Semiconducting Sn(3)O(4) nanobelts: Growth and electronic structure

The study of structures based on nonstoichiometric SnO(2-x) compounds, besides experimentally observed, is a challenging task taking into account their instabilities. In this paper, we report on single crystal Sn(3)O(4) nanobelts, which were successfully grown by a carbothermal evaporation process of SnO(2) powder in association with the well known vapor-solid mechanism. By combining the structural data and transport properties, the samples were investigated. The results showed a triclinic semiconductor structure with a fundamental gap of 2.9 eV. The semiconductor behavior was confirmed by the electron transport data, which pointed to the variable range hopping process as the main conduction mechanism, thus giving consistent support to the mechanisms underlying the observed semiconducting character.

Electronic and magnetic properties of LaV1-xO3 /

A series of LaVi^xOs compounds (x=0.00, 0.02, 0.04, 0.06, 0.08) were prepeired using the standard solid reaction. The samples were chareicterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), fourprobe resistivity, smd magnetic susceptibility studies. Powder X-ray diffraction analysis indicated the formation of a single-phase sample with a orthorhombic structure which was first found in GdFeOs (space group Pnma) . The Unit Cell program was used for calculating lattice peirameters from XFID data. The XRD spectnim could be indexed on a cubic lattice with Og = 2ap ~ (7.8578 to 7.9414 A). The lattice parameter was observed to increase as the Vanadium vacancy increased. Four-probe resistivity measurements exhibited semiconductor behavior for all sajnples from room temperature down to 19K. The resistivity of samples increased with increasing Vanadium vacancy. The resistivity of samples demonstrated activated conduction with an activation energy of approximately 0.2 eV. The activation energy increased with increasing lattice parameter. Field cool magnetic susceptibility measurements were performed with field of 500 G from 300 K to 5 K. These measurements indicated the presence of an antiferromagnetic transition at about 140 K. The data was fitted above Neel temperature to Ciurie-Weiss law yielding a negative parameignetic Curie temperature. This implies that antiferromagnetic ordering is present.

Electrical characterization of SnO2 : Sb ultrathin films obtained by controlled thickness deposition

A representative study is reported on the electrical properties of SnO2: Sb. ultrathin films (thickness of 40-70 nm) produced by a deposition method based on aqueous colloidal suspensions of 3-5 nm crystalline oxides. The results revealed the films' electrical behavior in a range of 10-300 K, showing a strong dependence on dopant incorporation, with minimum resistivity values in 10 mol % of Sb content. All the samples displayed semiconductor behavior, but the transport mechanism showed a strong dependence on thickness, making it difficult to fit it to well-known models. In thicker films, the mechanism proved to be an intermediary system, with thermally activated and hopping features. Electron hopping was estimated in the range of 0.4-1.9 nm, i.e., in the same order as the particle size. (c) 2007 American Institute of Physics.

Deposition and photo-induced electrical resistivity of dip-coated NiO thin films from a precipitation process

Thin films of the semiconductor NiO are deposited using a straightforward combination of simple and versatile techniques: the co-precipitation in aqueous media along with the dip- coating process. The obtained material is characterized by gravimetric/differential thermal analysis (TG-DTA) and X-ray diffraction technique. TG curve shows 30 % of total mass loss, whereas DTA indicates the formation of the NiO phase about 578 K (305 C). X-ray diffraction (XRD) data confirms the FCC crystalline phase of NiO, whose crystallinity increases with thermal annealing temperature. UV-Vis optical absorption measurements are carried out for films deposited on quartz substrate in order to avoid the masking of bandgap evaluation by substrate spectra overlapping. The evaluated bandgap is about 3.0 eV. Current-voltage (I-V) curves measured for different temperatures as well as the temperature-dependent resistivity data show typical semiconductor behavior with the resistivity increasing with the decreasing of temperature. The Arrhenius plot reveals a level 233 meV above the conduction band top, which was attributed to Ni2+ vacancy level, responsible for the p-type electrical nature of NiO, even in undoped samples. Light irradiation on the films leads to a remarkable behavior, because above bandgap light induced a resistivity increase, despite the electron-hole generation. This performance was associated with excitation of the Ni 2+ vacancy level, due to the proximity between energy levels. © 2012 Springer Science+Business Media New York.

Caracterização de nanoestruturas de óxido de estanho como sensores de gás

Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES)

Simultaneous observation of the magnetic and electric behavior in a correlated system near a metal-semiconductor transition: ESR in pellets of conducting polymers

Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP)

Unipolar transport and shot noise in metal-semiconductor-metal structures

We carry out a self-consistent analytical theory of unipolar current and noise properties of metal-semiconductor-metal structures made of highly resistive semiconductors in the presence of an applied bias of arbitrary strength. By including the effects of the diffusion current we succeed in studying the whole range of carrier injection conditions going from low level injection, where the structure behaves as a linear resistor, to high level injection, where the structure behaves as a space charge limited diode. We show that these structures display shot noise at the highest voltages. Remarkably the crossover from Nyquist noise to shot noise exhibits a complicated behavior with increasing current where an initial square root dependence (double thermal noise) is followed by a cubic power law.

Conduction mechanisms and charge storage in Si-nanocrystals metal-oxide-semiconductor memory devices studied with conducting atomic force microscopy

In this work, we demonstrate that conductive atomic force microscopy (C-AFM) is a very powerful tool to investigate, at the nanoscale, metal-oxide-semiconductor structures with silicon nanocrystals (Si-nc) embedded in the gate oxide as memory devices. The high lateral resolution of this technique allows us to study extremely small areas ( ~ 300nm2) and, therefore, the electrical properties of a reduced number of Si-nc. C-AFM experiments have demonstrated that Si-nc enhance the gate oxide electrical conduction due to trap-assisted tunneling. On the other hand, Si-nc can act as trapping centers. The amount of charge stored in Si-nc has been estimated through the change induced in the barrier height measured from the I-V characteristics. The results show that only ~ 20% of the Si-nc are charged, demonstrating that the electrical behavior at the nanoscale is consistent with the macroscopic characterization.

Multifractal dimension of chaotic attractors in a driven semiconductor superlattice

The multifractal dimension of chaotic attractors has been studied in a weakly coupled superlattice driven by an incommensurate sinusoidal voltage as a function of the driving voltage amplitude. The derived multifractal dimension for the observed bifurcation sequence shows different characteristics for chaotic, quasiperiodic, and frequency-locked attractors. In the chaotic regime, strange attractors are observed. Even in the quasiperiodic regime, attractors with a certain degree of strangeness may exist. From the observed multifractal dimensions, the deterministic nature of the chaotic oscillations is clearly identified.

Suppression of chaos through reverse period doubling in coupled directly modulated semiconductor lasers

The effect of coupling on two high frequency modulated semiconductor lasers is numerically studied. The phase diagrams and bifurcatio.n diagrams are drawn. As the coupling constant is increased the system goes from chaotic to periodic behavior through a reverse period doubling sequence. The Lyapunov exponent is calculated to characterize chaotic and periodic regions.

Multifractal dimension of chaotic attractors in a driven semiconductor superlattice

The multifractal dimension of chaotic attractors has been studied in a weakly coupled superlattice driven by an incommensurate sinusoidal voltage as a function of the driving voltage amplitude. The derived multifractal dimension for the observed bifurcation sequence shows different characteristics for chaotic, quasiperiodic, and frequency-locked attractors. In the chaotic regime, strange attractors are observed. Even in the quasiperiodic regime, attractors with a certain degree of strangeness may exist. From the observed multifractal dimensions, the deterministic nature of the chaotic oscillations is clearly identified.

High-Speed Semiconductor Lasers based on Low-Dimensional Active Materials for Optical Telecommunication

The scope of this work is the fundamental growth, tailoring and characterization of self-organized indium arsenide quantum dots (QDs) and their exploitation as active region for diode lasers emitting in the 1.55 µm range. This wavelength regime is especially interesting for long-haul telecommunications as optical fibers made from silica glass have the lowest optical absorption. Molecular Beam Epitaxy is utilized as fabrication technique for the quantum dots and laser structures. The results presented in this thesis depict the first experimental work for which this reactor was used at the University of Kassel. Most research in the field of self-organized quantum dots has been conducted in the InAs/GaAs material system. It can be seen as the model system of self-organized quantum dots, but is not suitable for the targeted emission wavelength. Light emission from this system at 1.55 µm is hard to accomplish. To stay as close as possible to existing processing technology, the In(AlGa)As/InP (100) material system is deployed. Depending on the epitaxial growth technique and growth parameters this system has the drawback of producing a wide range of nano species besides quantum dots. Best known are the elongated quantum dashes (QDash). Such structures are preferentially formed, if InAs is deposited on InP. This is related to the low lattice-mismatch of 3.2 %, which is less than half of the value in the InAs/GaAs system. The task of creating round-shaped and uniform QDs is rendered more complex considering exchange effects of arsenic and phosphorus as well as anisotropic effects on the surface that do not need to be dealt with in the InAs/GaAs case. While QDash structures haven been studied fundamentally as well as in laser structures, they do not represent the theoretical ideal case of a zero-dimensional material. Creating round-shaped quantum dots on the InP(100) substrate remains a challenging task. Details of the self-organization process are still unknown and the formation of the QDs is not fully understood yet. In the course of the experimental work a novel growth concept was discovered and analyzed that eases the fabrication of QDs. It is based on different crystal growth and ad-atom diffusion processes under supply of different modifications of the arsenic atmosphere in the MBE reactor. The reactor is equipped with special valved cracking effusion cells for arsenic and phosphorus. It represents an all-solid source configuration that does not rely on toxic gas supply. The cracking effusion cell are able to create different species of arsenic and phosphorus. This constitutes the basis of the growth concept. With this method round-shaped QD ensembles with superior optical properties and record-low photoluminescence linewidth were achieved. By systematically varying the growth parameters and working out a detailed analysis of the experimental data a range of parameter values, for which the formation of QDs is favored, was found. A qualitative explanation of the formation characteristics based on the surface migration of In ad-atoms is developed. Such tailored QDs are finally implemented as active region in a self-designed diode laser structure. A basic characterization of the static and temperature-dependent properties was carried out. The QD lasers exceed a reference quantum well laser in terms of inversion conditions and temperature-dependent characteristics. Pulsed output powers of several hundred milli watt were measured at room temperature. In particular, the lasers feature a high modal gain that even allowed cw-emission at room temperature of a processed ridge wave guide device as short as 340 µm with output powers of 17 mW. Modulation experiments performed at the Israel Institute of Technology (Technion) showed a complex behavior of the QDs in the laser cavity. Despite the fact that the laser structure is not fully optimized for a high-speed device, data transmission capabilities of 15 Gb/s combined with low noise were achieved. To the best of the author`s knowledge, this renders the lasers the fastest QD devices operating at 1.55 µm. The thesis starts with an introductory chapter that pronounces the advantages of optical fiber communication in general. Chapter 2 will introduce the fundamental knowledge that is necessary to understand the importance of the active region`s dimensions for the performance of a diode laser. The novel growth concept and its experimental analysis are presented in chapter 3. Chapter 4 finally contains the work on diode lasers.

Experimental evidence of the spin-glass transition in the diluted magnetic semiconductor Zn(1-x)Mn(x)In(2)Se(4)

This work reports on magnetic measurements of the quasi-two-dimensional (quasi-2D) system Zn(1-x)Mn(x)In(2)Se(4), with 0.01 <= x <= 1.00. For x > 0.67, the quasi-2D system seems to develop a spin-glass behaviour. Evidence of a true phase transition phenomenon is provided by the steep increase of the nonlinear susceptibility chi(nl) when approaching T(C) from above. The static scaling of chi(nl) data yields critical exponents delta = 4.0 +/- 0.2, phi = 4.37 +/- 0.17 and TC = 3.4 +/- 0.1 K for the sample with x = 1.00 and similar values for the sample with x = 0.87. These critical exponents are in good agreement with values reported for other spin-glass systems with short-range interactions.

The dielectric suppress and the control of semiconductor non-Ohmic feature of CaCu3Ti4O12 by means of tin doping

Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq)

P-type semiconducting gas sensing behavior of nanoporous rf sputtered CaCu3Ti4O12 thin films

The fabrication of nanoporous sputtered CaCu3Ti4O12 thin films with high gas sensitivity is reported in this work. The porous microstructure and the nanocrystalline nature of the material promoted the diffusion of the atmosphere into the film, shortening the response time of the samples. Behaving as p-type semiconductor, the material presents enhanced sensitivity even at low working temperatures. Impedance spectroscopy measurements were performed in order to investigate the mechanisms responsible for the performance of the devices. (C) 2008 American Institute of Physics.