Transfer efficiency in ballistic electron emission microscopy taking diffraction of emitted hot electrons into account

We have analyzed the transfer efficiency of ballistic electron emission microscopy (BEEM), taking the finite spot size of the emitted electron beam from scanning probes into account. Three-dimensional diffraction from an aperture at a surface-metal/air interface is introduced to model an effect caused by the finiteness of spot size. As a general trend, the diffraction decreases BEEM transfer efficiency. The diffraction effect increases as the spot size decreases and the air-gap distance increases. In a Au/GaAs sample, BEEM transfer efficiency markedly deteriorates down to 6% of the value derived from a conventional planar tunneling theory when a spot size of 0.2 nm, an air-gap distance of 0.6 nm, and an electron energy of 0.2 eV, measured from the bottom of the GaAs conduction band, are assumed. BEEM transfer efficiency is markedly dependent on the spot size of the emitted hot electron. This result indicates that the BEEM current depends on the spatial resolution of the scanning probe, that is, the condition of the tip apex.     

Magnetic field effects and k?-filtering in BEEM on GaAsAlGaAs resonant tunneling structures

In this work, GaAsAlGaAs double barrier resonant tunneling diodes (RTDs) are investigated by ballistic electron emission microscopy (BEEM). RTDs grown directly below the sample surface exhibit characteristic steplike features in the BEEM spectrum, whereas for buried RTDs, a linear spectrum is observed. Moreover, the BEEM spectra of sub-surface RTDs show Shubnikov-de Haas-like oscillations in magnetic fields. To investigate the origin of these effects, the BEEM spectra were calculated using a scattering formalism within the framework of a semi-empirical tight binding method. As a main result we found that, independent of the applied bias, only electrons within a narrow k_ distribution are transferred resonantly through the RTD. Hence, a k_ filter is established for ballistic electrons close to k_=0. The calculated filter width is consistent with the magnetic field data.     

Spectroscopy and imaging of metal-organic interfaces using BEEM

Charge injection from metal electrodes to organics is a subject of intense scientific investigation for organic electronics. Ballistic electron emission microscopy (BEEM) enables spectroscopy and imaging of buried interfaces with nanometer resolution. Spatial non-uniformity of carrier injection is observed for both Ag-PPP (poly-paraphenylene) and Ag-MEHPPV (poly-2-methoxy-5-2-ethyl-hexyloxy-1,4-phenylenevinylene) interfaces. BEEM current images are found to correlate only marginally with the surface topography of the Ag film.     

电子传输层厚度及阻塞层对量子点发光二极管性能的影响

针对量子点发光二极管(QLED)中载流子注入不平衡的问题,对空穴和电子在量子点层的注入速率进行了研究。制备了不同电子传输层厚度、结构为ITO/PEDOT∶PSS/Poly-TPD/QDs/Alq3/Al的QLED样品。Alq_3厚度由25 nm逐步递增至45 nm时,器件的开启电压升高,器件均发出量子点的红光。当Alq_3厚度为30nm时,器件的电流效率最高。此时,空穴和电子在量子点层的注入速率达到相对平衡。为进一步研究器件的发光特性,在QDs和Alq_3接触界面嵌入电子阻塞层TPD。研究发现,当TPD的厚度为1 nm时,器件发出红光;当TPD厚度为3 nm和5 nm时,器件开始出现绿光。实验结果表明,在选取电子阻塞层时,应选择LUMO较低的材料且阻塞层的厚度必须很薄。     

弹道电子发射显微术及其应用

弹道电子发射显微术能够对金属／半导体等界面体系进行直接，实时及无损的探测，并且具有纳米级空间分辨率，文章介绍了ＢＥＥＭ的基本原理，关键技术及其应用，并给出了有关实验结果。     

高效率的有机电致发光器件

有机电致发光器件 (OL EDs)的发光机理包括电子和空穴从电极的注入、激子的形成及复合发光 ,其中 ,空穴和电子的注入平衡是非常重要的。为了平衡载流子的注入以得到高效率和稳定性好的器件 ,人们不仅使用了电子注入更为有效的 L i F/ Al[1] 和 Cs F/ Al[2 ] 等复合电极 ,同时也使用了空穴缓冲层 ,如 S.A.Van Slyke等 [3]在ITO和 NPB之间使用 Cu Pc,使得器件的稳定性得到了明显的提高 ;A.Gyoutoku等[4 ] 用碳膜使器件的半寿命超过 3 5 0 0小时 ;最近 ,Y.Kurosaka等 [5]和 Z.B.Deng[6 ]分别在 ITO和空穴传输层之间插入一薄层 Al…     

Sub-10 nm writing: focused electron beam-induced deposition in perspective

Over the past decade, focused electron beam-induced deposition has become a mature necessary part of the tool box engineers and scientists. This review presents the current state of the art in sub-10 nm focused electron beam deposition and describes the dominant mechanisms that have been found so far for this regime. Several questions regarding patterning at the highest resolution are addressed. What do our findings mean for using sub-10 nm focused electron beam deposition for industrial applications? And which fundamental issues remain to be solved? The overview shows that low-energy secondary electrons dominate the deposition process. As a result, the highest obtainable spatial resolution (averaged over many deposits) is limited by the mean free path of those electrons. Therefore, the only route to improve the resolution beyond the current appears to be using complexes that are sensitive to the high-energy electrons in the incident beam, rather than to the secondaries. Focused electron beam-induced deposition is compared to related techniques. It is on par with resist-based sub-10 nm electron beam lithography, showing similar spatial resolutions at similar electron doses. Regarding ion beam lithography, there are several distinguishing issues. Sub-10 nm writing has yet to be demonstrated for ion deposition, and although the deposition rate is relatively low when writing with electrons, electrons do not induce damage to the sample. The latter is a crucial advantage for focused electron beam-induced deposition. Finally, the main challenges regarding the applicability of sub-10 nm focused electron beam-induced deposition are discussed.     

BEEM imaging and spectroscopy of buried structures in semiconductors

Ballistic Electron Emission Microscopy (BEEM) has been shown to be a powerful tool for nanometer-scale characterization of the spatial and electronic properties of semiconductor structures. In this article, we will discuss general aspects of BEEM experiment and theory in true ballistic and quasi-ballistic hot carrier transport. We will review the current state and recent progress in the use of the BEEM imaging and spectroscopy to study metal-semiconductor and metal-insulator-semiconductor interfaces, buried semiconductor heterojunctions and novel quantum objects. Various theoretical BEEM models are discussed, and their ability to describe BEEM experiments is examined. Special attention is drawn to the role of the electron scattering in the metal base layer, at the metal–semiconductor interface and in the semiconductor heterostructure on BEEM spectra.     

Radiation-stimulated pulse conductivity of CsBr crystals

The radiation-stimulated pulse conductivity of CsBr crystals is investigated upon picosecond excitation with electron beams (0.2 MeV, 50 ps, 0.1–10 kA/cm²). The time resolution of the measuring technique is ～150 ps. It is shown that the lifetime of conduction band electrons is limited by their bimolecular recombination with autolocalized holes (V _k centers). A delay in the conduction current pulse build-up is revealed. This effect is explained within the proposed model, according to which the Auger recombination of valence band electrons and holes of the upper core band substantially contributes to the generation of conduction band electrons.     

Coherent spin dynamics of carriers in ferromagnetic semiconductor heterostructures with an Mn δ layer

The coherent spin dynamics of carriers in the heterostructures that contain an InGaAs/GaAs quantum well (QW) and an Mn δ layer, which are separated by a narrow GaAs spacer 2–10 nm thick, is comprehensively studied by the magnetooptical Kerr effect method at a picosecond time resolution. The exchange interaction of photoexcited electrons in QW with the ferromagnetic Mn δ layer manifests itself in magnetic-field and temperature dependences of the Larmor precession frequency of electron spins and is found to be very weak (several microelectron volts). Two nonoscillating components related to holes exist apart from an electron contribution to the Kerr signal of polarization plane rotation. At the initial stage, a fast relaxation process, which corresponds to the spin relaxation of free photoexcited holes, is detected in the structures with a wide spacer. The second component is caused by the further spin dephasing of energyrelaxed holes, which are localized at strong QW potential fluctuations in the structures under study. The decay of all contributions to the Kerr signal in time increases substantially when the spacer thickness decreases, which correlates with the enhancement of nonradiative recombination in QW.     

Relaxation of femtosecond photoexcited electrons in a polar indirect band-gap semiconductor nanoparticle

A model calculation is given for the energy relaxation of a non-equilibrium distribution of hot electrons (holes) prepared in the conduction (valence) band of a polar indirect band-gap semiconductor, which has been subjected to homogeneous photoexcitation by a femtosecond laser pulse. The model assumes that the pulsed photoexcitation creates two distinct but spatially interpenetrating electron and hole non-equilibrium subsystems that initially relax non-radiatively through the electron (hole)-phonon processes towards the conduction (valence) band minimum (maximum), and finally radiatively through the phonon-assisted electron-hole recombination across the band-gap, which is a relatively slow process. This leads to an accumulation of electrons (holes) at the conduction (valence) band minimum (maximum). The resulting peaking of the carrier density and the entire evolution of the hot electron (hole) distribution has been calculated. The latter may be time resolved by a pump-probe study. The model is particularly applicable to a divided (nanometric) polar indirect band-gap semiconductor with a low carrier concentration and strong electron-phonon coupling, where the usual two-temperature model [1-4] may not be appropriate.     

BEEM studies on GaAs/AlxGa1–xAs quantum wire structures

Ballistic electron emission microscopy (BEEM) was used to study laterally patterned GaAs/Al_xGa_1–xAs heterostructures. The measurements were carried out at room temperature in air as well as in liquid helium. Wet chemically etched quantum wires were identified both in topographic and BEEM current imaging. We find that the BEEM current is enhanced if ballistic electronis are injected directly into the quantum wire. The subsurface Al_xGa_1–xAs barrier influences the collector current by determining the BEEM current threshold and by influencing the Fermi level pinning position.     

Enhanced performance of AlGaN-based ultraviolet light-emitting diodes with linearly graded AlGaN inserting layer in electron blocking layer

The conventional stationary Al content Al GaN electron blocking layer(EBL) in ultraviolet light-emitting diode(UV LED) is optimized by employing a linearly graded Al Ga N inserting layer which is 2.0 nm Al_(0.3) Ga_(0.7) N/5.0 nm Alx Ga_(1-x) N/8.0 nm Al_(0.3) Ga_(0.7) N with decreasing value of x. The results indicate that the internal quantum efficiency is significantly improved and the efficiency droop is mitigated by using the proposed structure. These improvements are attributed to the increase of the effective barrier height for electrons and the reduction of the effective barrier height for holes,which result in an increased hole injection efficiency and a decreased electron leakage into the p-type region. In addition,the linearly graded AlGaN inserting layer can generate more holes in EBL due to the polarization-induced hole doping and a tunneling effect probably occurs to enhance the hole transportation to the active regions, which will be beneficial to the radiative recombination.     

紫外光固化聚丙烯酰/SiO2有机/无机杂化气凝胶制备

 采用自制的甲基丙烯酰多羟基倍半硅氧烷制备了UV固化的有机/无机杂化湿凝胶。湿凝胶经CO₂超临界干燥后即得到相应的杂化气凝胶,气凝胶经场发射扫描电子显微镜,高分辨透射电镜分析表明：构成气凝胶3维珍珠链结构的骨架的颗粒尺寸为20～30 nm,骨架上具有5～10 nm的孔洞结构,骨架颗粒有机、无机组分间没有明显的相界面。气凝胶的比表面积、吸附特性和微观孔结构采用经典的N₂吸附法获得,结果表明气凝胶比表面积为520.9 m²/g,孔洞结构主要由50 nm以下的介孔所构成。     

Double Electron–Electron Resonance Between Trapped Electron and Hole in a Semiconductor

We demonstrate the spin interactions between dispersedly trapped electrons and holes in a semiconductor using the double electron–electron resonance (DEER) method of the pulsed electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) techniques. An aluminum-doped titanium dioxide crystal is adopted as a spin system, in which optically generated electrons and holes are trapped, to reveal EPR signals that appear close to each other at a selected crystal orientation under an external magnetic field. We used the four-pulse DEER method by applying two microwave frequencies to a microwave cavity for pumping electrons and probing holes at the optimum temperature of 32 K. The dipolar modulation in the probed signal by pumping interacting spins was successfully detected. The observed non-oscillating decay shape indicates that the detected interaction is caused by widely distributed trapped electron and hole spins over long distances. We were able to extract a spin-pair distribution function by the first derivative of a background-corrected curve, referring to a previously reported method.     

Spin-polarized injection into a p-type GaAs layer from a Co2 MnAl injector

Electric luminescence and its circular polarization in a Co2 MnAl injector-based light emitting diode (LED) has been detected at the transition of e-A0 C , where injected spin-polarized electrons recombine with bound holes at carbon acceptors. A spin polarization degree of 24.6% is obtained at 77 K after spin-polarized electrons traverse a distance of 300 nm before they recombine with holes bound at neutral carbon acceptors in a p + -GaAs layer. The large volume of the p + -GaAs layer can facilitate the detection of weak electric luminescence (EL) from e-A 0C emission without being quenched at higher bias as in quantum wells. Moreover, unlike the interband electric luminescence in the p+ -GaAs layer, where the spin polarization of injected electrons is destroyed by a very effective electron-hole exchange scattering (BAP mechanism), the spin polarization of injected electrons seems to survive during their recombination with holes bound at carbon acceptors.     

飞秒电子衍射系统的设计

研发的超快电子衍射系统由超快电子枪、样品室、超快读出系统、电源系统,以及真空系统等组成,该超快电子衍射系统具有较高的时间分辩能力和较强的探测能力.光电阴极是蒸镀于MgFB2窗上的35 nm的银膜,该阴极对266 nm的紫外光比较敏感,有较高的量子效率,又具有很好的化学稳定性.用短磁聚焦系统来实现对光电子的聚焦,有两对偏转板,其中的一对在测量时间脉宽时用作扫描板.用双MCP探测器来增强电子图像的强度,其增益在104以上,具有单电子探测能力.系统的总时间脉宽设计为358 fs.     

Charge carrier photogeneration in thin films of iodoform

The photogeneration of electrons and holes in thin polycrystalline iodoform films has been investigated as a function of the electric field. Equal values of the primary rates of production of electrons and holes support the idea of an intrinsic photogeneration mechanism. The experimental results are fitted by the Onsager model. The fraction of absorbed photons that produce thermalized electron-hole pairs is found to be close to unity, with an initial pair separation of ca. 3 nm.     

Auger-spectroscopic appearance of electron correlation at the Fermi surface of graphite

It is shown that, in Auger-electron spectra of three-dimensional semimetal graphite and two-dimensional graphite (a zero band-gap semiconductor), an energy gap should be observed between the thresholds (edges) of the forward and inverse processes (threshold gap). In the one-electron approximation, this gap is zero, since the threshold for the Auger spectrum of the forward process is the minimum hole energy in the valence band, while the threshold for the spectrum of the inverse process is the minimum energy of conduction electrons. Inclusion of the electron correlation at the Fermi surface within the quantum-chemical approximation of a single open electron shell for multiplet structures of the restricted Hartree-Fock method makes it possible to determine the threshold gap as 1.5 eV for a 48-atom cyclic model of three-dimensional graphite and as 2.0 eV for a 24-atom model of two-dimensional graphite. The threshold gap does not contain the Fermi energy, in contrast to the Auger spectrum thresholds, where \(\frac{1}{2}(4.0 eV - \varepsilon _F )\) for the forward Auger spectrum (holes) and \(\frac{1}{2}( - 1.1 eV + \varepsilon _F )\) for the inverse spectrum (conduction electrons), the sum of which gives this gap. The results of calculations for the forward Auger spectra of three-dimensional graphite (including the conclusion that electron correlation of holes in the top valence bands is weak in the Auger process) are shown to agree with the experimental data.     

Electron and hole spectra of silicon quantum dots

In the framework of perturbation theory, the first several one-particle energies and wave functions for electrons and holes (six for each) in spherical silicon quantum dots are obtained in the envelope function approximation (kp method). It is shown that the model of an isotropic dispersion relation with the mean reciprocal effective mass is applicable for the ground state of holes in the valence band. Anisotropy of the dispersion relation, which takes place for bulk semiconductors, becomes significant for the electron ground state in the conduction band as well as for all excited (both electron and hole) states.