Strategy for reliable strain measurement in InAs/GaAs materials from high-resolution Z-contrast STEM images

Geometric phase analysis (GPA), a fast and simple Fourier space method for strain analysis, can give useful information on accumulated strain and defect propagation in multiple layers of semiconductors, including quantum dot materials. In this work, GPA has been applied to high resolution Z-contrast scanning transmission electron microscopy (STEM) images. Strain maps determined from different g vectors of these images are compared to each other, in order to analyze and assess the GPA technique in terms of accuracy. The SmartAlign tool has been used to improve the STEM image quality getting more reliable results. Strain maps from template matching as a real space approach are compared with strain maps from GPA, and it is discussed that a real space analysis is a better approach than GPA for aberration corrected STEM images

Bandgap measurement of high refractive index materials by off-axis EELS

In the present work, Cs aberration corrected and monochromated scanning transmission electron microscopy electron energy loss spectroscopy STEM-EELS has been used to explore experimental set-ups that allows bandgaps of high refractive index materials to be determined. Semi-convergence and -collection angles in the micro-radian range were combined with off-axis or dark field EELS to avoid relativistic losses and guided light modes in the low loss range to contribute to the acquired EEL spectra. Off-axis EELS further suppressed the zero loss peak and the tail of the zero loss peak. The bandgap of several GaAs-based materials were successfully determined by direct inspection and without any background subtraction of the EEL spectra. The presented set-up does not require that the acceleration voltage is set to below the Cerenkov limit and can be applied over the entire acceleration voltage range of modern TEMs and for a wide range of specimen thicknesses.Comment: 16 pages, 8 figure

Ellipsometric study of the optical response of ZnS:Cr for PV applications

Optical properties of highly chromium doped (2–4 at.%) zinc sulfide made by pulsed laser deposition have been studied by spectroscopic ellipsometry in the spectral range of 0.73–5.90 eV. The characteristic optical features of the ZnS are a direct bandgap with absorption onset at 3.6 eV, with E0, E1 and E2 critical points around 3.7, 5.7 and 7 eV. Excitonic effects were observed to be strong in this material – in line with the literature. The sub-bandgap absorption accredited to the chromium doping appears as a broad sub-bandgap feature increasing monotonously with increased doping concentration at a given growth temperature. In this report, we discuss three different approaches to extract and analyze the optical properties in terms of the complex dielectric function

Band-edge modification and mid-infrared absorption of co-deposited FexZn1-xS thin films

The bandgap of iron-doped ZnS has been reported by others to change significantly under the addition of a few atomic percent of iron, which would have significant implications for solar energy. Here, thin films of FexZn1-xS with x = 0 to 0.24 were made by co-deposition of Fe and ZnS using thermal evaporation. In contrast to results on nanoparticles and electrodeposited materials, all co-deposited films had optical properties consistent with a direct bandgap of ~3-3.5 eV. The absorption peak at 2.7 µm from substitutional Fe2+ in the ZnS films was well isolated up to concentrations of over 2% (~1021cm−3), despite the small crystallite size, suggesting the films may have applications as mid-infrared saturable absorbers. Increasing dopant concentration resulted in band edge softening. Density functional calculations are presented and are consistent with our observations of the Fe:ZnS films, demonstrating spin-polarized midgap states and additional states at the band edge

Interpretation of photovoltaic performance of n-ZnO:Al/ZnS:Cr/p-GaP solar cell

We investigate Cr-doped ZnS (ZnS: Cr) as a potential deep-level intermediate band material for high efficiency solar cells. We study n-ZnO:Al/ZnS:Cr/p-GaP heterojunction cell for the first time, and this paper presents an interpretation of the performance of the solar cell in the framework of intermediate band solar cells. We conclude that the ZnS:Cr used in this work has two characteristic energy levels at 0.88 eV and 2.68 eV below the conduction band. This material also has a quasi-continuum of energy levels between the former level and the valence band maximum. This quasi-continuum results in thermal carrier escape that limits the open-circuit voltage to the lowest energy gap in ZnS: Cr, ≃0.8 V

Nanosecond laser ablation and deposition of silicon

Nanosecond-pulsed KrF (248 nm, 25 ns) and Nd:YAG (1064 nm, 532 nm, 355 nm, 5 ns) lasers were used to ablate a polycrystalline Si target in a background pressure of < 10(-4) Pa. Si films were deposited on Si and GaAs substrates at room temperature. The surface morphology of the films was characterized using scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and atomic force microscopy (AFM). Round droplets from 20 nm to 5 mu m were detected on the deposited films. Raman Spectroscopy indicated that the micron-sized droplets were crystalline and the films were amorphous. The dependence of the properties of the films on laser wavelengths and fluence is discussed