PHYSICA STATUS SOLIDI B-BASIC SOLID STATE PHYSICS

BiSe van der Waals Virtual Substrates for II-VI Heterostructures
Garcia TA, Deligiannakis V, Forrester C, Levy I and Tamargo MC
We report on the growth and characterization of optical quality multiple quantum well structures of Zn Cd Se/Zn Cd Mg Se on an ultra-thin BiSe/CdTe virtual substrate on c-plane AlO (sapphire). Excellent quality highly oriented films grown along the (111) direction were achieved as evidenced by reflection high energy electron diffraction and X-ray diffraction studies. We also observed room temperature and 77 K photoluminescence emission with peak energies at 77 K of 2.407 eV and linewidths of 56 meV comparable to those achieved on structures grown on InP. Exfoliation of the structures is also possible due to the van der Waals bonding of BiSe. Exfoliated (substrate free) films exhibit photoluminescence emission nearly identical to that of the supported film. Additionally, contactless electroreflectance measurements show good agreement with simulations of the multiple quantum well structure as well as evidence of excited state levels. These results open new avenues of research for substrate independent epitaxy and the possibility of ultra-thin electronics.
II-VI Quantum Cascade emitters in the 6-8μm range
Garcia TA, De Jesus J, Ravikumar AP, Gmachl CF and Tamargo MC
We present the growth and characterization of ZnCdSe/ZnCdMgSe quantum cascade (QC) heterostructures grown by molecular beam epitaxy (MBE) and designed to operate at 6-8μm. These structures utilize the better-understood ZnCdMgSe with InP lattice matched compositions yielding a bandgap of 2.80 eV as compared to previous work which used ZnCdMgSe compositions with bandgaps at 3.00 eV. Grown structures posses good structural and optical properties evidenced in X-ray diffraction and photoluminescence studies. Fabricated mesa devices show temperature dependent I-V measurements with differential resistance of 3.6 Ω, and a turn on voltage of 11V consistent with design specifications. Electroluminescence was observed in these devices up to room temperature with emission centered at 7.1 μm and line widths of ∼16%(ΔE/E) at 80K. The results show that these are well-behaved electroluminescent structures. Addition of waveguide layers and further improvements in well barrier interfaces are being pursued in efforts to demonstrate lasing.
Low defect large area semi-polar (11[Formula: see text]2) GaN grown on patterned (113) silicon
Pristovsek M, Han Y, Zhu T, Frentrup M, Kappers MJ, Humphreys CJ, Kozlowski G, Maaskant P and Corbett B
We report on the growth of semi-polar GaN (11[Formula: see text]2) templates on patterned Si (113) substrates. Trenches were etched in Si (113) using KOH to expose Si {111} sidewalls. Subsequently an AlN layer to prevent meltback etching, an AlGaN layer for stress management, and finally two GaN layers were deposited. Total thicknesses up to 5 [Formula: see text]m were realised without cracks in the layer. Transmission electron microscopy showed that most dislocations propagate along [0001] direction and hence can be covered by overgrowth from the next trench. The defect densities were below [Formula: see text] and stacking fault densities less than 100 cm [Formula: see text]. These numbers are similar to reports on patterned r-plane sapphire. Typical X-ray full width at half maximum (FHWM) were 500" for the asymmetric (00.6) and 450" for the (11.2) reflection. These FHWMs were 50 % broader than reported for patterned r-plane sapphire which is attributed to different defect structures and total thicknesses. The surface roughness shows strong variation on templates. For the final surface roughness the roughness of the sidewalls of the GaN ridges at the time of coalescence are critical.
The influence of the structure of the Au(110) surface on the ordering of a monolayer of cytochrome P450 reductase at the Au(110)/phosphate buffer interface
Smith CI, Convery JH, Khara B, Scrutton NS and Weightman P
The reflection anisotropy spectra (RAS) observed initially from Au(110)/phosphate buffer interfaces at applied potentials of -0.652 and 0.056 V are very similar to the spectra observed from ordered Au(110) (1 × 3) and anion induced (1 × 1) surface structures respectively. These RAS profiles transform to a common profile after cycling the potential between these two values over 72 h indicating the formation of a less ordered surface. The RAS of a monolayer of a P499C variant of the human flavoprotein cytochrome P450 reductase adsorbed at 0.056 V at an ordered Au(110)/phosphate buffer interface is shown to arise from an ordered layer in which the optical dipole transitions are in a plane that is orientated roughly normal to the surface and parallel to either the [11̄0] or [001] axes of the Au(110) surface. The same result was found previously for adsorption of P499C on an ordered interface at -0.652 V. The adsorption of P499C at the disordered surface does not result in the formation of an ordered monolayer confirming that the molecular ordering is strongly influenced by both the local structure and the long range macroscopic order of the Au(110) surface.
Approaching an organic semimetal: Electron pockets at the Fermi level for a -benzoquinonemonoimine zwitterion
Rosa LG, Velev J, Zhang Z, Alvira J, Vega O, Diaz G, Routaboul L, Braunstein P, Doudin B, Losovyj YB and Dowben PA
There is compelling evidence of electron pockets, at the Fermi level, in the band structure for an organic zwitterion molecule of the -benzoquinonemonoimine type. The electronic structure of the zwitterion molecular film has a definite, although small, density of states evident at the Fermi level as well as a nonzero inner potential and thus is very different from a true insulator. In spite of a small Brillouin zone, significant band width is observed in the intermolecular band dispersion. The results demonstrate that Bloch's theorem applies to the wave vector dependence of the electronic band structure formed from the molecular orbitals of adjacent molecules in a molecular thin film of a -benzoquinonemonoimine type zwitterion.
Eutectic Formation, V/III Ratio and Controlled Polarity Inversion in Nitrides on Silicon
Roshko A, Brubaker MD, Blanchard PT, Harvey TE and Bertness KA
The crystallographic polarity of AlN grown on Si(111) by plasma assisted molecular beam epitaxy is intentionally inverted from N-polar to Al-polar at a planar boundary. The position of the inversion boundary is controlled by a two-step growth process that abruptly changes from Al-rich to N-rich growth conditions. The polarity inversion is induced by the presence of Si, which is incorporated from an Al-Si eutectic layer that forms during the initial stages of AlN growth and floats on the AlN surface under Al-rich growth conditions. When the growth conditions change to N-rich the Al and Si in the eutectic react with the additional N-flux and are incorporated into the solid AlN film. Relatively low levels of Al-Si eutectic formation combined with lateral variations in the Si incorporation lead to nonuniformity in the polarity inversion and formation of surprisingly narrow, vertical inversion domains. The results suggest that intentional incorporation of uniform layers of Si may provide a method for producing polarity engineered nitride structures.