Search

Achieving high material perfection in aluminum (Al) films and their associated Al/AlOx heterostructures is essential for enhancing the coherence time in superconducting quantum circuits. We grew Al films with thicknesses ranging from 3 to 30 nanometers (nm) epitaxially on sapphire substrates using molecular beam epitaxy (MBE). An integral aspect of our work involved electron-beam (e-beam) evaporation to directly deposit aluminum oxide (Al2O3) films on the freshly grown ultrathin epitaxial Al films in an ultra-high-vacuum (UHV) environment. This in situ oxide deposition is critical for preventing the oxidation of parts of the Al films, avoiding the formation of undesired native oxides, and thereby preserving the nm-thick Al films in their pristine conditions. The thicknesses of our Al films in the study were accurately determined; for example, coherence lengths of 3.0 and 20.2 nm were measured in the nominal 3.0 and 20 nm thick Al films, respectively. These Al films were epitaxially grown on sapphire substrates, showing an orientational relationship, denoted as Al (111) ⟨ 2 1 ¯ 1 ¯ ⟩ ∥ sapphire (0001) [ 2 1 ¯ 1 ¯ 0 ]. The Al/sapphire interface was atomically ordered without any interfacial layers, as confirmed by in situ reflection high-energy electron diffraction (RHEED) and cross-sectional scanning transmission electron microscopy (STEM). All sample surfaces exhibited smoothness with a roughness in the range of 0.1–0.2 nm. The Al films are superconducting with critical temperatures ranging from 1.23 to around 2 K, depending on the film thickness. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The drain current fluctuation of ungated AlGaN/GaN high electron mobility transistors (HEMTs) measured in different fluids at a drain-source voltage of 0.5 V was investigated. The HEMTs with metal on the gate region showed good current stability in deionized water, while a large fluctuation in drain current was observed for HEMTs without gate metal. The fluctuation in drain current for the HEMTs without gate metal was observed and calculated as standard deviation from a real-time measurement in air, deionized water, ethanol, dimethyl sulfoxide, ethylene glycol, 1,2-butanediol, and glycerol. At room temperature, the fluctuation in drain current for the HEMTs without gate metal was found to be relevant to the dipole moment and the viscosity of the liquids. A liquid with a larger viscosity showed a smaller fluctuation in drain current. The viscosity-dependent fluctuation of the drain current was ascribed to the Brownian motions of the liquid molecules, which induced a variation in the surface dipole of the gate region. This study uncovers the causes of the fluctuation in drain current of HEMTs in fluids. The results show that the AlGaN/GaN HEMTs may be used as sensors to measure the viscosity of liquids within a certain range of viscosity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The magnetism-induced ferroelectricity in the E-type orthorhombic HoMnO3 (o-HMO) films grown on Nb-doped and undoped SrTiO3(001) substrates was studied. The temperature dependent magnetization in these films evidently exhibits an antiferromagnetic ordering around 44 K and an anomalous second magnetic ordering along the c-axis near 35 K. Interestingly, at this anomalous transition temperature, an associated ferroelectric polarization was probed by the P-E hysteresis measurements, indicating the intimated coupling between the ferroelectric response and the reordering of Mn spins, which has never been disclosed previously by dielectric constant measurements. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We report on the effect of ultraviolet (UV) treatment on the specific contact resistance (ρ) and electronic transport at the Ti/ZnO interfaces. The experimental results show the same barrier height of Ti/ZnO samples without UV treatment as Ti/ZnO samples with UV treatment and the higher ρ of Ti/ZnO samples with UV treatment than Ti/ZnO samples without UV treatment, suggesting the barrier-height independence of ρ. Based on the thermionic-emission model and x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy results, we found that the induced decrease in the number of the hydroxides at the surface region of ZnO by UV treatment resulted in decreases in the electron concentration near the surface region and the excess current component related to tunneling, increasing in ρ of Ti/ZnO samples. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Te-doped and ZnTe-doped diluted ZnSeTe samples were grown by using metal-organic chemical vapor deposition. The green lights emitted from these two samples in the photoluminescence (PL) measurement have different peak emission energies and can be attributed to different emission mechanisms. For the Te-doped sample, the PL emission band is excitation laser power independent, the lifetime of the PL emission is short, and the PL emission could be attributed to the emission originated from Te isoelectronic centers. For the ZnTe-doped sample, the energy of the green emission band is laser power dependent, the PL lifetime is much longer than the Te-doped sample, and the PL emission could be attributed to the emission from type-II ZnTe/ZnSe quantum dots. The results demonstrate that there are two different mechanisms responsible for the green PL emission in ZnSeTe system and our growth methods provide a way of selecting one of the two mechanisms for the green light emission in this system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Orthorhombic YMnO3 thin films with (200), (020), and (001) orientations were, respectively, obtained by pulsed laser deposition on SrTiO3(110), LaAlO3(110), and SrTiO3(001) substrates. The results demonstrate that the strain between film and substrate can serve as an alternative in transforming the thermodynamically stable hexagonal YMnO3 into the orthorhombic phase, which previously could be obtained with high-pressure high temperature syntheses and epitaxy-stabilized thin film processes. More importantly, these films allow us, for the first time, to unambiguously disclose the intrinsic magnetic property along different crystallographic orientations. Our results show that, although the antiferromagnetic (AFM) ordering remains the same, there is an additional spin reordering transition which is very much dependent on the crystallographic orientation along which the measuring field was applied and on the in-plane crystallographic alignment of the films. Detailed analyses indicate that the origin of the observed second reordering may be due to some strain-induced canted AFM state instead of the incommensurate lock-in transitions conceived previously. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The kinetics and mechanism for the reaction of HCO with NO occurring by both singlet and triplet electronic state potential-energy surfaces (PESs) have been studied at the modified Gaussian-2 level of theory based on the geometric parameters optimized by the Becke-3 Lee–Yang–Parr/6-311G(d,p) method. There are two major reaction channels on both singlet and triplet PESs studied: one is direct H abstraction producing CO+HNO and the other is association forming a stable HC(O)NO (nitrosoformaldehyde) molecule. The dominant reaction is predicted to be the direct H abstraction occurring primarily by the lowest-energy path via a loose hydrogen-bonding singlet molecular complex, ON...HCO, with a 2.9-kcal/mol binding energy and a small decomposition barrier (1.9 kcal/mol). The commonly assumed HC(O)NO intermediate, predicted to lie below the reactants by 27.7 kcal/mol, has a high HNO-elimination barrier (34.5 kcal/mol). Bimolecular rate constants for the formation of the singlet products and their branching ratios have been calculated in the temperature range of 200–3000 K. The rate constant for the disproportionation process producing HNO+CO, found to be affected strongly by multiple reflections above the well of the complex at low temperature, is predicted to be k(HNO)=3.08×10-12 T0.10 exp(242/T) for 200–500 K, and 1.72×10-16 T1.47 exp(888/T) for 500–3000 K in units of cm3 molecule-1 s-1. The high- and low-pressure rate constants for the association process forming HC(O)NO can be represented by k∞=4.42×10-11 T0.25 exp(-28/T) cm3 molecule-1 s-1 (200–3000 K) and k0=7.30×10-16 T-5.75 exp(-719/T) (200–1000 K) and 1.82×102 T-11.92 exp(1846/T) (1000–3000 K) cm6 molecule-2 s-1 for N2-buffer gas. The absolute values of total rate constant, predicted to be weakly dependent negatively on temperature but positively on pressure, are in close agreement with most experimental data within their reported errors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Single-phase electron-doped manganite thin films with nominal composition of La0.7Ce0.3MnO3 (LCeMO) have been prepared on SrTiO3 (100) substrates by pulsed laser deposition. The conditions for obtaining purely single-phase LCeMO films lie within a very narrow window of substrate temperature (Ts∼720 °C) and laser energy density (ED∼2 J/cm2) during deposition. In situ postdeposition annealing, mainly to relax the possible epitaxial in-plane tensile strain between the film and the substrate, leads to an increasing c-axis lattice constant accompanied by the formation of secondary CeO2 phase and higher metal-insulator transition temperature. This is indicative of a strong coupling between the electron and lattice degree of freedom. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

For the initial growth of Si on Ge, three-dimensional Si quantum dots grown on the Ge surface were observed. With increasing Si thickness, the Si growth changes from three-dimensional to two-dimensional growth mode and the dots disappear gradually. Finally, the surface is smooth with the roughness of 0.26 nm, similar to the original Ge substrate, when 15 nm Si is deposited. More Ge segregation on the wetting layer leads to more open sites to increase the subsequent Si growth rate on the wetting layer than on the Si dots. The in-plane x-ray diffraction by synchrotron radiation is used to observe the evolution of tensile strain in the Si layer grown on Ge (100) substrate. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We report the growth of high quality topological insulator Bi2Se3 thin films on a single layer, transitional metal dichalcogenide MoS2 film via van der Waals epitaxy in a planar geometry. In stark contrast to the reported growth of using 3-D crystalline substrates such as Al2O3(0001), Bi2Se3 thin films grown on a 2-D template made of single layer MoS2 showed excellent crystallinity starting immediately from the growth of the first quintuple layer. Excellent crystallinity of Bi2Se3 thin films is attained, with the increased size of the triangular shaped Bi2Se3 domains and 2–3 times enhancement in mobility, along with the observation of Shubnikov–de Haas oscillations in the magnetoresistance. Our approach of adopting a van der Waals type template may be extended to the thin film growth of other low dimensional layered materials. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

GaN-based Schottky barrier diodes (SBDs) with single-crystal Al barriers grown by plasmaassisted molecular beam epitaxy are fabricated. Examined using in-situ reflection high-energy electron diffractions, ex-situ high-resolution x-ray diffractions, and high-resolution transmission electron microscopy, it is determined that epitaxial Al grows with its [111] axis coincident with the [0001] axis of the GaN substrate without rotation. In fabricated SBDs, a 0.2V barrier height enhancement and 2 orders of magnitude reduction in leakage current are observed in single crystal Al/GaN SBDs compared to conventional thermal deposited Al/GaN SBDs. The strain induced piezoelectric field is determined to be the major source of the observed device performance enhancements. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Single crystal ferromagnetic Fe3Si(111) films were grown epitaxially on GaAs(111)A by molecular beam epitaxy. These hetero-structures possess extremely low surface roughness of 1.3 Å and interfacial roughness of 1.9 Å, measured by in-situ scanning tunneling microscope and X-ray reflectivity analyses, respectively, showing superior film quality, comparing to those attained on GaAs(001) in previous publications. The atomically smooth interface was revealed by the atomic-resolution Z (atomic number)-contrast scanning transmission electron microscopy (STEM) images using the correction of spherical aberration (Cs)-corrected electron probe. Excellent crystallinity and perfect lattice match were both confirmed by high resolution x-ray diffraction. Measurements of magnetic property for the Fe3Si/GaAs(111) yielded a saturation moment of 990 emu/cm³ with a small coercive field ≤1 Oe at room temperature. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We investigated the carrier dynamics near basal stacking faults (BSFs) in m-plane ZnO epitaxial film. The behaviors of the type-II quantum wells related to the BSFs are verified through time-resolved and time-integrated photoluminescence. The decay time of the emission of BSFs is observed to have a higher power law value and longer decay time than the emission of the donor-bound excitons. The spectral-dependent decay times reveal a phenomenon of carriers migrating among band tail states, which are related to the spatial distribution of the type-II quantum wells formed by the BSFs. A high density of excited carriers leads to a band bending effect, which in turn causes a blue-shift of the emission peak of BSFs with a broadened distribution of band tail states. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Basal plane stacking faults (BSFs) with density of ∼1 × 106 cm-1 are identified as the dominant defect in the annealed ZnO thin films grown on c-plane sapphire by atomic layer deposition. The dominant peak centered at 3.321 eV in low-temperature photoluminescence measurements is attributed to the emission from the BSFs. The emission mechanism is considered to be the confined indirect excitons in the region of quantum-well-like structure formed by the BSFs. The observed energy shift of 19 meV with respect to the BSF-bounded exciton at low temperature may be caused by the localization effect associated with the coupling between BSF quantum wells. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

High-quality single-crystal nanothick Y2O3 films have been grown epitaxially on Si (111) despite a lattice mismatch of 2.4%. The films were electron beam evaporated from pure compacted powder Y2O3 target in ultrahigh vacuum. Y2O3 3 nm thick exhibited a bright, sharp, streaky reconstructed (4×4) reflection high energy electron diffraction pattern. Structural studies carried out by x-ray diffraction with synchrotron radiation and high-resolution transmission electron microscopy show that the films have the cubic bixbyite phase with a remarkably uniform thickness and high structural perfection. Two Y2O3 domains of B-type Y2O3 [211]∥Si[112] and A-type Y2O3 [211]∥Si[211] coexist in the initial film growth with B type predominating over A type in thicker films as studied using x-ray diffraction. The narrow full width at half maximum of 0.014° in the ω-rocking curve is the characteristic of excellent crystalline films. High-resolution transmission electron microscopy and fast Fourier transform analysis show atomically sharp interface and strain relaxation in thicker films. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The authors report on the growth of GaN by nitrogen plasma-assisted molecular beam epitaxy (MBE) on a 2 in. Si (111) substrates with a nanothick (∼4.8 nm thick) γ-Al2O3 as a template/buffer. A thin layer of MBE-AlN ∼40 nm thick was inserted prior to the growth of GaN. High-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HR-TEM) and high-resolution x-ray diffraction studies indicated that both of the nanothick γ-Al2O3 and AlN are a single crystal. Reflection high-energy electron diffraction, high-resolution x-ray scattering using synchrotron radiation, and cross-sectional HR-TEM measurements indicated an orientation relationship of GaN(0002)∥AlN(0002)∥γ-Al2O3(111)∥Si(111) and GaN[10-10]∥AlN[10-10]∥γ-Al2O3[2-1-1]∥Si[2-1-1]. A dislocation density of 5×(108–109)/cm2 in the GaN ∼0.5 μm thick was determined using cross-sectional TEM images under weak-beam dark-field conditions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Formation of well-aligned silicon nanotips etched monolithically from a silicon substrate has been demonstrated. The effect of the process temperature on the physicochemical etching of silicon and subsequent fabrication of these nanotips has been investigated. 2.2-μm-long nanotips were formed at the process temperature of 250 °C and then decreased in length with increasing process temperature. Above 800 °C, the formation of the silicon nanotips was inhibited. Spectroscopic evidence attributes this fact to the efficient formation of silicon carbide thin film at higher process temperatures, instead of discontinuous nanomasks at lower process temperatures that prevent etching of the substrate. Another reason for this inhibited formation of nanotips is the reduced etching rate of the silicon by agents such as atomic H at higher process temperatures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Detailed numerical simulation has been carried out for fully developed laminar flow through a circular straight pipe with radius a, which is rotating with constant speed Ω about an axis perpendicular to its own axis. The flow is symmetric about a plane containing the pipe axis with its normal parallel to the rotation axis. There are four types of flow regime that result from the various effects of the secondary flow on the main stream via the convection and Coriolis term. When RΩ≤10 and RΩG≤100, the axial velocity profile is essentially axisymmetric and parabolic. Here RΩ=Ωa2/ν and G=G*a3/(ρν2), where G* is the reduced axial pressure gradient driving the flow, ρ is the fluid density, and ν is the kinematic viscosity. When RΩ<0.85(RΩG)1/3 and RΩG>100, the axial velocity profile is skewed toward the pressure side with one maximum occurring on the symmetric plane. When RΩ>1.26(RΩG)2/5 and RΩ>10, the axial velocity shows a dumbell-like profile with the ‘‘dumbell’’ center coinciding with the pipe axis and the ‘‘dumbell’’ axis perpendicular to the symmetric plane. When 0.85(RΩG)1/3≤RΩ≤1.26(RΩG)2/5 and RΩG>100, the axial velocity profile is skewed toward the pressure size but with two maxima, occurring symmetrically on both sides of the symmetric plane. The present calculation bridges most of the previous asymptotic analyses and provides a correlation formula for the friction factor ratio between the rotating and stationary pipe flow for most of the laminar regime of engineering interest. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The spatial distribution of chemical elements is studied in high-κ, metal-gated stacks applied in field effect transistors. Using the transmission electron microscope (TEM)-based analytical techniques electron energy-loss spectroscopy (EELS) and energy-dispersive x-ray spectroscopy, it is demonstrated that Al2O3 and La2O3 capping layers show distinctly different diffusion profiles. The importance of the EELS collection angle is discussed. Popular chemical distribution models that assume La-rich interface layers are rejected. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Crystal symmetry breaking of wurtzite C6V to orthorhombic C2V due to in-plane anisotropic strain was investigated for nonpolar (1120) ZnO epifilms grown on the R-sapphire. X-ray diffraction results reveal the epilayer is subjected to a compressive strain along the polar c-axis and tensile strains along both a-[1120] surface normal and in-plane p-[1100] axis. The polarized Raman spectra of E2 modes reveal violation of the C6V selection rules. Oppositely, the C2V configuration satisfies the selection rules for the Raman modes. The observed E1 and E2 bands in polarized optical reflection and photoluminescence spectra confirm the anisotropic strain causes the structure change to the orthorhombic one. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Formation of SiGe nanorings from Si capped Si0.1Ge0.9 quantum dots (QDs) grown at 500 °C by ultrahigh vacuum chemical vapor deposition was investigated. SiGe nanorings have average diameter, width, and depth of 185, 30, and 9 nm, respectively. Based on both Raman and x-ray diffraction results, the formation of SiGe nanorings can be attributed to Ge outdiffusion from central SiGe QDs during in situ annealing. Moreover, the depth of SiGe nanorings can be controlled by Si cap thickness. The Si cap is essential for nanorings formation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Orthorhombic HoMnO3 films with well-aligned crystallographic orientations were deposited on LaAlO3(110) single crystal substrates by using pulsed laser deposition. The nearly perfect b-axis-oriented films provide the opportunity of investigating the orientation-dependent physical property of this material. The temperature dependent magnetization evidently displays an antiferromagnetic ordering near 42 K, irrespective to the direction of applied field. Furthermore, the theoretically expected lock-in transition was clearly observed at around 30 K when field was applied along the c axis and was undetectable along the a and b axes. The 30 K transition was suppressed to 26 K when the applied field increased from 100 to 500 Oe. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cubic phase Y2O3 films 1.6–10 nm thick of excellent quality have been epitaxially grown on Si (111) with Y2O3(111)∥Si(111) using electron beam evaporation of Y2O3 in ultrahigh vacuum. Structural and morphological studies were carried out by x-ray scattering and reflectivity and high-resolution transmission electron microscopy, with the growth being in situ monitored by reflection high energy electron diffraction. There are two Y2O3 domains in the initial stage of the oxide growth with equal population, and the B-type domain of Y2O3[211]∥Si[112] becomes predominating over the A-type domain of Y2O3[211]∥Si[211] with increasing film thickness. Besides the excellent crystallinity of the films as derived from the small ω-rocking curve width of 0.014°, our results also show atomically sharp smooth surface and interfaces. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cubic phase yttrium-doped HfO2 (YDH) ultrathin films were grown on Si (111) substrates by molecular beam epitaxy. Thorough structural and morphological investigations by x-ray scattering and transmission electron microscopy reveal that the YDH thin films are epitaxially grown on the Si substrates with (111)YDH∥(111)Si and [101]YDH∥[110]Si. The interface between YDH and Si is atomistic sharp and free of interfacial layer. We have also determined the yttrium content of YDH films to be 19% by using anomalous x-ray diffraction (AXD) across Y k edge and angle resolved x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (AR-XPS). The agreement between the AXD and AR-XPS results manifests that the incorporated Y atoms homogeneously substitute Hf atoms in the crystalline lattice and form a substitutional solid solution. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We demonstrate a mode of thin film growth in which amorphous islands crystallize into highly oriented platelets. A cascade of crystallization is observed, in which platelets growing outward from a central nucleation point impinge on neighboring amorphous islands and provide a seed for further nucleation. Through control of growth parameters, it is possible to produce high quality thin films which are well suited to the formation of organic transistors. We demonstrate this through the fabrication of rubrene thin film transistors with high carrier mobility. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Nanometer thick cubic HfO2 doped with 19 at. % Y2O3 (YDH) epitaxial films were grown on GaAs (001) using molecular beam epitaxy. Structural studies determined the epitaxial orientation relationships between the cubic YDH films and GaAs to be (001)GaAs//(001)YDH and [100]GaAs//[100]YDH. The YDH structure is strain relaxed with a lattice constant of 0.5122 nm with a small mosaic spread of 0.023° and a twist angle of 2.9°. The YDH/GaAs interface is atomically abrupt without evidence of reacted interfacial layers. From C-V and I-V measurements a 7.7 nm thick YDH film has an enhanced dielectric constant κ∼32, an equivalent oxide thickness of ∼0.94 nm, an interfacial state density Dit∼7×1012 cm-2 eV-1, and a low leakage current density of 6×10-5 A/cm2 at 1 V gate bias. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The authors have fabricated NaxCoO2 thin films via lateral diffusion of sodium into Co3O4 (111) epitaxial films (reactive solid-phase epitaxy [Ohta et al., Cryst. Growth Des. 5, 25 (2005)]). The environment of thermal diffusion is key to the control of the sodium content in thin films. From the results of x-ray diffraction and in-plane ρab, the epitaxial growth and the sodium contents of these films were identified. The thermoelectric measurements show a large thermoelectric power similar to that observed in single crystals. The quasiparticle scattering rate is found to approach zero at low temperatures, consistent with the small residual resistivity, indicating high quality of the NaxCoO2 thin films. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The ultrathin strained Si0.2Ge0.8 quantum well channel (∼5 nm) directly grown on Si substrates is demonstrated with low defect density and high hole mobility. The quantum well Si0.2Ge0.8 channel reveals an ∼3.2 times hole current enhancement and an ∼3 times hole mobility enhancement as compared with the bulk Si channel. The output current-voltage characteristics under the external mechanical strain confirm the compressive strain in the channel. The external compressive strain further enhances the hole mobility in a Si0.2Ge0.8 channel. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

High-quality HfO2 films of technologically important thickness ranging from 1.8 to 17 nm have been grown epitaxially on GaAs (001) by molecular beam epitaxy. Thorough structural and morphological investigations were carried out by x-ray scattering and high-resolution transmission electron microscopy. The films exhibit an atomically sharp interface with the substrate and are of a monoclinic phase with predominant (001)-plane epitaxy between the HfO2 films and GaAs, in spite of a large lattice mismatch of >8.5%. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Hexagonal to cubic phase transformation is studied in focused ion beam assisted Ga+-implanted GaN nanowires. Optical photoluminescence and cathodoluminescence studies along with high-resolution transmission electron microscopic structural studies are performed to confirm the phase transformation. In one possibility, sufficient accumulation of Ga from the implanted source might have reduced the surface energy and simultaneously stabilized the cubic phase. Another potential reason may be that the fluctuations in the short-range order induced by enhanced dynamic annealing (defect annihilation) with the irradiation process stabilize the cubic phase and cause the phase transformation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this study, a distributed charge storage with GeO2 nanodots is demonstrated. The mean size and aerial density of the nanodots embedded in SiO2 are estimated to be about 5.5 nm and 4.3×1011 cm-2, respectively. The composition of the dots is also confirmed to be GeO2 by x-ray absorption near-edge structure analyses. A significant memory effect is observed through the electrical measurements. Under the low voltage operation of 5 V, the memory window is estimated to ∼0.45 V. Also, a physical model is proposed to demonstrate the charge storage effect through the interfacial traps of GeO2 nanodots. © 2004 American Institute of Physics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Small amount of [formula] domains were found in the m-plane ZnO films grown on m-sapphire by pulsed laser deposition, which provide strain relaxation of the m-ZnO matrix behaving as a low strain layer. Through carefully correlating low-temperature polarized photoluminescence spectra with the x-ray diffraction peak intensity ratio of [formula] of the samples grown at different temperature and after thermal treatment, we found that the broad-band emission around 3.17 eV may result from the interface defects trapped excitons at the boundaries between the [formula] domains and the m-ZnO matrix. The more [formula] domains in the m-ZnO layer cause the more surface boundary that makes the stronger surface-bound-exciton emission. And the a-axes of both the [formula] domains and the m-ZnO matrix are aligned with the c-axis of the sapphire (α-Al2O3) substrate. The c-axis of the [formula] domains rotates by about ±59° against the common a-axis of the m-ZnO. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The strain/relaxation behavior of nanometer thick Y2O3 (111) epitaxially grown on Si (111) has been investigated with x-ray diffraction using synchrotron radiation. The authors systematically measured a series of Bragg reflections to determine the lattice parameters of Y2O3 films with thickness ranging from 1.6 to 9.5 nm. The strain state of the oxide lattice along surface normal and lateral directions is analyzed as a function of the oxide thickness. The spectra of Si 2p and Y 3d, obtained with in situ angle-resolved x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy on Y2O3 5 nm thick, showed no Y silicide but a very small incorporation of Si into the Y2O3 films at the interface. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We report the growth of high quality topological insulator Bi2Se3 thin films on a single layer, transitional metal dichalcogenide MoS2 film via van der Waals epitaxy in a planar geometry. In stark contrast to the reported growth of using 3-D crystalline substrates such as Al2O3(0001), Bi2Se3 thin films grown on a 2-D template made of single layer MoS2 showed excellent crystallinity starting immediately from the growth of the first quintuple layer. Excellent crystallinity of Bi2Se3 thin films is attained, with the increased size of the triangular shaped Bi2Se3 domains and 2–3 times enhancement in mobility, along with the observation of Shubnikov–de Haas oscillations in the magnetoresistance. Our approach of adopting a van der Waals type template may be extended to the thin film growth of other low dimensional layered materials. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]