Low temperature annealing effects on the structure and optical properties of ZnO films grown by pulsed laser deposition

ZnO thin films were deposited on glass substrates at room temperature (RT) similar to 500 degrees C by pulsed laser deposition (PLD) technique and then were annealed at 150-450 degrees C in air. The effects of annealing temperature on the microstructure and optical properties of the thin films deposited at each substrate temperature were investigated by XRD, SEM, transmittance spectra, and photoluminescence (PL). The results showed that the c-axis orientation of ZnO thin films was not destroyed by annealing treatments: the grain size increased and stress relaxed for the films deposited at 200-500 degrees C, and thin films densified for the films deposited at RT with increasing annealing temperature. The transmittance spectra indicated that E-g of thin films showed a decreased trend with annealing temperature. From the PL measurements, there was a general trend, that is UV emission enhanced with lower annealing temperature and disappeared at higher annealing temperature for the films deposited at 200-500 degrees C; no UV emission was observed for the films deposited at RT regardless of annealing treatment. Improvement of grain size and stoichiometric ratio with annealing temperature can be attributed to the enhancement of UV emission, but the adsorbed oxygen species on the surface and grain boundary of films are thought to contribute the annihilation of UV emission. It seems that annealing at lower temperature in air is an effective method to improve the UV emission for thin films deposited on glass substrate at substrate temperature above RT.

Mode Simulation for Midinfrared Microsquare Resonators With Sloped Sidewalls and Confined Metals

EQUILATERAL-TRIANGLE; MU-M; LASERS; MICROLASERS; MICRODISK Abstract: Mode characteristics for midinfrared microsquare resonators with sloped sidewalls and confined metal layers are investigated by finite-difference time-domain (FDTD) techniques. For a microsquare with a side length of 10 mu m, the mode quality (Q)-factors of 8329, 4772, and 2053 are obtained for TM5,7 mode at wavelength 7.1 mu m by three-dimensional FDTD simulations, as the tilting angles of the side walls are 90 degrees, 88 degrees, and 86 degrees, respectively. Furthermore, microsquare resonators laterally surrounded by SiO2 and metal layers are investigated by the two-dimensional FDTD technique for the metal layers of Au, Ti-Au, Ag-Au, and Ti-Ag-Au, respectively.

Direct observation of excitonic polaron in InAs/GaAs quantum dots

We report a direct observation of excitonic polaron in InAs/GaAs quantum dots using the photoluminescence (PL) spectroscopy. We observe that a new peak s' emerges below the s-shell which has anomalous temperature dependence emission energy. The peak s' anticrosses with s at a certain temperature, with a large anticrossing gap up to 31 meV. The behavior of the new peak, which cannot be interpreted using Huang-Rhys model, provides a direct evidence for strong coupling between exciton and LO phonons, and the formation of the excitonic polaron. The strong coupling between exciton and phonons opens a way to coherently control the polaron states.

Hole concentration test of p-type GaN by analyzing the spectral response of p-n(+) structure GaN ultraviolet photodetector

A new method to test the hole concentration of p-type GaN is proposed, which is carried out by analyzing the spectral response of p-n(+) structure GaN ultraviolet photodetector. It is shown that the spectral response of the photodetector changes considerably with reversed bias. It is found that the difference between photodetector's quantum efficiency at two wavelengths, i.e. 250 and 361 nm, varies remarkably with increasing reversed bias. According to the simulation calculation, the most characteristic change occurs at a reversed voltage under which the p-GaN layer starts to be completely depleted. Based on this effect the carrier concentration of p-GaN can be derived.

Structure and magnetic property of (Ga,Cr)As films with different Cr contents

We report variations in structure and magnetic property of (Ga,Cr) As films with increasing Cr content x. Due to phase segregation, a tendency towards inhomogeneous distribution with increasing x is confirmed. Barkhausen-like magnetization and large remanent magnetic moment were also clearly observed in the samples with x<5.3%. However, spin-glass-like behaviors were observed in both dc and ac magnetic measurements, which might originate from the competition between magnetic nucleation and frustration of long ferromagnetic order in this inhomogeneous system. All the samples exhibit characteristics of variable-range hopping conductivity at temperature below 150 K. Typical magnetic circular dichroism structure was observed in the sample with x=7.9%.

Multimode resonances in metallically confined square-resonator microlasers

Directional emission InP/AlGaInAs square-resonator microlasers with a side length of 20 mu m are fabricated by standard photolithography and inductively coupled-plasma etching technique. Multimode resonances with about seven distinct mode peaks in a free-spectral range are observed from 1460 to 1560 nm with the free-spectral range of 12.1 nm near the wavelength of 1510 nm, and the mode refractive index versus the photon energy E (eV) as 3.07152+0.18304E are obtained by fitting the laser spectra with an analytical mode wavelength formula derived by light ray method. In addition, mode field pattern is simulated for cold cavity by two dimensional finite-difference time-domain technique.

Lineshape Analysis of the Beat Signal Between Optical Carrier and Delayed Sidebands

This paper presents the lineshape analysis of the beat signal between the optical carrier and the shifted and delayed side-bands produced by sinusoidal amplitude modulation. It is shown that the beat signal has a typical lineshape with a very narrow delta-peak superposed on a quasi-Lorentzian profile. Theoretical explanation for the appearance of this peak has been given based on optical spectral structure constructed by a large number of optical wave trains. It is predicted that the delta-peak is originated from the beat between the wave trains in the carrier and those in the delayed sidebands when their average coherence length is longer than the delay line. Experiments carried out using different delay lines clearly show that the delta-peak is always located at the modulation frequency and decreases with the increasing delay line. Our analysis explicitly indicates that the linewidth is related to the observation time. It is also suggested that the disappearance of the delta-peak can be used as the criterion of coherence elimination.

Au@Si-n: Growth behavior, stability and electronic structure

The configurations, stability, and electronic structure of AuSin (n = 1-16) clusters have been investigated within the framework of the density functional theory at the B3PW91/LanL2DZ and PW91/DNP levels. The results show that the Au atom begins to occupy the interior site for cages as small as Si-11 and for Si-12 the Au atom completely falls into the interior site forming Au@Si-12 cage. A relatively large embedding energy and small HOMO-LUMO gap are also found for this Au@Si-12 structure indicating enhanced chemical activity and good electronic transfer properties. All these make Au@Si-12 attractive for cluster-assembled materials.

Modification of two-photon excited fluorescence from quantum dots on SiN photonic crystals

We investigate two-photon excited fluorescence from CdSe quantum dots with a center-emitting wavelength of 655 nm on SiN photonic crystals. We find that two-photon excited fluorescence is enhanced by more than 1 order of magnitude in the vertical direction when a photonic crystal is used compared to the fluorescence spectra in the absence of photonic crystals. The spectrum of two-photon excited fluorescence from quantum dots on SiN photonic crystal is observed to shift to blue compared to that from quantum dots on SiN without photonic crystals. (C) 2010 Optical Society of America

Growth and Characterization of GaSb-Based Type-II InAs/GaSb Superlattice Photodiodes for Mid-Infrared Detection

InAs/GaSb superlattice (SL) midwave infrared photovoltaic detectors are grown by molecular beam epitaxy on GaSb(001) residual p-type substrates. A thick GaSb layer is grown under the optimized growth condition as a buffer layer. The detectors containing a 320-period 8ML/8ML InAs/GaSb SL active layer are fabricated with a series pixel area using anode sulfide passivation. Corresponding to 50% cutoff wavelengths of 5.0 mu m at 77 K, the peak directivity of the detectors is 1.6 x 10(10) cm.Hz(1/2) W-1 at 77 K.

The effect of an electric field on the nonlinear response of InAs/GaAs quantum dots

The refractive nonlinearities of InAs/GaAs quantum dots under a dc electric field at photon energies above its band gap energy have been studied using the reflection Z-scan technique. The effect of the dc electric field on the nonlinear response of InAs/GaAs quantum dots showed similar linear and quadratic electro-optic effects as in the linear response regime at low fields. This implies that the electro-optic effect in the nonlinear regime is analogous to the response in the linear regime for semiconductor quantum dots. Our experimental results show the potential for voltage tunability in InAs quantum dot-based nonlinear electro-optic devices.

Mode Characteristics for Square Resonators With a Metal Confinement Layer

Microsquare resonators laterally confined by SiO2/Au/air multilayer structure are investigated by light ray method with reflection phase-shift of the multiple layers and two-dimensional (2-D) finite-difference time-domain (FDTD) technique. The reflectivity and phase shift of the mode light ray on the sides of the square resonator with the semiconductor/SiO2/Au/air multilayer structure are calculated for TE and TM modes by transfer matrix method. Based on the reflection phase shift and the reflectivity, the mode wavelength and factor are calculated by the resonant condition and the mirror loss, which are in agreement well with that obtained by the FDTD simulation. We find that the mode factor increases greatly with the increase of the SiO2 layer thickness, especially as d < 0.3 mu m. For the square resonator with side length 2 mu m and refractive index 3.2, anticrossing mode couplings are found for confined TE modes at wavelength about 1.6 mu m at d = 0.11 mu m, and confined TM modes at d = 0.71 mu m, respectively.

Ferromagnetic modification of GaN film by Cu+ ions implantation

The structural and magnetic properties of Cu+ ions-implanted GaN films have been reported. Eighty kilo-electron-volt Cu+ ions were implanted into n-type GaN film at room temperature with fluences ranging from 1 x 10(16) to 8 x 10(16) cm(-2) and subsequently annealed at 800 degrees C for 1 h in N-2 ambient. PIXE was employed to determine the Cu-implanted content. The magnetic property was measured by the Quantum Design MPMS SQUID magnetometer. No secondary phases or clusters were detected within the sensitivity of XRD. Raman spectrum measurement showed that the Cu ions incorporated into the crystal lattice positions of GaN through substitution of Ga atoms. Apparent ferromagnetic hysteresis loops measured at 10 K were presented. The experimental result showed that the ferromagnetic signal strongly increased with Cu-implanted fluence from 1 x 10(16) to 8 x 10(16) cm(-2).

Correcting the systematic error of the density functional theory calculation: the alternate combination approach of genetic algorithm and neural network

The alternate combinational approach of genetic algorithm and neural network (AGANN) has been presented to correct the systematic error of the density functional theory (DFT) calculation. It treats the DFT as a black box and models the error through external statistical information. As a demonstration, the AGANN method has been applied in the correction of the lattice energies from the DFT calculation for 72 metal halides and hydrides. Through the AGANN correction, the mean absolute value of the relative errors of the calculated lattice energies to the experimental values decreases from 4.93% to 1.20% in the testing set. For comparison, the neural network approach reduces the mean value to 2.56%. And for the common combinational approach of genetic algorithm and neural network, the value drops to 2.15%. The multiple linear regression method almost has no correction effect here.

Structural and optical properties of Al1-xInxN epilayers on GaN template grown by metalorganic chemical vapor deposition

This paper reports that Al1-xInxN epilayers were grown on GaN template by metalorganic chemical vapor deposition with an In content of 7%-20%. X-ray diffraction results indicate that all these Al1-xInxN epilayers have a relatively low density of threading dislocations. Rutherford backscattering/channeling measurements provide the exact compositional information and show that a gradual variation in composition of the Al1-xInxN epilayer happens along the growth direction. The experimental results of optical reflection clearly show the bandgap energies of Al1-xInxN epilayers. A bowing parameter of 6.5 eV is obtained from the compositional dependence of the energy gap. The cathodoluminescence peak energy of the Al1-xInxN epilayer is much lower than its bandgap, indicating a relatively large Stokes shift in the Al1-xInxN sample.