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At least 1,621 records · Page 90
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DOE OSTI2015

The electronic structure of homogeneous ferromagnetic (Ga, Mn)N epitaxial films

X-ray Absorption Fine Structure (XAFS) techniques, namely, X-ray Near Edge Structure (XANES), Extended XAFS (EXAFS), and Anomalous X-ray Diffraction (AXRD) were used to investigate the local atomic and electronic structure of (Ga, Mn)N magnetic layers with Mn concentrations of up to 10% grown by Molecular Beam Epitaxy. The XANES and AXRD analysis prove the Mn incorporation on substitutional GaN lattice sites. EXAFS results indicate the good quality of the structure under examination, although 0.5 nitride atom vacancies were found. The Wien2k code was applied to interpret the XANES spectra quantitatively, i.e., to determine the electronic structure of the Mn atoms. It was shown that accounting for the core-hole effect is necessary to reconstruct effectively the XANES spectra. Conducted charge density analysis based on DFT calculations identified the valency of Mn atom to be of 2.4+.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗
DOE OSTI2015

Investigation of Sn surface segregation during GeSn epitaxial growth by Auger electron spectroscopy and energy dispersive x-ray spectroscopy

The mechanism of Sn surface segregation during the epitaxial growth of GeSn on Si (001) substrates was investigated by Auger electron spectroscopy and energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy. Sn surface segregation depends on the growth temperature and Sn content of GeSn layers. During Sn surface segregation, Sn-rich nanoparticles form and move on the surface during the deposition, which results in a rough surface owing to facet formation. The Sn-rich nanoparticles moving on the surface during the deposition absorb Sn from the periphery and yield a lower Sn content, not on the surface but within the layer, because the Sn surface segregation and the GeSn deposition occur simultaneously. Sn surface segregation can occur at a lower temperature during the deposition compared with that during postannealing. This suggests that the Sn surface segregation during the deposition is strongly promoted by the migration of deposited Ge and Sn adatoms on the surface originating from the thermal effect of substrate temperature, which also suggests that limiting the migration of deposited Ge and Sn adatoms can reduce the Sn surface segregation and improve the crystallinity of GeSn layers.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗
DOE OSTI2015

Electronic structure at transition metal phthalocyanine-transition metal oxide interfaces: Cobalt phthalocyanine on epitaxial MnO films

The electronic structure of the interface between cobalt phthalocyanine (CoPc) and epitaxially grown manganese oxide (MnO) thin films is studied by means of photoemission (PES) and X-ray absorption spectroscopy (XAS). Our results reveal a flat-lying adsorption geometry of the molecules on the oxide surface which allows a maximal interaction between the π-system and the substrate. A charge transfer from MnO, in particular, to the central metal atom of CoPc is observed by both PES and XAS. The change of the shape of N-K XAS spectra at the interface points, however, to the involvement of the Pc macrocycle in the charge transfer process. As a consequence of the charge transfer, energetic shifts of MnO related core levels were observed, which are discussed in terms of a Fermi level shift in the semiconducting MnO films due to interface charge redistribution.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗
DOE OSTI2015

Effects of growth temperature and device structure on GaP solar cells grown by molecular beam epitaxy

Gallium phosphide (GaP) is an attractive candidate for wide-bandgap solar cell applications, possessing the largest bandgap of the III-arsenide/phosphides without aluminum. However, GaP cells to date have exhibited poor internal quantum efficiency (IQE), even for photons absorbed by direct transitions, motivating improvements in material quality and device structure. In this work, we investigated GaP solar cells grown by molecular beam epitaxy over a range of substrate temperatures, employing a much thinner emitter than in prior work. Higher growth temperatures yielded the best solar cell characteristics, indicative of increased diffusion lengths. Furthermore, the inclusion of an AlGaP window layer improved both open-circuit voltage and short wavelength IQE.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗
DOE OSTI2015

Markedly distinct growth characteristics of semipolar (112{sup ¯}2) and (1{sup ¯}1{sup ¯}22{sup ¯}) InGaN epitaxial layers

We compare metalorganic vapor phase epitaxy of InGaN/GaN heterostructures on semipolar (112{sup ¯}2) and (1{sup ¯}1{sup ¯}22{sup ¯}) GaN bulk substrates. In incorporation efficiency is higher for (112{sup ¯}2) InGaN, which enables higher temperature growth of InGaN and is beneficial for quality improvement. InGaN/GaN quantum wells (QWs) on (112{sup ¯}2) show abrupt interfaces, but those on (1{sup ¯}1{sup ¯}22{sup ¯}) tend to form three-dimensional nanofacets. Differences in growth temperature and structures of the (112{sup ¯}2) and (1{sup ¯}1{sup ¯}22{sup ¯}) QWs cause higher internal quantum efficiencies of the (112{sup ¯}2) [(1{sup ¯}1{sup ¯}22{sup ¯})] QWs at shorter (longer) wavelengths.

77 NANOSCIENCE AND NANOTECHNOLOGY↗
DOE OSTI2015

Magneto-transport anisotropy in epitaxially grown hybrid MnAs/GaAs multilayer

Using molecular-beam epitaxy, we grew a MnAs/GaAs multilayer on a GaAs(100) substrate and compared its magneto-transport characteristics to those of a single-layer MnAs thin film. The crystal orientation of the MnAs layers in both samples was type-B. M–H measurements revealed two-fold symmetric magnetic anisotropy on the surface with the easy and hard direction of magnetization. When the current flowed along the hard direction, the MnAs/GaAs multilayer exhibited negative magnetoresistance below Curie temperature; when the current flowed along the easy direction, it turned positive. We suggest that this peculiar anisotropic magneto-transport behavior in the multilayer originated from two-dimensional carrier confinement and spin-orbit coupling.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗
DOE OSTI2015

Epitaxial Fe{sub 3}Pt/FePt nanocomposites on MgO and SrTiO{sub 3}

We have exploited the pseudomorphic growth of the magnetically soft Fe{sub 3}Pt phase on top of L1{sub 0}-FePt to obtain fully epitaxial soft/hard nanocomposites on both MgO(100) and SrTiO{sub 3}(100). The magnetic properties of this new nanocomposite system, driven by the soft/hard exchange-coupling, can be tailored by varying soft phase thickness, soft phase magnetic anisotropy and substrate. Coercivity is strongly reduced by the addition of the soft phase, a reduction which is definitely affected by the nominal composition of the soft phase and by the substrate choice; similarly is the magnetic phase diagram of the composite system. Coercive field decreases down to 21% of the hard layer value for Fe{sub 3}Pt(5 nm)/FePt(3.55 nm) nanocomposites on SrTiO{sub 3}; this maximum coercivity reduction was obtained with a nominal atomic content of Fe in the soft phase of 80%.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗
DOE OSTI2015

Effect of phase separation induced supercooling on magnetotransport properties of epitaxial La{sub 5/8−y}Pr{sub y}Ca{sub 3/8}MnO{sub 3} (y≈0.4) thin film

Thin films of La{sub 5/8−y}Pr{sub y}Ca{sub 3/8}MnO{sub 3} (y≈0.4) have been grown on single crystal SrTiO{sub 3} (001) by RF sputtering. The structural and surface characterizations confirm the epitaxial nature of these film. However, the difference between the ω-scan of the (002) and (110) peaks and the presence of pits/holes in the step-terrace type surface morphology suggests high density of defect in these films. Pronounced hysteresis between the field cooled cooling (FCC) and field cooled warming (FCW) magnetization measurements suggest towards the non-ergodic magnetic state. The origin of this nonergodicity could be traced to the magnetic liquid like state arising from the delicacy of the coexisting magnetic phases, viz., ferromagnetic and antiferromagnetic-charge ordered (FM/AFM-CO). The large difference between the insulator metal transitions during cooling and warming cycles (T{sub IM}{sup C} ∼ 64 K and T{sub IM}{sup W} ∼ 123 K) could be regarded as a manifestation of the nonergodicity leading to supercooling of the magnetic liquid while cooling. The nonergodicity and supercooling are weakened by the AFM-FM phase transition induced by an external magnetic field. T{sub IM} and small polaron activation energy corresponding the magnetic liquid state (cooling cycle) vary nonlinearly with the applied magnetic field but become linear in the crystalline solid state (warming cycle). The analysis of the low temperature resistivity data shows that electron-phonon interaction is drastically reduced by the applied magnetic field. The resistivity minimum in the lower temperature region of the self-field warming curve has been explained in terms of the Kondo like scattering in the magnetically inhomogeneous regime.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2015

Plasma assisted molecular beam epitaxy growth and effect of varying buffer thickness on the formation of ultra-thin In{sub 0.17}Al{sub 0.83}N/GaN heterostructure on Si(111)

This work reports on the detailed plasma-assisted molecular beam epitaxy (PAMBE) growth of ultra-thin In{sub 0.17}Al{sub 0.83}N/GaN heterostructures on Si(111) substrate with three different buffer thickness (600 nm, 400 nm, and 200 nm). Growth through critical optimization of growth conditions is followed by the investigation of impact of varying buffer thickness on the formation of ultra-thin 1.5 nm, In{sub 0.17}Al{sub 0.83}N–1.25 nm, GaN–1.5 nm, In{sub 0.17}Al{sub 0.83}N heterostructure, in terms of threading dislocation (TD) density. Analysis reveals a drastic reduction of TD density from the order 10{sup 10 }cm{sup −2} to 10{sup 8 }cm{sup −2} with increasing buffer thickness resulting smooth ultra-thin active region for thick buffer structure. Increasing strain with decreasing buffer thickness is studied through reciprocal space mapping analysis. Surface morphology through atomic force microscopy analysis also supports our study by observing an increase of pits and root mean square value (0.89 nm, 1.2 nm, and 1.45 nm) with decreasing buffer thickness which are resulted due to the internal strain and TDs.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗
DOE OSTI2015

Electrical properties of amorphous and epitaxial Si-rich silicide films composed of W-atom-encapsulated Si clusters

We investigated the electrical properties and derived the energy band structures of amorphous Si-rich W silicide (a-WSi{sub n}) films and approximately 1-nm-thick crystalline WSi{sub n} epitaxial films (e-WSi{sub n}) on Si (100) substrates with composition n = 8–10, both composed of Si{sub n} clusters each of which encapsulates a W atom (WSi{sub n} clusters). The effect of annealing in the temperature range of 300–500 °C was also investigated. The Hall measurements at room temperature revealed that a-WSi{sub n} is a nearly intrinsic semiconductor, whereas e-WSi{sub n} is an n-type semiconductor with electron mobility of ∼8 cm{sup 2}/V s and high sheet electron density of ∼7 × 10{sup 12 }cm{sup −2}. According to the temperature dependence of the electrical properties, a-WSi{sub n} has a mobility gap of ∼0.1 eV and mid gap states in the region of 10{sup 19 }cm{sup −3} eV{sup −1} in an optical gap of ∼0.6 eV with considerable band tail states; e-WSi{sub n} has a donor level of ∼0.1 eV with sheet density in the region of 10{sup 12 }cm{sup −2} in a band gap of ∼0.3 eV. These semiconducting band structures are primarily attributed to the open band-gap properties of the constituting WSi{sub n} cluster. In a-WSi{sub n}, the random network of the clusters generates the band tail states, and the formation of Si dangling bonds results in the generation of mid gap states; in e-WSi{sub n}, the original cluster structure is highly distorted to accommodate the Si lattice, resulting in the formation of intrinsic defects responsible for the donor level.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗
DOE OSTI2015

Temperature dependent magnetic anisotropy of epitaxial Co{sub 2}FeAl films grown on GaAs

Co{sub 2}FeAl films with different thickness were prepared at different temperature by molecular beam epitaxy. Their magnetic anisotropy was studied by rotating magneto-optical Kerr rotation measurements under different temperature. It is found that the cubic anisotropy depends only on the temperature-dependent fourth order magneto-elastic coefficients. However, the results of growth and measurement temperature-dependent uniaxial anisotropy suggest that the uniaxial anisotropy of Co{sub 2}FeAl films may be attributed to contributions from both shear strain and anisotropic interfacial bonding. Our experimental findings proposed a new point of view to understand the origin of magnetic anisotropy in ferromagnet/GaAs(001) heterostructures.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗
DOE OSTI2015

InGaN-based thin film solar cells: Epitaxy, structural design, and photovoltaic properties

In{sub x}Ga{sub 1−x}N, with the tunable direct bandgaps from ultraviolet to near infrared region, offers a promising candidate for the high-efficiency next-generation thin-film photovoltaic applications. Although the adoption of thick InGaN film as the active region is desirable to obtain efficient light absorption and carrier collection compared to InGaN/GaN quantum wells structure, the understanding on the effect from structural design is still unclear due to the poor-quality InGaN films with thickness and difficulty of p-type doping. In this paper, we comprehensively investigate the effects from film epitaxy, doping, and device structural design on the performances of the InGaN-based solar cells. The high-quality InGaN thick film is obtained on AlN/sapphire template, and p-In{sub 0.08}Ga{sub 0.92}N is achieved with a high hole concentration of more than 10{sup 18 }cm{sup −3}. The dependence of the photovoltaic performances on different structures, such as active regions and p-type regions is analyzed with respect to the carrier transport mechanism in the dark and under illumination. The strategy of improving the p-i interface by using a super-thin AlN interlayer is provided, which successfully enhances the performance of the solar cells.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗
DOE OSTI2015

Multi-stacks of epitaxial GeSn self-assembled dots in Si: Structural analysis

We report on the growth and structural and morphologic characterization of stacked layers of self-assembled GeSn dots grown on Si (100) substrates by molecular beam epitaxy at low substrate temperature T = 350 °C. Samples consist of layers (from 1 up to 10) of Ge{sub 0.96}Sn{sub 0.04} self-assembled dots separated by Si spacer layers, 10 nm thick. Their structural analysis was performed based on transmission electron microscopy, atomic force microscopy, and Raman scattering. We found that up to 4 stacks of dots could be grown with good dot layer homogeneity, making the GeSn dots interesting candidates for optoelectronic device applications.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2015

X-ray magnetic circular dichroism study of epitaxial magnetite ultrathin film on MgO(100)

The spin and orbital magnetic moments of the Fe{sub 3}O{sub 4} epitaxial ultrathin film synthesized by plasma assisted simultaneous oxidization on MgO(100) have been studied with X-ray magnetic circular dichroism. The ultrathin film retains a rather large total magnetic moment, i.e., (2.73 ± 0.15) μ{sub B}/f.u., which is ∼70% of that for the bulk-like Fe{sub 3}O{sub 4}. A significant unquenched orbital moment up to 0.54 ± 0.05 μ{sub B}/f.u. was observed, which could come from the symmetry breaking at the Fe{sub 3}O{sub 4}/MgO interface. Such sizable orbital moment will add capacities to the Fe{sub 3}O{sub 4}-based spintronics devices in the magnetization reversal by the electric field.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗
DOE OSTI2015

Absence of low temperature phase transitions and enhancement of ferroelectric transition temperature in highly strained BaTiO{sub 3} epitaxial films grown on MgO Substrates

Recently, a large enhancement in the ferroelectric transition temperature of several oxides is reported by growing the respective thin films on appropriate substrates. This phenomenon is correlated with high residual strain in thin films often leading to large increase in the tetragonality of their crystal structure. However, such an enhancement of transition temperature is usually limited to very thin films of ∼10 nm thickness. Here, we report growth of fully strained epitaxial thin films of BaTiO{sub 3} of 400 nm thickness, which are coherently grown on MgO substrates by pulsed laser deposition technique. Conventional high resolution x-ray diffraction and also the reciprocal space map measurements confirm that the film is fully strained with in-plane tensile strain of 5.5% that dramatically increases the tetragonality to 1.05. Raman measurements reveal that the tetragonal to cubic structural phase transition is observed at 583 K, which results in an enhancement of ∼200 K. Furthermore, temperature dependent Raman studies on these films corroborate absence of all the low temperature phase transitions. Numerical calculations based on thermodynamical model predict a value of the transition temperature that is greater than 1500 °C. Our experimental results are therefore in clear deviation from the existing strain dependent phase diagrams.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗
DOE OSTI2015

Fourfold symmetric planar Hall effect in epitaxial La{sub 1−x}Sr{sub x}CoO{sub 3} thin films

The effect of Sr concentration on the planar Hall effect (PHE) in epitaxial magnetic phase separated La{sub 1−x}Sr{sub x}CoO{sub 3} (0.07 ≤ x ≤ 0.60) thin films was studied systematically. It was found that crystalline anisotropy and spin-orbital coupling are the main contributions to the unexpected fourfold symmetric PHE. The uniaxial anisotropy field was given by H{sub uni} = 70 Oe and cubic anisotropic field H{sub cub} = 143 Oe, respectively. The magnetic anisotropy was weakened by Sr doping, which corresponds with the disappearance of the fourfold symmetry in PHE with the increasing Sr concentration. The first principle calculations proved that the contribution of Co-d orbitals to the magnetic anisotropy strongly depends on the Sr concentration. e{sub g}−d{sub x{sup 2}−y{sup 2}} and e{sub g}−d{sub 3z{sup 2}−r{sup 2}} orbitals play a dominant role in the magnetic anisotropy of the samples with x = 0.125, 0.25, while the t{sub 2g}−d{sub xy}, d{sub yz}, d{sub xz} orbitals contribute mainly to the magnetic anisotropy of the samples with x = 0.375, 0.5, 0.625.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗
DOE OSTI2015

Epitaxial growth of In{sub x}Ga{sub 1-x}N alloy films on sapphire and silicon by reactive co-sputtering of GaAs and indium

In{sub x}Ga{sub 1-x}N alloy films (0.2<x<0.5) were epitaxially grown on c-cut sapphire and Si (100) substrates by reactive co-sputtering of GaAs and indium with 100% nitrogen at a substrate temperature of 600 °C. X-ray diffraction studies show the formation of completely c-axis oriented, single phase alloy films over the studied range of composition. The crystallite size along the growth direction and surface morphology of alloy films, particularly those with higher indium fraction exhibit substantial improvement on Si (100) substrate, compared to the c-cut sapphire substrate. The electrical resistivity decreases monotonously with increase in indium fraction and the alloy films on Si (100) show substantially higher mobility, compared to those on sapphire. These features are attributed to superior crystallinity of alloy films on Si (100), which possibly arise from the formation of interfacial hexagonal α-Si{sub 3}N{sub 4}, owing to the interaction of nitrogen plasma with Si surface.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗
DOE OSTI2015

Phase-coherent transport and spin relaxation in InAs nanowires grown by molecule beam epitaxy

We report low-temperature magnetotransport studies of individual InAs nanowires grown by molecule beam epitaxy. At low magnetic fields, the magnetoconductance characteristics exhibit a crossover between weak antilocalization and weak localization by changing either the gate voltage or the temperature. The observed crossover behavior can be well described in terms of relative scales of the transport characteristic lengths extracted based on the quasi-one-dimensional theory of weak localization in the presence of spin-orbit interaction. The spin relaxation length extracted from the magnetoconductance data is found to be in the range of 80–100 nm, indicating the presence of strong spin-orbit coupling in the InAs nanowires. Moreover, the amplitude of universal conductance fluctuations in the nanowires is found to be suppressed at low temperatures due to the presence of strong spin-orbit scattering.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗