Effect of lithium-potassium mixed alkali on spectroscopic properties of Er^3＋-doped aluminophosphate glasses

Er^3＋-doped lithium-potassium mixed alkali aluminophosphate glasses belonging to the oxide system xK2O-（15-x）Li2O-4B2O3-11Al2O3-5BaO-65P2O5 are obtained in a semi-continuous melting quenching process. Spectroscopic properties of Er^3＋-doped glass matrix have been analysed by fitting the experimental data with the standard Judd-Ofelt theory. It is observed that Judd-Ofelt intensity parameters Ωt（t = 2, 4 and 6） of Er^3＋ change when the second alkali is introduced into glass matrix. The variation of line strength Sed[^4I13/2,^4I15/2] follows the same trend as that of the/26 parameter. The effect of mixed alkali on the spectroscopic properties of the aluminophosphate glasses, such as absorption cross-section, stimulated emission cross-section, spontaneous emission probability, branching ratio and the radiative lifetime, has also been investigated in this paper.     

Electromagnetic wave absorption properties of Ba(CoTi)xFe12-2xO19@BiFeO3 in hundreds of megahertz band

The high-performance electromagnetic (EM) wave absorption material Ba(CoTi)$_{x}$Fe$_{12-2x}$O$_{19}$@BiFeO$_{3}$ was prepared by solid-state reaction, and its EM wave absorption properties were deeply studied. The results revealed that Ba(CoTi)$_{x}$Fe$_{12-2x}$O$_{19}$@BiFeO$_{3}$ could obtain excellent absorption properties in hundreds of megahertz by adjusting the Co$^{2+}$-Ti$^{4+}$ content. The best comprehensive property was obtained for $x=1.2$, where the optimal reflection loss ($RL$) value reaches $-30.42$ dB at about 600 MHz with thickness of 3.5 mm, and the corresponding effective absorption band covers the frequency range of 437 MHz-1 GHz. Moreover, the EM wave absorption mechanism was studied based on the simulation methods. The simulated results showed that the excellent EM wave absorption properties of Ba(CoTi)$_{x}$Fe$_{12-2x}$O$_{19}$@BiFeO$_{3}$ mainly originated from the internal loss caused by natural resonance, and the interface cancelation further improved the absorption properties and resulted in $RL$ peaks.     

Magnetocaloric properties and Griffiths phase of ferrimagnetic cobaltite CaBaCo4O7

We present a study on the magnetocaloric properties of a CaBaCo$_{4}$O$_{7}$ polycrystalline cobaltite along with research on the nature of magnetic phase transition. The magnetization as a function of temperature identifies the ferrimagnetic to paramagnetic transition at a Curie temperature of 60 K. Moreover, a Griffiths-like phase is confirmed in a temperature range above $T_{\rm C}$. The compound undergoes a crossover from the first to second-order ferrimagnetic transformation, as evidenced by the Arrott plots, scaling of the universal entropy curve, and field-dependent magnetic entropy change. The maximum of entropy change is 3 J/kg$\cdot$K for $\Delta H = 7$ T at ${T}_{\rm C}$, and a broadening of the entropy peak with increasing magnetic field indicates a field-induced transition above $T_{\rm C}$. The analysis of the magnetic entropy change using the Landau theory reveals the second-order phase transition and indicates that the magnetocaloric properties of CaBaCo$_{4}$O$_{7}$ are dominated by the magnetoelastic coupling and electron interaction. The corresponding values of refrigerant capacity and relative cooling power are estimated to be 33 J/kg and 42 J/kg, respectively.     

Slight Co-doping tuned magnetic and electric properties on cubic BaFeO3 single crystal

The single crystal of cubic perovskite BaFeO$_{3}$ shows multiple magnetic transitions and external stimulus sensitive magnetism. In this paper, a 5%-Co-doped BaFeO$_{3}$ (i.e. BaFe$_{0.95}$Co$_{0.05}$O$_{3})$ single crystal was grown by combining floating zone methods with high-pressure techniques. Such a slight Co doping has little effect on crystal structure, but significantly changes the magnetism from the parent antiferromagnetic ground state to a ferromagnetic one with the Curie temperature $T_{\rm C} \approx 120$ K. Compared with the parent BaFeO$_{3}$ at the induced ferromagnetic state, the saturated magnetic moment of the doped BaFe$_{0.95}$Co$_{0.05}$O$_{3}$ increases by about 10% and reaches 3.64 $\mu_{\rm B}$/f.u. Resistivity and specific heat measurements show that the ferromagnetic ordering favors metallic-like electrical transport behavior for BaFe$_{0.95}$Co$_{0.05}$O$_{3}$. The present work indicates that Co-doping is an effective method to tune the magnetic and electric properties for the cubic perovskite phase of BaFeO$_{3}$.     

Spectroscopic investigation of a new crystal： Nd^3＋,Yb^3＋：YVO4

The absorption and emission spectra of the YVO4 single crystal co-doped with 1 at.% Nd^3＋ and 1 at.% Yb^3＋ are investigated. The efficient Nd^3＋ → Yb^3＋ energy transfer and the back transfer （Yb^3＋ → Nd^3＋） are observed at room temperature. The fluorescence lifetime of the 4F3/2 level of Nd^3＋ in Nd,Yb：YVO4 is measured under 808 nm laser light excitation. The efficiency of Nd^3＋ → Yb^3＋ energy transfer in YVO4 is determined to be about 34%.     

Enhancement of magnetic and dielectric properties of low temperature sintered NiCuZn ferrite by Bi2O3-CuO additives

With a series of 1.0 wt%Bi$_{2}$O$_{3}$-$x$ wt% CuO ($x =0.0$, 0.2, 0.4, 0.6, and 0.8) serving as sintering additives, Ni$_{0.23}$Cu$_{0.32}$Zn$_{0.45}$Fe$_{2}$O$_{4}$ ferrites are successfully synthesized at a low temperature (900 $^\circ$C) by using the solid state reaction method. The effects of the additives on the phase formation, magnetic and dielectric properties as well as the structural and gyromagnetic properties are investigated. The x-ray diffraction (XRD) results indicate that the added Bi$_{2}$O$_{3}$-CuO can lower the synthesis temperature significantly without the appearing of the second phase. The scanning electron microscope (SEM) images confirm that Bi$_{2}$O$_{3}$ is an important factor that determines the sintering behaviors, while CuO affects the grain size and densification. With CuO content $x=0.4$ or 0.6, the sample shows high saturation magnetization, low coercivity, high real part of magnetic permeability, dielectric permittivity, and small ferromagnetic resonance linewidth ($\Delta H$). The NiCuZn ferrites are a promising new generation of high-performance microwave devices, such as phase shifters and isolators.     

Steady-state and transient electronic transport properties of β-(AlxGa1-x)2O3/Ga2O3 heterostructures: An ensemble Monte Carlo simulation

The steady-state and transient electron transport properties of $\beta $-(Al$_{x}$Ga$_{1-x}$)$_{2}$O$_{3}$/Ga$_{2}$O$_{3}$ heterostructures were investigated by Monte Carlo simulation with the classic three-valley model. In particular, the electronic band structures were acquired by first-principles calculations, which could provide precise parameters for calculating the transport properties of the two-dimensional electron gas (2DEG), and the quantization effect was considered in the $\varGamma $ valley with the five lowest subbands. Wave functions and energy eigenvalues were obtained by iteration of the Schrödinger-Poisson equations to calculate the 2DEG scattering rates with five main scattering mechanisms considered. The simulated low-field electron mobilities agree well with the experimental results, thus confirming the effectiveness of our models. The results show that the room temperature electron mobility of the $\beta $-(Al$_{0.188}$Ga$_{0.812}$)$_{2}$O$_{3}$/Ga$_{2}$O$_{3}$ heterostructure at 10 kV$ \cdot$cm$^{-1}$ is approximately 153.669 cm$^{2}\cdot$V$^{-1}\cdot$s$^{-1}$, and polar optical phonon scattering would have a significant impact on the mobility properties at this time. The region of negative differential mobility, overshoot of the transient electron velocity and negative diffusion coefficients are also observed when the electric field increases to the corresponding threshold value or even exceeds it. This work offers significant parameters for the $\beta$-(Al$_{x}$Ga$_{1-x}$)$_{2}$O$_{3}$/Ga$_{2}$O$_{3}$ heterostructure that may benefit the design of high-performance $\beta$-(Al$_{x}$Ga$_{1-x}$)$_{2}$O$_{3}$/Ga$_{2}$O$_{3}$ heterostructure-based devices.     

Edge assisted epitaxy of CsPbBr3 nanoplates on Bi2O2Se nanosheets for enhanced photoresponse

Bi$_{2}$O$_{2}$Se has been proved to be a promising candidate for electronic and optoelectronic devices due to their unique physical properties. However, it is still a great challenge to construct the heterostructures with direct epitaxy of hetero semiconductor materials on Bi$_{2}$O$_{2}$Se nanosheets. Here, a two-step chemical vapor deposition (CVD) route was used to directly grow the CsPbBr$_{3}$ nanoplate-Bi$_{2}$O$_{2}$Se nanosheet heterostructures. The CsPbBr$_{3}$ nanoplates were selectively grown on the Bi$_{2}$O$_{2}$Se nanosheet along the edges, where the dangling bonds provide the nucleation sites. The epitaxial relationships between CsPbBr$_{3}$ and Bi$_{2}$O$_{2}$Se were determined as ${[200]}_{\rm Bi_{2}O_{2}Se}||{[110]}_{\rm CsPbBr_{3}}$ and ${[110]}_{\rm Bi_{2}O_{2}Se}||{[200]}_{\rm CsPbBr_{3}}$ by transmission electron microscopy characterization. The photoluminescence (PL) results reveal that the formation of heterostructures results in the remarkable PL quenching due to the type-I band arrangement at CsPbBr$_{3}$/Bi$_{2}$O$_{2}$Se interface, which was confirmed by ultraviolet photoelectron spectroscopy (UPS) and Kelvin probe measurements, and makes the photogenerated carriers transfer from CsPbBr$_{3}$ to Bi$_{2}$O$_{2}$Se. Importantly, the photodetectors based on the heterostructures exhibit a 4-time increase in the responsivity compared to those based on the pristine Bi$_{2}$O$_{2}$Se sheets, and the fast rise and decay time in microsecond. These results indicate that the direct epitaxy of the CsPbBr$_{3}$ plates on the Bi$_{2}$O$_{2}$Se sheet may improve the optoelectronic performance of Bi$_{2}$O$_{2}$Se based devices.     

Effects of preparation parameters on growth and properties of β-Ga2O3 film

The Ga$_{2}$O$_{3}$ films are deposited on the Si and quartz substrates by magnetron sputtering, and annealing. The effects of preparation parameters (such as argon-oxygen flow ratio, sputtering power, sputtering time and annealing temperature) on the growth and properties ($e.g.$, surface morphology, crystal structure, optical and electrical properties of the films) are studied by x-ray diffractometer (XRD), scanning electron microscope (SEM), and ultraviolet-visible spectrophotometer (UV-Vis). The results show that the thickness, crystallization quality and surface roughness of the $\beta $-Ga$_{2}$O$_{3}$ film are influenced by those parameters. All $\beta $-Ga$_{2}$O$_{3 }$films show good optical properties. Moreover, the value of bandgap increases with the enlarge of the percentage of oxygen increasing, and decreases with the increase of sputtering power and annealing temperature, indicating that the bandgap is related to the quality of the film and affected by the number of oxygen vacancy defects. The $I$-$V$ curves show that the Ohmic behavior between metal and $\beta $-Ga$_{2}$O$_{3}$ films is obtained at 900 ${^\circ}$C. Those results will be helpful for the further research of $\beta $-Ga$_{2}$O$_{3}$ photoelectric semiconductor.     

Thermoluminescence and optically stimulated luminescence disadvantages of α-Al2O3:C crystal grown by the temperature gradient technique

Recently, α-Al₂O₃:C crystal with highly sensitive thermoluminescence (TL) and optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) has been successfully grown by the temperature gradient technique. This paper investigates the heating rate dependence of TL sensitivity, light-induced fading of TL signals and thermal stability of OSL of α-Al₂O₃:C crystals. As the heating rate increases, the integral TL response decreases and the dosimetric glow peak shifts to higher temperatures in α-Al₂O₃:C crystals. Light-induced fading of TL increases with the irradiation dose, and TL response decreases as the exposure time increases, especially in the first 15 minutes. With the increasing intensity of the exposure light, the TL fading of α-Al₂O₃:C crystal increases sharply. The OSL response of as-grown α-Al₂O₃:C crystal is quite stable below 373 K and decreases sharply for higher temperatures.     

Temperature-frequency dependence and mechanism of dielectric properties for γ-Y2Si2O7

This paper reports that single-phase γ-Y2Si2O7 is prepared via a sufficient blending and cold-pressed sintering technique from Y2O3 powder and SiO2 nanopowder. It studies the dielectric properties of γ-Y2Si2O7 as a function of the temperature and frequency. The γ-Y2Si2O7 exhibits low dielectric loss and non-Debye relaxation behaviour from 25 to 1400℃ in the range of 7.3-18 GHz. The mechanism for polarization relaxation of the as-prepared γ-Y2Si2O7 differing from that of SiO 2 is explained. Such particular dielectric properties could potentially make specific attraction for extensive practical applications.     

Microstructural,magnetic and dielectric performance of rare earth ion (Sm3+)-doped MgCd ferrites

The combined effects of Sm$^{3+}$ substitution together with the addition of 3 wt% Bi$_{2}$O$_{3}$ endow MgCd ferrites with excellent magnetic permeability and dielectric permittivity. Various concentrations of Sm$^{3+}$ ($x = 0$, 0.03, 0.06, 0.09, 0.12 and 0.15) were employed to modify the permeability ($\mu'$) and permittivity ($\varepsilon'$) of the MgCd ferrites. X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy (SEM), vibrating sample magnetometry and vector network analysis techniques were used to characterize the samples. The measurement results reveal that the ferrites processed a saturation magnetization of up to 36.8 emu/g and coercivity of up to 29.2 Oe via the conventional solid-state reaction method. The surface morphology SEM confirms that with increasing Sm$^{3+}$ concentration, the grain shape changes from a polygon to a circle. Moreover, the dielectric permittivity can reach a value of 23. The excellent properties obtained in Sm$^{3+}$-substituted Mg ferrites suggest that they could be promising candidates for modern high-frequency antenna substrates or multilayer devices.     

Effect of Cu doping on the magnetic and electrical properties of n=2 Ruddlesden-Popper manganates

A series of polycrystalline Cu-doped n=2 Ruddlesden-Popper manganates La1.2Sr1.8CuzMn（2-x）O7 （x=0, 0.04, 0.13） were synthesized by the solid state reaction method. The effect of Cu doping on the magnetic and transport properties has been studied. It is found that Cu substitution for Mn greatly affects the magnetic and electrical properties of the parent phase La1.2Sr1.8Mn2O7. With the increase of Cu content, the system undergoes a transition from longrange ferromagnetic order to the spin glass state and further to an antiferromagnetic order. A little of Cu dopant can lead to the samples showing semiconductor or insulator behaviour in the whole observed temperature range while the parent phase has a metal-insulator transition. These samples show colossal magnetoresistance at low temperatures and the value of it decreases with increasing Cu content.     

Optical and electrical properties of BaSnO3 and In2O3 mixed transparent conductive films deposited by filtered cathodic vacuum arc technique at room temperature

For the crystalline temperature of BaSnO$_{3}$ (BTO) was above 650 ℃, the transparent conductive BTO-based films were always deposited above this temperature on epitaxy substrates by pulsed laser deposition or molecular beam epitaxy till now which limited there application in low temperature device process. In the article, the microstructure, optical and electrical of BTO and In$_{2}$O$_{3}$ mixed transparent conductive BaInSnO$_x$ (BITO) film deposited by filtered cathodic vacuum arc technique (FCVA) on glass substrate at room temperature were firstly reported. The BITO film with thickness of 300 nm had mainly In$_{2}$O$_{3}$ polycrystalline phase, and minor polycrystalline BTO phase with (001), (011), (111), (002), (222) crystal faces which were first deposited at room temperature on amorphous glass. The transmittance was 70%-80% in the visible light region with linear refractive index of 1.94 and extinction coefficient of 0.004 at 550-nm wavelength. The basic optical properties included the real and imaginary parts, high frequency dielectric constants, the absorption coefficient, the Urbach energy, the indirect and direct band gaps, the oscillator and dispersion energies, the static refractive index and dielectric constant, the average oscillator wavelength, oscillator length strength, the linear and the third-order nonlinear optical susceptibilities, and the nonlinear refractive index were all calculated. The film was the n-type conductor with sheet resistance of 704.7 $\Omega /\Box $, resistivity of 0.02 $\Omega \cdot$cm, mobility of 18.9 cm$^{2}$/V$\cdot$s, and carrier electron concentration of $1.6\times 10^{19}$ cm$^{-3}$ at room temperature. The results suggested that the BITO film deposited by FCVA had potential application in transparent conductive films-based low temperature device process.     

Synthesis and photoluminescence property of boron carbide nanowires

Large scale, high density boron carbide nanowires have been synthesized by using an improved carbothermal reduction method with B/B203/C powder precursors under an argon flow at 1100℃. The boron carbide nanowires are 5-10 μm in length and 80-100 nm in diameter. Transmission electron microscopy （TEM） and selected area electron diffraction （SAED） characterizations show that the boron carbide nanowire has a B4C rhombohedral structure with good crystallization. The Raman spectrum of the as-grown boron carbide nanowires is consistent with that of a B4C structure consisting of B11C icosahedra and C-B-C chains. The room temperature photoluminescence spectrum of the boron carbide nanowires exhibits a visible range of emission centred at 638 nm.     

Spontaneous magnetization and resistivity jumps in bilayered manganite （La0.8Eu0.2）4/3Sr5/3Mn2O7 single crystals

Owing to the inhomogeneous state resulting from the doping of a small number of Eu ions into Laa/3Sr5/3Mn2O7, from the resulting single crystal （La0.8Eu0.2）a/3Sr5/3Mn2O7 we have observed the magnetization jump, the resistivity jump, as well as the relaxation phenomena. For （Lao.sEuo.2）a/3Sr5/3Mn2O7, it has a very delicate ground state due to the interplays among spin, charge, orbital, lattice degrees of freedom. Consequently, the magnetization state is sensitive to temperature, magnetic field, as well as time. Meanwhile, the evolution of the magnetization with time shows a spontaneous jump when both the temperature and the magnetic field are constant. Similar step-like behaviours are also observed in resistivity. All these results suggest that Eu doping can greatly modulate the physical properties of Laa/3Sr5/3Mn2O7 and cause such interesting behaviours.     

Enhanced interface properties of diamond MOSFETs with Al_2O_3 gate dielectric deposited via ALD at a high temperature

The interface state of hydrogen-terminated(C–H) diamond metal–oxide–semiconductor field-effect transistor(MOSFET) is critical for device performance. In this paper, we investigate the fixed charges and interface trap states in C–H diamond MOSFETs by using different gate dielectric processes. The devices use Al_2O_3 as gate dielectrics that are deposited via atomic layer deposition(ALD) at 80℃ and 300℃, respectively, and their C–V and I–V characteristics are comparatively investigated. Mott–Schottky plots(1/C~2–VG) suggest that positive and negative fixed charges with low density of about 1011 cm~(-2) are located in the 80-℃-and 300-℃ deposition Al_2O_3 films, respectively. The analyses of direct current(DC)/pulsed I–V and frequency-dependent conductance show that the shallow interface traps(0.46 e V–0.52 e V and0.53 e V–0.56 e V above the valence band of diamond for the 80-℃ and 300-℃ deposition conditions, respectively) with distinct density(7.8 × 10~(13) e V~(-1)·cm~(-2)–8.5 × 10~(13) e V-1·cm~(-2) and 2.2 × 1013 e V~(-1)·cm~(-2)–5.1 × 10~(13) e V~(-1)·cm~(-2) for the80-℃-and 300-℃-deposition conditions, respectively) are present at the Al_2O_3/C–H diamond interface. Dynamic pulsed I–V and capacitance dispersion results indicate that the ALD Al_2O_3 technique with 300-℃ deposition temperature has higher stability for C–H diamond MOSFETs.     

Origin of ultraviolet photovoltaic effect in Fe3O4 thin films

We have investigated the transport and ultraviolet photovoltaic properties of Fe$_{3}$O$_{4}$ thin films grown on glass substrates by facing-target sputtering technique. The nonlinear dependence of current-density on voltage suggests that the transport process is most likely the tunnelling process and grain boundaries act as barriers. Furthermore, nonequilibrium electron-hole pairs are excited in the grains and grain boundary regions for Fe$_{3}$O$_{4}$ film under ultraviolet laser, since the energy gap of Fe$_{3}$O$_{4}$ is smaller than the ultraviolet photon energy. And then the built-in electric field near the grain boundaries will separate carriers, leading to the appearance of an instant photovoltage.     

Fast-speed self-powered PEDOT: PSS/α-Ga2O3 nanorod array/FTO photodetector with solar-blind UV/visible dual-band photodetection

The $\alpha $-Ga$_{2}$O$_{3}$ nanorod array is grown on FTO by hydrothermal and annealing processes. And a self-powered PEDOT:PSS/$\alpha $-Ga$_{2}$O$_{3}$ nanorod array/FTO (PGF) photodetector has been demonstrated by spin coating PEDOT:PSS on the $\alpha $-Ga$_{2}$O$_{3}$ nanorod array. Successfully, the PGF photodetector shows solar-blind UV/visible dual-band photodetection. Our device possesses comparable solar-blind UV responsivity (0.18 mA/W at 235 nm) and much faster response speed (0.102 s) than most of the reported self-powered $\alpha $-Ga$_{2}$O$_{3}$ nanorod array solar-blind UV photodetectors. And it presents the featured and distinguished visible band photoresponse with a response speed of 0.136 s at 540 nm. The response time is also much faster than the other non-self-powered $\beta $-Ga$_{2}$O$_{3 }$ DUV/visible dual-band photodetectors due to the fast-speed separation of photogenerated carries by the built-in electric field in the depletion regions of PEDOT:PSS/$\alpha $-Ga$_{2}$O$_{3}$ heterojunction. The results herein may prove a promising way to realize fast-speed self-powered $\alpha $-Ga$_{2}$O$_{3}$ photodetectors with solar-blind UV/visible dual-band photodetection by simple processes for the applications of multiple-target tracking, imaging, machine vision and communication.     

Electronic structure and optical properties of In-doped SrTiO3 by density function theory

The effect of In doping on the electronic structure and optical properties of SrTiO3 is investigated by the first-principles calculation of plane wave ultra-soft pseudo-potential based on the density function theory （DFT）. The calculated results reveal that due to the hole doping, the Fermi level shifts into valence bands （VBs） for SrTi1-x InxO3 with x = 0.125 and the system exhibits p-type degenerate semiconductor features. It is suggested according to the density of states （DOS） of SrTi0.875In0.125O3 that the band structure of p-type SrTIO3 can be described by a rigid band model. At the same time, the DOS shifts towards high energies and the optical band gap is broadened. The wide band gap, small transition probability and weak absorption due to the low partial density of states （PDOS） of impurity in the Fermi level result in the optical transparency of the film. The optical transmittance of In doped SrTiO3 is higher than 85% in a visible region, and the transmittance improves greatly. And the cut-off wavelength shifts into a blue-light region with the increase of In doping concentration.