0000000000385787
AUTHOR
P.g. Fallica
Carrier-induced quenching processes on the erbium luminescence in silicon nanocluster devices
The luminescence-quenching processes limiting quantum efficiency in Er-doped silicon nanocluster light-emitting devices are investigated and identified. It is found that carrier injection, while needed to excite Er ions through electron-hole recombination, at the same time produces an efficient nonradiative Auger deexcitation with trapped carriers. This phenomenon is studied in detail and, on the basis of its understanding, we propose device structures in which sequential injection of electrons and holes can improve quantum efficiency by avoiding Auger processes. © 2006 The American Physical Society.
Design and development of a fNIRS system prototype based on SiPM detectors
Functional Near Infrared Spectroscopy (fNIRS) uses near infrared sources and detectors to measure changes in absorption due to neurovascular dynamics in response to brain activation. The use of Silicon Photomultipliers (SiPMs) in a fNIRS system has been estimated potentially able to increase the spatial resolution. Dedicated SiPM sensors have been designed and fabricated by using an optimized process. Electrical and optical characterizations are presented. The design and implementation of a portable fNIRS embedded system, hosting up to 64 IR-LED sources and 128 SiPM sensors, has been carried out. The system has been based on a scalable architecture whose elementary leaf is a flexible board …
Responsivity measurements of 4H-SiC Schottky photodiodes for UV light monitoring
We report on the design and the electro-optical characterization of a novel class of 4H-SiC vertical Schottky UV detectors, based on the pinch-off surface effect and obtained employing Ni2Si interdigitated strips. We have measured, in dark conditions, the forward and reverse I–V characteristics as a function of the temperature and the C–V characteristics. Responsivity measurements of the devices, as a function of the wavelength (in the 200 – 400 nm range), of the package temperature and of the applied reverse bias are reported. We compared devices featured by different strip pitch size, and found that the 10 μm device pitch exhibits the best results, being the best compromise in terms of fu…
Preliminary radiation hardness tests of single photon Si detectors
Single photon Si detectors were fabricated by STMicroelectronics and fully characterized in standard operation conditions and after irradiations. Both single cells and arrays, of dimensions ranging from 5x5 up to 64x64, were electrically tested. The devices operation was studied as a function of the temperature from -25 degrees C to 65 degrees C varying the voltage over breakdown, from 5% up to 20% of the breakdown voltage before and after irradiation using both light ions, 10 MeV B ions to doses in the range 3x10(7)-5x10(10) cm(-2), and X-rays irradiations in the range 0.5-20 krad(Si). Optical characterization was performed using a laser at 659 nm and opportunely chosen filters to vary the…
Wearable, Fiber-less, Multi-Channel System for Continuous Wave Functional Near Infrared Spectroscopy Based on Silicon Photomultipliers Detectors and Lock-In Amplification
Development and in-vivo validation of a Continuous Wave (CW) functional Near Infrared Spectroscopy (fNIRS) system is presented. The system is wearable, fiber-less, multi-channel (16×16, 256 channels) and expandable and it relies on silicon photomultipliers (SiPMs) for light detection. SiPMs are inexpensive, low voltage and resilient semiconductor light detectors, whose performances are analogous to photomultiplier tubes (PMTs). The advantage of SiPMs with respect to PMTs is that they allow direct contact with the scalp and avoidance of optical fibers. In fact, the coupling of SiPMs and light emitting diodes (LEDs) allows the transfer of the analog signals to and from the scalp through thin …