Relaxation of Dense Electron Plasma Induced by Femtosecond Laser in Dielectric Materials

Electron plasma induced by a focused femtosecond pulse （130 fs, 800 nm） in dielectric materials （Soda Lime glass, K9 glass, and SiO2 crystal） is investigated by pump-probe shadow imaging technology. The relaxation of the electron plasma in the conduction band is discussed. In SiO2 crystals, a fast self-trapping process with a trapping time of 150fs is observed, which is similar to that in fused silica. However, in Soda Lime glass and K9 glass, no self-trapping occurs, and two decay processes are found： one is the energy relaxation process of conduction electrons within several picoseconds, another is an electron-hole recombination process with a timescale of lOOps. The electron collision time T in the conduction band is also measured to be in the order of 1 fs in all of these materials.     

Ionoluminescence Spectra of a ZnO Single Crystal Irradiated with 2.5 MeV H~+ Ions

The ionoluminescenee(IL) spectra of a ZnO single crystal irradiated with 2.5 MeVH~+ ions reveal that its intensity decreases with increasing the ion fluence, which indicates that the concentration of lumineseence centers decreases with irradiation. The Gaussian decomposition results of the ZnO IL spectrum with a fluence of1.77×10~(11) ions/cm~2 show that the spectrum is a superposition of energy levels centered at 1.75 eV, 2.10 eV, 3.12 eV and 3.20 eV. The four peaks are associated with electronic transitions from CB to V_(Zn), CB to O_i,Zn_i to VB and the decay of self-trapped excitons, respectively. The results of single-exponential fitting demonstrate that different luminescent centers have different radiation resistance, which may explain why the emission decreases more slowly in the NBE band than in the DBE band. The agglomeration of larger point clusters accounts for the decrease in the concentration of luminescence centers and the increase in the concentration of non-luminescence centers, which indicates that the defect clusters induced by ion implantation act as nonradiative recombination centers and suppress light emission. The results of the photoluminescence spectra of a virgin ZnO single crystal and a ZnO single crystal irradiated with a fluence of 3.4 x 1014 ions/cm~2 show that compared with the virgin ZnO,the emission intensity of irradiated ZnO decreases by nearly two orders of magnitude, which demonstrates that the irradiation effect reduces radiative recombination and enhances nonradiative recombination. The conclusions of photoluminescence are consistent with the IL results.     

Photoluminescence of ZnSe—ZnS Single Quantum Wells Grown by Vapour Phase Epitaxy

We study the photoluminescence (PL) of ultra thin layer ZnSe quantum Wells in ZnS barriers.Samples with different well widths are grown by vapour phase epitaxy and the PL spectra of these samples are measured by the excitation of a 500W Hg lamp.The peak positions of the bands coming from the excitonic luminescence show a larger blueschift with respect to the energy of free excitons in the ZnSe bulk material.The observed variation of the full width at half maximum and peak position of the bands in the spectra with the well width are interpreted to the formation of the ZnSxSe1-x alloy layer due to the interdiffusion in the interfaces between ZnSe and ZnS.According to the behaviour of the excitons in the smaller conduction band offset,the exciton binding energy is estimated from the dependence of the PL intensity on the temperature.from this result,excitons seem to show nearly three-dimensional characteristics.     

Spectral properties and energy transfer in YAlO3 crystals doped with Ce ions and Mn ions

<正>We report the luminescence properties and decay profiles of Ce:YAlO_3,Mn:YAlO_3,and Ce,Mn:YAlO_3 crystals grown by Czochralski method.The spectroscopic properties show that both Mn~(2+) ions and Mn~(4+) ions exist in Mn:YAlO_3 and Ce,Mn:YAlO_3 crystals.The Mn~(2+) ions have a broad emission band of 60 nm in Mn-doped YAlO_3 crystal at 530 nm.The luminescence spectra also indicate that there is significant energy transfer between Ce~(3+) and Mn~(4+) in Ce,Mn:YAlO_3 crystal.Because of the energy transfer,the first decay component in Ce,Mn:YAlO_3 decreases from 24.5 to 10.8 ns,which is much faster than that of Ce:YAlO_3.     

Electronic structures and energy band properties of Be- and S-doped wurtzite ZnO

The energy band properties, density of states, and band alignment of the BexZn1-xO1-ySy alloy （Be- and S-doped wurtzite ZnO） are investigated by the first-principles method. BexZn1-xO1-ySy alloy is a direct band gap semiconductor, the valence band maximum （VBM） and the conduction band minimum （CBM） of BexZn1-xO1-ySy are dominated by S 3p and Zn 4s states, respectively. The band gap and lattice constant of BexZn1-xO1-ySy alloy can be modulated by changing the doped content values x and y. With the increase in Be content value x in the BexZnl-xOl-ySy alloy, the band gap increases and the lattice constant reduces, but the situation is just the opposite when increasing the S content value y in the BexZn1-xO1-ySy alloy. Because the lattice constant of Be0.375Zn0.625O0.75S0.25 alloy is well matched with that of ZnO and its energy gap is large compared with that of ZnO, so the Be0.375Zn0.625O0.75S0.25 alloy is suitable for serving as the blocking material for a high-quality ZnO-based device.     

A study on strain affecting electronic structures and optical properties of wurtzite Mg0.25 Zn0.75O by first-principles

We have made a first principles study to investigate density of states, band structure, the dielectric function and absorption spectra of wurtzite Mg 0.25 Zn 0.75 O. The calculation is carried out in a-axis and c-axis strain changing in the range from 0.3 to -0.2 in intervals of 0.1. The results calculated from density of states show that the bottom of conduction band is always dominated by Zn 4s and the top of valence band is always dominated by O 2p in a-axis and c-axis strain. Zn 4s will shift to higher energy range when a-axis strain changes in the range from 0.3 to 0, and then shift to lower energy range when a-axis strain changes in the range from 0 to -0.2. But Zn 4s will always shift to higher energy range when c-axis strain changes in the range from 0.3 to -0.2. The variations of band gap calculated from band structure and absorption spectra are also investigated, which are consistent with the results obtained from density of states. In addition, we analyse and discuss the imaginary part of the dielectric function ε 2 .     

Electronic structure of twinned ZnS nanowire

The electronic properties of twinned ZnS nanowires （NWs） with different diameters were investigated based on first-principles calculations. The energy band structures, projected density of states and the spatial distributions of the bottom of conduction band and the top of the valence band were presented. The results show that the twinned nanowires exhibit a semiconducting character and the band gap decreases with increasing nanowire diameter due to quantum confinement effects. The valence band maximum and conduction band minimum originate mainly from the S-p and Zn-s orbitals at the core of the nanowires, respectively, which was confirmed by their spatial charge density distribution. We also found that no heterostructure is formed in the twinned ZnS NWs since the valence band maximum and conduction band minimum states are distributed along the NW axis uniformly. We suggest that the hexagonal （2H） stacking inside the cubic （3C） stacking has no effect on the electronic properties of thin ZnS NWs.     

Electronic structure of twinned ZnS nanowires

The electronic properties of twinned ZnS nanowires (NWs) with different diameters were investigated based on first-principles calculations. The energy band structures, projected density of states and the spatial distributions of the bottom of conduction band and the top of the valence band were presented. The results show that the twinned nanowires exhibit a semiconducting character and the band gap decreases with increasing nanowire diameter due to quantum confinement effects. The valence band maximum and conduction band minimum originate mainly from the S-p and Zn-s orbitals at the core of the nanowires, respectively, which was confirmed by their spatial charge density distribution. We also found that no heterostructure is formed in the twinned ZnS NWs since the valence band maximum and conduction band minimum states are distributed along the NW axis uniformly. We suggest that the hexagonal (2H) stacking inside the cubic (3C) stacking has no effect on the electronic properties of thin ZnS NWs.     

Cleavage Luminescence from Cleaved Indium Phosphide

We outline the experiments performed to gain further information about the structure and properties of cleaved InP surfaces. The experiments involved detecting the luminescence produced after cleaving thin InP plates within a high vacuum, by a process of converting the luminescence to an electrical signal which could be amplified and measured accurately. The experimental results show that the detected luminescence durations from cleaved InP are usually only about 10μs. It is believed that this time represents the time of travel of the crack with the actual recombination time being much shorter. Strong signals could also be picked up from cleaved InP in air.     

First-principles study of electronic and optical properties in wurtzite Zn1-xCuxO

We perform a first-principles simulation to study the electronic and optical properties of wurtzite Zn1 xCuxO.The simulations are based upon the Perdew-Burke-Ernzerhof form of generalised gradient approximation within the density functional theory.Calculations are carried out in different concentrations.With increasing Cu concentration,the band gap of Zn1 xCuxO decreases due to the shift of valence band.The imaginary part of the dielectric function indicates that the optical transition between O 2p states in the highest valence band and Zn 4s states in the lowest conduction band shifts to the low energy range as the Cu concentration increases.Besides,it is shown that the insertion of Cu atom leads to redshift of the optical absorption edge.Meanwhile,the optical constants of pure ZnO and Zn0.75Cu0.25O,such as loss function,refractive index and reflectivity,are discussed.     

Effect of Quasi-Fermi Level on the Degree of Electron Spin Polarization in GaAs

With spin-polarized-dependent band gap renormahzation effect taken into account,the energy-dependent evolution of electron spin polarization in GaAs is calculated at room temperature and at a low temperature of 10 K.We consider the exciting light with right-handed circular polarization,and the calculation results show that the degree of electron spin polarization is dependent strongly on the quasi-Fermi levels of |1/2 and |-1/2 spin conduction bands.At room temperature,the degree of electron spin polarization decreases sharply from 1 near the bottom of the conduction band,and then increases to a stable value above the quasi-Fermi level of the |—1/2 band.The greater the quasi-Fermi level is,the higher the degree of electron spin polarization with excessive energy above the quasi-Fermi level of the |-1/2 band can be achieved.At low temperature,the degree of electron spin polarization decreases from 1 sharply near the bottom of the conduction band,and then increases with the excessive energy,and in particular,up to a maximum of 1 above the quasi-Fermi level of the |1/2 band.     

Investigation of yellow luminescence intensity of N-polar unintentionally doped GaN

This paper reports that the yellow luminescence intensity of N-polar GaN Epi-layers is much lower than that of Ga-polar ones due to the inverse polarity,and reduces drastically in the N-polar unintentionally-doped GaN after etching in KOH solution.The ratio of yellow luminescence intensity to band-edge emission intensity decreases sharply with the etching time.The full width at half maximum of x-ray diffraction of(10-12) plane falls sharply after etching,and the surface morphology characterized by scanning electron microscope shows a rough surface that changes with the etching time.The mechanism for the generation of the yellow luminescence are explained in details.     

Structure and luminescence of Ca2Si5N8：Eu^2＋ phosphor for warm white light-emitting diodes

We have synthesized Ca 2 Si 5 N 8:Eu 2+ phosphor through a solid-state reaction and investigated its structural and luminescent properties.Our Rietveld refinement of the crystal structure of Ca 1.9 Eu 0.1 Si 5 N 8 reveals that Eu atoms substituting for Ca atoms occupy two crystallographic positions.Between 10 K and 300 K,Ca 2 Si 5 N 8:Eu 2+ phosphor shows a broad red emission band centred at ～1.97 eV-2.01 eV.The gravity centre of the excitation band is located at 3.0 eV-3.31 eV.The centroid shift of the 5d levels of Eu 2+ is determined to be ～1.17 eV,and the red-shift of the lowest absorption band to be ～ 0.54 eV due to the crystal field splitting.We have analysed the temperature dependence of PL by using a configuration coordinate model.The Huang-Rhys parameter S=6.0,the phonon energy ν=52 meV,and the Stokes shift S=0.57 eV are obtained.The emission intensity maximum occurring at ～200 K can be explained by a trapping effect.Both photoluminescence (PL) emission intensity and decay time decrease with temperature increasing beyond 200 K due to the non-radiative process.     

A First Principles Study on mAlZn-nNO Complex Doped ZnO

P-type conduction is a great challenge for the full utilization of ZnO due to low dopant solubility and high acceptor ionization energy. We investigate formation energies and transition levels of the defect complex m AlZn-nNO in ZnO by the first principles. The formation and ionization energies for isolated mNO in ZnO are 1.17eV and 0.439eV, respectively. Among all complexes investigated here, formation and ionization energies of the complex AlZn-2NO can be reduced to 0.632eV and 0.292eV, respectively, which indicates that the defect complex is a relative better candidate for p-type ZnO. However, the results calculated from density of states show that 4AlZn-NO doped ZnO takes on n-type conduction.     

Size-dependent optical properties and carriers dynamics in CdSe/ZnS quantum dots

Size-dependence of optical properties and energy relaxation in CdSe/ZnS quantum dots （QDs） were investigated by two-colour femtosecond （fs） pump-probe （400/800 nm） and picosecond time-resolved photoluminescence （ps TRPL） experiments. Pump-probe measurement results show that there are two components for the excited carriers relaxation, the fast one with a time constant of several ps arises from the Auger-type recombination, which shows almost particle sizeindependence. The slow relaxation component with a time constant of several decades of ns can be clearly determined with ps TRPL spectroscopy in which the slow relaxation process shows strong particle size-dependence. The decay time constants increase from 21 to 34 ns with the decrease of particle size from 3.2 to 2.1 nm. The room-temperature decay lifetime is due to the thermal mixing of bright and dark excitons, and the size-dependence of slow relaxation process can be explained very well in terms of simple three-level model.     

Atomic and electronic structures of montmorillonite in soft rock

Montmorillonite is a kind of clay mineral which often causes large deformation in soft-rock tunnel engineering and thus brings about safety problems in practice. To deal with these engineering safety problems, the physical and chemical properties of montmorillonite should be studied from basic viewpoints. We study the atomic and electronic structures of montmorillonite by using density-functional theory within the local-density approximation (LDA). The results of calculation show that Al--O bond lengths are longer than Si--O bond lengths. It is found that both the valence band maximum (VBM) and the conduction band minimum (CBM) of montmorillonite are at point Γ, and the calculated direct band gap of montmorillonite is 5.35~eV. We show that the chemical bonding between cations and oxygen anions in montmorillonite is mainly ionic, accompanied as well by a minor covalent component. It is pointed out that the VBM and CBM of montmorillonite consist of oxygen 2p and cation s states, respectively. Our calculated results help to understand the chemical and physical properties of montmorillonite, and are expected to be a guide for solving the problem of large deformation of soft-rock tunnels.     

Determination of the surface states from the ultrafast electronic states in a thermoelectric material

We reveal the electronic structure in Yb Cd₂Sb₂,a thermoelectric material,by angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy(ARPES)and time-resolved ARPES(tr ARPES).Specifically,three bulk bands at the vicinity of the Fermi level are evidenced near the Brillouin zone center,consistent with the density functional theory(DFT)calculation.It is interesting that the spin-unpolarized bulk bands respond unexpectedly to right-and left-handed circularly polarized probe.In addition,a hole band of surface states,which is not sensitive to the polarization of the probe beam and is not expected from the DFT calculation,is identified.We find that the non-equilibrium quasiparticle recovery rate is much smaller in the surface states than that of the bulk states.Our results demonstrate that the surface states can be distinguished from the bulk ones from a view of time scale in the nonequilibrium physics.     

Nonlinear Photoluminescence from ZnO Nanobelts

The nonlinear photoluminescence （PL） including second-harmonic generation （SHG） and the multiphoton luminescence （MPL） around 385 nm and 530 nm from ZnO nanobelts are investigated by using near-infrared excitations. The excitation wavelength dependence of MPL intensity reveals resonant energy transfer from SHG to MPL near the band gap excitation. The lifetime measurement of the MPL shows a much slower decay process of the defect emission, which results from the generation and recombination of both donors and acceptors on the disordered surface of the ZnO nanobelts.     

Generation of Fabry–Pérot oscillations and Dirac state in two-dimensional topological insulators by gate voltage

We investigate electron transport through Hg Te ribbons embedded by strip-shape gate voltage through using a nonequilibrium Green function technique. The numerical calculations show that as the gate voltage is increased, an edgerelated state in the valence band structure of the system shifts upwards, then hangs inside the band gap and merges into the conduction band finally. It is interesting that as the gate voltage is increased continuously, another edge-related state in the valence band also shifts upwards in the small-k region and contacts the previous one to form a Dirac cone in the band structure. Meanwhile in this process, the conductance spectrum displays as multiple resonance peaks characterized by some strong antiresonance valleys in the band gap, then behaves as Fabry–P′erot oscillations and finally develops into a nearly perfect quantum plateau with a value of 2e~2/h. These results give a physical picture to understand the formation process of the Dirac state driven by the gate voltage and provide a route to achieving particular quantum oscillations of the electronic transport in nanodevices.     

Transient saturation absorption spectroscopy excited near the band gap at high excitation carrier density in GaAs

Transient saturation absorption spectroscopy in GaAs thin films was investigated using femtosecond pump and supercontinuum probe technique at excitation densities higher than 1×10^{19}cm^{-3}. The Coulomb enhancement factor of the electron－hole plasma results in a spectrum hole at the pump wavelength. Two distinct transmission peaks at two sides of the pump wavelength are observed, arising from the bleaching of transitions from the heavy- and light-hole bands to the conduction band. The dynamic process of the transient saturation absorption is fitted using a bi-exponential function. The fast decay process is dominated by the carrier-phonon scattering and the slow process may be attributed to the electron－hole recombination.