Intersubband absorption in highly photoexcited semiconductor quantum wells

Transient mid infrared (MIR) absorption spectroscopy is used to investigate transitions between higher electronic subbands in semiconductor quantum well (QW) structures after interband photoexcitation with intense picosecond pulses in the visible spectral range. Our investigation focuses on the e₂–e₃ intersubband transition in an asymmetric undoped GaAs/AlGaAs QW structure. At an injected nonequilibrium carrier density of 1×10¹³ cm⁻²/QW, an e₂–e₃ absorption band at 99 meV with a spectral width of 5 meV is found. For a higher density studied, 3×10¹³ cm⁻²/QW, the band is broadened and blueshifted by 30 meV. Intersubband absorption signals are distinguished from free-carrier absorption signals in the MIR by their characteristic time behavior.     

Ohmic contact and space-charge-limited current in molybdenum oxide modified devices

The effect of indium-tin oxide (ITO) surface treatment on hole injection of devices with molybdenum oxide (MoO₃) as a buffer layer on ITO was studied. The Ohmic contact is formed at the metal/organic interface due to high work function of MoO₃. Hence, the current is due to space charge limited when ITO is positively biased. The hole mobility of N, N′-bis-(1-napthyl)-N, N′-diphenyl-1, 1′biphenyl-4, 4′-diamine (NPB) at various thicknesses (100–400 nm) has been estimated by using space-charge-limited current measurements. The hole mobility of NPB, 1.09×10⁻⁵ cm²/V s at 100 nm is smaller than the value of 1.52×10⁻⁴ cm²/V s at 400 nm at 0.8 MV/cm, which is caused by the interfacial trap states restricted by the surface interaction. The mobility is hardly changed with NPB thickness for the effect of interfacial trap states on mobility which can be negligible when the thickness is more than 300 nm.     

Carrier concentration and shallow electron states in In-doped hydrothermally grown ZnO

Single-crystal ZnO has been hydrothermally grown with additional In₂O₃ in the solution. Schottky barrier contacts have been deposited by electron beam evaporation of Pd onto the face. Capacitance–voltage measurements have been performed to reveal the carrier concentration as a function of the In₂O₃ content in the solution, and secondary-ion mass spectrometry was used to measure the resulting In concentration in the samples. For an In₂O₃ content of 2×10¹⁹ cm⁻³, the average free electron concentration increased to 5×10¹⁸ cm⁻³ compared to 4×10¹⁷ cm⁻³ for the non-doped material. An increase of the In₂O₃ content to 4×10¹⁹ cm⁻³ leads to a measured carrier concentration of approximately 1×10¹⁹ cm⁻³; however, only up to a quarter of the incorporated In became electrically active. From thermal admittance spectroscopy measurements two prominent electronic levels are found, and compared with to the non-doped material case, the freeze-out of the shallow doping in the In-doped samples takes place at lower temperatures (below 80 K).     

Characterization of InN epilayers grown on Si(1 1 1) substrates at various temperatures by MBE

InN films have been grown by plasma-assisted molecular beam epitaxy (PAMBE) and characterized by various technologies. It was found that the structural, optical and electrical properties can be drastically improved by raising growth temperature from 440 to 525 °C. Grainy morphology was found in the grain size was found in atomic force microscope images. The large grain size was about 360 nm for a film grown at 525 °C. These films exhibited Wurtzite structure with a c/a ratio ranging from 1.59 to 1.609. The dislocation densities estimated by X-ray diffraction techniques closely agreed with those analyzed by plan-view transmission electron microscopy. Photoluminescence (PL) studies confirmed near band-to-band transitions and the narrowest low-temperature PL peak width was found to be 24 meV at 0.666 eV. Carrier concentrations decreased from 1.44×10¹⁹ to 1.66×10¹⁸ cm⁻³ and Hall mobility increased from 226 to 946 cm² V⁻¹ s⁻¹ as the growth temperature is progressively increased from 440 to 525 °C. Raman spectra also indicated improved crystal quality as the growth temperature was raised.     

Structural and physical properties of ZnO:Al films grown on glass by direct current magnetron sputtering with the oblique target

ZnO:Al films were deposited on glass substrates at 300 K and 673 K by direct current magnetron sputtering with the oblique target. The Ar pressure was adjusted to 0.4 Pa and 1.2 Pa, respectively. All the films have a wurtzite structure and grow with a c-axis orientation in the film growth direction. The films grow mainly with columnar grains perpendicular to the substrate and some granular grains also exist in the films. The film deposited at 673 K and 0.4 Pa has the largest grains whereas that prepared at 300 K and 0.4 Pa consists of the smallest grains and is porous. The films exhibit an n-type semiconducting behavior at room temperature. The ZnO:Al film deposited at 673 K and 0.4 Pa has the lowest resistivity (3.40 × 10⁻³ Ω cm), the highest free electron concentration (4.63 × 10²⁰ cm⁻³) and a moderate Hall mobility (4.0 cm² V⁻¹ s⁻¹). The film deposited at 300 K and 0.4 Pa has the highest resistivity and the lowest free electron concentration and Hall mobility. A temperature dependence of the resistivity reveals that the carrier transport mechanism is Mott’s variable range hopping in the temperature region below 100 K and thermally activated band conduction above 215 K. The activation energy for the film deposited at 300 K and 0.4 Pa is 41 meV and that for the other films is about 35 meV. All the films have an average optical transmittance of over 85% in the visible wavelength range. The absorption edge of the film deposited at 300 K and 0.4 Pa shifts to the longer wavelength (redshift) relative to the films prepared under the other conditions.     

Electron stimulated desorption of CO from

The electron impact behavior of CO adsorbed on was investigated. The desorption products observed were neutral CO, CO⁺, and O⁺. After massive electron impact residual carbon, C/W = 0.15, but not oxygen was also found, suggesting that energetic neutral O, not detected in a mass analyzer must also have been formed. Formation of β-CO, i.e., dissociated CO with C and O on the surface was not seen. The total disappearance cross section varies only slightly with coverage, ranging from 9 × 10 ⁻¹⁸ cm² at low to 5 × 10⁻¹⁸ cm² at saturation (CO/W = 0.75). The cross section for CO⁺ formation varies from 4 × 10⁻²² cm² at satura to 2 × 10⁻²¹ cm² at low coverage. That for O⁺ formation is 1.4 × 10⁻²² cm² at saturation and 2 × 10⁻²¹ cm² Threshold energies are similar to those found previously [J.C. Lin and R. Gomer, Surf. Sci. 218 (1989) 406] for and CO/Cu₁/W(110) which suggests similar mechanisms for product formation, with the exception of β-CO on clean W(110). It is argued that the absence or presence of β-CO in ESD hinges on its formation or absence in thermal desorption, since electron impact is likely to present the surface with vibrationally and rotationally activated CO in all cases; β-CO formation only occurs on surfaces which can dissociate such CO. It was also found that ESD of CO led to a work function increase of the remaining Pd₁/W(110) surface of 500 meV, which could be annealed out only at 900 K. This is attributed to surface roughness, caused by recoil momentum of energetic desorbing entities.     

Effect of oxygen partial pressure on the structural and optical properties of dc reactive magnetron sputtered molybdenum oxide films

Molybdenum oxide films (MoO₃) were deposited on glass and crystalline silicon substrates by sputtering of molybdenum target under various oxygen partial pressures in the range 8 × 10⁻⁵–8 × 10⁻⁴ mbar and at a fixed substrate temperature of 473 K employing dc magnetron sputtering technique. The influence of oxygen partial pressure on the composition stoichiometry, chemical binding configuration, crystallographic structure and electrical and optical properties was systematically studied. X-ray photoelectron spectra of the films formed at 8 × 10⁻⁵ mbar showed the presence of Mo⁶⁺ and Mo⁵⁺ oxidation states of MoO₃ and MoO_3−x. The films deposited at oxygen partial pressure of 2 × 10⁻⁴ mbar showed Mo⁶⁺ oxidation state indicating the films were nearly stoichiometric. It was also confirmed by the Fourier transform infrared spectroscopic studies. X-ray diffraction studies revealed that the films formed at oxygen partial pressure of 2 × 10⁻⁴ mbar showed the presence of (0 k 0) reflections indicated the layered structure of α-phase MoO₃. The electrical conductivity of the films decreased from 3.6 × 10⁻⁵ to 1.6 × 10⁻⁶ Ω⁻¹ cm⁻¹, the optical band gap of the films increased from 2.93 to 3.26 eV and the refractive index increased from 2.02 to 2.13 with the increase of oxygen partial pressure from 8 × 10⁻⁵ to 8 × 10⁻⁴ mbar, respectively.     

The Hall effect in selectively doped strained-layer Ge-Ge1−xSix superlattices superlattices

For the first time, research on the unique galvanomagnetic properties of the hole gas in the channels of selectively doped CVD Ge-Ge_1−XSi_X (X≤0, 2) superlattices with strained Ge layers was carried out. We have obtained a high value of the hole mobility 1.5 × 10⁴ cm²/V s (T = 4, 2 K) at a hole concentrations of (1–5) × 10¹⁷ cm⁻³ in SLs channels. It is shown that the main contribution into the longitudinal conductivity of strained Ge-Ge_1−XSi_X SL due to light hole band splitting under the strains in Ge layers.     

Structural properties of 10 μm thick InN grown on sapphire (0001)

The structural properties of a 10 μm thick In-face InN film, grown on Al₂O₃ (0001) by radio-frequency plasma-assisted molecular beam epitaxy, were investigated by transmission electron microscopy and high resolution x-ray diffraction. Electron microscopy revealed the presence of threading dislocations of edge, screw and mixed type, and the absence of planar defects. The dislocation density near the InN/sapphire interface was 1.55×10¹⁰ cm⁻², 4.82×10⁸ cm⁻² and 1.69×10⁹ cm⁻² for the edge, screw and mixed dislocation types, respectively. Towards the free surface of InN, the density of edge and mixed type dislocations decreased to 4.35×10⁹ cm⁻² and 1.20×10⁹ cm⁻², respectively, while the density of screw dislocations remained constant. Using x-ray diffraction, dislocations with screw component were found to be 1.2×10⁹ cm⁻², in good agreement with the electron microscopy results. Comparing electron microscopy results with x-ray diffraction ones, it is suggested that pure edge dislocations are neither completely randomly distributed nor completely piled up in grain boundaries within the InN film.     

Spectral characterization and energy levels of Cr:Sc2(MoO4)3 crystal

This paper reports the spectral properties and energy levels of Cr³⁺:Sc₂(MoO₄)₃ crystal. The crystal field strength Dq, Racah parameter B and C were calculated to be 1408 cm⁻¹, 608 cm⁻¹ and 3054 cm⁻¹, respectively. The absorption cross sections σ_α of ⁴A₂→⁴T₁ and ⁴A₂→⁴T₂ transitions were 3.74×10⁻¹⁹ cm² at 499 nm and 3.21×10⁻¹⁹ cm² at 710 nm, respectively. The emission cross section σ_e was 375×10⁻²⁰ cm² at 880 nm. Cr³⁺:Sc₂(MoO₄)₃ crystal has a broad emission band with a broad FWHM of 176 nm (2179 cm⁻¹). Therefore, Cr³⁺:Sc₂(MoO₄)₃ crystal may be regarded as a potential tunable laser gain medium.     

Mobility of electrons and holes in an n-type organic semiconductor perylene diimide thin film

N,N′-diphenylbutyl-3,4,9,10-perylenebiscarboximide (PTCDI-C4Ph) were characterized by optical and electrochemical methods. A device with an ITO/PTCDI-C4Ph (≈2 μm)/Al structure was fabricated to measure mobility by time-of-flight techniques. This vacuum deposited organic layer was an amorphous state. Electrons were observed faster than holes. The electron and hole mobilities were 1.8 × 10⁻⁴ cm²/V s and 1.1 × 10⁻⁴ cm²/V s under the electric field of 500 (V/cm)^1/2, respectively. This result shows that this organic compound is a good candidate for an n-type conduction.     

Carrier-induced ferromagnetic order in the narrow gap III–V magnetic alloy semiconductor (In,Mn)Sb

Preparation and physical properties of p- and n-InMnSb epitaxial films with Mn contents up to 10% were studied with the aim of seeking phenomena induced by the spin exchange interaction between carrier and Mn spins. For p-type samples with Mn_eff=4.5×10²⁰ and p=1.1×10²⁰ cm⁻³, carrier-induced ferromagnetic order with a Curie temperature of 20 K was observed. The sign of the anomalous Hall coefficient is found to be negative. Tellurium-doped n-type samples (n=8.6×10¹⁸ cm⁻³) with net Mn contents of 10% are found to be paramagnetic.     

Effect of fluorine doping on highly transparent conductive spray deposited nanocrystalline tin oxide thin films

The undoped and fluorine doped thin films are synthesized by using cost-effective spray pyrolysis technique. The dependence of optical, structural and electrical properties of SnO₂ films, on the concentration of fluorine is reported. Optical absorption, X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscope (SEM) and Hall effect studies have been performed on SnO₂:F (FTO) films coated on glass substrates. The film thickness varies from 800 to 1572 nm. X-ray diffraction pattern reveals the presence of cassiterite structure with (2 0 0) preferential orientation for FTO films. The crystallite size varies from 35 to 66 nm. SEM and AFM study reveals the surface of FTO to be made of nanocrystalline particles. The electrical study reveals that the films are degenerate and exhibit n-type electrical conductivity. The 20 wt% F doped film has a minimum resistivity of 3.8 × 10⁻⁴ Ω cm, carrier density of 24.9 × 10²⁰ cm⁻³ and mobility of 6.59 cm² V⁻¹ s⁻¹. The sprayed FTO film having minimum resistance of 3.42 Ω/cm², highest figure of merit of 6.18 × 10⁻² Ω⁻¹ at 550 nm and 96% IR reflectivity suggest, these films are useful as conducting layers in electrochromic and photovoltaic devices and also as the passive counter electrode.     

High sensitivity CW-cavity ring down spectroscopy of CO2 near 1.35 μm (I): line positions

The absorption spectrum of carbon dioxide in natural isotopic abundance has been investigated by CW-cavity ring down spectroscopy with a new setup based on fibred distributed feedback (DFB) laser diodes. By using a series of 25 DFB lasers, the CO₂ spectrum was recorded in the 7123–7793 cm⁻¹ region with a typical sensitivity of 3×10⁻¹⁰ cm⁻¹. A 2125 transitions with intensities as low as 1×10⁻²⁹ cm/molecule were detected and assigned to the ¹²C¹⁶O₂, ¹⁶O¹²C¹⁷O and ¹⁶O¹²C¹⁸O isotopologues. For comparison, only 357 of them were previously reported from Venus spectra and 344 transitions were included in the 2004 version of the HITRAN database. The band by band analysis has led to the determination of the rovibrational parameters of 28, 2 and 6 bands for the ¹²C¹⁶O₂, ¹⁶O¹²C¹⁷O and ¹⁶O¹²C¹⁸O isotopologue, respectively. While the uncertainty on the experimental line positions is on the order of 5×10⁻⁴ cm⁻¹, the average deviation from the ¹²C¹⁶O₂ calculated values provided by the most recent version of the carbon dioxide spectroscopic databank (CDSD) is −2.8×10⁻³ cm⁻¹ with an root mean square (rms) deviation of 3.5×10⁻³ cm⁻¹. Maximum deviations in the order of 0.02 and 0.12 cm⁻¹ were evidenced for some bands of the ¹⁶O¹²C¹⁷O and ¹⁶O¹²C¹⁸O minor isotopologues. The obtained results improve significantly the previous measurements from Venus spectra and will be valuable to refine the sets of effective Hamiltonian parameters used to generate the CDSD database.     

Nonlinear optical properties of Cu nanocluster composite fabricated by 180 keV ion implantation

Metal nanocluster composite glass prepared by 180 keV Cu ions into silica with dose of 5×10¹⁶ ions/cm² has been studied. The microstructural properties of the nanoclusters has been verified by optical absorption spectra and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). Third-order nonlinear optical properties of the nanoclusters were measured at 1064 and 532 nm excitations using Z-scan technique. The nonlinear refraction index, nonlinear absorption coefficient, and the real and imaginary parts of the third-order nonlinear susceptibility were deduced. Results of the investigation of nonlinear refraction by the off-axis Z-scan configuration were presented and the mechanisms responsible for the nonlinear response were discussed. Third-order nonlinear susceptibility χ⁽³⁾ of this kind of sample was determined to be 8.7×10⁻⁸ esu at 532 nm and 6.0×10⁻⁸ esu at 1064 nm, respectively.     

Rotational absorption spectrum of methylene fluoride in the 20–100 cm region

The pure rotational spectrum of CH₂F₂ was recorded in the 20–100 cm⁻¹ spectral range and analyzed to obtain rotation and centrifugal distortion constants. Analysis of the data yielded rotation constants: A = 1.6392173 ± 0.0000015, B = 0.3537342 ± 0.00000033, C = 0.3085387 ± 0.00000027, τ_aaaa = −(7.64 ± 0.46) × 10⁻⁵, τ_bbbb = −(2.076 ± 0.016) × 10⁻⁶, τ_cccc = −(9.29 ± 0.12) × 10⁻⁷, T₁ = (4.89 ± 0.20) × 10⁻⁶, and T₂ = −(1.281 ± 0.016) × 10⁻⁶cm⁻¹.     

High Resolution Study of Deuterated Hydrogen Sulfide in the Region 2400-3000 cm

High resolution Fourier transform spectra of deuterated hydrogen sulfide have been recorded in the region 2400-3000 cm⁻¹. Rotational structures of the ν₁ + ν₂, ν₂ + ν₃ bands of D₂³²S, of the ν₃ and ν₁ + ν₂ bands of HD³²S, and of the ν₁ + ν₂ band of HD³⁴S were analyzed. Band centers and rotational, centrifugal distortion, and resonance parameters were obtained, which reproduce the initial values of the upper energy levels within a mean accuracy of 1.39 × 10⁻⁴ cm⁻¹ for the states (110) and (011) of D₂³²S, 1.61 × 10⁻⁴ cm⁻¹ and 1.82 × 10⁻⁴ cm⁻¹ for the states (001) and (110) of HD³²S, and 2.09 × 10⁻⁴ cm⁻¹ for the state (110) of HD³⁴S, respectively.     

Line strength measurements of carbonyl sulfide (OCS) in the 2v3, v1+2v2+v3, and 4v2+v3 bands

To support planetary studies of the Venus atmosphere, we measured line strengths of the 2v₃, v₁+2v₂+v₃, and 4v₂+v₃ bands of the primary isotopologue of carbonyl sulfide (¹⁶O¹²C³²S), whose band centers are located at 4101.387, 3937.427, and 4141.212 cm⁻¹, respectively. For this, infrared absorption spectra in normal carbonyl sulfide (OCS) sample gas were recorded at an unapodized resolution of 0.0033 cm⁻¹ at ambient room temperatures using a Bruker Fourier transform spectrometer (FTS) at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory. The FTS instrumental line shape (ILS) function was investigated, which revealed no significant instrumental line broadening or distortions. Various custom-made short cells and a multi-pass White cell were employed to achieve optical densities sufficient to observe the strong 2v₃ and the weaker bands in the region. Gas sample impurities and the isotopic abundances were determined from mass spectrum analysis. Line strengths were retrieved spectrum by spectrum using a non-linear curve fitting algorithm adopting a standard Voigt line profile, from which Herman–Wallis factors were derived for the three bands. The band strengths of 2v₃, v₁+2v₂+v₃, and 4v₂+v₃ of ¹⁶O¹²C³²S (normalized at 100% of isotopologue) are observed to be 6.315(13)×10⁻¹⁹, 1.570(2)×10⁻²⁰, and 7.949(20)×10⁻²¹ cm⁻¹/molecule cm⁻², respectively, at 296 K. These results are compared with earlier measurements and the HITRAN 2004 database.     

Analysis of the 2ν3 band of CD3F at 5.06 μm recorded under high resolution

The 2ν₃(A₁) band of ¹²CD₃F near 5.06 μm has been recorded with a resolution of 20–24 × 10⁻³ cm⁻¹. The value of the parameter (α^B − α^A) for this band was found to be very small and, therefore, the K structure of the R(J) and P(J) manifolds was unresolved for J < 15 and only partially resolved for larger J values. The band was analyzed using standard techniques and values for the following constants determined: ν₀ = 1977.178(3) cm⁻¹, B″ = 0.68216(9) cm⁻¹, D″_J = 1.10(30) × 10⁻⁶ cm⁻¹, α^B = (B″ − B′) = 3.086(7) × 10⁻³ cm⁻¹, and β^J = (D″_J − D′_J) = −3.24(11) × 10⁻⁷ cm⁻¹. A value of α^A = (A″ − A′) = 2.90(5) × 10⁻³ cm⁻¹ has been obtained through band contour simulations of the R(J) and P(J) multiplets.     

Low resistance nonalloyed Al-based ohmic contacts on n-ZnO:Al

We have investigated the electrical properties of nonalloyed Al, Al/Au, and Al/Pt ohmic contacts on n-type ZnO:Al (2×10¹⁸ cm⁻³). All Al-based nonalloyed ohmic contacts on the n-ZnO:Al reveal linear current–voltage behavior with low specific contact resistivity of 8.5×10⁻⁴ (Al), 8.0×10⁻⁵ (Al/Au) and 1.2×10⁻⁵ Ω cm² (Al/Pt), respectively. Using secondary ion mass spectroscopy (SIMS) and x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) depth profiles, it was found that the O atoms in the ZnO:Al layer outdiffused to Al metal layer while the Al atoms indiffused to the surface region of ZnO:Al. This interdiffusion between Al and O atoms at room temperature results in an increase of doping concentration in the surface region of the ZnO:Al and reduces a specific contact resistivity of the Al-based ohmic contacts without thermal annealing process.