We have shown that external hydrostatic pressure leads to the creation of structural defects, mainly in the vicinity of the II-VI/GaAs interface in the CdTe/Cd{sub 1-x}Mg{sub x}Te heterostructures grown by the molecular beam epitaxy method on GaAs substrates. These defects propagating across the epilayer cause permanent damage to the samples from the point of view of their electrical properties. In contrast, photoluminescence spectra are only weakly influenced by pressure. Our results shed light on the degradation process observed even without pressure in II-VI-based heterostructures.

Post-growth thermal annealing effects on InAs/GaAs quantum dots (QDs) near Stransky-Krastanow transformation were investigated. Self-assembled QDs of average size of about 10 nm were grown by metal organic vapour phase epitaxy. The photoluminescence (PL) due to emission from QDs as well as two peaks due to emission from the strained InAs wetting layer (WL) were observed in as-grown samples. Bimodal structure of the WL PL was attributed to WL regions of different thickness. There was almost no difference in the PL spectrum after 30 s annealing at 600 C. However, annealing at temperatures in the range between 700 C and 950 C resulted in quenching of the PL from QDs and the thinner WL. The PL peak from the new, thicker WL blue-shifted and narrowed with increasing annealing temperature. This behavior was in agreement with TEM observations. Complete dissolution of the QDs and substantial broadening of the WL was observed. All our results indicate that thermally induced modifications of the WL rather than QDs can be responsible for the blue-shift and narrowing of the PL peaks in structures containing InAs QDs.

Post-growth thermal annealing effects on InAs/GaAs quantum dots (QDs) near Stransky-Krastanow transformation were investigated. Self-assembled QDs of average size of about 10 nm were grown by metal-organic vapor phase epitaxy. The photoluminescence (PL) due to emission from QDs as well as two peaks due to emission from the strained InAs wetting layer (WL) were observed in as-grown samples. Bimodal structure of the WL PL was attributed to WL regions of different thickness. There was almost no difference in the PL spectrum after 30 s annealing at 600 C. However, annealing at temperatures in the range between 700 C and 950 C resulted in quenching of the PL from QDs and the thinner WL. The PL peak from the new, thicker WL blue-shifted and narrowed with increasing annealing temperature. This behavior was in agreement with TEM observations. Complete dissolution of the QDs and substantial broadening of the WL was observed. All our results indicate that thermally induced modifications of the WL rather than QDs can be responsible for the blue-shift and narrowing of the PL peaks in structures containing InAs QDs.

Deep centers and dislocation densities in undoped n GaN, grown by hydride vapor phase epitaxy (HVPE), were characterized as a function of the layer thickness by deep level transient spectroscopy and transmission electron microscopy, respectively. As the layer thickness decreases, the variety and concentration of deep centers increase, in conjunction with the increase of dislocation density. Based on comparison with electron irradiation induced centers, some dominant centers in HVPE GaN are identified as possible point defects.

A new scalable fiber laser approach is described and modeled, based on phase-locking multiple gain cores in an antiguided structure. In essence, the waveguide is comprised of a periodic sequence of gain-loaded and no-gain segments having uniform refractive index (referred to as the ''ribbon'') encapsulated within a reduced index cladding region. Our calculations reveal that the constant index profile within the ribbon structure provides optimal mode discrimination; the refractive index must be constant within {+-}0.001 to ensure single-mode operation for a 5-core design. Periodic variation in refractive index and gain of the ribbon laser lead to the emergence of a photonic bandgap, in analogy to so-called ''holey fibers''. Our constant index design, together with the periodic gain profile, may be described as a photonic metal.

Soft proton-antiproton interactions are selected from events collected with the CDF minimum-bias trigger at {radical}(s) = 1800 and 630 GeV. The analysis of their properties compared at the two energies reveals important and unexpected invariances. This paper describes an attempt to address the problem and the study of the properties of genuine soft interactions. These are identified as a subsample of proton antiproton interactions collected with the CDF minimum bias trigger. In the analysis a splitting procedure of the full minimum bias sample in two subsamples, one highly enriched in soft interactions and the other enriched in hard interactions, is applied. The two subsamples are analyzed separately through the compared measures of some inclusive distributions and final state correlations at different c.m.s. energies. The results evidence some interesting unobserved properties of the isolated soft sample and, in particular, a remarkably unpredicted invariance of some of the measured correlations and spectra between 630 and 1800 GeV.

Plutonium gamma-ray data analysis using MGA in the two-detector mode can provide information more refined than the gamma-ray analysis using MGA in the one-detector mode. Prior to the introduction of the new type of ORTEC coaxial detector, which has good resolution at 100-keV region and good efficiency at 1 MeV, the two-detector mode of the MGA could be used only with two separate HPGe detectors with appropriate characteristics. A recent study by us using small plutonium standards (less than 0.5g) suggests that this new detector indeed performed as well as combination of a high-resolution planar (''LEPS'') detector and a coaxial detector together. In this study, the CBNM plutonium gamma-ray standards were used to test this detector's ability with MGA, when measuring several grams of plutonium.