Tunneling conductivity oscillations in a magnetic field in metal-insulator-narrow-gap-HgCdTe structures: The energy spectrum and spin-orbit splitting of 2D states

We study tunneling conductivity oscillations in a magnetic field in narrow-gap p-HgCdTe-oxide-metal (Yb, Al) structures. In tunnel structures with Yb we detect two types of tunneling conductivity oscillations. The first is related to the crossing of the Landau levels of two-dimensional (2D) states localized in the surface quantum well of the semiconductor, and has an energy E _F+eV, where E _F is the Fermi energy of the semiconductor and V is the bias voltage; the second has an energy E _F. We find that in such structures with an asymmetric quantum well there is strong spin-orbit splitting in the spectrum of the 2D states. In p-HgCdTe-oxide-Al tunnel structures the surface potential is much weaker and only oscillations of the first type are observed. We find that in such structures there is only one spin state of the 2D carriers, while the second is pushed into the continuous spectrum because of strong spin-orbit coupling. To analyze the experimental results we calculate the spectrum of 2D states localized in the surface quantum well in a semiconductor with a Kane dispersion law. We find that all the experimental results are in good agreement with the results of calculations. Finally, we discuss the features of “kinematically coupled” states in an asymmetric quantum well. Zh. éksp. Teor. Fiz. 112, 537–550 (August 1997)     

Formation of spectra of quantum well states in thin Al layers on W(110)

Quantum well states of sp-type in thin metal layers of aluminum on the W(110) surface were experimentally studied by angle-resolved photoelectron spectroscopy depending on the layer thickness in a range of about 1–15 monolayers. It is shown that the aluminum layer is formed in accordance with the Kurdyumov-Sachs orientation relationship. Modification of the quantum well state spectra is observed with the increase in the layer thickness. The changes of the energy of quantum well states with the formation of each new monolayer have a stepwise character. This behavior can be used to calibrate the thickness of the deposited film with an accuracy within fractions of a monolayer. To confirm the reliability of the calibration, the thickness of the formed layers was tested using the attenuation of the W4f _7/2 peak intensity.     

Modulation of the coupling of a near-surface GaAs/Ga0.7Al0.3As quantum well with its free surface

The states confined in a GaAs/Ga_0.7Al_0.3 quantum well interact with the states localized at the free surface of its topmost barrier when the thickness of this barrier is decreased below ≈400Å. We show here that this interaction and hence the behaviour of carriers confined in the well can be modulated by in situ treatments applied to this free surface.     

Quantum oscillations in a novel organic quasi-two-dimensional (BEDO-TTF)5[RbHg(SCN)4]2 metal

Quantum magnetization and magnetoresistance oscillations are detected in the quasi-two-dimensional organic metal (BEDO-TTF)₅[RbHg(SCN)₄]₂ for the first time. The magnetization oscillation spectrum corresponds to a calculated Fermi surface provided that a magnetic breakdown is realized. The magnetoresistance oscillation spectrum contains additional frequencies, one of which can unambiguously be related to quantum interference. An analysis of the angular dependence of the magnetoresistance oscillation amplitude indicates that the many-body interactions in this metal are weak.     

Adsorption and dissociation of molecular hydrogen on Pt/CeO2 catalyst in the hydrogen spillover process: A quantum chemical molecular dynamics study

Ultra accelerated quantum chemical molecular dynamics method (UA-QCMD) was used to study the dynamics of the hydrogen spillover process on Pt/CeO₂ catalyst surface for the first time. The direct observation of dissociative adsorption of hydrogen on Pt/CeO₂ catalyst surface as well as the diffusion of dissociative hydrogen from the Pt/CeO₂ catalyst surface was simulated. The diffusion of the hydrogen atom in the gas phase explains the high reactivity observed in the hydrogen spillover process. Chemical changes, change of adsorption states and structural changes were investigated. It was observed that parallel adsorption of hydrogen facilitates the dissociative adsorption leading to hydrogen desorption. Impact with perpendicular adsorption of hydrogen causes the molecular adsorption on the surface, which decelerates the hydrogen spillover. The present study also indicates that the CeO₂ support has strong interaction with Pt catalyst, which may cause an increase in Pt activity as well as enhancement of the metal catalyst dispersions and hence increasing the rate of hydrogen spillover reaction.     

高迁移率InGaAs/InP量子阱中的有效g因子

利用化学束外延法制备了高迁移率的In_0.53Ga_0.47As/InP量子阱样品. 在样品的低温磁输运测试中, 观察到纵向磁阻的Shubnikov-de Hass (SdH) 振荡和零场自旋分裂引起的拍频. 本文提出一种解析的方法, 即通过同时拟合不同倾斜磁场下SdH振荡的傅里叶变换谱, 得到有效g因子的大小.     

Self-assembling of Ge quantum dots in the CaF<Subscript>2</Subscript>/Ge/CaF<Subscript>2</Subscript>/Si heteroepitaxial system and the development of tunnel-resonance diode on its basis

A CaF₂/Ge/CaF₂/Si(111) heteroepitaxial structure with Ge quantum dots was grown by molecular-beam epitaxy. A negative differential conductivity and conductivity oscillations caused by resonant hole tunneling were observed at room temperature. The energy spacing between the levels in quantum dots, as determined from the oscillation period, is 40–50 meV depending on the Ge dot size.     

Charge accumulation layers and surface states in ultrathin Cs,Ba/n-GaN(0001) interfaces

It is found that ultrathin cesium and barium coatings radically change the electronic properties of the surface and the near-surface region of epitaxial n-GaN(0001) layers. A charge accumulation layer serving as a quasi-two-dimensional electronic channel is first formed by adsorption on the surface of a semiconductor. It is revealed that photoemission from the accumulation layer is excited by visible light from the transparency region of GaN and is characterized by a high quantum yield. It is found that the photoemission thresholds hν _s and hν _p for s-and p-polarized excitation are equal to each other and correspond to the work function. The lowest work function for Cs,Ba/n-GaN interfaces is observed at Cs or Ba coverages close to 0.5 monolayer. Two bands induced by the local interaction of cesium (barium) adatoms with gallium dangling bonds are detected in the electronic spectrum of surface states of Cs,Ba/n-GaN interfaces. An oscillation structure is observed in spectral dependences of the photoyield. This effect is new for photoemission. A model of the effect is proposed. It is found that electronic and photoemission properties of the interfaces correlate with the structural perfectness of the epitaxial n-GaN(0001) layers.     

Coulomb oscillations of the current through spin-nondegenerate <Emphasis Type="Italic">p</Emphasis> states of InAs quantum dots

The electron transport is studied in split-gate structures fabricated on the basis of a modulation-doped heterostructure that contains a single quantum well and self-assembled InAs quantum dots near the 2D electron gas regions. The current passing through the channel with a denumerable set of InAs quantum dots is found to exhibit Coulomb oscillations as a function of the gate voltage. The oscillations are associated with the excited p states of InAs quantum dots, which are characterized by opposite spins and caused by lifting of the spin degeneracy of the p state due to the Coulomb interaction. The Coulomb oscillations of the current are observed up to a temperature of ～20 K. The Coulomb energy is found to be ΔE_c = 12.5 meV, which agrees well with the theoretical estimates for the p states of quantum dots in the structures under study.     

Identification of surface states in PbS quantum dots by temperature dependent photoluminescence

We report the type and nature of the surface states in PbS quantum dots grown in poly vinyl alcohol by the colloidal technique. Mercaptoethanol (C₂H₅OSH) capping and the molar ratio of Pb:S were used as parameters to understand the origin of the surface state related photoluminescence. From absorption and photoluminescence measurements, it was observed that increasing Lead concentration resulted in bigger nanoparticles with broad size distribution. However, the increase in sulfur concentration helped in the formation of smaller nanoparticles with narrow size distribution. Passivation studies also revealed that the origin of the bands below 1.1 eV was sulfur related. Thus these experiments indicated that sulfur played an important role, not only in size selectivity, but also in controlling defects in PbS quantum structures. Temperature dependent PL studies on different samples with various Pb:S molar ratios and with mercaptoethanol treated gave an insight into the nature of the surface states. Based on these results, we explain the origin of the surface states and proposed a model for different PL bands. The observed temperature-dependent trends of PL intensity (decreasing in Pb:S::1:1, increasing in S terminated and anomalous behavior in samples with excess of Pb) is attributed to the dominant mid-gap states and the results are consistent with carrier redistribution and recombination statistics involved in the quantum structures.     

Spectra of quantum states in thin metal films and their modification: Al/W(110) system

The modification of spectra of quantum well states of sp-type in thin Al films on the W(110) surface was experimentally investigated by angular-resolved photoelectron spectroscopy both during deposition and in dependence of the detection angle. Quantum well states are observed for the partially filled band of valence states in the range of binding energies from 4.4 eV to the Fermi level. An Al film with a thickness of 11 monolayers exhibits a jump of the dispersion relations of quantum well states in the local W(110) band gap in the ΓS direction and splitting of these relations due to the effect of substrate electronic structure on the formed spectrum of quantum states and their possible spin polarization.     

Quantum Monte Carlo simulation of exciton–exciton scattering in a GaAs/AlGaAs quantum well

We present a computer simulation of exciton–exciton scattering in a quantum well. Specifically, we use quantum Monte Carlo techniques to study the bound and continuum states of two excitons in a 10 nm wide GaAs/Al_0.3Ga_0.7As quantum well. From these bound and continuum states we extract the momentum-dependent phase shifts for s-wave scattering. A surprising finding of this work is that a commonly studied effective-mass model for excitons in a 10 nm quantum well actually supports two bound biexciton states. The second, weakly bound state may dramatically enhance exciton–exciton interactions. We also fit our results to a hard-disk model and indicate directions for future work.     

Coulomb interaction controlled room temperature oscillation of tunnel current in porous Si

A novel phenomenon of regular oscillations is observed in I-V characteristics of porous silicon under illumination by visible light. The measurements are performed at room temperature using a scanning tunneling microscope. The heights of the oscillation peaks appear to be a linear function of the oscillation number. The experimental value of the Coulomb energy determined from the oscillation period is much smaller than k _B T. The oscillations are attributed to a Coulomb effect, i.e., to the periodic trapping of a multielectron level in a quantum well within a Si nanocrystal under the combined influence of the voltage variation at the STM tip and the Coulomb interaction among the carriers. Fiz. Tverd. Tela (St. Petersburg) 40, 1147–1150 (June 1998) Published in English in the original Russian journal. Reproduced here with stylistic changes by the Translation Editor.     

Z2 oscillation of mean charge states of fast Si and Cl ions after passage through thin foils

Z₂ (target atomic number) oscillation of equilibrium charge states has been observed for 30–110 MeV Si and 70 and 110 MeV Cl ions after the passage through 22 different Z₂ foils. This oscillation may be related to the Z₂ oscillation of electron capture cross sections into the projectile K vacancy.     

Spectroscopy of electroreflection, the electron band structure, and the mechanism of visible photoluminescence of anisotropically etched silicon

We present the results of studies of electroreflection in the 1.1–4.4 eV spectral range, of electron Auger spectroscopy, and of electron diffraction involving the photoluminescent Si-SiO₂ system prepared via anisotropic chemical etching of the Si(100) surface. These results are explained on the basis of a four-layer model of the band structure and energy transition diagram for a system with a quantum well at the silicon surface, surface electron states at the boundary, and a gradient of the band potential in the transition layer. We find that light-emitting silicon remains an indirect-gap semiconductor and that the visible photoluminescence is due to direct recombinations of the light-excited electrons and holes in the quantum well at the center of the Brillouin zone with the participation of the band of deep localized states, which is due to the presence of oxygen at the silicon surface. Zh. éksp. Teor. Fiz. 116, 1750–1761 (November 1999)     

Submillimeter wave induced resistance oscillations in ultra-high mobility two-dimensional electron systems

Submillimeter wave induced resistance oscillations in two ultra-high mobility GaAs/Al_0.24Ga_0.76As quantum well samples have been investigated by means of a backward wave oscillator and far-infrared laser at ³He temperatures. Subnikov–de Haas oscillation, submillimeter wave induced resistance oscillation, and magnetoplasmon resonance occur simultaneously in this frequency regime. The primary radiation induced resistance minimum shifts toward cyclotron resonance with increasing radiation frequency. The positions of these minima agree well with those of the magnetoplasmon resonance. The higher-order harmonics of the resistance oscillation remain around the multiples of the cyclotron resonance frequency. An in situ transmission measurement exhibits an asymmetric broadening of the cyclotron resonance, appearing as a combination of the cyclotron resonance and the magnetoplasmon resonance, but no features directly linked to the microwave induced resistance oscillation can be seen.     

De Haas-van Alphen oscillations in the quasi-two-dimensional organic metal (BEDO-TTF)5[CsHg(SCN)4]2

The magnetization oscillations in the quasi-two-dimensional organic metal (BEDO-TTF)₅[CsHg(SCN)₄]₂ are thoroughly investigated over a wide range of magnetic field directions at different temperatures down to 0.4 K. The results obtained are in good agreement with the shape and sizes of the Fermi surface calculated from the x-ray diffraction data. Apart from the fundamental frequencies, the combination frequencies are found in the magnetization oscillation spectrum. It is demonstrated that these combination frequencies are governed by the motion of charge carriers along the real closed orbits inside the network of magnetic breakdown orbits formed under the action of the magnetic field. It is uniquely established that the combination frequencies previously revealed in the magnetoresistance oscillation spectrum of the same metal are associated with the quantum interference effect. The angular dependences of the oscillation amplitude exhibit minima, which are explained by the spin splitting of the Landau levels.     

Energy levels of hydrogenic impurity states in GaAs-Ga1−xAlxAs quantum well structures

Binding energies of the ground state and of four excited states of a hydrogenic impurity in quantum well structures consisting of a single slab of GaAs sandwiched between two semi-infinite slabs of Ga_1?xAl_xAs are calculated using a variational approach. The ground-state binding energy is calculated as a function of the barrier potential for a given size of the GaAs quantum well and is found to be linearly dependent on the inverse of the square root of the barrier potential except for very small potentials. The variation of the binding energies of all five states as a function of the size of the GaAs quantum well are also calculated and their behavior is discussed.     

Visualization of a Berezinskii–Kosterlitz–Thouless Topological Phase Transition in a Josephson Medium: Detection of an Anomalous Temperature Dependence of the Magnetoresistance of YBa<Subscript>2</Subscript>Cu<Subscript>3</Subscript>O<Subscript>7–δ</Subscript> Granular High-Temperature Superconductors

The density of states of the valence band of a p-GaAs layer formed on an n-GaAs surface owing to the bombardment by 2500-eV Ar⁺ ions has been studied by photoelectron spectroscopy. A number of peaks have been detected in the spectrum of the edge of the valence band in the binding energy range E_V < 1.2eV. Their number and energy positions correspond to the quantum confinement levels calculated for a hole quantum well on the surface with the width about the ion penetration depth R_p = 3.6nm. Electronic transitions from these levels to the bottom of the conduction band have been revealed in the spectrum of characteristic energy losses of electrons reflected from the surface. Thus, it has been shown that the action of the argon ion beam on n-GaAs results in the formation of a quantum well on the surface.     

Photostimulated luminescence flash: from scientific photography to photonics of nanostructured materials

We have analyzed the possibilities of using the phenomenon of photostimulated luminescence flash for optical diagnosing of energy levels of structural and impurity defects of semiconductor crystals and nanostructures. New data on the spectra of deep localized states associated with adsorbed few-atom clusters Zn _n on the surface of ZnS; clusters Cd _n , Cu _n , and Ag _n on the surface of CdS; and clusters Ag _n on the surface of AgBr(I) have been presented, as well as results of investigation of photostimulated assembling processes of few-atom clusters on the surface of crystals using this phenomenon. We are the first to show the potential of the luminescence flash technique for studying the mutual arrangement of the levels of dye molecules and the bands of the crystal on the surface of which they are adsorbed, as well as of the spectra of localized states in colloidal CdS semiconductor quantum dots.