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At least 1,513 records · Page 84
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DOE OSTI2015

Hopping conduction in p-type MoS{sub 2} near the critical regime of the metal-insulator transition

We report on temperature-dependent charge and magneto transport of chemically doped MoS{sub 2}, p-type molybdenum disulfide degenerately doped with niobium (MoS{sub 2}:Nb). The temperature dependence of the electrical resistivity is characterized by a power law, ρ(T) ∼ T{sup −0.25}, which indicates that the system resides within the critical regime of the metal-insulator (M-I) transition. By applying high magnetic field (∼7 T), we observed a 20% increase in the resistivity at 2 K. The positive magnetoresistance shows that charge transport in this system is governed by the Mott-like three-dimensional variable range hopping (VRH) at low temperatures. According to relationship between magnetic-field and temperature dependencies of VRH resistivity, we extracted a characteristic localization length of 19.8 nm for MoS{sub 2}:Nb on the insulating side of the M-I transition.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗
DOE OSTI2015

Negative differential mobility for negative carriers as revealed by space charge measurements on crosslinked polyethylene insulated model cables

Among features observed in polyethylene materials under relatively high field, space charge packets, consisting in a pulse of net charge that remains in the form of a pulse as it crosses the insulation, are repeatedly observed but without complete theory explaining their formation and propagation. Positive charge packets are more often reported, and the models based on negative differential mobility(NDM) for the transport of holes could account for some charge packets phenomenology. Conversely, NDM for electrons transport has never been reported so far. The present contribution reports space charge measurements by pulsed electroacoustic method on miniature cables that are model of HVDC cables. The measurements were realized at room temperature or with a temperature gradient of 10 °C through the insulation under DC fields on the order 30–60 kV/mm. Space charge results reveal systematic occurrence of a negative front of charges generated at the inner electrode that moves toward the outer electrode at the beginning of the polarization step. It is observed that the transit time of the front of negative charge increases, and therefore the mobility decreases, with the applied voltage. Further, the estimated mobility, in the range 10{sup −14}–10{sup −13} m{sup 2} V{sup −1} s{sup −1} for the present results, increases when the temperature increases for the same condition of applied voltage. The features substantiate the hypothesis of negative differential mobility used for modelling space charge packets.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗
DOE OSTI2016

AlGaN/GaN metal-insulator-semiconductor high electron mobility transistors with reduced leakage current and enhanced breakdown voltage using aluminum ion implantation

This letter has studied the performance of AlGaN/GaN metal-insulator-semiconductor high electron mobility transistors on silicon substrate with GaN buffer treated by aluminum ion implantation for insulating followed by a channel regrown by metal–organic chemical vapor deposition. For samples with Al ion implantation of multiple energies of 140 keV (dose: 1.4 × 10{sup 14} cm{sup −2}) and 90 keV (dose: 1 × 10{sup 14} cm{sup −2}), the OFF-state leakage current is decreased by more than 3 orders and the breakdown voltage is enhanced by nearly 6 times compared to the samples without Al ion implantation. Besides, little degradation of electrical properties of the 2D electron gas channel is observed where the maximum drain current I{sub DSmax} at a gate voltage of 3 V was 701 mA/mm and the maximum transconductance g{sub mmax} was 83 mS/mm.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗
DOE OSTI2016

Selective-area growth and magnetic characterization of MnAs/AlGaAs nanoclusters on insulating Al{sub 2}O{sub 3} layers crystallized on Si(111) substrates

We report on selective-area metal-organic vapor phase epitaxy and magnetic characterization of coupled MnAs/AlGaAs nanoclusters formed on thin Al{sub 2}O{sub 3} insulating layers crystallized on Si(111) substrates. Cross-sectional transmission electron microscopy reveals that poly-crystalline γ-Al{sub 2}O{sub 3} grains are formed after an annealing treatment of the amorphous Al{sub 2}O{sub 3} layers deposited by atomic layer deposition on Si(111) substrates. The 〈111〉 direction of the γ-Al{sub 2}O{sub 3} grains tends to be oriented approximately parallel to the 〈111〉 direction of the Si substrate. We observe that hexagonal MnAs nanoclusters on AlGaAs buffer layers grown by selective-area metal-organic vapor phase epitaxy on partially SiO{sub 2}-masked Al{sub 2}O{sub 3} insulator crystallized on Si(111) substrates are oriented with the c-axis along the 〈111〉 direction of the substrates, but exhibit a random in-plane orientation. A likely reason is the random orientation of the poly-crystalline γ-Al{sub 2}O{sub 3} grains in the Al{sub 2}O{sub 3} layer plane. Magnetic force microscopy studies at room temperature reveal that arrangements of coupled MnAs nanoclusters exhibit a complex magnetic domain structure. Such arrangements of coupled MnAs nanoclusters may also show magnetic random telegraph noise, i.e., jumps between two discrete resistance levels, in a certain temperature range, which can be explained by thermally activated changes of the complex magnetic structure of the nanocluster arrangements.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗
DOE OSTI2016

Weak antilocalization and universal conductance fluctuations in bismuth telluro-sulfide topological insulators

We report on van der Waals epitaxial growth, materials characterization, and magnetotransport experiments in crystalline nanosheets of Bismuth Telluro-Sulfide (BTS). Highly layered, good-quality crystalline nanosheets of BTS are obtained on SiO{sub 2} and muscovite mica. Weak-antilocalization (WAL), electron-electron interaction-driven insulating ground state and universal conductance fluctuations are observed in magnetotransport experiments on BTS devices. Temperature, thickness, and magnetic field dependence of the transport data indicate the presence of two-dimensional surface states along with bulk conduction, in agreement with theoretical models. An extended-WAL model is proposed and utilized in conjunction with a two-channel conduction model to analyze the data, revealing a surface component and evidence of multiple conducting channels. A facile growth method and detailed magnetotransport results indicating BTS as an alternative topological insulator material system are presented.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗
DOE OSTI2016

Evidence for ferromagnetic coupling at the doped topological insulator/ferrimagnetic insulator interface

One of the major obstacles of the magnetic topological insulators (TIs) impeding their practical use is the low Curie temperature (T{sub c}). Very recently, we have demonstrated the enhancement of the magnetic ordering in Cr-doped Bi{sub 2}Se{sub 3} by means of proximity to the high-T{sub c} ferrimagnetic insulator (FMI) Y{sub 3}Fe{sub 5}O{sub 12} and found a large and rapidly decreasing penetration depth of the proximity effect, suggestive of a different carrier propagation process near the TI surface. Here we further present a study of the interfacial magnetic interaction of this TI/FMI heterostrucutre. The synchrotron-based X-ray magnetic circular dichroism (XMCD) technique was used to probe the nature of the exchange coupling of the Bi{sub 2−x}Cr{sub x}Se{sub 3}/Y{sub 3}Fe{sub 5}O{sub 12} interface. We found that the Bi{sub 2−x}Cr{sub x}Se{sub 3} grown on Y{sub 3}Fe{sub 5}O{sub 12}(111) predominately contains Cr{sup 3+} cations, and the spin direction of the Cr{sup 3+} is aligned parallel to that of tetrahedral Fe{sup 3+} of the YIG, revealing a ferromagnetic exchange coupling between the Bi{sub 2−x}Cr{sub x}Se{sub 3} and the Y{sub 3}Fe{sub 5}O{sub 12}.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗
DOE OSTI2016

Linearity optimization of atomic layer deposited ZrO{sub 2} metal-insulator-metal capacitors by inserting interfacial Zr-doped chromia layers

In order to improve the electrical behaviour of metal-insulator-metal capacitors with ZrO{sub 2} insulator grown by Atomic Layer Deposition, the influence of the insertion of interfacial Cr layers between Pt electrodes and the zirconia is investigated. An improvement of the α-voltage coefficient of capacitance as low as 567 ppm/V{sup 2} is achieved for a single layer of Cr while maintaining a high capacitance density of 10.7 fF/μm{sup 2} and a leakage current of less than 1.2 × 10{sup −8} A/cm{sup 2} at +1 V. The role of the interface is discussed by means of X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy and high-resolution transmission electron microscopy showing the formation of Zr stabilized chromia oxide phase with a dielectric constant of 16.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗
DOE OSTI2016

Structural properties of Bi{sub 2}Te{sub 3} topological insulator thin films grown by molecular beam epitaxy on (111) BaF{sub 2} substrates

Structural properties of topological insulator bismuth telluride films grown epitaxially on (111) BaF{sub 2} with a fixed Bi{sub 2}Te{sub 3} beam flux were systematically investigated as a function of substrate temperature and additional Te flux. A layer-by-layer growth mode is observed since the early stages of epitaxy and remains throughout the whole deposition. Composition of the epitaxial films produced here stays between Bi{sub 2}Te{sub 3} and Bi{sub 4}Te{sub 5}, as determined from the comparison of the measured x-ray diffraction curves with calculations. The substrate temperature region, where the growth rate remains constant, is found to be the most appropriate to obtain ordered Bi{sub 2}Te{sub 3} films. Line width of the L = 18 Bi{sub 2}Te{sub 3} diffraction peaks as low as 140 arcsec was obtained, indicating high crystalline quality. Twinning domains density rises with increasing growth temperature and reducing Te extra flux. X-ray reflectivity curves of pure Bi{sub 2}Te{sub 3} films with thickness from 165 to 8 nm exhibited well defined interference fringes, evidencing homogeneous layers with smooth surface. Our results demonstrate that Bi{sub 2}Te{sub 3} films with very well controlled structural parameters can be obtained. High structural quality Bi{sub 2}Te{sub 3} films as thin as only eight quintuple layers grown here are promising candidates for intrinsic topological insulator.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗
DOE OSTI2016

Role of laser energy density on growth of highly oriented topological insulator Bi{sub 2}Se{sub 3} thin films

Topological insulators (TIs) are very promising in the field of nanoelectronics due to their exotic properties. Bismuth Selenide, a 3D Topological insulator is considered as reference TI owing to its simple band structure and large bandgap. However, the presence of unintentional doping, which masks the metallic surface states, is still a major concern. In this work, we report the effect of laser energy density on the growth of highly oriented and stoichiometric thin films of Bi{sub 2}Se{sub 3} by pulsed laser deposition (PLD). Structural characterizations by X-ray diffraction (XRD) and Raman Spectroscopy confirms the c-axis orientation and good crystallinity of films. Atomic force microscopy (AFM) study shows the increase in average grain size and rms roughness (from 3.1 nm to 5.1 nm) with the decrease in laser energy density. Compositional study by X-Ray Reflectivity (XRR) measurement is found to be in agreement with AFM results. Energy dispersive x-ray spectroscopy (EDS) measurements confirm the desired stoichiometry of the samples.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗
DOE OSTI2016

Growth of high quality single crystals of Bi{sub 2}Se{sub 3} topological insulator via solid state reaction method

Recently discovered, Topological Insulators (TIs) have garnered enormous amount of attention owing to its unique surface properties which has potential applications in the field of spintronics and other modern technologies. For all this, it should require a very good quality samples. There are a number of techniques suggested by people for the growth of good quality TIs. Here, we are reporting the growth of high quality single crystals of Bi{sub 2}Se{sub 3} (a TI) by slow cooling solid-state reaction method. X-ray diffraction measurements performed on a cleaved flake of single crystal Bi{sub 2}Se{sub 3} showed up with proper orientations of the crystal planes. High energy X-ray diffraction has been performed to confirm the stoichiometry of the compound and also recorded Laue patterns prove the single crystalline nature of Bi{sub 2}Se{sub 3}. Moreover, angle resolved photo-emission spectroscopy (ARPES) carried out on a flat crystal flake shows distinct Dirac dispersion of surface bands at the gamma point clarifying it as a 3D topological insulator.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗
DOE OSTI2016

Linear magneto-resistance in Bi{sub 2}SeTe{sub 2} topological insulator

Magnetic field and temperature dependent electronic transport measurements have been carried out on Bi{sub 2}SeTe{sub 2} topological insulator single crystals. The measurements reveal an insulating behavior and the carriers were found to be electrons (n-type) from Hall measurement. Magneto-resistance (MR) measurements in the field range (B) of 15 T to -15 T carried out at 4.2 K showed a cusp like weak anti-localization behavior for lower fields (-5 T 5 T. Upon increasing temperature, MR transforms to linear dependence of B at 40, 50 and 100 K. On further increasing temperatures (> 200 K), a parabolic MR is observed. Temperature dependent Hall data also showed a transition from a nonlinear to linear behavior upon increasing temperatures. Disorder induced changes in the electronic transport characteristics of bulk and surface electrons are believed to cause such changes in the magneto-transport behavior of this system.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗
DOE OSTI2016

Thermal radiative near field transport between vanadium dioxide and silicon oxide across the metal insulator transition

The thermal radiative near field transport between vanadium dioxide and silicon oxide at submicron distances is expected to exhibit a strong dependence on the state of vanadium dioxide which undergoes a metal-insulator transition near room temperature. We report the measurement of near field thermal transport between a heated silicon oxide micro-sphere and a vanadium dioxide thin film on a titanium oxide (rutile) substrate. The temperatures of the 15 nm vanadium dioxide thin film varied to be below and above the metal-insulator-transition, and the sphere temperatures were varied in a range between 100 and 200 °C. The measurements were performed using a vacuum-based scanning thermal microscope with a cantilevered resistive thermal sensor. We observe a thermal conductivity per unit area between the sphere and the film with a distance dependence following a power law trend and a conductance contrast larger than 2 for the two different phase states of the film.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗
DOE OSTI2016

Skyrmion-induced bound states on the surface of three-dimensional topological insulators

The interaction between the surface of a 3D topological insulator and a skyrmion/anti-skyrmion structure is studied in order to investigate the possibility of electron confinement due to the skyrmion presence. Both hedgehog (Néel) and vortex (Bloch) skyrmions are considered. For the hedgehog skyrmion, the in-plane components cannot be disregarded and their interaction with the surface state of the topological insulator (TI) has to be taken into account. A semi-classical description of the skyrmion chiral angle is obtained using the variational principle. It is shown that both the hedgehog and the vortex skyrmion can induce bound states on the surface of the TI. However, the number and the properties of these states depend strongly on the skyrmion type and the skyrmion topological number N{sub Sk}. The probability densities of the bound electrons are also derived where it is shown that they are localized within the skyrmion region.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗
DOE OSTI2016

Development of the surface-sensitive soft x-ray absorption fine structure measurement technique for the bulk insulator

We have succeeded in measuring X-ray absorption fine structure (TEY-XAFS) spectra of insulating plate samples by total electron yield. The biggest problem is how to suppress the charge-up. We have attempted to deposit a gold stripe electrode on the surface and obtained a TEY-XAFS spectrum. This indicates that the metal stripe electrode is very useful in the TEY-XAFS measurement of the insulating plate samples. In the detailed analysis, we have found that the effective area for suppressing charge-up was approximately 120 μm from the edge of the electrode.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗
DOE OSTI2016

H-terminated diamond field effect transistor with ferroelectric gate insulator

An H-terminated diamond field-effect-transistor (FET) with a ferroelectric vinylidene fluoride (VDF)-trifluoroethylene (TrFE) copolymer gate insulator was fabricated. The VDF-TrFE film was deposited on the H-terminated diamond by the spin-coating method and low-temperature annealing was performed to suppress processing damage to the H-terminated diamond surface channel layer. The fabricated FET structure showed the typical properties of depletion-type p-channel FET and showed clear saturation of the drain current with a maximum value of 50 mA/mm. The drain current versus gate voltage curves of the proposed FET showed clockwise hysteresis loops due to the ferroelectricity of the VDF-TrFE gate insulator, and the memory window width was 19 V, when the gate voltage was swept from 20 to −20 V. The maximum on/off current ratio and the linear mobility were 10{sup 8} and 398 cm{sup 2}/V s, respectively. In addition, we modulated the drain current of the fabricated FET structure via the remnant polarization of the VDF-TrFE gate and obtained an on/off current ratio of 10{sup 3} without applying a DC gate voltage.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗
DOE OSTI2016

Fabrication of Ohmic contact on semi-insulating 4H-SiC substrate by laser thermal annealing

The Ni contact layer was deposited on semi-insulating 4H-SiC substrate by magnetron sputtering. The as-deposited samples were treated by rapid thermal annealing (RTA) and KrF excimer laser thermal annealing (LTA), respectively. The RTA annealed sample is rectifying while the LTA sample is Ohmic. The specific contact resistance (ρ{sub c}) is 1.97 × 10{sup −3} Ω·cm{sup 2}, which was determined by the circular transmission line model. High resolution transmission electron microscopy morphologies and selected area electron diffraction patterns demonstrate that the 3C-SiC transition zone is formed in the near-interface region of the SiC after the as-deposited sample is treated by LTA, which is responsible for the Ohmic contact formation in the semi-insulating 4H-SiC.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗
DOE OSTI2016

Pulse number controlled laser annealing for GeSn on insulator structure with high substitutional Sn concentration

Crystalline GeSn-on-insulator structures with high Sn concentration (>8%), which exceeds thermal equilibrium solid-solubility (∼2%) of Sn in Ge, are essential to achieve high-speed thin film transistors and high-efficiency optical devices. We investigate non-thermal equilibrium growth of Ge{sub 1−x}Sn{sub x} (0 ≤ x ≤ 0.2) on quartz substrates by using pulsed laser annealing (PLA). The window of laser fluence enabling complete crystallization without film ablation is drastically expanded (∼5 times) by Sn doping above 5% into Ge. Substitutional Sn concentration in grown layers is found to be increased with decreasing irradiation pulse number. This phenomenon can be explained on the basis of significant thermal non-equilibrium growth achieved by higher cooling rate after PLA with a lower pulse number. As a result, GeSn crystals with substitutional Sn concentration of ∼12% are realized at pulse irradiation of single shot for the samples with the initial Sn concentration of 15%. Raman spectroscopy and electron microscopy measurements reveal the high quality of the grown layer. This technique will be useful to fabricate high-speed thin film transistors and high-efficiency optical devices on insulating substrates.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗
DOE OSTI2016

Bandgap modulation in photoexcited topological insulator Bi{sub 2}Te{sub 3} via atomic displacements

The atomic and electronic dynamics in the topological insulator (TI) Bi{sub 2}Te{sub 3} under strong photoexcitation were characterized with time-resolved electron diffraction and time-resolved mid-infrared spectroscopy. Three-dimensional TIs characterized as bulk insulators with an electronic conduction surface band have shown a variety of exotic responses in terms of electronic transport when observed under conditions of applied pressure, magnetic field, or circularly polarized light. However, the atomic motions and their correlation between electronic systems in TIs under strong photoexcitation have not been explored. The artificial and transient modification of the electronic structures in TIs via photoinduced atomic motions represents a novel mechanism for providing a comparable level of bandgap control. The results of time-domain crystallography indicate that photoexcitation induces two-step atomic motions: first bismuth and then tellurium center-symmetric displacements. These atomic motions in Bi{sub 2}Te{sub 3} trigger 10% bulk bandgap narrowing, which is consistent with the time-resolved mid-infrared spectroscopy results.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗