Study on pulsed laser ablation and deposition of ZnO thin films by L-MBE

ZnO, as a wide-band gap semiconductor, has recently become a new research focus in the field of ultraviolet optoelectronic semiconductors. Laser molecular beam epitaxy (L-MBE) is quite useful for the unit cell layer-by-layer epitaxial growth of zinc oxide thin films from the sintered ceramic target. The ZnO ceramic target with high purity was ablated by KrF laser pulses in an ultra high vacuum to deposit ZnO thin film during the process of L-MBE. It is found that the deposition rate of ZnO thin film by L-MBE is much lower than that by conventional pulsed laser deposition (PLD). Based on the experimental phenomena in the ZnO thin film growth process and the thermal-controlling mechanism of the nanosecond (ns) pulsed laser ablation of ZnO ceramic target, the suggested effective ablating time during the pulse duration can explain the very low deposition rate of the ZnO film by L-MBE. The unique dynamic mechanism for growing ZnO thin film is analyzed. Both the high energy of the deposition species and the low growth rate of the film are really beneficial for the L-MBE growth of the ZnO thin film with high crystallinity at low temperature.

Franz-Keldysh effect and dynamical Franz-Keldysh effect of cylindrical quantum wires

We investigate the interband optical absorption spectra near the band edge of a cylindrical semiconductor quantum wire in the presence of a static electric field and a terahertz electric field polarized along the axis. Optical absorption spectra are nonperturbatively calculated by solving the low-density semiconductor Bloch equations in real space and real time. The influence of the Franz-Keldysh (FK) effect and dynamical FK effect on the absorption spectrum is investigated. To highlight the physics behind the FK effect and dynamical FK effect, the spatiotemporal dynamics of the polarization wave packet are also presented. Under a reasonable static electric field, substantial and tunable absorption oscillations appear above the band gap. A terahertz field, however, will cause the Autler-Townes splitting of the main exciton peak and the emergence of multiphoton replicas. The presented results suggest that semiconductor quantum wires have potential applications in electro-optical devices.

First principles study of N-N split interstitial in GaN nanowires

Atomic and electronic properties of N-N split interstitial in GaN nanowires have been investigated using first principles calculations. The formation energy calculations show that the N-N interstitial favors substituting an N atom at the surface of the nanowires. The interstitial induces localized states in the band gap of GaN nanowires.

Investigation on the strain relaxation of InGaN layer and its effects on the InGaN structural and optical properties

The evolution of strain and structural properties of thick epitaxial InGaN layers grown on GaN with different thicknesses are investigated. It is found that, with increase in InGaN thickness, plastic relaxation via misfit dislocation generation becomes a more important strain relaxation mechanism. Accompanied with the relaxation of compressive strain, the In composition of InGaN layer increases and induces an apparent red-shift of the cathodoluminescence peak of the InGaN layer. On the other hand, the plastic relaxation process results in a high defect density, which degrades the structural and optical properties of InGaN layers. A transition layer region with both strain and In composition gradients is found to exist in the 450-nm-thick InGaN layer.

Abnormal photoabsorption in high resistance GaN epilayer

Unintentionally doped GaN epilayers are grown by the metalorganic chemical vapor deposition (MOCVD). Photovoltaic (PV) spectroscopy shows that there appears an abnormal photoabsorption in some undoped GaN films with high resistance. The peak energy of the absorption spectrum is smaller than the intrinsic energy band gap of GaN. This phenomenon may be related to exciton absorption. Then metal-semiconductor-metal (MSM) Schottky photodetectors are fabricated on these high resistance epilayers. The photo spectrum responses are different when the light individually irradiates each of the two electrodes with the photodetector which are differently biased. When the excitation light irradiates around the reverse biased Schottky junction, the responsivity is almost one order of magnitude larger than that around the forward biased junction. Furthermore, when the excitation light irradiates the reverse biased Schottky junction, the peak energy of the spectrum has a prominent red-shift compared with the peak energy of the spectrum measured with the excitation light irradiating the forward biased Schottky junction. The shift value is about 28 meV, and it is found to be insensitive to temperature. According to the analyses of the distribution of the electric field within the MSM device and the different dependences of the response on the electric field intensity between the free carriers and excitons, a reliable explanation for the different response among various areas is proposed.

ELECTRON-STATES OF A STACKING-FAULT RIBBON IN SILICON

The electronic structure of a bounded intrinsic stacking fault in silicon is calculated. The method used is an LCAO-scheme (Linear Combinations of Atomic Orbitals) taking ten atomic orbitals of s-, p-, and d-type into account. The levels in the band gap are extracted using Lanczos' algorithm and a continued fraction representation of the local density of states. We find occupied states located up to 0.3 eV above the valence band maximum (E(v)). This significantly differs from the result obtained for the ideal infinite fault for which the interface state is located at E(v)+ 0.1 eV.

INFLUENCE OF THE 90-DEGREES PARTIAL DISLOCATION CORE STRUCTURE IN SILICON ON ENERGY-LEVELS

An LCAO-scheme taking into account 10 atomic orbitals (s-, p-, and d-type) is used to calculate the electronic structure of the reconstructed 90-degrees partial dislocation in Si. Two different valence force fields producing deviating results are used for modelling the core structure. Geometrical data published by another group is also used. The aim is to explore the influence of geometry on energy levels. We find that the band structure depends sensitively on bond angles. Using data determined by the Tersoff potential we obtain two bands of which the upper one penetrates deeply into the indirect band gap while the geometry minimizing the simple Keating potential leaves the gap completely clear of dislocation states. Thus, from a theoretical point of view, the chief difficulty in calculating the electronic structure of the reconstructed 90-degrees partial is the lack of accurate structural information.

STUDY OF RAMAN-SPECTRA OF ZNSE-ZNTE STRAINED LAYER SUPERLATTICES

The Raman spectra of the II-VI wide band-gap compound ZnSe-ZnTe semiconductor strained-layer superlattices have been studied. The relations between the Raman shifts of the longitudinal optical phonon modes and the superlattice-structure parameters have been determined. When the layer thickness exceeds 40 angstrom, the change of the LO phonon-mode frequency shifts with the layer thickness is minimal, whereas when the layer thickness is smaller than 40 angstrom, great shifts have been observed. We estimate that the critical thickness of ZnSe-ZnTe SLS is about 40 angstrom. We have also found that the shifts induced by strain are much larger than the red shifts due to confinement.

OXYGEN IN INXGA1-XASYP1-Y GROWN ON GAAS

The measurement of DLTS on the alloy InxGa1-xAsyP1-y (0 less-than-or-equal-to y less-than-or-equal-to 0.3; 0.5 greater-than-or-equal-to x greater-than-or-equal-to 0.35) shows a new signal, labeled as E2, with an activation energy of E(c) - 0.61 eV and the SIMS signals show a large number of oxygen. To clarify is further, the energy of the deep level E2 is quantitatively calculated by using Vogl's tight-binding theory and Hjalmarson's deep level theory. As a result, the deep A1-symmetric level associated with an oxygen on the anion site of InxGa1-xAsyP1-y locates deeply in the band gap. Thus, the level E2 is considered to be induced by the oxygen impurity.

ENERGY-LEVEL CALCULATIONS OF THE RECONSTRUCTED 90-DEGREES PARTIAL DISLOCATION IN SILICON

An LCAO scheme taking into account 10 atomic orbitals (s-, p-, and d-type) applied to a supercell containing 256 atoms is used to calculate the bound states of the reconstructed 90-degrees partial dislocation in Si. The results differ significantly from our earlier calculations on the unreconstructed 90-degrees partial using the same method. We find two bands separate from each other in the entire Brillouin zone and the upper band penetrates deep into the indirect band gap which is in contradiction with the general opinion that core reconstruction clears the band gap of dislocation states.

PHOTOLUMINESCENCE AND SURFACE PHOTOVOLTAIC SPECTRA OF STRAINED INP ON GAAS

A high energy shift of the band-band recombination has been observed in the photoluminescence (PL) spectra of the strained InP epilayer on GaAs by metalorganic chemical vapor deposit. The strain determined by PL peak is in good agreement with calculated thermal strain. The surface photovoltalic spectra gives the information about energy gap, lattice mismatching, and composition of heteroepilayers, diffusion length, surface, and interface recombination velocity of minority carriers of heteroepitaxy layers.

PHOTOLUMINESCENCE SPECTRA OF STRAINED HETEROSTRUCTURE OF INP ON GAAS SUBSTRATE GROWN BY METAL-ORGANIC CHEMICAL VAPOR-DEPOSITION

A high-energy shift of the band-band recombination has been observed in photoluminescence spectra of the strained InP layer grown on GaAs substrate. The InP layer is under biaxial compressive strain at temperatures below the growth temperature, because the thermal expansion coefficient of InP is smaller than that of GaAs. The strain value determined by the energy shift of the band-edge peak is in good agreement with the calculated thermal strain. A band to carbon acceptor recombination is also identified.

Absorption and luminescence of the surface states in ZnS nanoparticles

A broad absorption band around 500 nm is observed in ZnS nanoparticles. The absorption becomes more intensive and shifts to the blue as the particle size is decreased. The absorption energy is lower than the band gap of the particles and is considered to be caused by the surface states. This assignment is supported by the results of the fluorescence and of the thermoluminescence of the surface states. Both the absorption and the fluorescence reveal that the surface states are size dependent. The glow peak of the semiconductor particles is not varied as much upon decreasing size, indicating the trap depth of the surface states is not sensitive to the particle size. Considering these results, a new model on the size dependence of the surface states is proposed, which may explain our observations reasonably. (C) 1997 American Institute of Physics.

Structure and properties of microporous titanosilicate determined by first-principles calculations

The structure of EST-10, a member of synthetic microporous titanosilicates, was recently determined by an ingenious combination of experimental and simulational techniques. However, the locations of the alkali atoms in the framework remain elusive and its electronic structure is totally unknown. Based on first-principles local density calculations, the possible locations of the alkali atoms are identified and its electronic structure and bonding fully elucidated. ETS-10 is a semiconductor with a direct band gap of 2.33 eV. The Na atoms are likely to locate inside the seven-member ring pore adjacent to the one-dimensional Ti-O-Ti-O- chain.

Photoluminescence investigation of charge build-up process in the emitter of a double-barrier resonant tunneling structure

Charge build-up process in the emitter of a double-barrier resonant tunneling structure is studied by using photoluminescence spectroscopy. Clear evidence is obtained that the charge accumulation in the emitter keeps almost constant with bias voltages in the resonant regime, while it increases remarkably with bias voltages beyond resonant regime. The optical results are in good agreement with the electrical measurement. It is demonstrated that the band gap renormalization plays a certain rob in the experiment.