Basic ammonothermal growth of Gallium Nitride – State of the art,challenges, perspectives

Recent progress in ammonothermal technology of bulk GaN growth in basic environment is presented and discussed in this paper. This method enables growth of two-inch in diameter crystals of outstanding structural properties, with radius of curvature above tens of meters and low threading dislocation density of the order of 5?×?10⁴ cm^?2. Crystals with different types of conductivity, n-type with free electron concentration up to 10¹⁹ cm^?3, p-type with free hole concentration of 10¹⁶ cm^?3, and semi-insulating with resistivity exceeding 10¹¹ Ω cm, can be obtained. Ammonothermal GaN of various electrical properties is described in terms of point defects present in the material. Potential applications of high-quality GaN substrates are also briefly shown.     

Inkjet Printed Poly(3-hexylthiophene) Thin-Film Transistors: Effect of Self-Assembled Monolayer

Organic thin film transistors (OTFTs) with bottom gate and top contact structure had been prepared by inkjet printing. It is found that the surface properties of the substrates have a great influence on the morphology of the inkjet printed droplet and film. An appropriate surface was vital to form a uniform semiconducting film by inkjet printing and also strongly improved the electric characteristics. When a bare SiO₂ layer was applied, the best field-effect mobility of inkjet printed OTFT devices was only 2.37 × 10^?3 cm²V^?1s^?1, with an on/off current ratio of 10². When the PETS treatment or the PTS treatment was applied on the SiO₂ dielectric layer, the field-effect performances were substantially improved and the best field-effect mobility was enhanced to 8.07 × 10^?3 cm^?2V^?1s^?1 and 7.95 × 10^?3 cm^?2V^?1s^?1, respectively and with an on/off current ratio of 10³.     

The field effect in amorphous chalcogenides: An investigation of localized states and electronic transport

The temperature dependence of the field effect response permits an unambiguous determination of the identity of those states responsible for electrostatic screening in the amorphous chalcogenides. We observe (1) in As₂Te₃, field effect screening by localized states at the Fermi level at low temperatures (～ 10¹⁹ cm^?3 eV^?1) and by mobile charge carriers (～ 10¹⁸ cm^?3 at 300 K) at high temperatures, and a transition from p-type to two-carrier (primarily n-type) conductivity as the temperature is raised above ～320 K; (2) in As₂SeTe₂, screening by mobile charge carriers (～ 10¹⁸ cm^?3 at 300 K) with strongly type conductivity; (3) in As₂Se₂Te, screening by localized states at the Fermi level (～ 10¹⁹ cm^?3 eV^?1) with strongly p-type conductivity; and (4) in Sb₂Te₃, a very high density of localized states at the Fermi level (～ 2 × 10²⁰ cm^?3 eV^?1) with both electron and hole contributions to the conductivity. Correlation with thermoelectric power results suggests that the p-type conductivity in As₂Te₃ is due to near-equal contributions from two processes: hopping in localized states plus extended state conduction. Aging and annealing behavior is described with the aid of a “chaotic potential model” that appears to be able to account for large changes in mobile carrier density that leave the conductivity unaltered.     

Specific features of the formation of dislocation structure in gallium arsenide single crystals obtained by the Czochralski method

The influence of the deviation of seed orientation from the [100] direction on the formation of a dislocation structure of gallium arsenide single crystals grown by the Czochralski method has been revealed. The intensive multiplication of dislocations and formation of a block structure occur at deviation by an angle of more than 3° in the region that is radially shifted to one of crystal sides. The linear density of dislocations in the walls changes from 1 × 10⁴ cm^–1 in low-angle boundaries to 6 × 10⁴ cm^–1 in subboundaries.     

Bulk single crystals of β-Ga2O3 and Ga-based spinels as ultra-wide bandgap transparent semiconducting oxides

In the course of development of transparent semiconducting oxides (TSOs) we compare the growth and basic physical properties bulk single crystals of ultra-wide bandgap (UWBG) TSOs, namely β-Ga₂O₃ and Ga-based spinels MgGa₂O₄, ZnGa₂O₄, and Zn_1-xMg_xGa₂O₄. High melting points of the materials of about 1800 -1930 °C and their thermal instability, including incongruent decomposition of Ga-based spinels, require additional tools to obtain large crystal volume of high structural quality that can be used for electronic and optoelectronic devices. Bulk β-Ga₂O₃ single crystals were grown by the Czochralski method with a diameter up to 2 inch, while the Ga-based spinel single crystals either by the Czochralski, Kyropoulos-like, or vertical gradient freeze / Bridgman methods with a volume of several to over a dozen cm³. The UWBG TSOs discussed here have optical bandgaps of about 4.6 - 5 eV and great transparency in the UV / visible spectrum. The materials can be obtained as electrical insulators, n-type semiconductors, or n-type degenerate semiconductors. The free electron concentration (n_e) of bulk β-Ga₂O₃ crystals can be tuned within three orders of magnitude 10¹⁶ - 10¹⁹ cm^?3 with a maximum Hall electron mobility (μ) of 160 cm²V^?1s^?1, that gradually decreases with n_e. In the case of the bulk Ga-based spinel crystals with no intentional doping, the maximum of n_e and μ increase with decreasing the Mg content in the compound and reach values of about 10²⁰ cm^?3 and about 100 cm²V^?1s^?1 (at n_e > 10¹⁹ cm^?3), respectively, for pure ZnGa₂O₄.     

Triplet Excitions in Crystalline Trans-Stilbene I. Spectroscopy of the So → T1 Transition

Abstract

The first singlet → triplet absorption of trans-stilbene has been studied between 10 and 300 K. The triplet exciton energy (energy of the lowest 0–0 line) is 17380 cm^?1 at 10 K, and does not change significantly with temperature. Vibrational A_g modes of 206. 1250 and 1570 cm^?1 are active. The Franck-Condon factor of the origin region is small. The low temperature spectra of the 0–0 and 206 cm^?1 regions show a doublet structure with a splitting of 82 ± 1 cm^?1 which is attributed to the site splitting. Further structure shown by the lines is discussed. The lines are approximately lorentzian. From curve fitting, line-widths and exciton-phonon coupling constants, increasing linearly with T, are deduced. Exciton-phonon coupling appears to be different on the two sites. The product of absorption coefficient at 4880 Å, α, by the total triplettriplet interaction rate constant has been measured at 295 K: αγ=2.3 ± 0.3. 10^?15 cm² sec^?1, corresponding for γ_total to a value of a few 10^?12 cm³ sec^?1.     

Selection of post-growth treatment parameters for atomic layer deposition of structurally disordered TiO2 thin films

Routes to atomic layer-deposited TiO₂ films with decreased leakage have been studied by using electrical characterization techniques. The combination of post-deposition annealing parameters, time and temperature, which provides measurable aluminum–titanium oxide–silicon structures – i.e., having capacitance–voltage curves which show accumulation behavior – are 625 °C, 10 min for p-type substrates, and 550 °C, 10 min for n-type substrates. The best annealing conditions for p-type substrates are 625 °C with the length extended to 30 min, which produces an interfacial state density of about 5–6 × 10¹¹ cm^?2 eV^?1, and disordered-induced gap state density below our experimental limits. We have also proved that a post-deposition annealing must be applied to TiO₂/HfO₂ and HfO₂/TiO₂/HfO₂ stacked structures to obtain adequate measurability conditions.     

Synthesis and Characterization of Polyphenothiazene Iodine Complexes

Abstract

N-methyl 3,6 dibromophenothiazene has been polymerized by using a nickel complex-assisted Grignard coupling. Vapor phase iodine doping of the organometallic polymerized material led to a conductivity increase of 10^?11 ohm^?1 cm^?1 to 10^?5 ohm cm^?l at room temperature. The complex thus formed exhibited a semiconductor behavior with a thermal activation energy of 0.1 eV and a strong electronic IR absorbance from 4000–400 cm^?1. However, the complexed polymer could be dissolved in liquid I₂ and cast into films with air stable, room temperature conductivities as high as 1 ohm^?l cm^?l. The mechanisms that could give rise to these differences in behavior will be discussed.     

Epitaxial ZnS/Si core–shell nanowires and single-crystal silicon tube field-effect transistors

Epitaxial single-crystal ZnS/Si core–shell nanowires have been synthesized via a two-step thermal evaporation method. The epitaxial growth is due to the close match of crystal structure between zinc blende ZnS and diamond-like cubic Si. The nanowires have a uniform diameter of 80–200 nm and a length of several to several tens of micrometers. Single-crystal Si nanotubes can be obtained by chemical etching of the ZnS/Si core–shell structure. Characteristics of field-effect transistors (FETs) fabricated from the Si nanotubes suggests that the Si tubes show weak n-type semiconductivity with a mobility of about 3.7×10^?2 cm²/(V s), which is 1 order larger than that of intrinsic Si.     

Properties of gallium- and aluminum-doped bulk ZnO obtained from single-crystals grown by liquid phase epitaxy

Bulk properties of gallium (Ga)- and aluminum (Al)-doped zinc oxide (ZnO) were studied using bulky single-crystalline thick films grown by liquid phase epitaxy (LPE). The highest possible dopant concentration was 1×10¹⁹ cm^–3 for LPE growth at around 800 °C. The electron concentration was nearly same to the Ga and Al concentrations. The donor binding energy decreased to nearly zero with an increase in dopant concentration, and electron mobility of the sample with relatively high dopant concentration (1×10¹⁹ cm^–3) was more than 60 cm² V^–1 s^–1 at room temperature. The LPE technique is a potential solution for the production of ZnO for optical applications because the well-defined excitonic luminescence could be seen from the LPE-grown-doped single-crystals.     

Defect formation in subsurface Be+-and Se+-doped GaAs layers

The structure of subsurface Be⁺ and Se⁺ doped GaAs layers was studied by the X-ray diffraction technique. The implantation of Be⁺ ions into gallium arsenide substrates causes the formation of distorted layers with elastic strains. With an increase of the energy of implanted ions from 50 to 100 keV, the maximum distortion remains almost constant, whereas the thickness of the distorted layer, with a lattice constant which exceeds that of the host material, increases. At higher energies (≥150 keV), the thickness of the distorted layer continues increasing, but the maximum strain drops. The Se⁺ ions implantation into the GaAs substrates also provides the formation of layers distorted by positive tensile strain. The analysis of defect distributions and concentrations at various irradiation doses and the implanted-ion energies shows that the latter does not considerably affect these parameters. At the same time, an increase of the implanted-ion dose from 5 × 10¹⁴ to 5 × 10¹⁵ cm^?2 increases the strains observed. The role of the Frenkel-pair annihilation and ion channeling in the formation of a defect layer is also discussed.     

Characteristics of heteroepitaxial Cu2−xMnxO/Nb–SrTiO3 p–n junction

Mn-doped cuprous oxide Cu_2?xMn_xO (CMO), where x = 0.03, is a p-type diluted magnetic semiconductor (DMS) with Curie temperature above room temperature [M. Wei, N. Braddon, et al., Appl. Phys. Lett. 86 (2005) 0725141; Y.L. Liu, S. Harrington, et al., Appl. Phys. Lett. 87 (2005) 222108]. We have grown CMO (x = 0.03) thin films of about 200 nm thick on n-type semiconducting (0 0 1)Nb–SrTiO₃(NSTO) single crystal substrates by pulsed laser deposition. Cubic crystalline phases of CMO layers were obtained in a narrow deposition pressure window of about 20 mTorr at growth temperature of 650 °C. X-ray diffraction and TEM studies of these heterostructures reveal a cube-on-cube epitaxial relationship of [CMO]₀₀₁/[NSTO]₀₀₁. All the oxide p–n junctions with the size of 500 × 500 μm were fabricated by the shadow masking technique. These junctions show highly asymmetric I–V characteristics. The rectification ratio at room temperature is about 10³ at ±2 V. Leakage current density of 10^?4 A cm^?2 at ?1 V is observed. No apparent junction breakdown is recorded at reverse bias voltages down to ?5 V. From the 1/C²–V plots, the forward bias turn on voltage is ～1.4 V. Clear junction current rectifying property is maintained at up to 200 °C. Our results have demonstrated that epitaxial CMO films can be fabricated on lattice matched cubic substrates. They are suitable DMS for above room temperature spintronic junction applications.     

Solution-Processable Low Voltage Organic Transistors of Thieno[3,2-b]thiophene-Based Conducting Polymer

A low-operating voltage and high performance polymeric field effect transistors using octadecylphosphonic acid-treated high-k AlOx and HfO₂ hybrid dielectrics were demonstrated. High-k metal oxide hybrid dielectrics were prepared by oxygen plasma treatment of deposited Al film for AlOx and by spin coating of solution-processable HfO₂ sol-gel solution for HfO₂ in combination with phosphoric acid-based self-assembled monolayer (SAM), resulting in high capacitance (10 nF/cm² for SiO₂, 600 nF/cm² for AlOx and 580 nF/cm² for HfO₂). With phosphoric acid-based SAM on high-k metal oxide and thermal annealing of thieno[3,2-b]thiophene-based conducting polymer, the device performance was significantly enhanced. The highest mobility of the transistors using ODPA-treated AlOx as a gate dielectric is 2.3 × 10^?2 cm² V^?1 s^?1 in the saturation region with the source-drain of ?2 V. In ODPA-treated HfO₂ hybrid dielectric, the saturated mobility is 1.1 × 10^?2 cm² V^?1 s^?1 and the threshold voltage was measured to be ?0.31 V, which is at least one order lower than SiO₂ hybrid dielectric (?3 V).     

Some features of EPR and optical spectra of vanadium in aluminophosphate glasses

The EPR and optical spectra of vanadium in glasses of ternary Al₂O₃P₂O₅SiO₂ and Al₂O₃P₂O₅B₂O₃ systems have been measured. The results were compared with earlier data for vanadium in binary phosphate, aluminophosphate and silicaphosphate glasses and with results of de-Biasi for V⁴⁺ in crystalline powder α-crystobalite AlPO₄. The superpositions of two hyperfine spectra (ASB-I and ASB-II) were found for many glasses of ternary systems. Both spectra can be attributed to VO²⁺ ions. The intensity ratio of the ASB-II spectrum to ASB-I depends on glass composition but is great (> 7) for all the glasses. Only the ASB-II spectrum was observed in glasses with low concentration of Al₂O₃. The spectral parameters of ASB-II spectrum are g_| = 1.916–1.921; g_⊥ 1.980–1.988; A_| = (188?190) × 10^?4cm^?1 and A_⊥ = (74–77) × 10^?4cm^?1. Three intense bands at 370, 455 and 700 ans 720 nm observed in these glasses can be attributed to V³⁺ ions. The excellent agreement of the parameters of the EPR spectrum of V⁴⁺ ions in crystalline α-crystobalite AIPO₄ and ASB-II spectra in the glasses under study suggest the identical electron structure of the paramagnetic species. This species is believed to be characterized by optical bands at 680 and 790 nm which have been observed by de Biasi. The orbital mixing coefficients indicate strong tetragonal distortion of vanadyl complexes responsible for the ASB-II spectrum. It is assumed that VO²⁺ ions responsible for this spectrum act as modifiers fitting into the relatively small holes of the three-dimensional networks of phosphate glasses containing no cations of large radii. The microscopic basicity of oxygens in such holes must be about 0.48.     

Spectres de vibration du Cristal de Biphényle à Basse Température

Abstract

Low-temperature infrared and Raman spectra of Crystalline biphenyl have been investigated in the 3100–25 cm^?1 range, and those of biphenyl-D₁₀ between 200 and 25 cm^?1. The infrared dichroism of an Oriented crystal at 77°K has been measured in the 3100–400 cm^?1 region. The assignment for the internal modes V ₅(B_2u), v ₆ (B_2u), v ₁(B_1u), v ₁₀(B_1g), v ₂(B_2g) et v ₃ (B_3g) is given.

The band splitting is analized and hte components due ot the correlation effect in the fundamentals are separated from the components due to combinations. Isotopic shifts are used to assign the nine external vibrations as well as the torsional mode. The temperature effect on the frequencies occuring below 500 cm^?1 is discussed.     

Photoelectric features of vacuum-deposited a-Si:H/Alq3 blends

Using three electrode vacuum system for glow discharge of 5% SiH₄ + 95% Ar gas mixture together with thermal evaporation of phosphorus or boric aced, the n- and p-type a-Si:H layers have been deposited. By co-evaporation of phosphorus or boric aced the conductivity of a-Si:H layers was changed in 10^?11–10^?3 Ω^?1 cm^?1 or 10^?11 –10^?8 Ω^?1 cm^?1 range, respectively. Blends of a-Si:H and tris-(8-hydroxyquinoline) aluminum (Alq₃) have been vacuum-deposited by simultaneous glow discharge of 5% SiH₄ + 95 % Ar gas mixture and thermal co-evaporation of Alq₃. Photoluminescence spectrum of a-Si:H/Alq₃ blend coincident with one of Alq₃ was observed at room temperature.     

Growth and characterization of a PbI2 single crystal used for gamma ray detectors

Lead iodide (PbI₂) is an important material for room temperature radiation detectors. In this paper, we have grown PbI₂ single crystal through a special craft, from which γ‐ray detector has also been fabricated. X‐ray diffraction analysis indicates structure of the grown crystal is 2H with hexagonal space group P3m1. Infrared transmission measurement shows transmission rate of the grown crystal sample (10×10×1mm³) reaches 40% averagely in range of 400∼4000cm^‐1. Ultraviolet absorbing test indicates cut‐off wavelength of the sample is 547.6nm, corresponding band gap of 2.27eV. Room temperature detector fabricated from the grown crystal is sensitive to ²⁴¹Am 59.5KeV γ‐ray. Full width at half maximum (FWHM) of the obtained energy spectrum is 26.7KeV. All the results indicate the PbI₂ crystal grown through the special craft is of good characteristics and can be used for γ‐ray detector. (© 2007 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)     

Structural and electrical characteristics of InGaAsN layers grown by LPE

Crystallographic and transport properties of nominally undoped and Sn-doped InGaAsN layers grown by low-temperature LPE have been studied and related to the growth conditions.In the case of lattice matching, flat and uniform mirror-like layers of 8–10 μm in thickness are obtained. The compositions of the layers under study have been determined by combination of X-ray microanalysis and X-ray diffraction methods to be In_0.035Ga_0.065As_0.086N_0.014. The lattice mismatch between layer and substrate Δa_l/a_s calculated from X-ray diffraction curves is less than?7×10^?4 for all samples. The layers grown at lower epitaxy temperatures exhibit the highest crystalline quality, better lattice match and better homogeneity. This is in good agreement with the results of morphological study by atomic force microscopy which show root mean-square surface roughness of 0.18 nm for the best layers.CV and Hall measurements reveal that intentionally undoped InGaAsN layers are n-type with free carrier concentration about one order of magnitude higher in comparison to layers not containing nitrogen and high electron mobility values over 2000 cm²/Vs. A dramatic reduction in the free carrier concentration and slightly increase in mobility are observed for Sn-doped InGaAsN layers.     

In Situ Raman and Epr Investigations of A Cis-(Ch)X Electrode

Abstract

In situ Raman and EPR experiments have been performed on a cis-(CH)_x electrode in an electrochemical cell {(CH)_x/1M L1C10₄ in THF/Li}. After a n-type doping with Li, the Raman spectra exhibit new features at = 1600 cm^?1 and 1270 cm^?1, comparable to those obtained with [CH)_X films Li doped via a chemical treatment. The evolution of the EPR signal is followed in a doping-dedoping cycle, showing both the reversibility of the process as well as the evidence for a metallic behavior at the maximum doping concentration.