George K. Wong

Room-temperature ultraviolet laser emission from self-assembled ZnO microcrystallite thin films

Room-temperature ultraviolet (UV) laser emission of ZnO microcrystallite thin films is reported. The hexagonal ZnO microcrystallites are grown by laser molecular beam epitaxy. They are self-assembled and parallelly arrayed on sapphire substrates. The facets of the hexagons form natural Fabry-Perot lasing cavities. The optical gain for the room-temperature UV stimulated emission is of an excitonic nature and has a peak value an order of magnitude larger than that of bulk ZnO crystal. The observation of room-temperature UV lasing from the ordered, nano-sized ZnO crystals represents an important step towards the development of nanometer photoelectronics.

Ultraviolet spontaneous and stimulated emissions from ZnO microcrystallite thin films at room temperature

Abstract Room-temperature free excition absorption and luminescence are observed in ZnO thin films grown on sapphire substrates by the laser molecular beam epitaxy technique. At moderate optical pumping intensities, an excition-exciton collision induced stimulated emission peak is observed at 390 nm. The existence of this peak is related to the presence of closely packed hexagonally shaped microcrystallites in these films. Stimulated emission due to electron-hole plasma recombination process is also observed at higher pumping intensities.

Crystal Engineering of Acentric Diamondoid Metal–Organic Coordination Networks

Acentric three-dimensional coordination polymers bis(isonicotinato)zinc (1) and bis(4-pyridylacrylato)cadmium⋅H2 O (2) were synthesized under hydro(solvo)thermal conditions; they exhibit a threefold (see picture) and fivefold diamondoid structure, respectively. Both 1 and 2 are active for second harmonic generation and exhibit remarkable thermal stability.

Photoluminescence and ultraviolet lasing of polycrystalline ZnO thin films prepared by the oxidation of the metallic Zn

We report a simple method for preparing polycrystalline ZnO thin films with good luminescent properties: the oxidization of metallic Zn films. In photoluminescence (PL) studies at room temperature for wavelengths between 370 and 675 nm, we have observed a single exciton peak around 390 nm without any deep-level emission and a small PL full width at half maximum (23 meV), indicating that the concentrations of the defects responsible for the deep-level emissions are negligible. We have also observed optically pumped lasing action in these films. The threshold intensity for lasing was ∼9 MW/cm2.

Impurity effect on weak antilocalization in the topological insulator Bi2Te3.

We study the weak antilocalization (WAL) effect in topological insulator Bi(2)Te(3) thin films at low temperatures. The two-dimensional WAL effect associated with surface carriers is revealed in the tilted magnetic field dependence of magnetoconductance. Our data demonstrate that the observed WAL is robust against deposition of nonmagnetic Au impurities on the surface of the thin films, but it is quenched by the deposition of magnetic Fe impurities which destroy the π Berry phase of the topological surface states. The magnetoconductance data of a 5 nm Bi(2)Te(3) film suggests that a crossover from symplectic to unitary classes is observed with the deposition of Fe impurities.

Room-temperature stimulated emission of excitons in ZnO/(Mg, Zn)O superlattices

We report on the observation of stimulated emission in ZnO/MgxZn1−xO superlattices well above room temperature. Two kinds of superlattices grown by laser molecular-beam epitaxy showed clear systematics on the quantum subband levels in absorption and spontaneous emission spectra. Stimulated emission with excitonic origin could be observed at very low optical pumping levels. The threshold excitation intensity changed from 11 to 40 kW/cm2, and the emission energy could be tuned between 3.2 and 3.4 eV, depending on the well thickness and/or the Mg content in the barrier layers. The excitonic stimulated emission could be observed up to 373 K and the characteristic temperature was as high as 87 K.

Excitonic ultraviolet laser emission at room temperature from naturally made cavity in ZnO nanocrytal thin films

Abstract Hexagonally shaped ZnO nanocrystal thin films were fabricated on sapphire(0001) substrates by laser molecular beam epitaxy. Nanocrystal structure was investigated by atomic force microscopy and transmission electron microscopy. Epitaxial growth of ZnO nanocrystal thin films on sapphire substrates was found to occur in a spiral and grain growth mode. The grain growth mode was interpreted by taking higher order epitaxial relationship of oxygen sublattice units between ZnO and sapphire into account. Nanocrystal size could be tuned from 50 to 200 nm controlling film thickness, growth conditions and stoichiometry of the target. The films having small nanocrystal size of about 50 nm showed excitonic stimulated emission having peak energy of 3.2 eV at room temperature with a very low threshold (24 kW cm−2). Mode transition from excitonic stimulated emission to electron hole plasma appeared above another threshold (50 kW cm−2). Well defined Fabry–Perot cavity mode was observed in the emission spectra measured from side edge of the film. It was concluded that the grain boundaries between nanocrystals serve not only as potential barriers confining excitons but also as cavity mirrors.

The vacuum ultraviolet phase‐matching characteristics of nonlinear optical KBe2BO3F2 crystal

The nonlinear optical crystal KBe2BO3F2 has been used to produce vacuum ultraviolet second‐harmonic generation with an output range of 200–184.7 nm. The Sellmeier equation further indicates that this new crystal can generate the sixth harmonic from Nd‐based laser systems.

Origin of third-order optical nonlinearity in Au:SiO 2 composite films on femtosecond and picosecond time scales

Three sorts of probe laser, which have pulse durations of 200 fs, 35 ps, and 70 ps, were employed in the measurement of the third-order nonlinear optical susceptibility x((3)) in Au:SiO(2) composite films in a degenerate four-wave mixing scheme. We found that the composite films at their absorption peak (~550 nm) had a maximum x((3)) , which depends strongly on the pulse width of the probe laser. The value of x((3)) measured with a 70-ps laser was ~30 times larger than that measured with a 200-fs laser. The time-resolved measurements revealed that the optical nonlinearity on the femtosecond time scale is attributable mainly to contributions from the interband electric-dipole transition (especially at low concentrations) and partly to those from hot electrons rather than being dominated by hot-electron excitation in the picosecond regime.

Stimulated emission induced by exciton–exciton scattering in ZnO/ZnMgO multiquantum wells up to room temperature

The mechanism of ultraviolet stimulated emission was investigated in ZnO/ZnMgO multiquantum wells. Stimulated emission induced by exciton–exciton scattering occurred throughout a range of temperatures from 5 K to room temperature. At temperatures higher than 160 K, stimulated emission due to electron-hole plasma recombination was also observed with a higher excitation threshold than that of exciton–exciton scattering. The exciton binding energies of multiquantum wells were larger than that of bulk ZnO and increased with a decrease in the well widths. This enhancement of exciton binding energy is due to the quantum-confinement effect and is favorable for the stability of exciton states.