Developing Suitable Sensitive Compound Semiconductor Materials Doped by Transition Metals for Occupational Thermoluminescence Dosimetry

The essential objective of radiation dosimetry is to develop suitable sensitive materials for different measurements in radiation fields. Our exploration is to find potentially suitable high gamma radiation dosimeters in the range from 0.5E4 to 1.5E4 Gy. Gamma rays source (60Co, 136 Gy/min) has been used. Many compound semiconductor materials were prepared and investigated. Thermoluminescence (TL) glow curve was analyzed into its component by analytical segregation program using computerized glow curve deconvolution (CGCD). Three zero dose readings for non-irradiated powders of the materials have been taken as lower limit of detection. The results indicated that some of the tested materials have exhibited TL linearly with respect to dose. In addition, dose response of these materials was found to be useful for high radiation dosimetry. Glow curve structures exhibited several peaks corresponding to the various energies of the emptied traps. Variation in the standard deviation for reusability cycles has been ten readout. The fading at ambient temperature was studied up to 60 days which reached a relative stability (~1.5% for all), 10 days after irradiation. A typical glow curve of CoPa which irradiated with 1.5E4 Gy was analyzed. Characterizations of tested materials indicated that crystals of ZnLa:Li, ZnLa:Cd, and ZnLa:Cr have stable and increasing thermoluminescent responses with high gamma radiation dose range. Special glow peaks can be used as estimators for absorbed doses as well as re-estimation for time elapsed exposures.

One-pot synthesis and optical properties of In- and Sn-doped ZnO nanoparticles

Colloidal indium-doped zinc oxide (IZO) and tin-doped zinc oxide (ZTO) nanoparticles were successfully prepared in organic solution, with metal acetylacetonate as the precursor and oleylamine as the solvent. The crystal and optical properties were characterized by X-ray diffraction, UV−visible spectrophotometry, and fluorescence spectroscopy, respectively; the surface and structure morphologies were observed by scanning electron microscopy and transmission electron microscopy. The XRD patterns of the IZO and ZTO nanoparticles all exhibited similar diffraction peaks consistent with the standard XRD pattern of ZnO, although the diffraction peaks of the IZO and ZTO nanoparticles were slightly shifted with increasing dopant concentration. With increasing dopant concentration, the fluorescent emission peaks of the IZO nanoparticles exhibited an obvious red shift because of the difference in atomic radii of indium and zinc, whereas those of the ZTO nanoparticles exhibited almost no shift because of the similarity in atomic radii of tin and zinc. Furthermore, the sizes of the IZO and ZTO nanoparticles distributed in the ranges 20–40 and 20–25 nm, respectively, which is attributed to the difference in ionic radii of indium and tin. © 2017, University of Science and Technology Beijing and Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg.

Structure design for high performance n-type polymer thermoelectric materials

Organic thermoelectric(OTE)materials have been regarded as a potential candidate to harvest waste heat from complex,low temperature surfaces of objects and convert it into electricity.Recently,n-type conjugated polymers as organic thermoelectric materials have aroused intensive research in order to improve their performance to match up with their ptype counterpart.In this review,we discuss aspects that affect the performance of n-type OTEs,and further focus on the effect of planarity of backbone on the doping efficiency and eventually the TE performance.We then summarize strategies such as implementing rigid n-type polymer backbone or modifying conventional polymer building blocks for more planar conformation.In the outlook part,we conclude forementioned devotions and point out new possibility that may promote the future development of this field.

ZnSe/GaAs/Ge Triple Junction Solar Cell and Its Structure Design

A new method is given to increase doping concentration of p-type ZnSe up to 1×1018 cm-3 through adding a little Te. This method gets over the difficulty of the high doping concentration of p-type ZnSe for many years. The external quantum efficiency (QE) of ZnSe p-n junction solar cell has been measured, and ZnSe is a good material of the top cell in the tandem solar cells. The solar cells made from ZnSe/GaAs/Ge can cover 94% of the total solar spectrum under AM (air mass) 1.5, and their theoretical efficiency is 56%.

The effects of N-doping and oxygen vacancy on the electronic structure and conductivity of PbTiO_3

By using spin-polarized density functional theory calculations, the electron density differences, band structures and density of states of p-type N-doped PbTiO3 have been studied. In addition, the oxygen vacancy in N-doped PbTiO3 is also discussed. After the nitrogen dopant is introduced into the crystal, the N-doped PbTiO3 system is spin-polarized, the spin-down valance bands move to a high energy level and the Fermi energy level moves to the top of the valance bands, finally the band gap is narrowed. In this process, the N-doped PbTiO3 shows typical p-type semiconductor characteristics. When an oxygen vacancy and N impurity coexist in PbTiO3, there is no spin-polarized phenomenon. The conduction bands move downward and the acceptors are found to be fully compensated. The calculation results are mostly consistent with the experimental data.

Influence of Mn-doping concentration on the microstructure and magnetic properties of ZnO thin films

The microstructure and magnetic properties of Mn-doped ZnO films with various Mn contents,synthesized by magnetron sputtering at room temperature,are investigated in detail.X-ray diffraction(XRD) measurement results suggest that the doped Mn ions occupy the Zn sites successfully and do not change the crystal structure of the ZnO films.However,the microstructure of the Mn-doped ZnO films apparently changes with increasing the Mn concentration.Arrays of well-aligned nanoscale rods are found in the Mn-doped ZnO films with moderate Mn concentrations.Magnetic measurement results indicate that the ZnO films doped with moderate Mn concentration are ferromagnetic at room temperature.The possible origin of the ferromagnetism in our samples is also explored in detail.

Enhanced photoluminescence from porous silicon microcavities by rare earth doping

The photoluminescence(PL) properties of porous silicon microcavities(PSMs) in the visible range at room temperature are improved by doping the rare earth ytterbium(Yb) into PSMs prepared by the electrochemical etching method.It is observed that PSMs doped with the rare earth have an emission band around 630 nm.Compared with the single-layer porous silicon(PS) film,the PSMs doped with Yb have narrower and stronger PL spectrum.

Effects of K ions doping on the structure, morphology and optical properties of Cu_2FeSnS_4 thin films prepared by blade-coating process

Quaternary chalcogenide Cu2FeSnS4 （CFTS） nanoparticles, as a kind of potential absorber layer material in thin film solar cells （TFSCs）, were successfully synthesized by using a convenient solvothermal method. Alkali element K is incorporated into CFTS thin films in order to fiLrther improve the surface morphology and the optical properties of related films. X-ray diffraction （XRD）, Raman spectroscopy and field emission scanning electron microscopy （FESEM） were used to characterize the phase purity, morphology and composition of CFTS particles and thin films. The results show that the particle elemental ratios of Cu/（Fe＋Sn） and Fe/Sn are 1.2 and 0.9, respectively, which are close to the characteristics of stoichiometric CFTS. The band gaps of CFTS films before and after doping K ions are estimated to be 1.44 eV and 1.4 eV with an error of ±0.02 eV.

Comparative study of fiber optic liquid level sensors based on long-period fiber gratings with dif ferent doping concentrations

The performances of two liquid level sensors based on long-period fiber gratings are studied. The long- period gratings （LPGs） have similar characteristics （length and period）, but are fabricated with two pho- tosensitive B-Ge co-doped fibers with different dopant concentrations. We investigate the temperature sensitivities of LPGs and exploit their refractive index sensitivity to implement liquid level measurement. By controlling fiber parameters, such as the dopant concentrations, the measurement sensitivity of a LPG- based fiber optic liouid level sensor can be improved.

Study on the structural,electrical and optical properties of Al-F co-doped ZnO thin films prepared by RF magnetron sputtering

Al and F co-doped ZnO(ZnO:(Al,F)) thin films on glass substrates are prepared by the RF magnetron sputtering with different F doping contents.The structural,electrical and optical properties of the deposited films are sensitive to the F doping content.The X-ray analysis shows that the films are c-axis orientated along the(002) plane with the grain size ranging from 9 nm to 13 nm.Micrographs obtained by the scanning electron microscope(SEM) show a uniform surface.The best films obtained have a resistivity of 2.16×10-3Ω·cm,while the high optical transmission is 92.0% at the F content of 2.46 wt.%.

Material optimization for low scattering noise duringnonvolatile holographic recording indoubly doped LiNbO_3 crystals

Scattering noises in four kinds of lithium niobate crystals with the same double doping system, which are LiNbO3:Fe:Mn, LiNbO3:Ce:Mn, LiNbO3:Ce:Cu, and LiNbO3:Fe:Cu, are observed and compared experimentally. The results show that nonvolatile holographic recording can effectively suppress scattering noise, which mainly depends on recombination coefficients of both the shallower centers and the deeper centers. The small recombination coefficients of the shallower centers and the large recombination coefficients of the deeper centers benefit the amplification of the signal gratings and the suppression of the noise gratings. In addition, the initial seed scattering also impacts the recorded scattering noise, and the little seed scattering results in low scattering noise. The theoretical simulations are performed for confirmation. Among the four kinds of doubly doped crystals, in LiNbO3:Ce:Cu the performances of nonvolatile recording are the best with low scattering noise and high diffraction efficiency.

Phase-selective fluorescence of doped Ge_2Sb_2Te_5 phase-change memory thin films

In this Letter, new concepts of fluorescence phase-change materials and fluorescence phase-change multilevel recording are proposed. High-contrast fluorescence between the amorphous and crystalline states is achieved in nickel- or bismuth-doped Ge;Sb;Te;phase-change memory thin films. Opposite phase-selective fluorescence effects are observed when different doping ions are used. The fluorescence intensity is sensitive to the crystallization degree of the films. This characteristic can be applied in reconfigurable multi-state memory and other logic devices. It also has likely applications in display and data visualization.

First-principles study of n-type tin/fluorine co-doped beta-gallium oxides

Defect formation energies, electronic structures and optical properties of Sn-doped β-GazO3, F-doped β-Ga2O3, and Sn/F co-doped β-Ga2O3 were calculated using the first-principles. The calculated results of the pure and Sn-doped β-Ga2O3 using the local-density approximation （LDA） method show that the lattice parameters and electronic structures are in agreement with previous data. The defect formation energies demonstrate that the doped systems are relatively easy to form under O-rich conditions. Sn-doping, F-doping and Sn/F co-doping make β-Ga2O3 become an n-type semiconductor. Sn/F co-doping β-Ga2O3 has the smallest effective electron mass and the biggest relative electron number, which is expected to possess good conductivity. Sn/F co-doping β-Ga2O3 displays an intense absorption in visible light.

Effect of band gap energy on the electrical conductivity in doped ZnO thin film

The transparent conductive pure and doped zinc oxide thin films with aluminum, cobalt and indium were deposited by ultrasonic spray technique on glass substrate at 350 ℃. This paper is to present a new approach to the description of correlation between electrical conductivity and optical gap energy with dopants＇ concentration of A1, Co and In. The correlation between the electrical and optical properties with doping level suggests that the electrical conductivity of the films is predominantly estimated by the band gap energy and the concentrations of A1, Co and In. The measurement in the electrical conductivity of doped films with correlation is equal to the experimental value, the error of this correlation is smaller than 13%. The minimum error value was estimated in the cobalt-doped ZnO thin films. This result indicates that such Co-doped ZnO thin films are chemically purer and have far fewer defects and less disorder owing to an almost complete chemical decomposition.

Preparation and optical properties of a Rhodamine 6G-doped sol-gel AlPO_4-SiO_2 film

AlPO4-SiO2 films doped with Rhodamine 6G （Rh6G） are prepared using the sol-gel dip-coating method. The surface morphology is characterized by atomic force microscopy. The results indicate that the surface morphology of the films is not significantly affected by the amount of dyes loaded. The absorption and excitation spectra indicate low aggregation even at a Rh6G doping concentration of 1.0×10-3 mol/L. Efficient fluorescence with a band centered at 553 nm is observed.

Efficient above-band-gap light emission in germanium

We report an above-band-gap radiative transition in the photoluminescence spectra of single crystalline Ge in the temperature range of 20-296 K. The temperature-independence of the peak position at -0.74 eV is remarkably different from the behavior of direct and indirect gap transitions in Ge. This transition is observed in n-type, p-type, and intrinsic single crystal Ge alike, and its intensity decreases with the increase of temperature with a small activation energy of 56 meV. Some aspects of the transition are analogous to III-V semiconductors with dilute nitrogen doping, which suggests that the origin could be related to an isoelectronic defect.

Electronic structures and optical properties of Nb-doped SrTiO_3 from first principles

The n-type Nb-doped SrTiO3 with different doping concentrations were studied by first principles cal- culations. The effects of Nb concentration on the formation enthalpy, electronic structure and optical property were investigated. Results show that Nb preferentially enters the Ti site in SrTiO3, which is in good agreement with the experimental observation. The Fermi level of Nb-doped SrTiO3 moves into the bottom of the conduction band, and the system becomes an n-type semiconductor. The effect of Nb-doping concentration on the conductivity was discussed from the microscopic point of view. Furthermore, the 1.11 at% Nb-doped SrTiO3 shows strong absorp- tion in the visible light and becomes a very useful material for photo-catalytic activity. The 1.67 at% and 2.5 at% Nb-doped models will be potential transparent conductive materials.

Effects of N concentration on electronic and optical properties of N-doped PbTiO_3

The p-type N-doped PbTiO3 with different doping concentrations have been studied by first-principles calculations. The charge density differences, band structures, density of states and optical properties have been investigated. After an oxygen atom is substituted by a nitrogen atom in the crystals, the valance bands move to high energy levels and the Fermi energy level gets into the top of the valance bands. Results show that the values of the band gaps are decreased and the stability is weakened when the N concentration increases. The 2.5 at% N-doped PbTiO3 shows the best p-type conductivity and the visible-light absorption can be enhanced most at this doping concentration, which is necessary in semiconductors or photocatalysts.

First-principles study on electronic structure and conductivity of Sn-doped Ga_(1:375)In_(0:625)O_3

The structural properties, band structures and densities of states of Sn-doped Ga1.375In0.625O3 with a Sn atom substituting for the Ga atom or a Sn atom substituting for the In atom are calculated by using the firstprinciples method. The substitution of the Sn atom for the Ga atom in Ga1.375In0.625O3（Ga1.25In0.625Sn0.125O3/has larger lattice parameters and stronger Sn–O ionic bonds than that of the substitutional doping of the Sn atom for the In atom in Ga1.375In0.625O3（Ga1.375In0.5Sn0.125O3/. Results show that the Sn atom is preferentially substituted for the In atom in Sn-doped Ga1.375In0.625O3. Sn-doped Ga1.375In0.625O3 exhibits n-type metallic conductivity,and the impurity bands are mainly provided by the Sn 5s states. The optical band gap of Ga1.375In0.5Sn0.125O3is larger than that of Ga1.25In0.625Sn0.125O3. Ga1.25In0.625Sn0.125O3 has a smaller electron effective mass and a slightly larger mobility. However, Ga1.375In0.5Sn0.125O3 has a larger relative electron number and a slightly higher conductivity.

Synthesis,Crystal Structural and Electrical Conductivity Properties of Fe-Doped Zinc Oxide Powders at High Temperatures

The synthesis,crystal structure and electrical conductivity properties of Fe-doped ZnO powders（in the range of 0.25-15 mol%） were reported in this paper.I-phase samples,which were indexed as single phase with a hexagonal（wurtzite） structure in the Fe-doped ZnO binary system,were determined by X-ray diffraction（XRD）.The solubility limit of Fe in the ZnO lattice is 3 mol% at 950℃.The above mixed phase was observed.And the impurity phase was determined as the cubic-ZnFe 2 O 4 phase when compared with standard XRD data using the PDF program.This study focused on single I-phase ZnO samples which were synthesized at 950℃ because the limit of the solubility range is the widest at this temperature.The lattice parameters a and c of the I-phase decreased with Fe-doping concentration.The morphology of the I-phase samples was analyzed with a scanning electron microscope.The grain size of the I-phase samples increased with heat treatment and doping concentration.The electrical conductivity of the pure ZnO and single I-phase samples was investigated using the four-probe dc method at 100-950℃ in air atmosphere.The electrical conductivity values of pure ZnO,0.25 and 3 mol% Fe-doped ZnO samples at 100℃ were 2×10-6,1.7×10-3 and 6.3×10-4 S.cm-1,and at 950℃ they were 3.4,8.5 and 4 S.cm-1,respectively.