Complex boron redistribution kinetics in strongly doped polycrystalline‐silicon/nitrogen‐doped‐silicon thin bi‐layers

We have investigated the complex behaviour of boron (B) redistribution process via silicon thin bi‐layers interface. It concerns the instantaneous kinetics of B transfer, trapping, clustering and segregation during the thermal B activation annealing. The used silicon bi‐layers have been obtained by low pressure chemical vapor deposition (LPCVD) method at 480 °C, by using in‐situ nitrogen‐doped‐silicon (NiDoS) layer and strongly B doped polycrystalline‐silicon (P⁺) layer. To avoid long‐range B redistributions, thermal annealing was carried out at relatively low‐temperatures (600 °C and 700 °C) for various times ranging between 30 min and 2 h. To investigate the experimental secondary ion mass spectroscopy (SIMS) doping profiles, a redistribution model well adapted to the particular structure of two thin layers and to the effects of strong‐concentrations has been established. The good adjustment of the simulated profiles with the experimental SIMS profiles allowed a fundamental understanding about the instantaneous physical phenomena giving and disturbing the complex B redistribution profiles‐shoulders. The increasing kinetics of the B peak concentration near the bi‐layers interface is well reproduced by the established model.     

Growth of semi-insulating InP by GSMBE

Fe doped semi-insulating InP layers have been grown by gas source MBE with a solid iron source. Structure as n-i-n, p-i-n and p-n-i-n were characterized by I(V) measurements and secondary ion mass spectroscopy profiling (SIMS). As shown by SIMS, uniform Fe doping and abrupt transitions are achieved for the different structures studied. Resistivities as high as 1.5×10⁹ Ω cm are determined from I(V) curves for Fe concentrations in the 10¹⁷ cm^-3 range. Lasers with semi-insulating layers have been realized for the first time by gas source MBE. Preliminary results show power emission of 43 mW, without antireflecting coating, comparable to state-of-the-art characteristics.     

Plasma‐enhanced chemical vapor deposition of 99.95% 28Si in form of nano‐ and polycrystals using silicon tetrafluoride precursor

The process of plasma chemical deposition of silicon was investigated from its tetrafluoride containing 99.99% of ²⁸Si isotope in the form of thin layer of nano‐crystalline silicon on silicon substrate and of thick layer of polycrystalline silicon on the inner surface of quartz reactor. The layers are characterized by the methods of X‐ray diffraction and Raman spectroscopy. Using the SIMS method the mechanism of isotopic dilution was investigated in the PECVD process (the content of ²⁸Si isotope in layers was 99.95‐99.98%). A necessity is indicated in thorough special preparation of the reactor for minimization of isotopic dilution in case of fabrication of silicon containing ≥99.9% of ²⁸Si. (© 2010 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)     

Alteration and corrosion phenomena in Roman submerged glass fragments

In the present paper the surface analytical techniques of XPS (X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy) and SIMS (secondary ions mass spectrometry) have allowed an understanding of the alteration and corrosion phenomena occurring in Roman glass fragments. The samples come from the seawater archaeological site of the Roman ship Iulia Felix, which sank near Grado (Gorizia, Italy) in the second century A.D. Through XPS the surface concentration of the main chemical elements and their depth profiles have been obtained. Attention has been focused on the oxidation states of the elements, oxygen/silicon ratio, peculiar presence of carbonate salts and concentration trends of some elements in the outer atomic layers. Depth trends of aluminium, calcium, magnesium and carbon were studied also through SIMS depth profiles. The whole set of XPS and SIMS data allows the segregation of particular chemical species and the evolution of the original glass to a multilayer system.     

A study of primary nucleation of calcium oxalate monohydrate: I‐Effect of supersaturation

There are various organic and inorganic constituents in kidney stones. Among them, calcium oxalate monohydrate (COM) is the primary inorganic constituent of kidney stones. However, the mechanisms of formation of kidney stones are not well understood. In this regard, a basic study is carried out for better understanding of nucleation, crystal growth and/or aggregation of formed COM crystals. The primary nucleation of calcium oxalate monohydrate is studied at the laboratory scale using turbidity measurements. Calcium chloride and potassium oxalate solutions are mixed and then added to a Turbidimeter tube for continuous recording of turbidity. Induction time (time to induce formation of detectable crystals) is estimated from time‐turbidity graphs. The effect of some urinary species, such as oxalate and calcium, on nucleation and crystallization characteristics of COM is determined by particle size distribution analysis, measuring weight of crystals and calculation of relative supersaturation. The classical nucleation theory is applied at high supersaturation ratios (SR) ranging from 1.6 to 2.2. The results indicate that nucleation rate increases with increasing supersaturation ratio from 0.81 × 10²⁸ nuclei/cm³.sec at 1.6 SR, to 18.02 × 10²⁸ nuclei/cm³.sec at 2.2 SR. On the other hand, free energy change and radius of critical nucleus are decreased as supersaturation ratio is increased. The nucleation rates are higher than those reported in literature. Such discrepancy is discussed on the bases of differences in experimental techniques. (© 2004 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)     

Electrical Properties of Praseodymium-doped GaAs and Al0.3Ga0.7As Epilayers

Praseodymium-doped GaAs and Al_0.3Ga_0.7As epilayers grown on Semi-Insulating (SI) GaAs substrates by Liquid Phase Epitaxy (LPE) were first studied in this present work. Measurement techniques, such as microscopic observation, X-ray diffraction, Secondary Ion Mass Spectroscopy (SIMS), and Hall measurement were employed. Layers doped with Pr resulted in a mirror-like surface, except several high Pr-doped layers having droplet surfaces. Hall measurements reveal that the grown layers contained p-type layers, carrier concentrations from 6.3 × 10¹⁵ to 1.2 × 10¹⁶ cm⁻³, and from 6.3 × 10¹⁵ to 3.5 × 10¹⁶ cm⁻³ for Pr-doped GaAs and Al_0.3Ga_0.7As epilayers, respectively. Although p-type conduction exists, in the light of electrical features, doping of Pr into the GaAs and Al_0.3Ga_0.7As growth melts, is still considered to exhibit gettering properties rather than to become a new acceptor itself. Additional photoluminescence examinations were taken. Their results also indicate that Pr-doped layers produce no new emission lines and support the electrical observations.     

Impurity incorporation in orientation patterned GaAs grown by low pressure HVPE

Orientation-patterned GaAs (OP-GaAs) has shown promise as an efficient frequency-shifted laser source over the range of 2–12 μm. In order to make OP-GaAs a viable source, efficiency and output power must be significantly increased, which requires minimizing major sources of loss. Low pressure HVPE has been adopted as the most suitable technique for regrowth of thick high quality GaAs layers on OP templates. We have explored process parameters in bulk and OP material to identify and control the sources of point defects, a key contributor to optical losses. Growth on OP templates with periodic [001] and [00?1] domains results in domain specific surface orientation, which should have inhomogeneous defect incorporation. Hall measurements, SIMS depth profiling, and cathodoluminescence (CL) were used to identify point defects in bulk and OP-GaAs. It was found that Si impurities are the primary source of donors, while V_Ga were identified as the primary source of acceptors. In order to study the incorporation of impurities in OP-GaAs samples, we intentionally doped samples with Si to increase CL and SIMS detectability. Spatially resolved CL and SIMS revealed regions with significant differences in the defect concentration, which can affect device output.     

Interface effects on electrical properties of high purity InP grown by gas-source molecular beam epitaxy

The effect of the substrate-epilayer interface of InP on Hall mobilities and carrier concentrations at 300 and 77K is studied. It is shown that photoluminescence (PL) and Hall results are contradictory due to the highly conductive interface of InP, which falsifies the Hall results. After correcting mathematically for the interface effect in the Hall results, PL and Hall data show that our InP layers are of high purity and only slightly compensated. The SIMS profiles reveal an accumulation of carbon and silicon at the interface.     

Diffusion of Si-acceptor in δ-doped GaAs grown on GaAs(111)A by molecular beam epitaxy

Diffusion of Si-acceptors (Si occupying As sites) in δ-doped GaAs grown on GaAs(111)A has been investigated by secondary ion mass spectrometry (SIMS). We have measured the diffusion parameters in GaAs(111)A and found that they differ from those in GaAs(001). The diffusion coefficient in GaAs(111)A is smaller than that in GaAs(001) and the activation energy in GaAs(111)A is larger than that in GaAs(001). Furthermore, the diffusion mechanism of Si in GaAs(111)A has been investigated by photoluminescence; we have found that in p-type layers Si-donors (Si occupying Ga sites) diffuse easily to As sites. The activation energy of Si-acceptor diffusion is 2.74±0.11 eV. These results indicate that Si-acceptors are more stable than Si-donors.     

Real structure of the ZnO epitaxial films on (0001) leucosapphire substrates coated by ultrathin gold layers

The real structure of ZnO films formed by magnetron sputtering on (0001) leucosapphire substrates coated by an ultrathin (less than 0.7 nm) Au buffer layer has been studied by high-resolution microscopy. It is shown that modification of the leucosapphire substrate surface by depositing ultrathin Au layers does not lead to the formation of Au clusters at the film–substrate interface but significantly improves the structural quality of ZnO epitaxial films. It is demonstrated that the simplicity and scalability of the technique used to modify the substrate surface in combination with a high (above 2 nm/s) film growth rate under magnetron sputtering make it possible to obtain high-quality (0001) ZnO epitaxial films with an area of 5–6 cm².     

Shallow donors and deep levels in GaAs grown by atomic layer molecular beam epitaxy

We correlate the Si concentration measured by secondary ion mass spectrometry (SIMS) and the net donor concentration in GaAs:Si grown by atomic layer molecular beam epitaxy (ALMBE); Si was supplied during: (a) both the As and the Ga subcycles, (b) the As subcycle, and (c) the Ga subcycle; the layers were grown at temperatures in the 300-530°C range. The results show that Si incorporation and its compensation depend on the Si-supply scheme and that the extent of compensation decreases with the growth temperature. We also study the deep levels in the ALMBE GaAs grown under the above conditions. Our results show the occurrence of M1, M3 and M4 levels with concentrations that are: (i) essentially independent of both the Si supply scheme and the ALMBE growth temperature, (ii) close to those of MBE GaAs grown at 600°C, and (iii) up to 2 orders of magnitude lower than that of GaAs prepared by molecular beam epitaxy (MBE) at similar temperatures.     

Phonon behavior and interfacial stress in the strained (InAs)m/(GaAs)n ultrathin superlattices

Phonon behavior in the strained (InAs)_m/(GaAs)_n ultrathin superlattices grown by molecular beam epitaxy has been investigated by means of Raman scattering spectroscopy. The phonon frequency in the GaAs layers shifts toward lower energy with increasing InAs layer thickness under fixed thickness of GaAs layers. The frequency in the InAs layers does not change significantly, as deduced from the behavior of the InAs-like mode in In_xGa_1−xAs alloys. These observed results are phenomenologically discussed on the basis of the combined effect of phonon confinement in the respective layer and stress at the alternating interfaces. Furthermore, a large softening of the phonon confined in the GaAs layers decreases the frequency gap, resulting in traveling of the optical phonons confined in both layers. The strain at the interfaces is estimated by an empirical method, i.e., by comparing the frequency in the superlattice and in the alloy of equivalent composition. In the In_xGa_1−xAs alloys, the composition dependence of the mode frequency is considered as being due to the local strain. The group III elements are considered to be in the local strain state from an extended X-ray absorption fine structure (EXAFS) analysis.     

Growth of TGS crystals using uniaxially solution‐crystallization method of Sankaranarayanan‐Ramasamy

The recently discovered crystal growth method called uniaxially solution‐crystallization method of Sankaranarayanan–Ramasamy (SR) is modified in some aspects and used for growth of triglycine sulphate (TGS) crystals. The modification leads to the simplicity, reduction of cost and avoided the temperature fluctuations. The 〈010〉 direction of TGS is very important and used for fabrication of infrared detectors. Using this method, the 〈001〉, 〈010〉 directional crystals of TGS were successfully grown in a glass crystallizer. The grown crystal was characterized by HRXRD, UV‐Visible and dielectric studies. The results prove the suitability of the modified SR method for oriented TGS crystal. (© 2007 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)     

Investigation on the regeneration of Z‐cut KDP crystals

The regeneration of Z‐cut KDP crystals is explored by analyzing the growth of thin surface layers formed. The structural defects and crystalline perfection of the thin surface layers are evaluated by white‐beam synchrotron radiation topography and high‐resolution X‐Ray diffraction respectively. It shows that the thin surface layers have the same crystal structure as KDP crystal. There are large numbers of defects in thin surface layers and the crystalline quality is very poor. The growth velocity of thin surface layers is firstly accurately measured by a newly‐designed in‐situ crystal growth observation setup. It is found that the growth velocity of the thin surface layers strongly depends on the flow rate of the growth solution. The hindering effect of pyrophosphate (K₄P₂O₇) on the growth of the thin surface layers is discussed. (© 2011 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)     

XPS and AFM studies of surface chemistry and morphology of In2O3 ultrathin films deposited by rheotaxial growth and vacuum oxidation after air exposure

In this paper we present the results of an XPS study of the surface chemistry of In₂O₃ (IO) ultrathin deposited by rheotaxial growth and vacuum oxidation after their air exposure and subsequent UHV annealing. For the freshly deposited RGVO IO ultrathin films the relative [O]/[In] concentration is equal to 1.17 ±0.05. After exposure to air it increases to 1.25 ±0.05. However, a strong C contamination appears, confirmed by the relative [C]/[In] concentration that is equal to 1.07 ±0.05. After subsequent UHV annealing at 200 °C the relative [O]/[In] concentration remains and only slightly increases to 1.30 ±0.05 after subsequent UHV annealing at 350 °C. After this process the relative [C]/[In] concentration decreases to 0.43 ±0.05. The additional AFM experiments showed that the RGVO IO ultrathin films exhibit the granular‐type surface morphology, with an average grain height and width in the range of 2–5 nm, and 10–50 nm, respectively, and an average roughness of 1.1 nm.     

Method of measuring depth profile of hydrogen in soda-lime glass

The depth profile of hydrogen in glass, as an indicator for the presence of water, has been determined by two independent techniques. Secondary ion mass spectroscopy (SIMS) gives high spatial resolution measurements of the variation of hydrogen concentration as a function of depth into the glass. These measurements are not absolute, however. Elastic recoil detection analysis (ERDA) provides absolute measurements of the variation of hydrogen concentration with depth, although the spatial resolution is only in the order of 50 nm. The combination of the measurements obtained by these two techniques yields absolute high-resolution data of the depth dependence of hydrogen in glass.     

Effect of bismuth on liquid-phase epitaxy (LPE) grown GaAs layer using Ga–As–Bi melt

GaAs epitaxial layers of high structural quality have been realised from Ga–As–Bi melt using liquid-phase epitaxy (LPE). LPE grown GaAs epitaxial layer using bismuth solvent on GaAs substrate has been found to be of good structural perfection as compared to layers using gallium solvent. The temperature-dependent PL spectra of GaAs layer, grown from Ga+Bi mixed solvent has shown that the use of bismuth does not change the band energy. ECV depth profile of heavily zinc-doped epitaxial layer shows uniform doping in the GaAs layer grown using gallium solvent as compared to the layer grown using bismuth solvent.     

Effect of rapid thermal annealing on Zn1‐xCdxO layers grown by radio‐frequency magnetron co‐sputtering

Zn_1‐xCd_xO layers were deposited on the sapphire substrate using the radio‐frequency magnetron co‐sputtering system. The grown Zn_1‐xCd_xO layers were carried out in the post‐annealing treatment for 1 min at the 800 °C oxygen‐ambient by the rapid thermal annealing (RTA) method. X‐ray diffraction (XRD) experiment shows that the Zn_1‐xCd_xO layers are changed from the single phase of the hexagonal structure at 0≤x ≤0.08 to the double phase of hexagonal‐and‐cubic structure at x =0.13. Thus, the maximum Cd‐composition ratio with the hexagonal structure was found out to be x =0.08. Also, the crystallinity of Zn_1‐xCd_xO layers at x =0.13 was remarkably improved by the RTA annealing treatment. This crystal quality improvement was thought to be associated with the relaxation of the compressive strain remaining in the Zn_1‐xCd_xO layers. Therefore, the results of XRD and transmittance lead that the crystal quality of the Zn_1‐xCd_xO layers forming the hexagonal ZnO phase is better than that forming the cubic CdO phase. Consequently, the reliable formation and the crystallinity of the Zn_1‐xCd_xO layers were achieved by using the RTA method of short‐time thermal‐annealing at the high temperature. (© 2010 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)     

Structural and optical properties of vapour‐etching based porous silicon

The structural and optical properties of porous silicon (PS) layers prepared by Vapour‐Etching (VE) of moderately and heavily boron‐doped Si substrates are investigated. The VE technique produces rough PS layers that are essentially formed of interconnected cluster‐like structures. Optical investigations indicate that this surface roughness enables the PS layers to be used as antireflection coatings in silicon based devices. These optical characteristics are investigated by optical reflectivity and light scattering. The local chemical state and the microstructure of the PS layers are studied by electron energy loss spectroscopy (EELS) in transmission electron microscopy (TEM), and are correlated to the red photoluminescence (PL). TEM studies point out that the cluster‐like interconnected structures are composed of luminescent nanocrystallites. PL measurements display that both quantum confinement and surface passivation determine the electronic states of the silicon nanocrystallites. The complex dielectric function is calculated from the experimental single‐scattering distribution spectrum using a Kramers Kronig analysis. The first resonance peak in the imaginary part is observed at 2.3 eV; two other broadened features appear at 4.7 and 8.8 eV. The latter is generally related to an interface plasmon resulting from the silicon‐silicon oxide interface. (© 2006 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)     

Characterization of in‐plane structures of vapor deposited thin‐films of distyryl‐oligothiophenes by grazing incidence x‐ray diffractometry

The in‐plane structures of vapor deposited ultrathin films of distyryl‐oligothiophenes (DS‐2T) on SiO₂ substrate were characterized by grazing incidence x‐ray diffractometry (GIXD). Two polymorphs, low‐temperature and high‐temperature phases, were identified, and the two dimensional unit cell parameters were determined for each polymorph. The polymorphism depends on substrate temperature and film thickness. (© 2007 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)