Subthreshold photoemission from copper nanoclusters on the SiO2 surface

Subthreshold photoemission from copper nanoclusters formed on the SiO₂ surface has been observed under irradiation of the surface by photons in the 3.1–6.5-eV energy range. The average size of copper nanoclusters on the silicon oxide surface is 250–500 nm. Besides the conventional photoemission from the filled Shockley surface state (SS), strong photoemission has been recorded at incident photon energies of 0.5 eV below the work function of the copper surface. This emission is assumed to be generated in direct electron transitions from the SS state to the unfilled electron surface states formed by the Coulomb image potential, followed by escape from these states into vacuum.     

Electronic properties of alkali metal/silicon interfaces: A new picture

Adsorption of Na and Cs on the Si(100)2 × 1 surface in the monolayer range is investigated by core level and valence band photoemission spectroscopy using synchrotron radiation. The alkali metals are found to induce an electronic interface state near the Fermi level while hybridization between alkali adsorbate “s” and silicon substrate “3p” valence electrons occurs. These results provide evidence that the alkali metal/silicon bonding is covalent. This covalent bond is weak and polarized while plasmon at the alkali metal core level indicates adsorbate rather than substrate metallization.     

Time-evolution of thermal oxidation on high-index silicon surfaces: Real-time photoemission spectroscopic study with synchrotron radiation

The initial oxidation on high-index silicon surfaces with (113) and (120) orientations at 820 K has been investigated by real-time X-ray photoemission spectroscopy (Si 2p and O 1s) using 687 eV photons. The time evolutions of the Siⁿ⁺ (n = 1–4) components in the Si 2p spectrum indicate that the Si^2 + state is suppressed on high-index surfaces compared with Si(001). The O 1s state consists of two components, a low-binding-energy component (LBC) and a high-binding-energy component (HBC). It is suggested that the O atom in strained SiOSi contributes to the LBC component. The reaction rates are slower on high-index surfaces compared with that on Si(001).     

Nonlinear photoemission from picosecond irradiated silicon

Three distinctly different regimes of photoelectric emission are observed over a wide fluence range of uv-laser pulses irradiating single-crystal silicon samples. The role of the electron-hole plasma in the nonlinear photoemission is demonstrated by temporal correlation measurements. The diffusion properties of hot carriers are analyzed by investigating the influence of energy transport by hot carrier diffusion on the fluence threshold for melting with uv photons.Preliminary results were presented at the OSA topical meeting Ultrafast Phenomena. See A. M. Malvezzi, H. Kurz, N. Bloem-bergen: InUltrafast Phenomena IV, ed. by D. H. Auston, K. B. Eisenthal, Springer Ser. Chem. Phys.38 (Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg, New York 1984) p. 118     

Oxidation of the porous silicon surface under the action of a pulsed ionic beam: XPS and XANES studies

The changes in the electronic structure and phase composition of porous silicon under action of pulsed ionic beams have been studied by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and X-ray absorption near-edge spectroscopy (XANES) using synchrotron radiation. The Si 2p and O 1s core photoemission spectra for different photoelectron collection angles, valence band photoemission spectra, and X-ray absorption near-edge fine structure spectrain the region of Si L _2,3 edges of the initial and irradiated samples have been analyzed. It has been found that, as a result of the irradiation, a thin oxide film consisting predominantly of higher oxide SiO₂ is formed on the porous silicon surface, which increases the energy gap of the silicon oxide. Such film exhibits passivation properties preventing the degradation of the composition and properties of porous silicon in contact with the environment.     

The early oxynitridation stages of hydrogen-terminated (100) silicon after exposure to N2:N2O. Nitrogen bonding states

Nitridation of hydrogen-terminated silicon in a diluted N₂:N₂O atmosphere was studied by X-ray photoemission spectroscopy and high-resolution electron microscopy. Our analysis showed that the broad N(1s) peak of width 1.5 eV at 398–399 eV, usually reported in the literature, is preceded by the formation of a narrow peak of width around 1.0 eV at 397.5 eV, attributed to the moiety Si₃N in which silicon is only marginally oxidized, and two other peaks at 400.0 eV and 401.5 eV, attributed to the moieties Si₂NOSi and SiNO, respectively. Received: 11 July 2001 / Accepted: 19 September 2001 / Published online: 20 December 2001     

Resonant photoemission at the oxygen K edge as a tool to study the electronic properties of defects at SiO2 /Si and SiO2 /SiC interfaces

Silicon is by far the most important material used in microelectronics, partly due to the excellent electronic properties of its native oxide (SiO₂), but substitute semiconductors are constantly the matter of research. SiC is one of the most promising candidates, also because of the formation of SiO₂ as native oxide. However, the SiO₂/SiC interface has very poor electrical properties due to a very high density of interface states which reduce its functionality in MIS devices. We have studied the electronic properties of defects in the SiO₂/Si and SiO₂/SiC interfaces by means of XAS, XPS and resonant photoemission at the O 1s and the Si 2p edges, using silicon dioxide thermally grown with thicknesses below 10 nm. Our XAS data are in perfect agreement with literature; in addition, resonant photoemission reveals the resonant contributions of the individual valence states. For the main peaks in the valence band we find accordance between the resonant behaviour and the absorption spectra, except for the peaks at −15 eV binding energy, whose resonant photoemission spectra have extra features. One of them is present in both interfaces and is due to similar defects, while another one at lower photon energy is present only for the SiO₂/SiC interface. This is related to a defect state which is not present at the SiO₂/Si interface.     

Stereo-PEEM for three-dimensional atomic and electronic structures of microscopic materials

The principle and design of a new photoemission electron microscope (PEEM), which is called Stereo-PEEM, is described here. Stereo-PEEM can display not only the image of microscopic materials but also the angular distribution of high-energy photoelectrons up to about ±60°, which is about 100-fold the acceptance angle of usual PEEM. This wide angle acceptance for high-energy photoelectrons enables the three-dimensional (3D) display of atomic structure as well as the 3D electronic structure of individual micromaterials. The 3D atomic structure of a sample can be observed directly by taking stereophotographs using photons with angular momentum.     

The n-type Gd-doped HfO<Subscript>2</Subscript> to silicon heterojunction diode

Gd-doped HfO₂ films were deposited on p-type silicon substrates in a reducing atmosphere. Photoemission measurements indicate the n-type character of Gd-doped HfO₂ due to overcompensation with oxygen vacancies. The Gd 4f photoexcitation peak at 5.5 eV below the valence band maximum is identified using both resonant photoemission and first-principles calculations of the f hole. The rectifying (diode-like) properties of Gd-doped HfO₂ to silicon heterojunctions are demonstrated. PACS 79.60.-i; 68.55.Ln; 29.40.Wk; 81.05.Je     

X-ray photoelectron spectroscopic studies of black silicon for solar cell

The black silicon has been produced by plasma immersion ion implantation (PIII) process. The microstructure and optical reflectance are characterized by field emission scanning electron microscope and spectrophotometer. Results show that the black silicon appears porous or needle-like microstructure with the average reflectance of 4.87% and 2.12%, respectively. The surface state is investigated by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) technique. The surface of the black silicon is composed of silicon, carbon, oxygen and fluorine element. The formation of Si_xO_yF_z in the surface of black silicon can be proved clearly by the O 1s, F 1s and Si 2p XPS spectra. The formation mechanism of the black silicon produced by PIII process can be obtained from XPS results. The porous or needle-like structure of the black silicon will be formed under the competition of SF_x⁺ (x ≤ 5) and F⁺ ions etching effect, Si_xO_yF_z passivation and ion bombardment.     

Effect of the granule size in porous silicon on the photosensitization efficiency of molecular oxygen on the surface of silicon nanocrystals

Photoluminescence is used to study the effect of the granule size in porous silicon on the generation efficiency of the excited state of molecular oxygen (¹O₂) on the surface of silicon nanocrystals. The generation efficiency is found to increase as the granule size becomes smaller than 100 nm, which can be explained by a change in the conditions of exciton diffusion along a network of silicon nanocrystals.     

Accelerated formation of the boron–oxygen complex in p‐type Czochralski silicon

This Letter reports on the acceleration of the rate of formation of the boron–oxygen defect in p‐type Czochralski silicon with illumination intensities in excess of 2.1 × 10¹⁷ photons/cm²/s. It is observed that increased light intensities greatly enhance the rate of defect formation, without increasing the saturation concentration of the defect. These results suggest a dependence of the defect formation rate upon the total majority carrier concentration. Finally, a method using temperatures up to 475 K and an illumination intensity of 1.68 × 10¹⁹ photons/cm²/s is shown to result in near‐complete defect formation within seconds. (© 2015 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH &Co. KGaA, Weinheim)     

The early oxynitridation stages of hydrogen-terminated (100) silicon after exposure to N2:N2O. III. Initial conditions

The structure and thermal stability in N₂ of hydrogen-terminated (100) silicon has been studied by X-ray photoemission spectroscopy, transmission electron microscopy, atomic force microscopy, thermal programmed desorption, and reflection high energy electron diffraction. Device-quality surfaces were prepared in an open-chamber reactor by exposing single crystalline, (100) oriented silicon to H₂ at high temperature (850 °C or 1100 °C) for durations on the order of 10² s. The observed stability with respect to N₂ at 850 °C is inconsistent with the reported desorption kinetics and may be accounted for in terms of either physico-chemical properties of the system (e.g., the presence of a buried layer of H₂ or of hydrogen-decorated vacancies whose out-diffusion restores the hydrogen terminations on the surface) or the reactor (persistence of hydrogen in the atmosphere even after switching it off). The nitridation by N₂ of hydrogen-terminated silicon is less efficient (per unit exposure) than that by N₂O by 4 orders of magnitude. PACS 68.35.Dv; 68.35.Fx; 82.65.Dp; 79.60.Jv; 81.60.Cp     

Generation of optically active states in a-SiNx by thermal treatment

Amorphous silicon nitride (a-SiN_x) films were deposited using plasma-enhanced chemical-vapor deposition (PECVD) and subsequently, thermal annealing processes were performed at 700-1000 °C in the ultra-high vacuum (UHV) condition. A strong photoluminescence (PL) peak induced by luminescent defect centers was observed at 710 nm for the as-deposited sample. When the sample was annealed at 700-1000 °C, the PL peak intensity became about 3-12 times stronger with no shift of the PL peak. To investigate the origin of the change in PL peak intensity after the thermal annealing, Si 2p and N 1s core-level spectra were systematically analyzed by high-resolution photoemission spectroscopy (HRPES) using synchrotron radiation. In particular, N 1s spectra were decomposed with three characteristic nitrogen-bonding states. It is revealed that the nitrogen bonding state with N-Si and NSi₂ configurations (denoted as N3) contributes mainly to the change in PL peak intensity. We note that luminescent nitrogen related defect centers such as N₄⁺ and N₂° are localized in the state N3. Detailed analysis of the experimental results shows that the state N3 is located in the interface bounded by the region of the nano-sized stoichiometric silicon nitride Si₃N₄ (denoted as N1) and is considerably influenced by the thermal annealing, which is an appropriate process to cause strong photoluminescence of the related samples as mentioned above.     

A solution of the core-exciton issue for silicon and germanium

The large discrepancies among the Si L_2,3 core-excitonic shifts measured by different techniques can be explained by the recently discovered surface shifts of the Si 2p level. New, accurate photoemission measurements of both the L_2,3 edge and of the 2p binding energy with equal surface sensitivity have been performed. Our present results and those of previous experiments are consistent with a single value 0.3^-00_+0.15 eV for the Si L_2,3 core excitonic shift. Preliminary results for the 3d core exciton in Ge give a shift of 0.35 ± 0.25 eV.     

Momentum and energy dependence of the anomalous high-energy dispersion in the electronic structure of high temperature superconductors

Using high-resolution angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy we have studied the momentum and photon energy dependence of the anomalous high-energy dispersion, termed waterfalls, between the Fermi level and 1 eV binding energy in several high-T_{c} superconductors. We observe strong changes of the dispersion between different Brillouin zones and a strong dependence on the photon energy around 75 eV, which we associate with the resonant photoemission at the Cu3p-->3d_{x;{2}-y;{2}} edge. We conclude that the high-energy "waterfall" dispersion results from a strong suppression of the photoemission intensity at the center of the Brillouin zone due to matrix element effects and is, therefore, not an intrinsic feature of the spectral function. This indicates that the new high-energy scale in the electronic structure of cuprates derived from the waterfall-like dispersion may be incorrect.     

Photocurrent and photovoltage spectroscopy of amorphous silicon nanoclusters

Photoelectric properties (photocurrent efficiency and photovoltage) of the silicon suboxide films containing amorphous silicon nanoclusters were investigated in the spectral range of 300–1100 nm. A strongly pronounced increase of the photocurrent efficiency of the sandwich-like structures with such films on c-Si substrates was observed in the short-wavelength region. The possible mechanisms of the increase were discussed, and carrier multiplication due to impact ionization of the defect states was considered to be the most probable. Impact ionization of the defect states involves two main steps: (i) trapping of the photogenerated electron in a defect state, and (ii) impact ionization of this state by another photoexcited electron that has got sufficient energy due to absorption of a high-energy photon.     

Photoemission and coincidence studies on gas-phase molecules

This article describes Young’s double-slit experiment using high-energy core-level photoemission from N₂ molecules and experimental identification of interatomic Coulombic decay in Ar₂ dimers after Auger decay using k-resolved electron–ion–ion coincidence spectroscopy, aiming to illustrate the leading edge of gas-phase experiments using synchrotron radiation.     

Ion-beam formation and track modification of InAs nanoclusters in silicon and silica

The implantation formation of InAs nanoclusters in silicon and silica and their modification via irradiation with Xe ions with an energy of 167 MeV and a fluence of 3 × 10¹⁴ cm^–2 are studied. It is found that post-implantation annealing and irradiation with high-energy ions alter the size and shape of nanoclusters and cause structural transformations within them. The ordering of nanoclusters and their elongation along the trajectory of Xe ions in a SiO₂ matrix is observed.