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At least 1,441 records · Page 80
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DOE OSTI2013

Orientation-dependent piezoelectric properties in lead-free epitaxial 0.5BaZr{sub 0.2}Ti{sub 0.8}O{sub 3}-0.5Ba{sub 0.7}Ca{sub 0.3}TiO{sub 3} thin films

Orientation-engineered 0.5BaZr{sub 0.2}Ti{sub 0.8}O{sub 3}-0.5Ba{sub 0.7}Ca{sub 0.3}TiO{sub 3} (BZT-BCT) thin films were deposited on La{sub 0.7}Sr{sub 0.3}MnO{sub 3}-coated SrTiO{sub 3} single-crystalline (001), (110), and (111) substrates by off-axis radio-frequency magnetron sputtering. X-ray diffraction confirmed a highly epitaxial growth of all the as-deposited films. It is believed the strong orientation dependence of ferroelectric and piezoelectric properties on the films is attributed to the relative alignment of crystallites and spontaneous polarization vector. The optimal ferroelectric response lies in the [001] direction, whereas a comparatively large effective piezoelectric coefficient d{sub 33,eff} of 100.1 ± 5 pm/V was attained in [111] BZT-BCT thin film, suggesting its potential application for high-performance lead-free piezoelectric devices.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2013

Strain states of AlN/GaN-stress mitigating layer and their effect on GaN buffer layer grown by ammonia molecular beam epitaxy on 100-mm Si(111)

The effect of strain states of AlN/GaN-stress mitigating layer (SML) on buried crack density and its subsequent influence on the residual stresses in GaN buffer layers grown using ammonia-molecular beam epitaxy on 100-mm Si(111) substrate has been investigated. Different stages involved in the formation of buried cracks, which are crack initialization, growth of relaxed AlN layer, and subsequent lateral over growth, are identified using in-situ curvature measurements. While the increase of GaN thickness in AlN/GaN-SML enhanced its compressive strain relaxation and resulted in reduced buried crack spacing, the variation of AlN thickness did not show any effect on the crack spacing. Moreover, the decrease in the crack spacing (or increase in the buried crack density) was found to reduce the residual compression in 1st and 2nd GaN layers of AlN/GaN-SML structure. The higher buried crack density relaxed the compressive strain in 1st GaN layer, which further reduced its ability to compensate the tensile stress generated during substrate cool down, and hence resulted in lower residual compressive stress in 2nd GaN layer.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2013

Analysis of defects in GaAsN grown by chemical beam epitaxy on high index GaAs substrates

The lattice defects in GaAsN grown by chemical beam epitaxy on GaAs 311B and GaAs 10A toward [110] were characterized and discussed by using deep level transient spectroscopy (DLTS) and on the basis of temperature dependence of the junction capacitances (C{sub J}). In one hand, GaAsN films grown on GaAs 311B and GaAs 10A showed n-type and p-type conductivities, respectively although the similar and simultaneous growth conditions. This result is indeed in contrast to the common known effect of N concentration on the type of conductivity, since the surface 311B showed a significant improvement in the incorporation of N. Furthermore, the temperature dependence of C{sub J} has shown that GaAs 311B limits the formation of N-H defects. In the other hand, the energy states in the forbidden gap of GaAsN were obtained. Six electron traps, E1 to E6, were observed in the DLTS spectrum of GaAsN grown on GaAs 311B, with apparent activation energies of 0.02, 0.14, 0.16, 0.33, 0.48, and 0.74 eV below the bottom edge of the conduction band, respectively. In addition, four hole traps, H1 to H4, were observed in the DLTS spectrum of GaAsN grown on GaAs 10A, with energy depths of 0.13, 0.20, 0.39, and 0.52 eV above the valence band maximum of the alloy, respectively. Hence, the surface morphology of the GaAs substrate was found to play a key factor role in clarifying the electrical properties of GaAsN grown by CBE.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2013

Chemical beam epitaxy growth of AlGaAs/GaAs tunnel junctions using trimethyl aluminium for multijunction solar cells

AlGaAs/GaAs tunnel junctions for use in high concentration multijunction solar cells were designed and grown by chemical beam epitaxy (CBE) using trimethyl aluminium (TMA) as the p-dopant source for the AlGaAs active layer. Controlled hole concentration up to 4⋅10{sup 20} cm{sup −3} was achieved through variation in growth parameters. Fabricated tunnel junctions have a peak tunneling current up to 6140 A/cm{sup 2}. These are suitable for high concentration use and outperform GaAs/GaAs tunnel junctions.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2013

Strain relaxation in epitaxial SrRuO{sub 3} thin films on LaAlO{sub 3} substrates

Strain relaxation behavior of epitaxial SrRuO{sub 3} thin films on (001) LaAlO{sub 3} substrates was investigated using high resolution X-ray diffraction. Lattice distortion and dislocation densities were systematically studied with samples under different growth conditions. Reciprocal space maps reveal different strain relaxation behavior in SrRuO{sub 3} thin films grown at different temperatures. Two kinds of strain relaxation mechanisms were proposed to understand the growth dynamics, including the evolution of threading dislocations and the tilt of crystalline planes.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2013

Extraordinarily large perpendicular magnetic anisotropy in epitaxially strained cobalt-ferrite Co{sub x}Fe{sub 3−x}O{sub 4}(001) (x = 0.75, 1.0) thin films

Perpendicular magnetic anisotropy (PMA) of cobalt-ferrite Co{sub x}Fe{sub 3-x}O{sub 4} (x = 0.75 and 1.0) epitaxial thin films grown on MgO (001) by a reactive magnetron sputtering technique was investigated. The saturation magnetization was found to be 430 emu/cm{sup 3} for x = 0.75, which is comparable to that of bulk CoFe{sub 2}O{sub 4} (425 emu/cm{sup 3}). Torque measurements afforded PMA constants of K{sub u}{sup eff}=9.0 Merg/cm{sup 3} (K{sub u}=10.0 Merg/cm{sup 3}) and K{sub u}{sup eff}=9.7 Merg/cm{sup 3} for x = 0.75 and 1.0, respectively. The value of K{sub u}{sup eff} extrapolated using Miyajima's plot was as high as 14.7 Merg/cm{sup 3} for x = 1.0. The in-plane four-fold magnetic anisotropy was evaluated to be 1.6 Merg/cm{sup 3} for x = 0.75. X-ray diffraction measurement revealed our films to be pseudomorphically strained on MgO (001) with a Poisson ratio of 0.4, leading to a considerable in-plane tensile strain by which the extraordinarily large PMA could be accounted for.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2013

The relationship between depth-resolved composition and strain relaxation in InAlN and InGaN films grown by molecular beam epitaxy

A study of the relationship between strain and the incorporation of group III elements in ternary InGaN and InAlN grown by molecular beam epitaxy is reported. Using X-ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy compositional depth profiles with x-ray diffraction, we are able to find a clear relationship between strain and In incorporation including tensile-strained InAlN which has, to date, not been studied. The results show that fully strained films contain homogeneous indium composition while partially relaxed films have a non-homogeneous indium composition with depth. These results can be interpreted by considering the impurity formation energies of indium in host lattices.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2013

Anomalous Hall effect in epitaxial permalloy thin films

Anomalous Hall effect (AHE) of epitaxial permalloy thin films grown on MgO (001) substrates is investigated. The longitudinal conductivity independent term (i.e., the sum of intrinsic and side-jump contributions) of the anomalous Hall conductivity (AHC) is found to be much smaller than those of Fe and Ni films. Band theoretical calculations of the intrinsic AHC as a function of the number of valence electrons (band filling) indicate that the AHC of the permalloy is in the vicinity of sign change, thus resulting in the smallness of the intrinsic AHC. The contribution of the phonon scattering is found to be comparable to that of the impurity scattering. This work suggests that the permalloy films are ideal systems to understand the AHE mechanisms induced by impurity scattering.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2013

Characteristics of AlN/GaN nanowire Bragg mirror grown on (001) silicon by molecular beam epitaxy

GaN nanowires containing AlN/GaN distributed Bragg reflector (DBR) heterostructures have been grown on (001) silicon substrate by molecular beam epitaxy. A peak reflectance of 70% with normal incidence at 560 nm is derived from angle resolved reflectance measurements on the as-grown nanowire DBR array. The measured peak reflectance wavelength is significantly blue-shifted from the ideal calculated value. The discrepancy is explained by investigating the reflectance of the nanoscale DBRs with a finite difference time domain technique. Ensemble nanowire microcavities with In{sub 0.3}Ga{sub 0.7}N nanowires clad by AlN/GaN DBRs have also been characterized. Room temperature emission from the microcavity exhibits considerable linewidth narrowing compared to that measured for unclad In{sub 0.3}Ga{sub 0.7}N nanowires. The resonant emission is characterized by a peak wavelength and linewidth of 575 nm and 39 nm, respectively.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2013

Charge transport properties of p-CdTe/n-CdTe/n{sup +}-Si diode-type nuclear radiation detectors based on metalorganic vapor-phase epitaxy-grown epilayers

Charge transport properties of p-CdTe/n-CdTe/n{sup +}-Si diode-type nuclear radiation detectors, fabricated by growing p-and n-type CdTe epilayers on (211) n{sup +}-Si substrates using metalorganic vapor-phase epitaxy (MOVPE), were studied by analyzing current-voltage characteristics measured at various temperatures. The diode fabricated shows good rectification properties, however, both forward and reverse biased currents deviate from their ideal behavior. The forward current exhibits typical feature of multi-step tunneling at lower biases; however, becomes space charge limited type when the bias is increased. On the other hand, the reverse current exhibits thermally activated tunneling-type current. It was found that trapping centers at the p-CdTe/n-CdTe junction, which were formed due to the growth induced defects, determine the currents of this diode, and hence limit the performance of the nuclear radiation detectors developed.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2013

Al{sub x}Ga{sub 1−x}N-based solar-blind ultraviolet photodetector based on lateral epitaxial overgrowth of AlN on Si substrate

We report on Al{sub x}Ga{sub 1−x}N-based solar-blind ultraviolet (UV) photodetector (PD) grown on Si(111) substrate. First, Si(111) substrate is patterned, and then metalorganic chemical vapor deposition is implemented for a fully-coalesced ∼8.5 μm AlN template layer via a pulsed atomic layer epitaxial growth technique. A back-illuminated p-i-n PD structure is subsequently grown on the high quality AlN template layer. After processing and implementation of Si(111) substrate removal, the optical and electrical characteristic of PDs are studied. Solar-blind operation is observed throughout the array; at the peak detection wavelength of 290 nm, 625 μm{sup 2} area PD showed unbiased peak external quantum efficiency and responsivity of ∼7% and 18.3 mA/W, respectively, with a UV and visible rejection ratio of more than three orders of magnitude. Electrical measurements yielded a low-dark current density below 1.6 × 10{sup −8} A/cm{sup 2} at 10 V reverse bias.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2013

Research Updates: Epitaxial strain relaxation and associated interfacial reconstructions: The driving force for creating new structures with integrated functionality

Here, we report detailed strain mapping analysis at heterointerfaces of a new multiferroic complex oxide Bi{sub 3}Fe{sub 2}Mn{sub 2}O{sub x}(BFMO322) supercell and related layered structures. The state-of-the-art aberration corrected scanning transmission electron microscopy (Cs-corrected STEM) and the modified geometric phase analysis (GPA) have been used to characterize the self-assembled transitional layers, misfit defects, and, in particular, the biaxial lattice strain distributions. We found that not only a sufficient lattice misfit is required through substrate selection and to be preserved in initial coherent epilayer growth, but also an appropriate interfacial reconstruction is crucial for triggering the growth of the new BFMO322 supercell structure. The observation of new transitional interfacial phases behaving like coherent film layers within the critical thickness challenges the conventional understanding in existing epitaxial growth model.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2013

Growth, steady-state, and time-resolved photoluminescence study of CdTe/MgCdTe double heterostructures on InSb substrates using molecular beam epitaxy

CdTe/MgCdTe double heterostructures (DHs) are grown on InSb substrates using molecular beam epitaxy and reveal strong photoluminescence with over double the intensity of a GaAs/AlGaAs DH with an identical layer structure design grown on GaAs. Time-resolved photoluminescence of the CdTe/MgCdTe DH gives a Shockley-Read-Hall recombination lifetime of 86 ns, which is more than one order of magnitude longer than that of typical polycrystalline CdTe films. These findings indicate that monocrystalline CdTe/MgCdTe DHs effectively reduce surface recombination, have limited nonradiative interface recombination, and are promising for solar cells that could reach power conversion efficiencies similar to that of GaAs.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2013

Evidence of enhanced electron-phonon coupling in ultrathin epitaxial copper films

Electron phonon (el-ph) coupling is a fundamental quantity that controls the electron transport through a conductor. We experimentally determined the el-ph coupling strength of epitaxial copper (Cu) films ranging from 5 to 1000 nm thick using both ultra-fast, optical pump-probe reflectivity and temperature-dependent resistivity measurements. An enhancement of the el-ph coupling strength was observed when the thickness of the films was reduced to below 50 nm. We suggest that this unexpected enhancement of the el-ph coupling strength is partially responsible for the observed increase of resistivity in the films below 50 nm thick.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗
DOE OSTI2013

Self-assembly of compositionally modulated Ga{sub 1−x}Mn{sub x}As multilayers during molecular beam epitaxy

GaMnAs structures were grown on GaAs(100) substrates by molecular beam epitaxy employing different growth parameters. We studied manganese incorporation employing secondary ion mass spectrometry (SIMS). At a growth temperature of 300 °C, we observed a self-assembled modulation of the manganese concentration. SIMS depth profiles were analyzed employing a depth resolution function taking into account sputtering-induced broadening of the original distribution and segregation. We found a Mn segregation length along the growth direction of ∼4 nm. The presence of GaMnAs multilayers was corroborated by high-resolution x-ray diffraction. Spinodal decomposition is a possible mechanism for the spontaneous formation of the multilayer structure.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2013

Nucleation of single GaN nanorods with diameters smaller than 35 nm by molecular beam epitaxy

Nucleation mechanism of catalyst-free GaN nanorod grown on Si(111) is investigated by the fabrication of uniform and narrow (<35 nm) nanorods without a pre-defined mask by molecular beam epitaxy. Direct evidences show that the nucleation of GaN nanorods stems from the sidewall of the underlying islands down to the Si(111) substrate, different from commonly reported ones on top of the island directly. Accordingly, the growth and density control of the nanorods is exploited by a “narrow-pass” approach that only narrow nanorod can be grown. The optimal size of surrounding non-nucleation area around single nanorod is estimated as 88 nm.

77 NANOSCIENCE AND NANOTECHNOLOGY↗
DOE OSTI2013

Raman scattering studies of strain effects in (100) and (311)B GaAs{sub 1−x}Bi{sub x} epitaxial layers

We report room-temperature Raman studies of strained (100) and (311)B GaAs{sub 1−x}Bi{sub x} epitaxial layers for x ≤ 0.039. The Raman spectra exhibit a two-mode behavior, as well as disorder-activated GaAs-like phonons. The experimental results show that the GaAs-like LO(Γ) mode experiences a strong composition-dependent redshift as a result of alloying. The peak frequency decreases linearly from the value for pure GaAs (∼293 cm{sup −1}) with the alloyed Bi fraction x and the introduced in-plane lattice strain ε{sub ∥}, by Δω{sub LO}=Δω{sub alloy}−Δω{sub strain}. X-ray diffraction measurements are used to determine x and ε{sub ∥} allowing Δω{sub alloy} to be decoupled and is estimated to be −12(±4) cm{sup −1}/x for (100) GaAs{sub 1−x}Bi{sub x}. Δω{sub LO} is measured to be roughly double for samples grown on (311)B-oriented substrates to that of (100) GaAs. This large difference in redshift is accounted for by examining the Bi induced strain, effects from alloying, and defects formed during high-index (311)B crystal growth.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2013

Epitaxial lift-off of quantum dot enhanced GaAs single junction solar cells

InAs/GaAs strain-balanced quantum dot (QD) n-i-p solar cells were fabricated by epitaxial lift-off (ELO), creating thin and flexible devices that exhibit an enhanced sub-GaAs bandgap current collection extending into the near infrared. Materials and optical analysis indicates that QD quality after ELO processing is preserved, which is supported by transmission electron microscopy images of the QD superlattice post-ELO. Spectral responsivity measurements depict a broadband resonant cavity enhancement past the GaAs bandedge, which is due to the thinning of the device. Integrated external quantum efficiency shows a QD contribution to the short circuit current density of 0.23 mA/cm{sup 2}.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗