Impurity pairs and excitation relaxation in doped silicon

The kinetics of photoconductivity is studied in silicon doped with B, Al, Ga, In, P, As, and Sb with concentrations of 10₁₆–10₁₈cm_?3 at 4.2 and 10.5 K placed in an 8-mm microwave electric field under pulsed impurity excitation. It is found that infrared absorption by impurity pairs and a slow component of photoresponse relaxation arise at close impurity concentrations. It is shown that this component is due to an increase in the polarization hopping conductivity in the presence of the optical charge exchange of impurity states—isolated impurities and impurity pairs and dipoles (pairs of the major and compensating impurities). The hopping transfer processes of ion charges in the course of relaxation are analyzed. It is shown that the main contribution to polarization photoconductivity comes from hopping transitions in impurity pairs at relatively small concentrations and from hopping with the participation of isolated ions at increased concentrations.     

Superconductor-insulator transition in (PbzSn1−z )0.84In0.16Te

The superconductor-insulator transition that occurs at liquid helium temperatures in the (Pb_zSn_1?z )_0.84In_0.16Te semiconductor system with varying lead concentration z = 0.5–0.9 is experimentally investigated. The transition is attributed to the change in the energy characteristics of In impurity centers due to the variation in the amount of lead. The insulator state appears with the transition from the mixed band-impurity conduction, which is characterized by resonant scattering of carriers into the quasilocal indium impurity states, to the hopping conduction between indium impurity states. The sample with z = 0.8 is found to exhibit a variable range hopping conduction described by Mott’s law. Factors that lead to the hopping conduction via impurity states are considered.     

Selfconsistent model calculations of electronic states at narrow-band-metal surfaces

For a nondegenerate narrow energy band spanned by a semiinfinite chain of three-dimensional atoms, the electronic potential and the electron density of states are calculated selfconsistently in the vicinity of the chain end. The electron-electron interaction is treated in the Hartree-Fock approximation, using the Green function method. The results for the potential and the density of states are discussed in terms of the parameters which determine the bulk electronic structure, such as the Fermi energy E_F and the intra- and interatomic Coulomb repulsion k₀ and K₁. Futhermore, the self consistent method is extended to an impurity atom at the chain end. The existence of bonding and antibonding surface states is found to depend on both the bulk and impurity parameters, such as the intraatomic Coulomb repulsion U_α and the nearest neighbour hopping element T.     

Influence of Se-deficiencies on the properties of In-doped CdCr2Se4 single crystals

Lattice constant, Curie temperature, and electrical conductivity of CdCr₂Se₄:In single crystals have been measured after heat treatments of the crystals in Se atmosphere and under streaming hydrogen. By these treatments, the concentration of the Se vacancies and of the charge carrier concentration is altered drastically. The lattice constant as well as the magnetic ordering temperature have been found not to be affected by these heat treatments.Since the Se vacancies act as doubly changed donors, the electrical conductivity is strongly dependent on the concentration of the Se vacancies. A resistivity anomaly and large magnetoresistance are observed only in crystals with considerable Se deficiency. From these results it is concluded that the magnetoresistance is caused by hopping conduction between donor sites partly emptied by compensating A-site vacancy acceptors. Large magnetoresistance is found in samples with considerable Se deficit because only in this case the conduction at lower temperatures is dominated by the impurity band.     

Experimental confirmation by galvanomagnetic methods of a complex transport model in In0.53Ga0.47As layers deposited by MBE on SI-InP

At low temperatures In_0.53Ga_0.47As samples show an increase of carrier concentration, which can be explained in terms of a two carriers transport model. This type of problem exists since the beginning of the semiconductor era, dating back to monocrystalline germanium.We propose that in all the investigated layers, there are X atoms or charged dislocations in the region of the first monolayers, which are built in during epitaxial growth. The layers were intentionally undoped. They form an impurity band in which low mobility carriers dominate over the localised electron scattering due to the s-d exchange interaction. These carriers do not freeze out at liquid helium temperature and give rise to two transport media for electrons; a conduction band at higher temperatures and an impurity band at lower temperatures. The electron which fall down onto the previously ionised X atoms, then move by thermally activated hopping. We show that the two carriers model for In_0.53Ga_0.47As epitaxial layers are confirmed by the carrier concentration-temperature, carrier concentration-magnetic field, resistivity-magnetic field behaviour, and also by YKA theory also. The differences between the two transport models are so distinctive that observed phenomena may exist. This paper presents experimental results, which constitute comprehensive evidence for the complicated structure of the semiconductor epitaxial layers on the sample of n-type In_0.53Ga_0.47As/InP layer with n=2.2×10¹⁵/cm³.     

Effects of the overlap between wave functions of impurity centers on the activation energy of hopping conduction

The hopping conductivity σ₃ has been studied in samples of slightly counterdoped crystalline Si: B with a boron concentration of 2×10¹⁶ cm^?3<N<10¹⁷ cm^?3 and a compensation of 10^?4≤K≤10^?2. It is found that at K≤10^?3 the activation energy ε₃ is not lower (as it must be according to classical notions at finite K) but larger than the value ε_N=e ² N ^1/3/κ, where e is the electronic charge and κ is the dielectric constant. With decreasing N, the energy ε₃ drops slower and, with decreasing K, grows faster than follows from the standard theory. At K≤10^?4, ε₃ is higher than ε _N by a factor of 1.5–2. The result is explained by the effect of the overlap between wave functions of neighboring impurity centers on the structure of the impurity band.     

Correlation between the anisotropy of hopconduction magnetoresistance and reciprocal band masses in Ge

Near 70 kG the d.c. magnetoresistance of phonon-assisted hopping of charge carriers between shallow impurities is found to have an anistropy depending on the reciprocal effective mass calculated from the L₁ conduction band minima in the case of n-type Ge and from the heavy hole component of the Γ′₂₅ valence band maximum in case of p-type Ge. These correlations are discussed and it is suggested that they are connected with the symmetry of the impurity wave functions and that the magnetic field tends to remove the light hole component of an acceptor wave function.     

A model of hopping and band DC photoconduction in doped crystals

Expressions for the screening length and the ambipolar diffusion length are derived, for the first time, for the case where hopping conduction and band conduction coexist in semiconductors with hydrogen-like impurities. A method is proposed for calculating the diffusion coefficient of electrons (holes) hopping between impurity atoms from data on the Hall effect, in the case where the hopping and band conductivities are equal. An interpretation is given of available experimental data on hopping photoconduction between acceptors (Ga) and donors (As) in p-Ge at T=4.2 K doped by a transmutation method. It is shown that the relative magnitude of the mobilities of electrons hopping between donors and holes hopping between acceptors can be found from the hopping photoconductivity measured as a function of the intensity of band-to-band optical carrier excitation.     

Enhancement of hole drift velocity in amorphous As2Se3 by iodine doping

The addition of ～ 0.6 at.% iodine to approximately stoichiometric a-As₂Se₃ enhances the hole drift velocity by more than a decade but does not affect its field, thickness and temperature dependence or the degree of disorder. It is speculated that iodine reduces the ratio of trapping to hopping states in the trap-controlled hopping process which recently has been proposed for a-As₂Se₃.     

Mössbauer studies of microscopic disorder in solid electrolytes

We implement for the first time Mössbauer Spectroscopy (MS) to investigate short-range properties of disorder in solid electrolytes. MS in¹²⁹I and¹¹⁹Sn was carried out in RbAg₄I₅ and as impurity in Ag₂Se, respectively. Measurements were performed both in the superionic and the normal phases. It is shown that localized cation hopping is an inherent feature of the α-AgI-type solid electrolytes. In RbAg₄I₅, at temperatures far belowT _c, a small fraction of Ag is still locally mobile and atT>T _c, its concentration increases exponentially. A strong linear temperature dependence of the point-charge electric field gradient is observed and explained in terms of local hopping. With¹¹⁹Sn in Ag₂Se we observe the onset of “local melting” of the Ag surrounding the SnSe₄ cluster at 50 K below the bulk superionic phase transition. The characteristic features of MS related to microscopic studies of solid electrolytes are fully described.     

Influence of polarization and iron content on the transport properties of praseodymium–barium manganite

Polarization and iron effects on the electrical properties of Pr_0.67Ba_0.33Mn_1−xFe_xO₃ have been studied using impedance measurements. When iron is introduced, the insulator–metal transition (MI), observed in free compound, disappears and destroying such transition needs an iron concentration less than 5%. We also found that electrical conductance decreases when increasing Fe content. Such results are attributed to the decrease of Mn³⁺/Mn⁴⁺ ratio. Also, they are ascribed to the high probability of encountering Fe³⁺–O–Fe³⁺ and Mn³⁺–O–Fe³⁺ interactions, which greatly weakens the influence of Mn³⁺–O–Mn⁴⁺ interactions. The AC conductivity studies indicate that different types of hopping are involved. The contribution of hopping mechanism is confirmed by the temperature dependence of the frequency exponent ‘s’. Conductivity analysis shows that small polaron hopping (SPH) and variable range hopping (VRH) models are present in the conduction process. For small iron concentrations (x<0.1), we found that activation energy (E_a) does not changes significantly. Such result is in good agreement with the literature. But, for high iron concentrations (x>0.1), we found that E_a depend strongly in Fe content. We also found in this work that DC-bias does not affect the conduction process but proves its thermal activation. The variation of the conductance with polarization is a proof of an electro-resistance effect.     

EPR of Yb3+ ions in Ba1−xLaxF2+x mixed crystals

Electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) spectra of impurity Yb³⁺ ions (about 0.1 at.%) in mixed crystals BaF₂(1-x) plus LaF₃(x) have been investigated for different values of the concentrationx at a frequency of about 9.5 GHz by both continuous-wave (CW) EPR and electron spin echo methods. A spectrum of trigonal symmetry with a complex hyperfine structure is observed in “pure” BaF₂:Yb³⁺ (x=0). Upon admixture of small amounts of LaF₃ (x=0.001), additional EPR lines arise with intensities increasing with the increase ofx up to 0.005. These lines are attributed to trigonal centers including two rare-earth ions and two compensating fluorine ions. A further increase ofx results in a decrease of the total EPR spectrum intensity, and atx≥0.05 the CW resonance becomes practically unobservable. This may be due to the formation of rare-earth ion clusters with paramagnetic Yb³⁺ ions occurring in domains with a disordered structure of surroundings resulting in very broad EPR lines, which cannot be registered by CW EPR. Indeed, very broad (not less than 1 KG) EPR lines were observed by the electron spin echo method for concentrationsx<-0.02.     

Ferromagnetism in the two-dimensional Hubbard model with long-range hopping

The combination of small-cluster exact-diagonalization calculations and the quantum Monte Carlo method is used to examine ferromagnetism in the two-dimensional Hubbard model with a generalized type of hopping. It is found that the long-range hopping with exponentially decaying hopping amplitudes t _ij ～ ? q ^Ri?Rj stabilizes the ferromagnetic state for a wide range of electron interactions U and electron concentrations n > 1. The critical value of the hopping parameter q _c above which the ferromagnetic state becomes stable is calculated numerically and the ground-state phase diagram of the model is discussed for physically the most interesting cases.     

Low-temperature hopping conduction over the upper Hubbard band in p-GaAs/AlGaAs multilayered structures

The low-temperature 2D variable range hopping conduction over the states of the upper Hubbard band is investigated in detail for the first time in multilayered Be-doped p-type GaAs/AlGaAs structures with quantum wells of 15-nm width. This situation was realized by doping the layer in the well and a barrier layer close to the well for the upper Hubbard band (A ⁺ centers) in the equilibrium state filled with holes. The conduction was of the Mott hopping type in the entire temperature range (4?0.4 K). The positive and negative magnetoresistance branches as well as of non-Ohmic hopping conduction at low temperature are analyzed. The density of states and the localization radius, the scattering amplitude, and the number of scatterers in the upper Hubbard band are estimated. It is found that the interference pattern of phenomena associated with hopping conduction over the A ⁺ band is qualitatively similar to the corresponding pattern for an ordinary impurity band, but the tunnel scattering is relatively weak.     

Non-adiabatic polaron hopping conduction in CaMn1−xCrxO3 (0?x?0.3)

DC electrical conductivity (σ_dc) of electron-doped antiferromagnetic CaMn_1−xCr_xO₃ (0?x?0.3) has been discussed elaborately in the light of polaron hopping conduction. The increase in Cr doping concentration increases the conductivity and decreases the activation energy. Non-adiabatic polaron hopping conduction is observed in all the manganites at high temperatures. The analysis of σ_dc data shows that small polarons are formed at lower concentrations (?5%) of Cr doping and undoped samples. However, large polarons are materialized at higher doping (?10%) concentrations. This is consistent with the fact that doped Cr³⁺ has larger ionic size compared to that of Mn⁴⁺. Again, strong electron-phonon (e-ph) interaction is perceived in undoped and 5% Cr-doped samples but not in manganites with larger doping concentration. This also confirms the formation of larger polarons with the increase of x. Mott's variable range hopping (VRH) model can elucidate the dc conductivity at very low temperatures. It has been detected that single phonon-assisted hopping is responsible for the dc conduction in the Cr-doped CaMnO₃ manganites.     

Charge transport in PbMoO<Subscript>4</Subscript> crystals

Dc and ac electrical conductivity of lead molybdate crystals is studied in the temperature range 300–550 K. The electrical conductivity was shown to have electronic (hole) impurity character. The I–V characteristics are typical of a space charge-limited current. The carrier mobility was estimated to be 10^?5 cm² V^?1 sat T=300 K. The results of the study suggest the hopping mechanism of conduction in PbMoO₄ crystals.     

First-principles study of ferromagnetism in N doped TiO2 and TiO

N doped TiO is nonmagnetic, in which spin-split impurity states are not induced near the Fermi energy (E_F) by N dopant. N doped TiO₂ along with transition-metal (TM) doped TiO is magnetic, in which spin-split impurity states are induced across E_F. The magnetic moment is determined by the 3d4s electron configurations and the valence states of TM-dopant ions when they substitute Ti. Hence, the origin of ferromagnetism of N doped TiO₂ and TiO is not closely related to the width of the band gaps of host oxides, but would be crucially related to that if the dopant can induce spin-split impurity states near E_F.     

Anisotropy of the hopping conductivity in TlGaSe2 single crystals

The temperature dependences of the conductivities parallel and perpendicular to the layers in layered TlGaSe₂ single crystals are investigated in the temperature range from 10 K to 293 K. It is shown that hopping conduction with a variable hopping length among localized states near the Fermi level takes place in TlGaSe₂ single crystals in the low-temperature range, both along and across the layers. Hopping conduction along the layers begins to prevail over conduction in an allowed band only at very low temperatures (10–30 K), whereas hopping conduction across the layers is observed at fairly high temperatures (T?210 K) and spans a broader temperature range. The density of states near the Fermi level is determined, N _F=1.3×10¹⁹eV·cm³)^?1, along with the energy scatter of these states J=0.011 eV and the hopping lengths at various temperatures. The hopping length R along the layers of TlGaSe₂ single crystals increases from 130 Å to 170 Å as the temperature is lowered from 30 K to 10 K. The temperature dependence of the degree of anisotropy of the conductivity of TlGaSe₂ single crystals is investigated.     

Effect of Mn-doping on the electrical properties of Cu2GeSe3

In this work we report the temperature dependence of the resistivity ρ of p-Cu₂GeSe₃ and manganese-doped p-Cu₂GeSe₃ at low temperature. It was found that for a intrinsic sample ρ obeys the Shklovskii-Efros-type variable-range hopping resistivity law in the temperature range from 4 to 63 K. This behaviour is governed by generation of a Coulomb gap Δ=78 meV in the density of localized states. We find a low activation term T₀=0.24 K, which is an indication of a large localization length ξ. For Mn-doped sample a metal-insulator transition (MIT) is observed at T=65 K. On the basis of the Mott criterion for metal-insulator transition, the critical carrier density n_c is determined. From the analysis of resistivity data it is concluded that Mn acts as acceptor impurity.     

Lattice thermal conductivity of compounds with inhomogeneous intermediate rare-earth ion valence

The thermal conductivity κ (within the range 4–300 K) and electrical conductivity σ (from 80 to 300 K) of polycrystalline Sm₃S₄ with the lattice parameter a=8.505 Å (with a slight off-stoichiometry toward Sm₂S₃) are measured. For T>95 K, charge transfer is shown to occur, as in stoichiometric Sm₃S₄ samples, by the hopping mechanism (σ ～ exp(?ΔE/kT) with ΔE ～ 0.13 eV). At low temperatures [up to the maximum in the lattice thermal conductivity κ_ph(T)], κ_ph ～ T ^2.6; in the range 20–50 K, κ_ph ～ T ^?1.2; and for T>95 K, where the hopping charge-transfer mechanism sets in, κ_ph ～ T ^?0.3 and a noticeable residual thermal resistivity is observed. It is concluded that in compounds with inhomogeneous intermediate rare-earthion valence, to which Sm₃S₄ belongs, electron hopping from Sm²⁺ (ion with a larger radius) to Sm³⁺ (ion with a smaller radius) and back generates local stresses in the crystal lattice which bring about a change in the thermal conductivity scaling of κ_ph from T ^?1.2 to T ^?0.3 and the formation of an appreciable residual thermal resistivity.