Reduction-induced Fermi level pinning at the interfaces between Pb(Zr,Ti)O 3

International audienceThe interface formation between Pb(Zr, Ti)O 3 and Pt, Cu and Ag was studied using in situ photoelectron spectroscopy. A strong interface reaction and a reduction of the substrate surface is observed for all three interfaces as evidenced by the appearance of metallic Pb species. Despite the different work function of the metals, nearly identical barrier heights are found with E F − E VB = 1.6 ± 0.1 eV, 1.8 ± 0.1 eV and 1.7 ± 0.1 eV of the as-prepared interfaces with Pt, Cu and Ag, respectively. The barrier heights are characterized by a strong Fermi level pinning, which is attributed to an oxygen deficient interface induced by the chemical reduction of Pb(Zr, Ti)O 3 during metal deposition

Reflectance anisotropy spectroscopy of magnetite (110) surfaces

Reflectance anisotropy spectroscopy (RAS) has been used to measure the optical anisotropies of bulk and thin-film Fe3O4(110) surfaces. The spectra indicate that small shifts in energy of the optical transitions, associated with anisotropic strain or electric field gradients caused by the (110) surface termination or a native oxide layer, are responsible for the strong signal observed. The RAS response was then measured as a function of temperature. A distinct change in the RAS line-shape amplitude was observed in the spectral range from 0.8 to 1.6 eV for temperatures below the Verwey transition of the crystal. Finally, thin-film magnetite was grown by molecular beam epitaxy on MgO(110) substrates. Changes in the RAS spectra were found for different film thickness, suggesting that RAS can be used to monitor the growth of magnetite (110) films in situ. The thickness dependence of the RAS is discussed in terms of various models for the origin of the RAS signal

DC-electric-field-induced and low-frequency electromodulation second-harmonic generation spectroscopy of Si(001)-SiO2_2 interfaces

The mechanism of DC-Electric-Field-Induced Second-Harmonic (EFISH) generation at weakly nonlinear buried Si(001)-SiO$_2$ interfaces is studied experimentally in planar Si(001)-SiO$_2$-Cr MOS structures by optical second-harmonic generation (SHG) spectroscopy with a tunable Ti:sapphire femtosecond laser. The spectral dependence of the EFISH contribution near the direct two-photon $E_1$ transition of silicon is extracted. A systematic phenomenological model of the EFISH phenomenon, including a detailed description of the space charge region (SCR) at the semiconductor-dielectric interface in accumulation, depletion, and inversion regimes, has been developed. The influence of surface quantization effects, interface states, charge traps in the oxide layer, doping concentration and oxide thickness on nonlocal screening of the DC-electric field and on breaking of inversion symmetry in the SCR is considered. The model describes EFISH generation in the SCR using a Green function formalism which takes into account all retardation and absorption effects of the fundamental and second harmonic (SH) waves, optical interference between field-dependent and field-independent contributions to the SH field and multiple reflection interference in the SiO$_2$ layer. Good agreement between the phenomenological model and our recent and new EFISH spectroscopic results is demonstrated. Finally, low-frequency electromodulated EFISH is demonstrated as a useful differential spectroscopic technique for studies of the Si-SiO$_2$ interface in silicon-based MOS structures.Comment: 31 pages, 14 figures, 1 table, figures are also available at http://kali.ilc.msu.su/articles/50/efish.ht

General approach to the analysis of plasmonic structures using spectroscopic ellipsometry

In this article a route to analyze the full optical response of plasmonic structures is developed. First, the simple case of an anisotropic thin plasmonic layer supported on a transparent substrate is analyzed by introducing a quantity named anisotropic surface excess function (ASEF). The spectral features are analyzed in terms of effective dielectric function, demonstrating a more direct relation with the plasmonic response of the layer. The formalism is then generalized using a transfer matrix method. The formalism developed is supported by experimental evidence obtained by measuring the response of anisotropic nanoparticle arrays grown at a glancing angle. The agreement between theory and experiment is clear, suggesting that SE can be conveniently employed to measure the spectroscopic response of plasmonic structures. It is also demonstrated that the figure of merit of the plasmonic resonance for refractive index sensing can be greatly improved, with optimized measurement configurations, using polarized spectroscopy