ALBERT

Notes: Epitaxial Fe3−xSi1+x films have been grown on Si(111) by codeposition at room temperature. Their structural and electronic properties have been investigated by means of low-energy electron diffraction (LEED), x-ray photoelectron diffraction (XPD), and x-ray photoemission spectroscopy (XPS). These films, with compositions ranging from Fe3Si to FeSi, exhibit a (1×1) LEED pattern. Both XPD and core level binding energy measurements indicate that single Fe3−xSi1+x phases (with 0〈x〈1), without bulk counterpart, can be stabilized by epitaxy on Si(111). The XPD experiment clearly shows that these Fe3−xSi1+x (0≤x≤1) films adopt the same cubic structure. Furthermore, the Si 2p, Fe 2p3/2, and Fe 3s core levels are slightly shifted to higher binding energies resulting from chemical effects and differences in local coordination when going from Fe3Si (DO3) to FeSi (CsCl). Multiplet splittings ΔE3s are observed in Fe 3s core-level XPS spectra for all Fe3−xSi1+x compounds except the FeSi (CsCl) one. © 1995 American Institute of Physics.

Notes: The design and construction of a nanoelectrospray ion source for a triple quadrupole mass spectrometer that is used for identification and analysis of minimum peptide amounts is described. This interface exhibits several improvements over commercially available devices: a new capillary holder that allows very simple loading and placement of the spray capillary, and a rotary stage that enables reproducible adjustment of the capillary's angle at the orifice of the mass spectrometer. We also introduced a pressure-regulating system for fast and reproducible adjustment of the static backing air pressure onto the sample solution in the spray capillary. Furthermore, an electric safety circuit increases handling and operation safety of the nanoelectrospray interface. © 1999 American Institute of Physics.

Notes: Pseudomorphic Ga1−xInxN/GaN single heterostructures in the composition range 0〈x〈0.2 have been investigated by photoreflectance and photoluminescence spectroscopy. Strong Franz–Keldysh oscillations near the band gap of the ternary film are observed and attributed to a large constant piezoelectric field of up to 0.63 MV/cm. This allows an accurate determination of the electric field. A significant redshift between the optical band gap from photoreflectance and the luminescence maximum is observed. Luminescence is proposed to originate in the indirect transitions between the electric field tilted band edges in GaInN. The presence of this field is expected to dominate the bandstructure and the recombination and transport processes in strained nitride structures. We find no evidence for large inhomogeneities or phase separation in this material. © 1999 American Institute of Physics.

Notes: InN has been expected to be a suitable material for electronic devices such as high mobility transistors because of its small effective mass compared to other nitrides. Heteroepitaxial InN films were grown by metalorganic vapor-phase epitaxy. The films have been structurally characterized by triple-axis x-ray diffraction (XRD) analysis in terms of lattice-mismatch dependence and InN film thickness dependence, and Hall measurements have been performed. In the XRD measurement, ω and ω–2θ scans were used, and the degree of tilting (the linewidth of x-ray signal, Δωc) [(0002) reflection] and that of twisting (Δωa) [(101¯0) reflection] have been separated. In addition, the degree of distribution of lattice constant c (Δ2θc) [(0002) reflection] of InN films has been assessed. For study of the lattice-mismatch dependence, growth of InN films on GaN, AlN and directly on sapphire substrates was performed, and accordingly, Δωc was found to range from about 500 to 4000 arcsec, and Δ2θc from about 400 to 700 arcsec. Among those three kinds of samples, InN films grown on GaN showed the smallest Δωc and Δ2θc values. Observation of c- and a-lattice parameters has shown that the InN on GaN is affected by the residual strain. On the other hand, InN thickness dependence of XRD showed that Δωc was changed from about 700 to 500 arcsec, and Δ2θc from about 600 to 300 arcsec with increasing InN thickness from 400 to 2400 Å. In accordance with the thickness of InN, Δωa was found to change from about 2500 to 1700 arcsec. Moreover, it was found that the InN film less than 1200 Å thick is composed of grain islands with different crystalline orientation and that the growth mode changes at a thickness of about 1200 Å—and screw dislocations occur. It is found that the residual strain in InN films over 1200 Å thick is gradually released, resulting in almost the same orientation. This is reflected in the reduction of the mosaicity, the proceeding of relaxation and the surface morphology. Selection of GaN for the underlying layer of the InN film has been shown to lead to structural improvement of the epitaxial InN film. In fact, InN film with a thickness of 2400 Å grown on GaN has a Hall mobility of about 700 cm2/V s even at an electron carrier concentration of 5×1019 cm−3. This value corresponds to that for GaAs at the same impurity concentration. © 1999 American Institute of Physics.

Notes: We have observed photoluminescence of Al1−xInxN films. The films were grown on GaN by atmospheric pressure metalorganic vapor phase epitaxy. GaN was grown on a c-plane sapphire substrate with a low-temperature deposited AlN buffer layer. Photoluminescence, absorption, and x-ray diffraction measurements have shown that each spectral peak shifts with alloy composition x and that Al1−xInxN heteroepitaxial films are not macroscopically in phase separation and are constituted in the wurzite structure. © 1998 American Institute of Physics.

Notes: Photoluminescence investigations on undoped n-type GaN layers grown on 6H-SiC and sapphire reveal the presence of residual acceptors with a binding energy of 230 meV. Their presence in high temperature vapor phase epitaxy grown layers is strongly correlated with the graphite susceptor containing the Ga. Mg as a contamination can be ruled out. In metal organic vapor phase epitaxially grown layers, the metal organic are probably the source of the carbon contamination. It is concluded that carbon on nitrogen sites introduces the most shallow acceptor in GaN. The experimental observations are supported by an estimate of the acceptor binding energy using effective-mass-theory. © 1995 American Institute of Physics.

Notes: Free- and bound-exciton luminescences of GaN epitaxial layers grown by a sublimation technique on 6H-SiC substrates were investigated using time-integrated and time-resolved photoluminescence measurements at low temperatures. Lifetimes were determined for the donor-bound exciton at 3.4722 eV and for two acceptor-bound excitons with energies of 3.4672 eV and 3.459 eV. On the basis of our results we obtain an upper limit of the free-exciton oscillator strength of 0.0046 for GaN. Luminescences between 3.29 eV and 3.37 eV are identified as due to excitons deeply bound to centers located near the substrate-epilayer interface. Free excitons are captured by these centers within 20 ps. © 1996 American Institute of Physics.

Notes: We report on strong excitonic luminescence in wurtzite GaN at 3.309 and 3.365 eV (T=6 K). These lines lie well below the band gap and are found commonly in layers grown by different techniques and on different substrates. From detailed photoluminescence investigations we find small thermal activation energies and a very weak electron–phonon coupling. The photoluminescence behavior under hydrostatic pressure is indicative of strongly localized defects. These findings are similar to observations of excitons localized at extended defects such as dislocations in II–VI compounds. © 1995 American Institute of Physics.

Notes: We have identified piezoelectric fields in strained GaInN/GaN quantum well p-i-n structures using the quantum-confined Stark effect. The photoluminescence peak of the quantum wells showed a blueshift with increasing applied reverse voltages. This blueshift is due to the cancellation of the piezoelectric field by the reverse bias field. We determined that the piezoelectric field points from the growth surface to the substrate and its magnitude is 1.2 MV/cm for Ga0.84In0.16N/GaN quantum wells on sapphire substrate. In addition, from the direction of the field, the growth orientation of our nitride epilayers can be determined to be (0001), corresponding to the Ga face. © 1998 American Institute of Physics.