Visible photoluminescence from ZnO/diamond-like carbon thin films

ZnO/diamond-like carbon (DLC) thin films are deposited by pulsed laser deposition (PLD) on Si (111) wafer. Visible room-temperature photoluminescence (PL) is observed from ZnO/DLC thin films by fluorescence spectrophotometer. The Gaussian curve fitting of PL spectra reveals that the broadband visible emission contains three components with λ=508 nm, 554 nm and 698 nm. The origin and possible mechanism of the visible PL are discussed, and they can be attributed to the PL recombination of ZnO and DLC thin films.     

Optical properties of ZnO thin films grown on diamond-like carbon by pulsed laser deposition

ZnO/diamond-like carbon(DLC)thin films are deposited by pulsed laser deposition(PLD),and the room-temperature photoluminescence(PL)is investigated.Using a fluorescence spectrophotometer,we obtain the PL spectra of DLC/Si and ZnO/Si thin films deposited at different substrate temperatures.The ZnO/DLC thin films show a broadband emission almost containing the entire visible spectrum.The Gaussian fitting curves of PL spectra reveal that the visible emission of ZnO/DLC thin films consists of three peaks centered at 381 nm,526 nm and 682 nm,which are attributed to the radiative recombination of ZnO and DLC,respectively.The Commission International de l,Eclairage(CIE)1931(x,y)chromaticity space of ZnO/DLC thin films indicates that the visible PL spectrum is very close to the standard white-light region.     

利用P-MBE在Si(111)衬底上生长氧化锌薄膜及其光学性质的研究

在Si(111)衬底上利用等离子体辅助分子束外延(P-MBE)生长氧化锌(ZnO)薄膜,研究了在不同衬底生长温度下(350～750℃)制备的ZnO薄膜的结构和光学性质．随着衬底温度的升高,样品的X射线及光致发光的半高宽度都是先变小后变大,衬底温度为550℃样品的结构及光学性质都比较好,这表明550℃为在Si(111)衬底上生长ZnO薄膜的最佳衬底温度;同时,我们还通过550℃样品的变温光致发光谱(81～300K)研究了ZnO薄膜室温紫外发光峰的来源,证明其来源于自由激子发射．     

Pure germanium epitaxial growth on thin strained silicon-germanium graded layers on bulk silicon substrate for high-mobility channel metal-oxide-semiconductor field-effect transistors

We demonstrate epitaxially grown high-quality pure germanium (Ge) on bulk silicon (Si) substrates by ultra-high-vacuum chemical vapor deposition (UHVCVD) without involving growth of thick relaxed SiGe buffer layers. The Ge layer is grown on thin compressively strained SiGe layers with rapidly varying Ge mole fraction on Si substrates resulting in several SiGe interfaces between the Si substrate and the pure Ge layer at the surface. The presence of such interfaces between the Si substrate and the Ge layer results in blocking threading dislocation defects, leading to a defect-free pure Ge epitaxial layer on the top. Results from various material characterization techniques on these grown films are shown. In addition, capacitance-voltage (CV) measurements of metal-oxide-semiconductor (MOS) capacitors fabricated on this structure are also presented, showing that the grown structure is ideal for high-mobility metal-oxide-semiconductor field-effect transistor applications.     

On the radiative recombination and tunneling of charge carriers in SiGe/Si heterostructures with double quantum wells

For SiGe/Si(001) epitaxial structures with two nonequivalent SiGe quantum wells separated by a thin Si barrier, the spectral and time characteristics of interband photoluminescence corresponding to the radiative recombination of excitons in quantum wells are studied. For a series of structures with two SiGe quantum wells different in width, the characteristic time of tunneling of charge carriers (holes) from the narrow quantum well, distinguished by a higher exciton recombination energy, to the wide quantum well is determined as a function of the Si barrier thickness. It is shown that the time of tunneling of holes between the Si_0.85Ge_0.15 layers with thicknesses of 3 and 9 nm steadily decreases from ~500 to <5 ns, as the Si barrier thickness is reduced from 16 to 8 nm. At intermediate Si barrier thicknesses, an increase in the photoluminescence signal from the wide quantum well is observed, with a characteristic time of the same order of magnitude as the luminescence decay time of the narrow quantum well. This supports the observation of the effect of the tunneling of holes from the narrow to the wide quantum well. A strong dependence of the tunneling time of holes on the Ge content in the SiGe layers at the same thickness of the Si barrier between quantum wells is observed, which is attributed to an increase in the effective Si barrier height.     

THE EFFECT OF DOPANT OUTDIFFUSION ON THE NEUTRAL BASE RECOMBINATION CURRENT IN Si/SiGe/Si HETEROJUNCTION BIPOLAR TRANSISTORS

A new analytical model for the base current of Si/SiGe/Si heterojunction bipolar transistors(HBTs) has been developed. This model includes the hole injection current from the base to the emitter, and the recombination components in the space charge region(SCR) and the neutral base. Distinctly different from other models, this model includes the following effects on each base current component by using the boundary condition of the excess minority carrier concentration at SCR boundaries: the first is the effect of the parasitic potential barrier which is formed at the Si/SiGe collector-base heterojunction due to the dopant outdlffusion from the SiGe base to the adjacent Si collector, and the second is the Ge composition grading effect. The effectiveness of this model is confirmed by comparing the calculated result with the measured plot of the base current vs. the collector-base bias voltage for the ungraded HBT. The decreasing base current with the increasing the collector-base reverse bias voltage is successfully explained by this model without assuming the short-lifetime region close to the SiGe/Si collector-base junction, where a complete absence of dislocations is confirmed by transmission electron microscopy (TEM)[1]. The recombination component in the neutral base region is shown to dominate other components even for HBTs with a thin base, due to the increased carrier storage in the vicinity of the parasitic potential barrier at collector-base heterojunction.     

Amplified Spontaneous Emission Based on 2D Ruddlesden–Popper Perovskites

2D Ruddlesden–Popper perovskites (RPPs) are a class of quantum‐well (QW) materials, composed of layered perovskite QWs encapsulated between two hydrophobic organic layers. Different from widely investigated 3D‐perovskites with free carriers at room temperature, 2D‐RPPs exhibit strongly bound electron–hole pairs (excitons) for high‐performance solar cells and light emitting diodes (LEDs). Herein, it is reported that self‐organized multiple QWs in 2D‐RPP thin films naturally form an energy cascade, which enables an ultrafast energy transfer process from higher energy‐bandgap QWs to lower energy‐bandgap QWs. Therefore, photoexcitations are concentrated on lower‐bandgap QWs, facilitating the build‐up of population inversion. Room‐temperature amplified spontaneous emission (ASE) from 2D‐RPP thin films is achieved at dramatically low thresholds, with gain coefficients as high as >300 cm^?1, and stoichiometrically tunable ASE wavelengths from visible to near‐infrared spectral range (530–810 nm). In view of the high efficiency reported for LEDs, these solution‐processed 2D‐RPP thin films may hold the key to realize electrically driven lasers.     

Effectiveness of SiGe Buffer Layers in Reducing Dark Currents of Ge-on-Si Photodetectors

The effectiveness of thin SiGe buffer layers in terminating threading dislocations and reducing photodiode dark current for Ge epitaxially grown on Si (001) has been investigated. The structural morphology of the films was studied by atomic force microscopy and transmission electron microscopy. The dark current of Ge on Si photodiodes can be reduced by over an order of magnitude by incorporating two different composition SiGe buffer layers. The origin of dark current and the effectiveness of thermal annealing the SiGe layers were also studied     

Photoluminescence enhancement induced by near surface Si doping wires in GaAs

We investigated the influence of the wire-like Si dopant incorporation on the photoluminescence (PL) properties of samples with a thin GaAs cap layer. The near band gap PL has been found to be dominated by exciton recombination in the 10 nm cap layers. For samples grown on vicinal GaAs(001) surfaces under conditions favourable for the wire-like Si incorporation, a considerable enhancement of the exciton PL intensity as well as of the PL decay time has been found.     

Studies of deep centers in dilute GaAsN and InGaAsN films grown by molecular beam epitaxy

Deep levels spectra DLTS, 77 K photoluminescence (PL) spectra and photosensitivity were measured for GaAsN and InGaAsN films with low N and In concentration grown by molecular beam epitaxy and in GaAs films grown on GaAsN buffer. It is shown that the bandedge luminescence intensity is greatly decreased in GaAsN, GaAs/GaAsN and particularly in InGaAsN structures compared to the homoepitaxial GaAs. Comparison of the DLTS and PL spectra strongly suggests that the main recombination center in such films is the EL3-like electron trap whose concentration greatly increases upon In and N incorporation into the solid solution. Based on published results the trap is associated with substitutional oxygen on As site and the results are discussed in view of such possible assignment.     

Pr3+掺杂SrTiO3薄膜的聚合物前驱体法制备及发光性能

采用聚合物前驱体法,在LaNiO<,3>/si(100)衬底上低温制备了Pr<,3+>掺杂SrTiO<,3>薄膜.用XRD,AFM、PL手段分析了薄膜的晶体结构、表面形貌与发光性能.结果显示,退火温度决定SrTiO<,3>薄膜的晶粒大小和表面形貌,在600℃退火2 h获得的薄膜表面均匀、无裂痕,晶粒大小约为60 nm,...     

Strained Si/SiGe MOS technology: Improving gate dielectric integrity

Strained Si is recognised as a necessary technology booster for the nanoelectronics regime. This work shows that high levels of stress attainable from globally strained Si/SiGe platforms can benefit gate leakage and reliability in addition to MOSFET channel mobility. Device self-heating due to the low thermal conductivity of SiGe is shown to be the dominating factor behind compromised performance gains in short channel strained Si/SiGe MOSFETs. Novel thin virtual substrates aimed at reducing self-heating effects are investigated. In addition to reducing self-heating effects, the thin virtual substrates provide further improvements to gate oxide integrity, reliability and lifetime compared with conventional thick virtual substrates. This is attributed to the lower surface roughness of the thin virtual substrates which arises due to the reduced interactions of strain-relieving misfit dislocations during thin virtual substrate growth. Good agreement between experimental data and physical models is demonstrated, enabling gate leakage mechanisms to be identified. The advantages and challenges of using globally strained Si/SiGe to advance MOS technology are discussed.     

Benefits of XPS nanocharacterization for process development and industrial control of thin SiGe channel layers in advanced CMOS technologies

The Si channel of advanced p-type transistors has been replaced by a compressively strained Silicon-Germanium channel (SiGe) in order to improve the device performances. The SiGe thickness and composition must be precisely controlled to reproducibly obtain the same characteristics. In this study, the benefits of X-ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy (XPS) for the process development and the industrial control of thin SiGe channel layers are shown. The use of a parallel Angle Resolved XPS (pARXPS) allowed us to obtain the germanium distribution in very thin SiGe channels, a useful information to better understand the impact of various process steps on the germanium distribution. The hybridization of in-line XPS and X-Ray Reflectivity (XRR) has been used as an industrial process control characterization method to jointly determine the SiGe channel's thickness and germanium composition. This hybrid industrial metrology technique has shown promising results.     

Changes in the density of nonradiative recombination centers in GaAs/AlGaAs quantum-well structures as a result of treatment in CF4 plasma

The effect of low-energy CF₄ plasma treatment on the stationary photoluminescence (PL) spectra and PL kinetics in GaAs/AlGaAs quantum-well (QW) structures is investigated. Intensity of the PL from QWs located deeper than the surface layer damaged by plasma treatment increases. It is established that this is accompanied by an increase in the PL decay time at temperatures above 30 K. It is shown that the density of nonradiative recombination centers in the QW located below the damaged surface layer decreases by a factor of 30 after 40-s exposure to plasma.     

CVD生长Si基Si1-x-yGexCy合金层应变的研究

用Raman谱和AES能谱分析了用RTP/VLP-CVD方法生长在Si衬底上的SiGeC合金外延薄膜的应变。结果表明:用RTP/VLP-CVD方法生长的SiGeC合金中掺入的C呈间隙原子或替位原子的形式分布,其中大部分为间隙原子,少量为替位C原子,但是替位C原子的存在有效地调节了SiGeC合金层的应变;另外由于采用乙烯做C源,生长温度较高也使SiGeC合金层的应变部分被弛豫。由于C的掺入,Si基上生长SiGeC合金的应变和相同Ge含量的SiGe合金相比较大大减小,临界厚度大大增加,有利于在Si衬底上生长出达到一定厚度的更高质量的族元素合金半导体材料。     

纳米硅镶嵌氮化硅薄膜的制备与光致发光特性

为研究氮化硅薄膜发光材料的制备工艺及其光致发光机制,实验采用射频磁控反应溅射技术与热退火处理制备了纳米硅镶嵌氮化硅薄膜材料.利用红外光谱(IR)、X射线衍射谱(XRD)、能谱(EDS)和光致发光谱(PL),对不同工艺条件下薄膜样品的成分、结构和发光特性进行研究,发现在制备的富硅氮化硅薄膜材料中形成了纳米硅颗粒,并计算出其平均尺寸.在510 nm光激发下,观察到纳米硅发光峰,对样品发光机制进行了讨论,认为其较强的发光起因于缺陷态和纳米硅发光.     

Temperature dependence of the photoluminescence properties and band gap energy of InxGa1−xAs/GaAs quantum wells

The effective band gap energy of In_xGa_1−xAs/GaAs strained quantum wells (QWs) is investigated by photoluminescence spectroscopy (PL) in the range 12–295 K. The temperature dependence of the band gap energy of strained QWs correlates well with that of bulk In_xGa_1−xAs of similar composition. Deviations from the band gap variation of bulk material at low temperatures (12–90 K) are interpreted in terms of exciton localization. The differences ΔE(12 K) between the measured PL peak energies and the expected transition energies at 12 K (obtained by simulating the measured temperature dependence of the PL peak positions by the well-known Varshni relation) are suggested to be closely related to the Stokes shifts that often exist between PL and PL excitation spectra of QWs. A linear relation is found between the PL full-width at half-maximum measured at 12 K and ΔE for a range of QWs prepared under different growth conditions. Excitonic recombination is inferred to be dominant in the PL transitions at the highest temperatures investigated—even at room temperature.     

类金刚石薄膜对多孔硅发光的钝化作用

介绍了类金刚石薄膜对多孔硅发光的钝化作用.类金刚石薄膜隔绝了外界对多孔硅表面的影响,使硅氢键不易断裂,从而减少了非辐射复合中心,稳定了多孔硅的发光性能.通过在类金刚石薄膜中掺氮还可以进一步提高钝化效果,因为氮使多孔硅表面更多的悬空键被钝化形成Si-N键,从而提高了发光强度.     

Gas phase synthesis and processing of silicon nanocrystallites: Characterization by photoluminescence emission spectroscopy

A nonequilibrium vapor-phase approach to the synthesis and processing of semiconductor nanoparticles is applied to the deposition of self-supporting thin films of agglomerated Si nanocrystallites. Silicon nanocrystallites are created using a laser ablation supersonic expansion source. Average particle size is controlled through variation of process parameters, including relative ablation pulse/gas valve timing and nozzle length. As-deposited thin films of agglomerated Si nanocrystallites are passivated via a hydrofluoric acid (HF) etch/roomtemperature oxide growth process and then characterized using room-temperature photoluminescence (PL) emission spectroscopy. Clear spectral trends are seen in the PL emission data, which correlate with changes in mean particle size as controlled through process parameter variation or repeated HF etch/oxide regrowth cycles. Photoluminescence emission studies of gas-phase, isolated Si nanocrystallites reveal no visible emission. We conclude that quantum size effects play a necessary but not sufficient role in enabling the PL emission behavior of nanocrystalline Si. Passivation of the Si nanocrystallite surfaces is also necessary to kinetically allow the emission pathway.     

富Si的SiN薄膜光致发光及电致发光研究

采用等离子体化学气相沉积法(PECVD)制备了三种不同化学计量比的富Si的SiN薄膜,并对其光致发光及电致发光性能进行了研究.研究发现,随着Si含量的增加,薄膜的光致发光峰位从460 nm红移到610 nm,且半高宽不断增加;而薄膜的电致发光峰位并没有随着Si含量的改变而变化,始终处于600 nm附近,这主要是由于富Si的SiN薄膜的光致发光与电致发光的机理是不同的.光致发光来源于SiN薄膜缺陷态能级之间辐射复合,而电致发光则是由注入的裁流子先迟豫到较低的缺陷态能级,然后经过辐射复合而得到.