Lu Ouyang

Oriented Growth of Single-Crystal Ni Nanowires onto Amorphous SiO2

Highly oriented, single-crystal Ni nanowire arrays have been synthesized atop amorphous SiO2∥Si substrates using a single-step chemical vapor deposition method in the absence of any foreign catalyst. Electron and X-ray diffraction confirm the crystalline quality of the Ni nanowires while magnetoresistance measurements probe the magnetic response and the behavior is explained using simulation results for nanoscale, single-crystal Ni. A growth mechanism involving competing chemical, energetic, and kinetic influences is presented.

Strain-balanced InAs/InAs1−xSbx type-II superlattices grown by molecular beam epitaxy on GaSb substrates

Strain-balanced InAs/InAs1−xSbx type-II superlattices (SLs) on GaSb substrates with 0.27 ≤ x ≤0.33 were grown by molecular beam epitaxy and demonstrated photoluminescence (PL) up to 11.1 μm. The calculated SL bandgap energies agree with the PL peaks to within 5 meV for long-wavelength infrared samples (9.5, 9.9, and 11.1 μm) and to within 9 meV for a mid-wavelength infrared sample (5.9 μm). X-ray diffraction measurements reveal average SL mismatches of less than 0.2%, and the PL full-width-at-half-maximums increase with the mismatch, confirming the importance of strain-balancing for material quality.

Structural properties of InAs/InAs1–xSbx type-II superlattices grown by molecular beam epitaxy

Strain-balanced InAs/InAs1−xSbx type-II superlattices (SLs) have been proposed for possible long-wavelength infrared applications. This paper reports a detailed structural characterization study of InAs/InAs1−xSbx SLs with varied Sb composition grown on GaSb (001) substrates by modulated and conventional molecular beam epitaxy (MBE). X-ray diffraction was used to determine the SL periods and the average composition of the InAs1−xSbx alloy layers. Cross-section transmission electron micrographs revealed the separate In(As)Sb/InAs(Sb) ordered-alloy layers within individual InAs1−xSbx layers for SLs grown by modulated MBE. For the SLs grown by conventional MBE, examination by high-resolution electron microscopy revealed that interfaces for InAs1−xSbx deposited on InAs were more abrupt, relative to InAs deposited on InAs1−xSbx: this feature was attributed to Sb surfactant segregation occurring during the SL growth. Overall, these results establish that strain-balanced SL structures with excellent crystallinit...

Controlled growth behavior of chemical vapor deposited Ni nanostructures

Isolation of four distinct nanostructured Ni products is demonstrated in a well-controlled chemical vapor deposition process. These nanostructures include core–shell Ni–NiO nanowires, horizontally oriented nanowires, vertically oriented nanowires, and fully isometric cubic crystals all obtained upon an amorphous SiO2|Si growth substrate from an identical metal halide precursor. Transmission electron microscopy indicates the horizontally- and vertically-oriented nanowire products to be high-quality single crystals with a preferred growth axis along the ⟨001⟩ direction while the Ni–NiO core–shell nanowires are polycrystalline metal at the center and surrounded by an outer oxide. The differing crystal structures are reflected in the magnetic response of each nanowire type, as evidenced by magnetoresistance measurements. Detailed discussion of the formation mechanisms leading to each of the four nanostructured Ni products is presented along with a discussion of the general applicability of this non-epitaxial growth process to other material systems.

Influence of temperature ramp on the materials properties of GaSb grown on ZnTe using molecular beam epitaxy

This paper reports high-quality GaSb grown on ZnTe using molecular beam epitaxy with a temperature ramp during growth, and investigates the influence of the temperature ramp on material properties. During growth, in situ reflection-high-energy electron diffraction shows rapid and smooth transition from ZnTe surface reconstruction to GaSb surface reconstruction. Post-growth structural characterization using x-ray diffraction and transmission electron microscopy reveals smooth interface morphology and low defect density. Strong photoluminescence emission is observed up to 200 K. The sample grown with a temperature ramp from 360 to 470 °C at a rate of 33 °C/min showed the narrowest bound exciton emission peak with a full width at half maximum of 15 meV.

Molecular beam epitaxial growth of high-reflectivity and broad-bandwidth ZnTe/GaSb distributed Bragg reflectors

This paper reports the molecular beam epitaxial growth and characterization of high-reflectivity and broad-bandwidth distributed Bragg reflectors (DBRs) made of ZnTe/GaSb quarter-wavelength (λ/4) layers for optoelectronic applications in the midwave infrared spectral range (2–5 μm). A series of ZnTe/GaSb DBRs has been successfully grown on GaSb (001) substrates using molecular beam epitaxy (MBE). During the MBE growth, a temperature ramp was applied to the initial growth of GaSb layers on ZnTe to protect the ZnTe underneath from damage due to thermal evaporation. Post-growth characterization using high-resolution x-ray diffraction, atomic force microscopy, and transmission electron microscopy reveals smooth surface morphology, low defect density, and coherent interfaces. Reflectance spectroscopy results show that a DBR sample of seven λ/4 pairs has a peak reflectance as high as 99.0% centered at 2.56 μm with a bandwidth of 517 nm.

Growth and Material Properties of ZnTe/GaSb Heterostructures for Optoelectronic Device Applications

This paper reports the growth of ZnTe/GaSbheterostructures on GaSb (001) substrates using molecular beam epitaxy (MBE). X-ray diffraction (XRD) and high-resolution electron microscopy (HREM) are used to characterize the structural properties. Ellipsometryand photoluminescence (PL) are used to characterize the optical properties.