Spontaneous spin polarization and electron localization in constrained geometries: The Wigner transition in nanowires

The Wigner transition in a jellium model of cylindrical nanowires has been investigated by density-functional computations using the local spin-density approximation. A wide range of background densities rho(b) has been explored from the nearly ideal metallic regime (r(s)=[3/4 pi rho(b)](1/3)=1) to the high correlation limit (r(s)=100). Computations have been performed using an unconstrained plane wave expansion for the Kohn-Sham orbitals and a large simulation cell with up to 480 electrons. The electron and spin distributions retain the cylindrical symmetry of the Hamiltonian at high density, while electron localization and spin polarization arise nearly simultaneously in low-density wires (r(s)similar to 30). At sufficiently low density (r(s)>= 40), the ground-state electron distribution is the superposition of well defined and nearly disjoint droplets, whose charge and spin densities integrate almost exactly to one electron and 1/2 mu(B), respectively. Droplets are arranged on radial shells and define a distorted lattice whose structure is intermediate between bcc and fcc. Dislocations and grain boundaries are apparent in the droplets' configuration found by our simulations. Our computations aim at modeling the behavior of experimental low-carried density systems made of lightly doped semiconductor nanostructures or conducting polymers.

Studies on Catalysis by Titania

Scientists throughout the world are in search of a better methodology to reduce the use of environmentally hazardous chemicals common in industries .A significant contribution in this field is given by different redox catalysts in oxidation reactions. The oxidation of organic substrates represents one of the most important industrial chemical reactions, explaining the significant efforts invested in the research and development of new heterogeneous catalysts with increased activities and selectivities in these type reactions[l-4|. Hence liquid phase reactions like epoxidation of cylcohexene and hydroxylation of phenol were carried out with a new outlook in the challenge using CeO2/TiO;; and CuO/TiO2 catalysts denoted as TiO2-Ce as TiO2-Cu respectively in this work. Also different wt% of metals incorporated titania catalysts like 3, 6, 9 wt% CeO2/TiO; and CuO/TiO;were subjected to the present study .The interaction between metal oxides and the oxide supports have attracted much attention because of the wide applications of supported metal oxide systems[7,8]. It is well known that supported oxides of transition metals are widely used as catalysts for various reactions. Titania as well its metal modified catalysts systems afford high activity and selectivity in the liquid phase epoxidation of cyclohexene[9]. Cyclohexene epoxide is obtained as the major product during the reaction with small amounts of allylic substitution products.This chapter gives an idea about the liquid phase oxidation reactions like epoxidation of cylcohexene and hydroxylation of phenol in which many industrially important products are formed. Here discusses about the redox properties of the ceria and copper incorporated titania catalysts.The epoxidation of cyclohcxene is carried out efficiently over the prepared systems with the selective formation of cyclohexane epoxide. This reaction hints that it might be possible to create cleaner nylon chemistry. The total acidity of the prepared systems plays an important role in determining the catalytic activity in the dehydrogenation of cyclohexane and cyclohexene. The total acidity of the prepared systems plays an important role in determining the catalytic activity in the dehydrogenation of cyclohexane and cyclohexene.

Chaotic dynamics of electric-field domains in periodically driven superlattices

Self-sustained time-dependent current oscillations under dc voltage bias have been observed in recent experiments on n-doped semiconductor superlattices with sequential resonant tunneling. The current oscillations are caused by the motion and recycling of the domain wall separating low- and high-electric-field regions of the superlattice, as the analysis of a discrete drift model shows and experimental evidence supports. Numerical simulation shows that different nonlinear dynamical regimes of the domain wall appear when an external microwave signal is superimposed on the dc bias and its driving frequency and driving amplitude vary. On the frequency-amplitude parameter plane, there are regions of entrainment and quasiperiodicity forming Arnold tongues. Chaos is demonstrated to appear at the boundaries of the tongues and in the regions where they overlap. Coexistence of up to four electric-field domains randomly nucleated in space is detected under ac+dc driving.

Chaos in resonant-tunneling superlattices

Spatiotemporal chaos is predicted to occur in n-doped semiconductor superlattices with sequential resonant tunneling as their main charge transport mechanism. Under dc voltage bias, undamped time-dependent oscillations of the current (due to the motion and recycling of electric field domain walls) have been observed in recent experiments. Chaos is the result of forcing this natural oscillation by means of an appropriate external microwave signal.

Estudo, construção e caracterização de diodos orgânicos tipo Schttky

During the twentieth century the inorganic electronics was largely developed being present in various industrial equipment or household use. However, at the end of that century were verified electronic properties in organic compounds, giving rise to the field of organic electronics. Since then, the physical properties of elementary devices such as diodes and organic transistors have been studied. In this work was studied the properties of diode devices fabricated with a semiconductor polymer, the poly-o-methoxyaniline (POMA). Devices containing electrodes of Au and Al were fabricated with semiconductor polymer of different doping levels. We found that the rectifying behavior for the heterojunctions metal/polimer are reached only for high doping level (with conductivity greater than 1,77. 10-9 S / cm), which gives the devices characteristic of a Schottky diode. The rectifying behavior was observed for electric fields of low magnitude, below the operating field (~ 600 V/cm), while for electric field greater than 600 V/cm the a linear behavior I vs.V was obtained. We determined that this Ohmic behavior arises from the charge transport over the volume of the semiconductor material after the lowering of the metal/semiconductor barrier. In devices with weakly doped semiconductor, the electrical resistance of the volume becomes high and the process of charge transportation is dominated by the volume, for any intensity of the applied electric field

Propriedades ópticas de nanopartículas de halogenetos de cobre preparadas in situ em filmes híbridos de sílica

The sol-gel process is a technique based on the hydrolysis and polycondensation of metal alkoxides have been investigated as an alternative for the preparation of vitreous or glassceramic materials, for allowing the obtaining of high-purity materials at low temperatures, and to obtain hybrid materials with different compositions. When ORMOSILs are doped with nanoparticles, are called nanocomposites, and its functionality arises when electrons confined in scale three-dimensional structures near zero are excited. In principle, such materials exhibit discrete energy level, with peaks in the absorption spectrum. Therefore, the glasses doped semiconductor nanocrystals are important candidates for the preparation of optical filters with sharp cut-off, and are being exploited commercially for coloring glasses. This study evaluates the optical properties presented by hybrid films of silica doped with copper nanoparticles. The matrix was prepared using the alkoxides 3-glycidoxypropyltrimethoxysilane (GPTS) and tetraethylorthosilicate (TEOS) doped with Cu2O and hydrolyzed under reflux conditions in two different acidic conditions (HCl and HBr). After thermal treatment at temperatures between 100 °C and 170 °C and/or under the action of commercial black light radiation, CuCl and CuBr present in the hybrid film are transformed into nanoparticles of CuCl or CuBr. The UV-VIS absorption identified the absorption bands, and its variation

Experimental verification of intermediate band formation on titanium-implanted silicon

Intermediate band formation on silicon layers for solar cell applications was achieved by titanium implantation and laser annealing. A two-layer heterogeneous system, formed by the implanted layer and by the un-implanted substrate, was formed. In this work, we present for the first time electrical characterization results which show that recombination is suppressed when the Ti concentration is high enough to overcome the Mott limit, in agreement with the intermediate band theory. Clear differences have been observed between samples implanted with doses under or over the Mott limit. Samples implanted under the Mott limit have capacitance values much lower than the un-implanted ones as corresponds to a highly doped semiconductor Schottky junction. However, when the Mott limit is surpassed, the samples have much higher capacitance, revealing that the intermediate band is formed. The capacitance increasing is due to the big amount of charge trapped at the intermediate band, even at low temperatures. Ti deep levels have been measured by admittance spectroscopy. These deep levels are located at energies which vary from 0.20 to 0.28?eV below the conduction band for implantation doses in the range 1013-1014 at./cm2. For doses over the Mott limit, the implanted atoms become nonrecombinant. Capacitance voltage transient technique measurements prove that the fabricated devices consist of two-layers, in which the implanted layer and the substrate behave as an n+/n junction.

Fermi-edge singularities in linear and nonlinear ultrafast spectroscopy

We discuss Fermi-edge singularity effects on the linear and nonlinear transient response of an electron gas in a doped semiconductor. We use a bosonization scheme to describe the low-energy excitations, which allows us to compute the time and temperature dependence of the response functions. Coherent control of the energy absorption at resonance is analyzed in the linear regime. It is shown that a phase shift appears in the coherent control oscillations, which is not present in the excitonic case. The nonlinear response is calculated analytically and used to predict that four wave-mixing experiments would present a Fermi-edge singularity when the exciting energy is varied. A new dephasing mechanism is predicted in doped samples that depends linearly on temperature and is produced by the low-energy bosonic excitations in the conduction band.

Spin depolarization in the transport of holes across GaxMn1−xAs∕GayAl1−yAs∕p-GaAs

We study the spin polarization of tunneling holes injected from ferromagnetic GaMnAs into a p-doped semiconductor through a tunneling barrier. We find that spin-orbit interaction in the barrier and in the drain limits severely spin injection. Spin depolarization is stronger when the magnetization is parallel to the current than when it is perpendicular to it.

Nitrogen defects and ferromagnetism in Cr-doped dilute magnetic semiconductor AlN from first principles

High Curie temperature of 900 K has been reported in Cr-doped AlN diluted magnetic semiconductors prepared by various methods, which is exciting for spintronic applications. It is believed that N defects play important roles in achieving the high-temperature ferromagnetism in good samples. Motivated by these experimental advances, we use a full-potential density-functional-theory method and supercell approach to investigate N defects and their effects on ferromagnetism of (Al,Cr)N with N vacancies (V-N). We investigate the structural and electronic properties of V-N, single Cr atom, Cr-Cr atom pairs, Cr-V-N pairs, and so on. In each case, the most stable structure is obtained by comparing different atomic configurations optimized in terms of the total energy and the force on every atom, and then it is used to calculate the defect formation energy and study the electronic structures. Our total-energy calculations show that the nearest substitutional Cr-Cr pair with the two spins in parallel is the most favorable and the nearest Cr-V-N pair makes a stable complex. Our formation energies indicate that V-N regions can be formed spontaneously under N-poor condition because the minimal V-N formation energy equals -0.23 eV or Cr-doped regions with high enough concentrations can be formed under N-rich condition because the Cr formation energy equals 0.04 eV, and hence real Cr-doped AlN samples are formed by forming some Cr-doped regions and separated V-N regions and through subsequent atomic relaxation during annealing. Both of the single Cr atom and the N vacancy create filled electronic states in the semiconductor gap of AlN. N vacancies enhance the ferromagnetism by adding mu(B) to the Cr moment each but reduce the ferromagnetic exchange constants between the spins in the nearest Cr-Cr pairs. These calculated results are in agreement with experimental observations and facts of real Cr-doped AlN samples and their synthesis. Our first-principles results are useful to elucidate the mechanism for the ferromagnetism and to explore high-performance Cr-doped AlN diluted magnetic semiconductors.

A short carrier lifetime semiconductor optical amplifier with n-type modulation-doped multiple quantum well structure

Semiconductor optical amplifiers (SOAs) with n-type modulation-doped multiple quantum well structure have been investigated. The shortened carrier lifetime is derived from the PL spectrum and electrical modulation frequency response measurement. The carrier lifetime in semiconductor optical amplifiers with any n-type-2-modulated doping multiple quantum well structure is less than 60% of that in the undoped partner. The shortest measured carrier lifetime of 236 ps in the MD-MQW SOA with sheet carrier density of 3 x 10(12) cm(-2) was only 38% of that in the undoped MQW SOA, which can increase the wavelength conversion efficiency via four wave mixing by a factor of about 7 and switching speed via XGM and XPM applications by a factor of 2.63.

Magnetic properties and rectifying behaviour of silicon doped with gadolinium

The magnetic/nonmagnetic p-n junction was prepared by implanting gadolinium into the n-type silicon with low-energy dual-ion-beam epitaxy technology. The magnetic layer GdxSi1-x shows excellent magnetic properties at room temperature. High magnetic moment 10mu(B) per Gd atom is observed, which is interpreted by RKKY mechanism. Magnetic/nonmagnetic p-n junctions show rectifying behaviour, but no magnetoresistance is observed.

Trace analysis of Zn-doped compound semiconductor material by resonant ionization mass spectrometry

An experimental setup and the procedure for the laser resonant ionization mass spectrometry (RIMS) have been described. Both an optical spectrum and a mass spectum have been shown. The detection limit that can be reached by using this procedure has been estimated.

Properties of self-assembled diluted magnetic semiconductor nanostructures

Este trabalho centra-se na investigação da possibilidade de se conseguir um semicondutor magnético diluído (SMD) baseado em ZnO. Foi levado a cabo um estudo detalhado das propriedades magnéticas e estruturais de estruturas de ZnO, nomeadamente nanofios (NFs), nanocristais (NCs) e filmes finos, dopadas com metais de transição (MTs). Foram usadas várias técnicas experimentais para caracterizar estas estruturas, designadamente difracção de raios-X, microscopia electrónica de varrimento, ressonância magnética, SQUID, e medidas de transporte. Foram incorporados substitucionalmente nos sítios do Zn iões de Mn2+ e Co2+ em ambos os NFs e NCs de ZnO. Revelou-se para ambos os iões dopantes, que a incorporação é heterogénea, uma vez que parte do sinal de ressonância paramagnética electrónica (RPE) vem de iões de MTs em ambientes distorcidos ou enriquecidos com MTs. A partir das intensidades relativas dos espectros de RPE e de modificações da superfície, demonstra-se ainda que os NCs exibem uma estrutura core-shell. Os resultados, evidenciam que, com o aumento da concentração de MTs, a dimensão dos NCs diminui e aumentam as distorções da rede. Finalmente, no caso dos NCs dopados com Mn, obteve-se o resultado singular de que a espessura da shell é da ordem de 0.3 nm e de que existe uma acumulação de Mn na mesma. Com o objectivo de esclarecer o papel dos portadores de carga na medição das interacções ferromagnéticas, foram co-dopados filmes de ZnO com Mn e Al ou com Co e Al. Os filmes dopados com Mn, revelaram-se simplesmente paramagnéticos, com os iões de Mn substitucionais nos sítios do Zn. Por outro lado, os filmes dopados com Co exibem ferromagnetismo fraco não intrínseco, provavelmente devido a decomposição spinodal. Foram ainda efectuados estudos comparativos com filmes de ligas de Zn1-xFexO. Como era de esperar, detectaram-se segundas fases de espinela e de óxido de ferro nestas ligas; todas as amostras exibiam curvas de histerese a 300 K. Estes resultados suportam a hipótese de que as segundas fases são responsáveis pelo comportamento magnético observado em muitos sistemas baseados em ZnO. Não se observou nenhuma evidência de ferromagnetismo mediado por portadores de carga. As experiências mostram que a análise de RPE permite demonstrar directamente se e onde estão incorporados os iões de MTs e evidenciam a importância dos efeitos de superfície para dimensões menores que ~15 nm, para as quais se formam estruturas core-shell. As investigações realizadas no âmbito desta tese demonstram que nenhuma das amostras de ZnO estudadas exibiram propriedades de um SMD intrínseco e que, no futuro, são necessários estudos teóricos e experimentais detalhados das interacções de troca entre os iões de MTs e os átomos do ZnO para determinar a origem das propriedades magnéticas observadas.