Influence of defects on the optical and structural properties of Ge dots embedded in an Si/Ge superlattice

In this work we studied the influence of high-energy proton irradiation on the optical and structural properties of an Si/Ge superlattice (SL) with embedded Ge quantum dots (QDs). The presence of QDs in the as-grown samples was established by transmission electron microscopy and photoluminescence (PL). The samples were irradiated with 2.0 MeV protons to fluences in the range 2×10¹²-2×10¹⁴ cm^-2. The structural characterization made by X-ray reciprocal space mapping, X-ray reflection and Rutherford backscattering/channelling has shown no changes in the as-grown heterostructure due to the irradiation. In spite of the expected high concentration of nonradiative recombination centres caused by the proton-induced damage, the PL emission from the Ge dots has been observed even for the highest irradiation fluence. The studied QD-in-SL structure has shown an extraordinarily high radiation hardness when compared with previously studied QD heterostructures.     

Size distribution and optical properties of self-assembled Ge on Si

The distribution of Ge islands is analysed in order to understand their optical behaviour. The Ge islands described in this paper were deposited by low-pressure chemical vapour deposition at relatively high temperature (700 °C), therefore the diffusion length of adatoms is high (∼100 μm) and thus, not the limiting factor for nucleation. By changing the deposition time and the coverage, square-based pyramids, domes and relaxed domes are nucleated. Mainly domes emit light, the emission being in the wavelength range 1.38–1.55 μm. When pyramids or relaxed domes are present, the photoluminescence broadens and decreases in intensity. The electroluminescence of vertically correlated islands increases with the number of layers, i.e. with the number of islands. The nucleation of islands on patterned (001) Si is changed when the deposition is performed on Si mesas with high index facets. The size distribution becomes narrower when the mesa size is decreased. An intermixing of up to 40% Si in the 2D layer was determined from photoluminescence data. PIN diodes fabricated on patterned wafers show an area-dependent electroluminecence related to a different microstructure of islands on large and small mesas. Finally, the lateral ordering on {hkl} facets is discussed. Received: 14 April 2000 / Accepted: 17 April 2000 / Published online: 6 September 2000     

New insight into the optical properties of amorphous Ge and Si

A short range disorder model, unlike present long range disorder theories, has been able to account well for both the density of states and the optical properties of amorphous Ge and Si. Our results indicate that the imaginary part of the dielectric function for amorphous Ge and Si has the same form as an averaged gradient matrix element as a function of energy. This conclusion should be valid for all tetrahedrally bonded amorphous solids.     

Effect of annealing on structural, optical and electrical properties of nanostructured Ge thin films

Ge thin films with a thickness of about 110 nm have been deposited by electron beam evaporation of 99.999% pure Ge powder and annealed in air at 100-500 °C for 2 h. Their optical, electrical and structural properties were studied as a function of annealing temperature. The films are amorphous below an annealing temperature of 400 °C as confirmed by XRD, FESEM and AFM. The films annealed at 400 and 450 °C exhibit X-ray diffraction pattern of Ge with cubic-F structure. The Raman spectrum of the as-deposited film exhibits peak at 298 cm⁻¹, which is left-shifted as compared to that for bulk Ge (i.e. 302 cm⁻¹), indicating nanostructure and quantum confinement in the as-deposited film. The Raman peak shifts further towards lower wavenumbers with annealing temperature. Optical band gap energy of amorphous Ge films changes from 1.1 eV with a substantial increase to ∼1.35 eV on crystallization at 400 and 450 °C and with an abrupt rise to 4.14 eV due to oxidation. The oxidation of Ge has been confirmed by FTIR analysis. The quantum confinement effects cause tailoring of optical band gap energy of Ge thin films making them better absorber of photons for their applications in photo-detectors and solar cells. XRD, FESEM and AFM suggest that the deposited Ge films are composed of nanoparticles in the range of 8-20 nm. The initial surface RMS roughness measured with AFM is 9.56 nm which rises to 12.25 nm with the increase of annealing temperature in the amorphous phase, but reduces to 6.57 nm due to orderedness of the atoms at the surface when crystallization takes place. Electrical resistivity measured as a function of annealing temperature is found to reduce from 460 to 240 Ω-cm in the amorphous phase but drops suddenly to 250 Ω-cm with crystallization at 450 °C. The film shows a steep rise in resistivity to about 22.7 KΩ-cm at 500 °C due to oxidation. RMS roughness and resistivity show almost opposite trends with annealing in the amorphous phase.     

第一性原理研究[112]硅锗异质结纳米线的电子结构与光学性质

基于密度泛函理论体系下的广义梯度近似,本文利用第一性原理方法着重研究了[112]晶向硅锗异质结纳米线的电子结构与光学性质.能带结构计算表明:随着锗原子数的增加,[112]晶向硅锗纳米线的带隙逐渐减小;对Si_(36)Ge_(24)H_(32)纳米线施加单轴应变,其能量带隙随拉应变的增加而单调减小.光学性质计算则表明:随着锗原子数的增加,[112]硅锗纳米线介电函数的峰位和吸收谱的吸收边均向低能量区移动;而随着拉应变的增大,吸收系数峰值呈现出逐渐减小的趋势,且峰位不断向低能量区移动,上述结果说明锗原子数的增加与施加拉应变均导致[112]硅锗纳米线的吸收谱产生红移.本文的研究为硅锗异质结纳米线光电器件研究与设计提供一定的理论参考.     

Effect of self-assembled Ge nanostructures on Si surface electronic properties

Incorporating self-assembled Ge islands on Si surfaces into electronic devices has been suggested as a means of forming small features without fine-scale litho- graphy. For use in electronic devices, the electrical properties of the deposited Ge and their relation to the underlying Si substrate must be known. This report presents the results of a surface photovoltage investigation of the surface energy barrier as increasing amounts of Ge are added to a Si surface by chemical vapor deposition. The results are interpreted in terms of band discontinuities and surface states. The surface barrier increases as a wetting layer is deposited and continues to increase as defect-free islands form. It saturates as the islands grow. As the amount of Ge continues increasing, defects form, and the surface barrier decreases because of the resulting allowed states at the Ge/Si interface. Qualitatively similar behavior is found for Si(001) and Si(111). Covering the Ge with Si reduces the surface-state density and possibly modifies the wetting layer, decreasing the barrier to one more characteristic of Si. Initial hydrogen termination of the surface decreases the active surface-state density. As the H desorbs, the surface barrier increases until it stabilizes as the surface oxidizes. The behavior is briefly correlated with scanning-tunneling spectroscopy data. Received: 13 November 2000 / Accepted: 14 November 2000 / Published online: 23 May 2001     

Wetting layer and size effects on the nonlinear optical properties of semi oblate and prolate Si0.7Ge0.3/Si quantum dots

Semi oblate and semi prolate are among the most probable self-organized nanostructures shapes. The optoelectronic properties of such nanostructures are not just manipulated with the height and lateral size but also with the wetting layer element. The practical interest of derivatives of germanium and silicon has a great important role in optoelectronic devices. This study is a contribution to the analysis of linear and nonlinear optical properties of Si_0.7Ge_0.3/Si. In the framework of the effective mass approximation, we solve numerically the Schrödinger equation relative to one particle confined in Si_0.7Ge_0.3/Si semi prolate and semi oblate quantum dots by using the finite element method and by taking into consideration the effect of the wetting layer. The energy spectrum of the lowest states and the dipolar matrix for the fourth allowed transitions are determined and discussed. We also calculate the detailed optical properties, including absorption coefficients, refractive index changes, second and third harmonic generation as a function of the quantum dot sizes. We found that with the change in the size of prolate and oblate quantum dots, there is a shift in the resonance peaks for the absorption coefficient and refractive index. It is due to the modification in the energy levels with changing size. The study proves a redshift in the second harmonic generation and third harmonic generation coefficients with an increase in the height/radius of the oblate/prolate quantum dot, respectively. We also demonstrated the variation of wavefunction inside the quantum dot with the change in wetting layer thickness.     

Influence of Si doping on the structural and optical properties of InGaN epilayers

Influences of the Si doping on the structural and optical properties of the InGaN epilayers are investigated in detail by means of high-resolution X-ray diffraction （HRXRD）, photolumimescence （PL）, scanning electron microscope （SEM）, and atomic force microscopy （AFM）. It is found that the Si doping may improve the surface morphology and crystal quality of the InGaN film and meanwhile it can also enhance the emission efficiency by increasing the electron concentration in the InGaN and suppressing tile formation of V-defects, which act as nonradiative recombination centers in the InGaN, and it is proposed that the former plays a more important role in enhancing the emission efficiency in the InGaN.     

Annealing effects on mobility-limiting mechanisms in modulation doping Si/Si0.8Ge0.2heterostructures

The changes in the mobility and carrier concentration in annealed modulation doping Si/Si_0.8Ge_0.2heterostructures with various channel thicknesses have been studied and mobility-limiting mechanisms were clarified. The dominant scattering mechanism was found to change to scattering due to uniformally doped impurities from the remote impurity scattering after annealing in samples with wider channel thickness. The thermal diffusion of both Sb and Ge caused the increase of impurity scattering and the reduction of the channel width. The channel reduction made the sample more sensitive to interface roughness scattering and gave rise to carrier localization in the extreme case. In the samples with intermediate channel width, co-operation between interface roughness and impurity scattering was observed after annealing.     

The structural and optical properties of ZnO/Si thin films by RTA treatments

ZnO/Si thin films were prepared by rf magnetron sputtering method and some of the samples were treated by rapid thermal annealing (RTA) process at different temperatures ranging from 400 to 800 °C. The effects of RTA treatment on the structural properties were studied by using X-ray diffraction and atomic force microscopy while optical properties were studied by the photoluminescence measurements. It is observed that the ZnO film annealed at 600 °C reveals the strongest UV emission intensity and narrowest full width at half maximum among the temperature ranges studied. The enhanced UV emission from the film annealed at 600 °C is attributed to the improved crystalline quality of ZnO film due to the effective relaxation of residual compressive stress and achieving maximum grain size.     

Contribution of the electron-electron interaction to the optical properties of dense arrays of Ge/Si quantum dots

We present the results of an investigation of the light absorption due to interband and interlevel transitions and the photoconductivity in dense arrays of Ge quantum dots (QDs) in Si formed using the effect of self-organization during molecular-beam heteroepitaxy. It was found that the formation of charged exciton complexes composed of two holes and one electron, as well as of the be-exciton complexes in QDs of type II, leads to an increase in the energy of indirect (in real space) exciton transition, which is explained by the spatial separation of electron and hole. Self-consistent calculations of the wavefunctions for electrons and holes in exciton and in the exciton complexes showed that an electron in a single exciton is localized in the region of maximum stress for Si in the vicinity of the Ge pyramid apex, while a hole is localized near the pyramid base. In a be-exciton complex, electrons exhibit repulsion leading to their spatial separation. As a result, the second electron is bound at the boundary between Si and a continuous Ge layer in which the pyramid bases reside. The experimental data show that an increase in the charge carrier concentration in the ground state of QDs leads to a shortwave shift of the interband resonance and to the narrowing and shape change of the light absorption band, which is explained by depolarization of the external electromagnetic wave due to interaction with the collective charge density oscillations in the lateral direction of the array of Ge nanoclusters. It is established that the hole injection into an excited state of QDs leads to a longwave shift of the photoconductivity peak as a result of decay of the collective excitations and suppression of the depolarization effect.     

Growth and optical properties of Ge/Si quantum dots formed on patterned SiO2/Si(0 0 1) substrates

Single and stacked layers of Ge/Si quantum dots were grown in SiO₂ windows patterned by electron-beam lithography on oxidized Si (0 0 1) substrates. The growth of a silicon buffer layer prior to Ge deposition is found to be an additional parameter for adjusting the Ge-dot nucleation process. We show that the silicon buffer layer evolves towards [1 1 3]-faceted pyramids, which reduces the area of the topmost (0 0 1) surface available for Ge nucleation. By controlling the top facet area of the Si buffer layers, only one dot per circular window and a high cooperative arrangement of dots on a striped window can be achieved. In stacked layers, the dot homogeneity can be improved through the adjustment of the Ge deposited amount in the upper layers. The optical properties of these structures measured by photoluminescence spectroscopy are also reported. In comparison with self-assembled quantum dots, we observed, both in single and stacked layers, the absence of the wetting-layer component and an energy blue shift, confirming therefore the dot formation by selective growth.     

Surface and interfacial structural characterization of MBE grown Si/Ge multilayers

Si/Ge multilayer structures have been grown by solid source molecular beam epitaxy (MBE) on Si (1 1 1) and (1 0 0) substrates and were characterized by high-resolution X-ray diffraction (XRD), atomic force microscopy (AFM), high-depth-resolution secondary ion mass spectroscopy (SIMS) and cross-section high-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM). A reasonably good agreement has been obtained for layer thickness, interfacial structure and diffusion between SIMS and HRTEM measurements. Epitaxial growth and crystalline nature of the individual layer have been probed using cross-sectional HRTEM and XRD measurements. Surface and interface morphological studies by AFM and HRTEM show island-like growth of both Si and Ge nanostructures.     

Electronic and optical properties of Si and Ge nanocrystals: An ab initio study

First-principles calculations within density functional theory and many-body perturbation theory have been carried out in order to investigate the structural, electronic and optical properties of undoped and doped silicon nanostructures. We consider Si nanoclusters co-doped with B and P. We find that the electronic band gap is reduced with respect to that of the undoped crystals, suggesting the possibility of impurity based engineering of electronic and optical properties of Si nanocrystals. Finally, motivated by recent suggestions concerning the chance of exploiting Ge dots for photovoltaic nanodevices, we present calculations of the electronic and optical properties of a Ge₃₅H₃₆ nanocrystal, and compare the results with those for the corresponding Si₃₅H₃₆ nanocrystals and the co-doped Si₃₃BPH₃₆.     

Effect of doping on structural,optical and electrical properties of nanostructure ZnO films deposited onto a-Si:H/Si heterojunction

We investigated the structural; optical and electrical properties of ZnO thin films as the n-type semiconductor for silicon a-Si:H/Si heterojunction photodiodes. The ZnO film forms the front contact of the super-strata solar cell and has to exhibit good electrical (high conductivity) and optical (high transmittance) properties. In this paper we focused our attention on the influence of doping on device performance. The results show that the X-ray diffraction (XRD) spectra revealed a preferred orientation of the crystallites along c-axis. SEM images show that all films display a granular, polycrystalline morphology and the ZnO:Al exhibits a better grain uniformity. The transmittance of the doped films was found to be higher when compared to undoped ZnO. A low resistivity of the order of 2.8 × 10⁻⁴ Ω cm is obtained for ZnO:Al using 0.4 M concentration of zinc acetate. The photoluminescence (PL) spectra exhibit a blue band with two peaks centered at 442 nm (2.80 eV) and 490 nm (2.53 eV). It is noted that after doping the ZnO films a shift of the band by 22 nm (0.15 eV) is recorded and a high luminescence occurs when using Al as a dopant. Dark I–V curves of ZnO/a-Si:H/Si structure showed large difference, which means there is a kind of barrier to current flow between ZnO and a-Si:H layer. Doping films was applied and the turn-on voltages are around 0.6 V. Under reverse bias, the current of the ZnO/a-Si:H/Si heterojunction is larger than that of ZnO:Al/a-Si:H/Si. The improvement with ZnO:Al is attributed to a higher number of generated carriers in the nanostructure (due to the higher transmittance and a higher luminescence) that increases the probability of collisions.