Asish K. Kundu

Direct view at colossal permittivity in donor-acceptor (Nb, In) co-doped rutile TiO2

Topical observations of colossal permittivity (CP) with low dielectric loss in donor-acceptor cations co-doped rutile TiO2 have opened up several possibilities in microelectronics and energy-storage devices. Yet, the precise origin of the CP behavior, knowledge of which is essential to empower the device integration suitably, is highly disputed in the literature. From spectromicroscopic approach besides dielectric measurements, we explore that microscopic electronic inhomogeneities along with the nano-scale phase boundaries and the low temperature polaronic relaxation are mostly responsible for such a dielectric behavior, rather than electron-pinned defect-dipoles/grain-boundary effects as usually proposed. Donor-acceptor co-doping results in a controlled carrier-hopping inevitably influencing the dielectric loss while invariably upholding the CP value.

Electronic structure of germanium selenide investigated using ultra-violet photo- electron spectroscopy

The valence band electronic structure of GeSe single crystals has been investigated using angle resolved photoemission spectroscopy (ARPES) and x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. The experimentally observed bands from ARPES, match qualitatively with our LDA-based band structure calculations along the ??Z, ??Y and ??T symmetry directions. The valence band maximum occurs nearly midway along the ??Z direction, at a binding energy of ?0.5 eV, substantiating the indirect band gap of GeSe. Non-dispersive features associated with surface states and indirect transitions have been observed. The difference in hybridization of Se and Ge 4p orbitals leads to the variation of dispersion along the three symmetry directions. The predominance of the Se 4pz orbitals, evidenced from theoretical calculations, may be the cause for highly dispersive bands along the ??T direction. Detailed electronic structure analysis reveals the significance of the cation?anion 4p orbitals hybridization in the valence band dispersion of IV?VI semiconductors. This is the first comprehensive report of the electronic structure of a GeSe single crystal using ARPES in conjugation with theoretical band structure analysis.

Structural and electronic properties of V2O3 ultrathin film on Ag(001): LEED and photoemission study

V2O3 ultrathin films were grown on Ag(001) substrate by reactive evaporation of vanadium (V) metal in presence of oxygen and their structural and electronic properties were studied by Low Energy Electron Diffraction (LEED), X-ray Photo Electron Spectroscopy (XPS) and Angle Resolved Photoemission Spectroscopic (ARPES) techniques, respectively. On top of square symmetry substrate Ag(001), hexagonal surface of V2O3 (0001) is stabilized in the form of two domain structure, rotated by 30°(or 90°)to each other, has been observed by LEED. Rather than epitaxial flat monolayer, formation of well-ordered V2O3 (0001) island has been confirmed from the LEED and the Photoemission Spectroscopic (PES) study. Stoichiometry of the grown film was confirmed by the XPS study. Evolution of valance band electronic structure of V2O3 (0001) surface has been studied as a function of film thickness by ARPES.

Structural and electronic properties of polar MnO ultrathin film grown on Ag(111)

Surface electronic structure of ultrathin polar MnO film was studied by Low-energy Electron Diffraction (LEED) and Photoemission Spectroscopic (PES) techniques. Epitaxial monolayer to facet formation with increasing film thickness has been observed by LEED. Our LEED result shows p(2x2) surface reconstruction along with facet formation, stabilize the polar MnO(111) surface. The core levels and the valence band electronic structure of MnO films have been studied as a function of film thickness using X-ray and ultraviolet photoelectron spectroscopy techniques.