Semiconductor nanowires for novel one-dimensional devices

Low-dimensional semiconductors offer interesting physical phenomena but also the possibility to realize novel types of devices based on, for instance, 1D structures. By using traditional top-down fabrication methods the performance of devices is often limited by the quality of the processed device structures. In many cases damage makes ultra-small devices unusable. In this work we present a recently developed method for bottom-up fabrication of epitaxially nucleated semiconductor nanowires based on metallic nanoparticle-induced formation of self-assembled nanowires. Further development of the vapor–liquid–solid growth method have made it possible to control not only the dimension and position of nanowires but also to control heterostructures formed inside the nanowires. Based on these techniques we have realized a series of transport devices such as resonant tunneling and single-electron transistors but also optically active single quantum dots positioned inside nanowires displaying sharp emission characteristics due to excitons.     

Analysis of effective spin-polarized transport through a ZnO based magnetic p–n junction at room temperature

ZnO based magnetic semiconductors (MSs) are prominent candidates for the spintronic devices because of their high Curie temperatures and low conductance mismatches. In this paper the spin-polarized transport in MS/nonmagnetic semiconductor (NMS) p–n junction is investigated. A model is established based on semiconductor drift–diffusion theory and continuity equation. Boundary conditions are obtained from the quasi-chemical potential (QCP) relations at the junction interface. For a ZnO based magnetic p–n junction, we calculate the distributions of carrier/spin density and spin polarization at room temperature. It is demonstrated that by choosing proper parameters, effective spin-polarized injection from ZnO based MS into ZnO can be achieved at room temperature without external spin-polarized injection (ESPI) or large bias.     

Surface-field induced interband tunneling in InAs

Metal/insulator/semiconductor junctions are prepared on degeneratep-type InAs substrates with hole concentrations ranging from 2.3×10¹⁷ cm^–3 to 2.7×10¹⁸ cm^–3. The low work function of the top metal Yb, Al, or Au and charged interface states influence a two-dimensional (2D) electron inversion layer at the InAs surface. The insulator barrier that is formed by thermal oxidation is designed sufficiently thin, so that the bias voltage applied at the metal electrode mainly drops across the depletion layer separating the electron channel from the bulk. The current-voltage (I–V) characteristics exhibit strong negative differential conductance due to interband, tunneling from the 2D subband into the 3D valence band with peak-to-valley current ratios up to 3.1, 18, and 32 at 300 K, 77 K, and 4.2 K, respectively. In agreement with a theoretical model based on coherentelastic tunneling, the form of the I–V curves resembles those of double-barrier resonant tunnel devices rather than those of 3D Esaki diodes. The series resistance is obtained from the saturation of the differential conductance dI/dV at high forward bias and from the shift of structures in d² I/dV ² arising from phonon assisted tunneling.Dedicated to G. Lautz on the occasion of his 65th birthday     

Effect of Γ–X Intervalley Scattering on the Electron Transport in Double-Barrier GaAs/AlAs(001) Heterostructures

Volt-ampere characteristics, transmission spectra of electrons, and tunneling times are calculated for a three-valley model by the multiband method used for studying the quantum transport in GaAs/AlAs(001) semiconductor heterostructures. The effect of –X intervalley scattering of electrons on the heteroboundaries of the structures is examined.     

Rashba polarization in HgCdTe inversion layers at large depletion charges

The Rashba effect in metal–insulator–semiconductor (MIS) structures based on zero-gap HgCdTe is investigated experimentally and theoretically over a wide doping range N_A–N_D=3×10¹⁵–3×10¹⁸ cm⁻³. Increase of doping enlarges the magnitude of the effect at the same 2D concentration and strengthens a gate-voltage dependence of the Rashba splitting. The results demonstrate values of Rashba polarization as high as P_R0.5 and a capability to control the Rashba effect strength at constant electron concentration.     

Exciton-Boson Formalism in the Theory of Laser-Excited Semiconductors and Its Application in Coherent Four-Wave-Mixing Spectroscopy

By the use of a bosonization transformation and group-theoretical arguments, the Hamiltonian of an electron–hole–photon system in a laser-excited direct two-band semiconductor is transcribed into that of an exciton–photon system with the particle spins rigorously taken into consideration. It is shown that the third-order optical nonlinearities in the spectral region below the band edge have their microscopic origin in two-exciton correlations, which are expressed in terms of the effective exciton–exciton and anharmonic exciton–photon interactions. The dependence of the interparticle interactions on the spin states of quasiparticles is behind the polarization dependence of the semiconductor nonlinear optical response. On the example of the system of heavy hole excitons in quantum wells, grown from compounds with the zinc blende type of symmetry, it is demonstrated that the effective exciton–exciton interaction in two-exciton states with nonzero total spin is repulsive, while in zero-spin states it is attractive, which may result in the biexciton formation. The derived Heisenberg equations of motion for the exciton and biexciton operators form the basis for a theoretical study of the coherent four-wave-mixing in GaAs and ZnSe quantum wells. It is readily apparent from the equations that in different polarization configurations the coherent four-wave-mixing is generated by different ingredients of two-exciton Coulomb correlations: in the co-circular configuration, it is the interexciton repulsion, in the cross-linear configuration, the formation of the biexciton and its coupling to excitons, and in the collinear configuration, both of them jointly. The obtained expressions for the time-resolved and frequency-resolved four-wave-mixing signals adequately describe the main characteristics and various details of wave mixing phenomena, including a biexciton signature in the appropriate polarization configurations. Results of the work clarify the microscopic mechanism of the polarization dependence in coherent four-wave-mixing spectroscopy in semiconductor quantum wells.     

Phonon-assisted tunneling process in amorphous silicon nanostructures and GaAs nanowires

Experimental results on the current–voltage (I–V) characteristics of amorphous Si nanostructures reported by Irrera et al. [A. Irrera, F. Iacona, I. Crupil, C.D. Presti, G. Franzo, C. Bongiorno, D. Sanfilippo, G. Di Stefano, A. Piana, P.G. Fallica, A. Canino, F. Priolo, Nanotechnology 17 (2006) 1428] are reinterpreted in terms of a phonon-assisted tunneling model. It is shown that temperature dependence of current can be caused by the temperature dependence of electron tunneling rate from traps in the metal–semiconductor interface to the conduction band of the semiconductor. A good fit of experimental data with the theory is achieved in all measured temperature range from 30 to 290 K using for calculation the effective mass of 0.5m_e, and for the phonon energy the value of 12 meV. An advantage of this model over that of Irrera et al. used model is the possibility of describing the behavior of I–V data measured at both high and low temperatures with the same set of parameters characterizing this material. The temperature-dependent I–V data by Schricker et al. [A.D. Schricker, F.M. Davidson III, R.J. Wiacek, B.A. Korgel, Nanotechn. 17 (2006) 2681.] of GaAs nanowires, are also explained on the basis of this model.     

Peculiarities of the electrophysical characteristics of platinum silicide-silicon contacts under impulsive overloads

The extremal operating states of the active elements of integrated circuits and discrete devices as well as the different actions on semiconductor devices with a Schottky barrier based on metal silicide-silicon contacts lead to a change in their physical parameters. In this work the effect of impulsive overloads on a formed platinum silicide-silicon contact is studied. It is shown, with the help of analytical expressions for the currents in the superbarrier region and in the region of resonant tunneling charge transfer, that under impulsive action a change occurs in both the transitional layer and in the region of space charge; the change is associated with the increase in the concentration of deep levels in the region of space charge that participate in the resonance tunneling. Estimates of the Joule heating by the current flowing in the structures employed do not exceed 100°C, indicating that defect formation under the impulsive actions is nonthermal.Translated from Izvestiya Vysshikh Uchebnykh Zavedenii, Fizika, No. 9, pp. 70–73, September, 1988.     

Tight-binding model of spin-polarized tunnelling in (Ga,Mn)As-based structures

The Landauer–Büttiker formalism combined with the tight-binding transfer matrix method is used to describe the results of recent experiments: the high tunneling magnetoresistance (TMR) in (Ga,Mn)As-based trilayers and highly polarized spin injection in p-(Ga,Mn)As/n-GaAs Zener diode. For both TMR and Zener spin current polarization, the calculated values agree well with those observed experimentally. The role played in the spin dependent tunneling by carrier concentration and magnetic ion content is also studied.     

Efficient spin filtering in a disordered semiconductor superlattice in the presence of Dresselhaus spin-orbit coupling

The influence of the Dresselhaus spin-orbit coupling on spin polarization by tunneling through a disordered semiconductor superlattice was investigated. The Dresselhaus spin-orbit coupling causes the spin polarization of the electron due to transmission possibilities difference between spin up and spin down electrons. The electron tunneling through a zinc-blende semiconductor superlattice with InAs and GaAs layers and two variable distance In_xGa_(1−x)As impurity layers was studied. One hundred percent spin polarization was obtained by optimizing the distance between two impurity layers and impurity percent in disordered layers in the presence of Dresselhaus spin-orbit coupling. In addition, the electron transmission probability through the mentioned superlattice is too much near to one and an efficient spin filtering was recommended.     

Fano resonances in semiconductor superlattices

We use semiconductor superlattices as a model system for the investigation of Fano resonances. In absorption the excitonic transitions of the Wannier–Stark ladder show the typical asymmetric line shape due to coupling to the continuum of lower-lying transitions. The unique feature of these Fano resonances is that they allow to continuously tune the key parameter – the coupling strength Γ between the discrete state and the degenerate continuum – by varying the bias voltage. Using this feature, we directly show that the Fano coupling leads to a fast polarization decay. We also investigate the dependence of the Fano parameters on the structure of the superlattice and compare with an extensive theoretical model of the resonances.     

Spin-polarized current produced by a double barrier resonant tunneling diode

The spin-polarized tunneling current through a double barrier resonant tunneling diode (RTD) made with a semimagnetic semiconductor is studied theoretically. The calculated spin-polarized current and polarization degree are in agreement with recent experimental results. It is predicted that the polarization degree can be modulated continuously from +1 to −1 by changing the external voltage such that the quasi-confined spin-up and spin-down energy levels shift downwards from the Fermi level to the bottom of the conduction band. The RTD with low potential barrier or the tunneling through the second quasi-confined state produces larger spin-polarized current. Furthermore a higher magnetic field enhances the polarization degree of the tunneling current.     

Effect of inter-miniband tunneling on current resonances due to the formation of stochastic conduction networks in superlattices

We study the effects of inter-miniband electron tunneling and electric field domains on the current–voltage and conductance–voltage curves of biased semiconductor superlattices under the action of a magnetic field that is tilted relative to the plane of the layers. For this geometry, electrons in the superlattice minibands exhibit a unique type of stochastic semiclassical motion. At certain critical values of the electric field within the superlattice layers, the stochastic trajectories change abruptly from fully localized to completely unbounded, and map out an intricate web-like mesh of conduction channels in phase space. Delocalization of the electron paths produces a series of strong resonant peaks in the electron drift velocity versus electric field curves. We use these drift velocity characteristics to make self-consistent drift-diffusion calculations of the current–voltage and differential conductance–voltage curves of the superlattices, which reveal strong resonant features originating from the sudden delocalization of the stochastic single-electron paths. We show that this delocalization has a pronounced effect on the distribution of space charge and electric field domains within the superlattices. Inter-miniband tunneling greatly reduces the amount of space-charge buildup, thus enhancing the domain structure and both the strength and number of the current resonances.     

Memory characteristics of platinum nanoparticle-embedded MOS capacitors

The capacitance characteristics of platinum nanoparticle (NP)-embedded metal–oxide–semiconductor (MOS) capacitors with gate Al₂O₃ layers are studied in this work. The capacitance versus voltage (C–V) curves obtained for a representative MOS capacitor exhibit flat-band voltage shifts, demonstrating the presence of charge storages in the platinum NPs. The counterclockwise hysteresis and flat-band voltage shift, observed from the C–V curves imply that electrons are stored in a floating gate layer consisting of the platinum NPs present between the tunneling and control oxide layers in the MOS capacitor and that these stored electrons originate from the Si substrate. Moreover, the charge remains versus time curve for the platinum NP-embedded MOS capacitor is investigated in this work.     

Spin-polarized tunneling through a thin-film

The effect of spin-disorder scattering on perpendicular transport in a magnetic monolayer is considered within the single-site Coherent Potential Approximation (CPA). The exchange interaction between a conduction electron and localized moment of the magnetic ion is treated with the use of the s–f model. Electron-spin polarization is evaluated in the tunnel current which comes from the different densities of spin-up, spin-down conduction electrons at the Fermi level in a ferromagnetic semiconductor (EuS). Calculated results are compared with some tunneling experiments.     

DLTS characterization of silicon nitride passivated AlGaN/GaN heterostructures

Passivating the ungated surface of AlGaN/GaN HEMTs with silicon nitride (SiN) is effective in improving the microwave output power performances of these devices. However, very little information is available about surface states in GaN-based HEMTs after SiN passivation. In this work we investigate AlGaN/GaN HEMTs structures having either metal–semiconductor or metal–SiN–semiconductor gate contacts. In short gate devices conductance DLTS measurements point out a hole-like peak that shows an anomalous behaviour and can be ascribed to surface states in the access regions of the device. In insulated gate HEMTs a band of levels is detected and ascribed to surface states, whose energy ranges from 0.14 to 0.43 eV. Capacitance–voltage measurements allow us to point out the existence of a second band of interface states deeper in energy than the former one. This band is responsible for slow transients observed in the characteristics of the insulated gate FAT-HEMT.     

Renormalized dispersion of elementary excitations in spinor polariton condensates

We analyse the polarization of spinor polariton condensates and corresponding dispersions of elementary excitations. We have considered the effects of magnetic field induced splitting in circular polarizations and residual splitting in linear polarizations in the ground state provided by the cavity asymmetry. We show that anisotropic polariton–polariton interactions fully compensate the Zeeman splitting in circular polarizations below the critical magnetic field, thus leading to the spin-Meissner effect for the polariton condensates. We also analyzed the effect of polariton–polariton interactions on the stability of the gap in linear polarizations characteristic for anisotropic microcavities. It was shown that in realistic systems this gap increases with concentration of the particles, thus contributing to the stability of the pinning of linear polarization of photoemission in semiconductor microcavities for pump intensities above the stimulation threshold.     

The influence of tunneling effects on the efficiency of heterojunction solar cells

A theoretical model is developed which presents the transport properties through the space charge region of ap ⁺ n heterojunction solar cell, whereby not only recombination through interface states but also tunneling through potential barriers is taken into account. It is investigated whether tunneling can give rise to optimum heterojunction structures which have better efficiencies that without tunneling. It is found that only if the strongly doped semiconductor has an optimum bandgap and the weakly doped semiconductor a larger bandgap, tunneling can make the structure optimum. In all other cases of optimum structures, tunneling deteriorates the efficiency. Work supported by the Energy R. D. programmes of the Commission of European Communities and the Belgian Ministry of Science.     

Photopleochromism and the physical principles of the preparation of semiconductor polarimetric photodetectors

Conclusions In conclusion, we point out that II-IV-V₂ semiconductors with the chalcopyrite lattice have served as the object of fundamental studies of the polarization photosensitivity performed in recent years and the physical principles for creating semiconductor photodetectors of a new type have been formulated. One can hope that the basic laws governing the photopleochroism of diamond-like semiconductors, determined for single crystals and different diode structures consisting of II-IV-V₂ compounds, will be quite general and will find application to anisotropic materials belonging to different crystalline classes. It is of interest to construct a general theory of the polarization photosensitivity of uniform crystals and potential barriers. It is desirable to develop further the technology for growing single crystals of anisotropic semiconductors with the required crystallographic orientation.Translated from Izvetiya Vysshikh Uchebnykh Zavedenii, Fizika, No. 8, pp. 68–83, August, 1986.     

Spin-filtering junctions with double ferroelectric barriers

An FS/FE/NS/FE/FS double tunnel junction is suggested to have the ability to inject, modulate and detect the spin-polarized current electrically in a single device, where FS is the ferromagnetic semiconductor electrode, NS is the nonmagnetic semiconductor, and FE the ferroelectric barrier. The spin polarization of the current injected into the NS region can be switched between a highly spin-polarized state and a spin unpolarized state. The high spin polarization may be detected by measuring the tunneling magnetoresistance ratio of the double tunnel junction.