Toru Ujihara

Enhanced quantum efficiency of solar cells with self-assembled Ge dots stacked in multilayer structure

We report on the performance of solar cells with stacked self-assembled Ge dots in the intrinsic region of Si-based p-i-n diode. These dots were epitaxially grown on p-type Si(100) substrate via the Stranski–Krastanov growth mode by gas-source molecular beam epitaxy. Enhanced external quantum efficiency (EQE) in the infrared region up to 1.45 μm was observed for the solar cells with stacked self-assembled Ge dots compared with that without Ge dots. Furthermore, the EQE was found to increase with increasing number of stacking. These results show that electron-hole pairs generated in Ge dots can be efficiently separated by the internal electric field, and can contribute to the photocurrent without considerable recombination in Ge dots or at Ge/Si interfaces.

Lipid Bilayer Membrane with Atomic Step Structure: Supported Bilayer on a Step-and-Terrace TiO2(100) Surface

The formation of a supported planar lipid bilayer (SPLB) and its morphology on step-and-terrace rutile TiO 2(100) surfaces were investigated by fluorescence microscopy and atomic force microscopy. The TiO 2(100) surfaces consisting of atomic steps and flat terraces were formed on a rutile TiO 2 single-crystal wafer by a wet treatment and annealing under a flow of oxygen. An intact vesicular layer formed on the TiO 2(100) surface when the surface was incubated in a sonicated vesicle suspension under the condition that a full-coverage SPLB forms on SiO 2, as reported in previous studies. However, a full-coverage, continuous, fluid SPLB was obtained on the step-and-terrace TiO 2(100) depending on the lipid concentration, incubation time, and vesicle size. The SPLB on the TiO 2(100) also has step-and-terrace morphology following the substrate structure precisely even though the SPLB is in the fluid phase and an approximately 1-nm-thick water layer exists between the SPLB and the substrate. This membrane distortion on the atomic scale affects the phase-separation structure of a binary bilayer of micrometer order. The interaction energy calculated including DLVO and non-DLVO factors shows that a lipid membrane on the TiO 2(100) gains 20 times more energy than on SiO 2. This specifically strong attraction on TiO 2 makes the fluid SPLB precisely follow the substrate structure of angstrom order.

Growth of SiGe bulk crystal with uniform composition by directly controlling the growth temperature at the crystal–melt interface using in situ monitoring system

Abstract A SiGe bulk crystal with uniform composition was successfully fabricated by clarifying and controlling the growth parameters at the crystal–melt interface. An apparatus was developed for the direct in situ observation and precise control of the interface parameters such as the temperature and the position. The dynamical change of the growth rate of a SiGe bulk crystal in a temperature gradient can be known by utilizing the apparatus. The growing crystal was continuously pulled down at the pulling rate balanced to the growth rate to keep the interface temperature constant, which resulted in the excellent uniformity of the grown crystal. Our technique opened the possibility to incorporate multicomponent semiconductor substrates to the semiconductor heterostructure technology.

Minority carrier lifetime in polycrystalline silicon solar cells studied by photoassisted Kelvin probe force microscopy

We have proposed a method to evaluate minority carrier lifetime through photovoltage measurements by photoassisted Kelvin probe force microscopy and have applied it to characterize a polycrystalline silicon solar cell. The results indicate that the lifetime significantly decreases in the vicinity of a grain boundary of the polycrystalline material. The photovoltage distribution around the grain boundary is also discussed by considering a contribution of both the intrinsic surface potential and the lifetime.

In situ growth of superconducting NdFeAs(O,F) thin films by molecular beam epitaxy

Superconducting NdFeAs(O,F) thin films were grown on GaAs substrates by molecular beam epitaxy. Films grown with a sufficiently long growth time exhibited a clear superconducting transition with an onset temperature up to 48 K and zero resistance temperature up to 42 K without the need of an ex situ annealing process. Electron probe microanalysis and Hall coefficient measurements indicated that the superconducting films are doped with fluorine, and depth-profile analysis by Auger electron spectroscopy revealed the formation of a NdOF layer near the surface, which is probably connected with the fluorine doping.

Super-High Brightness and High-Spin-Polarization Photocathode

Using a newly developed transmission-type photocathode, an electron beam of super-high brightness [(1.3±0.5)×107 Acm-2sr-1] was achieved. Moreover, the spin-polarization was as high as 90%. We fabricated a transmission-type photocathode based on a GaAs–GaAsP strained superlattice on a GaP substrate in order to enhance the brightness and polarization greatly. In this system, a laser beam is introduced through the transparent GaP substrate. The beam is focused on the superlattice active layer with a short focal length lens. Excited electrons are generated in a small area and extracted from the surface. The shrinkage of the electron generation area improved the brightness. In addition, a GaAs layer was inserted between the GaP substrate and the GaAsP buffer layer to control the strain relaxation process in the GaAsP buffer layer. This design for strain control was key in achieving high polarization (90%) in the transmission-type photocathode.

High-Efficiency Conversion of Threading Screw Dislocations in 4H-SiC by Solution Growth

The high-efficiency conversion of threading screw dislocations (TSDs) in 4H-SiC by solution growth provides an efficient method of obtaining ultra high-quality SiC crystals. The behavior of TSDs on on-axis and off-axis 4H-SiC0001 seed crystals was investigated by synchrotron X-ray topography. Almost all TSDs in the off-axis Si-face seed crystal were converted to Frank-type stacking faults on the basal planes. The conversion ratio of TSDs was highly influenced by the surface polarity of the seed crystal. The stacking faults laterally propagate toward the outside of the crystal.

High brightness and high polarization electron source using transmission photocathode with GaAs-GaAsP superlattice layers

In order to produce a high brightness and high spin polarization electron beam, a pointlike emission mechanism is required for the photocathode of a GaAs polarized electron source. For this purpose, the laser spot size on the photocathode must be minimized, which is realized by changing the direction of the injection laser light from the front side to the back side of the photocathode. Based on this concept, a 20kV gun was constructed with a transmission photocathode including an active layer of a GaAs–GaAsP superlattice layer. This system produces a laser spot diameter as small as 1.3μm for 760–810nm laser wavelength. The brightness of the polarized electron beam was ∼2.0×107Acm−2sr−1, which corresponds to a reduced brightness of ∼1.0×107Am−2sr−1V−1. The peak polarization of 77% was achieved up to now. A charge density lifetime of 1.8×108Ccm−2 was observed for an extracted current of 3μA.

Epitaxial Growth of NdFeAsO Thin Films by Molecular Beam Epitaxy

Epitaxial films of NdFeAsO were grown on GaAs substrates by molecular beam epitaxy (MBE). All elements including oxygen were supplied from solid sources using Knudsen cells. The X-ray diffraction pattern of the film prepared with the optimum growth condition showed no indication of impurity phases. Only (00l) peaks were observed, indicating that NdFeAsO was grown with the c-axis perpendicular to the substrate. The window of optimum growth condition was very narrow, but the NdFeAsO phase was grown with a very good reproducibility. Despite the absence of any appreciable secondary phase, the resistivity showed an increase with decreasing temperature.

Ge composition dependence of properties of solar cells based on multicrystalline SiGe with microscopic compositional distribution

We present device performance of solar cells based on multicrystalline SiGe (mc-SiGe) bulk crystal with microscopic compositional distribution grown by the casting method. The average Ge composition was systematically changed in the range between 0% and 10%. A small addition of Ge to multicrystalline Si (mc-Si) was found to be very effective to increase the short-circuit current density without affecting the open-circuit voltage. As a consequence, the overall efficiency of a solar cell based on mc-SiGe was improved compared with that based on mc-Si. This result demonstrates that mc-SiGe is a promising candidate to replace mc-Si since it could achieve higher conversion efficiency without drastic increase of the production cost.