Surface electromagnetic waves supported by nano conducting layers with inhomogeneities in the conductivity profile

Conducting interfaces and nano conducting layers can support surface electromagnetic waves. Uniform charge layers of non-zero thickness and their asymptotic behavior toward conducting interfaces of infinitely small thicknesses, where the thin charge layer is modeled via a surface conductivity σ _s , are already studied. Here, the possible effects of inhomogeneity in the conductivity profile of the thin conducting layers are investigated for the first time and a new approximate yet accurate enough analytical formulation for mode extraction in such structures is given. In order to rigorously analyze the structure and justify the proposed approximate formulation, the Galerkin’s method with Legendre polynomial basis functions is applied, i.e. the transverse electric field for the TE polarized surface waves and the transverse magnetic field for the TM polarized surface waves are each expanded in terms of Legendre polynomials and then each eigenmode; subjected to appropriate boundary conditions, is sought in the complete space spanned by Legendre basis functions. The proposed approximate solution is then proved to be accurate. In particular, sinusoidal fluctuations are introduced into formerly uniform conductivity profiles and it is numerically demonstrated that surface electromagnetic waves supported by nano conducting layers are not much sensitive to the very shape of conductivity profiles.     

Temperature effect on the trapped-charge relaxation in (Ba,Sr)TiO3 films on silicon

The trapped-charge relaxation has been calculated for a two-layer insulator with negligible conductivity in one of the layers the conductivity of the other layer obeying the Pool-Frenkel mechanism. The calculated values are compared with the experimental data on the trapped-charge relaxation in (Ba,Sr)TiO₃ films on silicon substrates. On the basis of this comparison, the depth of location and concentration of Frenkel emission centers are estimated. The results obtained can be used in the analysis of relaxation processes in ferroelectrics, which have strong electric fields in surface layers.     

Anomalous Hall effect in magnetic sandwiches with a dielectric spacer

Quantum-statistical calculations are presented for the anomalous Hall effect in a magnetic sandwich with a tunnel junction across a thin dielectric spacer. The tunneling current flows across the junction perpendicular to the plane of the layers while the Hall component of the current lies in this plane. The Kubo formalism and the Green’s functions are used to calculate the contribution of skew scattering to the Hall conductivity. The classical size effect in the Hall conductivity of this structure is studied and two new effects are observed. One is associated with the dependence of the effective electric field in the magnet on the transparency of the dielectric potential barrier for electrons when the current flows perpendicular to the layers of the structure and may be called “ geometric”. The other occurs as a result of the influence of the strong electric field in the dielectric on the electron motion in the adjacent magnetic layers.     

Measurement of the conductivity of nonuniform semiconductor layers by a probe method

The paper deals with the study, by a 4-probe method, of semiconductor layers which are non-uniform in depth. The appropriate boundary conditions in electrodynamics are solved and equations are obtained which enable the average values of the electric conductivity to be calculated from the results of 4-probe measurements. It is shown how to use the equations to measure the surface conductivity of semiconducting layers and to determine how this quantity varies.Translated from Izvestiya Vysshikh Uchebnykh Zavedenii Fizika, No. 10, pp. 33–38, October, 1971     

Measuring the electrical conductivity and the hall coefficient for semiconductor structures inhomogeneous with depth

The well-known four-point probe method of combined measurements of electrical conductivity and the Hall coefficient of semiconductor layers is developed further in the present work. Formulas are derived that allow the electrical conductivity and the Hall coefficient to be averaged over layers inhomogeneous with depth. Analytical expressions for calculating correction factors for this measurement method are obtained, and practical recommendations for their calculation on a computer are also given. Lipetsk State Pedagogical Institute. Translated from Izvestiya Vysshikh Uchebnykh Zavedenii, Fizika, No. 1, pp. 46–51, January, 2000.     

The electric conductivity of a laminated metal system (alternating magnetic and nonmagnetic layers)

A set of kinetic equations for the distribution functions of carriers differing both by the energy spectrum and by the spin projection is used to investigate the conductivity of a multilayer sample (alternating layers of magnetic (m) and nonmagnetic (_n) metals). The boundary conditions on the interlayer surfaces are derived in an approximation in which the surface scattering is divided into “specular” and “diffuse” scattering and is characterized by scattering parameters (reflection and transmission) which are related to each other by relations dependent on spin projections and on the type of spectrum. The problem on the longitudinal (with respect to the layers) current is treated; situations are analyzed in which the variation in conductivity due to the change of mutual orientation of magnetization in successive m layers from antiparallel to parallel may be of the order of the values of the conductivity proper (the so-called giant magnetoresistance effect). This is possible only in the case of thin (compared with the free path) n layers (in m layers, the ratios of the characteristic dimensions may be arbitrary) and in the mandatory presence of specular surface scattering. Results are given for different possible ratios of Fermi momenta of electron groups and for different fractions of specular and diffuse scattering. The possibility of realizing the effects of both signs is demonstrated.     

Minimum thermal conductivity of superlattices

The phonon thermal conductivity of a multilayer is calculated for transport perpendicular to the layers. There is a crossover between particle transport for thick layers to wave transport for thin layers. The calculations show that the conductivity has a minimum value for a layer thickness somewhat smaller then the mean free path of the phonons.     

The conductivity of the spin-polarized two-dimensional electron gas: Exchange/correlation and strong disorder effects

The conductivity of a spin-polarized two-dimensional electron gas is calculated and compared with the conductivity of the unpolarized electron gas. Disorder effects are considered within the self-consistent current relaxation theory, which gives rise to a crossover point from metallic to insulating behavior. Many-body effects due to exchange and correlation are taken into account and are described by a local-field correction. Our calculations are in good agreement with recent experimental results on the magnetoresistance of silicon inversion layers.     

Quantum Hall effect-insulator transition in the InAs/GaAs system with quantum dots

The InAs/GaAs structures consisting of quantum-dot layers with electronic properties typical of two-dimensional systems are investigated. It is found that, at a low concentration of charge carriers, the variable-range-hopping conductivity is observed at low temperatures. The localization length corresponds to characteristic quantum-dot cluster sizes determined using atomic-force microscopy (AFM). The quantum Hall effect-insulator transition induced by a magnetic field occurs in InAs/GaAs quantum-dot layers with metallic conductivity. The resistivities at the transition point exceed the resistivities characteristic of electrons in heterostructures and quantum wells. This can be explained by the large-scale fluctuations of the potential and, hence, the electron density.     

Simple formulas for the oscillating component of the electrical conductivity of layered chargeordered crystals

In the present paper, oscillations of the longitudinal component of the electrical conductivity of layered crystals are examined in electric and quantizing magnetic fields perpendicular to the layers. It is demonstrated that frequencies and amplitudes of longitudinal conductivity oscillations can be determined with sufficient accuracy through the chemical potential of the electron gas and effective width of the miniband caused by the charge ordering. In addition, based on an analysis of formulas for the transverse conductivity, it is established that the applicability limits for the transverse conductivity in the semiclassical approximation (for the magnetic field induction) in the field perpendicular to the layers are much wider than for the longitudinal conductivity. An immediate reason for this is the zero longitudinal velocity of current carriers in the extreme cross sections, which leads to the field dependence of the amplitudes of longitudinal conductivity oscillations stronger than of transverse ones. Calculated results are used to interpret experimental data obtained for the β-(ET)2IBr2 synthetic metals. __________ Translated from Izvestiya Vysshikh Uchebnykh Zavedenii, Fizika, No. 5, pp. 34–43, May, 2006.     

Electrical properties of semiconductor surfaces

The formation of space charge layers by the action of surface states and the influence of more than one bulk impurity level are treated. Special attention is given to compound semiconductors. Recent experimental results are reported of subband spectroscopy, work function measurements, and metal semiconductor junction investigations. Requirements for simultaneous surface conductivity and LEED measurements are given. The contribution of various scattering processes to the dc conductivity is discussed. Finally the relations between surface reactions and space charge layers are considered.     

Structural, morphology and electrical properties of layered copper selenide thin film

Thin films of copper selenide (CuSe) were physically deposited layer-by-layer up to 5 layers using thermal evaporation technique onto a glass substrate. Various film properties, including the thickness, structure, morphology, surface roughness, average grain size and electrical conductivity are studied and discussed. These properties are characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), atomic force microscopy (AFM), ellipsometer and 4 point probe at room temperature. The dependence of electrical conductivity, surface roughness, and average grain size on number of layers deposited is discussed.      

Graphene to graphite; a layer by layer experimental measurements and density function theory calculations of electric conductivity

ABSTRACT

We measured the electric conductivity of large (25?×?50?mm) graphene films as a function of number of layers in the range of 1–20 layers. We also calculated the energy gap for such samples using density function theory. Our results showed a conductivity slightly above that of ITO for monolayer graphene and an exponential decrease as the number of graphene layers increased. Both experimental and simulation results showed a convergence of graphene into graphite at as little as 18–20 layers.     

Electrical conductivity and diffusion coefficient of electrons in a graphene bilayer

The electron diffusion coefficient and the electrical conductivity of a graphene bilayer in an external electric field with a strength vector directed along the graphene sheet are calculated theoretically. The evolution of the electron system is simulated using the Boltzmann kinetic equation in the relaxation-time semi-classical approximation. Analytic expressions are obtained for the electron diffusion coefficient and the electrical conductivity, and the nonlinear dependences of these quantities on the electric field are established. The dependences of these quantities on the control electrostatic potential between graphene layers are analyzed.     

Thermoelectric effect in laser annealed printed nanocrystalline silicon layers

Nanocrystalline boron and phosphorus doped silicon particles were produced in a microwave reactor, collected, and dispersed in ethanol. Pulsed laser annealing of spin‐coated films of these particles resulted in p‐ and n‐type conductive layers on flexible substrates if a threshold laser energy density of 60 mJ/cm² was exceeded. The thermopower of the laser sintered layers exhibits a distinct maximum at a doping concen‐ tration around 10¹⁹ cm^–3 for both boron and phosphorus doping with an absolute value of the Seebeck coefficient of about 300 µV/K. Since the thermal conductivity of the layers is reduced by nearly the same factor compared to bulk crystalline silicon as the electrical conductivity, these results are promising for the application of such nanocrystalline layers in thin film thermoelectric devices. (© 2007 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)     

Interlayer quasiparticle transport in the vortex state of josephson coupled superconductors

We calculate the dependence of the interlayer quasiparticle conductivity, sigma(q), in a Josephson coupled d-wave superconductor on the magnetic field B parallelc and the temperature T. We consider a clean superconductor with resonant impurity scattering and a dominant coherent interlayer tunneling. When pancake vortices in adjacent layers are weakly correlated, at low T the conductivity increases sharply with B over a field scale determined by the impurity scattering, before reaching an extended region of slow linear growth. At high T the conductivity initially decreases and then reaches the same linear regime. For correlated pancakes, sigma(q) increases much more strongly with the applied field.     

Thermal conductivity of GaS and GaSe layered semiconductors

This paper reports on the results of experimental investigations into the thermal conductivity of GaS and GaSe layered semiconductor crystals in directions parallel and perpendicular to the crystal layers in the temperature range 5–300 K. Specific features of the thermal conductivity of these crystals are analyzed.     

Insulated electrodes for eliminating conductivity in dielectric relaxation experiments

In a variety of samples, conductivity is a limiting factor regarding the resolution of dielectric loss peaks of interest. One approach to eliminating the signal that originates from conductivity is the use of insulating layers on one or both electrodes. For the typical case, it is shown that insulation layers add errors rather than improving the situation.     

Interpretation of transport measurements in ZnO-thin films

In order to interpret results of temperature dependent Hall measurements in heteroepitaxial ZnO-thin films, we adopted a multilayer conductivity model considering carrier-transport through the interfacial layer with degenerate electron gas as well as the upper part of ZnO layers with lower conductivity. This model was applied to the temperature dependence of the carrier concentration and mobility measured by Hall effect in a ZnO-layer grown on c-sapphire with conventional high-temperature MgO and low-temperature ZnO buffer. We also compared our results with the results of maximum entropy mobility-spectrum analysis (MEMSA). The formation of the highly conductive interfacial layer was explained by analysis of transmission electron microscopy (TEM) images taken from similar layers.     

Subsurface layers with degenerate hole gas arising in germanium immersed into liquid helium under 60Co-gamma irradiation

Abstract

The subsurface layers with quasi-metal hole conductivity have been observed in n- and p-Ge immersed into liquid He under the ⁶⁰Co-gamma-irradiation. three conditions are to be fulfilled simultaneously for the production of the layers: low temperature, direct contact between helium and germanium and gammairradiation.