Effect of rapid thermal annealing and hydrogen plasma treatment on the microstructure and light-emission of silicon-rich oxide film

Silicon-rich silicon oxide (SRSO) films are prepared by plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition method at the substrate temperature of 200degreesC. The effect of rapid thermal annealing and hydrogen plasma treatment on tire microstructure and light-emission of SRSO films are investigated in detail using micro-Raman spectroscopy, Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy and photoluminescence (PL) spectra. It is found that the phase-separation degree of the films decreases with increasing annealing temperature from 300 to 600degreesC, while it increases with increasing annealing temperature from 600 to 900degreesC. The light-emission of the films are enhanced with increasing annealing temperature up to 500degreesC, while it is rapidly reduced when the annealing temperature exceeds 600degreesC. The peak position of the PL spectrum blueshifts by annealing at the temperature of 300degreesC, then it red-shifts with further raising annealing temperature. The following hydrogen plasma treatment results in a disproportionate increase of the PL intensity and a blueshift or redshift of the peak positions, depending on the pristine annealing temperature. It is thought that the size of amorphous silicon clusters, surface structure of the clusters and the distribution of hydrogen in the films can be changed during the annealing procedure. The results indicate that not only cluster size but also surface state of the clusters plays an important role in the determination of electronic structure of the amorphous silicon cluster and recombination process of light-generated carriers.

Correlated structural and optical investigation of terbium-doped zinc oxide nanocrystals

Tb3+-doped zinc oxide nanocrystals with a hexagonal wurzite structure were successfully prepared by reaction between Zn-O-Tb precursors and LiOH in ethanol. Good incorporation of Tb3+ in ZnO nanocrystals is proved by XRD, FTIR, PL and PLE measurements. The presence of acetate complexes to zinc atoms on particle surfaces is disclosed by FTIR results. Emission from both Tb3+ ions and surface states in ZnO matrix, as well as their correlation were observed. The luminescence mechanism is discussed. (C) 2000 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.

Photoluminescence from surface-oxidized Ge nanoclusters

Photoluminescence from gas-evaporated Ge nanoclusters consisting of a crystalline core encased in an oxide shell are presented. An as-grown sample shows room temperature luminescence with separate peaks around 357 and 580 nm. Prolonged air exposure of the clusters reduces the Ge core dimensions, and the emission initially at 580 nm shifts to 420 nm; however, the violet luminescence at 357 nm displays no difference. These results indicate that there are two mechanisms involved with light emission from Ge nanoclusters, visible light emission associated with the quantum confinement effect, and violet light emission correlated to luminescent centers. (C) 1998 Elsevier Science B.V.

Low Temperature Deposited Nano-structured Vanadium Oxide Thin Films for Uncooled Infrared Detectors

A novel process of room temperature ion beam sputtering deposition of vanadium oxide films and low temperature post annealing for uncooled infrared detectors was proposed in this work. VOx thin films with relatively low square resistance (70 K Omega / square) and large temperature coefficient of resistance (more than 3%/K) at room temperature were fabricated using this low temperature process which was very compatible with the process of uncooled infrared detectors based on micromachined technology. Furthermore, chemical composition and film surface have been characterized using X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) respectively. The results showed that the main composition of the processed thin films was V2O5 and the thin films were in the process of crystallization.

Investigations on oxide-free InGaAlAs waveguides grown by narrow stripe selective MOVPE

Oxide-free InGaAlAs waveguides have been grown on the InP substrates patterned with pairs of SiO2 mask stripes using narrow stripe selective MOVPE. The mask stripe width is varied from 0 to 40 pm, while the window region width between a pair of mask stripes is fixed at 1.5, 2.5 and 3.5 mu m, respectively. Smooth surface s and flat interfaces are obtained in the selectively grown InQaAlAs waveguides. There exhibit strong dependences of the thickness enhancement ratio and the photoluminescence (PL) spectrum on the mask stripe width and the window region width for the InGaAlAs wavegwdes. A large PL peak wavelength shift of 79 nm and a PL full width of at half maximum (FWHM) of less than 64 meV are obtained simultaneously. Some possible interpretations for our investigations are presented by considering both the migration effect from a masked region (MMR) and the lateral vapor diffusion effect (LVD).

Low threshold current density, low resistance oxide-confined VCSEL fabricated by a dielectric-free approach

We present the fabrication process and experimental results of 850-nm oxide-confined vertical cavity surface emitting lasers (VCSELs) fabricated by using dielectric-free approach. The threshold current of 0.4 mA, which corresponds to the threshold current density of 0.5 kA/cm(2), differential resistance of 76 Omega, and maximum output power of more than 5 mW are achieved for the dielectric-free VCSEL with a square oxide aperture size of 9 mu m at room temperature (RT). L-I-V characteristics of the dielectric-free VCSEL are compared with those of conventional VCSEL with the similar aperture size, which indicates the way to realize low-cost, low-power consumption VCSELs with extremely simple process. Preliminary study of the temperature-dependent L-I characteristics and modulation response of the dielectric-free VCSEL are also presented.

A novel photonic crystal vertical cavity surface emitting laser based on coherent coupling

We demonstrate a novel oxide confined GaAs-based photonic crystal vertical cavity surface emitting laser (PC-VCSEL) operating at a wavelength of 850 nm based on coherent coupling. A ring-shaped light-emitting aperture is added to the conventional PC-VCSEL, and coherent coupling is achieved between the central defect aperture and the ring-shaped light-emitting aperture. Measurements show that under the continuous-wave (CW) injected current of 20 mA, a high power of 2 mW is obtained, and the side mode suppression ratio (SMSR) is larger than 20 dB. The average divergence angle is 4.2 degrees at the current level of 20 mA. Compared with the results ever reported, the divergence angle is reduced.

Single-mode holey vertical-cavity surface-emitting laser with ultra-narrow beam divergence

We demonstrated oxide-confined 850-nm vertical-cavity surface-emitting lasers (VCSELs) with a two-dimensional petal-shaped holey structure composed of several annular-sector-shaped holes. Four types of devices with different hole numbers were designed and fabricated. The measured results showed that the larger hole number was beneficial to purifying the lasing mode, and realizing the single-mode operation. The side mode suppression ratio (SMSR) exceeded 30 dB throughout the entire drive current. Mode selective loss mechanism was used to explain the single-mode characteristic. The single-mode devices possessed good beam profiles, and the lowest divergence angle was as narrow as 3.2 degrees (full width at half maximum), attributed to the graded index profile and the shallow etching in the top distributed Bragg reflector (DBR).

Phase-locked ring-defect photonic crystal vertical-cavity surface-emitting laser

Phase-locked oxide-confined ring-defect photonic crystal vertical-cavity surface-emitting laser is presented. The coupled-mode theory is employed to illustrate the two supermodes of the device, in-phase and out-of-phase supermode. Experimental results verify the two supermodes by the characteristics of the spectra and the far field patterns. At the lower current, only the out-of-phase supermode is excited, whereas under the higher current, the in-phase supermode also appears at the shorter wavelength range. In addition, the measured spectral separation between the two supermodes agrees well with the theoretical result.

Self-heating effect in 1.3 mu m p-doped InAs/GaAs quantum dot vertical cavity surface emitting lasers

The self-heating effect in 1.3 mu m p-doped InAs/GaAs quantum dot (QD) vertical cavity surface emitting lasers (VCSELs) has been investigated using a self-consistent theoretical model. Good agreement is obtained between theoretical analysis and experimental results under pulsed operation. The results show that in p-doped QD VCSELs, the output power is significantly influenced by self-heating. About 60% of output power is limited by self-heating in a device with oxide aperture of 5x6 mu m(2). This value reduces to 55% and 48%, respectively, as the oxide aperture increases to 7x8 and 15x15 mu m(2). The temperature increase in the active region and injection efficiency of the QDs are calculated and discussed based on the different oxide aperture areas and duty cycle.

Raman scattering and infrared absorption of silicon nanocrystals in silicon oxide matrix

Structural dependence on annealing of a-SiOx:H was studied by using infrared absorption and Raman scattering. The appearance of Raman peaks in the range of 513-519cm(-1) after 1170 degreesC annealing was interpreted as the formation nanocrystalline silicon with the sizes from 3-10nm. The Raman spectra also show the existence of amorphous-like silicon phase, which is associated with Si-Si bond re-construction at boundaries of silicon nanocrystallites. The presence of the shoulder at 980cm(-1) of Si-O-Si stretching vibration at 1085cm(-1) in infrared spectra imply that except that SiO2 phase, there is silicon sub-oxide phase in the films annealed at 1170 degreesC. This sub-oxide phase is located at the interface between Si crystallites and SiO2, and thus support the shell model for the mixed structures of Si grains and SiO2 matrix.

The enhancement of spontaneous emission factor in selectively oxidized vertical cavity lasers with double oxide layers

The behaviors of lateral propagating modes in the aperture and the oxidized regions are investigated numerically for selectively oxidized vertical-cavity surface-emitting lasers (VCSELs). The results show that the lateral propagating modes in the oxidized region are greatly affected by the oxide layer due to its low index, the modes are divergence for the VCSELs with sufficient thick double oxide layers. So the coupling between the modes in the aperture and oxidized regions is very weak, and we can expect that the lateral spontaneous emission is greatly affected in this case. Ignoring the contribution of the lateral spontaneous emission, we calculate spontaneous emission factor by counting the total number of the guided modes in selectively oxidized VCSELs with double oxide layers. The results agree very well with the reported measurements and are inversely proportional to the lateral index step.

Sputtering induced by highly charged Pb-208(q+) bombardment on Al surface

Highly charged ions (HCls) carrying high Coulomb potential energy (E-p) could cause great changes in the physical and chemical properties of material surface when they bombard on the solid surface. In our work, the secondary ion yield dependence on highly charged Pbq+ (q = 4-36) bombardment on Al surface has been investigated. Aluminum films (99.99%) covered with a natural oxide film was chosen as our target and the kinetic energy (E-k) was varied between 80 keV and 400 keV. The yield with different incident angles could be described well by the equation developed by us. The equation consists of two parts due to the kinetic sputtering and potential sputtering. The physical interpretations of the coefficients in the said equation are discussed. Also the results on the kinetic sputtering produced by the nuclear energy loss on target Surface are presented.

Evidence for perimeter sites over SmOx-modified Rh(100) surface by CO chemisorption

SmOx modified Rh(l 0 0) surfaces have been in-situ prepared by depositing metallic Sin and subsequently oxidizing under controlled conditions, and the interaction between the lanthanide oxide and transition metal has been characterized by means of X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and high-resolution electron-energy-loss spectroscopy (HREELS) as well as thermal desorption spectroscopy (TDS). As evidenced, the adsorption of CO on the modified surfaces shows some different features to the original surface of Rh(l 00). The covering of SmOx blocks some sites on the surface and consequently suppresses adsorption of the typical CO species with an uptake at about 500 K, while a novel desorption peak centered at 260 K emerges in the CO TDS. Correspondingly, the XP spectrum exhibits a new C Is peak at 287.9 eV and 0 Is peak at 532.6 eV. The intensity of the low temperature peak varies with the coverage of SmOx, which shows an actual correlation to the perimeter sites of SmOx particles on the surface. (C) 2004 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Preparation of palladium membrane over porous stainless steel tube modified with zirconium oxide

A palladium membrane has been prepared by electroless plating on the surface of a porous stainless steel tube. Since the large surface pores of the tube are obstacle for preparation of a defect-free palladium film on the surface, zirconium oxide particles were deposited inside the pores. The mean thickness of the resulting Pd membrane on the modified tube was ca. 10 mum. It is suggested that the permeability of hydrogen is partly governed by gas diffusion in the pores. (C) 2004 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.