Enhanced photoresponse from the ordered microstructure of naphthalocyanine-carbon nanotube composite film

Naphthalocyanine-sensitized multi-walled carbon nanotube (NaPc-MWNT) composites have been synthesized through the pi-stacking between naphthalocyanine (NaPc) and carbon nanotubes. The resultant nanocomposites were characterized with a scanning electron microscope (SEM), a transmission electron microscope (TEM), and by UV - vis absorption and photocurrent spectra. The long-range ordering was observed in the NaPc - MWNT composites by using a TEM. The enhancement in the absorption intensity and the broadening of the absorption wavelength observed in the composite films, which were due to the attachment of NaPc on the MWNT surface, is discussed based on the measured UV - vis absorption spectra. Furthermore, the photoconductivity of the poly( 3-hexylthiophene)(PAT6) - NaPc - MWNT composite film was found to increase remarkably in the visible region and broaden towards the red regions. These new phenomena were ascribed to the larger donor/acceptor (D/A) interface and the formation of a biconsecutive D/A network structure, as discussed in consideration of the photoinduced charge transfer between PAT6 and NaPc - MWNT.

Metal film effect on performance of very-small-aperture lasers

Special characteristics of very-small-aperture lasers are observed, including threshold current change, red shift of the spectral position, and short lifetime at low drive current. Physical mechanisms that underlie these special characteristics are analyzed: we find that optical feedback caused by a metal film and heat accumulation inside the laser diode lead to the special characteristics of VSALs, such as threshold current change, red shift of the spectral position, and short lifetime at low drive current, etc. Theoretical simulation is in good agreement with the experimental results.

Magnetron sputtering growth of InAs0.3Sb0.7 films on (100) GaAs substrates: Strong effect of growth conditions on film structure

The growth of highly lattice-mismatched InAs0.3Sb0.7 films on (100) GaAs Substrates by magnetron Sputtering has been investigated and even epitaxial lnAs(0.3)Sb(0.7) films have been successfully obtained. A strong effect of the growth conditions on the film structure was observed, revealing that there was a growth mechanism transition from three-dimensional nucleation growth to epitaxial layer-by-layer growth mode when increasing the substrate temperature. A qualitative explanation for that transition was proposed and the critical conditions for the epitaxial layer-by-layer growth mode were also discussed. (c) 2005 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Study on Er3+ emission from the erbium-doped hydrogenated amorphous silicon suboxide film

The erbium-doped hydrogenated amorphous silicon suboxide films containing amorphous silicon clusters were prepared. The samples exhibited photoluminescence peaks at around 750 nm and 1.54 mum, which could be assigned to the electron-hole recombination in amorphous silicon clusters and the intra-4f transition in Er3+, respectively. Correlations between the intensities of these two photoluminescence peaks and oxidation and dehydrogenation of the films during annealing were studied. It was found that the oxidation is triggered by dehydrogenation of the films even at low annealing temperatures, which decisively changes the intensities of the two photoluminescence peaks. On the other hand, the increase of Er content in the erbium-doped hydrogenated amorphous silicon suboxide film will enhance Er3+ emission at 1.54 mum, while quench amorphous silicon cluster emission at 750 nm, such a competitive relationship, was also observed in the erbium-doped silicon nanocrystals embedded in SiO2 matrix. Moreover, we found that Er3+ emission is not sensitive to whether silicon clusters are crystalline or amorphous. The amorphous silicon clusters can be as sensitizer on Er3+ emission as that of silicon nanocrystals. (C) 2003 American Institute of Physics.

Determination of the absorption for incident light propagating parallel through the guest-host polymer film waveguide

Guest host polymer thin films of polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA) incorporated with (4'-nitrobenzene)-3-azo-9-ethylcarbazole (NAEC) were fabricated by spin coating and then poled by the method of corona-onset poling at elevated temperature. The absorption mechanism of the polymeric film, which is very important for the optical transmission losses and directly relates to the orientation of chromophore NAEC in polymer PMMA, was investigated in detail. From the UV-visible absorption spectra for NAEC/PMMA film before and after being poled, we determined the change of absorption coefficient kappa with the wavelength and approximately calculated the maximum absorption A(parallel tomax) as 3.46 for incident light propagating parallel through the film, i.e. the ordinary polarized light, which cannot be directly measured in the spectro photometer. (C) 2002 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.

Violet/blue photoluminescence from CeO2 thin film

CeO2 thin film was fabricated by dual ion beam epitaxial technique. The violet/blue PL at room temperature and lower temperature was observed from the CeO2 thin film. After the analysis of crystal structure and valence in the compound was carried out by the XRD and XPS technique, it was inferred that the origin of CeO2 PL was due to the electrons transition from Ce4f band to O2p band and the defect level to O2p band. And these defects levels were located in the range of 1 eV around Ce4f band.

Role of amorphous silicon domains on Er3+ emission in the Er-doped hydrogenated amorphous silicon suboxide film

An investigation on the correlation between amorphous Si (a-Si) domains and Er3+ emission in the Er-doped hydrogenated amorphous silicon suboxide (a-Si:O:H) film is presented. On one hand, a-Si domains provide sufficient carriers for Er3+ carrier-mediated excitation which has been proved to be the highest excitation path for Er3+ ion; on the other hand, hydrogen diffusion from a-Si domains to amorphous silicon oxide (a-SiOx) matrix during annealing has been found and this possibly decreases the number of nonradiative centres around Er3+ ions. This study provides a better understanding of the role of a-Si domains on Er3+ emission in a-Si:O:H films.

Green-light-emitting ZnSe nanowires fabricated via vapor phase growth

Stoichiometric ZnSe nanowires have been synthesized through a vapor phase reaction of zinc and selenium powder on the (100) silicon substrate coated with a gold film of 2 nm in thickness. The microstructures and the chemical compositions of the as-grown nanowires have been investigated by means of electron microscopy, the energy dispersive spectroscopy, and Raman spectroscopy. The results reveal that the as-grown materials consist of ZnSe nanowires with diameters ranging from 5 to 50 nm. Photoluminescence of the sample demonstrates a strong green emission from room temperature down to 10 K. This is attributed to the recombination of electrons from conduction band to the medium deep Au acceptors. (C) 2003 American Institute of Physics.

Luminescence study of (11(2)over-bar0) GaN film grown by metalorganic chemical-vapor deposition

Investigations on photoluminescence properties of (11 (2) over bar0) GaN grown on (1 (1) over bar 02) Al2O3 substrate by metalorganic chemical-vapor deposition are reported. Several emission lines not reported before are observed at low temperature. The sharp peak at 3.359 eV is attributed to the exciton bound to the neutral acceptor. Another peak at 3.310 eV represents a free-to-bound, probably a free electron-to-acceptor, transition. The 3.241 and 3.170 eV lines are interpreted as phonon replica lines of the 3.310 eV line. The phonon energy is 70 meV, consistent with the energy of transverse optical E-1 phonon. The optical properties of the lines are analyzed. (C) 2003 American Institute of Physics.

Study on optical band gap of boron-doped nc-Si : H film

The optical band gap (E-g) of the boron (B)-doped hydrogenated nano-crystalline silicon (nc-Si:H) films fabricated using plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition (PECVD) was investigated in this work. The transmittance of the films were measured by spectrophotometric and the E-g was evaluated utilizing three different relations for comparison, namely: alphahnu=C(hnu-E-g)(3), alphahnu=B-0(hnu-E-g)(2), alphahnu=C-0(hnu-E-g)(2). Result showed that E-g decreases with the increasing of Boron doping ratio, hydrogen concentration, and substrate's temperature (T-s), respectively. E-g raises up with rf power density (P-d) from 0.45W.cm(-2) to 0.60w.cm(-2) and then drops to the end. These can be explained for E-g decreases with disorder in the films.

Optical properties of NAEC-PMMA nonlinear polymeric thin film

Novel guest nonlinear optical (NLO) chromophore molecules (4-nitrobenzene)-3-azo-9-ethylcarbazole (NAEC) were doped in poly (methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) host with a concentration of approximately 15% by weight. For a useful macroscopic electro-optic (EO) effect, these NLO molecules NAEC were arranged in a noncentrosymmetric structure in the host polymer by corona-onset poling at elevated temperature (COPET). For applying NAEC-PMMA polymer in optical devices such as EO switch, its optical properties have been investigated. The UV/Visible absorption spectra for the unpoled and poled polymer film were determined. The refractive index of the film was also determined from measurements of the coupling angles with the reflective intensity at 632.8 nm wavelength. Using the simple reflection technique, the EO coefficient 33 value was measured as 60 pm/V at 632.8 nm wavelength. The second-order nonlinear coefficient d(33) was characterized by the second-harmonic-generation (SHG) experimental setup and the calculated d(33) value reached 18.4 pm/V at 1064 nm wavelength. The relation between the second-order nonlinear coefficients d(33) and d(13) for the poled polymer film was also discussed in detail and the ratio d(33)/d(13) value was obtained as 3.3. (C) 2002 Kluwer Academic Publishers.

Strain relaxation of InP film directly grown on GaAs patterned compliant substrate

In order to overcome the large lattice mismatch in the heteroepitaxy, a new patterned compliant substrate method has been introduced, which has overcome the disadvantages of previously published methods. InP film of thickness 800 nm was directly grown on this substrate. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) has shown that good surface morphology has been obtained. In addition, Photoluminescence (PL) and double crystal X-ray diffraction (DCXRD) study have shown that the residual strain has been reduced, and that the structure quality has been improved. (C) 2002 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.

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.

Influence of ambient atmosphere on the plasmon resonance absorption of Ag/SiOx(0 <= x <= 2) nanocomposite film

Nanocomposite films consisting of nanosized Ag particles embedded in partially oxidized amorphous Si-containing matrices were prepared by radio frequency magnetron co-sputtering deposition. We studied the influence of ambient atmosphere during the preparation and heat-treatment of Ag/SiOx (0 less than or equal to x less than or equal to 2) nanocompositefilm on its optical absorption properties. We found that the plasmon resonance absorption peak shifts to shorter wavelengths with the increasing oxygen content in the SiOx matrix. The analysis indicates that the potential barrier between Ag nanoparticles and SiOx matrix increases with the increasing x value, which will induce the surface resonance state to shift to higher energy. The electrons in the vicinity of the Fermi level of Ag nanoparticles must absorb more energy to be transferred to the surface resonance state with the increasing x value. It was also found that the plasmon resonance absorption peaks of the samples annealed in different ambient atmospheres are located at about the same position. This is because the oxidation surface layer is dense enough to prevent the oxygen from penetrating into the sample to oxidize the silicon in the inner layer.

Anomalous temperature dependence of photoluminescence from a-C : H film deposited by energetic hydrocarbon ion beam

The temperature dependence of photoluminescence (PL) from a-C:H film deposited by CH3+ ion beam has been performed and an anomalous behavior has been reported. A transition temperature at which the PL intensity, peak position and full width at the half maximum change sharply was observed. It is proposed that different structure units. at least three, are responsible for such behavior. Above the transition point. increasing temperature will lead to the dominance of non-radiative recombination process, which quenches the PL overall and preferentially the red part, Possible emission mechanisms have been discussed. (C) 2002 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.