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- Adnane, Bouchaib
(författare)
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Optical characterization of Silicon-based self-assembled nanostructures
- 2010
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- This PhD thesis summarizes the work carried on the optical characterizations of some Si-based self-assembled nanostructures, particularly SiGe/Si quantum dots (QDs) and nanocrystalline (nc)-Si embedded in mesoporous silica (MS) using photoconductivity (PC), photoluminescence (PL), and photoluminescence excitation (PLE) measurements. The spectroscopic studies of SiGe/Si QDs grown on Si by molecular beam epitaxy revealed for the first time well-resolved PLE resonances. When correlated with numerical analysis, these resonances were directly related to the co-existence of spatially direct (inside the SiGe dot) and indirect (across the Si/Ge interface) recombination processes involving different dot populations selected by the monitored detection energy for PLE acquisition. The characteristics of these two transitions were further studied in detail by PLE (in some case implemented together with selective PL) on various samples, which contained either only one Ge dot layer or multiple Gedot/Si stacks, grown at substrate temperatures ranging from 430 to 580 °C; especially the temperature- and excitation power-dependence of the excitation properties. The results illustrated that the electronic structure of SiGe dots are influenced by size, Ge composition, as well as strain connected, and sometimes a mixed effect. Another attempt of the project was the fabrication of lateral transport mid-infrared photodetectors based on multiple Ge-dot/Si stacked structures. A broadband photoresponsivity of the processed multi-finger detectors was estimated to be about 90 mA/W over 3-15 μm range at 20 K, and the peaked photoresponse was measured at ~10 μm. The origin of the measured photocurrent, as elucidated by photoluminescence and photoluminescence excitation spectroscopies, was related to intersubband absorption of normal incidence infrared radiation corresponding to energies between the ground states of the heavy hole and the light hole in the valence band of the SiGe/Si QDs, and subsequent charge transfer to the Ge 2D wetting layer acting as a conduction channel. The absence of photocurrent in the energy range expected for a transition from the ground state to the first excited state of the heavy hole indicated that the holes in the SiGe dots behave essentially as 2D in character rather than a truly 3D confinement, where the transitions between heavy holes states are not allowed for TE polarized radiation (normal incidence). Finally, Si(or Ge) nanocrystals embedded in mesoporous silica samples prepared by spincoating and atomic layer chemical vapor deposition were optically investigated by means of PL with various excitation powers, together with several attempts using different post rapid thermal annealing processes. The shape and energy position of the PL spectra of the nc-Si embedded in MS samples and a reference MS template without nc incorporation were rather similar, but the luminescence was much more intense for those embedded with nanocrystals. This implies that the emission mechanism for MS samples with or without nc-Si could be the same, i.e., the light emission was governed by the surface properties of silica. The semiconductor nanocrystals played a role by sensitizing the luminescence emission through generating more photo-excited carriers. These carriers were then trapped in the defect state e.g. the interfacial oxygen defect sites and subsequently recombine to increase the PL intensity.
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| 2. |
- Karim, Amir, 1976-
(författare)
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Si-based structures for light emission and detection
- 2008
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Efforts to improve the optical performance of the indirect bandgap semiconductor silicon (Si) has been a major subject of research in the field of Si photonics due to the promising applications of Si based light emitters and detectors for optical communication. With that motivation three different Si based material systems were investigated; Si:Er/O layered structures, SiGe quantum dots and SiSn nano structures, all grown using the technique of molecular beam epitaxy (MBE). The main focus of this work has been on Si:Er/O layers, which lead to fabrication of Si-based light emitting diodes (LED) emitting at 1.54 mm wavelength. The work on SiGe structures lead to the fabrication of near-infrared light detectors, whereas the SiSn structures have not shown any strong optical character.Studies include epitaxial growth, structural characterization, device processing, electrical and optical characterizations. Material characterization of Si:Er/O structures using analytical electron microscopy (AEM) revealed interesting results with identification of two different type of microstructures in these layers depending on the Er and O concentrations. Several Si:Er/O LEDs were fabricated with different Er and O concentrations and the optical characteristics were investigated in order to find the best doping levels of Er and O for efficient light emission. The electroluminescence measurements revealed a strong 1.54 mm emission from these devices due to the intra 4f shell transition of Er3+ from the excited state (4I13/2) to the ground state (4I15/2). Si:Er/O waveguide LEDs have also been grown on SOI wafers using the optimized structure parameters obtained from mode confinement simulations as well as the microstructure investigations. The Si:Er/O waveguide LEDs are aimed at fabricating a planar Si cavity with Bragg mirrors on both sides to obtain light amplification and realise an electrically pumped Si laser. A focused ion beam (FIB) instrument was used to fabricate the Bragg mirrors but initial attempts did not result in light amplification in our Si:Er/O waveguide cavities.SiGe quantum dots are well-known quantum structures which are formed in a selfassembled fashion from Si/SiGe layer structures with a variety of shapes, sizes and compositions depending mainly on parameters like growth temperature and layer thicknesses. Optical properties of SiGe quantum structures have been studied while there has been little knowledge about their composition. A detailed compositional investigation of different SiGe dots on a nanometer scale was performed using AEM. The results showed a large degree of interdiffusion in large quantum dots, which was consistent with the optical properties of these dots. Using a multiple stack of Ge quantum dots and SiGe quantum wells, MOSFET type photodetectors working at 1.3 – 1.55 mm wavelength have also been fabricated and characterized.Research on the SiSn system was mainly motivated by the possibility to obtain a direct bandgap transition in Si based material as it was predicted theoretically and experimentally observed in the related GeSn material system by other researchers. Structural and optical characterizations of SiSn nano structures were performed. Although the same SiSn nano structures exhibit a weak signature of optical absorption, low temperature photoluminescence measurements did not reveal any emission peaks related to the SiSn dots.
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