Acceptor-like deep level defects in ion-implanted ZnO

N-type ZnO samples have been implanted with MeV Zn⁺ ions at room temperature to doses between 1×10⁸ and 2×10¹⁰cm⁻², and the defect evolution has been studied by capacitance-voltage and deep level transient spectroscopy measurements. The results show a dose dependent compensation by acceptor-like defects along the implantation depth profile, and at least four ion-induced deep-level defects arise, where two levels with energy positions of 1.06 and 1.2 eV below the conduction band increase linearly with ion dose and are attributed to intrinsic defects. Moreover, a re-distribution of defects as a function of depth is observed already at temperatures below 400 K.This work was supported by the Norwegian Research Council through the Frienergi program and the Australian Research Council through the Discovery projects program

Vacancy clustering and acceptor activation in nitrogen-implanted ZnO

The role of vacancy clustering and acceptor activation on resistivity evolution in N ion-implanted n-type hydrothermally grown bulk ZnO has been investigated by positron annihilation spectroscopy, resistivity measurements, and chemical profiling. Room temperature 220 keV N implantation using doses in the low 10 exp 15 cm exp −2 range induces small and big vacancy clusters containing at least 2 and 3–4 Zn vacancies, respectively. The small clusters are present already in as-implanted samples and remain stable up to 1000°C with no significant effect on the resistivity evolution. In contrast, formation of the big clusters at 600°C is associated with a significant increase in the free electron concentration attributed to gettering of amphoteric Li impurities by these clusters. Further annealing at 800°C results in a dramatic decrease in the free electron concentration correlated with activation of 10 exp 16–10 exp 17cm exp −3 acceptors likely to be N and/or Li related. The samples remain n type, however, and further annealing at 1000°C results in passivation of the acceptor states while the big clusters dissociate.Peer reviewe

Deactivation of Li by vacancy clusters in ion-implanted and flash-annealed ZnO

Li is present in hydrothermally grown ZnO at high concentrations and is known to compensate both n- and p-type doping due to its amphoteric nature. However, Li can be manipulated by annealing and ion implantation in ZnO. Fast, 20 ms flash anneals in the 900–1400°C range result in vacancy cluster formation and, simultaneously, a low-resistive layer in the implanted part of the He- and Li-implanted ZnO. The vacancy clusters, involving 3-4 Zn vacancies, trap and deactivate Li, leaving other in-grown donors to determine the electrical properties. Such clusters are not present in sufficient concentrations after longer (1h) anneals because of a relatively low dissociation barrier ∼2.6 ± 0.3 eV, so ZnO remains compensated until Li diffuses out after 1250°C anneals.Peer reviewe

Vacancy generation in liquid phase epitaxy of Si

Concerted experiments and theoretical analysis are applied to conclusively demonstrate the vacancy generation during fast melting and regrowth of Si by laser irradiation. Experiments, based on the positron annihilation spectroscopy and designed to test the theoretical predictions, evidence a vacancy supersaturation after the laser process depending on the irradiation conditions. Stochastic atomistic simulations of the molten Si recrystallization show trapping of vacancies in the recrystallized region. Finally, continuum phase-field simulations of the full process, calibrated using the Monte Carlo results, show a defect evolution in close agreement with the experiments.Peer reviewe

Partial monosomy 7q34-qter and 21pter-q22.13 due to cryptic unbalanced translocation t(7;21) but not monosomy of the whole chromosome 21: a case report plus review of the literature

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Autosomal monosomies in human are generally suggested to be incompatible with life; however, there is quite a number of cytogenetic reports describing full monosomy of one chromosome 21 in live born children. Here, we report a cytogenetically similar case associated with congenital malformation including mental retardation, motor development delay, craniofacial dysmorphism and skeletal abnormalities.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Initially, a full monosomy of chromosome 21 was suspected as only 45 chromosomes were present. However, molecular cytogenetics revealed a de novo unbalanced translocation with a der(7)t(7;21). It turned out that the translocated part of chromosome 21 produced GTG-banding patterns similar to original ones of chromosome 7. The final karyotype was described as 45,XX,der(7)t(7;21)(q34;q22.13),-21. As a meta analysis revealed that clusters of the olfactory receptor gene family (ORF) are located in these breakpoint regions, an involvement of OFR in the rearrangement formation is discussed here.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>The described clinical phenotype is comparable to previously described cases with ring chromosome 21, and a number of cases with del(7)(q34). Thus, at least a certain percentage, if not all full monosomy of chromosome 21 in live-borns are cases of unbalanced translocations involving chromosome 21.</p

Defect formation and thermal stability of H in high dose H implanted ZnO

We studied the structural properties, defect formation, and thermal stability of H in hydrothermally grown ZnO single crystals implanted with H- dose ranging from 2.5×10¹⁶ to 1×10¹⁷ cm⁻². H implantation is found to create deformed layers with a uniaxial strain of 0.5–2.4% along the c-axis in ZnO, for the low and high dose, respectively. About 0.2–0.4% of the original implanted H concentration can still be detected in the samples by secondary ion mass spectrometry after annealing at a temperature up to 800 °C. The thermally stable H is tentatively attributed to H related defect complexes involving the substitutional H that are bound to O vacancies and/or the highly mobile interstitial H that are bound to substitutional Li occupying Zn vacancies as the samples are cooled slowly from high temperature annealing. H implantation to a dose of 1×10¹⁷ cm⁻² and followed by annealing at 800 °C, is found to result in the formation of vacancy clusters that evolved into faceted voids with diameter varying from 2 to 30 nm. The truncations around the voids form more favorably on the O-terminated surface than on the Zn-terminated surface, suggesting that O is a preferred surface polarity for the internal facets of the voids in the presence of H.Financial support from the Australian Research Council and the Norwegian Research Council (FRINATEK program) is acknowledged

Perspectives and advantages of the use of excimer laser annealing for MOS technology

The integration of excimer laser annealing (ELA) into the MOS device technology has been studied and evaluated within the frame of the IST project FLASH (Fundamentals and applications of laser processing for highly innovative MOS technology), funded by the European Commission. The final aim of the project was to demonstrate that ELA can be applied as a reliable, effective and advantageous process in the context of semiconductor device fabrication. Some of the results of this activity are summarised, relative to the experimental characterization and theoretical modelling. The electrical characterization of the transistor fabricated by ELA is also presented, showing a device yield of 90% on wafer

Identification of substitutional Li in n-type ZnO and its role as an acceptor

Monocrystalline n-type zinc oxide (ZnO) samples prepared by different techniques and containing various amounts of lithium (Li) have been studied by positron annihilation spectroscopy (PAS) and secondary ion mass spectrometry. A distinct PAS signature of negatively charged Li atoms occupying a Zn-site (Li−Zn), so-called substitutional Li, is identified and thus enables a quantitative determination of the content of LiZn. In hydrothermally grown samples with a total Li concentration of ~2×10 exp 17 cm exp −3,LiZn is found to prevail strongly, with only minor influence, by other possible configurations of Li. Also in melt grown samples doped with Li to a total concentration as high as 1.5×10 exp 19 cm exp −3, a considerable fraction of the Li atoms (at least 20%) is shown to reside on the Zn-site, but despite the corresponding absolute acceptor concentration of ⩾(2–3)×10 exp 18 cm exp −3, the samples did not exhibit any detectable p-type conductivity. The presence of LiZn is demonstrated to account for the systematic difference in positron lifetime of 10–15 ps between Li-rich and Li-lean ZnO materials as found in the literature, but further work is needed to fully elucidate the role of residual hydrogen impurities and intrinsic open volume defects.Peer reviewe

Study of a novel type of the optical modes in VCSELs

We study novel side-emitting modes in VCSEL microcavities. These modes correspond to π-shaped propagation along the mesa diameter, reflection from angled mesa walls and bottom Bragg reflector. We believe this study of π-modes is important for optimization of VCSEL design for improvement of efficiency

Minority and mode conversion heating in (3He)-H JET plasma

Radio frequency (RF) heating experiments have recently been conducted in JET (He-3)-H plasmas. This type of plasmas will be used in ITER's non-activated operation phase. Whereas a companion paper in this same PPCF issue will discuss the RF heating scenario's at half the nominal magnetic field, this paper documents the heating performance in (He-3)-H plasmas at full field, with fundamental cyclotron heating of He-3 as the only possible ion heating scheme in view of the foreseen ITER antenna frequency bandwidth. Dominant electron heating with global heating efficiencies between 30% and 70% depending on the He-3 concentration were observed and mode conversion (MC) heating proved to be as efficient as He-3 minority heating. The unwanted presence of both He-4 and D in the discharges gave rise to 2 MC layers rather than a single one. This together with the fact that the location of the high-field side fast wave (FW) cutoff is a sensitive function of the parallel wave number and that one of the locations of the wave confluences critically depends on the He-3 concentration made the interpretation of the results, although more complex, very interesting: three regimes could be distinguished as a function of X[He-3]: (i) a regime at low concentration (X[He-3] < 1.8%) at which ion cyclotron resonance frequency (ICRF) heating is efficient, (ii) a regime at intermediate concentrations (1.8 < X[He-3] < 5%) in which the RF performance is degrading and ultimately becoming very poor, and finally (iii) a good heating regime at He-3 concentrations beyond 6%. In this latter regime, the heating efficiency did not critically depend on the actual concentration while at lower concentrations (X[He-3] < 4%) a bigger excursion in heating efficiency is observed and the estimates differ somewhat from shot to shot, also depending on whether local or global signals are chosen for the analysis. The different dynamics at the various concentrations can be traced back to the presence of 2 MC layers and their associated FW cutoffs residing inside the plasma at low He-3 concentration. One of these layers is approaching and crossing the low-field side plasma edge when 1.8 < X[He-3] < 5%. Adopting a minimization procedure to correlate the MC positions with the plasma composition reveals that the different behaviors observed are due to contamination of the plasma. Wave modeling not only supports this interpretation but also shows that moderate concentrations of D-like species significantly alter the overall wave behavior in He-3-H plasmas. Whereas numerical modeling yields quantitative information on the heating efficiency, analytical work gives a good description of the dominant underlying wave interaction physics