Diluted II-VI Oxide Semiconductors with Multiple Band Gaps

We report the realization of a new multi-band-gap semiconductor. The highly mismatched alloy Zn1-yMnyOxTe1-x has been synthesized using the combination of oxygen ion implantation and pulsed laser melting. Incorporation of small quantities of isovalent oxygen leads to the formation of a narrow, oxygen-derived band of extended states located within the band gap of the Zn1-yMnyTe host. When only 1.3% of Te atoms is replaced with oxygen in a Zn0.88Mn0.12Te crystal (with band gap of 2.32 eV) the resulting band structure consists of two direct band gaps with interband transitions at ~1.77 eV and 2.7 eV. This remarkable modification of the band structure is well described by the band anticrossing model in which the interactions between the oxygen-derived band and the conduction band are considered. With multiple band gaps that fall within the solar energy spectrum, Zn1-yMnyOxTe1-x is a material perfectly satisfying the conditions for single-junction photovoltaics with the potential for power conversion efficiencies surpassing 50%.Comment: 12 pages, 4 figure

Giant negative piezoresistance effect in copper-doped germanium

We have observed a stress-induced decrease of over ten orders of magnitude in the low-temperature electrical resistivity of copper- doped germanium single crystals. The application of large uniaxial stresses in a direction leas to a change in the copper ground- state wavefunction from the highly localized (1s){sup 3} to the much more extended (1s){sup 2}(2s){sup 1} configuration. We attribute the decrease in the resistivity to impurity band conduction by the 2s - holes of the high pressure configuration

Mutual passivation of group IV donors and nitrogen in diluted GaNₓAs₁ˍₓ alloys

We demonstrate the mutual passivation phenomenon of Ge donors and isovalent N in highly mismatched alloy GaNₓAs₁ˍₓdoped with Ge. Layers of this alloy were formed by the sequential implantation of Ge and N ions followed by pulsed laser melting and rapid thermal annealing. The mutual passivation effect results in the electrical deactivation of GeGa donors (Ge on Ga sites) and suppression of the NAs (N on As sites) induced band gap narrowing through the formation of GeGa–NAs nearest neighbor pairs. These results in combination with the analogous effect observed in Si-doped GaNₓAs₁ˍₓ provide clear evidence of the general nature of the mutual passivation phenomenon in highly mismatched semiconductor alloys.This work was supported by the Director, Office of Science, Office of Basic Energy Sciences, Division of Materials Sciences and Engineering, U.S. Department of Energy, under Contract No. DE-AC03-76SF00098. One of the authors ~M.A.S.! acknowledges support by an NSF graduate research fellowship

Development of a Li2MoO4 scintillating bolometer for low background physics

We present the performance of a 33 g Li2MoO4 crystal working as a scintillating bolometer. The crystal was tested for more than 400 h in a dilution refrigerator installed in the underground laboratory of Laboratori Nazionali del Gran Sasso (Italy). This compound shows promising features in the frame of neutron detection, dark matter search (solar axions) and neutrinoless double-beta decay physics. Low temperature scintillating properties were investigated by means of different alpha, beta/gamma and neutron sources, and for the first time the Light Yield for different types of interacting particle is estimated. The detector shows great ability of tagging fast neutron interactions and high intrinsic radiopurity levels (< 90 \muBq/kg for 238-U and < 110 \muBq/kg for 232-Th).Comment: revised versio

First bolometric measurement of the two neutrino double beta decay of 100^{100}Mo with a ZnMoO4_4 crystals array

The large statistics collected during the operation of a ZnMoO$_4$ array, for a total exposure of 1.3 kg $\cdot$ day of $^{100}$Mo, allowed the first bolometric observation of the two neutrino double beta decay of $^{100}$Mo. The observed spectrum of each crystal was reconstructed taking into account the different background contributions due to environmental radioactivity and internal contamination. The analysis of coincidences between the crystals allowed the assignment of constraints to the intensity of the different background sources, resulting in a reconstruction of the measured spectrum down to an energy of $\sim$300 keV. The half-life extracted from the data is T$_{1/2}^{2\nu}$= [7.15 $\pm$ 0.37 (stat) $\pm$ 0.66 (syst)] $\cdot$ 10$^{18}$ y.Comment: 6 pages, 2 figure, Accepted for publication in Journal of Physics G: Nuclear and Particle Physic

Metric tensor as the dynamical variable for variable cell-shape molecular dynamics

We propose a new variable cell-shape molecular dynamics algorithm where the dynamical variables associated with the cell are the six independent dot products between the vectors defining the cell instead of the nine cartesian components of those vectors. Our choice of the metric tensor as the dynamical variable automatically eliminates the cell orientation from the dynamics. Furthermore, choosing for the cell kinetic energy a simple scalar that is quadratic in the time derivatives of the metric tensor, makes the dynamics invariant with respect to the choice of the simulation cell edges. Choosing the densitary character of that scalar allows us to have a dynamics that obeys the virial theorem. We derive the equations of motion for the two conditions of constant external pressure and constant thermodynamic tension. We also show that using the metric as variable is convenient for structural optimization under those two conditions. We use simulations for Ar with Lennard-Jones parameters and for Si with forces and stresses calculated from first-principles of density functional theory to illustrate the applications of the method.Comment: 10 pages + 6 figures, Latex, to be published in Physical Review

Mn L3,2 X-ray Absorption Spectroscopy And Magnetic Circular Dichroism In Ferromagnetic (Ga,Mn)P

We have measured the X-ray absorption (XAS) and X-ray magnetic circular dichroism (XMCD) at the Mn L3,2 edges in ferromagnetic Ga1-xMnxP films for 0.018<x<0.042. Large XMCD asymmetries at the L3 edge indicate significant spin-polarization of the density of states at the Fermi energy. The spectral shapes of the XAS and XMCD are nearly identical with those for Ga1-xMnxAs indicating that the hybridization of Mn d states and anion p states is similar in the two materials. Finally, compensation with sulfur donors not only lowers the ferromagnetic Curie temperature but also reduces the spin polarization of the hole states.Comment: 2 pages, 1 figure; To appear in the Proceedings of the 28th International Conference on the Physics of Semiconductors (ICPS-28, Vienna, Austria, July 24-28, 2006

Metal-insulator transition by isovalent anion substitution in Ga1-xMnxAs: Implications to ferromagnetism

We have investigated the effect of partial isovalent anion substitution in Ga1-xMnxAs on electrical transport and ferromagnetism. Substitution of only 2.4percent of As by P induces a metal-insulator transition at a constant Mn doping of x=0.046 while the replacement of 0.4 percent As with N results in the crossover from metal to insulator for x=0.037. This remarkable behavior is consistent with a scenario in which holes located within an impurity band are scattered by alloy disorder in the anion sublattice. The shorter mean free path of holes, which mediate ferromagnetism, reduces the Curie temperature TC from 113 K to 60 K (100 K to 65 K) upon the introduction of 3.1 percent P (1percent N) into the As sublattice

Compensation-dependent in-plane magnetization reversal processes in Ga1-xMnxP1-ySy

We report the effect of dilute alloying of the anion sublattice with S on the in-plane uniaxial magnetic anisotropy and magnetization reversal process in Ga1-xMnxP as measured by both ferromagnetic resonance (FMR) and superconducting quantum interference device (SQUID) magnetometry. At T=5K, raising the S concentration increases the uniaxial magnetic anisotropy between in-plane directions while decreasing the magnitude of the (negative) cubic anisotropy field. Simulation of the SQUID magnetometry indicates that the energy required for the nucleation and growth of domain walls decreases with increasing y. These combined effects have a marked influence on the shape of the field-dependent magnetization curves; while the direction remains the easy axis in the plane of the film, the field dependence of the magnetization develops double hysteresis loops in the [011] direction as the S concentration increases similar to those observed for perpendicular magnetization reversal in lightly doped Ga1-xMnxAs. The incidence of double hysteresis loops is explained with a simple model whereby magnetization reversal occurs by a combination of coherent spin rotation and noncoherent spin switching, which is consistent with both FMR and magnetometry experiments. The evolution of magnetic properties with S concentration is attributed to compensation of Mn acceptors by S donors, which results in a lowering of the concentration of holes that mediate ferromagnetism.Comment: 37 pages, 9 figures, 3 table