Non-reactive metal/semiconductor interfaces: a combined AES,AFM andPAC study

Thin In films on Ge(100), Si(100) andSi(111) are investigated using Auger-electron spectroscopy (AES), atomic force microscopy (AFM) andperturbed -angular correlation (PAC) spectroscopy, respectively. The growth mode of the metal films is characterized by in situ AES measurements, indicating distinct differences between the different substrate surfaces. Additional AFM investigations are used to monitor the film topography at higher metal coverage. Finally, the local crystalline structure of the films is studied by the PAC technique.     

Surface studies on polycrystalline YBa2Cu3O7−δ with Auger electron and low-energy electron energy-loss spectroscopy

Chemical and electronic properties of scrapecleaned YBa₂Cu₃O_7–(YBCO) ceramics, which were also annealed in vacuum or exposed to H atoms or O₂ molecules, were studied at room temperature by applying Auger electron (AES) and low-energy electron energy-loss spectroscopy (LEELS). Scanning electron micrographs showed such scraped surfaces to consist mainly of small, fractured YBCO crystallites, i.e. of clean YBCO surfaces. With only one exception, all low-energy AES lines were found to be shifted in energy compared to data recorded with surfaces of metallic Cu and Y. The analysis of the high-energy AES lines indicated the existence of non-stoichiometric material in grain boundaries. At least 25 different LEELS features were recorded. The 24.9-eV energy loss, which is due to the excitation of bulk valence-electron plasmons, indicates an enhanced oxygen deficit _s 0.8 at scrape-cleaned YBCO surfaces. Annealing of scraped YBCO samples at approximately 700 K in vacuum and also their exposure to hydrogen atoms resulted in an additional oxygen depletion within a few atomic layers near to the surfaces. These oxygen deficiencies were found to increase the intensity ratios of low-and high-energy AES lines of Cu, Ba, and Y and to intensify the energy-loss peak at 4.4 eV which has been attributed to O–Cu–O dumbbells.     

Instability of the paramagnetic state towards incommensurate magnetic order in the 2-d Hubbard model

We determine the instability line separating the paramagnetic phase in the phase diagram of the 2-d Hubbard Model from a phase with incommensurate magnetic order. A mean-field approximation of the Kotliar-Ruckenstein slave boson representation is used to calculate the wave-vector dependent magnetic susceptibility. For largeU/t the instability occurs at a densityn0.37, and a wave-vector close toq=(0,). The dependence ofq onU andn is also given.     

Perturbation analysis of the orthogonal procrustes problem

Given two arbitrary real matricesA andB of the same size, the orthogonal Procrustes problem is to find an orthogonal matrixM such that the Frobenius norm MA – B is minimized. This paper treats the common case when the orthogonal matrixM is required to have a positive determinant. The stability of the problem is studied and supremum results for the perturbation bounds are derived.