Deep levels,electrical and optical characteristics in SnTe-Doped GaSb Schottky Diodes

The GaSb layers investigated were grown directly on GaAs substrates by molecular beam epitaxy (MBE) using SnTe source as the n-type dopant. By using admittance spectroscopy, a dominant deep level with the activation energy of 0.23-0.26 eV was observed and its concentration was affected by the Sb₄/Ga flux ratio in the MBE growth. A lowest deep-level concentration together with a highest mobility was obtained for GaSb grown at 550°C under a Sb₄/Ga beam equivalent pressure (BEP) ratio around 7, which should correspond to the lowest ratio to maintain a Sb-stabilized surface reconstruction. In the Hall measurement, an analysis of the temperature-dependent mobility shows that the ionized impurity concentration increases proportionally with the sample’s donor concentration, suggesting that the ionized impurity was introduced by an SnTe source. In addition, optical properties of an undoped p-, a lightly and heavily SnTe-doped GaSb layers were studied by comparing their photoluminescence spectra at 4.5K.     

Small Changes,Big Impact: Tungsten Bronzes with Extremely Large Second Harmonic Generation Achieved by the Transition Metal Doping on the B-Site

Two novel transition metal-doped tungsten bronze oxides, Pb_2.15Li_0.85Nb_4.85Ti_0.15O₁₅ (PLNT) and Pb_2.15Li_0.55Nb_4.85W_0.15O₁₅ (PLNW), are synthesized by high-temperature solid-state reactions. The Rietveld method using the high-resolution synchrotron radiation indicates that PLNT and PLNW crystallize in the orthorhombic polar noncentrosymmetric space group, Pmn2₁ (no. 31). As a class of tungsten bronze oxide, PLNT and PLNW retain a unique rigid framework composed of d⁰ transition metal cation (Ti⁴⁺ or W⁶⁺)-doped highly distorted NbO₆ octahedra along with the subsequently generated Pb/LiO₁₂ and PbO₁₅ polyhedra. Interestingly, the d⁰ transition metal-doped tungsten bronzes, PLNT and PLNW, exhibit extremely large second-harmonic generation (SHG) responses of 56 and 67 × KH₂PO₄, respectively. The observed immeasurably strong SHG is mainly attributed to a net polarization originating from the alignment of highly distorted NbO₆ octahedra with doped transition metals in the frameworks. It is believed that doping transition metal cations at the B-site of the tungsten bronze structures should be an innovative strategy to develop novel high-performance nonlinear optical materials.     

Influence of doping on the dynamical properties of III–V–N by Raman scattering, infrared absorption and model calculations

In the framework of a rigid-ion model and using realistic Greens function theory, we have studied systematically the influence of doping on the lattice dynamics of III–V-nitrides. Our theoretical analysis is based on a sound physical appeal for the perturbation caused by different dopants in compound semiconductors. After analyzing the dynamical behavior for two sets of impurities with closest masses occupying Ga- and As-sites in GaAs, we have proposed simple empirical relationships providing corrections to the impurity–host interactions for isoelectronic defects and for dopants carrying static charges. Despite the simplicity of perturbation models, our Greens function theory provided results in good agreement with the recent Fourier-transform infrared (FTIR) absorption data for the magnitude and splitting of N-isotopic shifts of localized vibrational modes in GaAs. With high-resolution FTIR spectroscopy, we strongly believe that the ¹⁴N_As-related broad local mode (471 cm⁻¹) in GaAs can be resolved into fine structures due to Ga-host isotopes. Theoretical results for the in-band modes of As_N in cubic gallium nitride are compared and discussed with the existing Raman data on molecular beam epitaxy (MBE) grown GaN layers on GaAs substrates, as well as on GaN samples intentionally doped with As.     

A tin-containing liquid crystalline polymer with two glass temperatures

A tin-containing liquid crystalline side group polymer was synthesized and characterized. Two glass transitions were detected by calorimetric investigations. The X-ray pattern corresponds to a smectic C order of the side groups and a disordered isotropic main chain. Dielectric measurements show two relaxation ranges which are influenced by the glass transitions and a fast local process. The low frequency mechanism can be related to the reorientation of the side groups and the higher glass transition temperature. The second is connected with the α-relaxation of the main chain and freezes in at lower temperatures.     

Evaluation of defect induced surface heterogeneity in Metal-Organic Framework materials with alkali dopants employing adsorption isotherm modelling

In this article, an assessment of surface structural heterogeneity in porous metal organic framework (MOF) structure has been demonstrated by employing the methane and carbon-dioxide adsorption isotherms data. The virgin MIL-101-(Cr) MOF was synthesized by the hydrothermal method and defects were induced in the MOF structure by doping with various alkali (K, Na, Li) cations. The synthesized MOFs were characterized by XRD, SEM, EDX and BET measurement techniques. In order to understand the defect induced surface heterogeneity by alkali cation dopants, the surface energy distributions for CH₄ and CO₂ adsorptions on MOFs were measured by Dubinin – Astakhov model equation. The surface heterogeneity is mainly controlled by the limiting uptakes of adsorbates, the polarizability of adsorbates and the adsorbate-adsorbent interaction energy.     

Effect of Substituents and Dopants on the Structure–Property Relationship of Poly(Aniline)—A Comparative Study

Effects of substituents and dopants on the structure–property relationships of poly(aniline) (PANI)-type homopolymers are analyzed. The gravimetric method was used for the estimation of rate of polymerization (R_p). FTIR spectroscopy was used for the calculation of relative intensities (RI) of benzenoid (RI_[B/CH]), quinonoid (RI_[Q/CH]), and their internal conversion (RI_[B/Q]). Thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) characterized the thermal stability of PANIs. A standard four probe method was employed for the conductivity measurements. The results are analyzed and critically compared.     

A Fullerene Seeded Strategy for Facile Construction of Nitrogen-Doped Carbon Nano-Onions as Robust Electrocatalysts

Carbon nano-onions (CNOs) as a novel form of carbon materials hold peculiar structural features but their electrocatalytic applications are largely discouraged by the demanding synthesis conditions (e.g., ≥1500 °C and vacuum). Using C₆₀ fullerene molecules as the sacrificial seeds and melamine as the main feedstock, herein, a novel strategy for the facile construction of CNOs nanoparticles is presented with ultrafine sizes (≈5 nm) at relatively low temperatures (≤900 °C) and atmospheric pressure. During the calcination, in-depth characterizations reveal that C₆₀ can retain the melamine-derived graphitic carbon nitride from complete sublimation at high temperatures (≥700 °C). Owing to the N removal and subsequent pentagon generation, severely deformed graphitic fragments together with the disintegrated C₆₀ molecules merge into larger sized nanosheets with high curvature, eventually leading to the formation of N-doped defect-rich CNOs. Owing to the integration of multiple favorable structural features of pentagons, edges, and N dopants, the CNOs obtained at 900 °C present superior oxygen reduction half-wave potential (0.853 V_RHE) and zinc–air cathode performance to the commercial Pt/C (0.838 V_RHE). Density functional theory calculation further uncovers that the carbon atoms adjacent to the N-doped edged pentagons are turned into the ORR-active sites with O₂ protonation as the rate-determining step.     

Effect of lithium oxide dopants on electrophysical and sorption properties of zinc oxide

The effects of lithium oxide dopants (0.5–0.8 at. % Li) on the electrophysical and sorption properties of ZnO were studied in the temperature range from 150 °C to 410 °C. The introduction of lithium increases the activation energy of the conductivity of ZnO, decreases its conductivity, and increases the amount of S0₂ sorbed. Two forms of chemisorbed SO₂ (donor and acceptor) are observed on the surface.Translated fromIzvestiya Akademii Nauk. Seriya Khimicheskaya, No. 5, pp. 1096–1100, May, 1996.     

Effect of chelating agent (1,10-phenanthroline) on potassium hydrogen phthalate crystals

The influence of a new organic additive, chelating agent 1,10-phenanthroline (Phen) (∼5.0·10⁻³ M L⁻¹) on potassium hydrogen phthalate (KHP) single crystals at 30° is investigated. The crystals were grown from the aqueous solutions of pH ∼4.5 at constant temperature by solvent evaporation technique. The chelating agent leads to an increase in metastable zone width and assists the bulk growth process. The growth rate of crystals in the presence of Phen decreases considerably with an increase in impurity concentration. Not much variation is observed in FTIR and cell parameter values, determined by XRD analysis. It appears that the growth promoting effect (GPE) of Phen is caused by the adsorption of the organic additive on the prism of KHP crystals. Differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) and TG-DTA studies reveal the purity of the sample and no decomposition is observed up to the melting point. Scanning electron microscope (SEM) photographs exhibit the effectiveness of the impurity in changing the surface morphology of KHP crystals. Contrary to expectations, Phen depresses the NLO efficiency of KHP, suggesting that the molecular alignments in the presence of Phen results in cancellation effects disturbing the non-linearity.     

Ternary MgTiX-alloys: a promising route towards low-temperature, high-capacity, hydrogen-storage materials

In the search for hydrogen-storage materials with a high gravimetric capacity, Mg(y)Ti((1-y)) alloys, which exhibit excellent kinetic properties, form the basis for more advanced compounds. The plateau pressure of the Mg--Ti--H system is very low (approximately 10(-6) bar at room temperature). A way to increase this pressure is by destabilizing the metal hydride. The foremost effect of incorporating an additional element in the binary Mg--Ti system is, therefore, to decrease the stability of the metal hydride. A model to calculate the effect on the thermodynamic stability of alloying metals was developed by Miedema and co-workers. Adopting this model offers the possibility to select promising elements beforehand. Thin films consisting of Mg and Ti with Al or Si were prepared by means of e-beam deposition. The electrochemical galvanostatic intermittent titration technique was used to obtain pressure-composition isotherms for these ternary materials and these isotherms reveal a reversible hydrogen-storage capacity of more than 6 wt. %. In line with the calculations, substitution of Mg and Ti by Al or Si indeed shifts the plateau pressure of a significant part of the isotherms to higher pressures, while remaining at room temperature. It has been proven that, by controlling the chemistry of the metal alloy, the thermodynamic properties of Mg-based hydrides can be regulated over a wide range. Hence, the possibility to increase the partial hydrogen pressure, while maintaining a high gravimetric capacity creates promising opportunities in the field of hydrogen-storage materials, which are essential for the future of the hydrogen economy.