Promoting strain relaxation of Si0.72Ge0.28 film on Si (100) substrate by inserting a low-temperature Ge islands layer in UHVCVD

A flat, fully strain-relaxed Si0.72Ge0.28 thin film was grown on Si (1 0 0) substrate with a combination of thin low-temperature (LT) Ge and LT-Si0.72Ge0.28 buffer layers by ultrahigh vacuum chemical vapor deposition. The strain relaxation ratio in the Si0.72Ge0.28 film was enhanced up to 99% with the assistance of three-dimensional Ge islands and point defects introduced in the layers, which furthermore facilitated an ultra-low threading dislocation density of 5 x 10(4) cm (2) for the top SiGe film. More interestingly, no cross-hatch pattern was observed on the SiGe surface and the surface root-mean-square roughness was less than 2 nm. The temperature for the growth of LT-Ge layer was optimized to be 300 degrees C. (C) 2008 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

The effect of low temperature AlN interlayers on the growth of GaN epilayer on Si (111) by MOCVD

Low temperature (LT) AlN interlayers were used to effectively reduce the tension stress and micro-cracks on the surface of the GaN epilayer grown on Si (111) substrate. Optical Microscopy (OM), Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM), Surface Electron Microscopy (SEM) and X-Ray Diffraction (XRD) were employed to characterize these samples grown by metal-organic chemical vapor deposition (MOCVD). In addition, wet etching method was used to evaluate the defect of the GaN epilayer. The results demonstrate that the morphology and crystalline properties of the GaN epilayer strongly depend on the thickness, interlayer number and growth temperature of the LT AlN interlayer. With the optimized LT AlN interlayer structures, high quality GaN epilayers with a low crack density can be obtained. (C) 2008 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

The influence of low-temperature Ge seed layer on growth of high-quality Ge epilayer on Si(100) by ultrahigh vacuum chemical vapor deposition

High-quality Ge epilayer on Si(1 0 0) substrate with an inserted low-temperature Ge seed layer and a thin Si0.77Ge0.23 layer was grown by ultrahigh vacuum chemical vapor deposition. The epitaxial Ge layer with surface root-mean-square roughness of 0.7 nm and threading dislocation density of 5 x 10(5) cm(-2) was obtained. The influence of low temperature Ge seed layer on the quality of Ge epilayer was investigated. We demonstrated that the relatively higher temperature (350 degrees C) for the growth of Ge seed layer significantly improved the crystal quality and the Hall hole mobility of the Ge epilayer. (C) 2008 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Narrowing of band gap and low-temperature spin glass behavior of FeNi co-doped ZnO nanowires

This letter reports on the Raman, optical and magnetic properties of FeNi co-doped ZnO nanowires prepared via a soft chemical solution method. The microstructural investigations show that the NiFe co-dopants are substituted into wurtzite ZnO nanostructure without forming any secondary phase. The co-doped nanowires show a remarkable reduction of 34 nm (267.9 meV) in the optical band gap, while suppression in the deep-level defect transition in visible luminescence. Furthermore, these nanowires exhibit ferromagnetism and an interesting low-temperature spin glass behavior, which may arise due to the presence of disorder and strong interactions of frustrated spin moments of Ni and Fe co-dopants on the ZnO lattice sites. Copyright (C) EPLA, 2009

Structure, magnetization, and low-temperature spin dynamic behavior of zincblende Mn-rich Mn(Ga)As nanoclusters embedded in GaAs

We have fabricated a set of samples of zincblende Mn-rich Mn(Ga)As clusters embedded in GaAs matrices by annealing (Ga,Mn)As films with different nominal Mn content at 650 degrees C. For the samples with Mn content no more than 4.5%, the Curie temperature reaches nearly 360 K. However, when Mn content is higher than 5.4%, the samples exhibit a spin-glass-like behavior. We suggest that these different magnetic properties are caused by the competing result of dipolar and Ruderman-Kittel-Kasuya-Yosida interaction among clusters. The low-temperature spin dynamic behavior, especially the relaxation effect, shows the extreme creeping effect which is reflected by the time constant tau of similar to 10(11) s at 10 K. We explain this phenomenon by the hierarchical model based on the mean-field approach. We also explain the memory effect by the relationship between the correlation function and the susceptibility.

Al composition variations in AlGaN films grown on low-temperature GaN buffer layer by metalorganic chemical vapor deposition

We have investigated the optical properties of AlGaN grown on sapphire. It is found that two main luminescence peaks occur in the cathodoluminescence (CL) spectra of AlGaN films, and their energy separation increases with the increase of Al source flux during the growth. Spatially resolved CL investigations have shown that the line splitting is a result of variation of AlN mole fraction within the layer. The Al composition varies in both lateral and vertical direction. It is suggested that the difference in the surface mobility of Al and Ga atoms, especially, its strong influence on the initial island coalescence process and the formation of island-like regions on the uneven film surface, is responsible for the Al composition inhomogeneity. (C) 2008 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Low-temperature magnetotransport behaviors of heavily Mn-doped (Ga,Mn)As films with high ferromagnetic transition temperature

We report the low-temperature magnetotransport behaviors of (Ga,Mn)As films with the nominal Mn concentration x larger than 10%. The ferromagnetic transition temperature T-C can be enhanced to 191 K after postgrowth annealing (Ga,Mn)As with x=20%. The temperature T-m, corresponding to the resistivity minimum in the curve of resistivity versus temperature at temperature below T-C, depends on Mn concentration, annealing condition, and magnetic field. Moreover, we find that the variable-range hopping may be the main conductive mechanism when temperature is lower than T-m.

Reduction of tensile stress in GaN grown on Si(111) by inserting a low-temperature AlN interlayer

This study describes the growth of a low-temperature AlN interlayer for crack-free GaN growth on Si(111). It is demonstrated that, in addition to the lower growth temperature, growth of the AlN interlayer under Al-rich conditions is a critical factor for crack-free GaN growth on Si(111) substrates. The effect of the AlN interlayer thickness and NH3/TMA1 ratios on the lattice constants of subsequently grown high temperature GaN was investigated by X-ray triple crystal diffraction. The results show that the elimination of micro-cracks is related to the reduction of the tensile stress in the GaN epitaxial layers. This was also coincident with a greater number of pits formed in the AlN interlayer grown under Al rich conditions. It is proposed that these pits act as centers for the generation of misfit dislocations, which in turn leads to the reduction of tensile stress. (C) 2004 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

A Bragg-mirror-based semiconductor saturable absorption mirror at 800 nm with low temperature and surface state hybrid absorber

We present a novel 800-nm Bragg-mirror-based semiconductor saturable absorption mirror with low temperature and surface state hybrid absorber, with which we can realize the passive soliton mode locking of a Ti:sapphire laser pumped by 532-nm green laser which produces pulses as short as 37 fs. The reflection bandwidth of the mirror is 30 nm and the pulse frequency is 107 MHz. The average output power is 1.1 W at the pump power of 7.6 W.

Growth of heavily Zn-doped InGaAs at low temperature by LP-MOCVD

Epitaxial growth of Zn-doped InGaAs on InP substrates has been carried out at 550degreesC by LP-MOCVD. Hole concentration as high as 6 x 10(19)cm(-3) has been achieved at the H-2 flow rate of 20 sccm through DEZn bubbler. The lattice constant of Zn-doped InGaAs was found to be dependent on the flow rate of DEZn, and the tensile strain mismatch increases with increasing H-2 flow rate of DEZn. The negative lattice mismatch of heavily Zn-dopped InGaAs may be due to, the small covalent bonding radius of zinc and the combination of butane from ethyl of DEZn,and TEGa. And the latter accelerates the pyrolysis of TEGa, which is the dominant mechanism in determining the negative mismatch of Zn-doped InGaAs. (C) 2003 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Effects of V/III ratio on InGaAs and InP grown at low temperature by LP-MOCVD

Effects of V/III ratio on heavily Si doped InGaAs and InP were studied using low pressure metalorganic chemical vapor deposition (LP-MOCVD) at a growth temperature of 550degreesC. In InGaAs, as the V/III ratio decreases from 256 to 64, the carrier concentration increases from 3.0 x 10(18) to 5.8 x 10(18) cm(-3), and the lattice mismatch of InGaAs to InP was observed to vary from -5.70 x10(-4) to 1.49 x 10(-3). In InP, when the V/III ratio decreases from 230 to 92, the same trend as that in Si doped InGaAs was observed that the carrier concentration increases from 9.2 x 10(18) to 1.3 x 10(19) cm(-3). The change of AsH3 was found to have stronger effect on Si incorporation in InGaAs at lower growth temperature than at higher growth temperature. (C) 2003 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Self-starting passively mode-locking all-solid-state laser with GaAs absorber grown at low temperature

We realize a stable self-starting passively mode-locking all-solid-state laser by using novel GaAs mirrors as the absorber and output coupler. The GaAs mirror is grown by the technology of metal organic chemical vapour deposition at low temperature. With such an absorber as the output coupler in the laser resonator, laser pulses with duration of 42ps were generated at a repetition rate of 400MHz, corresponding to the average power of 590mW.

Passively mode-locking Nd : Gd0.5Y0.5VO4 laser with an In(0.25)Ga(0.75)Aa absorber grown at low temperature

We have demonstrated stable self-starting passive mode locking in a diode-end-pumped Nd:Gd-0.8-Y0.5VO4 laser by using an In0.25Ga0.75As absorber grown at low temperature (LT In0.25Ga0.75As absorber). An In0.25Ga0.75As single-quantum-well absorber, which was grown directly on the GaAs buffer by use of the metal-organic chemical-vapor deposition technique, acts simultaneously as a passive mode-locking device and as an output coupler. Continuous-wave mode-locked pulses were obtained at 1063.5 nm. We achieved a pulse duration of 2.6 ps and an average output power of 2.15 W at a repetition rate of 96.4 MHz. (c) 2005 Optical Society of America.

Study on growth mechanism of low-temperature prepared microcrystalline Si thin films

Microcrystalline silicon thin films at different growth stages were prepared by hot wire chemical vapor deposition. Atomic force microscopy has been applied to investigate the evolution of surface topography of these films. According to the fractal analysis I it was found that, the growth of Si film deposited on glass substrate is the zero-diffused stochastic deposition; while for the film on Si substrate, it is the finite diffused deposition on the initial growth stage, and transforms to the zero-diffused stochastic deposition when the film thickness reaches a certain value. The film thickness dependence of island density shows that a maximum of island density appears at the critical film thickness for both substrates. The data of Raman spectra approve that, on the glass substrate, the a-Si: H/mu c-Si:H transition is related to the critical film thickness. Different substrate materials directly affect the surface diffusion ability of radicals, resulting in the difference of growth modes on the earlier growth stage.

Design of the low-temperature AlN interlayer for GaN grown on Si(111) substrate

We have investigated the effect of the thickness and layer number of the low-temperature A1N interlayer (LT-A1N IL) on the stress relaxation and the crystal quality of GaN epilayers grown on Si (111) substrate by metalorganic chemical vapor deposition. It is found that the stress decreases with the increase of the LT-AIN IL thickness, but the crystal quality of the GaN epilayer goes worse quickly when the LT-AIN IL thickness is larger than 16 nm. This is because the increase of the LT-AIN IL thickness will increase the coalescence thickness of its upper GaN layer, which sensitively affects the crystal quality of the epilayer. Using multiple LT-AIN ILs is an effective method not only to reduce the stress, but also to improve the crystal quality of the GaN epilayer. With the increase of the interlayer number, the probability that dislocations are blocked increases and the probability that dislocations are produced at interfaces decreases. Thus, dislocations in the most upper part of GaN are reduced, resulting in the improvement of the crystal quality. Finally, it is suggested that when the total thickness of the epilayer is fixed, both the thickness and the number of the LT-AIN IL should be carefully designed to reduce the stress and improve the crystal quality of the epilayer simultaneously. (c) 2004 Elsevier B.V.. All rights reserved.