Pressure dependence of the electronic subband structure of strained In0.2Ga0.8As/GaAs MQWs

We have measured low-temperature photoluminescence (PL) and optical absorption spectra of an In0.2Ga0.8As/GaAs multiple quantum well (MQW) structure at pressures up to 8 GPa. Below 4.9 GPa, PL shows only the emission of the n = 1 heavy-hole (HH) exciton. Three new X-related PL bands appear at higher pressures. They are assigned to spatially indirect (type-II) and direct (type-I) transitions from X(Z) states in GaAs and X(XY) valleys of InGaAs, respectively, to the HH subband of the wells. From the PL data we obtain a valence band offset of 80 meV for the strained In0.2Ga0.8As/GaAs MQW system. Absorption spectra show three features corresponding to direct exciton transitions in the quantum wells. In the pressure range of 4.5 to 5.5 GPa an additional pronounced feature is apparent in absorption, which is attributed to the pseudo-direct transition between a HH subband and the folded X(Z) states of the wells. This gives the first clear evidence for an enhanced strength of indirect optical transitions due to the breakdown of translational invariance at the heterointerfaces in MQWs.

Normal incident infrared absorption from InGaAs/GaAs quantum dot superlattice

The authors report for the first time, normal incident infrared absorption around the wavelength of 13-15 mu m from a 20 period InGaAs/GaAs quantum dot supperlatice (QDS). The structure of a QDS has been-confirmed by cross-section transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and by a photoluminescence spectrum (PL). This opens the way to high performance 8-14 mu m quantum dot infrared detectors.

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.

Offset quantum-well method for tunable distributed Bragg reflector lasers and electro-absorption modulated distributed feedback lasers

A two-section offset quantum-well structure tunable laser with a tuning range of 7 nm was fabricated using offset quantum-well inethod. The distributed Bragg reflector （DBR） was realized just by selectively wet etching the multiquantum-well （MQW） layer above the quaternary lower waveguide. A threshold current of 32 mA and an output power of 9 mW at 100 mA were achieved. Furthermore, with this offset structure method, a distributed feedback （DFB） laser was integrated with an electro-absorption modulator （EAM）, which was capable of producing 20 dB of optical extinction.

Monolithic Integration of Electro-Absorption Modulators and DFB Lasers by Modified Double Stack Active Layer Approach

Monolithic electro-absorption modulated distributed-feedback(DFB) lasers are proposed and fabricated by using a modified double stack active layer.The 38mA threshold,9dB extinction ratio (from 0.5V to 3.0V),and about 5mW output power at the 100mA operation current are achieved.Compared with other reported results (only 1.5mW at the same operation current) of the traditional stack active structure,the proposed structure improves the output power of devices.

The plasmon resonance absorption of Ag/SiO2 nanocomposite films

The plasmon resonance absorption of the Ag/SiO2 nanocomposite film is investigated. The measured absorption spectra are compared with those calculated by the Mie theory. The results indicate that the Mie theory on the basis of classical electrodynamics can only partially explain the optical absorption spectra of the Ag/SiO2 nanocomposite film. We believe that the plasmon resonance absorption is mainly an intrinsic quality of the metal particle, and can be explained only with the electronic structure of the metal particle. In the latter, surface resonance state is introduced to systematically discuss the optical absorption spectra of the Ag/SiO2 nanocomposite film. (C) 2003 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.

Structural and infrared absorption properties of self-organized InGaAs GaAs quantum dots multilayers

Self-organized InGaAs/GaAs quantum dots (QDs) stacked multilayers have been prepared by solid source molecular beam epitaxy. Cross-sectional transmission electron microscopy shows that the InGaAs QDs are nearly perfectly vertically aligned in the growth direction [100]. The filtering effect on the QDs distribution is found to be the dominant mechanism leading to vertical alignment and a highly uniform size distribution. Moreover, we observe a distinct infrared absorption from the sample in the range of 8.6-10.7 mu m. This indicates the potential of QDs multilayer structure for use as infrared photodetector.

Broadband short-range surface plasmon structures for absorption enhancement in organic photovoltaics

We theoretically demonstrate a polarization-independent nanopatterned ultra-thin metallic structure supporting short-range surface plasmon polariton (SRSPP) modes to improve the performance of organic solar cells. The physical mechanism and the mode distribution of the SRSPP excited in the cell device were analyzed, and reveal that the SRSPP-assisted broadband absorption enhancement peak could be tuned by tailoring the parameters of the nanopatterned metallic structure. Three-dimensional finite-difference time domain calculations show that this plasmonic structure can enhance the optical absorption of polymer-based photovoltaics by 39% to 112%, depending on the nature of the active layer (corresponding to an enhancement in short-circuit current density by 47% to 130%). These results are promising for the design of organic photovoltaics with enhanced performance.

Intersubband absorption energy shifts in 3-level system for asymmetric quantum well terahertz emitters

Intersubband absorption energy shifts in 3-level system stemming from depolarization and excitonlike effects are investigated. Analytically, the expressions we derive present good explanations to the conventional 2-level results and bare potential transition energy results; and numerical results show that they are more exact than the previous studies to describe the 3-level system depolarization and excitonlike shift (DES) character especially for higher carrier density (more than 8 x 10(11) cm(-2)). One interesting detail we find is that the "large blue" DES becomes "slight redshift" in the low doping limit (less than 1.9 x 10(11) cm(-2)), which may be neglected by the previous studies of intersubband transitions. Temperature character of DES in the step well structure is also numerically studied. Finally the above are applied to calculate asymmetric step quantum well structures. The two main functional aspects of terahertz (THz) emitters are discussed and several basic optimizing conditions are considered. By adjusting the well geometry parameters and material composition systematically, some optimized structures which satisfy all of the six conditions are recommended in tables. These optimizations may provide useful references to the design of 3-level-based optically pumping THz emitters.

Optical absorption spectra of Na-5, Na-6 and Na-7 clusters: a theoretical study

In the frame of time-dependent density functional theory, the: dynamical polarizabilities of Na-5, Na-6 and Na-7 clusters are calculated using a time-dependent local density approximation. By using Fourier transformation, the optical absorption spectra of Na-5, Na-6 and Na-7 clusters are obtained from their dynamical polarizabilities. It is shown that experimentally measured optical absorption spectra of Na-5, Na-6 and Na-7 clusters are reproduced in our calculations. Furthermore, the calculations of Na-6 and Na-7 clusters are in good agreement with the results of configuration interaction method. Compared with the three-dimensional structure of Na-6, the calculated optical absorption spectra of Na-6 with the two-dimensional structure are more close to the experimental data.

Structure stability and strengthening mechanism of die-cast Mg-Gd-Dy based alloy

Mg-8Gd-1Dy-0.3Zn (wt.%) alloy was prepared by high-pressure die-casting technique. The thermal stability, mechanical properties at temperature range from room temperature to 573 K and strengthening mechanism was investigated. The results showed that the die-cast state alloy was mainly composed of fine cellular equiaxed grain. The fine porosity-free skin region was related to the aggregation of rare earth elements. The long lamellar-shaped stacking compound containing Zn and polygon-shaped precipitate were observed along the grain boundaries. The die-cast sample exhibited high mechanical properties and good thermal stability until 523 K.

Synthesis, structure and optical properties of new organic-inorganic haloplumbates complexes (C5H10N3)PbX4 (X = Br, Cl), (C2H2N4)PbBr3

Layered organic-inorganic composite materials (C5H10N3)PbX4 (X = Br 1, Cl 2) containing histaminium dications were grown via a solution-cooling process, and their structure and optical properties were determined. The organic ligand-histaminium introduced into the corner-sharing octahedra of the 'PbX4- layer' contains both primary ammonium and imidazolium different from the traditionally primary amine found in this system. As comparison, another analogous amine of 3-amino-1,2,4-triazol was used as ligand to coordinate with PbBr2 in acid solution. A novel complex (C2H2N4)PbBr3 (3) was obtained with zigzag PbBr2 chains different from the PbX4 layer in compound as 1 and 2. The hybrid (C5H10N3)PbX4 show exciton absorption at 339 nm for X = Cl and 419 nm for X = Br with the corresponding emission at 360 and 436 nm, respectively. The different PbBr2 chain structure of compound 3 does not show photo luminescence.

Synthesis, structure and optical properties of different dimensional organic-inorganic perovskites

By varying the substituent position of aminomethyl on pyridine ring in acid solution, different dimensional lead bromide frameworks ranging from zero-dimension and one-dimension to two-dimension were obtained. 2-(Aminomethyl)pyridine (2-AMP) or 3-(aminomethyl)pyridine (3-AMP) and PbBr2 construct hybrid perovskites, of which (H(2)2-AMP)PbBr4 (1) exhibits two-dimensional perovskite sheets with special hydrogen bonds and (H(2)3-AMP)PbBr6 (2) shows an uncommon zero-dimensional inorganic framework with isolated octahedra. The characteristic exciton peaks in absorption spectra are located at 431 nm for compound 1 and at 428 nm for compound 2. (H(2)4-AMP)PbBr4 (3) with one-dimensional zigzag edge-sharing octahedral PbBr(4)(2-)chains can be obtained using 4-(aminomethyl)pyridine (4-AMP) as organic component under the same experimental conditions as those for 2-AMP and 3-AMP.

Hydrogen absorption in Ti45Zr35Ni17Cu3 amorphous and quasicrystalline alloy powders

Ti45Zr35Ni17Cu3 amorphous and icosahedral quasicrystal line (I-phase) powders were synthesized by mechanical alloying (MA) and subsequent annealing, the phase structure and hydrogen absorption properties of two powders were investigated. XRD analysis indicated that the MAed powder was an amorphous phase and annealed powder was an I-phase. Two alloy exhibited excellent hydrogen adsorption property and started to absorb hydrogen without induction time. PCT measurement showed that the plateau pressure of the amorphous powders was obviously higher than that of the I-phase powders. After the first hydrogen cycling, the partial amorphous phase changed to (Zr, Ti)H-2 phases, and the I-phase was steady. Similar hydride phases Ti2ZrH4 and (Zr, Ti)H-2 were also formed after the second hydrogen cycling for the amorphous and I-phase alloy powders.

Synthesis, structure, photoluminescence, and electroluminescence properties of a new dysprosium complex

A new dysprosium complex Dy(PM)(3)(TP)(2) [where PM = 1-phenyl-3-methyl-4-isobutyryl-5-pyrazolone and TP = triphenyl phosphine oxide] was synthesized, and its single-crystal structure was also studied. Its photophysical properties were studied by absorption spectra, emission spectra, fluorescence quantum efficiency, and decay time of the f-f transition of the Dy3+ ion. In addition, the antenna effect was introduced to discuss the energy transfer mechanism between the ligand and the central Dy3+ ion. Finally, a series of devices with various structures was fabricated to investigate the electroluminescence (EL) performances of Dy(PM)(3)(TP)(2). The best device with the structure ITO/CuPc 15 nm/Dy complex 70 nm/BCP 20 nm/AlQ 30 nm/LiF 1 nm/Al 100 nm exhibits a maximum brightness of 524 cd/m(2), a current efficiency of 0.73 cd/A, and a power efficiency of 0.16 lm/W, which means that a great improvement in the performances of the device was obtained as compared to the results reported in published literature. Being identical to the PL spectrum, the EL spectrum of the complex also shows characteristic emissions of the Dy3+ ion, which consist of a yellow band at 572 nm and a blue emission band at 480 nm corresponding to the F-4(9/2)-H-6(13/2) and F-4(9/2)-H-6(15/2) transition of the Dy3+ ion, respectively. Consequently, an appropriate tuning of the blue/yellow intensity ratio can be presumed to accomplish a white luminescent emission.