Morphological and micro-Raman investigations on Ar-ion irradiated nanostructured GaAs surface

Low energy Ar⁺-ion irradiation at normal incidence is used to fabricate nanostructured GaAs surface. Atomic force microscopy (AFM) images reveal the formation of GaAs surface nanodots with an average size of about 25-35 nm. The swelling of irradiated surface is observed at a higher energy due to the ion beam-induced porosity in the amorphized GaAs surface. Micro-Raman scattering shows a gradual increase in the downward shift and line shape broadening of optical phonon modes from the nanostructured GaAs prepared with increasing ion dose and beam energy. The rapid broadening of the transverse-optical phonon mode at a higher energy and dose represents the onset of plastic deformation of the irradiated surface. Furthermore, the influence of rapid thermal annealing (RTA) shows a reverse LO and TO phonon peakshift and the change in the lineshape due to reduction of the amorphous disorder.     

Micro-Raman spectroscopy in polycrystalline CuInSe2 formation

The crystalline formation of CuInSe₂ thin films has been investigated using micro-Raman spectroscopy and AES composition analysis. It is confirmed that the Raman peaks are stongly dependent on the surface morphology and the Cu:In:Se ratio. In the films annealed at 315°C, crystalline grains larger than 2 m show Raman peaks at 174 cm^–1 and 258 cm^–1. The In content is very low and the Cu:Se ratio is about 1:1 in these grains. The low In concentration is thought to be due to the formation of In₂O₃ on the surface. On the other hand, random structures of 1–2 m grains found in films annealed at temperatures below 305°C show peaks at 174 cm^–1 and 186 cm^–1 instead of 258 cm^–1 and have a Cu:In:Se ratio of 1:1:3–4. Thus the 186 cm^–1 peak is thought to be related to a Cu, In-deficient phase when compared to stoichiometric CuInSe₂. The optimum annealing condition was found by analyzing the Raman spectra and composition of different crystalline CuInSe₂ grains. Films annealed under this condition exhibited a clear Raman peak at 174 cm^–1 and consisted of clusters of crystals less than 1 m in size.     

The effect of Be-doping structure in negative electron affinity GaAs photocathodes on integrated photosensitivity

A new structure of GaAs photocathode was introduced. The Be-doping concentration is variable in the new structure compared with the constant concentration of Be in the normal photocathode. Negative electron affinity GaAs photocathodes were fabricated by alternate input of Cs and O. The spectral response results measured by the on-line spectral response measurement system show that the integrated photosensitivity of the photocathodes with the new structure is enhanced by at least 50% as compared to those with the monolayer structure. Accordingly, two main factors leading to the enhanced photosensitivity of the photocathodes were discussed.     

Raman spectroscopy of macroscopic defects of GaAs grown by molecular beam epitaxy

Macroscopic defects of the GaAs surface grown by molecular beam epitaxy (MBE) have been investigated by using a micro-probing method of Raman spectroscopy. Especially, the oval defects, the most common macroscopic defects in MBE GaAs, were focused in this study. In Raman spectroscopy for the oval defect on the (100)GaAs surface, TO phonon mode of the 269 cm^–1 peak was observed. This indicates that the oval defects can include the (111) growth direction or the amorphized surface. The TO/LO intensity ratios for the defects are in the range from 0.3 to 1.0. In the sample grown under the condition that the substrate temperature is 580° C with the As/Ga ratio of 20, the density of the oval defects is about 200 cm^–2 at a growth thickness of 5 m. With increasing thickness of the epilayer, the density and the size of the -tye oval defect increased, while the TO/LO ratio decreased. From the spatial measurement by Raman spectroscopy for the -type oval defect, it is supposed that the -type oval defect remains in a rather good crystalline state and its orientation along the (100) growth direction is much closer to the (111) direction, but the growth direction of the defect might tend toward the (100) direction with a thicker layer.     

Charge transient spectroscopy measurements of GaAs metal-insulator-semiconductor structures

The Au/Pd/Ti-SiO₂-(n)GaAs structures with and without (NH₄)₂S_x treated gallium arsenide surface, previously analysed by impedance spectroscopy (IS) method, have been investigated using charge transient spectroscopy (QTS) technique. The isothermal QTS spectra of MIS structures kept at room temperature under set of quiescent biases have been recorded in response to both negative and positive pulses of fixed small amplitudes. Two types of charge relaxation characterized by time constant values have been evidenced. The attempt to compare QTS results with ones obtained by impedance spectroscopy method has been presented.     

Self-organized in-plane incorporation of Si atoms in GaAs by molecular beam epitaxy

The preferential attachment of Si atoms at misorientation steps on vicinal GaAs(001) surfaces has been studied by RHEED. By analysing the time evolution of the specular beam intensity and the change in surface reconstruction during Si deposition we show that a self-organized Si incorporation along the step edges takes place. The observed (3×2) structure is due to an ordered array of dimerized Si atoms with missing dimer rows. Taking into account the structure of the (3×2) unit mesh and its orientation with respect to the As-terminated or Ga-terminated steps, a characteristic minimum in the RHEED intensity recording corresponds to the number of Ga step-edge sites. Since the preferential path for Ga as well as for Si adatom diffusion is along the [110] direction, the critical terrace width for wirelike Si attachment is much larger for a misorientation toward (111)As than for a misorientation toward (111)Ga. Despite the high local impurity concentration, the Si-modified surface can be overgrown with GaAs without adverse effects on the growth front. This is promising for the fabrication of doping wires.     

Transparent conducting molybdenum-doped zinc oxide films deposited by RF magnetron sputtering

A new transparent conducting oxide (TCO) film with low resistivity and high transmittance in the visible range, molybdenum-doped zinc oxide (MZO), was successfully prepared by RF magnetron sputtering method on glass substrates at room temperature. The structural, electrical, and optical properties as a function of film thickness were investigated. All the samples have a preferred orientation with the (0 0 2) planes parallel to the substrates. The resistivity initially decreases and then shows an increase with the increase of the film thickness. When the thickness is 400 nm, the film has its best crystallinity and lowest resistivity 9.2 × 10⁻⁴ Ω cm with a Hall mobility of 30 cm² V⁻¹ s⁻¹ and a carrier concentration of 2.3 × 10²⁰ cm⁻³. The average transmittance in the visible range exceeds 84% for all thickness films.     

Raman and point contact current-voltage characterization of laser-induced diffusion in GaAs

Raman scattering and point contact current-voltage (PCIV) measurements were used as characterization tools of tin-diffused GaAs layers. Diffusion was induced by irradiating GaAs substrates covered with thin tin layers single pulses of a ruby laser. Samples processed with the lowest energies show strong damage and incomplete electrical activation as deduced from Raman and PCIV measurements, respectively. Raman microprobe in depth analysis and PCIV profiles also suggest the presence of a damaged region with incomplete electrical activation at the boundary between the molten layer and the solid substrate.     

Effect of changing incident wavelength on Raman features of optical phonons in SiC nanorods and TaC nanowires

Novel Raman scattering in polar semiconductor SiC and TaC one-dimensional materials have been carried out. With increasing incident laser wavelength from 488 to 633 nm there is a huge difference in Raman intensity enhancement for the LO/IF peaks and the TO peak. This has been interpreted as due to Fröhlich interaction and abundant defects in polar nano-scale semiconductor materials.     

One-phonon-assisted resonant electron Raman scattering of GaAs quantum dots in an AlAs matrix

We have presented a theoretical calculation of the differential cross section (DCS) for the electron Raman scattering (ERS) process associated with the bulk-like longitudinal optical (LO) and interface optical (IO) phonon modes in semiconductor quantum dots (QDs). Electron states are considered to be confined within the QDs. We consider the Fröhlich electron-phonon interaction in the framework of the dielectric continuum approach. We study selection rules for the processes. Some singularities in the Raman spectra are found and interpreted. A discussion of the phonon behavior for QDs with large and small size is presented. The numerical results are also compared with that of experiments.     

Growth and optical characterization of single quantum well structure of submonolayer ZnS/ZnTe

Single quantum wells of submonolayer ZnS/ZnTe were grown between ZnTe layers using hot wall epitaxy method with fast-movable substrate configuration. As ZnS well widths decrease from 1 to 0.15 monolayer, the photoluminescence peaks shift to higher energies from 2.049 to 2.306 eV, and the photoluminescence intensities increase. As ZnS well width decrease, the PL spectra show the lower-energy tails and consequently the increased PL FWHMs. This is a result of a convolution of two PL peaks from two-dimensional and zero-dimensional quantum islands, supported by a still lived lower-energy peaks of zero-dimensional quantum islands above 50 K. The energy shift in the power dependence of photoluminescence spectra is proportional to the third root of the excitation density. These behaviors can be described by the formation of submonolayer type-II ZnS/ZnTe quantum well structure, and the coexistence of two-dimensional and one-dimensional islands in ZnS layers.     

Two-dimensional electron-hole pair diffusivities in thin GaAs/AlGaAs Quantum Wells

Diffusivities of two-dimensional electron-hole pairs in thin GaAs/AlGaAs Quantum Wells (QWs) are studied experimentally and theoretically as functions of temperature and well-width. With growing well-widths, increasing diffusivities are observed for fixed Al-contents. Experimental diffusivities for the lateral carrier motion in continuously as well as in interrupted-grown thin QWs of different barrier Al-content are presented for T>150 K. Increasing diffusivities are observed for rising temperatures in the range T190 K. A comparison of the experimental data and results of theoretical model calculations indicates that the increase is partly related to thermal dissociation of excitons into free carrier pairs. The effective diffusivity of this two-component system is calculated using a system of rate equations and considering acoustic-deformation-potential scattering, polar-optical scattering and barrier-alloy-disorder scattering.The experimental data were obtained at: 4. Physikalisches Institut, Universität Stuttgart, Pfaffenwaldring 57, W-7000 Stuttgart 80, Germany     

Optical phonon frequencies and damping in AlAs, GaP, GaAs, InP, InAs and InSb studied by oblique incidence infrared spectroscopy

The transverse (TO) and longitudinal (LO) optical phonons in AlAs, GaP, GaAs, InP, InAs and InSb have been measured at room temperature by infrared spectroscopy using an oblique incidence reflectance method. The spectra obtained were then fitted using a novel approach to determine the TO and LO phonon frequencies and damping. The results obtained are found to be more precise than in earlier reflectivity measurements using near-normal angles of incidence and provide information on the damping of both phonons. Apart from the GaAs LO mode, the observed damping parameters are found to be quite different from those predicted by theory. From these results the Lowndes condition governing the relative magnitudes of the TO and LO phonon line widths is found to be violated for all these zincblende semiconductors.     

Raman spectroscopy—A versatile tool for characterization of thin films and heterostructures of GaAs and AlxGa1−xAs

It is shown that Raman spectroscopy can provide useful information on characteristic properties of thin crystalline films of compound semiconductors. Crystal orientation, carrier concentration, scattering times of charge carriers, composition of mixed crystals and depth profiles can be studied in thin layers and heterostructures of GaAs and Al_xGa_1−xAs. The advantages and disadvantages of Raman scattering compared to conventional characterization methods are discussed.     

Zeeman spectroscopy of the Zn acceptor in InP

Magneto-spectroscopy to 17.5 T of the Zn acceptor impurity in InP in the Faraday configuration using unpolarised radiation is reported. Four components of the G line have been followed to higher fields than previously, allowing the g factors of the ground and the first excited states to be determined more reliably. The Zeeman splitting of the D line is reported—three principal components are evident. A hitherto unreported third series of Zeeman transitions is observed at energies just above the reststrahlen band.     

Intermixing behavior in InGaAs/InGaAsP multiple quantum wells with dielectric and InGaAs capping layers

The influence of the InGaAs capping layer on the intermixing behavior of dielectric-capped In_0.53Ga_0.47 As/In_0.81Ga_0.19As_0.37P_0.63 multiple quantum wells (MQWs) was investigated by measuring the change in the photoluminescence spectra after rapid thermal annealing. The magnitude of the energy shift in the transition energy from the first electronic sub-band to the first heavy- and light-hole sub-bands of the MQWs is large when SiO₂ and InGaAs hybrid capping layers are employed, but it is rather small when Si₃N₄ and InGaAs hybrid capping layers are employed. This result indicates that the InGaAs capping layer holds promise for applications involved in the fabrication of integrated photonic devices, but only when it is incorporated with the SiO₂ capping layer. The reason why the InGaAs capping layer behaves differently under the SiO₂ and Si₃N₄ capping layers is also discussed. Received: 4 December 1999 / Accepted: 26 September 2000 / Published online: 10 January 2001     

Laser crystallization of amorphous silicon films investigated by Raman spectroscopy and atomic force microscopy

The intrinsic and phosphorous (P)-doped hydrogenated amorphous silicon thin films were crystallized by laser annealing. The structural properties during crystallization process can be investigated. Observed redshifts of the Si Raman transverse optical phonon peak indicate tensile stress present in the films and become intense with the effect of doping, which can be relieved in P-doped films by introducing buffer layer structures. Based on experimental results, the established correlation between the stress and crystalline fraction (X_C) suggests that the relatively high stress can limit the increase in X_C and the highest crystalline fraction is obtained by a considerable stress release. At high laser energy density of 1250 mJ/cm², the poorer crystalline quality and disordered structure of the film originating from the irradiation damage and defects lead to the low electron mobility.     

Investigation of structural phase transition in polycrystalline SrTiO3 thin films by Raman spectroscopy

Polycrystalline SrTiO₃ thin films were prepared by pulsed laser deposition technique. The phonon properties and structural phase transition were studied by Raman spectroscopy. The first-order Raman scattering, which is forbidden in SrTiO₃ single crystal, has been observed in the films, due to the structural distortion caused by strain effect and oxygen vacancies. The Fano-type line shape of TO₂ phonon reveals the existence of polar microregions in the STO thin films. The evolution of TO₂ and TO₃ phonons with temperature shows the occurrence of a structural phase transition at 120 K related to the formation of polar macroregions in the films.     

Chemical-specific imaging of multicomponent metal surfaces on the nanometer scale by scanning tunneling spectroscopy

The topographic and chemical surface structure of a submonolayer iron film on a W(110) substrate has been studied by combined scanning tunneling microscopy and spectroscopy. Local tunneling spectra revealed a pronounced difference in the electronic structure between nanometer-scale iron islands of monolayer height and the bare W(110) substrate. In particular, a pronounced empty-state peak at 0.2 eV above the Fermi level has been identified for the iron islands. Based on the pronounced difference in the local tunneling spectra measured above the iron islands and the tungsten substrate, chemical-specific imaging was achieved by performing spatially resolved measurements of the differential tunneling conductivitydl/dU (x, y) at selected sample bias voltages.     

Transition of 3D to 2D growth modes of InAs grown on GaAs

We report a method to grow thin strain-released InAs layer on GaAs (1 0 0) substrates by molecular beam epitaxy. We have shown that by controlling the growth parameters, a thin 2D InAs layer can be grown during initial stages, which eventually serves as a buffer layer to trap dislocations and epitaxial regrowth of InAs on this buffer results in high crystal quality. The size dependence of the InAs islands formed during initial stages with growth time has been studied by atomic force microscopy. With continuous short-time epitaxial growth during various stages, the InAs growth mode transfers from 3D to 2D. The introduction of dislocations into InAs epitaxial islands and their behavior during initial growth stage has been theoretically studied. The theoretical results are in remarkable agreement with the experimental results and shows that once the film is formed, the film strain is totally relaxed. The 200 nm thick InAs epilayer grown on this buffer shows a narrow X-ray diffraction peak. Such InAs strain-released buffer layer would be useful for regrowth of high In content based materials on top of it for electronics and optoelectronics device applications.