I.A. Kowalik

Extremely low temperature growth of ZnO by atomic layer deposition

We report on the zinc oxide (ZnO) thin films obtained by the atomic layer deposition (ALD) method using diethyl zinc and water precursors, which allowed us to lower deposition temperature to below 200 °C. The so-obtained “as grown” ZnO layers are polycrystalline and show excitonic photoluminescence (PL) at room temperature, even if the deposition temperature was lowered down to 100 °C. Defect-related PL bands are of low intensity and are absent for layers grown at 140−200 °C. This is evidence that extremely low temperature growth by ALD can result in high quality ZnO thin films with inefficient nonradiative decay channels and with thermodynamically blocked self-compensation processes.

The influence of growth temperature and precursors' doses on electrical parameters of ZnO thin films grown by atomic layer deposition technique

In this paper we report on the low-temperature growth (Ts=30-250^oC) of zinc oxide thin films by atomic layer deposition method using two different organic zinc precursors: diethylzinc and (for comparison) dimethylzinc, and deionized water as an oxygen precursor. An evident influence of growth temperature and precursors" doses on electron concentration and Hall mobility of obtained zinc oxide layers is presented. The lowest achieved room-temperature electron concentration was at the level of 10^1^6cm^-^3 with mobility up to 110cm^2/Vs.

Homogeneous and heterogeneous magnetism in (Zn,Co)O : From a random antiferromagnet to a dipolar superferromagnet by changing the growth temperature

For more than a decade ZnO doped with Mn and Co has remained as one of the most prospected diluted magnetic semiconductor for spintronic applications with conflicting outcome concerning the genuineness of its room temperature ferromagnetism. In order to clarify this issue we investigate (Zn,Co)O layers grown by atomic layer deposition at low temperatures. We employ and relay on wide range of extensive material characterization, which in combination with superconducting quantum interference device magnetometry allow us decisively exemplify the growth temperature as the key factor discriminating between paramagnetic (obtained at 160 °C) and various forms of ferromagnetic responses, seen when the grows is carried out at 200 °C and above.

Enantiospecific Spin Polarization of Electrons Photoemitted Through Layers of Homochiral Organic Molecules

Electrons photoemitted through layers of purely organic chiral molecules become strongly spin-polarized even at room temperature and for double-monolayer thicknesses. The substitution of one enantiomer for its mirror image does not revert the sign of the spin polarization, rather its direction in space. These findings might lead to the obtention of highly efficient spin filters for spintronic applications.

Description of the new I1011 beamline for magnetic measurements using synchrotron radiation at MAX-lab

We report on the characterization of the new I1011 beamline at the MAX-II storage ring, in the MAX-lab synchrotron radiation laboratory and give examples of first results. This beamline is using an Elliptically Polarizing Undulator source, producing soft x-rays of a variable polarization state. It delivers high flux and high brightness circularly polarized x-rays in the energy range 0.2 to 1.7 keV, covering the L-edges of the late 3d elements. The new beamline will operate with an octupole magnet endstation. It is specially engineered to solve the problem of the limited optical access typically associated with magnetic fields and synchrotron radiation endstations. Eight water-cooled magnets allow the application of the magnetic field of up to 1 T in any direction. X-ray absorption spectroscopy, X-ray resonant reflectivity and the corresponding magnetic variants, i.e., XMCD, XMLD and XRMS experiments are possible also under an applied magnetic field. The high flux allows working with dilute magnetic systems such as ultra-thin films and nano structures.

Element-specific characterization of heterogeneous magnetism in (Ga,Fe)N films

We employ x-ray spectroscopy to characterize the distribution and magnetism of particular alloy constituents in (Ga,Fe)N films grown by metal organic vapor phase epitaxy. Furthermore, photoelectron ...

Towards a new class of heavy ion doped magnetic semiconductors for room temperature applications

The article presents, using Bi doped ZnO, an example of a heavy ion doped oxide semiconductor, highlighting a novel p-symmetry interaction of the electronic states to stabilize ferromagnetism. The study includes both ab initio theory and experiments, which yield clear evidence for above room temperature ferromagnetism. ZnBixO1−x thin films are grown using the pulsed laser deposition technique. The room temperature ferromagnetism finds its origin in the holes introduced by the Bi doping and the p-p coupling between Bi and the host atoms. A sizeable magnetic moment is measured by means of x-ray magnetic circular dichroism at the O K-edge, probing directly the spin polarization of the O(2p) states. This result is in agreement with the theoretical predictions and inductive magnetometry measurements. Ab initio calculations of the electronic and magnetic structure of ZnBixO1−x at various doping levels allow to trace the origin of the ferromagnetic character of this material. It appears, that the spin-orbit energy of the heavy ion Bi stabilizes the ferromagnetic phase. Thus, ZnBixO1−x doped with a heavy non-ferromagnetic element, such as Bi, is a credible example of a candidate material for a new class of compounds for spintronics applications, based on the spin polarization of the p states.

ZnCoO Films by Atomic Layer Deposition - Influence of a Growth Temperature οn Uniformity of Cobalt Distribution

We report on the structural, electrical and magnetic properties of ZnCoO thin films grown by Atomic Layer Deposition (ALD) method using reactive organic precursors of zinc and cobalt. As a zinc precursor we applied either dimethylzinc or diethylzinc and cobalt (II) acetyloacetonate as a cobalt precursor. The use of these precursors allowed us the significant reduction of a growth temperature to 300oC and below, which proved to be very important for the growth of uniform films of ZnCoO. Structural, electrical and magnetic properties of the obtained ZnCoO layers will be discussed based on the results of SIMS, SEM, EDS, XRD, AFM, Hall effect and SQUID investigations.

Homogenous and heterogeneous magnetism in (Zn,Co)O

For more than a decade ZnO doped with Mn and Co has remained as one of the most prospected diluted magnetic semiconductor for spintronic applications with conflicting outcome concerning the genuineness of its room temperature ferromagnetism. In order to clarify this issue we investigate (Zn,Co)O layers grown by atomic layer deposition at low temperatures. We employ and relay on wide range of extensive material characterization, which in combination with superconducting quantum interference device magnetometry allow us decisively exemplify the growth temperature as the key factor discriminating between paramagnetic (obtained at 160 °C) and various forms of ferromagnetic responses, seen when the grows is carried out at 200 °C and above.

Surface and electronic structure of Ga0.92In0.08N thin film investigated by photoelectron spectroscopy

The surface and electronic structure of MOCVD–grown layers of Ga0.92In0.08N have been investigated by means of photoemission. Stability of chemical composition of the surface subjected to Ar ion sputtering was proven by means of X-ray photoemission spectroscopy. The analysis of the relative intensities of In 3d, Ga 3p, and N 1s peaks showed that argon ion bombardment does not change significantly the relative contents of the layer constituents. Simultaneous efficient removal of the main contaminants (O and C) was observed during the sputtering procedure, proving that argon sputtering can be used as method for preparation of clean Ga1−xInxN surfaces. For a clean (0001)-(1x1) surface prepared by repeated cycles of Ar ion sputtering and annealing, electronic structure was investigated. The band structure was explored along the Γ-A direction of the Brillouin zone, measuring angleresolved photoemission spectra along the surface normal. A similar set of data was also acquired for the same surface of GaN layer. Comparison of the collected data revealed an additional feature at the valence band edge, which can be ascribed to the presence of In in the layer.