McGill University Thèses et mémoires publiés en 2002

Although the psycholinguistic literature is rife with examples of lexical influences on phoneme identification, a debate still rages among theorists over whether these influences reflect a top-down, interactive speech perception system, or are merely evidence of post-perceptual decision biases. The failure to resolve this debate may be attributed to the shortcomings of many of the previously used behavioral methodologies, which have been unable to ensure that subject responses in phoneme decision tasks have their locus in pre-lexical phonetic processes, rather than post-lexical phonological codes. However, one promising methodology that has been applied only sparsely to the interactivity debate is the …  Read more

The goal of this thesis is to examine the way in which economics shape suburban Famous Players megaplexes in Montreal and how they abet a destruction of urban community. I use Jameson and the critique of the Situationiste International to demonstrate the value, in this case, of examining the relationship between the economic and community. Jameson aptly describes an economic disorientation and identity crisis created by postmodern capitalism. The SI brings to light a loss of enchantment resulting from mass produced products and spaces. I describe the way in which the symbolism, architecture, and aesthetics of the megaplex are a …  Read more

Mutations in the PHEX gene are responsible for X-linked hypophosphatemia, the most prevalent form of inherited rickets in humans. PHEX is an endopeptidase that is expressed in bone and parathyroid gland and shown to cleave parathyroid hormone [PTH]. To determine whether PHEX is regulated by PTH we used two models: (1) 5/6 nephrectomized [5/6 Nx] rats which exhibit significant hyperparathyroidism and (2) 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D3 [1,25(OH)2D]-treated rats, which are characterized by marked hypoparathyroidism. We demonstrate that 5/6 Nx elicits an increase in PHEX mRNA and protein abundance in rat tibia whereas 1,25(OH)2D causes a decrease in both tibial parameters. In addition, …  Read more

Following its activation by NGF the receptor tyrosine kinase TrkA activates several signaling pathways. Its subcellular localization appears to dictate which pathways become activated. Although clathrin-mediated endocytosis plays a role in this targeting, molecular components that specifically regulate Trk internalization have not been explicitly identified. I will present evidence that GIPC1 can act to couple TrkA to the endocytic machinery. GIPC1 is able to associate with the endocytic proteins AP-2 and Eps15 in a NGF-dependent manner. Over-expression of GIPC1 in Cos7 cells blocked internalization of the transferrin receptor while its over-expression in PC12 cells also inhibited internalization of TrkA. Lastly, …  Read more

Purpose. To examine the outcome of a 6-month treatment with carvedilol or metoprolol on peak and submaximal exercise performance and ventilatory efficiency in patients with heart failure (HF). Methods. 27 patients with HF were randomized to receive either metoprolol or carvedilol for 6 months and compared with 12 healthy controls. Maximal exercise capacity was assessed at baseline and after 6 months with a symptom limited incremental treadmill protocol (RAMP). Submaximal exercise was determined to be the portion of exercise below a respiratory exchange ratio of 1.0. Peak heart rate (HR), oxygen uptake (VO2), and ventilatory equivalent for O2 and CO2 …  Read more

The garden of Eden's serpent appears only in Genesis 3 of the Hebrew Bible but its identity, role, or symbolism, have since been a matter of debate. Literal, allegorical, and mythical interpretations are evident in Jewish sources from the Bible until the end of the thirteenth century, but are not uniformly represented. Literal interpretations---those that rely on an actual serpent capable of communicating with Eve---account for the majority of Jewish interpretations, often to the complete exclusion of other possibilities. Allegorical and mythical interpretations of the serpent are found in the works of Philo and the Pseudepigrapha, disappear in the classical …  Read more

Background. Little attention has been given to the assessment of quality of life (QOL) in injection drug users (IDUs). Some studies have suggested that existing measures are inadequate for use in IDUs. Objectives. The objectives were: (1) to develop and evaluate a QOL measure for IDUs, the Injection Drug User Quality of Life Scale (IDUQOL), (2) to describe the QOL of cocaine and heroin IDUs and identify its constituents and correlates, and (3) to describe the relation between the QOL of cocaine and heroin IDUs and the use of public health programs. Methods. The psychometric properties of the IDUQOL were …  Read more

Street children in Central America are largely denied protection of their human rights. They live in difficult situations of poverty, inappropriate work and neglect, and thus are not able to enjoy most of their rights and basic needs. The international framework for children's human rights law, composed primarily of the Convention on the Rights of the Child and the principles inherent to it, can be described as based on a doctrine of integral protection, a notion developed primarily by Central American legal scholars. At the same time, however, most Central American states ignore their obligations to conform their domestic legislation …  Read more

eIF4F is a complex of three polypeptides: eIF4E, the cap binding protein, eIF4A, an RNA helicase and eIF4G, a large polypeptide which serves as a molecular bridge between the mRNA and the ribosome. eIF4E is the least abundant of the initiation factors in most cell types making it a crucial target for translational control. Two important mechanisms involved in regulating eIF4E activity are its phosphorylation at serine 209 and the binding of the inhibitory 4E binding proteins (4EBPs). eIF4E becomes phosphorylated in response to extracellular stimuli such as growth factors, mitogens and hormones by the p38-MAP kinase pathway kinases Mnk1 …  Read more

One of the most important issues that arise under the statutory oppression remedy is the manner in which a court will use its wide powers to order relief once oppression has been found. Guidelines according to which courts will exercise their discretion become even more desirable where a remedy may impact on the governance structures of the corporation. There is an extensive body of case law under the oppression remedy, most of which tends to relegate the exercise of the remedy to the facts of a case. However, from a study of the case law, two principles appear with varying …  Read more

Mutations in the Caenorhabditis elegans maternal-effect gene clk-1 result in a highly pleiotropic phenotype, characterized by a general slow down in embryonic and larval development, as well as a slowing down of adult behaviors including defecation, pharyngeal pumping and swimming. First generation homozygous clk-1 mutants descended from a heterozygous mother are fully rescued for these mutant phenotypes. It has been shown that CLK-1 protein is a hydroxylase that acts in the conversion of demethoxyubiquinone (DMQ) to 5-hydroxyubiquinone, in the ubiquinone (Q) biosynthesis pathway. Consequently, clk-1 mutants accumulate the Q9 precursor, DMQ9 (the subscript refers to the length of the isoprenoid …  Read more

The development of swimming was investigated in zebrafish aged 1.5 to 5 days postfertilization by examining both the swimming behavior and its generation by the nervous system. Upon hatching (at day 2), swimming is undirected and occurs in sustained bursts of high frequency (mean = 67 Hz) tail undulations. By 4 days, the swimming pattern matures to a more directed, less erratic, beat-and-glide pattern where slower (mean = 35 Hz) tail undulations, lasting ~200 ms, alternate with longer gliding rest periods. Swimming is powered by two classes of embryonic muscles (embryonic red, ER and white, EW) that are electrically coupled …  Read more

Smith, J. P. (Supervisor)  Read more

The cytoskeletal component of the muscle membrane, dystrophin and its associated proteins (DAPs), are essential for the maintenance of muscle integrity, since the absence of these molecules results in a variety of muscular dystrophies. The purpose of this work was to create and characterize monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) designed to recognize components of the DAP complex (DAPC), in order to provide tools for the study of its structure and function. The first mAb generated, 1137, was raised against a 33 amino acid sequence of the core protein at the c-terminus of alpha-dystroglycan (alpha DG), a cell surface member of the DAPC …  Read more

Based on a joint process of analysis and translation, this research explores the challenges of translating into French a novel by Samuel Selvon titled The Lonely Londoners (1956), one of the first and few English Caribbeans novels entirely composed in a vernacular style and sold to an international English-speaking audience. Using a Bourdieusian methodology of praxis, the thesis analyses the interaction between the various levels of decision-making and the linguistic, political and aesthetic factors that interfere with the translation process, from the interpretation of the text to its rephrasing. It consists of six chapters that, from the second to the …  Read more

The Santillan-Mackey model of the tryptophan operon was developed to characterize the anthranilate synthase activity in cultures of Escherichia coli. Similarly, the GABA reaction scheme was formulated to characterize the response of the GABAA receptor at a synapse, and the Hodgkin-Huxley model was developed to characterize the action potential of a squid giant axon. While the Hodgkin-Huxley model has been studied in great detail from a mathematical vantage, much less is known about the preceding two models in this regard. This work examines the stiffness of all three models; a novel perspective for both the Santillan-Mackey model and the GABA …  Read more

Characterizing dissolved organic matter (DOM) composition remains a major unresolved problem in aquatic ecology. "Tryptophan-like" dissolved organic matter fluorescence (FDOM) was found to be a much better predictor of heterotrophic bacterial metabolism in 28 Quebec lakes than dissolved organic carbon (DOC), describing 52, 44, 51 and 55% of the variability in bacterial production (BP), bacterioplankton respiration (BR), total bacterial carbon consumption (TBCC), and total plankton community respiration (CR), respectively. In addition, the study provides indirect support for the view that FDOM represents a product of bacterial activity, rather than a bioavailable substrate. This is the first field study to show …  Read more

One of the elements commonly seen in cancer is the change in methylation status of the genome. These aberrations in methylation appear to be critical for the neoplastic phenotype and manifest as changes to gene expression of oncogenes and tumour suppressors. In addition to epigenetic alterations, the proteins involved in maintaining the plastic methylation status of the genome, DNA methyltransferases and demethylases, also show methylation-independent protein-protein interactions that have effects on cell cycle progression and proliferation. As changes in gene expression and mitotic regulation are seminal elements of cancer, and because several methylated DNA binding proteins show differential expression in …  Read more

Regional economic disparities are a widely noted characteristic of the Canadian economy. This thesis examines regional disparities in terms of wages and labour productivity in the manufacturing sector. Regional disparities are analysed along three dimensions: provinces, rural/urban areas and industrial structure. Various competing theories are discussed and compared to the findings. Shift-share based decomposition analyses the magnitude and pattern of disparity and controls for industrial structure. Weighted regression is used to combine provincial and rural/urban effects. The findings support theories that emphasize provinces as units of analysis. The rural/urban results gave qualified support to urban theory. Accounting for industrial structure …  Read more

A growing literature has reported a significant reduction in pain sensitivity among hypertensioe animals and humans. One of the key questions about this finding is whether a reduced sensitivity to pain can be observed in normotensive individuals who go on to develop high blood pressure. Blood pressure was re-assessed in one hundred and fifteen 19 year-old boys initially tested at age 14, when they were also presented with a pain stimulus (mechanical finger pressure). Analyses indicated that information regarding pain sensitivity improved prediction of changes in blood pressure beyond that afforded by differences in blood pressure at age 14, parental …  Read more

The purpose of this study was to examine the extent of eating disorder symptoms and differences in exercise motivations in female distance runners at various exercise investment levels. One hundred and seven distance runners, aged 19 to 59 years, who run a minimum of five kilometers, three times per week, were asked to complete three questionnaires. The runners across exercise investment levels were not found to differ in Eating Disorder Inventory sub-scale scores. They differed from college women only in exhibiting fewer symptoms on Drive for Thinness (p < .05), Body Dissatisfaction (p < .001), and Interoceptive Awareness (p < …  Read more

The effects of Ni, Pd and Pd77Ag23 alloy membrane microstructures on hydrogen permeation have been investigated using the electrochemical permeation method. Deformation, annealing and electrodeposition have been used to modify the membrane microstructure. The delay for hydrogen permeation in palladium is increased when the degree of deformation increases. The annealing of deformed palladium and Pd 77Ag23 at 250ºC or 850ºC accelerates hydrogen diffusion. The annealed metals release hydrogen more rapidly than the deformed metals. The Pd77Ag23 alloy needs more time to release hydrogen. The solubility increases in both palladium and Pd77Ag23 when deformation increases. A hydrogen-trapping model has been developed, …  Read more

I present an algebraic language model for Japanese within the framework of a type grammar. The analysis pays attention to both inflectional morphology and to syntax. The mathematics for checking the sentencehood of strings of words invokes a generalization of the notorious group concept.  Read more

Non-point source pollution of surface waters with phosphorous (P) transported from agricultural soils has emerged as a major environmental issue in the last decade. Regulations limiting P accumulation in surface soils have been established to protect surface water quality. Yet, little information is available on the quantities of P that may leach through soils and the factors influencing P leaching in agricultural soils. One important factor may be the type of fertilizer P applied, since it is known that P solubility varies among fertilizer sources. The purpose of this thesis was to quantify P leaching in soils amended with inorganic …  Read more

The various modes of atmospheric mass redistribution characterize the principal variations of the general circulation of the atmosphere. Interhemispheric exchanges of atmospheric mass occur with considerable regularity on intraseasonal time-scales. Observational evidence from previous studies indicates that anomalous and persistent regional atmospheric mass distributions (e.g., atmospheric blocking) may often be related to interhemispheric atmospheric mass exchange. Using the National Centers for Environmental Prediction (NCEP)/National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) reanalysis, we identify significant events when the northern hemisphere (NH) loses dry atmospheric mass on subseasonal time-scales during the boreal winter from 1968 to 1997. A total of 25 events is …  Read more

This thesis is a discussion on whether every sector of human activity really is or needs to be 'global'. It discusses the impact that economic globalization has on the role of the nation-state and on the concept of democracy, at both local and international levels. Particular emphasis is put on some of the democratic challenges associated with dispute settlement at the WTO and also under foreign investment international instruments. It is argued that increased participation by non-state actors, particularly NGOs, in state-to-state and in investor-state arbitration threatens to weaken the arbitration process and does little to remedy alleged democratic deficiencies. …  Read more

We study the effects of paper structure on electrophotography using a phase-field type continuum model of electrostatic transfer. This model is implemented in C++ using the finite element method and allows us to solve for the electric field for a system of any dielectric configuration. We show that average toner transfer forces increase as a function of paper filler particle density, through direct coupling of filler to local paper dielectric. Specifically, fluctuations in surface fillers produce "hot spots" in the field near the surface, while those in the bulk have longer reaches. We also show that rapid fluctuations of the …  Read more

Based on our study of the Tombeaux of Marguerite de Navarre (1551), Hugues Salel (1554), Joachim Du Bellay (1560), Remy Belleau (1577), Pierre de Ronsard (1586), de Jean Passerat (1606) and Nicolas Rapin (1610), we identify the main motives that can be found inside and behind the consolatory discourse of the authors participating in this kind of collective work. We attempt to discover what perception of post mortem destiny is proposed to a man of letters by people exercising the same profession or at least aspiring to become recognized members of the guild.  Read more

Sophorolipid production was studied using Candida bombicola ATCC 22214. Solid and liquid alkanes or fatty acids were used as lipophilic substrates in shake flask experiments. With a few of these substrates, there was a significant amount of direct incorporation into the sophorolipid products. Of all substrates tested, only hexadecane and heptadecane resulted in the exclusive production of crystalline, diacetylated lactone sophorolipids that contained a single type of hydroxy fatty acid. It was determined that the presence of a single type of sophorolipid structure was necessary to obtain crystalline products. It was also possible to obtain the crystalline product using larger …  Read more

Sophisticated audio coding paradigms incorporate human perceptual effects in order to reduce data rates, while maintaining high fidelity of the reconstructed signal. Auditory masking is the phenomenon that is the key to exploiting perceptual redundancy in audio signals. Most auditory models conservatively estimate masking, as they were developed for medium to high rate coders where distortion can be made inaudible. At very low coding rates, more accurate auditory models will be beneficial since some audible distortion is inevitable. This thesis focuses on the application of human perception to low-rate audio coding. A novel auditory model that estimates masking levels is …  Read more

We have used DETECT2000, a Monte-Carlo simulation program, to find the theoretical performance of a dual-layered pixellated scintillation block used in high-resolution positron emission tomography. With DETECT2000, the best and worst-case scenarios for light photon transport were analyzed. It was found that certain crystals composing the scintillation block could not be recognized. Simulations about the removal of these crystals have shown no negative effect on the scintillation block performance. With the help of actual data results collected on the scintillation block, the parameters for the model were improved in order to fit simulation results with practical data. When a good …  Read more

This study examines issues related to women's leadership and administrative roles in higher educational settings where information technologies have a prominent function. In so doing, it addresses a relatively new area in leadership. The study focuses on four main questions: Are there parallels between feminist leadership styles and a new evolving field for leaders in technology? Is there something about technology that lends itself to female leadership styles? Has technology helped validate women's styles of leadership? What does that mean to women entering the field now? Six women administrators, interviewed over a three-month period spoke on such issues as formal …  Read more

The experiments in this thesis examined the roles of stimulus configuration on conditioned cue preference (CCP) learning by asking what information is processed and by which neural substrates. Results from Experiments 1 and 2 showed that lesions of the lateral nucleus of the amygdala (LNA) but not of fimbria-fornix (FF) impaired CCP learning when the cues paired with food during training were distinct from those not paired with food in either of two different apparatuses. In Experiments 3 and 4 LNA lesions increased the size of the CCP when the cues paired with food and no food were ambiguous in …  Read more

Functional literacy is difficult to achieve for the deaf population. Sixty percent of deaf high school students read at or below grade four, eight percent read at or above grade eight. The present study investigated two factors that may contribute to these individual differences in reading achievement in the deaf signing population: signed language comprehension skills and word recognition skills. In Study 1, 31 deaf adults (12 women and 19 men) between the ages of 17 and 54 years were categorized as either a Good Reader or Poor Reader to determine what factors would differentiate them. These groups were tested …  Read more

Rochford, Joseph (Supervisor)  Read more

Characterization of the phyenotypic, functional and proliferative properties of antigen-specific CD8 T cell subsets allowed us to delineate a differentiation pathway based on the expression of CD45 isotype and CC-chemokine receptor 7 (CCR7), and undergone by T cells following encounter with cognate antigen. Comparative assessment of HIV- and cytomegalovirus-specific responses exhibited by dually-infected patients evidenced a skewed maturation of HIV-specific memory CD8 T lymphocytes and their altered distribution in blood and lymph nodes. These findings contribute to our understanding of immunologic memory, may be relevant to HIV-1 pathology and are pertinent to the design, as well as evaluation of therapeutic …  Read more

Jitter characterization has become significantly more important for systems running at multi-gigahertz data rates. Time and frequency domain characterization of jitter is thus a crucial element for system specification testing. Time domain jitter measurement on a data signal with sub-gate timing resolution can be achieved using two delay chains feeding into the clock and data lines of a series of D-latches known as a Vernier Delay Line (VDL). An important drawback to the VDL structure is that its measurement accuracy depends on the matching of the various delay elements. Although careful layout techniques can help to minimize these mismatches, it …  Read more

The Hairy enhancer of split 6 (Hes6) protein modulates myogenesis and neurogenesis by repressing inhibitors of differentiation. We demonstrate that Hes6 dependent transcriptional repression in myoblasts is mediated by recruitment to the DNA N-box. Identification of putative targets of Hes6 was attempted by creating inducible clones. Alternately, a target was sought by comparing cells with constitutive Hes6 expression to wildtype cells using DNA microarray technology. Candidate gene analysis of microarray data resulted in the identification of a novel potential target, cardiac helix-loop-helix factor 2 (CHF2), which was confirmed by semi-quantitative RT-PCR analysis. Future studies are required to determine whether Hes6 …  Read more

The propagation regimes of combustion waves in a 30 cm by 30 cm square cross-sectioned tube with an obstacle array of staggered vertical cylindrical rods (with BR = 0.41 and BR = 0.19) are investigated. Mixtures of hydrogen, ethylene, propane, and methane with air at ambient conditions over a range of equivalence ratios are used. In contrast to the previous results obtained in circular cross-sectioned tubes, it is found that only the quasi-detonation regime and the slow turbulent deflagration regimes are observed for ethylene-air and for propane-air. The transition from the quasi-detonation regime to the slow turbulent deflagration regime occurs …  Read more

Mice homozygous for the disrupted renal type 11a sodium/phosphate (Na/Pi) cotransporter gene, Npt2, (Npt2 KO) exhibit renal Pi wasting and hypercalciuria, predisposing factors for renal stone formation. We observed that Npt2 KO mice, but not wild-type littermates form renal stones. The renal stones were evident in newborn, weanling and adult mice and composed of calcium (Ca) and Pi. The presence of renal calcification correlated with the absence of Npt2 gene expression and the presence of genes responsible for the synthesis (1alpha-hydroxylase) and catabolism (24-hydroxylase) of 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D, whose elevated levels contribute to the hypercalciuria and renal calcification in Npt2 KO …  Read more

The emergence of biotechnology necessitating change in traditional pharmacological research, cost cutting by hospitals and health insurers, and an increasing number of patent expirations have posed a considerable challenge to the pharmaceutical industry, which hitherto had been considered recession-proof. Responding to this challenge, the industry has undergone tremendous consolidation through mergers and acquisitions (M&As). These M&As have resulted in high concentration within the therapeutic classes of drugs, thereby raising anticompetitive concerns. In order to allow the mergers to proceed, the Federal Trade Commission in the U.S. had required the merging entities to divest their R&D assets. The European Commission, on …  Read more

Three tasks based on earlier tests (Brownell et al., 1986; Kaplan et al., 1990; Shammi and Stuss, 1999) were administered to 7 right hemisphere damaged (RHD) patients and 10 age- and education-matched healthy controls to assess whether an impaired overall ability to generate linguistic inferences is a major underlying factor contributing to communicative deficits associated with RHD. These tasks examined discourse comprehension and inference generation associated with three types of communicative contexts (disambiguating ambiguous linguistic information, joke appreciation, and pragmatic inferences related to sarcasm). Contrary to expectations, RHD patients' performance was qualitatively different from controls' only for the task requiring …  Read more

A new process was developed to fabricate particulate metal matrix composites (MMCs). The process involves two steps: (1) forming a particulate porous compact, and (2) introducing molten magnesium or magnesium alloy (AZ91) into the channel network by a spontaneous infiltration technique. A uniform distribution of SiC particulates in magnesium matrix was achieved. Microsegregation existed in composites when the particle size of reinforcement was 38 mum and 22 mum, however, when the particle size of reinforcement was 12 mum, the microsegregation was eliminated. The interfacial reaction between SiC and Mg studied by Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM), microanalysis, and X-Ray Diffraction (XRD) …  Read more

Cancers of the upper aero-digestive tract (UADT) rank as the fifth most common neoplastic disease worldwide. Two identified risk contributors are consumption of tobacco and alcohol. Among all other potential etiological factors, diet has long been recognized to play an important role in the development of cancers of the UADT. Data from a multi-centre, hospital-based case-control study conducted in Brazil were used to assess the association of dietary intake with the risk of cancers of the UADT. Dietary assessment was made in terms of estimated intake of nutrients, specific foods and food groups. After adjusting for the effects of alcohol …  Read more

Trademark counterfeiting is one of the most serious problems ever encountered in China. The Chinese government, recognizing the adverse effects that counterfeiting has had on both foreign investment and the nation's economy, has begun to take steps to protect intellectual property rights. To this end, the nation amended its Trademark Law on 27 October 2001. The aims of the amendment are to improve management of trademarks, to strengthen punishment for infringements, and to further meet the requirements of the TRIPs. Although the new amendment is laudable, eliminating the problem will take time. This thesis offers an overview of trademark enforcement …  Read more

Despite the fact that spiral rainbands have long been detected in radar observations, many aspects of their dynamics and their role in hurricanes still remain unresolved. In this thesis, the high-resolution PSU-NCAR nonhydrostatic mesoscale model (MM5) is used to perform three numerical simulations, namely, the control run, the dry run and the landfall simulation. The dynamics of inner spiral rainbands formed in the simulated hurricanes are studied. It is shown that the interaction of low-level potential vorticity (PV) anomalies with boundary layer friction and the strong coupling of the PV band and the cloud band give rise to the inner …  Read more

In this work, the kinetic and equilibrium profiles of each individual reaction step involved in the production of hematite at 200°C via oxydrolysis of ferrous sulphate in concentrated zinc sulphate media were established. Crystallization of ferrous sulphate was found to play a crucial role in the overall process due to its relatively low solubility and fast crystallization kinetics at elevated temperatures. In fact, the overall kinetics of the oxydrolysis process were found to be limited by the re-dissolution of ferrous sulphate. Pre-crystallization of ferrous sulphate prior to oxidation was found to result in enhanced overall kinetics, cutting down the required …  Read more

Mucci, A. (Supervisor)  Read more

Ohmic heating is an electrical resistance heating resulting from the passage of electrical current through an electrically conductive material offering some resistance. Most food products possess sufficient electrical conductivity to be able to take advantage of ohmic heating. This research was undertaken to evaluate the quality changes associated with fine ham emulsions prepared under ohmic heating conditions as compared to those produced by conventional heating. In the first part of the study, kinetics of quality changes (color, texture, water holding capacity, cooking loss and water activity) associated with fine ham emulsion subjected to conventional heating conditions were evaluated. The second …  Read more

InGaAs/InP PIN photodetectors have been fabricated in the laboratory. Several material characterization techniques are performed to characterize the material. They include current-voltage (I-V) measurements, capacitance-voltage (C-V) measurements, electron beam induce current (EBIC) measurements and deep level transient spectroscopy (DLTS) measurements. It is found that sample V1 and V1B have a higher n- region doping concentration then that of sample V2A. The measurements also indicate that the recombination currents in the devices are small. Depletion width of one of the photodetector in sample V1B is measured and has a value of 0.798 um under zero bias. Using EBIC measurement technique, the …  Read more