Anomalous temperature dependence of photoluminescence in GeO<Subscript><Emphasis Type="Italic">x</Emphasis></Subscript> films and GeO<Subscript><Emphasis Type="Italic">x</Emphasis></Subscript>/SiO<Subscript>2</Subscript> nano-heterostructures

The optical properties of GeO _x film and GeO _x /SiO₂ multilayer heterostructures (with thickness of GeO _x layers down to 1 nm) were studied with the use of Raman scattering and infrared spectroscopy, ellipsometry and photoluminescence spectroscopy including temperature dependence of photoluminescence. The observed photoluminescence is related to defect (dangling bonds) in GeO _x and interface defects for the case of GeO _x /SiO₂ multilayer heterostructures. From analysis of temperature dependence of photoluminescence intensity, it was found that rate of nonradiative transitions in GeO _x film has Berthelot type, but anomalous deviations from Berthelot type temperature dependence were observed in temperature dependences of photoluminescence intensities for GeO _x /SiO₂ multilayer heterostructures.     

Electron scattering on disordered double-barrier GaAs–AlxGa1−xAs heterostructures

We present a novel model to calculate vertical transport properties such as conductance and current in unintentionally disordered double-barrier GaAs–Al_xGa_1−xAs heterostructures. The source of disorder comes from interface roughness at the heterojunctions (lateral disorder) as well as spatial inhomogeneities of the Al mole fraction in the barriers (compositional disorder). Both lateral and compositional disorder break translational symmetry along the lateral direction and therefore electrons can be scattered off the growth direction. The model correctly describes channel mixing due to these elastic scattering events. In particular, for realistic degree of disorder, we have found that the effects of compositional disorder on transport properties are negligible as compared to the effects due to lateral disorder.     

Characterization of AlxGa1−xAs/GaAs heterostructures for single quantum wells grown by a solid arsenic MOCVD system

This work presents the results of the growth and characterization of Al_xGa_1−xAs/GaAs multilayer structures obtained in a metallic-arsenic-based-MOCVD system. The main goal is to explore the ability of the growth system to grow high quality multilayer structures like quantum wells. The use of metallic arsenic could introduce important differences in the growth process due to the absence of the hydride group V precursor (AsH₃), which manifests in the electrical and optical characteristics of both GaAs and Al_xGa_1−xAs layers. The characterization of these epilayers and structures was performed using low-temperature photoluminescence, Hall effect measurements, X-ray diffraction, Raman spectroscopy, secondary ion mass spectroscopy (SIMS) and Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM).     

Observation of the transition from diffusive regime to ballistic regime of the 2DEG transport property in AlxGa1−xN/GaN heterostructures

Electron–electron interaction effect of the two-dimensional electron gas (2DEG) in Al_xGa_1−xN/GaN heterostructures has been investigated by means of magnetotransport measurements at low temperatures. From the temperature dependence of the longitudinal conductivity of the heterostructures, a clear transition region has been observed. Based on the theoretical analysis, we conclude that this region corresponds to the transition from the diffusive regime to the ballistic regime of the 2DEG transport property. The interaction constant is determined to be −0.423, which is consistent with the theoretical prediction. However, the critical temperature for the transition, which is 8 K in Al_xGa_1−xN/GaN heterostructures, is much higher than the theoretical prediction.     

The mobility of electrons in strained silicon

The development of Si and Si_1−xGe_x layer growth by molecular beam epitaxy has enabled heterostructures and HEMT devices to be made with Group IV semiconductors. Strain is very important in determining the electronic behaviour of this system and as an initial step towards understanding mobility in SiGe HEMT structures a Monte Carlo technique has been used to simulate electron transport in bulk Si, strained by commensurate growth on a (001) Si_1−yGe_y buffer. The in-plane mobility initially increases with increasing strain but then falls at higher strains and fields. Results are presented for both undoped and 10¹⁷ cm⁻³ n-type Si, fields of 10² to 10⁴ Vcm⁻¹ and strain levels up to the equivalence of growth on a Si_0.25Ge_0.75 buffer. The results are explained by the splitting of the degenerate conduction band minimum and the transition probability between the two-fold and four-fold split minima.     

Role of nitrogen in the mobility drop of electrons in modulation-doped GaAsN/AlGaAs heterostructures

We report transport properties of a 2 dimension electron gas (2DEG) in molecular beam epitaxy-grown GaAs_1−xN_x/AlGaAs modulation-doped heterostructures. Quantum oscillations in far infrared cyclotron resonance prove the efficient electron transfer and formation of the 2DEG. The 2DEG mobility strongly depends on the N concentration in the channel layer. It shows a drastic decrease as compared to N-free samples, even for the smallest amount of N (0.02%). For this N composition, the electron effective mass was found to be 0.073m₀. Reduced growth temperature (450 °C) was found to improve the mobility of N-containing channels. Examination of transport properties from 4 to 300 K and cyclotron resonance experiments give evidence of the presence of ionised impurity-like scattering centres in GaAsN.     

Elasticity, band structure, and piezoelectricity of BexZn1−xO alloys

Lattice constants, elasticity, band structure and piezoelectricity of hexagonal wide band gap Be_xZn_1−xO ternary alloys are calculated using first-principles methods. The alloys' lattice constants obey Vegard's law well. As Be concentration increases, the bulk modulus and Young's modulus of the alloys increase, whereas the piezoelectricity decreases. We predict that Be_xZn_1−xO/GaN/substrate (x=0.022) multilayer structure can be suitable for high-frequency surface acoustic wave device applications. Our calculated results are in good agreement with experimental data and other theoretical calculations.     

Transport properties of Fibonacci heterostructures: a nonparabolic approach

A fourth order hamiltonian is used to explore transport properties of semiconductor Fibonacci heterostructures. The tunneling current and time delay are obtained for different Fibonacci sequences constructed withGaAsandAl_xGa_1 − xAs. Energy minibands are calculated to study the fractal dimension and critical electronic states in quasi-periodic arrays. Results show that nonparabolic corrections produce changes in the tunneling current, time delay and fractal dimension, and a low voltage shift of the current peaks compared with the parabolic theory. The electronic states preserve their critical nature in the presence of nonparabolic effects.     

尺寸可控的纳米硅的生长模型和实验验证

基于经典热力学理论，对a-SiN_x/a-Si:H/a-SiN_x三明治结构或a-Si:H/a-SiN_x多层膜结构中纳米硅成核，以及从球形到鼓形的生长过程进行了研究. 建立了限制性晶化理论模型：在纳米硅生长过程中，由于界面能增大将导致生长停止，给出限制性晶化条件——a-Si:H子层厚度小于34 nm. 在激光晶化和常规热退火两种方法形成的a-SiN_x/nc-Si/a-SiN_x三明治结构和nc-Si/a-SiN_x多层膜结构中验证了该理论模型. 关键词： 非晶硅 纳米硅 激光辐照 结晶     

Strain-balanced Si<Subscript>1-x</Subscript>Ge<Subscript>x</Subscript>/Si type II quantum wells for 1.55 μm detection and emission

This work deals with the optoelectronic properties of heterostructures built on type II Si_1-xGe_x/Si strained quantum wells grown on relaxed Si_1-yGe_y/Si (001) pseudo-substrates. To limit the intrinsic problem due to the real-space indirect nature of the interface, we propose and model three heterostructures having three different potential profiles of the valence and conduction bands which consist in various arrangements of Si and Si_1-xGe_x barriers of different Ge contents. The proposed stacks are designed in a pragmatic way for a pseudomorphic growth on relaxed Si_1-yGe_y assuming individual layer thickness being smaller than the known critical thickness and an overall compensation of the strain. Variation of thickness and compositions (x>y) permits to optimize i) the quantum confinement of electrons and heavy-hole levels and ii) the wave function's overlap and the out-of-plane oscillator strength. The optimum parameters satisfy a fundamental emission at a key 1.55 μm wavelength below the absorption edge of each layer constitutive of the stacks. A comparison between the characteristics of the three heterostructures brings out the superior advantages of the W architecture.     

Si<Subscript>1−<Emphasis Type="Italic">x</Emphasis></Subscript>Ge<Subscript>x</Subscript>/Si(001) relaxed buffer layers grown by chemical vapor deposition at atmospheric pressure

Relaxed step-graded buffer layers of Si_1?xGe_x/Si(001) heterostructures with a low density of threading dislocations are grown through chemical vapor deposition at atmospheric pressure. The surface of the Si_1?xGe_x/Si(001) (x ～ 25%) buffer layers is subjected to chemical mechanical polishing. As a result, the surface roughness of the layers is decreased to values comparable to the surface roughness of the Si(001) initial substrates. It is demonstrated that Si_1?xGe_x/Si(001) buffer layers with a low density of threading dislocations and a small surface roughness can be used as artificial substrates for growing SiGe/Si heterostructures of different types through molecular-beam epitaxy.     

Accumulation layer and interface effects in doped nonabrupt GaAs/AlxGa1-xAs heterojunctions

A theoretical model is proposed to describe doped nonabrupt GaAs/Al_xGa_1-xAs heterojunctions. It is used to study interface effects on the transmission properties and energy levels of electrons in these heterostructures. It is showed that interface effects are important in the case of high doping levels, and wide GaAs/Al_xGa_1-xAs interfaces.     

Investigation of AlInN HEMT structures with different AlGaN buffer layers grown on sapphire substrates by MOCVD

We investigate the structural and electrical properties of Al_xIn_1–xN/AlN/GaN heterostructures with AlGaN buffers grown by MOCVD, which can be used as an alternative to AlInN HEMT structures with GaN buffer. The effects of the GaN channel thickness and the addition of a content graded AlGaN layer to the structural and electrical characteristics were studied through variable temperature Hall effect measurements, high resolution XRD, and AFM measurements. Enhancement in electron mobility was observed in two of the suggested Al_xIn_1?xN/AlN/GaN/Al_0.04Ga_0.96N heterostructures when compared to the standard Al_xIn_1–xN/AlN/GaN heterostructure. This improvement was attributed to better electron confinement in the channel due to electric field arising from piezoelectric polarization charge at the Al_0.04Ga_0.96N/GaN heterointerface and by the conduction band discontinuity formed at the same interface. If the growth conditions and design parameters of the Al_xIn_1?xN HEMT structures with AlGaN buffers can be modified further, the electron spillover from the GaN channel can be significantly limited and even higher electron mobilities, which result in lower two-dimensional sheet resistances, would be possible.     

Growth and characterization of Cd1−xZnxTe thin films prepared from elemental multilayer deposition

Cd_1−xZn_xTe is a key material for fabrication of high-energy radiation detectors and optical devices. Conventionally it is fabricated using single crystal growth techniques. The method adopted here is the deposition of elemental multilayer followed by thermal annealing in vacuum. The multilayer structure was annealed at different temperatures using one to five repetitions of Cd-Zn-Te sequence. X-ray diffraction pattern for the multilayer with five repetitions revealed that annealing at 475 °C yielded single-phase material compared to other annealing conditions. EDX spectroscopy was carried out to study the corresponding compositions. Photoluminescence properties and change of resistance of the multilayer under illumination were also studied. The resistivity of the best sample was found to be a few hundreds of Ω cm.     

Different temperature dependence of carrier transport properties between AlxGa1-xN/InyGa1-yN/GaN and AlxGa1-xN/GaN heterostructures

The temperature dependence of carrier transport properties of AlxGa1-xN/InyGa1-yN/GaN and AlxGa1-xN/GaN heterostructures has been investigated.It is shown that the Hall mobility in Al0.25Ga0.75N/In0.03Ga0.97N/GaN heterostructures is higher than that in Al0.25Ga0.75N/GaN heterostructures at temperatures above 500 K,even the mobility in the former is much lower than that in the latter at 300 K.More importantly,the electron sheet density in Al0.25Ga0.75N/In0.03Ga0.97N/GaN heterostructures decreases slightly,whereas the electron sheet density in Al0.25Ga0.75N/GaN heterostructures gradually increases with increasing temperature above 500 K.It is believed that an electron depletion layer is formed due to the negative polarization charges at the InyGa1-yN/GaN heterointerface induced by the compressive strain in the InyGa1-yN channel,which e-ectively suppresses the parallel conductivity originating from the thermal excitation in the underlying GaN layer at high temperatures.     

Optical properties of GaN x As y P1?x?y semiconductor quaternary solid solutions

The photoluminescence method was used in the temperature range of 15?C300 K to study the optical properties of quantum-dimensional heterostructures based on GaN _x As _y P_(1?x?y) solid solutions, synthesized on the surface of a GaP (100) substrate. The calculations for the band-gap width of the GaN _x As _y P_(1?x?y) solid solution with the use of the band anticrossing model are shown to agree well with experimental data.     

Formation of a system of InGaAs quantum wires in a gallium arsenide matrix

The formation of a system of one-dimensional quantum conductors in porous multilayer In_xGa_1?xAs/GaAs structures with a two-dimensional charge-carrier gas in the In_xGa_1?xAs layers is discussed. The transition from the single-crystalline to porous matrix is studied with scanning atomic force microcopy. A decrease in the dimensionality of the electron-hole gas in the objects, i.e., a transition from the two-dimensional to a one-dimensional system, is established by analyzing the dependences of the position and width of a spectral line in the photoluminescence spectra on the etching time. Both multilayer periodic superlattices and a structure with a single In_xGa_1?xAs layer located near the surface of gallium arsenide are studied. The electrophysical characteristics of electrons in the porous superlattices are measured as functions of temperature. They confirm the formation of a new structure and indicate a change in the mechanism of electron scattering in the quasi-one-dimensional transport channels formed in the system.     

Thin film characterization by laser interferometry combined with SIMS

Thin film properties of technologically important materials (Si, GaAs, SiO₂, WSi_x) have been measured by using a novel technique that combines secondary ion mass spectrometry (SIMS) and laser interferometry.The simultaneous measurement of optical phase and reflectance as well as SIMS species during ion sputtering yielded optical constants, sputtering rates and composition of thin films with high depth resolution. A model based on the principle of multiple reflection within a multilayer structure, which considered also transformation of the film composition in depth and time during sputtering, was fitted to the reflectance and phase data. This model was applied to reveal the transformation of silicon by sputtering with O ₂ ⁺ ions. Special attention was paid to the preequilibrium phase of the sputter process (amorphization, oxidation, and volume expansion). To demonstrate the analytical potential of our method the multilayer system WSi_x/poly-Si/SiO₂/Si was investigated. The physical parameters and the stoichiometry of tungsten suicide were determined for annealed as well as deposited films. A highly sensitive technique that makes use of a Fabry-Perot etalon integrated with a Michelson type interferometer is proposed. This two-stage interferometer has the potential to profile a sample surface with subangstroem resolution.     

Vibrational and Light-Emitting Properties of Si/Si1−xSnx Heterostructures

Multilayer heterostructures Si/Si_1−xSn_x grown by molecular beam epitaxy on Si (001) substrates have been studied by Raman and photoluminescence spectroscopy. Raman spectra exhibit peaks corresponding to the vibrations of Si-Sn and Sn-Sn bonds; the vibrations of Sn-Sn bonds imply the presence of tin nanocrystals in heterostructures. Two photoluminescence bands at 0.75 eV (1650 nm) and 0.65 eV (1900 nm) have been observed in heterostructures at low temperatures. The former band can be attributed to optical transitions in quantum wells in the type II heterostructure Si/Si_1−xSn_x. The latter band can be associated with excitons localized in tin nanocrystals.

     

The effects of Si3N4 interlayer on the thermal stability and hardness of Ti/TiNx (x = 0.5-1) nanolayered coatings

The polycrystalline Ti/TiN_x multilayer films were deposited by magnetron sputtering, and the as-deposited multilayer coatings were annealed at 500-800 °C for 2-4 h in vacuum. We investigated the effects of annealing temperature and annealing time on the microstructural, interfacial, and mechanical properties of the polycrystalline Ti/TiN_x multilayer films. It was found that the hardness increased with annealing temperature. This hardness enhancement was probably caused by the preferred crystalline orientation TiN(1 1 1). The X-ray reflectivity measurements showed that the layer structure of the coatings could be maintained after annealing at 500 °C and the addition of the Si₃N₄ interlayer to Ti/TiN_x multilayer could improve the thermal stability to 800 °C.