Nanocrystalline cubic silicon carbide (3C-SiC) films embedded in an amorphous SiC matrix were fabricated by the hot-filament chemical-vapor-deposition technique using methane and silane as reactance gases. High-resolution transmission electron micrographs clearly showed that these films contain naoncrystallites, with an average dimension of about 7 nm, embedded within an amorphous matrix: X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, x-ray diffraction, infrared absorption, and Raman scattering studies revealed the nanocrystallites as having the structure of that of 3C-SiC. In contrast to 3C-SiC, where no photoluminescence could be observed at room temperature, strong visible emission with a peak energy of 2.2 eV could be seen from the nanocrystalline films at room temperature. The presence of nanocrystalline cubic SiC in these films is believed to result in a change in their energy-band structure, compared to that of 3C-SiC, which promotes radiative recombination of electron-hole pairs.

A theoretical analysis has been carried out to compare the resonance condition in the asymmetric double-barrier structure with that in the symmetric triple-barrier one. It is. found that. the triple-barrier structure may be considered as two quasidouble-barrier structures whose resonance condition may decide the resonance levels in the triple-barrier structure. It is confirmed that two modes exist in the triple-barrier structure: one is "normal mode consisting of doublet and the other is degenerated mode of singlet. The critical condition between the two modes is given and its physical meaning is examined. Moreover, it is confirmed that both the normal mode and the degenerated mode exist also in symmetric n-fold barrier structures (n≥3).

A new design of power supply based on the idea of switched capacitors, as applied to pocket computer systems, is presented. This new type of power supply is inductorless and, consequently, suitable for hybridization and even monolithic integration. The new design is also based on distinguishing characteristics of pocket digital computer systems, in which a switched-capacitor converter can work well, since minimal regulation is required. The new device may enable the pocket computer system to be powered by only one battery, resulting in a simple topology. Two switched-capacitor converters, +12 V/-12 V, +5 V and +5 V/+12 V, -12 V, are shown, respectively, as an example for demonstrating the basic principle and its performance. PSPICE simulation and laboratory models show good results for this new type of power supply.

A SiC light-activated Darlington heterojunction transistor is proposed for anti-EMI (electromagnetic interference) applications, in which a monolithically integrated SiCGe/SiC pn heterojunction photodiode is employed to produce a light-induced base current for triggering the transistor. Performance of the proposed light-activated power switch was simulated using MEDICI tools. Feasibility of the proposal is confirmed by its good light-activation characteristics obtained from the simulation. The simulation also demonstrates that good I-V characteristics with a light-independent turn-on voltage knee of about 5 V may be achievable to the light-activated power switch has.

If a Darlington transistor is triggered by the photocurrent output from an individual photodiode, the electromagnetic interference (EMI) problem may still exist because the direct input of the Darlington is an actually electronic signal. To eliminate the EMI problem completely, we propose an absolutely light-activated Darlington transistor made of SiC, in which p-SiCGe/n-SiC heterojunction is employed to produce a base current by means of optical illumination. Performance of the novel light-activated power switch was simulated using MEDICI tools, which has shown that the light-activated device has very good switching characteristics especially for a triggering light intensity greater than 0.23 W/cm2. For a relatively weak light, the device can be switched to the ON state only for a higher bias voltage.