Using photoelectron emission microscopy with hard-X-rays

We present several successful test cases of using photoelectron emission microscopy (PEEM) for photon energy up to 25 keV. First, the full extended X-ray absorption fine structure analysis was implemented in areas as small as 100 μm² for transition-metal K edge absorption spectra and, therefore, demonstrated the feasibility of combining structural and chemical analysis with hard-X-ray absorption spectroscopy with high lateral resolution. We also show that PEEM can be used in a transmission (radiography) mode as an imaging detector for hard-X-ray. This approach again leads to the unprecedented 0.3 μm lateral resolution, particularly critical for the use of coherence-based phase contrast techniques in real time X-ray radiology.     

Oxygen-containing functional groups on single-wall carbon nanotubes: NEXAFS and vibrational spectroscopic studies.

Single-walled nanotubes (SWNTs) produced by plasma laser vaporization (PLV) and containing oxidized surface functional groups have been studied for the first time with NEXAFS. Comparisons are made to SWNTs made by catalytic synthesis over Fe particles in high-pressure CO, called HiPco material. The results indicate that the acid purification and cutting of single-walled nanotubes with either HNO3/H2SO4 or H2O2/H2SO4 mixtures produces the oxidized groups (O/C = 5.5-6.7%), which exhibit both pi*(CO) and sigma*(CO) C K-edge NEXAFS resonances. This indicates that both carbonyl (C=O) and ether C-O-C functionalities are present. Upon heating in a vacuum to 500-600 K, the pi*(CO) resonances are observed to decrease in intensity; on heating to 1073 K, the sigma*(CO) resonances disappear as the C-O-C functional groups are decomposed. Raman spectral measurements indicate that the basic tubular structure of the SWNTs is not perturbed by heating to 1073 K, based on the invariance of the ring breathing modes upon heating. The NEXAFS studies agree well with infrared studies which show that carboxylic acid groups are thermally destroyed first, followed by the more difficult destruction of ether and quinone groups. Single-walled nanotubes produced by the HiPco process, and not treated with oxidizing acids, exhibit an O/C ratio of 1.9% and do not exhibit either pi*(CO) or sigma*(CO) resonances at the detection limit of NEXAFS. It is shown that heating (to 1073 K) of the PLV-SWNTs containing the functional groups produces C K-edge NEXAFS spectra very similar to those seen for the HiPco material. The NEXAFS spectra are calibrated against spectra measured for a number of fused-ring aromatic hydrocarbon molecules containing various types of oxidized functional groups present on the oxidized SWNTs.     

Constant bias-temperature and constant charge-temperature agings for silicon oxide films of MOS devices

Effects of the conventional constant bias-temperature aging and newly reported constant charge-temperature aging on the silicon oxide films of MOS devices are theoretically and experimentally compared. Under the positive field condition, it is found that the movement of mobile ionic charges is different between these agings. In constant bias-temperature aging there appears an increasing peak electric fieldE _P at the SiO₂-Si interface and a constant gate voltageV _G during aging, while in constant charge-temperature aging there appears a constantE _p and a decreasingV _G .The time dependencies of the flatband voltageV _FB for both cases are consistent with the experimental results. Under the negative field condition, the trapping of the holes from Si into SiO₂ is important. It is found that the variation of the electric fieldE _i at the SiO₂-Si interface depends strongly on the aging method. An aging with constantE _i excludes the field variation effect during annealing, and can be achieved by the successive charge-temperature technique. Experimental results of these agings are given for comparison.     

Salt-inclusion synthesis of two new polar solids, Ba6Mn4Si12O34Cl3 and Ba6Fe5Si11O34Cl3

A new family of salt-containing, mixed-metal silicates (CU-14), Ba6Mn4Si12O34Cl3 (1) and Ba6Fe5Si11O34Cl3 (2), was synthesized via the BaCl2 salt-inclusion reaction. These compounds crystallize in the noncentrosymmetric (NCS) space group Pmc2(1) (No. 26), adopting 1 of the 10 NCS polar, nonchiral crystal classes, mm2 (C2v). The cell dimensions are a = 6.821(1) A, b = 9.620(2) A, c = 13.172(3) A, and V = 864.4(3) A3 for 1 and a = 6.878(1) A, b = 9.664(2) A, c = 13.098(3) A, and V = 870.6(3) A3 for 2. The structures form a composite framework made of the (M(4+x)Si(12-x)O34)9- (M = Mn, x = 0; M = Fe, x = 1) covalent oxide and (Ba6Cl3)9+ ionic chloride sublattices. The covalent framework exhibits a pseudo-one-dimensional channel where the extended barium chloride lattice (Ba3Cl1.5)(infinity) resides, and it consists of fused eight-membered meta-silicate rings propagating along [100] via sharing two opposite [Si2O7]6- units to form an acentric lattice. Single-crystal structure studies also reveal the ClBa4 unit adopting an interesting seesaw configuration, in which the lone pair electrons of chlorine preferentially face the oxide anions of the transition metal silicate channel, thus forming the observed polar frameworks. Similar to the synthesis of organic-inorganic hybrid materials, the salt-inclusion method facilitates a promising approach for the directed synthesis of special framework solids, including NCS compounds, via composite lattices.     

Electrical-optical analysis of a GaN/sapphire LED chip by considering the resistivity of the current-spreading layer

The effects of current distribution in LED chips on the electrical potential and optical light extraction efficiency are investigated by a numerical simulation. The results show that when the resistivity of the current-spreading layer is decreased there is current-crowding near the n-contact. On the other hand, when the resistivity in the current-spreading layer increases, there is current-crowding near the p-contact. When the current is crowded near the n-contact due to less resistivity of the current-spreading layer, the input power is lower because of the smaller series resistance in the chip, and the light extraction efficiency is higher since the shadowing effect of the p-contact can be avoided. For L _p = 50 μm in this study, the light extraction efficiency at ρ _ITO = 0.1 × 10⁻³ Ω·cm is 1.4 times better than that when L _p = 100 μm, even though the driving voltage is raised 1.02 times.