Chemical etching of silicon by CO2-laser-induced dissociation of NF3

The pulsed infrared laser dissociation of NF₃ is reported for the first time, and is used to investigate silicon etching. The role played by collision-enhanced multiple-photon absorption and dissociation is considered, with data on the nonlinear decrease of the absorption cross-section with increasing pulse energy and increasing pressure presented. Using an experimental arrangement in which the laser beam is focussed parallel to the surface, the dissociation process induces spontaneous etching of silicon. Fluorinecontaining radicals diffuse from the focal volume to the surface where a heterogeneous chemical reaction occurs. Etching was monitored by use of a quartz-crystal microbalance upon which a thin film of amorphous silicon was deposited. For a surface with no previous exposure to the photolysis products, dissociation causes the formation of a surface layer prior to the onset of etching. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy demonstrates this to be a fluorosilyl layer possessing a significant concentration of SiF₃ and SiF₄. In contrast, a surface already thickly fluorinated does not form a thicker layer once laser pulsing commences again. In this case, etching starts immediately with the first pulse. The etch yield dependencies on several parameters were obtained using silicon samples possessing a thick fluorosilyl surface layer. These parameters are NF₃ pressure, laser wavenumber, pulse energy, buffer gas pressure, and perpendicular distance from focal volume to surface. Modeling of the etch yield variation with perpendicular distance shows the time-integrated flux of radicals impinging on the surface to be inversely proportional to the distance. Attempts at etching SiO₂ under identical conditions were unsuccessful despite the evidence that thin native oxide films are removed during silicon etching.     

Synthesis and optical properties of ZnO nanorods

ZnO nanorods were prepared on the silicon (100) substrates using the chemical solution deposition method (CBD) without catalyst under a low temperature (90°C). The cool water was used to dissolve the mixture of zinc nitrate hexahydrate (Zn (NO₃)₂·6H₂O) and methenamine (C₆H₁₂N₄) in order to decrease the size of ZnO nanorods. From the X‐ray diffraction (XRD) results, it can be seen that the growth orientation of the as‐prepared ZnO nanorods was (002). Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) results illustrated that the nanorods had a hexagonal wurzite structure and average diameter of about 120nm. The average diameter of nanorods prepared by the cool water process was much smaller than that by the room‐temperature (RT) water process we always used. Photoluminescence (PL) measurements were also carried out. The result showed that a blue shift in UV emission band appeared in the PL spectrum of the sample grown with cool water process, which was mainly due to the reduction of tensile strain when the diameter of the ZnO nanorods decreased. (© 2008 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)     

The influence of 3-photon absorption and pulse interactions on discrete X-waves in normally dispersive waveguide arrays

In this paper, we investigate the influences of 3-photon absorption on discrete X-waves in nonlinear normally dispersive waveguide arrays. It is found that 3-photon absorption can cause the decrease of the total power, which results in the appearances of the discrete diffraction for an intermediate input peak-power and the discrete X-wave for a higher input peak-power. Also, the interaction between pulses for different waveguide excitation are studied in detail. The results show that for the in-phase waveguide excitation of neighboring channels, the bound states can be formed by choosing properly the initial peak-power; for the in-phase waveguide excitation of distant channels, however, the bound states can not be formed. For the out-of-phase multiple waveguide excitation, due to interplay the repulsive force and nonlinearity, the interaction of two pulses can form the X-like wave or the double X-like wave as long as choosing the proper input peak-power.     

Self-collimation and self-imaging effects in modulated waveguide arrays

Self-collimation and self-imaging are comparatively investigated for discretized light in engineered modulated arrays of optical waveguides. It is shown that self-imaging is a rather extraordinary effect related to a fortuitous band collapse and it is thus rather distinct from self-collimation.     

Families of spatial solitons in a two-channel waveguide with the cubic-quintic nonlinearity

We present eight types of spatial optical solitons which are possible in a model of a planar waveguide that includes a dual-channel trapping structure and competing (cubic-quintic) nonlinearity. The families of trapped beams include “broad” and “narrow” symmetric and antisymmetric solitons, composite states, built as combinations of broad and narrow beams with identical or opposite signs (“unipolar” and “bipolar” states, respectively), and “single-sided” broad and narrow beams trapped, essentially, in a single channel. The stability of the families is investigated via the computation of eigenvalues of small perturbations, and is verified in direct simulations. Three species-narrow symmetric, broad antisymmetric, and unipolar composite states-are unstable to perturbations with real eigenvalues, while the other five families are stable. The unstable states do not decay, but, instead, spontaneously transform themselves into persistent breathers, which, in some cases, demonstrate dynamical symmetry breaking and chaotic internal oscillations. A noteworthy feature is a stability exchange between the broad and narrow antisymmetric states: in the limit when the two channels merge into one, the former species becomes stable, while the latter one loses its stability. Different branches of the stationary states are linked by four bifurcations, which take different forms in the model with the strong and weak coupling between the channels.     

Optical channel waveguides with trapezoidal-shaped cross sections in KTiOPO4 crystal fabricated by ion implantation

Optical channel waveguides were fabricated in KTiOPO₄ crystal by He⁺-ion implantation using photoresist masks with wedged-shaped cross sections. Semi-closed barrier walls with reduced refractive indices inside the crystal constructed the enclosed regions to be channel waveguides with trapezoidal-shaped cross sections. The m-line as well as end-fire coupling arrangements were performed to characterize the waveguides with light at wavelength of 632.8 nm. The propagation loss of the channel waveguides was determined to be as low as ∼2 dB/cm after simple post-irradiation thermal annealing treatment in air.     

Strong Band-Edge Emission from ZnS Quantum Dots Stabilized by Gum Arabic

ZnS quantum dots （QDs）, prepared by soft-condensation, exhibit robust structure of a quantum size equal 3.13 nm mediated two-dimensional gum Arabic surfactant as characterized by scan tunnelling microscope （STM）. Strong blue-shifted absorption and emission bands are depicted by optical characterization even for the sample stored under ambient condition for two weeks. These enhancements can be attributed to the completely passivated surface trap states by Gum Arabic.     

Structural and luminescent characteristics of non-stoichiometric ZnO films by various sputtering and annealing temperatures

ZnO thin films were prepared by reactive RF magnetron sputtering at various deposition temperatures. They were annealed in oxygen ambient at various annealing temperatures. The microstructures and photoluminescence characteristics of ZnO films were investigated. The grain size of the ZnO thin film that was deposited at room temperature (RT) after annealing exceeded that of the film that was deposited at . Excess Zn atoms were considered to be present in the ZnO film that was deposited at RT, so the film was non-stoichiometric ZnO. No visible emission of either of the ZnO films deposited at the two temperatures was observed before annealing. Following annealing at high temperature, the green emission from the ZnO film that was deposited at RT was stronger than that of the film that was deposited at . The relationship between the non-stoichiometry of the thin film and the visible emission was discussed. The luminescent centers that correspond to green emission are defects; the concentration of defects was higher in the ZnO thin film that was deposited at RT than in the film that was deposited at .