We demonstrated an ability to control the location of the porous silicon formation during electro-chemical etching by the introduction of micro- fabricated defects. This ability may open new doors for chemical and biological applications of porous silicon. In this paper, we have focused on the experimental procedure used to form this site-specific porous silicon area on micro- fabricated silicon surface. We also compared our results with work carried out by Saraf et al[1] during the early stage of porous silicon formation in conventional electrochemical etching.

In this study full dense polycrystalline samples of Pb(Mg1/4Ni1/4W1/2)O3 have been sintered by solid-state reaction. X-ray data showed the formation of a single-phase new compound with unit cell parameters a = 9.8045 (25) Å, b = 13.1280(25) Å and c = 14.4207 (25) Å. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) was used to evaluate the microstructures of sintered specimens. Dielectric constant and loss as function of frequency were investigated.

Transport properties of polycrystalline Si1−xGex (x = 0, 30, 50 and 70) thin films on SiO2 were studied by Hall measurements and transport properties of the TFTs fabricated on the films were characterized. Si1−xGex films were p-type in spite of non-doping. Room temperature hole densities of Si1−xGex films increased from 5 × 1013 to 5 × 1016 cm−3 as Ge concentration increased from 30 % to 70 %. The acceptor levels in Si1−xGex were located at 0.43, 0.40 and 0.34 eV for x=0.3, 0.5 and 0.7 from valence band, respectively. The high leakage current of SiGe-TFTs was observed and drain current could not be turned off even when the high gate voltage was applied. The acceptor density increased with increasing annealing temperature from 700 °C to 800 °C. The leakage currents were independent of the annealing temperature and is thought to originate from Ge-related defects in grain boundaries.

The optical absorption spectra of intersubband transitions in In0.3Ga0.7As/GaAs multiple quantum dots (MQDs) grown by molecular beam epitaxy were investigated. By varying the number of In0.3Ga0.7As monolayers deposited, a series of samples with varying dot sizes ranging from 10 – 50 monolayers were obtained. The quantum dots grown with size less than 15 monolayers or more than 50 monolayers did not yield any observable measurements of intersubband transition. This suggests that there exist a critical upper and lower limit of In0.3Ga0.7As quantum dots for infrared detectors. A wavelength range of 8.60 – 13.70 μm is achieved for structures grown with the above monolayers range. The theoretical line-shape of the intersubband transition absorption was compared to the experimental measurements. From the lineshape, it was deduced that bound-to-continuum transtition is present in thick quantum dots and bound-to-bound transition is present in thinly grown quantum dots.

A recombination lifetime of approximately 25 ns was extracted from measured reverse recovery storage times in AlGaN/GaN/AlGaN double heterojunction blue light emitting diodes. This experimentally determined lifetime is expected to arise from a combination of radiative and non-radiative processes occurring in the diodes. The non-radiative processes are likely to be due the presence of a high concentration deep-states as identified from the current-voltage and capacitance-voltage measurements. Current-voltage characteristics of these diodes were highly non-ideal as indicated by high values of the ideality factor ranging from 3.0 – 7.0. Logarithmic plots of the forward characteristics indicated a space-charge-limited-current (SCLC) conduction in presence of a high density of “deep-level states” in the active region of the diodes. An analysis of these characteristics yielded an approximate density of these deep-level states as 2 × 1017/cm3. The density of deep-states extracted from capacitance-voltage measurements were in good agreement with that obtained from current-voltage measurements.

In this paper we discuss the growth of self-assembled InAs quantum dots (QDs) on both GaAs and InP substrates by low pressure Metal Organic Chemical Vapor Deposition. The influence of various growth parameters, such as the deposition time, the QD overlayer growth temperature, the V/III ratio and the group III and/or group V interdiffusion on QD formation are discussed and compared for the two systems. Stacking issues and preliminary results for an InAs/GaAs QD laser are also presented.

We present a high speed, high responsivity, tensile strained Ge p-i-n photodetector selectively grown on Si platform that covers the whole C band and a large part of the L band for high capacity optical communications. The device shows a 3dB bandwidth of 2.5GHz and its responsivities at 1310nm and 1550nm are comparable to commercial InGaAs photodetectors currently used in telecommunications. The device has promising applications in Si microphotonics such as the fiber-to-the-home technology.

Semiconductors in the V/VI series have band gaps ranging from 2.2 eV for Sb2S3 to 0.21 eV for Bi2Te3 spanning the range seen from conventional mid to narrow band gap materials to semi-metals. These materials, especially those with narrower band gaps, demonstrate thermo-electric properties and are used in Peltier devices. There are examples in the literature of the synthesis of several of these materials in a nanostructured form, however the reactions often rely on highly toxic reagents, especially in the case of tellurium containing materials. Further more there are no reports of general routes applicable to all three chalcogenides.

In this paper we describe a general method for the synthesis of chalcogenide V/VI nanomaterials by the reaction of acetate salts with the corresponding chalcogenide under reflux conditions in long chain alkyl amines, typically octylamine or dodecylamine. The effect of temperature and capping agent on the morphology of the final product are discussed and in particular the synthesis of Bi2S3 nanorods, Bi2Se3 and Bi2Te3 nanowafers and Sb2Se3 nanowires are described.

We report on the observation of resonant Zener tunnelling of light waves in an optical superlattice. The one dimensional (1D) structures are made in free-standing porous silicon and are designed specifically to exhibit two photonic minibands. A controlled optical path gradient has been maintained over the sample thickness which resulted in tilting of photonic minibands and formation of optical Wannier-Stark ladders. At a certain value of optical gradient the two minibands couple within the extension of the structure and a resonant tunnelling channel through the superlattice forms, resulting in a very high transmission peak. Ultrafast time resolved transmission experiments were performed: excitation of the Wannier-Stark states causes the appearance of photonic Bloch oscillations, which are strongly damped when Zener tunneling modes are excited. The observed phenomenon is the optical analogue of resonant Zener tunnelling in an electronic superlattice.

The dielectric responses of semiconductors such as C, Ge, Si, and AlGaAs are studied by the time-dependent density-functional theory. In our study, the real-space grid representation of the electron wave functions is used and the real-time approach is employed for the dynamics of the system. Both the static and dynamic dielectric functions are calculated, and we yielded that the static dielectric constants ε(0) are especially in good agreement with the experimental values. The effect of Al-component in the compound semiconductor AlxGa1−xAs is also studied. The peaks of the imaginary part of the dielectric function change with the band separation as a function of the Al-component. Furthermore, the static dielectric constants show the expected change due to the band separation as a function of the Al-component.

As a wide bandgap (5.47 eV) semiconductor material, single crystal diamond has high electron mobility (reportedly between 2000 and 4400 cm2V-1s-1), high electron saturation velocity (2×107 cms-1), high breakdown voltage (>107 Vcm-1), and high thermal conductivity (>21 Wcm-1K-1). Diamond-based semiconductor devices offer the potential of operation at high voltages, power levels, temperatures and under extreme radiation conditions. In this work, we present our effort to grow high quality homo-epitaxial diamond films on (100)-single crystal diamond substrates by microwave plasma chemical vapor deposition (MPCVD). The growth rate can vary from 0.01 to 100 micrometers per hour, depending on growth conditions, doping, and quality; and using a “lift-off” process, free-standing homo-epi films with remarkably low p-type doping (1×1014–1×1017 cm-3) and exceptionally low compensation ∼ 1×1013 cm-3 have been made. Vertical and lateral structure high voltage diamond Schottky rectifiers have been built for frequency dependent capacitance-voltage (C-V), and current-voltage (I-V) measurements. A breakdown voltage of 8 kV at 100 μm distance and 12.4 kV at 300 μm distance is recorded for lateral structure devices without Ohmic contact (back to back Schottky contacts), while an un-optimized vertical device with an back-side Ohmic contact has demonstrated a forward voltage drop of 7 V at 18 A/cm2 in a device that can only block 600 V. New test results show 3.7 kV blocking voltage vertical devices on 20 μm freestanding MPCVD diamond film. This data shows that the quality of diamond film extremely affect the electrical properties of the built devices.

SrS:Ce nanoparticles were prepared using a reverse micelle method and coated by ZnO. The mono-dispersed nanoparticles whose size was as small as 3nm were observed by transmission electron microscope (TEM) and dynamic light scattering (DLS) method. Optical properties of the core-shell SrS:Ce/ZnO nanoparticle was studied. UV-visible absorption and photoluminescence (PL) properties were measured and compared with those of SrS:Ce and SrS nanoparticles. Bright blue photoluminescence (around 440 nm) was observed from SrS:Ce at a room temperature when nanoparticles were excited using a Hg lamp. The PL peak intensity enhancement was observed after forming the ZnO shell. The optical absorption profile of nanoparticles was associated with the band edge feature of SrS. The coating of the SrS:Ce surface by ZnO has affected the electronic structure of SrS:Ce nanoparticles.

Dense-packed embedded semiconductor quantum dot (QD) layers with a multimodal size distribution are representing new types of QD solids. Their optical and electronic properties are modified due to dipole-dipole interactions and tunneling effects. In this work sequential high dose ion implantation of Cd and Se and subsequent thermal treatment is used to synthesize QD assemblies with the required structural properties in the surface near region of 500 nm thick thermally grown SiO2 on Silicon. We used cw photoluminescence (PL) to study PL-yield as a function of pump laser power at low temperatures for different various stoichiometries and annealing conditions. In these embedded QD assemblies of mixed size distribution we detected a promising non-linear increase of the PL-intensity with laser excitation power. The exponents evaluated are maximal for implanted Cd:Se-dose ratios between 0.8 and 1.0. The power law dependence of the PL-yield on pump laser power will be discussed in context with electronic energy transfer between dense-packed QD's of different size, implanted dose ratios and postimplantation thermal treatment conditions.

Vertical and in-plane electrical transport in InAs/InP semiconductors wires and dots have been investigated by conductive atomic force microscopy (C-AFM) and electrical measurements in processed devices. Localized I-V spectroscopy and spatially resolved current images (at constant bias), carried out using C-AFM in a controlled atmosphere at room temperature, show different conductances and threshold voltages for current onset on the two types of nanostructures. The processed devices were used in order to access the in-plane conductance of an assembly with a reduced number of nanostructures. On these devices, signature of two-level random telegraph noise (RTN) in the current behavior with time at constant bias is observed. These levels for electrical current can be associated to electrons removed from the wetting layer and trapped in dots and/or wires. A crossover from conduction through the continuum, associated to the wetting layer, to hopping within the nanostructures is observed with increasing temperature. This transport regime transition is confirmed by a “temperature-voltage” phase diagram.

Sulfur passivation effects on the performance of LPE-grown GaSb/InGaAsSb/AlGaAsSb mesatype photodiodes operating in wavelengths range 1.9 – 2.3 μm have been investigated. (NH4)2S, Na2S, and (NH2)2CS have been chosen as sulfur sources in either aqueous or C3H7OH solutions. Electrochemical passivation of mesa side walls was proven to reduce photodiodes dark current and increasing their differential resistance by a factor of 4. As a result devices characterized by the detectivity of 1.5–2×1010 cmHz1/2/W and dark current density of 20 mA/cm2 at –0.5V bias have been fabricated and their long-term stability has been proven.

The experimental and theoretical results of the electronic and optical properties of quantum dot artificial molecules (AMs), formed by pairs of electronically coupled quantum dots (QDs), are presented here in order to identify the necessary conditions for the development of new types of terahertz (THz) injection lasers based on intraband carrier transitions. We have performed analytical calculations to obtain the spatial strain distribution in vertically aligned (In, Ga)As QDs grown on (001) GaAs substrates by molecular beam epitaxy. Electronic coupling of the dots, mainly governed by the thickness of the separating barrier between the dot layers, is allowed due to the strain field-assisted self-organization of the dots. The calculated strain field reproduces our cross sectional high-resolution transmission electron microscopy observations very well. We further take into account the microscopic effects of the spatial strain distribution on carrier confinement potentials, and compute the electronic structure of the AM. Our calculations of the peak luminescence energies are in good agreement with our experimental results and those of others. The growth of quantum dot molecules represents a major step in tailoring the electronic and optical properties of the nanostructures.