2,027 research outputs found
New adatom model for Si(11) 7X7 and Si(111)Ge 5X5 reconstructed surfaces
A new adatom model differing from the conventional model by a reconstruction of the substrate is proposed. The new adatom structure provides an explanation for the 7x7 and 5x5 size of the unit cells seen on annealed Si(111) and Si(111)-Ge surfaces, respectively. The model is consistent with structural information from vacuum-tunneling microscopy. It also provides simple explanations for stacking-fault-type features expected from Rutherford backscattering experiments and for similarities in the LEED and photoemission spectra of 2x1 and 7x7 surfaces
Vacancy in silicon revisited: structure and pressure effects
FAPESP - FUNDAÇÃO DE AMPARO À PESQUISA DO ESTADO DE SÃO PAULOCNPQ - CONSELHO NACIONAL DE DESENVOLVIMENTO CIENTÍFICO E TECNOLÓGICOThe structure of the single vacancy in silicon. one of the most common point defects and an important mediator of atomic diffusion, is examined through extensive first principles calculations. We find a hitherto unexpected result, namely that there exist two distinct distortions associated with the vacancy with essentially identical formation energies at zero pressure. The two distortions are distinguished by their different relaxations, volumes of formation, and :formation enthalpies. We discuss how, at finite pressure, one of the two distortions should become dominant, and suggest experimental tests of this effect.The structure of the single vacancy in silicon, one of the most common point defects and an important mediator of atomic diffusion, is examined through extensive first principles calculations. We find a hitherto unexpected result, namely that there exist two distinct distortions associated with the vacancy with essentially identical formation energies at zero pressure. The two distortions are distinguished by their different relaxations, volumes of formation, and formation enthalpies. We discuss how, at finite pressure, one of the two distortions should become dominant, and suggest experimental tests of this effect.811020882091FAPESP - FUNDAÇÃO DE AMPARO À PESQUISA DO ESTADO DE SÃO PAULOCNPQ - CONSELHO NACIONAL DE DESENVOLVIMENTO CIENTÍFICO E TECNOLÓGICOFAPESP - FUNDAÇÃO DE AMPARO À PESQUISA DO ESTADO DE SÃO PAULOCNPQ - CONSELHO NACIONAL DE DESENVOLVIMENTO CIENTÍFICO E TECNOLÓGICOSem informaçãoSem informaçãoWe thank Professor M. J. Aziz for useful discussions throughout this work and helpful comments on the manuscript. A. A. wishes to thank Harvard University for its hospitality during the course of this work, and to acknowledge partial support from the Brazilian funding agencies Fundo de Apoio ao Ensino e à Pesquisa (FAEP/UNICAMP), Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP), and Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq). Computer calculations were performed at the facilities of the Centro Nacional de Processamento de Alto Desempenho em São Paulo (CENAPAD-SP). The work at Harvard University was supported the Materials Science and Engineering Center, which is funded by the National Science Foundation
Magnetic anisotropy of vicinal (001) fcc Co films: role of crystal splitting and structure relaxation in step-decoration effect
The uniaxial in-plane magnetic anisotropy (UIP-MA) constant is calculated for
a single step on the (001) surface of fcc Co() films. The calculations are
done for both an undecorated step and the step decorated with one or more, up
to 7, Cu wires. Our objective is to explain the mechanisms by which the
decoration decreases the UIP-MA constant, which is the effect observed
experimentally for ultrathin Co films deposited on vicinal (001) Cu surfaces
and can lead to reorientation of magnetization within the film plane.
Theoretical calculations performed with a realistic tight-binding model show
that the step decoration changes the UIP-MA constant significantly only if the
splitting between the on-site energies of various -orbitals is included for
atoms located near the step edge. The local relaxation of atomic structure
around the step is also shown to have a significant effect on the shift of the
UIP-MA constant. The influence of these two relevant factors is analyzed
further by examining individual contributions to the UIP-MA constant from atoms
around the step. The magnitude of the obtained UIP-MA shift agrees well with
experimental data. It is also found that an additional shift due to possible
charge transfer between Cu and Co atoms is very small.Comment: 12 pages,9 figures, RevTeX, submitted to Physical Review B version 3:
additions to content version 2: minor correction
A new type of reconstruction on the InSb() surface determined by grazing incidence X-ray diffraction
The (3×3) reconstruction of the InSb( ) surface has been investigated by grazing incidence X-ray diffraction and scanning tunneling microscopy. The structure is characterized by 6-atom rings on top of a slightly buckled InSb top double layer. Two types of rings have been found, an elliptic ring consisting of 4 In and 2 Sb atoms and a trigonal ring with 3 In and 3 Sb atoms. The bond angles and lengths are consistent with the concept of rehybridization and depolarization which explains the reconstructions of the (111) and (110) surfaces
Proton Heating in Solar Wind Compressible Turbulence with Collisions between Counter-propagating Waves
Magnetohydronamic turbulence is believed to play a crucial role in heating
the laboratorial, space, and astrophysical plasmas. However, the precise
connection between the turbulent fluctuations and the particle kinetics has not
yet been established. Here we present clear evidence of plasma turbulence
heating based on diagnosed wave features and proton velocity distributions from
solar wind measurements by the Wind spacecraft. For the first time, we can
report the simultaneous observation of counter-propagating magnetohydrodynamic
waves in the solar wind turbulence. Different from the traditional paradigm
with counter-propagating Alfv\'en waves, anti-sunward Alfv\'en waves (AWs) are
encountered by sunward slow magnetosonic waves (SMWs) in this new type of solar
wind compressible turbulence. The counter-propagating AWs and SWs correspond
respectively to the dominant and sub-dominant populations of the imbalanced
Els\"asser variables. Nonlinear interactions between the AWs and SMWs are
inferred from the non-orthogonality between the possible oscillation direction
of one wave and the possible propagation direction of the other. The associated
protons are revealed to exhibit bi-directional asymmetric beams in their
velocity distributions: sunward beams appearing in short and narrow patterns
and anti-sunward broad extended tails. It is suggested that multiple types of
wave-particle interactions, i.e., cyclotron and Landau resonances with AWs and
SMWs at kinetic scales, are taking place to jointly heat the protons
perpendicularly and parallel
Precision Electron Measurements in the Solar Wind at 1 au from NASA's Wind Spacecraft
This work aims to characterize precisely and systematically the non-thermal
characteristics of the electron Velocity Distribution Function (eVDF) in the
solar wind at 1 au using data from the Wind spacecraft. We present a
comprehensive statistical analysis of solar wind electrons at 1 au using the
electron analyzers of the 3D-Plasma instrument on board Wind. This work uses a
sophisticated algorithm developed to analyze and characterize separately the
three populations - core, halo and strahl - of the eVDF up to 2 keV. The eVDF
data are calibrated using independent electron parameters obtained from the
quasi-thermal noise around the electron plasma frequency measured by the
Thermal Noise Receiver. The code determines the respective set of total
electron, core, halo and strahl parameters through non-linear least-square fits
to the measured eVDF, taking properly into account spacecraft charging and
other instrumental effects. We use four years, ~ 280000 independent
measurements of core, halo and strahl parameters to investigate the statistical
properties of these different populations in the solar wind. We discuss the
distributions of their respective densities, drift velocities, temperature, and
temperature anisotropies as functions of solar wind speed. We also show
distributions with solar wind speed of the total density, temperature,
temperature anisotropy and heat flux, as well as those of the proton
temperature, proton-to-electron temperature ratio, proton and electron beta.
Intercorrelations between some of these parameters are also discussed. The
present dataset represents the largest, high-precision, collection of electron
measurements in the pristine solar wind at 1~AU. It provides a new wealth of
information on electron microphysics. Its large volume will enable future
statistical studies of parameter combinations and their dependencies under
different plasma conditions.Comment: total of 21 pages, 17 figures, 1 appendix and 7 table
Realistic Tight Binding Model for the Electronic Structure of II-VI Semiconductors
We analyze the electronic structure of group II-VI semiconductors obtained
within LMTO approach in order to arrive at a realistic and minimal tight
binding model, parameterized to provide an accurate description of both valence
and conduction bands. It is shown that a nearest-neighbor model is
fairly sufficient to describe to a large extent the electronic structure of
these systems over a wide energy range, obviating the use of any fictitious
orbital. The obtained hopping parameters obey the universal scaling law
proposed by Harrison, ensuring transferability to other systems. Furthermore,
we show that certain subtle features in the bonding of these compounds require
the inclusion of anion-anion interactions in addition to the nearest-neighbor
cation-anion interactions.Comment: 9 pages, 9 figure
Anion vacancies as a source of persistent photoconductivity in II-VI and chalcopyrite semiconductors
Using first-principles electronic structure calculations we identify the
anion vacancies in II-VI and chalcopyrite Cu-III-VI2 semiconductors as a class
of intrinsic defects that can exhibit metastable behavior. Specifically, we
predict persistent electron photoconductivity (n-type PPC) caused by the oxygen
vacancy VO in n-ZnO, and persistent hole photoconductivity (p-type PPC) caused
by the Se vacancy VSe in p-CuInSe2 and p-CuGaSe2. We find that VSe in the
chalcopyrite materials is amphoteric having two "negative-U" like transitions,
i.e. a double-donor transition e(2+/0) close to the valence band and a
double-acceptor transition e(0/2-) closer to the conduction band. We introduce
a classification scheme that distinguishes two types of defects (e.g., donors):
type-alpha, which have a defect-localized-state (DLS) in the gap, and
type-beta, which have a resonant DLS within the host bands (e.g., conduction
band). In the latter case, the introduced carriers (e.g., electrons) relax to
the band edge where they can occupy a perturbed-host-state (PHS). Type alpha is
non-conducting, whereas type beta is conducting. We identify the neutral anion
vacancy as type-alpha and the doubly positively charged vacancy as type-beta.
We suggest that illumination changes the charge state of the anion vacancy and
leads to a crossover between alpha- and beta-type behavior, resulting in
metastability and PPC. In CuInSe2, the metastable behavior of VSe is carried
over to the (VSe-VCu) complex, which we identify as the physical origin of PPC
observed experimentally. We explain previous puzzling experimental results in
ZnO and CuInSe2 in the light of this model.Comment: submitted to Phys. Rev.
Probing the potential landscape inside a two-dimensional electron-gas
We report direct observations of the scattering potentials in a
two-dimensional electron-gas using electron-beam diffaction-experiments. The
diffracting objects are local density-fluctuations caused by the spatial and
charge-state distribution of the donors in the GaAs-(Al,Ga)As heterostructures.
The scatterers can be manipulated externally by sample illumination, or by
cooling the sample down under depleted conditions.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figure
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