Electric Field Current Density Research Articles

Non-monotonically changes in double Schottky barrier of MnCO3–doped ZnO varistors during DC aging

Abstract ZnO varistors play a crucial role as core component in metal oxide arresters due to their excellent nonlinear current density-electrical field (J–E) characteristics. After long-term operation under DC stress (DC aging), the J–E curves of ZnO varistors invented in the last decade cross with the original curve. Unexpectedly, the ‘crossover’ phenomenon cannot be explained by the vastly-accepted ion migration mechanism by which the barrier height monotonically declines after DC aging. In the present study, aging and recovery experiments were carried out on MnCO3-doped ZnO varistors. The symmetry of J–E characteristics in the same direction as and the opposite direction to the DC stress was compared, parameters of double Schottky barrier were analyzed, and evolution of point defects was deduced using dielectric spectra. It was found that, in addition to ion migrations, there are electrons ionized by zinc interstitials filling the interface states in the early stage of aging. Because these processes are dominant in different stages, the barrier height changes non-monotonically. MnCO3 can suppress the formation of zinc interstitials, so it simultaneously inhibits ion migrations and filling of the interface states by electrons. When 0.38 mol% MnCO3 is doped, J–E characteristics and the Schottky barrier of ZnO varistors show the smallest deviations during aging and recovery. The findings are helpful in updating criteria for the long-term stability of ZnO varistors and suggest that modifications to their formulae targeting the suppression of the filling the interface states by electrons are also expected to bolster the stability.

Development of Numerical Analysis Method for Cathode Sheath Considering Electron Emission From Cathode in Vacuum Arc

ABSTRACTIt is imperative to develop the simulation of vacuum arcs as a tool to aid electrode design in vacuum circuit breakers. Although the development of electromagnetic thermo‐fluid simulations for vacuum arcs has been reported, most of them do not take cathode sheath phenomena into account and have not been able to reproduce vacuum arc phenomena, especially cathode spots. As the first step, the cathode sheath voltage, cathode surface electric field, and temperature and field (T‐F) electron emission current were analyzed numerically on the basis of the space charge in the cathode sheath. In this study, the cathode sheath was assumed to exist when the charge density induced on the cathode surface is positive, and the temperature and density of vacuum arc plasma and cathode temperature, which are physical quantities obtained by electromagnetic thermo‐fluid simulation, were used as parameters of the analysis. As a result, the cathode sheath voltage, electric field, and electron emission current density can be calculated from the vacuum arc plasma temperature, density, and cathode temperature. Numerical results show that the electron emission current density has a dominant effect on the presence or absence of the cathode sheath.

Silica conversion of polysilazanes by low-temperature plasma jet generated from Ar and water-vapor mixed gas

Perhydropolysilazane (PHPS), which contains no organic catalyst, chemically reacts with H2O in the atmosphere by heating it at 450 °C for more than 1 h to turn it into a SiO2 film. If silica conversion can be achieved at temperatures below 100 °C, which plastics can withstand, it may be applicable to a wide range of applications, such as flexible electronics. Here, we report a technique for forming SiO2 films with leakage current characteristics very close to those of thermally oxidized (THOX) films that works at a very low temperature of 52 °C with high speed. Using a 9-kV, 30-kHz power supply, a low-temperature plasma jet containing a gas mixture of Ar and water vapor irradiated an 8 nm thick PHPS thin film, inducing silica conversion at a maximum substrate temperature of 52 °C. The current density-electric field strength (J-E) characteristics of metal oxide semiconductor capacitors fabricated with this SiO2 film showed characteristics very close to those of THOX films. In addition, the mechanism of silica conversion of PHPS through low-temperature plasma jet irradiation using this gas mixture was clarified in real-time FT-IR measurements.

Highly efficient separation of Li+/Mg2+ via nanofiltration membranes with conductive substrates under an electric field

Electro-nanofiltration (ENF) achieved efficient separation of Li⁺/Mg2⁺. The conductivity of an NF membrane had a notable impact on the ENF process. In this work, an NF membrane was prepared by interface polymerization on a conductive polyether sulfone (PES)/MXene@CNT membrane, which was used in an ENF process to enable the highly efficient and precise separation of Li⁺/Mg2⁺. It was found that the PES/MXene@CNT membranes had fairly good electrical conductivity (>0.5 S/m) and hydrophilicity after the addition of MXene and CNT into PES membranes. The ENF membrane with a conductive substrate exhibited extremely excellent Li⁺/Mg2⁺ separation performance even at a low voltage. It was because the conductive substrate of the NF membrane could be directly considered as a cathode to enhance electric field strength and current density during ENF process, which was more suitable for surface charge reconstruction and Li+ transport. When the voltage was 2.5 V, Mg2+ was nearly completely rejected; while Li+ rejection was up to −100.6 %. The Li⁺/Mg2⁺ separation factor (SLi,Mg) was as high as 1164.6, which was far higher than that (SLi,Mg = 25.7) based on the common NFmembrane with a non-conductive support membrane at 2.5 V. The ENF showed a stable separation performance at 2.5 V. The results suggested that the NF membrane a with conductive substrate possessed obvious advantages in the preparation and performance of ENF membrane compared with the NF membranes with non-conductive substrates. This work offered a viable way for the efficient separation of Li+/Mg2+ and possessed tremendous potential in extracting high-purity Li+ salts from salt lakes.

Features of distribution of electric field strength and current density in the reactor during treatment of liquid media with high-voltage pulse discharges

Purpose. Development and use of a mathematical model of the stages of formation of high-voltage pulse discharges in gas bubbles in the discharge gap «rod-plane» to identify the features of the electric field intensity distribution in the reactor and determine the current density in the load during disinfection and purification of liquid media by high-voltage pulse discharges and find the most rational treatment. Methodology. To achieve this goal, we used computer modeling using the finite element method as a method of numerical analysis. An experimental reactor model was created that takes into account the dynamics of discharges in gas bubbles in water. The equations describing the system include the generalized Ampere equation, the Poisson equation and the electric displacement equation, taking into account the corresponding initial and boundary conditions, as well as the properties of materials. The dependence of the potential of a high-voltage electrode on time has the form of a damped sinusoid, and the specific electrical conductivity in a gas bubble is a function of time. Processes occurring at the front of the voltage pulse from 0 to 20 ns are considered. Results. It is shown that with an increase in conductivity and high-voltage potential to amplitude values in a gas bubble, the electric field strength in the water layer in the reactor reaches 70 kV/cm, and it is in the water layer that there is a strong electric field. The calculations show that already by 19th ns the density of conduction currents in water prevails over that of displacement currents. At the same time, additional inclusions in the water significantly affect the distribution of electric field strength and current density, creating a significant difference in their values at the boundaries of the interface between the bubble, conductive element and water. Originality. A simulation of the dynamics of transient discharge processes in a gas bubble and a layer of water with impurities was carried out, including an analysis of the distribution of the electric field strength and current density in a system with rod-plane electrodes in the phase transition section of a gas bubble-water. This approach allows us to reveal the features of processes in reactors and to investigate the influence of phase transitions on the distribution of electrophysical quantities. Practical value. Computer simulations confirm the prospect of using nanosecond discharges generated in gas bubbles within a volume of water for widespread industrial use and are of great interest for further experimental and theoretical research. References 25, figures 9.

An Experimental Study Based on Surface Microtexture of Medical Devices

Surface microstructures formed by jet electrolytic processing are widely used in aerospace and biomedical applications, and their unique process has an important role in medical devices. To improve the precision and usability of medical devices processed using this process, electrolytic characterization and micropit morphology experiments under different processing parameters were carried out to study the effect of EJM processing on processing efficiency and processing quality. The influencing factors of electrolytic machining rate were deduced by electrochemical theory, the electric field simulation was carried out using Comsol to analyze the electric field distribution and current density profile in the micropit, and the actual machining micropit was measured using a scanning microscope. The experiments show that increasing the peak voltage, reducing the machining gap, and extending the machining time can increase the depth of the micropit by 20%–40% and reduce the height of the silo by 45%–65%, which can effectively improve the surface structure of the medical device.

Enhancing the circular dichroism of chiral dielectric nanostructure through the addition of a symmetric Au cylinder

Circular dichroism (CD) spectra play a crucial role in recognition, separation and detection of chiral molecules. Due to the inherent weak CD response of natural chiral molecules, researchers have endeavored to enhance CD signals through various artificial nanostructures. In this study, combining the advantages of both the dielectric and metal materials, we propose a hybrid dielectric-metal nanostructure consisting of a chiral Si nanorod dimer coupled with a symmetric Au cylinder to achieve robust CD responses. Owing to the plasmon resonance of the Au cylinder, the scattering-CD and absorption-CD of the hybrid system have been enhanced, which result in the enhanced extinction-CD response. Furthermore, the distributions of electric field, magnetic field and displacement current density of both the Si dimer and hybrid nanostructure have been meticulously crafted to elucidate the physical mechanisms underlying amplified CD signals. The synergistic coupling between the magnetic fields of dielectric materials and the electric fields of the Au cylinder leads to an increase in the electric field strength and the asymmetry of near-field distributions. Additionally, spatial overlaps between electric and magnetic fields occur. These factors contribute to the enhanced chiral response of the hybrid system. Meanwhile, the CD signal can be flexibly tuned by adjusting the size of the Au cylinder and Si nanorods. This design offers a versatile approach to enhancing the chiral response of dielectric nanostructures.

Electrical current-assisted reactive crucible melting technique: Case study of the Fe-Sn system

Modern materials science relies heavily on the advancement of combinatorial high-throughput experimental and computational methods to discover new advanced materials. Among these methods, the reactive crucible melting (RCM) technique stands out as particularly promising. However, a significant challenge in RCM combinatorial analysis is the occurrence of "missing" phases. In this study, we successfully addressed this limitation through the application of electrical current stressing. Furthermore, we investigate the influence of electric current stressing on diffusion rates and the phase formation processes within the reactive crucible. We employed Comsol Multiphysics modeling to analyze the experimental results in the framework of electromigration theory, focusing on the distribution of electrical field lines, temperature gradients, and current density values. Additionally, through the integration of finite element calculations with analysis of Electron Backscatter Diffraction (EBSD) and Magneto-Optical Kerr Effect (MOKE) data, we estimated the gradient of internal stresses along the boundaries of the crucible's reaction volume induced by the diffusion of electrically-induced vacancies and adatoms. Due to modest values of the current density in our experiment and the disparity between the rates of crucible body dissolution and vacancy diffusion, no compressive or tensile stresses were observed. Nonetheless, we propose that the developed electrical current-assisted reactive crucible melting technique holds promise for synthesizing metastable phases existing under high positive or negative pressures.

A method for calculating space charge distribution in ultra-high voltage direct current transmission lines based on the transport of diluted species theory

The occurrence of corona discharge in ultra-high-voltage direct current transmission lines results in the generation of space charge, which significantly affects the nearby electromagnetic environment. To investigate the micro-physical mechanisms of discharge and provide better guidance for the calculation of the ground ion current density and total electric field, a method based on the theory of the transport of diluted species is proposed. This method enables the visualization and analysis of the movement process of space charge in air medium, as well as the calculation of the total electric field below the transmission lines. To validate the effectiveness of this algorithm, experimental tests of the total electric field are conducted on actual transmission lines. The experimental results demonstrate that the algorithm not only highlights the evident differences in the transient microscopic processes between positive and negative corona discharges but also accurately calculates the total electric field below the transmission lines. In addition, considering the weather conditions in the Chongqing region, relevant recommendations are provided under the influence of wind speed, aiming to offer protection guidelines for individuals engaged in activities near transmission lines.

Study of the mechanism of single event burnout in lateral depletion-mode Ga2O3 MOSFET devices via TCAD simulation

This study investigates the sensitive region and safe operation voltage of single-event burnout (SEB) in lateral depletion-mode Ga2O3 MOSFET devices via technology computer aided design simulation. Based on the distribution of the electric field, carrier concentration, and electron current density when SEB occurs, the radiation damage mechanism of SEB is proposed. The mechanism of SEB in Ga2O3 MOSFET was revealed to be the result of a unique structure without a PN junction within it, which possesses gate control ability and exerts a significant influence on the conduction of the depletion region.

Influence of temperature and pressure gradient on power deposition and field pattern in High Magnetic field Helicon eXperiment

AbstractBased on High Magnetic field Helicon eXperiment, considering the parabolic distribution and Gaussian distribution of radial plasma density, HELIC code was used to study the influence of temperature and pressure gradient on power deposition, electric field, and current density of Helicon Wave Plasma. Three different gradients (positive, negative, and zero gradient) were selected. The results show that positive temperature gradient is beneficial to increase the relative absorption power at the center of plasma. Compared with negative and zero pressure gradients, positive pressure gradient increases the relative absorption power and weakens the current density at the center of plasma, and increases the electric field intensity at the edge of plasma. Larger edge heating will cause the relative absorption power at edge to rise rapidly, which is not conducive to the coupling at the center of plasma. In practical experiments, it is particularly important to reduce the heating effect at edge by cooling the antenna itself. Three different gradients of temperature and pressure have little effect on electric field intensity and current density in plasma, and the variation trend is basically similar, which proves the stability of the antenna mode: m = 1.

Study of the influence of virtual guard ring width on the performance of SPAD detectors in 180 nm standard CMOS technology

The influence of the virtual guard ring width (GRW) on the performance of the p-well/deep n-well single-photon avalanche diode (SPAD) in a 180 nm standard CMOS process was investigated. TCAD simulation demonstrates that the electric field strength and current density in the guard ring are obviously enhanced when GRW is decreased to 1 μm. It is experimentally found that, compared with an SPAD with GRW = 2 μm, the dark count rate (DCR) and afterpulsing probability (AP) of the SPAD with GRW = 1 μm is significantly increased by 2.7 times and twofold, respectively, meanwhile, its photon detection probability (PDP) is saturated and hard to be promoted at over 2 V excess bias voltage. Although the fill factor (FF) can be enlarged by reducing GRW, the dark noise of devices is negatively affected due to the enhanced trap-assisted tunneling (TAT) effect in the 1 μm guard ring region. By comparison, the SPAD with GRW = 2 μm can achieve a better trade-off between the FF and noise performance. Our study provides a design guideline for guard rings to realize a low-noise SPAD for large-array applications.

Growth of gallium cerium oxide passivation layer on 4H-Silicon carbide substrate and its metal-oxide-semiconductor characteristics

Gallium cerium oxide (GaxCeyOz) passivation layer was successfully grown on 4H-silicon carbide (SiC) through postdeposition annealing at 800 °C in nitrogen-oxygen-nitrogen (N2–O2–N2) ambient. The gracing incident X-ray diffraction and ultraviolet–visible spectrophotometer measurements have confirmed the successful incorporation of Ga3+ cation into the CeO2 lattice to form the ternary GaxCeyOz passivation layer. In addition, the thicknesses of GaxCeyOz passivation layer and silicon dioxide (SiO2) interfacial layer (IL) were determined using field-emission scanning electron microscopy and X-ray reflectivity characterizations. A high dielectric constant (k) value of 24.11 was attained for the investigated Al/GaxCeyOz/4H–SiC/Al metal-oxide-semiconductor (MOS) structure attributable to the nitrogen ions accumulating at the interface that have retarded the growth of SiO2 IL. Besides, the effective oxide charge, slow trap density, interface trap density, interface state density, as well as leakage current density-electric field characteristic of the investigated GaxCeyOz passivation layer on 4H–SiC substrate was presented in this work.

Ferroelectric YAlN grown by molecular beam epitaxy

We report the demonstration of ferroelectric switching in yttrium (Y)-doped nitride semiconductors. In this study, single-crystalline, wurtzite Y0.07Al0.93N films were epitaxially grown on GaN/sapphire templates by plasma-assisted molecular beam epitaxy. The ferroelectric switching process has been investigated by current density–electric field (J-E) and polarization–electric field (P-E) loops as well as positive-up-negative-down measurements, showing a coercive field of ∼6 MV/cm and a switchable polarization of ∼130 μC/cm2. Ferroelectric switching was further confirmed via butterfly shape capacitance–voltage (C-V) loops and polarity-sensitive wet etching. The realization of ferroelectric, Y-doped AlN films further extends the family of nitride ferroelectrics and unravels a wealth of intriguing opportunities in III-nitride based electronic, piezo-electronic, and optoelectronic devices.

Modified Babinet Principle for Complementary Antennas in a Dielectric Half-Space

In this letter, the modified Babinet principle is applied to complementary antennas on the substrate interface. First, it is verified that the existing Babinet principle only holds for complementary metallic elements in the homogenized substrate. Then, the effective relative permittivity is introduced into the substrate interface through the zero-thickness effective substrate, which can keep the electromagnetic behavior (such as total electrical field and surface current density) of metallic element unchanged. Thereby, the modified Babinet principle can be established for arbitrary complementary metallic elements on the substrate interface. Finally, the proposed theory is applied to input impedances of complementary antennas on the substrate interface. The simulation strongly supports the proposed theory, regardless of the substrates and antenna sizes. The study not only establishes the modified Babinet principle for complementary metallic elements on the substrate interface, but also clarifies the electromagnetic influence of effective relative permittivity for the metallic element at the substrate interface.

Influence of low electric field parts of electric field–current density curves of superconductors on their ac loss characteristics

We performed numerical electromagnetic field analyses to investigate the influence of the low electric field parts of the electric field (E)–current density (J) curves of superconductors on their ac loss characteristics. A simple one-dimensional model across the width of a coated conductor was used for the analyses. Whereas we fixed the n value of the high E part of E–J curves of superconductors, we varied the n values of low E parts. J distributions as well as E distributions were calculated in coated conductors carrying ac currents and/or exposed to ac magnetic fields. We examined the influence of the n values at low E part of E–J curves on ac loss characteristics and discussed the electric field regions that are relevant to ac loss generation. We also discussed the applicability of the results to copper-plated multifilament coated conductors.

Effect of Sc2O3 doping on the microstructure and electrical characteristics of ZnO linear resistors

Herein, to improve the electrical characteristics, ZnO linear resistors mixed with MgO, TiO2, Al2O3, and various concentrations of Sc2O3 (with 0, 0.35, 0.7, and 1.05 wt %) were obtained using the conventional solid-state sintering technique, while the influences of Sc2O3 doping on the micro-morphology and electrical characteristics was investigated in detail. The crystalline phases and microstructure were investigated by X-ray diffraction (XRD), energy-dispersive spectroscopy (EDS), and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The dielectric properties and electrical characteristics were evaluated using a precision inductance-capacitance-resistance meter and a high-voltage source meter. Results from SEM micrographs, XRD patterns, and EDS mappings illustrated that the doping of Sc2O3 hinders the growth of ZnO grains. Electric field-current density and resistivity-frequency measurements illustrated that the doping of Sc2O3 improves the linear performance of ZnO linear resistors and increases its grain resistivity and grain boundary resistivity. With Sc2O3 doping, the dielectric properties of the samples are significantly affected, while the resistance-temperature features reveal the negative temperature constant function. By appropriate Sc2O3 doping, the ZnO linear resistors exhibited excellent performance with grain boundary barrier height φb of 0.0106 eV, nonlinear coefficient α of 1.03, and resistance temperature constant αT of −2.88 × 10−3. It is beneficial to investigate the influence of Sc2O3 doping on the micro-morphology and electrical performances in detail for the preparation of zinc oxide linear resistors with superior performance.

Study of Electrical Characteristics for Dual-Gate TFTs With Asymmetric Defect Distributions and Gate Work Functions

Combined effects of asymmetric defect distributions and asymmetric gate work functions (WFs) on the performances of self-aligned dual-gate poly-Si TFTs are investigated. Normally, small grains with plentiful grain boundaries (GBs) or other structural defects appear at different positions of the poly-Si film, which is dependent on the growth process of the film. Subgap states of acceptor-like tail, acceptor-like deep-level, donor-like tail, and donor-like deep-level states are used to emulate the defects. Two sets of density of states (DOS) are employed. We find that defects at different positions of the source-side and drain-side channels exhibit different influences on TFT performance and the influences are dependent on the WFs of the gates. TFTs with a higher gate WF can have a higher tolerance to the depth of the defect region. Besides the electrical characteristics, the combined effects of defects and gate WFs on current density distributions and electric field distributions in the channel regions are explored. The performance variations caused by the asymmetric defects along with asymmetric gate WFs can be explained.

Alteration in growth temperatures of metal-organic decomposed GaxCe1-xOyNz passivation layer in nitrogen/oxygen/nitrogen ambient

A quantitative analysis of the morphology, topography, and electrical characterization of the metal-organic decomposed quaternary GaxCe1-xOyNz passivation layer grown on Si substrate in nitrogen/oxygen/nitrogen ambient at temperatures of 600, 700, 800, and 900 °C was carried out. Incorporation of nitrogen into the passivation layer was more prominent at lower temperatures by either attaching to oxygen vacancies sites or staying as dangling bonds in the passivation layer. The increase of annealing temperature to 800 and 900 °C enhanced the adsorption of oxygen to occupy the oxygen vacancies and hence, limiting the incorporation of nitrogen. As a consequence, formation of SiO2 took place at the interface between GaxCe1-xOyNz and Si substrate, degrading the k value of the passivation layer. The largest k value was perceived by the passivation layer annealed at 700 °C, accompanied with the acquisition of the highest positive effective oxide charges and considerably low interface trap densities and low trap density as well as large band gap, which led to an improvement in the current density-electric field (J-E) performance.

Simulation research on corrosion and thinning characteristics of water wall tubes based on electric field array

During service, the water wall tube will inevitably corrode due to various corrosive gases such as SO2, HCl, H2S, etc. To prevent the occurrence of tube burst accidents caused by thinning and income-pressure resistance of the water wall tube, it is necessary to monitor the wall thickness of the water wall tube row in real-time. This paper proposes an array-based method for monitoring the thickness of the water wall tube row, and the different corrosion characteristics models of the water wall tube row are established by using the finite element analysis software Maxwell. Based on the model, the influence of tube wall thickness and material on measurement accuracy is analyzed by current density distribution and electric field intensity. The error of calculation formula is analyzed by simulating different corrosion conditions of tube wall thinning. The calculation formula of the wall thickness after the corrosion of the water wall tube row and the correction formula of the wall thickness of a single water wall tube with the correction coefficient α of 3 are determined. And put forward to define the ”generalized average thickness” of the water wall corrosion of multiple tubes, and determine the correct formula for calculating the thickness of the water wall tube row with a correction coefficient β of 0.85 to 0.95.