D. Cherns

Edge and screw dislocations as nonradiative centers in InGaN/GaN quantum well luminescence

Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and scanning electron microscope cathodoluminescence (CL) have been used to determine the influence of edge and screw dislocations on the light emitting properties of InxGa1−xN quantum wells. TEM is used to locate and identify the nature of dislocations. CL on the same samples is used to determine the spatial variation of the luminescence. A direct correlation of CL maps with TEM has been established, showing that threading edge dislocations act as nonradiative recombination centers with an associated minority carrier diffusion length of 200 nm. Threading dislocations of screw and mixed type were found to be associated with surface pits which were also nonradiative in the quantum well (QW) emission, but owing to the absence of QW growth on the pit facets. The contributions of edge and screw/mixed dislocations to the reduction of the QW emission are quantified, and the wider significance of these results is discussed.

Characterization of dislocations in GaN by transmission electron diffraction and microscopy techniques

A combination of transmission electron microscopy imaging and diffraction techniques is used to characterize crystal defects in homoepitaxial GaN thin films. The Burgers vectors of dislocations is established by combining large‐angle convergent beam electron diffraction and conventional diffraction contrast techniques. It is shown that dislocations with Burgers vectors c, a, and c+a are present. Evidence is presented that dislocation segments lying in the interfacial plane are dissociated on a fine scale. The significance of the observations for understanding homoepitaxial growth of GaN is discussed.

The atomic structure of the NiSi2-(001)Si interface

Abstract The atomic structure of the epitaxial NiSi2-(001)Si interface has been investigated by transmission electron microscopy. Lattice images of cross-sections, taken on a JEOL 200 CX microscope with a point-to-point resolution of 2·4A, are compared with simulated multislice images and suggest a model of the NiSi2-(001)Si interface which is atomically abrupt with silicon atoms everywhere tetrahedrally coordinated. Diffraction contrast analysis of (001) specimens is used to establish the presence of interfacial dislocations of Burgers vector type α/4〈111〉 which separate crystallographically equivalent domains in the (001) interface and may exist at junctions between (001) and (111) facets. The role of these dislocations, which may relieve misfit strains, and the reasons for the pronounced (111) and (001) faceting in the NiSi2-(001)Si interface are discussed.

Electron spin resonance and Raman studies of Mn-doped ZnO ceramics

In the present work, the influence of annealing on structure, electron spin resonance (ESR), and Raman scattering (RS) spectra of x at. % Mn-doped ZnO (x=4 and 8) ceramic compounds has been systematically investigated. The samples were annealed at temperatures (Tan) between 400 and 1000°C for 12h. The obtained results revealed the strong dependence of x-ray diffraction, ESR, and RS spectra on the annealing temperature Tan. Mn2+ ions did not substitute into Zn2+ sites in samples annealed in the range of 400–600°C but started to substitute into Zn2+ sites for annealing temperatures Tan>600°C. The results of this investigation provide further insights into the physical processes occurring in Mn-doped ZnO materials due to annealing.

Observation of coreless dislocations in α-GaN

Abstract Large-angle convergent beam electron diffraction is used to show that hollow tubes, 5–25 nm in diameter, observed in α-GaN grown on sapphire by metalorganic chemical vapor deposition, contain screw dislocations with Burgers vectors c (0.52 nm). It is shown that these coreless dislocations are not in an equilibrium state but may arise by the trapping of dislocations at pinholes at an early stage of GaN growth. Although pinholes may contain a , c and c + a dislocations, it is argued that only those containing c dislocations can survive to generate nanopipes of constant cross-section along the [0 0 0 1] axis, as observed experimentally.

Light emission and microstructure of Mg-doped AlGaN grown on patterned sapphire

Distinct crystalline and optical properties have been observed in Mg-doped Al0.03Ga0.97N grown on a patterned sapphire substrate; the pattern consisting of etched trenches along the sapphire 〈1120〉 direction. The epilayer has two distinct regions: one grown directly onto the sapphire mesa and the other an epitaxial lateral overgrowth (ELO) region that overhangs the trench. Transmission electron microscopy shows the presence of pyramidal defects as well as large dislocation densities in the region grown directly on sapphire. In contrast, the ELO region is defect free and contains no Mg-related pyramidal defects. Cathodoluminescence measurements show superior near-band-edge emission in the ELO region, suggesting that the emission is susceptible to nonradiative centers caused by the high defect density in the rest of the sample. The Mg-related donor–acceptor-pair emission is fairly uniform throughout the film, indicating that it is not affected by the nonradiative centers. These optical and structural prope...

Raman scattering in Me-doped ZnO nanorods (Me = Mn, Co, Cu and Ni) prepared by thermal diffusion

We have investigated normal and resonant Raman scattering in Me-doped ZnO nanorods (Me = Mn, Co, Cu and Ni) prepared by thermal diffusion. Experimental results show that the normal Raman spectra consist of the conventional modes associated with wurtzite ZnO and impurity-related additional modes. Under resonant conditions, only longitudinal optical (LO) phonon scattering and its overtones are observed. The number of LO phonon lines and their relative intensity depend on the doping element and level. For the nanorods doped with Cu and Ni, we have observed LO phonon overtones up to eleventh order. This situation does not happen for the Mn-doped nanorods, which show only five LO phonon modes. By co-doping Mn and Co into the ZnO host lattice, however, the LO phonon overtones up to eleventh order are observed again. The nature of this phenomenon is explained by means of the study of XRD, TEM and photoluminescence.

Defect reduction in GaN/(0001)sapphire films grown by molecular beam epitaxy using nanocolumn intermediate layers

Transmission and scanning electron microscopies are used to examine the epitaxial lateral overgrowth of GaN on GaN nanocolumns grown on AlN/(0001)sapphire by molecular beam epitaxy. Initially, N-rich growth gave a bimodal morphology consisting of defect-free Ga-polar nanocolumns emanating from a compact, highly defective N-polar layer. Under subsequent Ga-rich conditions, the nanocolumns grew laterally to produce continuous Ga-polar overlayers. Threading dislocation (TD) densities in the overlayer were in the range of 108–109cm−2, up to two orders of magnitude less than in the N-polar underlayer. It is proposed that the change in polarity is a key factor controlling the reduction in TD density.

Microstructure of laterally overgrown GaN layers

Transmission electron microscopy study of plan-view and cross-section samples of epitaxial laterally overgrown (ELOG) GaN samples is described. Two types of dislocation with the same type of Burgers vector but different line direction have been observed. It is shown that threading edge dislocations bend to form dislocation segments in the c plane as a result of shear stresses developed in the wing material along the stripe direction. It is shown that migration of these dislocations involves both glide and climb. Propagation of threading parts over the wing area is an indication of high density of point defects present in the wing areas on the ELOG samples. This finding might shed light on the optical properties of such samples.

Electronic and optical properties of single crystal SnS2: an earth-abundant disulfide photocatalyst

Tin disulfide is attractive as a potential visible-light photocatalyst because its elemental components are cheap, abundant and environmentally benign. As a 2-dimensional semiconductor, SnS2 can undergo exfoliation to form atomic layer sheets that provide high surface areas of photoactive material. In order to facilitate the deployment of this exciting material in industrial processes and electrolytic cells, single crystals of phase pure SnS2 are synthesised and analysed with modern spectroscopic techniques to ascertain the values of relevant semiconductor properties. An electron affinity of 4.16 eV, ionisation potential of 6.44 eV and work function of 4.81 eV are found. The temperature dependent band gap is also reported for this material for the first time. We confirm the valence band is formed predominately by a mixture S 3p and Sn 5s, while the conduction band consists of a mixture of Sn 5s and 5p orbitals and comment on the agreement between experiment and theory for values of band gaps.