The thermoluminescence (TL), phosphorescence and cryoluminescence of n-type hexagonal (6H) SiC crystals

The low temperature (down to liquid helium temperature) TL, phosphorescence and cryoluminescence of n-type 6H SiC crystals is described. The crystals contained nitrogen as the major impurity at concentrations of about 10¹⁶ cm^-3. The glow curves exhibited peaks at about 25, 45, 70 and 90°K (in addition to a peak at 250°K). Thermal activation energies for the above peaks ranged between 0.02 and 0.14 eV (0.30 eV for the 250°K peak). These are much lower than energies reported earlier for nitrogen donor levels in 6H SiC. The values obtained for the 70–90°K peaks (0.08–0.14 eV) fit quite well those obtained by electrical transport measurements and Raman scattering.The crystals exhibited strong phosphorescence even at liquid helium temperature. This was shown to be only partly due to thermal release from traps, the other components being due to pair-recombination and optical release from the shallow traps by the black body radiation (BBR) from the walls of the cryostat. This BBR was found to be responsible also for the observed cryoluminescence.     

Structural,magnetic and electrical properties of Co1−xZnxFe2O4 synthesized by co-precipitation method

Nanoparticles of Co_1−xZn_xFe₂O₄ with stoichiometric proportion (x) varying from 0.0 to 0.6 were prepared by the chemical co-precipitation method. The samples were sintered at 600 °C for 2 h and were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), low field AC magnetic susceptibility, DC electrical resistivity and dielectric constant measurements. From the analysis of XRD patterns, the nanocrystalline ferrite had been obtained at pH=12.5–13 and reaction time of 45 min. The particle size was calculated from the most intense peak (3 1 1) using the Scherrer formula. The size of precipitated particles lies within the range 12–16 nm, obtained at reaction temperature of 70 °C. The Curie temperature was obtained from AC magnetic susceptibility measurements in the range 77–850 K. It is observed that Curie temperature decreases with the increase of Zn concentration. DC electrical resistivity measurements were carried out by two-probe method from 370 to 580 K. Temperature-dependent DC electrical resistivity decreases with increase in temperature ensuring the semiconductor nature of the samples. DC electrical resistivity results are discussed in terms of polaron hopping model. Activation energy calculated from the DC electrical resistivity versus temperature for all the samples ranges from 0.658 to 0.849 eV. The drift mobility increases by increasing temperature due to decrease in DC electrical resisitivity. The dielectric constants are studied as a function of frequency in the range 100 Hz–1 MHz at room temperature. The dielectric constant decreases with increasing frequency for all the samples and follow the Maxwell–Wagner's interfacial polarization.     

Shallow energy levels induced by γ rays in standard and oxygenated floating zone silicon

Shallow defect levels in floating zone (FZ) and diffusion oxygenated FZ (DOFZ) silicon, before and after irradiation with a ⁶⁰Co γ-source up to 300 Mrad, have been studied by thermally stimulated currents (TSC) and deep level transient spectroscopy (DLTS) in the temperature range 4.2–110 K. Besides vacancy oxygen (VO) and interstitial-substitutional carbon (C_iC_s) emissions, several TSC peaks have been observed. A trap with an activation energy of 11 meV has been observed at 6 K only in irradiated DOFZ. Two hole traps at 80 meV and 95 meV have been observed both in irradiated FZ and DOFZ, while a trap at 100 meV, related to an interstitial-oxygen (IO₂) complex, has been revealed only in irradiated DOFZ. A TSC peak close to 24 K has been resolved into two components, whose concentrations are independent of irradiation fluence: a trap at 55 meV and a level which remains charged after emission at 80 meV. Our measurements confirm the formation, only in DOFZ, of a radiation induced donor at 230 meV. It appears to be responsible for the improved radiation hardness of oxygenated Si together with the suppression of deep acceptors, since no shallower radiation-induced donors have been detected in DOFZ samples. PACS 71.55.Cn; 29.40.Wk; 61.80.Hg; 61.82.Fk     

Anomalous thermally stimulated currents in CaS

Information on the nature of traps in CaS has been sought by studying the TSC behaviour in a range of samples. Results are in agreement with those reported previously and suggest that the TSC peak at 308 ± 3K is independent of the nature and concentration of dopant. Evidence is presented which indicates that surface states are responsible for the currents rather than the release of trapped charge from states within the band gap; the source of the charge carriers is uncertain. Simultaneous TSC and TL measurements on CaS:Ce, Cu indicate that the TL peak at 300K and the TSC peak at 308K are mutually independent.     

Mobility of interstitial oxygen in scandium by anelastic spectroscopy

The high-temperature anelastic spectrum of the solid solution Sc-O has been investigated on a polycrystalline sample at oxygen concentrations between 0.024 and ∼0.9 at.% O, as estimated by residual resistivity and intentional O doping. Two thermally activated relaxation processes appear near 430 and 520 K for a vibration frequency of 3.5 kHz; both peaks are stable with thermal cycling and their intensities increase with the oxygen content, indicating that they are due to O jumps. The process at lower temperature has an intensity that strongly increases with increasing temperature, when measured at higher frequency (42 kHz), indicating that the relaxation occurs between states differing in energy by ∼0.3 eV. The peak is describable by a single relaxation time, and is interpreted as due to the stress-induced hopping of single oxygen atoms between the non-equivalent tetrahedral and octahedral interstitial sites. The process at high temperature is tentatively attributed to O pairs. An estimate of the specific resistivity of O atoms has been provided.     

Synthesis, electrical resistivity, thermo-electric power and magnetization of cubic ZnMnO3

Cubic ZnMnO₃ powder in the form of well-crystalline nanoflakes have been synthesized at low temperatures from a nitrate precursor. The electrical properties of cubic ZnMnO₃ samples have been established by DC resistivity (ρ) and thermo-electric power (Seebeck coefficient) measurements on a pressed pellet. The material exhibits insulator behavior with 0.7 eV acceptor ionization energy in the measured temperature range of 170-300 K. The thermo-electric power indicates a positive sign of the charge carriers. The obtained material exhibits a superparamagnetic signature with a blocking temperature of 9 K and the ZFC-FC splitting temperature of 15 K.     

Effect of annealing on the magnetic and superconducting properties of single-crystalline UCoGe

Single-crystals of the new ferromagnetic superconductor UCoGe have been grown. The quality of as-grown samples can be significantly improved by a heat-treatment procedure, which increases the residual resistance ratio (RRR) from ∼5 to ∼30. Magnetization M(T) and resistivity ρ(T) measurements show the annealed samples have a sharp ferromagnetic transition with a Curie temperature T_C is 2.8 K. The ordered moment of 0.06 μ_B is directed along the orthorhombic c-axis. Superconductivity is found below a resistive transition temperature T_s=0.65 K.     

Electrical characterization of impurity-free disordering-induced defects in n-GaAs using native oxide layers

Defects created in rapid thermally annealed n-GaAs epilayers capped with native oxide layers have been investigated using deep-level transient spectroscopy (DLTS). The native oxide layers were formed at room temperature using pulsed anodic oxidation. A hole trap H0, due to either interface states or injection of interstitials, is observed around the detection limit of DLTS in oxidized samples. Rapid thermal annealing introduces three additional minority-carrier traps H1 (E_V+0.44 eV), H2 (E_V+0.73 eV), and H3 (E_V+0.76 eV). These hole traps are introduced in conjunction with electron traps S1 (E_C-0.23 eV) and S2 (E_C-0.45 eV), which are observed in the same epilayers following disordering using SiO₂ capping layers. We also provide evidence that a hole trap whose DLTS peak overlaps with that of EL2 is present in the disordered n-GaAs layers. The mechanisms through which these hole traps are created are discussed. Capacitance–voltage measurements reveal that impurity-free disordering using native oxides of GaAs produced higher free-carrier compensation compared to SiO₂ capping layers. Received: 12 March 2002 / Accepted: 15 July 2002 / Published online: 22 November 2002 RID="*" ID="*"Corresponding author. Fax: +61-2/6125-0381, E-mail: pnk109@rsphysse.anu.edu.au     

Shallow traps in pure KTaO 3 crystals

We made Thermally Stimulated Conductivity (TSC), Thermoluminescence (TL) and Electron Spin Resonance (ESR) measurements on single crystals of potassium tantalate in the temperature range 4.2-290 v K. We revealed two sorts of O m shallow hole centers which are responsible for Photoconductivity (PC) and Photoluminescence (PL) enhancement. Both O m centers were identified by their ESR spectra. We show that these centers serve as radiative electron-hole recombination centers. The measurements of TSC and TL after UV irradiation revealed several glow peaks at temperatures 18-30 v K and 65-70 v K. Both TSC and TL are attributed to the thermal ionization of the same shallow donor centers related with oxygen vacancies. Experimental data were treated in a simple one-trap/one-recombination center model, which takes into account the presence of "thermally disconnected" deep electron traps.     

Specific heat studies on pristine and oxygenated iron tellurides

Specific heat studies carried out on Fe_1.1Te and oxygenated Fe_1.1Te and FeTe₂ in the range 77-300 K exhibit interesting behavior. The specific heat of the pristine sample reveals a well known structural transition associated with antiferromagnetic ordering near 67 K with a small thermal hysteresis of ∼1 K. Contrastingly, the oxygenated samples exhibit a phase transition with a very large thermal hysteresis of ∼100 K. The specific heat transition observed at the 150 and 260 K regions in the oxygenated Fe_1.1Te sample could not be captured by the magnetization measurements indicating that specific heat transitions seen in oxygenated samples may not be of magnetic origin.     

Luminescence of different modifications of crystalline silicon dioxide: Stishovite and coesite

Luminescence of very small samples of single crystals of coesite and stishovite has been studied. The spectra were detected under ionizing radiation (X-ray and electron beam) and the decay kinetics of cathodoluminescence in the range of time from 10 ns to 3 ms was measured. The coesite luminescence possesses a broad band at 3 eV with exponential decay about 680 μs at 80 K. The nature of this luminescence was explained as a self-trapped exciton creation in tetrahedron framework. The stishovite luminescence possesses two bands—blue (2.8 eV) and UV (4.7 eV). The UV band intensity grows more than 20 times with irradiation dose from initial level. This shows that the corresponding luminescence centers could be induced by the radiation. The decay of the UV band possesses a fast and a slow component. The determination of the fast decay parameters is beyond the capabilities of our apparatus (less than 10 ns), whereas the slow decay of the UV is non-exponential and takes place in the range of hundreds of microsecond. The blue band decay kinetics can be well approximated by power law ∼t⁻², which may correspond to recombination of defects created by radiation. The stishovite single crystal luminescence is very similar to that of germanium dioxide single crystal of rutile structure. The nature of the stishovite luminescence is explained as recombination of defects created by irradiation in octahedron-structured lattice.     

Characterization of defects introduced in Sb doped Ge by 3 keV Ar sputtering using deep level transient spectroscopy (DLTS) and Laplace-DLTS (LDLTS)

We have used deep level transient spectroscopy (DLTS), and Laplace-DLTS to investigate the defects created in antimony doped germanium (Ge) by sputtering with 3 keV Ar ions. Hole traps at E_V+0.09 eV and E_V+0.31 eV and an electron trap at E_C−0.38 eV (E-center) were observed soon after the sputtering process. Room temperature annealing of the irradiated samples over a period of a month revealed a hole trap at E_V+0.26 eV. Above room temperature annealing studies revealed new hole traps at E_V+0.27 eV, E_V+0.30 eV and E_V+0.40 eV.     

Near-infrared photoluminescence and thermally stimulated current in Cu3Ga5Se9 layered crystals: A comparative study

Near-infrared photoluminescence (PL) and thermally stimulated current (TSC) spectra of Cu₃Ga₅Se₉ layered crystals grown by Bridgman method have been studied in the photon energy region of 1.35–1.46 eV and the temperature range of 15–115 K (PL) and 10–170 K (TSC). An infrared PL band centered at 1.42 eV was revealed at T = 15 K. Radiative transitions from shallow donor level placed at 20 meV to moderately deep acceptor level at 310 meV were suggested to be the reason of the observed PL band. TSC curve of Cu₃Ga₅Se₉ crystal exhibited one broad peak at nearly 88 K. The thermal activation energy of traps was found to be 22 meV. An energy level diagram demonstrating the transitions in the crystal band gap was plotted taking account of results of PL and TSC experiments conducted below room temperature.     

Trapping centers and their distribution in Tl2Ga2Se3S layered single crystals

Thermally stimulated current (TSC) measurements with current flowing perpendicular to the layers were carried out on Tl₂Ga₂Se₃S layered single crystals in the temperature range of 10-260 K. The experimental data were analyzed by using different methods, such as curve fitting, initial rise and isothermal decay methods. The analysis revealed that there were three trapping centers with activation energies of 12, 76 and 177 meV. It was concluded that retrapping in these centers was negligible, which was confirmed by the good agreement between the experimental results and the theoretical predictions of the model that assumes slow retrapping. The capture cross section and the concentration of the traps have been also determined. An exponential distribution of electron traps was revealed from the analysis of the TSC data obtained at different light illumination temperatures. This experimental technique provided values of 10 and 88 meV/decade for the traps distribution related to two different trapping centers.     

The band gap and electrical resistivity of FeS2-pyrite at high pressures

The indirect energy gap and electrical resistivity of FeS₂-pyrite have been measured at high pressures and 300 K using optical absorption spectroscopy and electrical conductivity measurements. Absorption spectra extend to ∼28 GPa, while resistivity is determined to ∼34 GPa. The band gap of FeS₂ is indirect throughout this pressure range and decreases linearly with pressure at a rate of −1.13(9)×10⁻² eV/GPa. If this linear trend continues, FeS₂ is expected to metallize at a pressure of 80(±8) GPa. The logarithm of resistivity also linearly decreases with pressure to 14 GPa with a slope of −0.101(±0.001)/GPa. However, between 14 and 34 GPa, the logarithm of resistivity is nearly constant, with a slope of −0.011(±0.003)/GPa. The measured resistivity of pyrite may be generated predominantly by extrinsic effects.     

Investigation of the effects of gamma radiation on the electrical properties of dilute GaAs1−xNx layers grown by Molecular Beam Epitaxy

This work reports the effect of gamma (γ-) irradiation on dilute GaAsN with nitrogen concentrations ranging from 0.2 to 1.2% with post-irradiation stability using Current–Voltage (I–V) and Deep Level Transient Spectroscopy (DLTS) measurements in the temperature range from 10 K to 450 K. The I–V results indicate that the irradiation effect was more pronounced in the samples with nitrogen concentration of 0.4%. Additionally, the irradiated samples showed an ideality factor higher than the as-grown samples. On the other hand, for temperatures above 265 K the barrier height of the irradiated samples with 0.8% nitrogen is higher than the as-grown samples. The DLTS measurements revealed that after irradiation the number of traps either decreased remained constant, or new traps are created depending on the concentration of nitrogen. For samples with N = 0.2% – 0.4% the number of traps after irradiation decreased, whereas for samples with N = 0.8% − 1.2 % the number of traps remained the same. However, the properties of some traps such as capture cross-sections and density increased by about 2 orders of magnitude. The origin of the defects present before and after irradiation are discussed and correlated.     

Electrical conductivity and low field magnetoresistance in polycrystalline La1−xKxMnO3 pellets prepared by pyrophoric method

Electrical conductivity and magnetoresistance of a series of monovalent (K) doped La_1−xK_xMnO₃ polycrystalline pellets prepared by pyrophoric method have been reported. K doping increases the conductivity as well as the Curie temperature (T_C) of the system. Curie temperature increases from 260 to 309 K with increasing K content. Above the metal-insulator transition temperature (T>T_MI), the electrical resistivity is dominated by adiabatic polaronic model, while in the ferromagnetic region (50<T<T_MI), the resistivity is governed by several electron scattering processes. Based on a scenario that the doped manganites consist of phase separated ferromagnetic metallic and paramagnetic insulating regions, all the features of the temperature variation of the resistivity between ∼50 and 300 K are described very well by a single expression. All the K doped samples clearly display the existence of strongly field dependent resistivity minimum close to ∼30 K. Charge carrier tunneling between antiferromagnetically coupled grains explains fairly well the resistivity minimum in monovalent (K) doped lanthanum manganites. Field dependence of magnetoresistance at various temperatures below T_C is accounted fairly well by a phenomenological model based on spin polarized tunneling at the grain boundaries. The contributions from the intrinsic part arising from DE mechanism, as well as, the part originating from intergrannular spin polarized tunneling are also estimated.     

Photoluminescence of gold, copper and niobium as a function of temperature

A specially constructed instrument for measuring the low intensity photoluminescence emission spectra of metals is described. It uses low luminescence optical components and dedicated sample mounting techniques. Room temperature measurements agree closely with literature spectra for high-purity gold and are found to be sensitive to 100 ppm impurities. Detailed spectra are presented, which are weakly temperature dependent, for gold, copper and unpolished niobium between room temperature and 100 K. We conclude that this work provides accurate luminescence data for Au from 300 K down to 100 K. Although the (variable temperature) luminescence data for Cu are consistent both with the room temperature experimental data in the literature and theory, we conclude the role of surface adsorbates and/or oxides cannot be ruled out. Theory suggests that Nb has a factor ∼50 lower luminescence intensity than Au and Cu because the real part of the refractive index is a factor ∼5 higher and the density of states ∼2 eV below the Fermi energy is a factor of ∼4 lower than Au and Cu. Measurements are presented for unpolished Nb, but given the lack of signal detection for polished Nb and that theory predicts very weak signals, we conclude that the luminescence signals from pure Nb still remain below the sensitivity of our instrument.     

Local indium segregation and bang gap variations in high efficiency green light emitting InGaN/GaN diodes

High efficient green light emitting diodes (LED) on the basis of GaN/InGaN exhibit indium-rich nanoclusters inside the quantum wells (QW) due to InN-GaN phase decomposition. By direct measurements of the variations in the electronic structure, we show for the first time a correlation between indium-rich nanoclusters and local energy band gap minima. Our investigations reveal the presence of 1-3 nm wide indium rich clusters in these devices with indium concentrations x as large as x∼0.30-0.40 that narrow the band gap locally to energies as small as 2.65 eV. These clusters are able to act as local traps for migrating photon-emitting carriers and seem to boost the overall device performance.