Lithographic band gap tuning in photonic band gap crystals

We describe the lithographic control over the spectral response of three-dimensional photonic crystals. By precise microfabrication of the geometry using a reproducible and reliable procedure consisting of electron beam lithography followed by dry etching, we have shifted the conduction band of crystals within the near-infrared. Such microfabrication has enabled us to reproducibly define photonic crystals with lattice parameters ranging from 650 to 730 nm. In GaAs semiconductor wafers, these can serve as high-reflectivity (> 95%) mirrors. Here, we show the procedure used to generate these photonic crystals and describe the geometry dependence of their spectral response

Ultra-high External Efficiency From Surface Textured Thin-film LEDs

Dire need for high external quantum efficiency (η_(ext)) visible light-emitting-diodes (LED's) is clearly seen as the flat panel display technology is rapidly evolves. However, there is an enormous gap between the theoretical efficiency of LED's and their actual efficiency. It has been known that good quality III-V double heterostructures can have over 90% internal quantum yields (η) for direct band-gap compounds and over 99% for AlGaAs/GaAs/AlGaAs, as we have demonstrated recently. On the other hand, run-of-the-mill commercial LED's are usually only a few percent efficient (externally)

Wet oxidation of GeSi at (700)C

About 500-nm-thick films of Ge0.36Si0.64 and Ge0.28Si0.72 grown epitaxially on (100)Si have been oxidized at 700-degrees-C in wet ambient. A uniform GexSi1-xO2 oxide layer forms with a smooth interface between it and the unoxidized GexSi1-x layer below. The composition and structure of that layer remains unchanged as monitored by backscattering spectrometry or cross-sectional transmission electronic microscopy. The oxide of both samples grows as square root of oxidation duration. The parabolic rate constant increases with the Ge content and is larger than that for wet oxidation of pure Si at the same temperature. The absence of a regime of linear growth at this relatively low temperature indicates a much enhanced linear rate constant

Superconducting niobium cavities, a case for the film technology

Evidence is presented for niobium film cavities performing as well as niobium bulk cavities, at variance with a widespread belief that their much smaller grain size should be a fundamental limitation preventing high quality factors to be maintained over a wide range of accelerating fields. By comparing the relative merits of the bulk and film technologies, a strong case is presented in favour of the latter

Ultra-high External Efficiency From Surface Textured Thin-film LEDs

Dire need for high external quantum efficiency (η_(ext)) visible light-emitting-diodes (LED's) is clearly seen as the flat panel display technology is rapidly evolves. However, there is an enormous gap between the theoretical efficiency of LED's and their actual efficiency. It has been known that good quality III-V double heterostructures can have over 90% internal quantum yields (η) for direct band-gap compounds and over 99% for AlGaAs/GaAs/AlGaAs, as we have demonstrated recently. On the other hand, run-of-the-mill commercial LED's are usually only a few percent efficient (externally)

Instability of a GexSi1−xO2 film on a GexSi1−x layer

The stability of an amorphous GexSi1−xO2 in contact with an epitaxial (100)GexSi1−x layer obtained by partially oxidizing an epitaxial GexSi1−x layer on a (100)Si substrate in a wet ambient at 700 °C is investigated for x=0.28 and 0.36 upon annealing in vacuum at 900 °C for 3 h, aging in air at room temperature for 5 months, and immersion in water. After annealing at 900 °C, the oxide remains amorphous and the amount of GeO2 in the oxide stays constant, but some small crystalline precipitates with a lattice constant similar to that of the underlying GeSi layer emerge in the oxide very near the interface for both x. Similar precipitates are also observed after aging for both x. The appearance of these precipitates can be explained by the thermodynamic instability of GexSi1−xO2 in contact with GexSi1−x. In water at RT, 90% of GeO2 in the oxide is dissolved for x=0.36, while the oxide remains conserved for x=0.28

Damage and strain in epitaxial GexSi1–x films irradiated with Si

The damage and strain induced by irradiation of both relaxed and pseudomorphic GexSi1–x films on Si(100) with 100 keV 28Si ions at room temperature have been studied by MeV 4He channeling spectrometry and x-ray double-crystal diffractometry. The ion energy was chosen to confine the major damage to the films. The results are compared with experiments for room temprature Si irradiation of Si(100) and Ge(100). The maximum relative damage created in low-Ge content films studied here (x=10%, 13%, 15%, 20%, and 22%) is considerably higher than the values obtained by interpolating between the results for relative damage in Si-irradiated single crystal Si and Ge. This, together with other facts, indicates that a relatively small fraction of Ge in Si has a significant stabilizing effect on the retained damage generated by room-temperature irradiation with Si ions. The damage induced by irradiation produces positive perpendicular strain in GexSi1–x, which superimposes on the intrinsic positive perpendicular strain of the pseudomorphic or partially relaxed films. In all of the cases studied here, the induced maximum perpendicular strain and the maximum relative damage initially increase slowly with the dose, but start to rise at an accelerated rate above a threshold value of ~0.15% and 15%, respectively, until the samples are amorphized. The pre-existing pseudomorphic strain in the GexSi1–x film does not significantly influence the maximum relative damage created by Si ion irradiation for all doses and x values. The relationship between the induced maximum perpendicular strain and the maximum relative damage differs from that found in bulk Si(100) and Ge(100)