Stability and photoemission characteristics for GaAs photocathodes in a demountable vacuum system

The stability and photoemission characteristics for reflection-mode GaAs photocathodes in a demountable vacuum system have been investigated by using spectral response and x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy measurements at room temperature. We find that the shape of the spectral response curve for the cathode changes with time in the vacuum system, but after applying fresh cesium to the degraded cathode, the spectral response can almost be restored. The change and restoration of curve shape are mainly attributed to the evolution of the surface barrier. We illustrate the evolution and analyze the influence of the barrier on the spectral response of the cathode. (C) 2008 American Institute of Physics.

Stability of GaAs photocathodes under different intensities of illumination

The photocurrent curves of reflection-mode GaAs photocathodes as a function of time, when were illuminated by white light with an intensity of 0, 33 and 100 Ix, respectively, were measured using a multi-information measurement system. The calculated lifetimes of cathodes are 320, 160 and 75 min, respectively, showing that the stability of cathodes degraded with the increase of light intensity. The lifetime of cathode, illuminated by white light with an intensity of 100 Ix, while no photocurrent was being drawn during the illumination, was 100 min. Through comparison, we found that the influence of illumination on cathodes stability is greater than that of photocurrent. The quantum-yield curves of cathodes as a functions of time, when illuminated by white light with an intensity of 33 Ix, were measured also. The measured results show that the shape of the yield curves changes with increasing illumination time due to the faster quantum-yield degradation rate of low energy photons. Based on the revised quantum-efficiency equations for the reflection-mode cathodes, the variation of yield curves are analyzed to be due to the intervalley diffusion of photoelectrons and the evolution of the surface potential barrier profile of the photocathodes during degradation process.

The effect of Be-doping structure in negative electron affinity GaAs photocathodes on integrated photosensitivity

A new structure of GaAs photocathode was introduced. The Be-doping concentration is variable in the new structure compared with the constant concentration of Be in the normal photocathode. Negative electron affinity GaAs photocathodes were fabricated by alternate input of Cs and O. The spectral response results measured by the on-line spectral response measurement system show that the integrated photosensitivity of the photocathodes with the new structure is enhanced by at least 50% as compared to those with the monolayer structure. Accordingly, two main factors leading to the enhanced photosensitivity of the photocathodes were discussed. (c) 2005 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

High-Integrated-Photosensitivity Negative-Electron-Affinity GaAs Photocathodes with Multilayer Be-Doping Structures

The effect of changing Be doping concentration in GaAs layer on the integrated photosensitivity for nega- tive-electron-affinity GaAs photocathodes is investigated. Two GaAs samples with the monolayer structure and the muhilayer structure are grown by molecular beam epitaxy. The former has a constant Be concentration of 1 × 10^19 cm^-3, while the latter includes four layers with Be doping concentrations of 1 × 10^19, 7 × 10^18, 4 × 10^18, and 1 × 10^18 cm^-3 from the bottom to the surface. Negative-electron-affinity GaAs photocathodes are fabricated by exciting the sample surfaces with alternating input of Cs and O in the high vacuum system. The spectral response results measured by the on-line spectral response measurement system show that the integrated photosensitivity of the photocathode with the muhilayer structure enhanced by at least 50% as compared to that of the monolayer structure. This attributes to the improvement in the crystal quality and the increase in the surface escape probability. Different stress situations are observed on GaAs samples with monolayer structure and muhilayer structure, respectively.

Annealing study of carrier concentration in gradient-doped GaAs/GaAlAs epilayers grown by molecular beam epitaxy

We measured the carrier concentration distribution of gradient-doped GaAs/GqAlAs epilayers grown by molecular beam epitaxy before and after annealing at 600 degrees C, using electrochemical capacitance voltage profiling, to investigate the internal variation of transmission-mode GaAs photocathodes arising from the annealing process. The results show that the carrier concentration increased after annealing. As a result, the total band-bending energy in the gradient-doped GaAs emission layer increased by 25.24% after annealing, which improves the pbotoexcited electron movement toward the surface. On the other hand, the annealing process resulted in a worse carrier concentration discrepancy between the GaAs and the GaAlAs, which causes a lower back interface potential barrier, decreasing the amount of high-energy photoelectrons. (C) 2009 Optical Society of America

Effect of Surface Potential Barrier on the Electron Energy Distribution of NEA Photocathodes

By calculating the energy distribution of electrons reaching the photocathode surface and solving the Schrodinger equation that describes the behavior of an electron tunneling through the surface potential barrier,we obtain an equation to calculate the emitted electron energy distribution of transmission-mode NEA GaAs photocathodes. Accord- ing to the equation,we study the effect of cathode surface potential barrier on the electron energy distribution and find a significant effect of the barrier-Ⅰ thickness or end height,especially the thickness,on the quantum efficiency of the cath- ode. Barrier Ⅱ has an effect on the electron energy spread, and an increase in the vacuum level will lead to a narrower electron energy spread while sacrificing a certain amount of cathode quantum efficiency. The equation is also used to fit the measured electron energy distribution curve of the transmission-mode cathode and the parameters of the surface barri- er are obtained from the fitting. The theoretical curve is in good agreement with the experimental curve.

Untersuchung von NEA-Photokathoden mittels zeitlich hochauflösender Vermessung von Intensitäts- und Spinpolarisationsverteilungen

Gegenstand dieser Arbeit ist die Untersuchung von Photokathoden mit negativer Elektronenaffinität (NEA) mittels zeitlich hochauflösender Vermessung der emittierten Ladungs- und Spinpolarisationsverteilungen nach Anregung mit einem ultrakurzen Laserpuls. Untersucht wurden uniaxial deformierte GaAsP-Photokathoden mit dünnen emittierenden Schichten (≤150nm), sowie undeformierte GaAs-Photokathoden mit unterschiedlichen Schichtdicken. Die Untersuchungen wurden an einer 100keV-Elektronenquelle durchgeführt, wie sie am Mainzer Mikrotron (MAMI) zur Erzeugung eines Spinpolarisierten Elektronenstrahls verwendet wird. Mit der Apparatur konnte eine Zeitauflösung von 2,5ps erreicht werden. Es zeigte sich, dass die tatsächliche Antwortzeit der Photokathoden die erreichte Zeitauflösung noch unterschreitet. Eine Depolarisation in den kurzen, wegen der Zeitauflösung auf 2,5ps begrenzten, Elektronenpulsen konnte aber nachgewiesen werden. Weiterhin wurde gezeigt, dass der Polarisationsverlust der emittierten Elektronen bei dünnen Schichten im Wesentlichen auf eine energiekorrelierte Depolarisation beim Durchqueren der Bandbiegungszone zurückzuführen ist. Als weiteres Resultat wird, für die GaAsP-Photokathoden mit einer Schichtdicke von 150nm, eine Obergrenze für die mittlere Emissionszeit von ≤1,25ps angegeben. Daraus ergibt sich nach dem hier verwendeten Diffusionsmodell eine Untergrenze für die Oberflächenrekombinationsgeschwindigkeit an der Bandbiegungszone von S≥1,2·10^7 cm/s.

Electroluminescence from modulation-doped pseudomorphic AlGaAs/InGaAs/GaAs quantum wells

Low-temperature electroluminescence (EL) is observed in n-type modulation-doped AlGaAs/InGaAs/GaAs quantum well samples by applying a positive voltage between the semitransparent Au gate and alloyed Au–Ge Ohmic contacts made on the top surface of the samples. We attribute impact ionization in the InGaAs QW to the observed EL from the samples. A redshift in the EL spectra is observed with increasing gate bias. The observed redshift in the EL spectra is attributed to the band gap renormalization due to many-body effects and quantum-confined Stark effect.

Influence of magnetic clusters on electrical and magnetic properties of In1-xMnxSb/GaAs dilute magnetic semiconductor grown by liquid phase epitaxy

In1-xMnxSb films have been grown with different Mn doping concentrations (x = 0.0085, 0.018, 0.029 and 0.04) beyond the equilibrium 14 solubility limit by liquid phase epitaxy. We have studied temperature dependent resistivity, the Hall effect, magnetoresistance and magnetization for all compositions. Saturation in magnetization observed even at room temperature suggests the existence of ferromagnetic clusters in the film which has been verified by scanning electron microscopy studies. The anomalous Hall coefficient is found to be negative. Remnant field present on the surface of the clusters seems to affect the anomalous Hall effect at very low fields (below 350 Gauss). In the zero field resistivity, a variable-range hopping conduction mechanism dominates below 3.5 K for all samples above which activated behavior is predominant. The temperature dependence of the magnetization measurement shows a magnetic ordering below 10 K which is consistent with electrical measurements. (c) 2007 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Quasiequilibrium optical nonlinearities from spin-polarized carriers in GaAs

Semiconductor Bloch equations, which microscopically describe the dynamics of a Coulomb interacting, spin-unpolarized electron-hole plasma, can be solved in two limits: the coherent and the quasiequilibrium regimes. These equations have been recently extended to include the spin degree of freedom and used to explain spin dynamics in the coherent regime. In the quasiequilibrium limit, one solves the Bethe-Salpeter equation in a two-band model to describe how optical absorption is affected by Coulomb interactions within a spin unpolarized plasma of arbitrary density. In this work, we modified the solution of the Bethe-Salpeter equation to include spin polarization and light holes in a three-band model, which allowed us to account for spin-polarized versions of many-body effects in absorption. The calculated absorption reproduced the spin-dependent, density-dependent, and spectral trends observed in bulk GaAs at room temperature, in a recent pump-probe experiment with circularly polarized light. Hence, our results may be useful in the microscopic modeling of density-dependent optical nonlinearities due to spin-polarized carriers in semiconductors.

Simplified theory of optical nonlinearities in spin-polarized bulk GaAs

Apart from their intrinsic physical interest, spin-polarized many-body effects are expected to be important to the working of spintronic devices. A vast literature exists on the effects of a spin-unpolarized electron-hole plasma on the optical properties of a semiconductor. Here, we include the spin degree of freedom to model optical absorption of circularly polarized light by spin-polarized bulk GaAs. Our model is easy to implement and does not require elaborate numerics, since it is based on the closed-form analytical pair-equation formula that is valid in 3d. The efficacy of our approach is demonstrated by a comparison with recent experimental data.

Anomalous temperature dependence of Fermi-edge singularity in modulation-doped AlGaAs/InGaAs/GaAs hetero-structures

The temperature and power dependence of Fermi-edge singularity (FES) in high-density two-dimensional electron gas, specific to pseudomorphic AlxGa1-xAs/InGa1-yAs/GaAs heterostructures is studied by photoluminescence (PL). In all these structures, there are two prominent transitions E-11 and E-21 considered to be the result of electron-hole recombination from first and second electron sub-bands with that of first heavy-hole sub-band. FES is observed approximately 5-10 meV below the E-21 transition. At 4.2 K, FES appears as a lower energy shoulder to the E-21 transition. The PL intensity of all the three transitions E-11, FES and E-21 grows linearly with excitation power. However, we observe anomalous behavior of FES with temperature. While PL intensity of E-11 and E-21 decrease with increasing temperature, FES transition becomes stronger initially and then quenches-off slowly (till 40K). Though it appears as a distinct peak at about 20 K, its maximum is around 7 - 13 K.

Simplified theory of optical nonlinearities in spin-polarized bulk GaAs

Apart from their intrinsic physical interest, spin-polarized many-body effects are expected to be important to the working of spintronic devices. A vast literature exists on the effects of a spin-unpolarized electron-hole plasma on the optical properties of a semiconductor. Here, we include the spin degree of freedom to model optical absorption of circularly polarized light by spin-polarized bulk GaAs. Our model is easy to implement and does not require elaborate numerics, since it is based on the closed-form analytical pair-equation formula that is valid in 3d. The efficacy of our approach is demonstrated by a comparison with recent experimental data.

Optimum atomic spacing for AlAs etching in GaAs epitaxial lift-off technology

With respect to GaAs epitaxial lift-off technology, we report here the optimum atomic spacing (5-10 nm) needed to etch off the AlAs release layer that is sandwiched between two GaAs epitaxial layers. The AlAs etching rate in hydrofluoric acid based solutions was monitored as a function of release layer thickness. We found a sudden quenching in the etching rate, approximately 20 times that of the peak value, at lower dimensions (similar to2.5 nm) of the AlAs epitaxial layer. Since this cannot be explained on the basis of a previous theory (inverse square root of release layer thickness), we propose a diffusion-limited mechanism to explain this reaction process. With the diffusion constant being a mean-free-path-dependent parameter, a relation between the mean free path and the width of the channel is considered. This relation is in reasonable agreement with the experimental results and gives a good physical insight to the reaction kinetics.

Two-stage photoquenching in semi-insulating GaAs:EL2

The photoquenching of EL2 in semi‐insulating gallium arsenide is seen to be a complex process, where at low temperatures the initial slow quenching is followed by a switch to fast quenching. A possible explanation involving lattice strain mediated cooperative structural relaxation arising out of transition to the metastable state is proposed.