Molecular dynamics simulation comparison of atomic scale intermixing at the amorphous Al2O3/semiconductor interface for a-Al2O3/Ge, a-Al2O3/InGaAs, and a-Al2O3/InAlAs/InGaAs

The structural properties of a-Al₂O₃/Ge, a-Al₂O₃/In_0.5Ga_0.5As and a-Al₂O₃/In_0.5Al_0.5As/InGaAs interfaces were investigated by density-functional theory (DFT) molecular dynamics (MD) simulations. Realistic a-Al₂O₃ samples were generated using a hybrid classical-DFT MD “melt and quench” approach. The interfaces were formed by annealing at 700 K/800 K and 1100 K with subsequent cooling and relaxation. The a-Al₂O₃/Ge interface demonstrates pronounced interface intermixing and interface bonding exclusively through Al–O–Ge bonds generating high interface polarity. In contrast, the a-Al₂O₃/InGaAs interface has no intermixing, Al–As and O–In/Ga bonding, low interface polarity due to nearly compensating interface dipoles, and low substrate deformation. The a-Al₂O₃/InAlAs interface demonstrated mild intermixing with some substrate Al atoms being adsorbed into the oxide, mixed Al–As/O and O–Al/In bonding, medium interface polarity, and medium substrate deformation. The simulated results demonstrate strong correlation to experimental measurements and illustrate the role of weak bonding in generating an unpinned interface for metal oxide/semiconductor interfaces.     

Determination of electrooptical parameters of molecules with the use of nonempirical quantum-chemical calculations of absolute intensities of absorption bands in the IR region

The authors verified the possibility of more accurate determination of electrooptical parameters (EOP) obtained in quantum-chemical calculations by solution of the inverse spectral problem for different molecular species. Intensities calculated with the ab initio method are taken as reference quantities. V. I. Vernadskii Institute of Geochemistry and Analytical Chemistry of the Russian Academy of Sciences, 19 Kosygin St., 117975, Moscow, Russia. Translated from Zhurnal Prikladnoi Spektroskopii, Vol. 66, No. 1, pp. 19–24, January–February, 1999.     

Intramolecular resonance as a catalytic factor

It was shown that the resonance mixing of states on large molecules can increase the probability of reaction. This effect is similar to a decrease in the activation threshold or the action of an external catalyst.     

Complementarity of experiment and the theory of molecular spectra as a basis for standard-free quantitative substance analyses

The previously proposed approach to quantitative spectrochemical substance analysis without certified reference samples (standard-free spectroscopy) based on experimental data and the theoretical evaluation of transition probabilities between energy levels in polyatomic molecules upon electromagnetic excitation is developed. It is shown that analyses by luminescence and Raman can be performed similarly.     

Solution of a Generalized Inverse Spectral Problem for Weakly Resolved Spectra Using a Coefficient of Correlation

We consider in a new statement the inverse problem of the theory of vibrational spectra of molecules, in which a theoretical spectral curve directly gets closer to the experimental one. A coefficient of correlation between the curves is used as a criterion of the closeness of the curves and as a functional of the inverse problem. The procedure developed for solving the inverse problem makes it possible to dispense with the preliminary referencing of frequencies in an experimental spectrum and with its expansion into elementary absorption bands.     

Theoretical analysis of initial adsorption of high-κ metal oxides on In(x)Ga(1-x)As(0 0 1)-(4×2) surfaces

Ordered, low coverage to monolayer, high-κ oxide adsorption on group III rich InAs(0 0 1)-(4×2) and In(0.53)Ga(0.47)As(0 0 1)-(4×2) was modeled via density functional theory (DFT). Initial adsorption of HfO(2) and ZrO(2) was found to remove dangling bonds on the clean surface. At full monolayer coverage, the oxide-semiconductor bonds restore the substrate surface atoms to a more bulklike bonding structure via covalent bonding, with the potential for an unpinned interface. DFT models of ordered HfO(2)/In(0.53)Ga(0.47)As(0 0 1)-(4×2) show it fully unpins the Fermi level.     

Atomic imaging of the monolayer nucleation and unpinning of a compound semiconductor surface during atomic layer deposition

The reaction of trimethyl aluminum on the group III rich reconstructions of InAs(0 0 1) and In(0.53)Ga(0.47)As(0?0?1) is observed with scanning tunneling microscopy/spectroscopy. At high coverage, a self-terminated ordered overlayer is observed that provides the monolayer nucleation density required for subnanometer thick transistor gate oxide scaling and removes the surface Fermi level pinning that is present on the clean InGaAs surface. Density functional theory simulations confirm that an adsorbate-induced reconstruction is the basis of the monolayer nucleation density and passivation.     

Synthesis and application of pyridine-based ambipolar hosts: control of charge balance in organic light-emitting devices by chemical structure modification

We studied the influence of a pyridine moiety versus a phenyl moiety when introduced in the molecular design of an ambipolar host. These pyridine-based host materials for organic light-emitting diodes (OLEDs) were synthesized in three to five steps from commercially available starting materials. The isomeric hosts have similar HOMO/LUMO energies; however, data from OLEDs fabricated using the above host materials demonstrate that small structural modification of the host results in significant changes in its carrier-transporting characteristics.