Snjezana Balaz

The heteroisomeric diode

We have fabricated a new class of diode from two different polytypes of boron carbide. Diodes were fabricated by chemical vapour deposition from two different isomers of closo-dicarbadodecaborane: closo-1,2-dicarbadodecaborane (orthocarborane, C2B10H12) and closo-1,7-dicarbadodecaborane (metacarborane, C2B10H12), differing only by the carbon placement within the icosahedral cage. We find that the electronic structure (molecular orbitals) of these two isomer molecules and the resulting decomposition reflect the tendency of metacarborane to form an n-type semiconductor while orthocarborane is an effective source compound for a slightly p-type semiconducting boron carbide. The diodes of this novel class are effective solid state neutron detectors, and have a number of unique applications.

Evidence for multiple polytypes of semiconducting boron carbide (C2B10) from electronic structure

Boron carbides fabricated via plasma enhanced chemical vapour deposition from different isomeric source compounds with the same C2B10H12 closo-icosahedral structure result in materials with very different direct (optical) band gaps. This provides compelling evidence for the existence of multiple polytypes of C2B10 boron carbide and is consistent with electron diffraction results.

Surface photovoltage effects on the isomeric semiconductors of boron-carbide

During exposure to synchrotron radiation, closo 1,7-dicarbadodecaborane (metacarborane) and closo 1,2-dicarbadodecaborane (orthocarborane) decompose, and are accompanied by increasingly evident photoemission surface photovoltage effects. We show that metacarborane and orthocarborane form self-doped n-type and p-type boron-carbides, respectively. Surface photovoltage effects dominate the photoemission final state, not the changes in electronic structure due to decomposition.

Heterojunction band offsets and dipole formation at BaTiO3/SrTiO3 interfaces

We used a complement of photoemission and cathodoluminescence techniques to measure formation of the BaTiO3 (BTO) on SrTiO3 (STO) heterojunction band offset grown monolayer by monolayer by molecular beam epitaxy. X-ray photoemission spectroscopy (XPS) provided core level and valence band edge energies to monitor the valence band offset in-situ as the first few crystalline BTO monolayers formed on the STO substrate. Ultraviolet photoemission spectroscopy (UPS) measured Fermi level positions within the band gap, work functions, and ionization potentials of the growing BTO film. Depth-resolved cathodoluminescence spectroscopy measured energies and densities of interface states at the buried heterojunction. Kraut-based XPS heterojunction band offsets provided evidence for STO/BTO heterojunction linearity, i.e., commutativity and transitivity. In contrast, UPS and XPS revealed a large dipole associated either with local charge transfer or strain-induced polarization within the BTO epilayer.

Depth resolved studies of SrTiO3 defects using x-ray excited optical luminescence and cathodoluminescence

We have performed comparative depth-dependent x-ray excited optical luminescence (XEOL) and depth resolved cathodoluminescence spectroscopy measurements in order to understand the native point defect distribution in three SrTiO3 samples. Both techniques found surface segregation of Ti3+ defects, but apparent differences in the oxygen vacancy distribution. Due to the lower excitation flux densities employed in XEOL, there is a delayed onset (“dead layer”) revealed in the oxygen defect depth distribution, which results from band bending near the surface. By modeling the data, we are able to estimate the Ti3+ depth distribution and the depletion layer width.