Lithographic band gap tuning in photonic band gap crystals

We describe the lithographic control over the spectral response of three-dimensional photonic crystals. By precise microfabrication of the geometry using a reproducible and reliable procedure consisting of electron beam lithography followed by dry etching, we have shifted the conduction band of crystals within the near-infrared. Such microfabrication has enabled us to reproducibly define photonic crystals with lattice parameters ranging from 650 to 730 nm. In GaAs semiconductor wafers, these can serve as high-reflectivity (> 95%) mirrors. Here, we show the procedure used to generate these photonic crystals and describe the geometry dependence of their spectral response

Schottky barrier solar cell promises improved efficiency

Higher current and higher voltage can be obtained by using Schottky barrier device with wide band-gap semiconductor as top layer and lower band-gap semiconductor underneath. Significant amount of solar radiation that is not absorbed by side band-gap material will be absorbed by narrow band-gap material

Band Gap of Strained Graphene Nanoribbons

The band structures of strained graphene nanoribbons (GNRs) are examined by a tight binding Hamiltonian that is directly related to the type and strength of strains. Compared to the two-dimensional graphene whose band gap remains close to zero even if a large strain is applied, the band gap of graphene nanoribbon (GNR) is sensitive to both uniaxial and shears strains. The effect of strain on the electronic structure of a GNR strongly depends on its edge shape and structural indices. For an armchair GNR, uniaxial weak strain changes the band gap in a linear fashion, and for a large strain, it results in periodic oscillation of the band gap. On the other hand, shear strain always tend to reduce the band gap. For a zigzag GNR, the effect of strain is to change the spin polarization at the edges of GNR, thereby modulate the band gap. A simple analytical model is proposed to interpret the band gap responds to strain in armchair GNR, which agrees with the numerical results.Comment: 30 pages,10 figure

Ab-initio calculations of the Optical band-gap of TiO2 thin films

Titanium dioxide has been extensively studied in recent decades for its important photocatalytic application in environmental purification. The search for a method to narrow the optical band-gap of TiO2 plays a key role for enhancing its photocatalytic application. The optical band gap of epitaxial rutile and anatase TiO2 thin films deposited by helicon magnetron sputtering on sapphire and on SrTiO3 substrates was correlated to the lattice constants estimated from HRTEM images and SAED. The optical band-gap of 3.03 eV for bulk-rutile increased for the thin films to 3.37 on sapphire. The band gap of 3.20 eV for bulk-anatase increases to 3.51 on SrTiO3. In order to interpret the optical band gap expansion for both phases, ab-initio calculations were performed using the Vienna ab-initio software. The calculations for rutile as well anatase show an almost linear increase of the band gap width with decreasing volume or increasing lattice constant a. The calculated band gap fits well with the experimental values. The conclusion from these calculations is, in order to achieve a smaller band-gap for both, rutile or anatase, the lattice constants c has to be compressed, and a has to be expanded.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figures, 1 tabl

Temperature and magnetization-dependent band-gap renormalization and optical many-body effects in diluted magnetic semiconductors

We calculate the Coulomb interaction induced density, temperature and magnetization dependent many-body band-gap renormalization in a typical diluted magnetic semiconductor GaMnAs in the optimally-doped metallic regime as a function of carrier density and temperature. We find a large (about 0.1 eV) band gap renormalization which is enhanced by the ferromagnetic transition. We also calculate the impurity scattering effect on the gap narrowing. We suggest that the temperature, magnetization, and density dependent band gap renormalization could be used as an experimental probe to determine the valence band or the impurity band nature of carrier ferromagnetism.Comment: Revised versio