Ordered InAs quantum dots with controllable periods grown on stripe-patterned GaAs substrates

GaAs (001) substrates are patterned by electron beam lithography and wet chemical etching to control the nucleation of InAs quantum dots (QDs). InAs dots are grown on the stripe-patterned substrates by solid source molecular beam epitaxy, A thick buffer layer is deposited on the strip pattern before the deposition of InAs. To enhance the surface diffusion length of the In atoms, InAs is deposited with low growth rate and low As pressure. The AFM images show that distinct one-dimensionally ordered InAs QDs with homogeneous size distribution are created, and the QDs preferentially nucleate along the trench. With the increasing amount of deposited InAs and the spacing of the trenches, a number of QDs are formed beside the trenches. The distribution of additional QDs is long-range ordered, always along the trenchs rather than across the spacing regions.

Growth of GaSb layers on GaAs (001) substrate by molecular beam epitaxy

GaSb 1 mu m-thick layers were grown by molecular beam epitaxy on GaAs (001). The effects of the growth conditions on the crystalline quality, surface morphology, electrical properties and optical properties were studied by double crystalline x-ray diffraction, atomic force microscopy, Hall measurement and photoluminescence spectroscopy, respectively. It was found that the surface roughness and hole mobility are highly dependent on the antimony-to-gallium flux ratios and growth temperatures. The crystalline quality, electrical properties and optical properties of GaSb layers were also studied as functions of growth rate, and it was found that a suitably low growth rate is beneficial for the crystalline quality and electrical and optical properties. Better crystal quality GaSb layers with a minimum root mean square surface roughness of 0.1 nm and good optical properties were obtained at a growth rate of 0.25 mu m h(-1).

Temperature dependence of surface quantum dots grown under frequent growth interruption

We grow InGaAs quantum dot (QD) at low growth rate with 70 times insertion of growth interruption in MBE system. It is found that because of the extreme growth condition, QDs exhibit a thick wetting layer, large QD height value and special surface morphology which is attributed to the enhanced adatom surface diffusion and In-segregation effect. Temperature dependence of photoluminescence measurement from surface QD shows that this kind of QD has good thermal stability which is explained in terms of the presence of surface oxide. The special distribution of QD may also play a role in this thermal character. (c) 2006 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Structural, optical and intraband absorption properties of vertically aligned In0.32Ga0.68As/GaAs quantum dots superlattices

The self-organization growth of In0.32Ga0.68As/GaAs quantum dots (QDs) superlattices is investigated by molecular beam epitaxy. It is found that high growth temperature and low growth rate are favorable for the formation of perfect vertically aligned QDs superlattices. The aspect ratio (height versus diameter) of QD increases from 0.16 to 0.23 with increase number of bi-layer. We propose that this shape change play a significant role to improve the uniformity of QDs superlattices. Features in the variable temperature photoluminescence characteristics indicate the high uniformity of the QDs. Strong infrared absorption in the 8-12 mum was observed. Our results suggest the promising applications of QDs in normal sensitive infrared photodetectors. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.

Effect of growth interruption on the optical properties of InAs/GaAs quantum dots

The effect of growth interruption (GI) on the optical properties of InAs/GaAs quantum dots was investigated by cw and time-resolved photoluminescence (PL). It is found that this effect depends very much on the growth conditions, in particular, the growth rate. In the case of low growth rate, we have found that the GI may introduce either red-shift or blue-shift in PL with increase of the interruption lime, depending on the InAs thickness. The observed red shift in our 1.7 monolayer (ML) sample is attributed to the evolution of the InAs islands during the growth interruption. While the blue-shift in the 3 ML sample is suggested to be mainly caused by the strain effect. In addition, nearly zero shift was observed for the sample with thickness around 2.5 ML, (C) 1999 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.

Study on pulsed laser ablation and deposition of ZnO thin films by L-MBE

ZnO, as a wide-band gap semiconductor, has recently become a new research focus in the field of ultraviolet optoelectronic semiconductors. Laser molecular beam epitaxy (L-MBE) is quite useful for the unit cell layer-by-layer epitaxial growth of zinc oxide thin films from the sintered ceramic target. The ZnO ceramic target with high purity was ablated by KrF laser pulses in an ultra high vacuum to deposit ZnO thin film during the process of L-MBE. It is found that the deposition rate of ZnO thin film by L-MBE is much lower than that by conventional pulsed laser deposition (PLD). Based on the experimental phenomena in the ZnO thin film growth process and the thermal-controlling mechanism of the nanosecond (ns) pulsed laser ablation of ZnO ceramic target, the suggested effective ablating time during the pulse duration can explain the very low deposition rate of the ZnO film by L-MBE. The unique dynamic mechanism for growing ZnO thin film is analyzed. Both the high energy of the deposition species and the low growth rate of the film are really beneficial for the L-MBE growth of the ZnO thin film with high crystallinity at low temperature.

Epitaxial growth on 4H-SiC by TCS as a silicon precursor

Epitaxial growth on n-type 4H-SiC 8°off-oriented substrates with a size of 10 × 10 mm~2 at different tem-peratures with various gas flow rates has been performed in a horizontal hot wall CVD reactor, using trichlorosilane (TCS) as a silicon precursor source together with ethylene as a carbon precursor source. The growth rate reached 23 μm/h and the optimal epilayer was obtained at 1600 ℃ with a TCS flow rate of 12 sccm in C/Si of 0.42, which has a good surface morphology with a low RMS of 0.64 nm in an area of 10 × 10μm~2. The homoepitaxial layer was oh-tained at 1500 ℃ with low growth rate (< 5μm/h) and the 3C-SiC epilayers were obtained at 1650 ℃ with a growth rate of 60-70μm/h. It is estimated that the structural properties of the epilayers have a relationship with the growth temperature and growth rate. Silicon droplets with different sizes are observed on the surface of the homoepitaxial layer in a low C/Si ratio of 0.32.

Splitting the Fast and Slow Motions in Molecular Dynamics Simulations Based on the Change of Cold Potential Well Bottom

The atomic motion is coupled by the fast and slow components due to the high frequency vibration of atoms and the low frequency deformation of atomic lattice, respectively. A two-step approximate method was presented to determine the atomic slow motion. The first step is based on the change of the location of the cold potential well bottom and the second step is based on the average of the appropriate slow velocities of the surrounding atoms. The simple tensions of one-dimensional atoms and two-dimensional atoms were performed with the full molecular dynamics simulations. The conjugate gradient method was employed to determine the corresponding location of cold potential well bottom. Results show that our two-step approximate method is appropriate to determine the atomic slow motion under the low strain rate loading. This splitting method may be helpful to develop more efficient molecular modeling methods and simulations pertinent to realistic loading conditions of materials.

川西亚高山云杉人工林天然更新与生境异质性研究

川西亚高山针叶林是四川森林的主体，是长江上游重要的生态屏障。云杉作为亚高山针叶林人工更新的主要树种，已经在该地区形成了大面积的人工纯林。目前，许多云杉人工林分已经进入更新成熟龄，而这些人工林的持续更新却成为日益凸现的问题。探讨这些云杉人工林的自我更新潜力及云杉种子种群更新特点，可为培育后续森林资源提供科学依据。 本文以川西米亚罗亚高山60a云杉人工林为研究对象，并以该区域内相对稳定的植被群落——天然林为对照，采用种子收集器、土壤种子库筛选、室内外种子萌发实验及野外幼苗调查等方法，从异质性微生境的角度研究了种子雨下落之后，不同微生境对种子库、种子萌发、幼苗建立及分布这一前期更新过程的影响，得出如下结果： 1、通过对川西亚高山60a云杉人工林和天然林6年内种子雨雨量、形态特征、散步动态等的持续观测和综合比较可以发现，云杉林结实特点由于林木自身的特征存在着巨大的变动，2002年和2006年两个种子结实大年内，60a人工林种子雨强度分别达到1088.2 ± 52.3粒/m2和704.3 ± 48.9粒/m2，远大于天然林579.9 ± 28.9粒/m2 和507.5± 30.7粒/m2；且云杉林结实质量优于天然林。60a人工林结实量大，种子质量也最好，相对天然林来说对种群的天然更新以及群落的演替都有最大的贡献潜力。应该说，在川西亚高山云杉人工林的天然更新过程中，种源不是影响天然更新的因素。在种子结实大年里，达到更新成熟的云杉人工林有着优于该地区相对稳定植被群落——天然林的种源优势。至少在种子结实大年，种子供应不是该区域人工林天然更新的限制因子。 2、相对于天然林种子库，人工林种子库在种子萌发前能够有较多的有活力种子。虽然这其中有种子雨输入量有差别的因素存在，但两种林分种子库对种子的保存率的不同才是造成这种差异的主要因素。在人工林中，不同地被类型形成的微生境显著地影响了种子库中种子的密度、垂直分布。有地被物存在的微生境能够将种子雨的大部分截留在地被层中，成为幼苗出现的主要场所；同时不同的地被物对种子的保存情况存在显著的差异，苔藓和凋落物层能都较好地保持其中的种子，到种子萌发前，这两种种子库类型能分别为天然更新提供366.1粒/m2和302粒/m2的有效种子。从这点来看，林下地被物上的种子库能够为天然更新萌发阶段提供数量可观的物质基础。 3、种子的萌发和幼苗的定居是天然更新过程中种子库向幼苗库转化的关键环节。总的说来，米亚罗人工林区60a云杉人工林种子向幼苗的转化率十分低下，凋落物、苔藓、草本、裸地四种主要地被物以及天然林内种子/幼苗的转化率分别仅为2.22%、2.14%、0.57%、0.67%、1.05%。这种低的转化率成为云杉林天然更新的限制性因子。但在现有更新条件下，微生境对这一环节仍然显示出十分显著的影响，表现为凋落物和苔藓对现有更新的新幼苗的保存率高于其它类型及天然林。苔藓和凋落物在种子萌发，幼苗保存，以及幼苗分布上都要优于其它地被物类型；另外，微地形对天然更新过程的影响也很显著，凹立地上更适宜于种子的汇集、萌发和定居。 Subalpine coniferous forests dominate most parts of the forested areas in western Sichuan, and they are important ecological barriers in the upper reaches of the Yangtze River. Picea asperata is one of the keystone spruce species for re-afforestation after felling of the natural forests and there have been a total of ca. 13 000 ha of plantations dominate by this species established. Nowadays, many P. asperata plantations have reached reproductive maturity. However, continued regeneration becomes to an important problem in these plantations. Understanding their self-regeneration potential and the regeneration characteristics of seed populations in spruce plantations of these plantations can have some insights on the management of these plantations and the establishment of following forest resources. A subalpine 60a P. asperata plantation distributed in Miyaluo artificial forest area was studied in this paper, at the same time. Synchronously, a 150a natural spruce forest was studied as comparison. Using seed collecting traps, sieving method for soil seed bank, seed germination experiments and seedling investigations in the field, the effects of heterogeneous microsites on early natural regeneration processes after seed rain were studied, which included seed banks, seed germination, seedling establishment and distribution. The main results are as follows. 1. Through a 6-year long term investigation of seed rain intensities, characteristic, dispersal dynamics of 60a P. asperata plantation, we could concluded that the seed setting properties of 60a P. asperata plantation have a great variation for the characteristics trees. In the mast seed year of 2002 and 2006, the seed rain intensities of plantation was 1088.2 ± 52.3 seeds/m2 and 704.3 ± 48.9 seeds/m2 respectively, which were much greater than that of natural spruce forest (579.9 ± 28.9 seeds/m2 in 2002, and 507.5± 30.7 seeds/m2 in 2006). Furthermore, the quality of seed rain in P. asperata plantation was better than that of natural spruce forest. Contrasting with natural spruce forest, 60a P. asperata plantation has a greater potential on natural regeneration of P. asperata population and succession of community for the reason of greater seed rain intensities and better seed quality. We can confirm that seed source was not a limiting factor which influences the natural regeneration progress of P. asperata population distributed in subalpine mountain zone, at least in the mast seed year. 2. Contrasting with natural spruce forest, P. asperata population had more viable seeds in seed bank before the germination. Although the difference of seed rain intensities of two forests has effect on this phenomenon, the difference of seed conservation ability in two forests was the main factor. In the P. asperata plantation, the seed densities and seed vertical distribution pattern were significant effected by the microsites, which posed by different ground cover types. In other word, Microsite with ground covers can obstruct most seeds and keep them in ground cover layer from seed rain, and these ground covers would be the main site for seed occurrence. There was a significant difference about seeds conservation ability among these ground covers. Litter and moss could better conserve P. asperata seeds which distributed in this two covers. Seed banks exist in litter and moss ground cover types could respectively provide 302seed/m2 and 366.1seed/m2 for natural regeneration before the seed germination. From this point of view, we could conclude that ground covers can ensure considerable numbers of seeds for the germination process. 3. Seed germination and seed establishment are key steps that the seeds invert to seedlings in natural generation process. In sum, the seed/seeding transform rate in 60a P. asperata plantation distributed in Miyaluo artificial forest area is very low. the seed/seeding transform rates in litter, moss, herb, soil surface and natural spruce forest were 2.22%、2.14%、0.57%、0.67%、1.05%, respectively. The low transform rate become to a limiting factor of P. asperata natural regeneration process. However, under the existing conditions of natural regeneration, microsit still had significant effect on this transform. The states of Seed germination, new seedling conservation, and older seedling distribution in litter and moss were better than in any other ground cover type or natural spruce forest. In addition, the micro-relief has significant effect on natural regeneration process. Concave site was more suitable for seed collection, seed germination and seedling distribution.

Heat capacities and thermodynamic properties of chrysanthemic acid

The heat capacities of chrysanthemic acid in the temperature range from 80 to 400 K were measured with a precise automatic adiabatic calorimeter. The chrysanthemic acid sample was prepared with the purity of 0.9855 mole fraction. A solid-liquid fusion phase transition was observed in the experimental temperature range. The melting point, T-m, enthalpy and entropy of fusion, Delta(fus)H(m), Delta(fus)S(m), were determined to be 390.741 +/- 0.002 K, 14.51 +/- 0.13 kJ mol(-1), 37.13 +/- 0.34 J mol(-1) K-1, respectively. The thermodynamic functions of chrysanthemic acid, H-(T)-H-(298.15), S-(T)-S-(298.15) and G((T))-G((298.15)) were reported with a temperature interval of 5 K. The TG analysis under the heating rate of 10 K min(-1) confirmed that the thermal decomposition of the sample starts at ca. 410 K and terminates at ca. 471 K. The maximum decomposition rate was obtained at 466 K. The purity of the sample was determined by a fractional melting method.

Time-resolved synchrotron SAXS observations on sheared syndiotactic poly(propylene) crystallization process

The in situ crystallization kinetics of syndiotactic poly(propylene) (sPP) has been investigated by synchrotron small-angle X-ray scattering (SAXS). The structure evolutions during the isothermal crystallization of sPP with different shear rates have been observed. The results show that shear accelerates the process of crystallization kinetics. Even under low shear rate, the lamellae can be distinctly oriented. In contrast, the lamellar parameters such as the long period, lamellar thickness, and the scattering invariant 0 can change obviously only under high shear rate.

Morphology and crystalline transition of poly (3-butylthiophene) associated with its polymorphic modifications

Poly (3-butylthiophene) (P3BT) is a much less studied conjugated polymer despite its high crystallizability and thus excellent electrical property. In this work, morphology of P3BT at different crystalline polymorphs and solvent/thermal induced phase transition between form I and U modifications have been intensively investigated by using optical microscopy, electron microscopy, differential scanning calorimetry, and X-ray diffraction. It is shown that a direct deposition from carbon disulfide (CS2) at fast evaporation results in P3BT crystals in form I modification, giving typical whiskerlike morphology. In contrast, low evaporation rate from CS, leads to formation of form II crystals with spherulitic morphology, which is so far scarcely observed in polythiophene.

Coating Gd2O3 : Eu phosphors with silica by solid-state reaction at room temperature

Silica coating on Gd2O3:Eu particles was obtained by a simple method, e.g. solid-state reaction at room temperature. The urea homogeneous precipitation method was used to synthesize the Gd2O3:Eu cores. Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) shows that the core particles are spherical with submicrometer size which is the soft agglomerates with nanometer crystallites. The TEM morphology of coated particles shows that a thin film is coated on the surface of Gd2O3:Eu cores. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and energy-dispersive spectrometer (EDS) analysis indicate that the coating of silica can be used to avoid agglomeration of Gd2O3:Eu particles to obtain smaller particles. X-ray photoelectron spectra (XPS) show that silica is coated on the surface of core particles by forming the chemical bond. Photoluminescence (PL) spectra conform that Gd2O3:Eu phosphors remain well-luminescent properties by the silica coating.