科研成果

A new planar MISHEMT structure is proposed with the drain surrounded (D-S) by the gate channel. The gate channel serves as the stop-ring of the drain voltage, eliminating the damages from the high voltage on the mesa edge and isolation area. As a result, the leakage of the D-S MISHEMT is found to be reduced by almost 3 orders comparing with the source surrounded (S-S) MISHEMT. A saturated output current density of 740 mA/mm and an ON-resistance of 13.09 Ω-mm are obtained for device with LG/LGS/LGD/WC = 1.5/5/20/250 μm. Meanwhile, the degradation of dynamic ON-resistance and off-state breakdown performance are investigated in both D-S and S-S MISHEMT, which indicates excellent reliability of the D-S MISHEMT.

Telomere length (TL) has been established as a biomarker of aging and aging-related health outcomes, but showed only a weak or inconsistent association with all-cause mortality in previous epidemiological studies. Recently, an epigenetic 'mortality risk score' (MS) based on whole blood DNA methylation at 10 mortality-related CpG sites has been demonstrated to be strongly related to all-cause mortality at the population level. This study aimed to address the association between TL and this MS, and to assess and compare their associations with all-cause mortality. The MS was derived from the DNA methylation profiles measured by Illumina Human Methylation450K Beadchip and TL was measured by quantitative PCR at baseline among 1517 participants aged 50-75 of the German ESTHER cohort study. In cross-sectional bi- and multivariable analyses, the MS was strongly associated and showed monotonic dose-response relationships with TL (p-values <0.05). However, only the MS but not TL was associated with all-cause mortality during a median follow-up of 12.5 years. After controlling for potential covariates and TL, hazard ratios (95% CI) for all-cause mortality for low, moderate and high levels of the MS defined by 1, 2-5 and >5 CpG sites with aberrant methylation were 2.24 (1.13-4.41), 3.31 (1.76-6.22) and 6.33 (3.22-12.41) compared to a MS of 0, respectively. Our investigation shows that the epigenetic-based MS is strongly associated with TL, a broadly accepted aging biomarker, and at the same time shows much stronger associations with all-cause mortality than the latter.

The electron-transporting material (ETM) is one of the key factors to determine the efficiency and stability of organic light-emitting diodes (OLEDs). A novel ETM with a ``(Acceptor)(n)-Donor-(Acceptor)(n)'' (''(A)(n)-D-(A)(n)'') structure, 2,7-di([2,2:6,2-terpyridin]-4-yl)-9,9-spirobifluorene (27-TPSF), is synthesized by combining electron-withdrawing terpyridine (TPY) moieties and rigid twisted spirobifluorene, in which the TPY moieties facilitate electron transport and injection while the spirobifluorene moiety ensures high triplet energy (T-1 = 2.5 eV) as well as enhances glass transition temperature (T-g = 195 degrees C) for better stability. By using tris[2-(p-tolyl)pyridine]iridium(III) (Ir(mppy)(3)) as the emitter, the 27-TPSF-based device exhibits a maximum external quantum efficiency (eta(ext, max)) of 24.5%, and a half-life (T-50) of 121, 6804, and 382 636 h at an initial luminance of 10 000, 1000, and 100 cd m(-2), respectively, which are much better than the commercialized ETM of 9,10-bis(6-phenylpyridin-3-yl)anthracene (DPPyA). Furthermore, a higher efficiency, a eta(ext, max) of 28.2% and a maximum power efficiency (eta(PE), (max)) of 129.3 lm W-1, can be achieved by adopting bis(2- phenylpyridine)iridium(III)(2,2,6,6-tetramethylheptane-3,5-diketonate) (Ir(ppy)(2)tmd) as the emitter and 27-TPSF as the ETM. These results indicate that the derivative of TPY to form (A)(n)-D-(A)(n) structure is a promising way to design an ETM with good comprehensive properties for OLEDs.

In this letter, we demonstrate a recessed-anode Schottky barrier diode (SBD) on a double AlGaN/GaN heterojunction structure. A self-terminated, oxidation/wet etching with low-pressure chemical vapor deposition (LPCVD) Si3N4 mask is applied in the anode recess process. Unlike common plasma-based, dry etching techniques, the etched surface is not subjected to ion bombardment, and the etch depth is precisely controlled. As a result, a high effective channel mobility of 1079 cm2/V . s is maintained in the channel beneath the recess surface. The fabricated devices with a 15-mum anode-to-cathode distance (LAC) are found to exhibit a uniform, low turn-ON voltage (VON) of 0.69 +or- 0.03 V, and a low specific on-resistance (RON,SP) of 2.83 mQ . cm2. The SBDs also show excellent off-state blocking characteristics due to the smooth recess interface together with the assistance of LPCVD grown Si3N4. A breakdown voltage of 1190 V is achieved for the SBDs with 15-mum LAC at a leakage current criteria of 1 muA/mm, and the Baliga's figure-of-merit is 500 MW/cm2.

Compelling evidence indicates that lipid metabolism is in partial control of the circadian system. In this context, it has been reported that the melatonin receptor 1B (MTNR1B) genetic variant influences the dynamics of melatonin secretion, which is involved in the circadian system as a chronobiotic. The objective was to analyze whether the MTNR1B rs10830963 genetic variant was related to changes in lipid levels in response to dietary interventions with different macronutrient distribution in 722 overweight/obese subjects from the POUNDS Lost trial. We did not find a significant association between the MTNR1B genotype and changes in lipid metabolism. However, dietary fat intake significantly modified genetic effects on 2 year changes in total and LDL cholesterol (P interaction = 0.006 and 0.001, respectively). In the low-fat diet group, carriers of the sleep disruption G allele (minor allele) showed a greater reduction of total cholesterol (beta +/- SE = -5.78 +/- 2.88 mg/dl, P = 0.04) and LDL cholesterol (beta +/- SE = -7.19 +/- 2.37 mg/dl, P = 0.003). Conversely, in the high-fat diet group, subjects carrying the G allele evidenced a smaller decrease in total cholesterol (beta +/- SE = 5.81 +/- 2.65 mg/dl, P = 0.03) and LDL cholesterol (beta +/- SE = 5.23 +/- 2.21 mg/dl, P = 0.002). Subjects carrying the G allele of the circadian rhythm-related MTNR1B variant may present a bigger impact on total and LDL cholesterol when undertaking an energy-restricted low-fat diet.