Band crossing in isovalent semiconductor alloys with large size mismatch: First-principles calculations of the electronic structure of Bi and N incorporated GaAs

For large size- and chemical-mismatched isovalent semiconductor alloys, such as N and Bi substitution on As sites in GaAs, isovalent defect levels or defect bands are introduced. The evolution of the defect states as a function of the alloy concentration is usually described by the popular phenomenological band anticrossing (BAC) model. Using first-principles band-structure calculations we show that at the impurity limit the N-(Bi)-induced impurity level is above (below) the conduction- (valence-) band edge of GaAs. These trends reverse at high concentration, i.e., the conduction-band edge of GaAs1-xNx becomes an N-derived state and the valence-band edge of GaAs1-xBix becomes a Bi-derived state, as expected from their band characters. We show that this band crossing phenomenon cannot be described by the popular BAC model but can be naturally explained by a simple band broadening picture.

SPECTROSCOPIC INVESTIGATION OF HYDROGEN-DOPANT COMPLEXES IN BULK P-TYPE AND IMPLANTED N-TYPE CRYSTALLINE SILICON

Infrared absorption experiments have been performed on hydrogenated and deuterated bulk boron- and aluminum-doped-Si and implanted P, As, and Sb donors in silicon. A first evidence of complex formation in bulk p-type Si is obtained and the spectra confirm the anomalous 3.3-cm-1 deuterium frequency shift with respect to boron isotopes. The ratio of the D-B-11 and D-B-10 peak areas is found to be the same as that of the two boron isotopes natural abundance. In donor-implanted silicon, a quantitative analysis of the obtained data has allowed a rough estimate of the passivating rate due to diffusing deuterium. While the frequencies of the various vibrational lines are found to be in agreement with those reported in the literature, the data on the broad line at 1660 cm-1 (H) or 1220 cm-1 (D) seem to suggest an assignment of this peak to a complex in the bulk involving some type of defect due to the implantation process.

Luminescence spectroscopy of ion implanted AlN bulk single crystal

High concentrations of Si and Zn were implanted into (0001) AlN bulk crystal grown by the self-seeded physical vapor transport (PVT) method. Cathode luminescence (CL) and photoluminescence (PL) spectroscopy were used to investigate the defects and properties of the implanted AlN. PL spectra of the implanted AlN are dominated by a broad near-band luminescence peak between 200 and 254 nm. After high temperature annealing, implantation induced lattice damages are recovered and the PL intensity increases significantly, suggesting that the implanted impurity Si and Zn occupy lattice site of Al. CL results imply that a 457 nm peak is Al vacancy related. Resistance of the AlN samples is still very high after annealing, indicating a low electrical activation efficiency of the impurity in AlN single crystal.

Wet etching and infrared absorption of AlN bulk single crystals

The defects and the lattice perfection of an AlN (0001) single crystal grown by the physical vapor transport (PVT) method were investigated by wet etching, X-ray diffraction (XRD), and infrared absorption, respectively. A regular hexagonal etch pit density (EPD) of about 4000 cm~(-2) is observed on the (0001) A1 surface of an AlN single crystal. The EPD exhibits a line array along the slip direction of the wurtzite structure, indicating a quite large thermal stress born by the crystal in the growth process. The XRD full width at half maximum (FWHM) of the single crystal is 35 arcsec, suggesting a good lattice perfection. Pronounced infrared absorption peaks are observed at wave numbers of 1790, 1850, 2000, and 3000 cm~(-1), respectively. These absorptions might relate to impurities O, C, Si and their complexes in AlN single crystals.

Characterization of Phosphorus Diffused ZnO Bulk Single Crystals

Phosphorus was diffused into CVT grown undoped ZnO bulk single crystals at 550 and 800℃ in a closed quartz tube. The P-diffused ZnO single crystals were characterized by the Hall effect, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy （XPS）, photoluminescence spectroscopy （PL）, and Raman scattering. The P-diffused ZnO single crystals are n-type and have higher free electron concentration than undoped ZnO, especially for the sample diffused at 800℃. The PL measurement reveals defect related visible broad emissions in the range of 420-550nm in the P-diffused ZnO samples. The XPS result suggests that most of the P atoms substitute in the Zn site after they diffuse into the ZnO single crystal at 550℃ ,while the P atom seems to occupy the O site in the ZnO samples diffused at 800℃. A high concentration of shallow donor defect forms in the P-diffused ZnO,resulting in an apparent increase of free electron concentration.

A Broadband Long-Wavelength Superluminescent Diode Based on Graded Composition Bulk InGaAs

A novel unselective regrowth buried heterostructure long-wavelength superluminescent diode （SLD） with a graded composition bulk InGaAs active region is developed by metalorganic vapor phase epitaxy （MOVPE）. At a 150mA injection current, the full width at half maximum of the emission spectrum of the SLD is about 72nm, ranging from 1602 to 1674nm. The emission spectrum is smooth and flat. The ripple of the spectrum is less than 0.3dB at any wavelength from 1550 to 1700nm. An output power of 4.3mW is obtained at a 200mA injection current under continuous-wave operation at room temperature. This device is suitable for the applications of light sources for gas detectors and L-band optical fiber communications.

Graded tensile-strained bulk InGaAs/InP superluminescent diode with very wide emission spectrum

A kind of novel broad-band superluminescent diodes (SLDs) using graded tensile-strained bulk InGaAs is developed. The graded tensile-strained bulk InGaAs is obtained by changing only group-III trimethyl-gallium source flow during low-pressure metal organic vapor-phase epitaxy. At the injection current of 200 mA, the fabricated SLDs with such structure demonstrate full-width at half-maximum spectral width of 106 nm and the output light power of 13.6 mW, respectively.

Wide-Band Polarization-Independent Semiconductor Optical Amplifier Gate with Tensile-Strained Quasi-Bulk InGaAs

A semiconductor optical amplifier gate based on tensile-strained quasi-bulk InGaAs is developed. At injection current of 80mA,a 3dB optical bandwidth of more than 85nm is achieved due to dominant band-filling effect.Moreover, the most important is that very low polarization dependence of gain (＜0. 7dB),fiber-to-fiber lossless operation current (70～90mA) and a high extinction ratio (＞50dB) are simultaneously obtained over this wide 3dB optical bandwidth (1520～1609nm) which nearly covers the spectral region of the whole C band (1525～1565nm)and the whole L band (1570～ 1610nm). The gating time is also improved by decreasing carrier lifetime. The wideband polarization-insensitive SOA-gate is promising for use in future dense wavelength division multiplexing (DWDM) communication systems.

Fractals in fracture of bulk metallic glass

We investigate the nanoscale periodic corrugation (NPC) structures on the dynamic fracture surface of a typical tough bulk metallic glass, submitted to high-velocity plate impact and scanned by atomic force microscopy (AFM). The detrended fluctuation analysis (DFA) of the recorded AFM profiles reveals that the valley landscapes of the NPC are nearly memoryless, characterized by Hurst parameter of 0.52 and exhibiting a self-similar fractal character with the dimension of about 1.48. Our findings confirm the existence of the “quasi-cleavage” fracture underpinned by tension transformation zones (TTZs) in metallic glasses.

Shear transformation zone volume determining ductile–brittle transition of bulk metallic glasses

Three-point bending experiments were performed on as-cast and annealed samples of Zr52.5Cu17.9Ni14.6Al10Ti5 (Vit105) bulk metallic glasses over a wide range of temperatures varying from room temperature (293 K) to liquid nitrogen temperature (77 K). The results demonstrated that the free volume decrease due to annealing and/or cryogenic temperature can reduce the propensity for the formation of multiple shear bands and hence deteriorate plastic deformation ability. We clearly observed a sharp ductile-to-brittle transition (DBT), across which microscopic fracture feature transfers from micro-scale vein patterns to nano-scale periodic corrugations. Macroscopically, the corresponding fracture mode changes from ductile shear fracture to brittle tensile fracture. The shear transformation zone volume, taking into account free volume, temperature and strain rate, is proposed to quantitatively characterize the DBT behavior in fracture of metallic glasses.

A modified criterion for shear band formation in bulk metallic glass under complex stress states

A new criterion for shear band formation in metallic glasses is proposed based on the shear plane criterion proposed by Packard and Schuh [1]. This modified shear plane (MSP) criterion suggests that a shear band is not initiated randomly throughout the entire material under stress but is initiated at the physical boundaries or defects and at locations where the highest normal stress modified maximum shear stress occurs. Moreover, the same as in the shear plan criterion, the shear stress all over the shear band should exceed the shear yield strength of the material. For a complete shear band to form, both requirements need to be fulfilled. The shear yield strength of the material is represented by the shear stress of the point at which the shear band stops. The new criterion agrees very well with experimental results in both the determination of the shear yield strength and the shear band path. (C) 2010 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.