In-beam Mössbauer spectroscopy:57Fe in Si and Ge

Fe has been studied in the semiconductors Si and Ge with the Coulomb excitation recoil implantation technique in a wide temperature range. In the case of Fe inSilicon it was found that one third of the implanted atoms land on interstitial sites. The long range diffusion of these atoms could be observed microscopically at temperatures around 600 K. The isomer shift of interstitial Fe in Si was determined. The remaining atoms exhibit a strong quadrupole splitting on disturbed sites. This component seems to relax into a state with higher symmetry above 700 K. InGermanium a similar situation is found. Whereas iron on disturbed sites dominates the spectra, the direct implantation into interstitial sites is also observed below 200 K. At higher temperatures the substitutional position is preferred. The isomer shifts for interstitial and substitutional Fe in Si and in Ge are in good agreement with calculated electron densities.     

First measurement ofK-shell-electron to internal-pair conversion probability ratios forE0 transitions inf p shell region

Magnetic plus Si(Li) spectrometers designed for high-resolution conversion-electron and internal-pair measurements, are employed to obtainK-shell-electron to internal-pair conversion probability ratios forE0 transitions in⁵⁴Fe,⁶⁰Ni,⁶⁴Zn and⁷⁰Ge. The results are found to be in good agreement with theoretical predictions.     

Magnetic and electric properties of (Fe,Co)/(Si,Ge) multilayers

We review selected results concerning the interlayer exchange coupling in Fe/Si _x Fe_1−x , Fe/Ge and Co/Si layered structures. Among the ferromagnet/semiconductor systems, Fe/Si structures are the most popular owing to their strong antiferromagnetic interlayer coupling. We show that such interaction depends not only on semiconducting sublayer thickness, but also on deposition techniques and on the chemical composition of the sublayer as well. In similar heterostructures e.g. Fe/Ge, antiferromagnetic coupling was observed only in ion-beam deposited trilayers at low temperatures. In contrast, in Fe/Ge multilayers deposited by sputtering, no such coupling was found. However, when the Ge is partially substituted by Si, antiferromagnetic interlayer coupling appears. For Co/Si multilayers, we observed a very weak exchange coupling and its oscillatory behavior. The growth of Co on Si occurs in an island growth mode. The evolution of magnetic loop shapes can be successfully explained by the interplay between interlayer coupling and anisotropy terms.     

Structures and bonding of C2X2Y q (X=Si,Ge,Sn,Pb; Y=C,Si,Ge,Sn,Pb; q = +1,0,−1): π-type templates for planar tetracoordinate heavier group 14 atoms

Contrasting the big family of the planar tetracoordinate carbon (ptC), species featuring the planar tetracoordinate heavier group element M (ptM) have been largely limited. Effective structural frameworks to accommodate such ptM centres are thus highly desired. In the present article, we report an extensive computational study on 60 pentatomic systems C₂X₂Y^q (X=Si,Ge,Sn,Pb; Y=C,Si,Ge,Sn,Pb; q = +1,0,?1) covering both the low and high spin states. Up to 34 systems were shown to have the very low-lying singlet planar tetracoordinate heavier group 14 (ptM with M=Si,Ge,Sn,Pb) structures bearing the 19 (q = +1), 20 (q = 0) and 21 (q = ?1) valence electrons (ve). Structural and bonding analysis confirmed the effectiveness of the inherent π-type ligand skeleton XCCX or XCCY that each have several sets of π-bonding orbitals to stabilise the ptM centre. The structural and bonding motifs of these ptMs differ greatly from the classic ptMs, which have the σ-type ligand skeleton, smaller number of valence electrons (≤18ve), and the centre → ligand π-delocalisation.     

Isobaric analogue resonances in71As through proton elastic scattering on70Ge

The analogues of the low-lying levels in⁷¹Ge have been observed as resonances in the compound nucleus⁷¹As through proton elastic scattering on⁷⁰Ge in the energy rangeE _p=3.5 to 5.3 MeV. The excitation functions cover the analogue resonances corresponding to states upto 2.3 MeV excitation in⁷¹Ge. The sub-structures in the 5.06 MeV resonance, first observed by Temmer and co-workers have been confirmed in the present experiment. The present investigation reveals similar sub-structures in the 4.13 MeV resonance lending further support to the existence of intermediate structure near an isobaric analogue resonance. The resonance parameters and the spectroscopic factors (for the corresponding parent states) have been extracted. The results are compared with the information available from the⁷⁰Ge(d, p)⁷¹Ge reaction.     

Ion implantation of zinc sulphide

The passivation of argon sputter-etch induced electrically active defects on Ge, Si, and GaAs surfaces by reaction with atomic hydrogen has been observed using deep level transient spectroscopy. A broad band of defect states, giving rise to non-linear Arrhenius plots, appears to be associated with the induced damage centres. For n-type Ge and p-type Si, a 20-min exposure to atomic hydrogen at 180°C is shown to neutralize the damage created by a 5-min, 6 kV (DC), Ar gas sputter-etch. For n-type GaAs a 1-h exposure at 250°C was sufficient, whilst n-type Si required a 1-h exposure to the hydrogen plasma at 300°C to passivate the damage. In each case, to remove the sputter-etch damage by thermal annealing required temperatures approximately 100°C higher, for periods of approximately 2 h.     

利用Keating模型计算Si（1-x）Gex及非晶硅的拉曼频移

利用Keating模型计算了Si_（1-x）Ge_x合金中Si—Si,Ge—Ge和Si—Ge三种振动模态的拉曼频移,计算分别获得Ge浓度为01,05和09时,Si—Ge的振动拉曼频移分别为40275,41339和38815 cm^-1,这些结果与文献的实验结果符合,证明了Keating模型建立的关于原子振动模型是有效的,并可以利用拉伸压缩和相邻原子键之间弹性系数变化获得处于应变状态的拉曼光谱频率.利用Kea 关键词： Keating模型 拉曼光谱 （1-x）Ge_x')" href="#">Si_（1-x）Ge_x 非晶硅     

Microstructural changes in Fe-doped Gd5Si2Ge2

Gd₅Si₂Ge₂-based alloys can exhibit a giant magnetocaloric effect (GMCE); this gives them the potential for use in cooling technologies. It has also been reported that a small addition of iron reduces the hysteresis losses in Gd₅Si₂Ge₂-based alloys, thus increasing the net refrigerating capacity. In this investigation, we have been the first to look at the effect on the microstructure and magnetic properties of Gd₅Si₂Ge₂ resulting from a wide range of substitutions of Si by Fe. The macrostructures of the arc-melted buttons revealed some very unusual surface morphologies, and the analytical results revealed a gradual substitution of the Gd₅(Si,Ge,Fe)₄-type phase by a Gd₅(Si,Ge,Fe)₃-type phase and the presence of three grain-boundary phases, two of which contain substantial amounts of iron. The magnetic measurements indicated that larger amounts of iron reduced the hysteresis losses, but at the same time reduced the Curie temperatures to below lower values that would make the material useful in practice.     

States of hydrogen in crystalline semiconductors

Abstract

The stable configurations of hydrogen in undoped, and in n- and p-semiconductors are reviewed. We compare the experimentally determined configurations with theoretical predictions made by a variety of calculational methods. In undoped Si, as an example, hydrogen appears to occupy a energy occurring at a tetrahedral interstitial (T) site. In B-doped, p-type Si, hydrogen at a near BC site accounts for acceptor passivation. By contrast in n-type Si, hydrogen at the antibonding (AB) position appears to be responsible for donor passivation. The possible configurations in other semiconductors (Ge, GaAs and AlGaAs) are also summarized.     

Excited states in195Pt from the decay of 2.3h195Irg, 3.7h195Ir m and 183d195Au

The decay of two previously reported isomers in¹⁹⁵Ir has been investigated with Ge(Li) and Si(Li) detectors by observing β and γ rays as well as conversion electrons in single and coincidence measurements. To about 30 of the 85 observed transitions a multipolarity was assigned. The energies of the gamma rays from¹⁹⁵Au were also determined accurately. The decay scheme of¹⁹⁵Ir shows 13 new levels in¹⁹⁵Pt between 389 and 931 keV. Probable spin and parity assignments could be made to most levels. The results are compared with those of a recent Coulomb excitation study, reaction work and theoretical calculations.     

A Si(Li) detector system for conversion coefficient measurements and application to the decays of51Cr and87Y

An electron detector system with a 3 mm × 100 mm² Si(Li) detector with a cooled FET and vacuum air lock for changing sources was constructed. The absolute efficiency was measured as a function of energy for use in the measurement ofK conversion coefficients. With the Si(Li) and a Ge(Li) detector, theK conversion coefficient of the 320 keV transition in⁵¹V was measured to be 0.00156 ± 0.00008 where theK conversion coefficients of the 661 and 279 keV transitions in¹³⁷Ba and²⁰³Tl were used as standards. From absolute detection efficiency measurements, theK conversion coefficients of the 388 and 483 keV transitions in⁸⁷Sr were measured to be 0.16 ± 0.02 and 0.0024 ± 0.0003, respectively.     

Alpha decay of isobaric analogue states in24Mg and28Si

Theα-decay of isobaric analogue states (which are forbidden by isospin selection rules) excited in²⁴Mg and²⁸Si through preton capture by²³Na atE _p=677 and 739 keV and by²⁷Al atE _p=295, 327 and 405 keV, respectively, have been studied using solid state track detectors. The ratio ofα-decay widths of the two resonance states in²⁴Mg to the state at 1.632 MeV (2⁺) in²⁰Ne yields the value 0.065 for the mixing parameterε and the value 4.01 keV for the Coulomb matrix element responsible for the isospin mixing in²⁴Mg. In²⁸Si the measurement of theα-decay widths of the three resonance states resulted in the determination of the proton, gamma and alpha partial widths which comprise the total width of the resonance states. Limits have been set for the value of the two mixing parameters involved in this case. Upper limits of 16 and 39 keV have been obtained for the Coulomb matrix elements responsible for the isospin mixing in²⁸Si.     

Temperature dependence of the exchange coupling in CO/SI(or Ge)/Fe trilayers

The temperature dependences of interfacial exchange coupling in Co/semiconductor (SM)/Fe trilayers (SM≡Si or Ge) with different spacer thicknesses are investigated. Only one step is found in the third (not in the first) quadrant of the hysteresis loop of the trilayers with different SM thicknesses, which is ascribed to a larger interfacial coupling strength of Co/CoGe (or Co/CoSi) than of Fe/FeGe (or Fe/FeSi). Furthermore, in comparison with Co/Ge/Fe, a smaller exchange bias field H_E and no clear step are observed in Co/Si/Fe, which may originate from the weaker interfacial coupling in this trilayer. The variation of coercivity H_C with spacer thickness at low temperatures in Co/Ge/Fe is different from that in Co/Si/Fe, indicating again the important effect of the SM layer in the trilayers.     

Isotopically engineered Si and Ge for spintronics and quantum computation

Si, Ge as well as SiGe structures are the promising materials for spintronics and quantum computation due to the fact that in both crystals only one isotope (²⁹Si and ⁷³Ge) has nuclear spin. As a result, isotope engineering of Si and Ge permits to control the density of nuclear spins and vary the spin coherence time, a crucial parameter in spintronics. In the first part we discuss the NMR study of nuclear spin decoherence in Ge single crystals with different abundance of the ⁷³Ge isotope. It was observed that the slow component of the dephasing process is elongated with depletion of Ge crystal with isotope ⁷³Ge. The second part is devoted to the development of the Kane's model of nuclear spin-based quantum computer, which uses the nuclear spin of ³¹P impurity atoms in a ²⁸Si matrix as quantum bits (qubits). We discuss a new method of placing ³¹P atoms in a ²⁸Si based on neutron-transmutation-doping of isotopically engineered Si and Ge. In the proposed structure, interqubit coupling is due to indirect hyperfine interaction of ³¹P nuclear spins with electrons localized in a ²⁸Si quasi-one-dimensional nanowire, which allows one to control the coupling between distant qubits.     

Self-patterned Si surfaces as templates for Ge islands ordering

We propose a two-step process, which is based on substrate nano-patterning by means of growth instabilities in a first step and self-assembling of Ge dots on the top of surface instabilities in a second step. We used the instabilities that develop during the growth of Si(Ge) layers on both nominal and vicinal Si (1 1 1) or (0 0 1) surfaces. Depending on the growth conditions (Ge concentration, growth temperature, thickness), various growth instability regimes were observed: pure kinetic regime, kinetically activated strain-induced regime and pure strain-driven regime. In the case of Si/Si growth, kinetic instabilities developed at different growth temperatures depending on the surface orientation. The critical exponents describing evolution with time have been determined: amplitude At^β and wavelength Lt^α. Experimental results show that each instability regime appears for a given growth temperature range that critically depends on the concentration of Ge. Evolution with time also depends on the Ge concentration. But in all cases, we evidence discrepancies between the experimental critical exponents and those predicted by classical modelling. We also give some examples of Ge dots self-organization on substrates nano-patterned (periodically undulated) by means of the different growth instabilities described above. In all cases, we observe Ge dots ordering along the substrate undulations due to step and/or strain effects. On kinetic instabilities (Si/Si(0 0 1) vicinal), Ge islands preferentially nucleate on step bunches. On SiGe(0 0 1) template layers, Ge dots nucleate on top of the SiGe undulations. In that case, strain gradients improved island ordering. The best ordering was achieved using SiGe(0 0 1) 10° off misoriented template layers as a result of almost perfect anisotropic morphology.     

Investigation of positively charged acceptor states in Si and Ge under uniaxial stress by phonon induced conduction

We use superconducting Al-tunnel junctions as tunable phonon generators in the meV-range to determine ground state splitting at zero stress of positively charged states associated with single acceptors in Si and double acceptors in Ge. From the stress and energy dependence of the conductivity induced by high frequency phonon irradiation of the corresponding two- and three-hole states we find that the splitting is below 0.1 meV for the ground states of Si:B⁺ and Ge:Be⁺, and 1 meV and 1.2 meV for Si:Ga⁺ and Si:Al⁺, respectively. These level separations are comparable to those found previously for the ground states of the corresponding acceptor bound excitons A⁰X. For the deeper acceptors Si:In⁺, Si:Tl⁺, and Ge:Zn⁺ the results are qualitatively different.     

Ferromagnetism in epitaxial germanium and silicon layers supersaturated with managanese and iron impurities

The possibility of laser synthesis of diluted magnetic semiconductors based on germanium and silicon doped with manganese or iron up to 10–15 at % has been shown. According to data on the electronic levels of 3d atoms in semiconductors, Mn and Fe impurities are most preferable for realizing ferromagnetism in Ge and Si through the Ruderman-Kittel-Kasuya-Yosida mechanism. Epitaxial Ge and Si layers 50–110 nm in thickness were grown on gallium arsenide or sapphire single crystal substrates heated to 200–480°C. The content of a 3d impurity has been measured by x-ray spectroscopy. The ferromagnetism of layers and high magnetic and acceptor activities of Mn in Ge, as well as of Mn and Fe in Si, are manifested in the observation of the Kerr effect, anomalous Hall effect, high hole conductivity, and anisotropic ferromagnetic resonance at 77–500 K. According to the ferromagnetic resonance data, the Curie point of Ge:Mn and Si:Mn on a GaAs substrate and of Si:Fe on an Al₂O₃ substrate is no lower than 420, 500, and 77 K, respectively.     

E2/M1 Mixing ratios of 2+-2+-transitions in58Fe,74Ge and186Os

E2/M1 mixing ratios of 2⁺-2⁺-transitions in⁵⁸Fe,⁷⁴Ge and¹⁸⁶Os were determined by measuring the angular correlation of the 2-2-0γγ-cascades in these nuclei. The following values were obtained:⁵⁸Fe(863 keV):δ=+1.10±0.20;⁷⁴Ge(609keV):δ=?2.9±0.8 and¹⁸⁶Os(630keV):δ=?13 _?3.5 ^+5.5 . These results are compared with theoretical predictions.     

Excited states of100Tc from100Mo(p,nγ)100Tc reaction and the parabolic rule

γ-spectra and excitation functions of the¹⁰⁰Mo(p, nγ)¹⁰⁰Tc reaction were measured in the 1.2–3.6 MeV proton energy range by using thick, enriched targets, Ge(Li) and low energy photon (hyperpure Ge) spectrometers. These detectors were used inγγ-coincidence experiments, too. Conversion electron spectrum measurements were performed by means of a superconducting magnet transporter Si(Li) spectrometer (SMS) atE _p =4 MeV and multipolarities of some transitions have been determined. Based on the experimental results a level scheme of¹⁰⁰Tc has been constructed. Level energies of¹⁰⁰Tc were calculated on the basis of the parabolic rule, derived from the cluster-vibration model.     

Mössbauer study of Fe in 3C-SiC following 57Mn implantation

Our investigations on substitutional and interstitial Fe in the group IV semiconductors, from ⁵⁷Fe Mössbauer measurements following ⁵⁷Mn implantation, have been continued with investigations in 3C-SiC. Mössbauer spectra were collected after implantation and measurement at temperatures from 300 to 905 K. Following comparison with Mössbauer parameters for Fe in Si, diamond and Ge, four Fe species are identified: two due to Fe in tetrahedral interstitial sites surrounded, respectively, by four C atoms (Fe_i.C) or four Si atoms (Fe_i,Si) and two to Fe in (or close to) defect free or implantation damaged substitutional sites. An annealing stage at 300–500 K is evident. Above 600 K the Fe_i,Si fraction decreases markedly, reaching close to zero intensity at 905 K. This is accompanied by a corresponding increase in the Fe_i,C fraction.