Free carrier absorption in quantizing magnetic fields: Nonpolar optical phonon scattering

A quantum theory of free carrier absorption in nondegenerate semiconductors and in strong magnetic fields which was previously developed to treat the case when acoustic phonon scattering dominates the free carrier absorption process [1] is extended to treat the case when nonpolar optical scattering is important. When the electromagnetic radiation field is polarized parallel to the direction of the applied magnetic field, results are obtained which are similar to those when acoustic phonon scattering is dominant. The free carrier absorption is an oscillatory function of the magnetic field which on the average increases in magnitude with the magnetic field. However, more structure in the free carrier absorption occurs when nonpolar optical phonon scattering dominates. This is due to the fact that there are two periods in the oscillatory magnetic field dependence associated with the emission or the absorption of optical phonons during the intraband transitions. When the cyclotron frequency exceeds the sum of the photon and optical phonon frequencies, i.e. ω_c > θ + ω_o, the free carrier absorption is predicted to increase linearly with magnetic field when ?ω_c? k_BT. The magnetic field dependence of the free carrier absorption can be explained in terms of phonon-assisted transitions between the various Landau levels in a band involving the emission and absorption of optical phonons.     

Weak localization effects in a quasi-one-dimensional electron system over liquid helium

Magnetoresistance ρ_xx measurements are performed for a quasi-one-dimensional electron system over liquid helium in the gas-scattering region (the temperature range 1.3–2.0 K). The measurements show that, as the magnetic field increases, the magnetoresistance ρ_xx first decreases and then passes through a minimum and increases according to the law ρ_xx～B ². It is suggested that the negative magnetoresistance observed in the experiment is caused by the weak localization effects. The results of the experiment are in qualitative agreement with the theoretical model describing the weak localization effects in a one-dimensional nondegenerate electron system.     

Magnetoresistance in the variable-range hopping conduction regime in diluted arrays of quantum dots with the filling factor 2 < η < 3

Magnetoresistance mechanisms in an array of quantum dots with hopping conduction, which is determined by electronic states with the orbital angular momentum l = 1, and filling factor 2 < ν < 3 have been considered. The magnetoresistance mechanism associated with the existence of the nodal planes of the wavefunctions of such electrons has been analyzed in detail. The dependence of this mechanism on both the shape of quantum dots and the dimension of the array has been examined including the spin-orbit interaction and effects associated with the interference of tunneling paths. Also it has been shown that a change in the energy of the orbital motion of the electron with l = 1 in the magnetic field leads to an additional mechanism of positive magnetoresistance proportional to the square of the field.     

Semimetallic electrical transport in PbTe-SnTe superlattices on KCl substrate

The electrical resistivity and Hall coefficient (R_H) in PbTe-SnTe superlattices on KCl are measured between 4.2 and 300 K. Magnetic field dependence of R_H shows a sign inversion of R_H for a specimen of PbTe-SnTe with 100-50 A at 5 K. This is due to coexistence of electrons and holes. PbTe-SnTe superlattices are of type II, where the valence band edge of SnTe is higher than the conduction band edge of PbTe. From the magnetic field dependence of R_H, the electron and hole concentrations are calculated and the band-offset between PbTe and SnTe is estimated. The possibility of the structural phase transition of these superlattices is also discussed.     

Resonant polaron coupling of the n = 1 Landau level and the 2p+ donor state in GaAs

The n = 0 → > n = 1 Landau level and 1s ?2p⁺ impurity transitions in GaAs were investigated up to energies above the optical phonon energy ?Ω_LO and d.c. magnetic fields up to 25 T. Pinning of both transitions to an energy slightly above and below ?Ω_LO was observed. At an energy very close to ?Ω_LO two additional impurity transitions are found. These features are attributed to the resonant polaron effect which leads to hybridization and dipole selection rule breakdown. Also the spin doublet splitting of both transitions were resolved showing a strong magnetic field dependence which can not be explained by nonparabolicity of the conduction band alone.     

On the anomalous susceptibility of small gap magnetic semiconductors (SmS,SmSe, SmTe)

The magnetic susceptibility of the Sm chalcogenides shows a large dependence on the nature of the anion. In the three compounds (which under pressure become metallic) the energy needed to promote an electron from the 4f shell to the conduction band is very small. We present here a mechanism based on the hybridization between f states and band states that relates the anomalies of the susceptibility with the energy gaps.     

Deconvolution of temperature dependence of conductivity,its reduced activation energy,and Hall-effect data for analysing impurity conduction in n-ZnSe

ABSTRACT

The temperature dependence of the reduced activation energy w?=?ε/k_BT of the conductivity σ has been utilised for determining the impurity conduction mechanism in doped semiconductors in many studies. Herein, the formula for deconvoluting w when plural conduction mechanisms appear is used to confirm the analysis of the data of the Hall-effect measurements on Al-doped n-ZnSe samples. The analysis is performed on the basis of an impurity-Hubbard-band model which includes ε ₂ conduction in the top Hubbard band as well as ε ₃ and Efros-Shklovskii (ES) variable-range hopping (VRH) conduction processes in the bottom Hubbard band. As the result of the analysis, transitions among the three hopping conduction mechanisms of ε ₂, ε ₃, and ES VRH are clearly shown in the temperature dependence of w as well as in that of the Hall mobility, which are hardly noticed in the temperature dependence of σ. In addition, the power-law exponent of the prefactor of ES VRH conductivity is determined through the fit to the temperature dependence of w to show that it decreases from ～ 1.5 to ～ 0 with increasing net donor concentration.     

Binding energies of helium-like impurities in parabolic quantum wells under an applied electric field

We present a variational method to compute the binding energies of helium-like impurities in finite parabolic GaAs- Ga_1 − xAl_xAs quantum wells. The effects of band nonparabolicity in the conduction band are taken into account within the effective mass approximation. The dependence of the impurity binding energy on the applied electric field and the impurity position is also discussed together with the polarization effect for all cases.     

Optical absorption due to paraexciton of Cu2O

In Cu₂O a new absorption line is observed at 97 cm^?1 below the n =1 of the yellow exciton (triply degenerate orthoexciton) under a strong magnetic field at 4.2 K. The line is assigned as a transition to a nondegenerate spin triplet state Γ⁺₂ (paraexciton). An analysis including the effects due to the n =1 of the green exciton yields 364 cm^?1 as the exchange energy, and 2.68 and ?1.02, or 1.02 and ?2.68 as the g-factors of the conduction and valence bands forming the yellow exciton.     

Effective activation energy U(J,H) in epitaxial YBa2Cu3O7−δ thin films

We have measured the resistivity of epitaxial YBa₂Cu₃O_7?δ thin film as a function of temperature, current density and the magnetic field up to 8 T. The current density dependence of the effective activation energy exhibits a slight increase in the low current density range below 10³ A/cm² and a logarithmic decline in higher current density with increasing current density. The magnetic field dependence of the effective activation energy showed a crossover of vortex state from a quasi-2D for H//ab-plane to a 3D line liquid state for H//c-axis. The possible dissipation mechanisms responsible for the ln H dependence of the effective activation energy were discussed.     

Electrical conductivity and magnetic susceptibility of titanium monoxide

Conductivity and magnetic susceptibility of disordered cubic titanium monoxide TiO_y(0.920≤y≤1.262) are studied. Temperature dependences of the conductivity of TiO_y monoxides with y≤1.069 are described by the Bloch-Grüneisen function with Debye temperature 400–480 K, and temperature dependences of the susceptibility include Pauli paramagnetism of conduction electrons. The behavior of conductivity and susceptibility of TiO_y with y≥1.087 is typical of semiconductors with nondegenerate charge carriers obeying Boltzmann statistics. The band gap ΔE between the valence and conduction bands of TiO_y(y≥1.087) is 0.06–0.17 eV, and effective mass of charge carriers is equal to 7–14 electron masses.     

Influence of magnetic quantization on the Einstein relation in non-linear optical, optoelectronic and related materials: Simplified theory, relative comparison and suggestion for experimental determination

In this paper, we have investigated the Einstein relation for the diffusivity-to-mobility ratio (DMR) under magnetic quantization in non-linear optical materials on the basis of a newly formulated electron dispersion law by considering the crystal field constant, the anisotropies of the momentum-matrix element and the spin-orbit splitting constant, respectively, within the frame work of k·p formalism. The corresponding result for the three-band model of Kane (the conduction electrons of III-V, ternary and quaternary compounds obey this model) forms a special case of our generalized analysis. The DMR under magnetic quantization has also been investigated for II-VI (on the basis of Hopfield model), bismuth (using the models of McClure and Choi, Cohen, Lax and parabolic ellipsoidal, respectively), and stressed materials (on the basis of model of Seiler et al.) by formulating the respective electron statistics under magnetic quantization incorporating the respective energy band constants. It has been found, taking n-CdGeAs₂, n-Hg_1−xCd_xTe, p-CdS, and stressed n-InSb as examples of the aforementioned compounds, that the DMR exhibits oscillatory dependence with the inverse quantizing magnetic field due to Subhnikov de Haas (SdH) effect with different numerical values. The DMR also increases with increasing carrier degeneracy and the nature of oscillations are totally dependent on their respective band structures in various cases. The classical expression of the DMR has been obtained as a special case from the results of all the materials as considered here under certain limiting conditions, and this compatibility is the indirect test of our generalized formalism. In addition, we have suggested an experimental method of determining the DMR for degenerate materials under magnetic quantization having arbitrary dispersion laws. The three applications of our results in the presence of magneto-transport have further been suggested.     

Electrical-resistivity noise in Ni76Mn24 amorphous film

Magnetoresistance measurements were carried out on amorphous Ni₇₆Mn₂₄ film in the temperature range 1.5–250 K up to magnetic fields of 120 kG, A giant resistivity noise has been observed even in higher magnetic fields, especially at about T = 70 K. Some possible mechanisms are discussed to account for the observed resistivity fluctuations.     

The influence of imperfection of the crystal lattice on the electrokinetic and magnetic properties of disordered titanium monoxide

The conductivity and magnetic susceptibility of disordered titanium monoxide TiO_y (0.920≤y≤1.262) containing vacancies in titanium and oxygen sublattices are investigated. For TiO_y monoxides with an oxygen content y≤1.069, the temperature dependences of the conductivity are described by the Bloch-Grüneisen function at a Debye temperature ranging from 400 to 480 K and the temperature dependences of the magnetic susceptibility are characterized by the contribution from the Pauli paramagnetism due to conduction electrons. The behavior of the conductivity and magnetic susceptibility of TiO_y monoxides with an oxygen content y≥1.087 is characteristic of narrow-gap semiconductors with nondegenerate charge carriers governed by the Boltzmann statistics. The band gap ΔE between the valence and conduction bands of TiO_y monoxides with y≥1.087 falls in the range 0.06–0.17 eV.     

Low energy photoelectron spectroscopy on alkali graphite intercalation compounds

The conduction band of various stages of alkali graphite intercalation compounds has been studied by low energy photoelectron spectroscopy (hv ? 6.55 eV). The dissimilar behaviour of the width β of the conduction band peak as a function of photon energy for C₆Li and C₈M (M = K, Rb, and Cs) is discussed in terms of different band types in the vicinity of the Fermi level. The stage dependence of β is measured and interpreted for the system C_xK (for stages 1, 2, 4, and 5).     

Cyclotron resonance study of conduction electrons in n-type indium antimonide under a strong magnetic field—I: Thermal equilibrium case

The far IR cyclotron resonance of conduction electrons is investigated in n-type indium antimonide in the quantum regimes, ?ω_ck_BT and ?ω_c?k_BT. The resonance peak position, half width, and the degree asymmetry in the line shape are studied as a function of temperature. In analyzing the experimental data, the three band model has been employed together with modern theoretical results of electron scattering by ionized impurities in the presence of a strong magnetic field. It is found that, for example for an experiment at 84 μm, the Une width depends very little on temperature between 4.2 and 45 K where the ionized impurity scattering is dominant, and increases rapidly with temperature above 45 K where the onset of phonon scattering is expected. Further details of the ionized impurity scattering were investigated by using three different laser wavelengths 84, 119 and 172μm. The line width at the phonon-limited temperature region depends very little on magnetic field and sample. The temperature dependence of the band gap was also determined by analysis of the resonance peak shift.     

Inter-particle spin-polarized tunneling in arrays of magnetite nanocrystals

Inter-particle spin-polarized tunneling was measured in an organically capped magnetite nanocrystal (NC) array deposited between 30 nm spaced gold electrodes. Magnetoresistance (MR) measurements performed around the blocking temperature (T_b) of the magnetic moments of the particles in the array, which was relatively high (220 K), yielded negative MR values of the order of 10-25% under moderate magnetic fields of several kOe. The field dependence of the MR followed closely the square of the film's magnetization and its voltage dependence indicated maximal spin polarization around the Fermi level. These findings suggested that the measured MR is the result of spin-polarized tunneling between individual magnetite NCs acting as superparamagnetic spin polarizers.     

Magnetic and electrical properties of zinc selenide crystals containing disorder

The electrical and magnetic properties of ZnSe single crystals containing disorder have been studied between temperatures 290K and 900K. The study of the magnetic properties has been extended to low temperatures (100K). Paramagnetism has been found to appear at high temperatures (460–900K). From the fact that this paramagnetism is proportional to e^?δE/kT, it is suggested that localized states of single occupancy are created by thermal excitation. The study of the magnetic properties has been of help in ascertaining the nature of the transport (band conduction or hopping conduction) and in finding the hopping energy and excitation energy separately. It has also been shown from this that both band conduction and hopping conduction exist simultaneously in the sample. A study of the thermo electric power (t.e.p.) shows that below 450K current is carried by electrons in the conduction band and above by hopping of holes.     

On magnetic quantum oscillations of the Auger transition rate in narrow gap semiconductors

The experimental results of Dornhaus et al. on the dependence of the Auger recombination time on an applied magnetic field are explained within the frame of Takeshima's model by a proper inclusion of non-parabolicity and spin-splitting of the conduction band.     

Infrared absorption on impurity excitations near the upper edge of spin-wave band of the antiferromagnet

The dependence of infrared (IR) light absorption on external magnetic field is considered when the impurity level approaches the upper edge of spin-wave band of antiferromagnet. It is explained a strongly nonlinear field dependence and rapid decrease of corresponding line intensity been observed experimentally in Fe_1?cCo_cF₂. Such behaviour is due to existence of some subthreshold range near the band edge and corresponds to the incoherent collective rearrangement (ICR) of the system spectrum.