Ferroelectric random access memory (FeRAM) has been in mass production for over 15 years. Higher polarization ferroelectric materials are needed for future devices which can operate above about 100• C. With this goal in mind, co-doping of thin Pb(Zr 40 , Ti 60 )O 3 (PZT) films with 1 at.% Bi and 1 at.% Fe was examined in order to enhance the ferroelectric properties as well as characterize the doped material. The XRD patterns of PZT-5% BiFeO 3 (BF) and PZT 140-nm thick films showed (111) orientation on (111) platinized Si wafers and a 30• C increase in the tetragonal to cubic phase transition temperature, often called the Curie temperature, from 350 to 380• C with co-doping, indicating that Bi and Fe are substituting into the PZT lattice. Raman spectra revealed decreased band intensity with Bi and Fe co-doping of PZT compared to PZT. Polarization hysteresis loops show similar values of remanent polarization, but square-shaped voltage pulse-measured net polarization values of PZT-BF were higher and showed higher endurance to repeated cycling up to 10 10 cycles. It is proposed that Bi and Fe are both in the +3 oxidation state and substituting into the perovskite A and B sites, respectively. Substitution of Bi and Fe into the PZT lattice likely creates defect dipoles, which increase the net polarization when measured by the short voltage pulse positive-up-negative-down (PUND) method.

The dominant photon detectors and focal plane arrays (FPAs) in the mid-wave infrared (MWIR) range (λ = 3 μm to 5 μm) use single crystal InSb and HgCdTe materials. The cost of these detectors is high, and cooling at approximately 80 K to 120 K is required to reduce the dark current. Colloidal quantum dots (CQDs) can be used to provide the speed and detectivity (D*) of the quantum detectors with lower fabrication costs than those of single crystal epitaxial materials. The aim of this study is to develop a MWIR area array sensor with an HgCdTe-ternary alloyed semiconductor CQD using a commercially available silicon readout integrated circuit (ROIC). First, we synthesized a solution processed HgCdTe CQD responsive in the MWIR range at room temperature and developed a Schottkey junction photodiode array of 10 × 10 pixels based on the same quantum dots (QDs) to produce a HgCdTe-Si interface suitable for a MWIR photodiode at room temperature. After ensuring its functionality, we developed a 320 × 256-pixel focal plane array (FPA) responsive in the MWIR region by hybridization of the HgCdTe CQD layer over a silicon ROIC die with a direct injection input circuit. The FPA was operated using an indigenously developed Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGA)-based drive unit, and different IR targets were imaged to evaluate its use as a low-cost MWIR FPA. NEΔT value of 4 K achieved at room temperature.

No abstract

Multifunctional organic luminogens exhibiting simultaneous aggregation induced emission (AIE), room-temperature phosphorescence (RTP), and mechanochromism have recently attracted considerable attention owing to their potential applications in optoelectronics and bioimaging. However, a comprehensive correlation among these three distinguished properties is yet to be unveiled, which will help to decipher defined methodologies to design future generation multifunctional organic materials. Herein, we have demonstrated a route to obtain a multifunctional organic luminogen, starting from an ACQphore (TPANDI) by simple structural engineering. We have shown that a slight reduction in length of the planar acceptor moieties can effectively inhibit the undesirable π–π stacking interaction between molecules in the condensed state and thereby cause an ACQ to AIE type transformation from TPANDI to TPANMI and TPAPMI. Both TPANMI and TPAPMI exhibit RTP properties (even in ambient condition) because of the presence of a reasonably low singlet–triplet energy gap (ΔE ST). In our study, these two luminogens were found to be mechano-inactive. Interestingly, an insertion of cyano-ethylene group and benzene linker in between the triphenylamine and phthalimide moieties introduced another luminogen TPACNPMI, which can simultaneously exhibit AIE, RTP, and mechanochromic properties.

Hydrothermally grown mercury cadmium telluride quantum dots (CdHgTe QDs) are decorated on graphene oxide (GO) sheets through physisorption. The structural change of GO through partial reduction of oxygen functional groups is observed with X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy in GO-QDs composites. Raman spectroscopy provides relatively a small change (∼1.1 times) in D/G ratio of band intensity and red shift in G band from 1606 cm−1 to 1594 cm−1 in GO-CdHgTe QDs (2.6 nm) composites, which indicates structural modification of GO network. Steady state and time resolved photoluminescence (PL) spectroscopy shows the electronic interactions between photoexcited near infrared emitting CdHgTe QDs and GO. Another interesting observation is PL quenching in the presence of GO, and it is quite effective in the case of smaller size QDs (2.6 nm) compared to the larger size QDs (4.2 nm). Thus, the observed PL quenching is attributed to the photogenerated electron transfer from QDs to GO. The photoexcited electron transfer rate decreases from 2.2 × 109 to 1.5 × 108 s−1 with increasing particle size from 2.6 to 4.2 nm. Photoconductivity measurements on QDs-GO composite devices show nearly 3 fold increase in the current density under photo-illumination, which is a promising aspect for solar energy conversion and other optoelectronic applications.

In this paper, we report the development of mid-wave infrared (MWIR) photon sensor using solution-processed mercury cadmium telluride (Hg[Formula: see text]CdxTe) semiconductor colloidal quantum dots (CQDs) coated over interdigitated metallic electrode structure, having significant response in the MWIR spectral band range ([Formula: see text]–5.0[Formula: see text][Formula: see text]m) at room temperature. HgCdTe CQD has been chemically synthesized. We have characterized the optical and [Formula: see text] noise performances of the developed sensor to understand its behaviors at different operating biases as an introductory step toward development of large-format MWIR focal-plane arrays having similar pixel structure. The optimum biasing conditions have been experimentally evaluated at room temperature. We have achieved a noise equivalent power (NEP) of 2.5[Formula: see text]pW at 1.5-V bias voltage which corresponds to detectivity ([Formula: see text]) in the order of 108. This work highlights the development of low-cost colloidal HgCdTe quantum dot photodetectors and their utility in the monolithic infrared focal-plane arrays.

No abstract

No abstract