This work summarizes recent data on minority carrier lifetime in n- and p-type double heterostructures (DHs) of 0.5-0.6 eV GaInAsSb confined with GaSb and AlGaAsSb cap layers. Recombination times were measured by time-resolved photoluminescence (TRPL) and by optical frequency response (OFR) to sinusoidal excitation. It was shown that one of the mechanisms responsible for interface recombination in GaSb/GaInAsSb/GaSb DHs is thermionic emission of carriers over the heterobarrier. Considerable improvement of carrier confinement was obtained with 1 eV AlGaAsSb cap layers. Optimization of the epitaxial growth resulted in a recombination velocity at GaInAsSb/AlGaAsSb interface as low as 30 cm/s.

Antimony-based III-V thermophotovoltaic (TPV) cells are attractive converters for systems with low radiator temperature around 1100 to 1700 K, since these cells potentially can be spectrally matched to the thermal source. Cells under development include GaSb and the lattice-matched GaInAsSb/GaSb and InPAsSb/InAs quaternary systems. GaSb cell technology is the most mature, owing in part to the relative ease in preparation of the binary alloy compared to quaternary GaInAsSb and InPAsSb alloys. Device performance of 0.7-eV GaSb cells exceeds 90% of the practical limit. GaInAsSb TPV cells have been the primary focus of recent research, and cells with energy gap E{sub g} ranging from {approx}0.6 to 0.49 eV have been demonstrated. Quantum efficiency and fill factor approach theoretical limits. Open-circuit voltage factor is as high as 87% of the practical limit for the higher-E{sub g} cells, but degrades to below 80% with decreasing E{sub g} of the alloy, which might be due to Auger recombination. InPAsSb cells are the least studied, and a cell with E{sub g} = 0.45-eV has extended spectral response out to 4.3 {micro}m. This paper briefly reviews the main contributions that have been made for antimonide-based TPV cells, and suggests additional studies for further performance enhancements.

The genome sequence of the solvent producing bacterium Clostridium acetobutylicum ATCC824, has been determined by the shotgun approach. The genome consists of a 3.94 Mb chromosome and a 192 kb megaplasmid that contains the majority of genes responsible for solvent production. Comparison of C. acetobutylicum to Bacillus subtilis reveals significant local conservation of gene order, which has not been seen in comparisons of other genomes with similar, or, in some cases, closer, phylogenetic proximity. This conservation allows the prediction of many previously undetected operons in both bacteria.

The International Conference on Charged Particle Optics, CPO, is held every 4 years, and brings together scientists working in all areas of charged-particle optics including electron microscopy, accelerators, spectrometers, electron and ion sources, and theory. In October 2002 the sixth such conference, CPO6, was held near Washington, DC. This is the report on the Sixth International Charged-Particle Optics Conference. Proceedings of this conference have been published in Nuclear Instruments & Methods in Physics Research, Section A Volume 519, February/March 2004.

This note describes changes in the 400 MeV beam transfer system from the Linac to improve the quality of the beam delivered to the Booster and to add the capability to direct beam to the MuCool Test Area (MTA). The new configuration has two pairs of pulsed dipole magnets on each side of the 400 MeV electrostatic Chopper. The smaller pair deflects vertically to replace the kick of the Chopper to send the beam to the Booster while the larger pair deflects horizontally to transfer the beam to the MTA. In this new scheme, the Chopper is uncharged while the beam is injected into the Booster such that the injection position does not rely on Chopper power supply regulation as it does now. A feature of the proposed upgrade is that no changes in the lattice functions are required in the lines to the Booster or to the Dump; once the four new magnets are installed, the switch between the old and new operating modes can be done from upstairs. The transfer to the MTA is already described in a previous note.

TPV technology has advanced rapidly in the last five years, with diode conversion efficiency approaching >30%, and filter efficiency of {approx}80%. These achievements have enabled repeatable testing of 20% efficient small systems, demonstrating the potential of TPV energy conversion. Near term technology gains support a 25% efficient technology demonstration in the two year timeframe. However, testing of full size systems, which includes efficiency degradation mechanisms, such as: nonuniform diode illumination, diode and filter variability, temperature non-uniformities, conduction/convection losses, and lifetime reliability processes needs to be performed. A preliminary analysis of these differential effects has been completed, and indicates a near term integrated system efficiency of {approx}15% is possible using current technology, with long term growth to 18-20%. This report addresses the system performance issues.

Sputtered Be shells are made by sputter deposition of Be, with a radially graded Cu dopant as necessary, onto plastic mandrels supplied by General Atomics. Although the plastic mandrel may not be a design issue, it is a fielding issue because at cryo temperatures the plastic shrinks more than the Be and delaminates. We described in previous memos a proposed method for thermally removing the plastic by burning it in air at elevated temperature. A key aspect to this process is getting air in and out of the shell through the small diameter hole that must be laser drilled in the capsule wall to serve as a fill hole for the fuel. Because the hole is quite small, gas flow through the orifice must be forced, and an external pressure variation was suggested to do this. Further calculations showed that since the volume of the capsule is quite small and the amount of plastic in the shell by comparison is large, the ''pumping'' of air in and out of the shell must occur at least once per minute in order to supply enough O{sub 2} to completely burn the plastic to CO{sub 2} and H{sub 2}O in a reasonable time. …

Lattice-matched 0.52 eV InGaAsSb/GaSb thermophotovoltaic (TPV) cells are grown using a multi-wafer metal-organic-chemical-vapor-deposition (MOCVD) system. MOCVD growth series of P/N junction epitaxial structures consisting of as many as 30 wafers demonstrate good run-to-run reproducibility, good uniformity across the wafer and exhibit high performance with open circuit voltages of {approx}300mV and fill factors of 70% at 25 C. Growth parameters, including temperature, surface preparation and substrate orientation, that directly affect growth have been optimized for the active 0.52 eV InGaAsSb region and GaSb confinement layers. Focus is on increasing TPV diode performance through architectural improvements, specifically by reducing the minority carrier recombination velocity at the emitter and base front and back interfaces. Work in support of incorporating a back surface reflector (BSR) including the growth of N/P diode architectures and the addition of a lattice-matched InAsSb etch stop layer for substrate removal and wafer bonding, is reported. The lattice matched InAsSb stop etch exhibits resiliency to the substrate removal and wafer bonding processes. Substantial improvement in carrier lifetime on test structures with P-type AlGaAsSb layers indicated incorporation of these layers into the TPV cell structure should provide significant improvement in open-circuit voltage. Addition of AlGaAsSb confinement layers to the standard P/N …

Final report on conference grant supporting the American Physical Society Division of Particles and Fields meeting in Philadlephia, PA April 5-8, 2003.

Thermophotovoltaic (TPV) diodes fabricated from 0.52eV lattice-matched InGaAsSb alloys are grown by Metal Organic Vapor Phase Epitaxy (MOVPE) on GaSb substrates. 4cm{sup 2} multi-chip diode modules with front-surface spectral filters were tested in a vacuum cavity and attained measured efficiency and power density of 19% and 0.58 W/cm{sup 2} respectively at operating at temperatures of T{sub radiator} = 950 C and T{sub diode} = 27 C. Device modeling and minority carrier lifetime measurements of double heterostructure lifetime specimens indicate that diode conversion efficiency is limited predominantly by interface recombination and photon energy loss to the GaSb substrate and back ohmic contact. Recent improvements to the diode include lattice-matched p-type AlGaAsSb passivating layers with interface recombination velocities less than 100 cm/s and new processing techniques enabling thinned substrates and back surface reflectors. Modeling predictions of these improvements to the diode architecture indicate that conversion efficiencies from 27-30% and {approx}0.85 W/cm{sup 2} could be attained under the above operating temperatures.