A comparison between AlN films grown by MOCVD using dimethylethylamine alane and trimethylaluminium as the aluminium precursors

Aluminium nitride (AlN) films grown with dimethylethylamine alane (DMEAA) are compared with the ones grown with trimethylaluminium (TMA). In the high-resolution x-ray diffraction Omega scans, the full width at half maximum (FWHM) of (0002) AlN films grown with DMEAA is about 0.70 deg, while the FWHM of (0002) AlN films grown with TMA is only 0.11 deg. The surface morphologies of the films are different, and the rms roughnesses of the surface are approximately identical. The rms roughness of AlN films grown with DMEAA is 47.4 nm, and grown with TMA is 69.4 nn. Although using DMEAA as the aluminium precursor cannot improve the AlN crystal quality, AlN growth can be reached at low temperature of 673 K. Thus, DMEAA is an alternative aluminium precursor to deposit AlN film at low growth temperatures.

Design and characteristics of quantum cascade laser-based CO detection system

National High Technology Research and Development Program of China 2007AA03Z112；Program of Ministry of Education of China 20060183030；Program of Jilin Provincial Science and Technology Department of China 20070709；Program of Bureau of Science and Technology of Changchun City 2007107

Synthesis and photoluminescence of ZnS : Cu nanoparticles

The room-temperature photoluminescence (PL) of copper doped zinc sulfide (ZnS:Cu) nanoparticles were investigated. These ZnS:Cu nanoparticles were synthesized by a facile wet chemical method, with the copper concentration varying from 0 to 2 mol%. By Gaussian fitting, the PL spectrum of the undoped ZnS nanoparticles was deconvoluted into two blue luminescence peaks (centered at 411 nm and 455 nm, respectively), which both can be attributed to the recombination of the defect sates of ZnS. But for the doped samples, a third peak at about 500 nm was also identified. This green luminescence originates from the recombination between the shallow donor level (sulfur vacancy) and the t(2) level of Cu2+. With the increase of the CU2+ concentration, the green emission peak is systematically shifted to longer wavelength. In addition, it was found that the overall photoluminescence intensity is decreased at the Cu2+ concentration of 2%. The concentration quenching of the luminescence may be caused by the formation of CuS compound. (c) 2005 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

InN nanoflowers grown by metal organic chemical vapor deposition

Hexangular indium nitride nanoflower pattern is observed from scanning electron microscopy and atomic force microscopy. The sample is grown on c-plane (0001) sapphire by metal organic chemical vapor deposition with intentional introduction of hydrogen gas. With the aid of hydrogen, a stable existence of metallic indium is achieved. This will induce the growth of InN nanoflowers via self-catalysis vapor-liquid-solid (VLS) process. It is found that the VLS process is modulated by the interface kinetics and thermodynamics among the sapphire substrate, indium, and InN, which leads to the special morphology of the authors' InN nanoflower pattern. (c) 2006 American Institute of Physics.

Near infrared photoluminescence from Yb,Al Co-implanted SiO2 films on silicon

Intense room-temperature near infrared (NIR) photoluminescence (980 nm and 1032 nm) is observed from Yb,Al co-implanted SiO2 films on silicon. The optical transitions occur between the F-2(5/2) and F-2(7/2) levels of Yb3+ in SiO2. The additional Al-implantation into SiO2 films can effectively improve the concentration quenching effect of Yb3+ in SiO2. Photoluminescence exitation sprectroscopy shows that the NIR photoluminescence is due to the non-radiative energy transfer from Al-implantation-induced non-bridging oxygen hole defects in SiO2 to Yb3+ in the Yb-related luminescent complexes. It is believed that the defect-mediated luminscence of rare-earth ions in SiO2 is very effective.

Crack control in GaN grown on silicon (111) using In doped low-temperature AlGaN interlayer by metalorganic chemical vapor deposition

The effects of In doped low-temperature (LT) AlGaN interlayer on the properties of GaN/Si(111) by MOCVD have been investigated. Using In doping LT-interlayer can decrease the stress sufficiently for avoiding crack formation in a thick (2.0 mu m) GaN layer. Significant improvement in the crystal and optical properties of GaN layer is also achieved. In doping is observed to reduce the stress in AlGaN interlayer measured by high-resolution X-ray diffraction (HRXRD). It can provide more compressive stress to counteract tensile stress and reduce crack density in subsequent GaN layer. Moreover, as a surfactant, indium is observed to cause an enhanced PL intensity and the narrowed linewidths of PL and XRD spectra for the LT-interlayer. Additionally, the crystal quality of GaN layer is found to be dependent on the growth parameters of underneath In-doped LT-AlGaN interlayer. The optimal parameters, such as TMIn flow rate, TMAl flow rates and thickness, are achieved to obtain nearly 2.0 mu m thick crack free GaN film with advanced optical and crystal properties. (c) 2005 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Structure and visible luminescence of ZnO nanoparticles

ZnO nanoparticles were synthesized in ethanolic solution using a sol-gel method. The structural and optical properties were investigated by X-ray diffraction, transmission electron microscopy, UV absorption, and photoluminescence. After annealing at 200 degrees C, the particle size is increased and the peak of defect luminescence in the visible region is changed. A yellow emission was observed in the as-prepared sample and a green emission in the annealed sample. The change of the visible emission is related to oxygen defects. Annealing in the absence of oxygen would increase oxygen vacancies. (c) 2006 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Synthesis and structures of morphology-controlled ZnO nano- and microcrystals

Zinc oxide flower-like bunches were directly synthesized on indium-doped tin oxide (ITO) glass substrates through a simple chemical bath deposition process. By adjusting precursor concentration, other morphologies ( spindles and rods) were also obtained. All of them are hexagonal and single crystalline in nature and grow along the [ 0001] crystallographic direction. The possible growth mechanisms for these nano- and microcrystals were proposed. It was revealed that both the inherent highly anisotropic structure of ZnO and the precursor concentration play crucial roles in determining final morphologies of the products. In addition, vibrational properties of ZnO crystals with different morphologies were investigated by Raman spectroscopy.

Aluminium doping induced enhancement of p-d coupling in ZnO

Valence-band type Auger lines in Al doped and undoped ZnO were comparatively studied with the corresponding core level x-ray photoelectron spectrography (XPS) spectra as references. Then the shift trend of energy levels in the valence band was that p and p-s-d states move upwards but e and p-d states downwards with increasing Al concentration. The decreased energy of the Zn 3d state is larger than the increased energy of the 0 2p state, indicating the lowering of total energy. This may indicate that Al doping could induce the enhancement of p-d coupling in ZnO, which originates from stronger Al-O hybridization. The shifts of these states and the mechanism were confirmed by valence band XPS spectra and 0 K-edge x-ray absorption spectrography (XAS) spectra. Finally, some previously reported phenomena are explained based on the Al doping induced enhancement of p-d coupling.

Temperature dependence of the formation of nano-scale indium clusters in InAlGaN alloys on Si(111) substrates

The temperature dependence of the formation of nano-scale indium clusters in InAlGaN quaternary alloys, which are grown by metalorganic chemical vapour deposition on GaN/Si(111) epilayers, is investigated. Firm evidence is provided to support the existence of phase separation, or nano-scale In-rich clusters, by the combined results of high-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM), high-resolution x-ray diffraction (HRXRD) and micro-Raman spectra. The results of HRXRD and Raman spectra indicate that the degree of phase separation is strong and the number of In clusters in the InAlGaN layers on silicon substrate is higher at lower growth temperatures than that at higher growth temperatures, which limits the In and Al incorporated into the InAlGaN quaternary alloys. The detailed mechanism of luminescence in this system is studied by low temperature photoluminescence (LT-PL). We conclude that the ultraviolet (UV) emission observed in the quaternary InAlGaN alloys arises from the matrix of a random alloy, and the second emission peak in the blue-green region results from the nano-scale indium clusters.

Synthesis and temperature-dependent near-band-edge emission of chain-like Mg-doped ZnO nanoparticles

Chain-like Mg-doped ZnO nanoparticles were prepared using a wet chemical method combined with subsequent heat treatment. The blueshifted near-band-edge emission of the doped ZnO sample with respect to the undoped one was investigated by temperature-dependent photoluminescence. Based on the energy shift of the free-exciton transition, a band gap enlargement of similar to 83 meV was estimated, which seems to result in the equivalent shift of the bound-exciton transition. At 50 K, the transformation from the donor-acceptor-pair to free-to-acceptor emissions was observed for both the undoped and doped samples. The results show that Mg doping leads to the decrease of the acceptor binding energy. (c) 2006 American Institute of Physics.

Comparison of valence band x-ray photoelectron spectrum between Al-N-codoped and N-doped ZnO films

The valence band structures of Al-N-codoped [ZnO:(Al, N)] and N-doped (ZnO:N) ZnO films were studied by normal and soft x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. The valence-band maximum of ZnO:(Al, N) shifts up to Fermi energy level by about 300 meV compared with that of ZnO:N. Such a shift can be attributed to the existence of a kind of Al-N in ZnO:(Al, N), as supported by core level XPS spectra and comparison of modified Auger parameters. Al-N increased the relative quantity of Zn-N in ZnO:(Al, N), while N-N decreased that of Zn-N in ZnO:N. (c) 2006 American Institute of Physics.

Structure and visible luminescence of ZnO nanoparticles

ZnO nanoparticles were synthesized in ethanolic solution using a sol-gel method. The structural and optical properties were investigated by X-ray diffraction, transmission electron microscopy, UV absorption, and photoluminescence. After annealing at 200 degrees C, the particle size is increased and the peak of defect luminescence in the visible region is changed. A yellow emission was observed in the as-prepared sample and a green emission in the annealed sample. The change of the visible emission is related to oxygen defects. Annealing in the absence of oxygen would increase oxygen vacancies. (c) 2006 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Magnetoresistance in a nominally undoped InGaN thin film

The magnetotransport properties of a nominally undoped InGaN thin film grown by metal-organic chemical vapor deposition were investigated. Resistivity was measured under a magnetic field up to 5 T over the temperature range of 3 to 298 K. The film exhibits a negative magnetoresistance at low temperatures. Its magnitude decreases with increasing temperature, and turns to be positive for temperatures above 100 K. The negative component was described by a model proposed by Khosla and Fischer for spin scattering of carriers in an impurity band. The positive part was attributed to the effect of Lorentz force on the carrier motion. Agreement between the model and the data is presented.