final remarks and brief discussion of future work in Chapter 5. / Dissertation/Thesis / Doctoral Dissertation Physics 2019

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No description available.

No description available.

Time-domain terahertz spectroscopy is now a well-established technique. Of the many methods available for a terahertz source for terahertz spectroscopy, the most widely used may be the GaAs-based photoconductive antenna, as it provides relatively high power at terahertz frequencies, commercially available up to 150 µW, and a wide-bandwidth, approximately 70 GHz to 3.5 THz. One of the limitations for developing more accurate and sensitive terahertz interrogation techniques is the lack of higher power sources. Because of our research interests in terahertz spectroscopy, we investigated detailed design and fabrication parameters involved in the photoconductive antenna, which exploits the surface plasma oscillation to produce a wideband pulse. The investigation enabled us to develop a new photoconductive antenna that is capable of generating a high power terahertz beam, at least twenty times stronger than those currently available. Throughout this research, it was discovered that antenna electrodes with particular geometries could produce superradiance, also known as the Dicke effect. Chaotic electrodes with a predisposition to lead charge-carriers into chaotic trajectories, e.g. rippled geometry, were exploited to reduce undesirable heat effects by driving thermal-electrons away from the terahertz generation site, i.e. the location of the surface plasma, while concentrating the removed charge-carriers in separate locations slightly away from the surface plasma. Then, spontaneous emission of coherent terahertz radiation may occur when the terahertz pulse generated by the surface plasma stimulates the concentrated carriers. This spontaneous emission enhanced the total coherent terahertz beam strength, as it occurs almost simultaneously with the primary terahertz beam. In principle, the spontaneous emission power increases as N^2, with the number N of dipole moments resulted from the concentrated charge carriers. Hence, if the design parameters are optimized, it may be possible to increase the strength of coherent terahertz beam by more than one order of magnitude with a photoconductive antenna containing rippled electrodes. However, as the parameters are yet to be optimized, we have only demonstrated 10-20 % enhancement with our current photoconductive antennas. Photoconductive antennas were fabricated via photolithography and characterized by time-domain terahertz spectroscopy and pyroelectric detection. In addition to chaotic electrodes, a variety of other parameters were characterized, including GaAs substrate thickness, GaAs crystal lattice orientation, trench depth for electrodes, metal-semiconductor contact, and bias voltage across electrodes. Nearly all parameters were found to play a crucial role influencing terahertz beam emission and carrier dynamics. By exploiting wave chaos and other antenna parameters, we developed a new photoconductive antenna capable of continuous operation with terahertz power twenty times larger than that of the conventional photoconductive antennas, improving from 150 µW to 3 mW. With further optimizations of the parameters, we expect more dramatic improvement of the photoconductive antenna in the near future. / Physics

The objectives of this investigation are to develop a precise, non-destructive single crystal stress measurement technique, develop a model to explain the phenomenon known as 3power slump2, and investigate the role of device processing on wafer breakage. All three objectives were successfully met. The single crystal stress technique uses a least squares analysis of X-ray diffraction data to calculate the full stress tensor. In this way, precise non-destructive stress measurements can be made with known error bars. Rocking curve analysis, stress gradient corrections, and a data reliability technique were implemented to ensure that the stress data are correct. A theory was developed to explain 3power slump2, which is a rapid decrease in the amplifying properties of microwave amplifier circuits during operation. The model explains that for the particular geometry and bias configuration of the devices studied in this research, power slump is linearly related to shear stress at values of less than 90 MPa. The microscopic explanation of power slump is that radiation enhanced dislocation glide increases the kink concentration, thereby increasing the generation center concentration in the active region of the device. These generation centers increase the total gate current, leading to a decrease in the amplifying properties of the device. Passivation layer processing has been shown to both reduce the fracture strength and increase the residual stress in GaAs wafers, making them more susceptible to wafer breakage. Bare wafers are found to have higher fracture strength than passivated wafers. Bare wafers are also found to contain less residual stress than SiON passivated wafers, which, in turn, are found to have less stress than SiN passivated wafers. Topographic imaging suggests that SiN passivated wafers have larger flaws than SiON passivated wafers, and that the distribution of flaw size among SiN passivated wafers is wider than the distribution of flaws in SiON passivated wafers. These flaws are believed to lead to breakage of the device during processing, resulting in low fabrication yield. Both the power slump model and the wafer breakage data show that these phenomena are dependent on residual stress developed in the substrate during device fabrication. Reduction of process-induced residual stress should therefore simultaneously decrease wafer breakage rates and reduce power slump during device fabrication and operation. / Ph. D.

Optical studies of heavily-doped GaAs:C grown at low temperature by molecular beam epitaxy were performed using room-temperature photoluminescence, infrared transmission, and Raman scattering measurements. The photoluminescence experiments show that in LT-GaAs:C films grown at temperatures below 400 °C, nonradiative recombination processes dominate and photoluminescence is quenched. When the growth temperature exceeds 400 °C, band-to-band photoluminescence emission appears. We conclude that the films change in character from LT-GaAs:C to normal GaAs:C once the growth temperature reaches 400 °C. Annealing, however, shows a different behavior. Once grown as LT-GaAs:C, this material retains its nonconducting nonluminescing LT characteristics even when annealed at 600 °C. The Raman-scattering measurements showed that the growth temperature and the doping concentration influence the position, broadening, and asymmetry of the longitudinal-optical phonon Raman line. We attribute these effects to changes in the concentration of interstitial carbon in the films. Also, the shift of the Raman line was used to estimate the concentration of arsenic-antisite defects in undoped LT-GaAs. The infrared transmission measurements on the carbon-doped material showed that only a fraction of the carbon atoms occupy arsenic sites, that this fraction increases as the growth temperature increases, and that it reaches about 100% once the growth temperature reaches 400 °C. The details of all these measurements are discussed. Infrared transmission and photoluminescence measurements were also carried out on heavily-doped GaAs:C films grown by molecular beam epitaxy at the standard 600 C temperature. The infrared results reveal, for dopings under 5 x 10⁹ cm⁻³, a linear relation between doping concentration and the integrated optical absorption of the carbon localized-vibrational-mode band. At higher dopings, the LVM integrated absorption saturates. Formation of C_As-C_As clusters is proposed as the mechanism of the saturation. The photoluminescence spectra were successfully analyzed with a simple model assuming thermalization of photoelectrons to the bottom of the conduction band and indirect-transition recombination with holes populating the degenerately doped valence band. The analysis yields the bandgap reduction and the Fermi-level-depth increase at high doping. / Ph. D.

Gallium arsenide MESFETS require protective passivation at several steps in their fabrication. A common film used for device passivation is silicon nitride. This passivation film is deposited on gallium arsenide substrates by chemical vapor deposition techniques and possesses high intrinsic stress. The stresses arise from the difference in the gallium arsenide and silicon nitride material properties, such as coefficient of expansion, density, modulus, and deposition temperature. The stress has been shown to cause electrical performance shifts in GaAs MESFET structures due to the piezoelectric nature of the gallium arsenide lattice. This work develops a framework of mathematical models and experimental techniques by which the intrinsic stresses in the film and the GaAs substrate can be evaluated. Specifically, this work details the stress field and the electrical performance shifts in fully planarized self aligned gate GaAs MESFETS. The devices were 10 micron gate periphery FET devices with a 0.4 micron etched gate length. The test devices included both enhancement mode and depletion mode structures. The major contributors to the stress in GaAs devices was found to be the intrinsic stress effects of the silicon nitride passivation film. An externally applied stress, such as that applied to a package base that a typical GaAs device would be mounted into for actual service, was found to be insufficient to cause significant shifts in the device performance. The package body effectively reduces the transfer of stress to the device body and thereby minimizes the piezoelectric effect. The intrinsic stress effects are due to the deposition of the film itself. This intrinsic stress was found to have a significant effect on the device electrical characteristics. The stress was found to permanently shift the threshold voltage and current in 10 micron self aligned gate MESFETS. The shift was measured at 26 millivolts per 100 MPa film stress for depletion mode devices and 23 millivolts per 100 MPa for enhancement mode devices. For the maximum measured biaxial stress of -0.54 MPa in the gallium arsenide, the total measured shift was 140 millivolts. The level of shift is similar to that reported by earlier researchers. This piezoelectric shift has been modeled, with model predictions within 50/0 of the experimental values for the DFET devices and 11 % for the EFET devices. / Ph. D.