Active layers

From the write and read process sketched so far, some requirements for MO media can be derived (/) a high perpendicular, uniaxial magnetic anisotropy K in order to enable readout with the polar Kerr effect (2) a magnetoopticady active layer with a sufficient figure of merit R 0- where R is the reflectivity and the Kerr angle (T) a Curie temperature between 400 and 600 K, the lower limit to enable stable domains at room temperature and the upper limit because of the limited laser power for writing. 

There are, however, continuing difficulties for catalytic appHcations of ion implantation. One is possible corrosion of the substrate of the implanted or sputtered active layer this is the main factor in the long-term stabiHty of the catalyst. Ion implanted metals may be buried below the surface layer of the substrate and hence show no activity. Preparation of catalysts with high surface areas present problems for ion beam techniques. Although it is apparent that ion implantation is not suitable for the production of catalysts in a porous form, the results indicate its strong potential for the production and study of catalytic surfaces that caimot be fabricated by more conventional methods. 

Fig. 2. Schematic diagram of active layer stmctures employed in LEDs under forward bias showing the conduction band (CB) and valence band (VB). The simplest devices employ (a) a homostmcture active layer wherein the bandgap is constant throughout the device. More advanced stmctures consist of (b) single and (c) double heterostmctures. Heterostmctures faciUtate the confinement and injection of carriers in the active region where the carriers may...

In LEDs, electrons are generally injected into a type active layer. The internal quantum efficiency, ie, the photons per injected electrons, is given by the radiative recombination rate divided by the total recombination rate ... 

This confinement yields a higher carrier density of elections and holes in the active layer and fast ladiative lecombination. Thus LEDs used in switching apphcations tend to possess thin DH active layers. The increased carrier density also may result in more efficient recombination because many nonradiative processes tend to saturate. The increased carrier confinement and injection efficiency faciUtated by heterojunctions yields increasing internal quantum efficiencies for SH and DH active layers. Similar to a SH, the DH also faciUtates the employment of a window layer to minimise absorption. In a stmcture grown on an absorbing substrate, the lower transparent window layer may be made thick (>100 /tm), and the absorbing substrate subsequendy removed to yield a transparent substrate device. 

Eig. 3. Depiction of the light extraction, ie, escape cones of light emission, for various LED chip stmctures consisting of absorbing substrate devices having (a) thin window layers (top cone) (b) thick window layers (top cone and four one-half side cones) (c) thin window plus the implementation of a distributed Bragg reflector between the active layer and the substrate (top and bottom cone). Also shown is (d), the optimal stmcture for light extraction, a... 

Emission L, nm Active layer material Stmcture Window layer material Substrate Lattice matched Growth technique Other... 

A more effective carrier confinement is offered by a double heterostmcture in which a thin layer of a low band gap material (the active layer) is sandwiched between larger band gap layers. The physical junction between two materials of different band gaps, and chemical compositions, is called a heterointerface. A schematic representation of the band diagram of such a stmcture is shown in Figure 4. Electrons injected under forward bias across the p—N junction into the lower band gap material encounter a potential barrier, AE at thep—P junction which inhibits their motion away from the junction. The holes see a potential barrier of AE at the N—p heterointerface which prevents their injection into the N region. The result is that the injected minority... 

Fig. 4. Schematic cross section and the band diagram of a double heterostmcture showing the band-edge discontinuities, AE and AE used to confine carriers to the smaller band gap active layer, (a) Without and (b) with forward bias. See text.

The two-dimensional carrier confinement in the wells formed by the conduction and valence band discontinuities changes many basic semiconductor parameters. The parameter important in the laser is the density of states in the conduction and valence bands. The density of states is gready reduced in quantum well lasers (11,12). This makes it easier to achieve population inversion and thus results in a corresponding reduction in the threshold carrier density. Indeed, quantum well lasers are characterized by threshold current densities as low as 100-150 A/cm, dramatically lower than for conventional lasers. In the quantum well lasers, carriers are confined to the wells which occupy only a small fraction of the active layer volume. The internal loss owing to absorption induced by the high carrier density is very low, as Httie as 2 cm . The output efficiency of such lasers shows almost no dependence on the cavity length, a feature usehil in the preparation of high power lasers. 

Fig. 12. Cut-out drawing of a distributed feedback (DFB) laser showing the active region and a diffraction grating, under the active layer, which produces...

Electrically Functional. Refractory coatings are used in semiconductor devices, capacitors, resistors, magnetic tape, disk memories, superconductors, solar ceUs, and diffusion barriers to impurity contamination from the substrate to the active layer. 

Several heterostructure geometries have been developed since the 1970s to optimize laser performance. Initial homojunction lasers were advanced by the use of heterostmctures, specifically the double-heterostmcture device where two materials are used. The abiUty of the materials growth technology to precisely control layer thickness and uniformity has resulted in the development of multiquantum well lasers in which the active layer of the laser consists of one or mote thin layers to allow for improved electron and hole confinement as well as optical field confinement. 

Catalyst Durability. Automobile catalysts last for the life of the vehicle and still function well at the time the vehicle is scrapped. However, there is potential for decline in total catalytic performance from exposure to very high temperatures, accumulation of catalyst poisons, or loss of the active layer (29,64—68). 

ActivatedL yer Loss. Loss of the catalytic layer is the third method of deactivation. Attrition, erosion, or loss of adhesion and exfoHation of the active catalytic layer aU. result in loss of catalyst performance. The monolithic honeycomb catalyst is designed to be resistant to aU. of these mechanisms. There is some erosion of the inlet edge of the cells at the entrance to the monolithic honeycomb, but this loss is minor. The peUetted catalyst is more susceptible to attrition losses because the pellets in the catalytic bed mb against each other. Improvements in the design of the peUetted converter, the surface hardness of the peUets, and the depth of the active layer of the peUets also minimise loss of catalyst performance from attrition in that converter. 

The upper-bound hne connects discontinuous points, but polymers exist near the bound for separations of interest. Whether these will be available as membranes is a different matter. A useful membrane requires a polymer which can be fabricated into a device having an active layer around 50 nm thick. At this thickness, membrane properties may vary significantly from bulk properties, although not by a factor of 2. 

Figure 7.5. Quantum-dot vertical-cavity surface-emitting semiconductor laser, svith an active layer consisting of self-assembled InojiGaAso s quantum dots (Fasor 1997),...

Yet another alternative is the thin-film solar cell. This cannot use silicon, because the transmission of solar radiation through silicon is high enough to require relatively thick silicon layers. One current favourite is the Cu(Ga, InjSci thin-film solar cell, with an efficiency up to 17% in small experimental cells. This material has a very high light absorption and the total thickness of the active layer (on a glass substrate) is only 2 pm. 

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