Imaging capability of pseudomorphic high electron mobility transistors, AlGaN/GaN, and Si micro-Hall probes for scanning Hall probe microscopy between 25 and 125°C

The authors present a comparative study on imaging capabilities of three different micro-Hall probe sensors fabricated from narrow and wide band gap semiconductors for scanning hall probe microscopy at variable temperatures. A novel method of quartz tuning fork atomic force microscopy feedback has been used which provides extremely simple operation in atmospheric pressures, high-vacuum, and variable-temperature environments and enables very high magnetic and reasonable topographic resolution to be achieved simultaneously. Micro-Hall probes were produced using optical lithography and reactive ion etching process. The active area of all different types of Hall probes were 1×1 µm2. Electrical and magnetic characteristics show Hall coefficient, carrier concentration, and series resistance of the hall sensors to be 10 mOmega/G, 6.3×1012 cm−2, and 12 kOmega at 25 °C and 7 mOmega/G, 8.9×1012 cm−2 and 24 kOmega at 125 °C for AlGaN/GaN two-dimensional electron gas (2DEG), 0.281 mOmega/G, 2.2×1014 cm−2, and 139 kOmega at 25 °C and 0.418 mOmega/G, 1.5×1014 cm−2 and 155 kOmega at 100 °C for Si and 5–10 mOmega/G, 6.25×1012 cm−2, and 12 kOmega at 25 °C for pseudomorphic high electron mobility transistors (PHEMT) 2DEG Hall probe. Scan of magnetic field and topography of hard disc sample at variable temperatures using all three kinds of probes are presented. The best low noise image was achieved at temperatures of 25, 100, and 125 °C for PHEMT, Si, and AlGaN/GaN Hall probes, respectively. This upper limit on the working temperature can be associated with their band gaps and noise associated with thermal activation of carriers at high temperatures

Variable temperature-scanning hall probe microscopy with GaN/AlGaN two-dimensional electron gas (2DEG) micro hall sensors in 4.2-425K range using novel quartz tuning fork AFM feedback

In this report, we present the fabrication and variable temperature (VT) operation of Hall sensors, based on GaN/AlGaN heterostructure with a two-dimensional electron gas (2DEG) as an active layer, integrated with Quartz Tuning Fork (QTF) in atomic force-guided (AFM) scanning Hall probe microscopy (SHPM). Physical strength and wide band gap of GaN/AlGaN heterostructure makes it a better choice to be used for SHPM at elevated temperatures, compared to other compound semiconductors (AlGaAs/GaAs and InSb), which are unstable due to their narrower band gap and physical degradation at high temperatures. GaN/AlGaN micro Hall probes were produced using optical lithography and reactive ion etching. The active area, Hall coefficient, carrier concentration and series resistance of the Hall sensors were ~14m x 14m, 10m7/G at 4.2K, 6.3 x 10^12cm-2 and 12k7 at room temperature and 7m7/G, 8.9 x 10^12cm-2 and 24k7 at 400K, respectively. A novel method of AFM feedback using QTF has been adopted. This method provides an advantage over STM feedback, which limits the operation of SHPM the conductive samples and failure of feedback due to high leakage currents at high temperatures. Simultaneous scans of magnetic and topographic data at various pressures (from atmospheric pressure to high vacuum) from 4.2K to 425K will be presented for different samples to illustrate the capability of GaN/AlGaN Hall sensors in VT-SHP

Mass transfer efficiency of a tall and low plate free area liquid pulsed sieve-plate extraction column

Acknowledgements The authors would like to acknowledge Chakwal group of industries for funding the project. Ms. Madiha, Ms. Zona, Mr. Sohaib, Mr. Abdullah, Mr. Mudassar, and Mr. Salahuddin also deserve our acknowledgements for their assistance in different ways.Peer reviewedPublisher PD

GRIDCC: Real-time workflow system

The Grid is a concept which allows the sharing of resources between distributed communities, allowing each to progress towards potentially different goals. As adoption of the Grid increases so are the activities that people wish to conduct through it. The GRIDCC project is a European Union funded project addressing the issues of integrating instruments into the Grid. This increases the requirement of workflows and Quality of Service upon these workflows as many of these instruments have real-time requirements. In this paper we present the workflow management service within the GRIDCC project which is tasked with optimising the workflows and ensuring that they meet the pre-defined QoS requirements specified upon them

Supporting quality indicators in the UK national health service

Quality indicators for performance management of the UK National Health Service have been introduced for general practitioners (GPs) in order to monitor if they are meeting their performance targets. Such requirements impose significant load to GPs’ everyday operations and any type of software solution that stores relevant information and addresses performance indicators can help GPs to justify their fundholding. In this paper we report on a way of incorporating the semantics of a set of quality indicators in a database schema that can fit any GPs' practice. We concentrate on indicators that posed problems when creating the database and we provide a discussion that justifies our design decisions

Stationary two-atom entanglement induced by nonclassical two-photon correlations

A system of two two-level atoms interacting with a squeezed vacuum field can exhibit stationary entanglement associated with nonclassical two-photon correlations characteristic of the squeezed vacuum field. The amount of entanglement present in the system is quantified by the well known measure of entanglement called concurrence. We find analytical formulas describing the concurrence for two identical and nonidentical atoms and show that it is possible to obtain a large degree of steady-state entanglement in the system. Necessary conditions for the entanglement are nonclassical two-photon correlations and nonzero collective decay. It is shown that nonidentical atoms are a better source of stationary entanglement than identical atoms. We discuss the optimal physical conditions for creating entanglement in the system, in particular, it is shown that there is an optimal and rather small value of the mean photon number required for creating entanglement.Comment: 17 pages, 5 figure

High sensitivity and multifunctional micro-Hall sensors fabricated using InAlSb/InAsSb/InAlSb heterostructures

Further diversification of Hall sensor technology requires development of materials with high electron mobility and an ultrathin conducting layer very close to the material's surface. Here, we describe the magnetoresistive properties of micro-Hall devices fabricated using InAlSb/InAsSb/InAlSb heterostructures where electrical conduction was confined to a 30 nm-InAsSb two-dimensional electron gas layer. The 300 K electron mobility and sheet carrier concentration were 36 500 cm(2) V-1 s(-1) and 2.5 x 10(11) cm(-2), respectively. The maximum current-related sensitivity was 2 750 V A(-1) T-1, which was about an order of magnitude greater than AlGaAs/InGaAs pseudomorphic heterostructures devices. Photolithography was used to fabricate 1 mu m x 1 mu m Hall probes, which were installed into a scanning Hall probe microscope and used to image the surface of a hard disk

Spiers Memorial Lecture: Molecular mechanics and molecular electronics

We describe our research into building integrated molecular electronics circuitry for a diverse set of functions, and with a focus on the fundamental scientific issues that surround this project. In particular, we discuss experiments aimed at understanding the function of bistable [2]rotaxane molecular electronic switches by correlating the switching kinetics and ground state thermodynamic properties of those switches in various environments, ranging from the solution phase to a Langmuir monolayer of the switching molecules sandwiched between two electrodes. We discuss various devices, low bit-density memory circuits, and ultra-high density memory circuits that utilize the electrochemical switching characteristics of these molecules in conjunction with novel patterning methods. We also discuss interconnect schemes that are capable of bridging the micrometre to submicrometre length scales of conventional patterning approaches to the near-molecular length scales of the ultra-dense memory circuits. Finally, we discuss some of the challenges associated with fabricated ultra-dense molecular electronic integrated circuits