Refractive index, oscillator parameters and temperature-tuned energy band gap of Tl4In3GaS8-layered single crystals

Transmission and reflection measurements in the wavelength region 450-1100 nm were carried out on Tl₄In₃GaS₈-layered single crystals. The analysis of the room temperature absorption data revealed the presence of both optical indirect and direct transitions with band gap energies of 2.32 and 2.52 eV, respectively. The rate of change of the indirect band gap with temperature dE_gi/dT=-6.0×10⁻⁴ eV/K was determined from transmission measurements in the temperature range of 10-300 K. The absolute zero value of the band gap energy was obtained as E_gi(0)=2.44 eV. The dispersion of the refractive index is discussed in terms of the Wemple-DiDomenico single-effective-oscillator model. The refractive index dispersion parameters: oscillator energy, dispersion energy, oscillator strength and zero-frequency refractive index were found to be 4.87 eV, 26.77 eV, 8.48×10¹³ m⁻² and 2.55, respectively.     

The refractive index dispersion of Hg1−xCdxTe by infrared spectroscopic ellipsometry

The refractive indices of Hg_1−xCd_xTe (x=0.276, 0.309, and 0.378) bulk samples in the region below, in, and above the fundamental band gap have been measured by infrared spectroscopic ellipsometry at room temperature. A refractive index peak, in which the corresponding energy equals approximately the band gap energy, is observed for each refractive index spectrum with different compositions. Above the band gap, the refractive index drops quickly near the gap, then decreases slowly as photon energy increases. The refractive index n above the band gap is found to follow the Sellmeier dispersion relationship n²(λ)=A+B/λ²+C/λ⁴+D/λ⁶ as a function of the wavelength of light λ.     

Light-induced intrinsic defects in PLZT ceramics

This paper reports on an EPR study of a ferroelectric, 1.8/65/35, and an antiferroelectric, 2/95/5, of optically transparent Pb_1?y La_yZr_1?x Ti_xO₃ (PLZT) ceramics within a broad temperature range (20–300 K) after illumination at a wavelength of 365–725 nm. Illumination with ultraviolet light, whose photon energy corresponds to the band gap of these materials, at T<50 K creates a number of photoinduced centers: Ti³⁺, Pb⁺, and Pb³⁺. It is shown that these centers are generated near a lanthanum impurity, which substitutes for both the Pb²⁺ and, partially, Ti⁴⁺ ions through carrier trapping from the conduction or valence band into lattice sites. The temperature ranges of the stability of these centers are measured, and the position of their local energy levels in the band gap is determined. The most shallow center is Ti³⁺, with its energy level lying 47 meV below the conduction band bottom. The Pb³⁺ and Pb⁺ centers produce deeper local levels and remain stable in the 2/95/5 PLZT ceramics up to room temperature. The migration of localized carriers is studied for both ceramic compositions. It is demonstrated that, under exposure to increased temperature or red light, the electrons ionized into the conduction band from Ti³⁺ are retrapped by the deeper Pb⁺ centers, thus hampering the carrier drift in the band and the onset of photoconduction. The part played by localized charges in the electrooptic phenomena occurring in the PLZT ceramics is discussed.     

Optical properties in binary Si: H alloy from disilane

Binary Si: H alloy films having a wide optical band gap have been prepared by r.f. glow discharge of disilane. The optical band gap and the infrared absorption spectrum have been measured for those binary alloy films. The infrared absorption strength for 850 cm^-1 peak and the vibrational freqcencies for all absorption peaks are increased with an increase in the optical band gap. This sugests the (SiH₂)_n group formation in a wide optical gap film.     

The temperature dependence of optical gap and photoconductivity threshold in undoped hydrogenated amorphous silicon films

We report on the temperature dependences of the optical gap E_o and the photoconductivity threshold (?ω)_o for undoped hydrogenated amorphous silicon films. When increasing the temperature, both E_o and (?ω)_o are seen to linearly decrease at respective rates β= 3.5 10^?4 eV K^?1 (temperature range 290 K–460 K) and γ= 5.2 10^?4 eV K^?1 (temperature range 220 K – 360 K). At higher temperatures E_o decreases at the rate β = 14.3 10^?4 ev K^?1. Our results are discussed in terms of conduction in extended states. We show there is no physical reason in relating the temperature dependence of the activation energy and that of the gap as generally assumed. From optical absorption we deduce a minimum metallic conductivity σ_min the value of which agrees with Mott's predictions. On the contrary, σ_min measured from dark conductivity is nearly two orders of magnitude lower. A discussion is proposed infering band bending at the film substrate interface.     

Magnon Raman scattering in CoBr2

The one-magnon Raman spectrum of CoBr₂ has been investigated as a function of temperature, and peak frequency, integrated intensity and width parameters obtained. The results obtained for the band energy at low temperature (22.2 ± 0.2 cm^-1 at 5.7.K) are in good agreement with AFMR and neutron scattering results. The one-magnon energy renormalises relatively slowly with increasing temperature and is about 15 cm^-1 at T_N = 19 K, whereas the integrated intensity approaches zero like the magnetization at T_N and the width diverges. A low intensity band at 26.8 ± 1 cm^-1 (7.6K) may be due to two-magnon scattering from spin waves along the c-axis.     

Specific Heat of the Spin-1/2 Dimerized Antiferromagnetic Chains at Low Temperatures

A spin linear chain with antiferromagnetic nearest-neighbor interaction is considered. The coupling constants of each spin with the right and left neighbors are different. Within the Bulaevskii model, the magnetic specific heat is calculated as a function of temperature for different alternation parameters. It is shown that the temperature dependence of the specific heat has two regimes. In the first one, the temperature is lower than half the band gap; in this case, in the low-temperature limit, C ∝ T^-1 exp(?Δ/k_BT). In the second regime, the temperature exceeds half the band gap; in this case, we approximately have C ∝ T.     

Luminescence and decay times of CsI:In+

Luminescence spectra of single crystals of CsI:In⁺ excited in the A(304 nm), B(288 nm), C(268 nm) and D(257 nm) absorption bands have been studied in the temperature range 4.2–300 K. Excitation in the A band at 4.2 K gives rise to the principal emission at 2.22 eV accompanied by a partly-overlapping weak band at 2.49 eV. An additional emission band at about 2.96 eV is observed on excitation in the B, C or D bands. Yet another emission band located at 2.67 eV is excited only in the D band. The relative intensities of the bands are very sensitive to excitation wavelength as well as to temperature. The origin of all these bands is assigned in terms of a model for the relaxed excited states (RES). All the luminescence spectra were resolved into an appropriate number of skew-Gaussian components. Moments analysis leads to a value of (1.35 ± 0.02) × 10¹³ rad s^-1 for the effective frequency (ω_eff) of lattice vibrations coupled to the RES. At the lowest temperature, the radiative decay times of each of the intracenter emission bands (2.22, 2.49 and 2.96 eV) show a slow decay ( ～ 10–100 μs) and a fast decay ( ～ 10–100 ns). The 2.96 eV band, which is assigned to an emission process which is the inverse of the D-band absorption, exhibits a single decay mode ( ～ 10 μs). The intrinsic radiative decay rates (k₁, k₂), the one-phonon transition rate (K) and the second-order spin-orbit splitting (D) for the RES responsible for the principal emission are: k₁ = (6.0±-0.3)×10³ s^-1, k₂ = (1.33±-0.06)×10⁵ s^-1, K = (2.4±-0.4)×10⁷ s^-1 and D = (13.8±-0.5) cm^-1.     

Low-temperature absorption edge and photoluminescence in layered structured Tl2Ga2S3Se single crystals

The absorption edge of undoped Tl₂Ga₂S₃Se crystals have been studied through transmission and reflection measurements in the wavelength range 440–1100 nm and in the temperature range 10–300 K. The absorption edge was observed to shift toward lower energy values with increasing temperature. As a result, the rate of the indirect band gap variation with temperature γ=−2.6×10⁻⁴ eV/K and the absolute zero value of the band gap energy E_gi(0)=2.42 eV were obtained.     

Relation between interface states and temperature behavior of the barrier height of silver contacts on clean cleaved n-type silicon

The properties of silver-silicon interfaces formed by cleaving n-type silicon in ultra high vacuum (UHV) in a stream of evaporating silver atoms were studied. The barrier heights of these contacts were measured at different temperatures by using C-V techniques. All measurements were performed in UHV. The dependence of the barrier height upon temperature did not follow the temperature dependence of the Si band gap as it is usually found. The measured temperature behavior depended on the roughness of the Si surface. The temperature behavior can be explained by assuming a specific band structure of the interface states. For Ag contacts on atomically smooth n-type Si, the interface states were found to be arranged in two bands, one band 4 × 10^?3 eV wide with acceptor type states 0.18 eV below the intrinsic level E_i and a density of 10¹⁷ states/cm² eV, and the other 1 eV wide with donor type states with its upper edge 0.28 eV below E_i, and a density of 4 × 10¹⁴ states/cm²eV.     

Oxidation of cleaved InAs(1 1 0) surfaces at room temperature: Surface band-bending and ionization energy

The interaction of unexcited, molecular oxygen with cleaved InAs(1 1 0) surfaces was investigated at room temperature by using a Kelvin probe and photoemission spectroscopy excited by HeI radiation. Exposures up to 10⁵ L of O₂, which result in an oxygen uptake up to only a few percent of a monolayer, cause the formation of an inversion layer on the specimen doped p-type and of an accumulation layer on those doped n-type. Between 10⁵ and 10⁸ L of O₂ the Fermi level is found to be pinned at 0.13 eV above the bottom of the conduction band on samples doped p- as well as n-type. This energy position of the Fermi level agrees with the charge- neutrality level of the virtual gap states as calculated by Tersoff. Since the ionization energy remains unchanged up to exposures of 10⁸ L of O₂ it is concluded that the oxygen is incorporated into rather than adsorbed on cleaved InAs surfaces.     

Laser synthesis of nanostructures based on transition metal oxides

Nanostructures based on iron oxides in the form of thin films were synthesized while laser chemical vapor deposition (LCVD) of elements from iron carbonyl vapors (Fe(CO)₅) under the action of Ar⁺ laser radiation (λ_L = 488 nm) on the Si substrate surface with power density about 10² W/cm² and vapor pressure 666 Pa. Analysis of surface morphology and relief of the deposited films was carried out with scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and atomic force microscopy (AFM). This analysis demonstrated their cluster structure with average size no more than 100 nm. It was found out that the thicker the deposited film, the larger sizes of clusters with more oxides of higher oxidized phases were formed. The film thickness (d) was 10 and 28 nm. The deposited films exhibited semiconductor properties in the range 170-340 K which were stipulated by oxide content with different oxidized phases. The width of the band gap E_g depends on oxide content in the deposited film and was varied in the range 0.30-0.64 eV at an electrical field of 1.6 × 10³ V/m. The band gap E_g was varied in the range 0.46-0.58 eV at an electrical field of 45 V/m. The band gap which is stipulated by impurities in iron oxides E_i was varied in the range 0.009-0.026 eV at an electrical field of 1.6 × 10³ V/m and was varied in the range 0-0.16 eV at an electrical field 45 V/m. These narrow band gap semiconductor thin films displayed of the quantum dimensional effect.     

Influence of air annealing on the structural, morphological, optical and electrical properties of chemically deposited ZnSe thin films

Zinc selenide nanocrystalline thin films are grown onto amorphous glass substrate from an aqueous alkaline medium, using chemical bath deposition (CBD) method. The ZnSe thin films are annealed in air for 4 h at various temperatures and characterized by structural, morphological, optical and electrical properties. The as-deposited ZnSe film grew with nanocrystalline cubic phase alongwith some amorphous phase present in it. After annealing metastable nanocrystalline cubic phase was transformed into stable polycrystalline hexagonal phase with partial conversion of ZnSe into ZnO. The optical band gap, E_g, of as-deposited film is 2.85 eV and electrical resistivity of the order of 10⁶-10⁷ Ω cm. Depending upon annealing temperature, decrease up to 0.15 eV and 10² Ω cm were observed in the optical band gap, E_g, and electrical resistivity, respectively.     

Triplet-Triplet fluorescence of 9,10-dibromanthracene in hexane

The temperature dependence of the triplet-triplet fluorescence (TTF) spectrum of 9,10-dibromanthracene in hexane is studied in the near infrared region between 800 and 1050 nm in the temperature range from 200 to 320 K. The TTF spectrum exhibits two distinct bands at 842 and 949 nm at 293 K. Upon cooling from 293 to 200 K, the intensity of the 842-nm band decreases and that of the 949-nm band increases. The different behavior of the band intensities is explained by the overlap of the emission at 950 nm, which can be related to a photoproduct. The 842-nm band is assigned to the 0-0 T ₂(³ B _1g →T ₁(³ B _2u transition. The quantum yield of TTF at 293 K measured within the 842-nm band is 8.3×10^?7 (±20%)), and for emission in the region from 800 to 1050 nm it is equal to 1.4×10^?6 (after subtraction of the contribution from the S ₁→S ₀ singlet-singlet fluorescence). The effect of the intersystem crossing and internal conversion on the temperature dependence of TTF is discussed.     

High resolution measurements of the line positions and strengths of the 2ν2 band of H2CO

Spectra of the 2ν₂ band of formaldehyde have been obtained with high resolution (0.035 cm^?1). Measurements were made with path lengths of 8, 16, and 24 m and at sample pressures from 0.1 to 0.3 mm Hg at room temperature (～296°K). From these data, the following constants were determined for the 2ν₂ band in wavenumber units: v₀=3471.718±0.004,A=9.3958±030013,B=1.28100±0.00024,C=1.11662±0.00024, Tbbb=-12.8±0.5×10^-6,Taabb=60±5×10^-6. The line strengths were also obtained from the data. The strengths were analyzed to determine the band strength and the rotational factors. At 296°K, the strength of the 2ν₂ band was found to be 15.5 ± 0.9 cm^?1/(cm·atm).     

Optical characterization of gallium antimonide highly doped with manganese

Gallium antimonide crystals highly doped with Mn were prepared by a liquid-phase-electroepitaxy growth method. The crystals exhibited high hole concentrations up to 6×10¹⁸ cm⁻³. Photoluminescence (PL) and transmission techniques were used for their investigation. Spectral line-shapes typical for highly doped semiconductors were observed. The lines revealed the features corresponding to band gap narrowing and valence-band filling phenomena. Values of the band-gap narrowing ΔE_g and the degree of the valence-band filling ΔE_F were estimated from the PL spectra. The ionization energy of the Mn acceptor E_i was estimated to be approximately 15.1-15.6 meV. At low temperatures, the PL maxima shifted relatively strongly towards higher energy with temperature. The shifts most probably resulted from a dramatic change in the electron density of states near the bottom of the conduction band. The extent of low-energy tails of the PL bands correlates with the doping levels. The transmission spectra exhibited an absorption band centred at around 774-780 meV. The band most probably originated in electron transitions from the level of spin-orbit splitting to the top of the valence band.     

Fabrication of nanostructured CuInS2 thin films by ion layer gas reaction method

CuInS₂ thin films were prepared by a two-stage ion layer gas reaction (ILGAR) process in which the Cu and In precursors were deposited on glass substrate by using a simple and low-cost dip coating technique and annealed in H₂S atmosphere at different temperatures. The influence of the annealing temperature (250-450 °C) on the particle size, crystal structure and optical properties of the CuInS₂ thin films was studied. Transmission electron microscopy revealed that the particle radii varied in the range 6-21 nm with annealing. XRD and SAED patterns indicated polycrystalline nature of the nanoparticles. The optical band gap (E_g) varied from 1.48 to 1.56 eV with variation of particle size. The variation of Urbach tail with temperature indicated higher density of the defects for the films annealed at lower temperature. From the Raman study, it was observed that the FWHM of the A₁ mode at ∼292 cm⁻¹ corresponding to the chalcopyrite phase of CuInS₂ decreased with increasing annealing temperature.     

Influence of interchain coupling on the one-dimensional magnon raman spectrum of CsCoBr3

Light scattering from magnons in CsCoBr₃ has been measured for temperatures well below the upper antiferromagnetic 3D ordering temperature of T^l_N = 28 K. These experiments reveal multiple magnon features of energies in the range 90 to 170 cm^-1 similar to those found in CsCoCl₃ but previously unobserved for the bromide. Prominent features in the spectrum and their temperature dependence are described in terms of a recent theory by Shiba. Other, weaker features are explained by a simple extension of the theory to include fluctuations. A new band is observed at 178 cm^-1, whose intensity drops sharply prior to the lower 3D ordering transition at T^∥_N = 10 K. This band is assigned to magnon-phonon combination scattering.     

Tunable diode laser measurements of spectral parameters of HCN at room temperature

A tunable infrared diode laser was used to record 17 fully resolved vibration-rotation transitions in the v₁ fundamental band of HCN at 3μ. The experiments were conducted in an absorption cell on room temperature mixtures of HCN diluted by N₂ and Ar. The v₁ fundamental band strength of HCN was determined to be 267±8 cm^-2 atm^-1 at 273.2 K. Small but significant reductions in the residual errors were obtained by using the Galatry profile rather than the Voigt profile to fit the experimentally recorded line shapes. Collisional broadening and narrowing parameters were determined simultaneously from Galatry profile fits to the data. The collision-broadened linewidths of HCN lines in N₂ and Ar were determined as a function of rotational quantum number of transitions ranging from P(14) to R(14) (3268.22-3353.29 cm^-1). The optical diffusion coefficients of HCN in N₂ and Ar at 300 K were determined from the collisional narrowing parameters and were 0.074±0.01 and 0.016±0.03 cm²s^-1 respectively.     

High-temperature electrical properties of yttrium iron garnet under varying oxygen pressures

The d.c. conductivity and Seebeck coefficient of Ca and Mg doped YIG have been measured at 1200–1700 K. A change of p-type to n-type conductivity was accomplished by varying the oxygen pressure between 1 and 10^-8 atm. From the position of the conductivity minimum as a function of temperature the band gap energy is estimated to be 2.85 eV.