Magneto-optical ellipsometry and magnetometry of thin films and multilayers

x, 244 p.El objetivo principal de esta tesis ha sido desarrollar el campo de la elipsometría magneto-óptica aplicada a la metrología de películas delgadas y sistemas multicapa de carácter magnético. Para ello, se ha utilizado la técnica generalized magneto-optical ellipsometry (GME). Dicha herramienta puede caracterizar el tensor dieléctrico completo de tales sistemas, que a su vez permite determinar en gran detalle la configuración tridimensional de la magnetización, así como extraer los parámetros ópticos y magneto-ópticos. En la primera parte de la tesis, se introduce la técnica aplicada a procesos de inversión de la magnetización en sistemas de láminas delgadas y se estudia su optimización. En la segunda parte se investigan sistemas de láminas magnéticas que muestran propiedades dieléctricas anisotrópicas. Por un lado, se demuestra la influencia del estado de deformación en las propiedades ópticas y magneto-ópticas en láminas delgadas epitaxiales. Por otro lado, se encuentra que las propiedades dieléctricas de láminas de permalloy (Ni80Fe20) con patrones unidimensionales dependen directamente de su profundidad topográfica. En ambos casos, profundizamos en la figura de la anisotropía magneto-óptica, un efecto comúnmente ignorado y que sin embargo puede llevar a cometer errores en la interpretación de experimentos magneto-ópticos. Finalmente, se ha aplicado la técnica GME al estudio de multicapas de Co/Ag/Co en los que el grosor de la capa intermedia de Ag varía continuamente entre 0.3-3 nanómetros. Este detallado estudio ha permitido hallar un nuevo tipo de acoplamiento magnético anómalo entre las capas ferromagnéticas de Co que tiene su origen en la interacción de Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya

Magneto-optical ellipsometry and magnetometry of thin films and multilayers

x, 244 p.El objetivo principal de esta tesis ha sido desarrollar el campo de la elipsometría magneto-óptica aplicada a la metrología de películas delgadas y sistemas multicapa de carácter magnético. Para ello, se ha utilizado la técnica generalized magneto-optical ellipsometry (GME). Dicha herramienta puede caracterizar el tensor dieléctrico completo de tales sistemas, que a su vez permite determinar en gran detalle la configuración tridimensional de la magnetización, así como extraer los parámetros ópticos y magneto-ópticos. En la primera parte de la tesis, se introduce la técnica aplicada a procesos de inversión de la magnetización en sistemas de láminas delgadas y se estudia su optimización. En la segunda parte se investigan sistemas de láminas magnéticas que muestran propiedades dieléctricas anisotrópicas. Por un lado, se demuestra la influencia del estado de deformación en las propiedades ópticas y magneto-ópticas en láminas delgadas epitaxiales. Por otro lado, se encuentra que las propiedades dieléctricas de láminas de permalloy (Ni80Fe20) con patrones unidimensionales dependen directamente de su profundidad topográfica. En ambos casos, profundizamos en la figura de la anisotropía magneto-óptica, un efecto comúnmente ignorado y que sin embargo puede llevar a cometer errores en la interpretación de experimentos magneto-ópticos. Finalmente, se ha aplicado la técnica GME al estudio de multicapas de Co/Ag/Co en los que el grosor de la capa intermedia de Ag varía continuamente entre 0.3-3 nanómetros. Este detallado estudio ha permitido hallar un nuevo tipo de acoplamiento magnético anómalo entre las capas ferromagnéticas de Co que tiene su origen en la interacción de Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya

Acoustic Waves

The concept of acoustic wave is a pervasive one, which emerges in any type of medium, from solids to plasmas, at length and time scales ranging from sub-micrometric layers in microdevices to seismic waves in the Sun's interior. This book presents several aspects of the active research ongoing in this field. Theoretical efforts are leading to a deeper understanding of phenomena, also in complicated environments like the solar surface boundary. Acoustic waves are a flexible probe to investigate the properties of very different systems, from thin inorganic layers to ripening cheese to biological systems. Acoustic waves are also a tool to manipulate matter, from the delicate evaporation of biomolecules to be analysed, to the phase transitions induced by intense shock waves. And a whole class of widespread microdevices, including filters and sensors, is based on the behaviour of acoustic waves propagating in thin layers. The search for better performances is driving to new materials for these devices, and to more refined tools for their analysis

Fabrication of Vanadium Dioxide Thin Films and their Structural, Optical and Electrical Characterization for Optoelectronic Applications

Vanadium dioxide (VO2) is a transition metal oxide that is well known for its metal-to-insulator phase transition (MIT). One of the most common forms of VO2 that has been generally studied is the thin film form. VO2 thin films are considered a strong candidate in various new-generation optical, electronic, and optoelectronic (photonic) applications. From the technology perspective, the fabrication of single-crystal VO2 thin films appears to be challenging. Up to now, research on the preparation of VO2 thin films has focused on employing different material fabrication techniques to produce high-quality VO2 thin films. The stoichiometry and quality of VO2 thin films strongly depend on the fabrication process. There is still a need to study the production of near-single-crystal, high-quality VO2 thin films and their structural, optical and electrical characterization. Secondly, the metal-to-insulator phase transition phenomenon in VO2 is a topical research field. The percolation theory has introduced some rigor in explaining the phase transition. This dissertation focuses on two aspects of research on VO2 thin films. The first aspect focuses on studying the effect of specific deposition parameters such as substrate biasing and substrate temperature on the quality of VO2 thin films. Also, the synthesis of high-quality VO2 thin films prepared on single-crystal silicon, quartz and sapphire substrates is investigated. The films are examined using various analysis techniques including Raman spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy (SEM), x-ray diffraction (XRD), x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and energy-dispersive x-ray spectroscopy (EDS). The optical constants, namely the refractive index (n) and the extinction coefficient (K), and the optical bandgap (Eg) of the films are extracted using the Swanepoel and Manifacier techniques. The second aspect of this dissertation covers the application of percolation theory on the phase transition in VO2 thin films. Accordingly, the topology of conducting clusters during the IMT and MIT is investigated by means of optical and electrical switching in a high-quality VO2 thin film. Additionally, self-heating-induced electrical and optical switching in VO2 thin films prepared on sapphire substrates under constant applied current pulses has been studied. The difference in the two switching dynamics is explained by a simple model based on the percolation theory

Post-growth spectral tuning of InGaAs/GaAs quantum dot infrared photodetectors

Infrared photodetectors are essential in many industries and modern applications require devices with enhanced capabilities. High-performance detectors can be used for spectroscopy in medicine and environmental monitoring. Imaging scenarios include the identification of military targets and predicting equipment failure. These thermal imaging systems benefit from multicolour photodetectors. For example, some heat-seeking missiles incorporate two-colour HgCdTe arrays to discern target aircraft from decoy flares. Hyperspectral imaging describes the fusion of imaging and spectroscopy. These systems exhibit high spatial and spectral resolution, generally by dispersing different wavelengths onto a focal-plane array. Agricultural surveys, extraterrestrial exploration and medical procedures can all benefit from this powerful technique. High-end detectors in the mid-wavelength and long-wavelength infrared are usually made from HgCdTe alloys. These narrow-bandgap semiconductors exhibit favourable optoelectronic properties, however fabrication challenges lead to extravagant costs. In comparison, mature fabrication processes are available for III-V materials. Interband photodetectors made from these compounds are only sensitive at shorter infrared wavelengths. In recent years, intersubband devices have been developed for longer wavelengths and quantum well infrared photodetectors are now commercially available. Focal-plane arrays made from these structures are cheaper and the yield is better than with the HgCdTe technology. Quantum dot infrared photodetectors can also be fabricated from III-V materials. These architectures are inherently sensitive to normal-incidence radiation and have long carrier lifetimes, so they are expected to out-perform their quantum well counterparts. The devices studied here may be applicable to meteorology, atmospheric monitoring, molecular biology and medicine. High-quality quantum dots are normally grown by self-assembly and this restricts their size and composition. Hence, directly fabricating devices to operate at different wavelengths is an ongoing challenge. Post-growth techniques can instead be used to tailor the spectral response and two such approaches are considered in this thesis. Firstly, guided-mode resonances have been exploited in narrowband transmission filters. This design is agnostic to the detector technology and suitable for rugged environments. Germanium and calcium fluoride were selected for the dielectric layers and deposited films were thoroughly characterised. Guided-mode resonance filters based on photonic crystal slabs were integrated with quantum dot infrared photodetectors. The photoresponse of these devices was linearly tunable with the radius of the photonic crystal holes. These detectors are shown to be suitable for hyperspectral imaging with further optimisation of the device architectures. Intermixing shifts the response of InGaAs/GaAs quantum dot infrared photodetectors, so it is an effective approach to spectral tuning. Dielectric capping layers can be used to control the amount of intermixing and this allows multicolour detectors to be monolithically fabricated. In these studies, the compositional and thermomechanical properties of different dielectrics were measured. Preliminary intermixing experiments were performed on different heterostructures to extract the dominant physical processes. Ultimately, multicolour quantum dot infrared photodetectors were fabricated on a single sample. Silica was used to enhance intermixing through impurity-free vacancy disordering, whereas titania suppressed intermixing. Finally, the performance of each device was correlated with the properties of each dielectric. These detectors are found to be ideal for multispectral applications in the long-wavelength infrared band