An advanced theoretical approach to study super-multiperiod superlattices:theory vs experiments

A new theoretical method to study super-multiperiod superlattices has been developed.The method combines the precision of the 8-band kp-method with the flexibility of the shooting method and the Monte Carlo approach.This method was applied to examine the finest quality samples of super-multiperiod Al_(0.3)Ga_(0.7)As/GaAs superlattices grown by molecular beam epitaxy.The express photoreflectance spectroscopy method was utilized to validate the proposed theoretical method.For the first time,the accurate theoretical analysis of the energy band diagram of super-multiperiod superlattices with experimental verification has been conducted.The proposed approach highly accurately determines transition peak positions and enables the calculation of the energy band diagram,transition energies,relaxation rates,and gain estimation.It has achieved a remarkably low 5%error compared to the commonly used method,which typically results in a 25%error,and allowed to recover the superlattice parameters.The retrieved intrinsic parameters of the samples aligned with XRD data and growth parameters.The proposed method also accurately predicted the escape of the second energy level for quantum well thicknesses less than 5 nm,as was observed in photoreflectance experiments.The new designs of THz light-emitting devices operating at room temperature were suggested by the developed method.

Recent progress on fabrication and flat-band physics in 2D transition metal dichalcogenides moiré superlattices

Moiré superlattices are formed when overlaying two materials with a slight mismatch in twist angle or lattice constant. They provide a novel platform for the study of strong electronic correlations and non-trivial band topology, where emergent phenomena such as correlated insulating states, unconventional superconductivity, and quantum anomalous Hall effect are discovered. In this review, we focus on the semiconducting transition metal dichalcogenides(TMDs) based moiré systems that host intriguing flat-band physics. We first review the exfoliation methods of two-dimensional materials and the fabrication technique of their moiré structures. Secondly, we overview the progress of the optically excited moiré excitons, which render the main discovery in the early experiments on TMD moiré systems. We then introduce the formation mechanism of flat bands and their potential in the quantum simulation of the Hubbard model with tunable doping, degeneracies, and correlation strength. Finally, we briefly discuss the challenges and future perspectives of this field.

Impeded thermal transport in aperiodic BN/C nanotube superlattices due to phonon Anderson localization

Anderson localization of phonons is a kind of phonon wave effect,which has been proved to occur in many structures with disorders.In this work,we introduced aperiodicity to boron nitride/carbon nanotube superlattices(BN/C NT SLs),and used molecular dynamics to calculate the thermal conductivity and the phonon transmission spectrum of the models.The existence of phonon Anderson localization was proved in this quasi one-dimensional structure by analyzing the phonon transmission spectra.Moreover,we introduced interfacial mixing to the aperiodic BN/C NT SLs and found that the coexistence of the two disorder entities(aperiodicity and interfacial mixing)can further decrease the thermal conductivity.In addition,we also showed that anharmonicity can destroy phonon localization at high temperatures.This work provides a reference for designing thermoelectric materials with low thermal conductivity by taking advantage of phonon localization.

High-performance extended short-wavelength infrared PBn photodetectors based on InAs/GaSb/AlSb superlattices

High performance short-wavelength infrared PBn photodetectors based on InAs/GaSb/AlSb superlattices on GaSb substrate have been demonstrated.At 300 K,the device exhibits a 50%cut-off wavelength of~2.1μm as predicted from the band structure calculation;the device responsivity peaks at 0.85 A/W,corresponding to a quantum efficiency(QE)of 56%for 2.0μm-thick absorption region.The dark current density of 1.03×10^(-3)A/cm^(2)is obtained under 50 mV applied bias.The device exhibits a saturated dark current shot noise limited specific detectivity(D*)of 3.29×1010cm·Hz^(1/2)/W(at a peak responsivity of 2.0μm)under-50 mV applied bias.

Strain compensated type Ⅱ superlattices grown by molecular beam epitaxy

We investigate a strain compensation method for the growth of complex interband cascade laser structures. For thick In As/Al Sb superlattice clad layers, the sublayer thicknesses were adjusted so that the tensile strain energy in the In As sublayer was equal to the compressive strain energy in the Al Sb sublayer. For the four-constituent active region, as the compressive strain in the Ga0.65In0.35Sb alloy layer was large, a tensile strain was incorporated in the chirped In As/Al Sb superlattice region for strain compensation to the Ga0.65In0.35Sb alloy. A laser structure of thickness 6 μm was grown on the Ga Sb substrate by molecular beam epitaxy. The wafer exhibited good surface morphology and high crystalline quality.

Low Crosstalk Three-Color Infrared Detector by Controlling the Minority Carriers Type of InAs/GaSb Superlattices for Middle-Long and Very-Long Wavelength

We report a type-Ⅱ InAs/GaSb superlattice three-color infrared detector for mid-wave （MW）, long-wave （LW）, and very long-wave （VLW） detections. The detector structure consists of three contacts of NIPIN architecture for MW and LW detections, and hetero-junction NIP architecture for VLW detection. It is found that the spectral crosstalks can be significantly reduced by controlling the minority carriers transport via doping beryllium in the two active regions of NIPIN section. The crosstalk detection at MW, LW, and VLW signals are achieved by selecting the bias voltages on the device. At 77K, the cutoff wavelengths of the three-color detection are 5.3μm （at OmV）, 141μm （at 300mV） and 19μm （at -20mV） with the detectivities of 4.6xlO11 cm.Hzl/ZW-1, 2.3×10^10 cm.Hzl/2W-1, and 1.0×10^10cm.Hzl/2W-1 for MW, LW and VLW. The crosstalks of the MW channel, LW channel, and VLW channel are almost 0, 0.25, and 0.6, respectively.

Size-dependent electromechanical properties in piezoelectric superlattices due to flexoelectric effect

Piezoelectric superlattice is a potential component for nanoelectromechanical systems. Due to the strong nonlocal effect such as flexoelectric effect at interfaces, classical piezoelectric theory is unable to accurately describe the electromechanical response of piezoelectric superlattice at nanoscale scale. Based on the previous nonlocal thermodynamics theory with flexoelectric effect Liu et al. （2016）, the size- dependent electromechanical properties of piezoelectric superlattices made of BaTiO3 （BTO） and PbTiO3 （PRO） layers are investigated systematically in the present work. Giant strain gradient is found near the interface between BTO and PTO layers, which leads to the significant enhancement of polarization in the superlattice due to the flexoelectric effect. For the piezoelectric BTO-PTO superlattices with different unit- cell sizes, the thickness of interface with nontrivial strain gradient is almost constant. The influence of strain gradient at the interface becomes significant when the size of superlattice decreases, As a result, a strong size dependence of electromechanical properties is predicted for the piezoelectric BTO-PTO superlattices, In particular, for the superlattices with a specific thickness ratio of BTO and PTO layers, the piezoelectric response can be several times larger than that of bulk structure. The present work demonstrates a practical wast to design the piezoelectric superlattices with high piezoelectric coefficient by using the nonlocal effect at nanoscale.

Growth of GaN/AlxGa1-xN (x=0.65) Superlattices on Si(111) Substrates Using RF-MBE

Superlattices with varying GaN well widths (2, 3, 6, 9 nm) and fixed AlGaN barrier (8 nm) with high Al-content (x=0.65) were grown. Streaky RHEED patterns indicated 2D growth mode for the superlattices. XRD measurements showed multiple satellite peaks corresponding to uniform periodicity of the GaN/AlGaN pairs. The AlGaN barrier XRD peak also shifted with increasing well widths, while the GaN XRD peak was nominally unchanged. Room temperature photoluminescence experiments revealed peak emissions at energies lower than the bulk GaN energy gap. The large red shift with respect to the bulk gap is attributed to significant Stark effect for wide multiple quantum wells.

Epitaxial growth of Fe/Ag single crystal superlattices and their magnetic properties

Single crystal Fe/Ag（001） superlattices with various periodicities were fabricated using ultrahigh vacuum evaporation deposition. It was found that single crystal bcc Fe layers and single crystal fcc Ag layers can epitaxially grow on a single crystal Ag buffer layer alternately, which was deposited on NaCl single crystal chips by ion beam assisted deposition. The magnetic measurements of the superlattices reveal an oscillation coupling between ferromagnetism and antiferromagnetism as a function of the Ag layer thickness. The oscillation period, which is 1 nm （5 Ag layers）, is in good agreement with the calculated values when the Ag thickness is greater than 1.5 nm. While the thickness of the Ag spacer layer decreases to 1 nm, the oscillation coupling varies from calculations, which can be attributed to the intermixing of the interlayers according to the annealing results.

Transport and Conductance in Fibonacci Graphene Superlattices with Electric and Magnetic Potentials

We investigate the electron transport and conductance properties in Fibonacci quasi-periodic graphene superlat- rices with electrostatic barriers and magnetic vector potentials. It is found that a new Dirac point appears in the band structure of graphene superlattice and the position of the Dirac point is exactly located at the energy corresponding to the zero-averaged w^ve number. The magnetic and eleetr/c potentials modify the energy band structure and transmission spectrum in entirely diverse ways. In addition, the angular-dependent transmission is blocked by the potential barriers at certain incident angles due to the appearance of the evanescent states. The effects of lattice constants and different potentials on angular-averaged conductance are also discussed.

Temperature effects of GaAs/Al_(0.45)Ga_(0.55)As superlattices on chaotic oscillation

For widespectrum chaotic oscillation,superlattice cryptography is an autonomous controllable brand-new technology.Originating from sequential resonance tunneling of electrons,the chaotic oscillation is susceptible to temperature change,which determines the performance of superlattices.In this paper,the temperature effects of chaotic oscillations are investigated by analyzing the randomness of a sequence at different temperatures and explained with superlattice microstates.The results show that the bias voltage at different temperatures makes spontaneous chaotic oscillations vary.With the temperature of superlattices changing,the sequence dives in entropy value and randomness at specific bias.This work fills the gap in the study of temperature stability and promotes superlattice cryptography for practice.

High-efficiency InGaN/AlInGaN multiple quantum wells with lattice-matched AlInGaN superlattices barrier

A new approach to fabricating high-quality AlInGaN film as a lattice-matched barrier layer in multiple quantum wells（MQWs） is presented. The high-quality AlInGaN film is realized by growing the AlGaN/InGaN short period superlattices through metalorganic chemical vapor deposition, and then being used as a barrier in the MQWs. The crystalline quality of the MQWs with the lattice-matched AlInGaN barrier and that of the conventional InGaN/GaN MQWs are characterized by x-ray diffraction and scanning electron microscopy. The photoluminescence（PL） properties of the InGaN/AlInGa N MQWs are investigated by varying the excitation power density and temperature through comparing with those of the InGaN/GaN MQWs. The integral PL intensity of InGaN/AlInGaN MQWs is over 3 times higher than that of InGaN/GaN MQWs at room temperature under the highest excitation power. Temperature-dependent PL further demonstrates that the internal quantum efficiency of InGaN/AlInGaN MQWs（76.1%） is much higher than that of InGaN/GaN MQWs（21%）.The improved luminescence performance of InGaN/AlInGaN MQWs can be attributed to the distinct reduction of the barrier-well lattice mismatch and the strain-induced non-radiative recombination centers.

Topologically protected edge gap solitons of interacting Bosons in one-dimensional superlattices

We comprehensively investigate the nontrivial states of an interacting Bose system in a cosine potential under the open boundary condition. Our results show that there exists a kind of stable localized state： edge gap solitons. We argue that the states originate from the eigenstates of independent edge parabolas. In particular, the edge gap solitons exhibit a nonzero topological-invariant behavior. The topological nature is due to the connection of the present model to the quantized adiabatic particle transport problem. In addition, the composition relations between the gap solitons and the extended states are also discussed.

Electric gating of the multichannel conduction in LaAlO_(3)/SrTiO_(3) superlattices

The electric gating on the transport properties of two-dimensional electron gas(2DEG) at the interface of LaAlO_(3)/SrTiO_(3)(LAO/STO) heterostructure has attracted great research interest due to its potential application in fieldeffect devices. Most of previous works of gate effect were focused on the LAO/STO heterostructure containing only one conductive interface. Here, we systematically investigated the gate effect on high-quality LAO/STO superlattices(SLs)fabricated on the TiO_(2)-terminated(001) STO substrates. In addition to the good metallicity of all SLs, we found that there are two types of charge carriers, the majority carriers and the minority carriers, coexisting in the SLs. The sheet resistance of the SLs with a fixed thickness of the LAO layer increases monotonically as the thickness of the STO layer increases. This is derived from the dependence of the minority carrier density on the thickness of STO. Unlike the LAO/STO heterostructure in which minority and majority carriers are simultaneously modulated by the gate effect, the minority carriers in the SLs can be tuned more significantly by the electric gating while the density of majority carriers is almost invariable. Thus, we consider that the minority carriers may mainly exist in the first interface near the STO substrate that is more sensitive to the back-gate voltage, and the majority carriers exist in the post-deposited STO layers. The SL structure provides the space separation for the multichannel conduction in the 2 DEG, which opens an avenue for the design of field-effect devices based on LAO/STO heterostructure.

Modified method of surface plasmons in metal superlattices

We present a modified method to solve the surface plasmons （SPs） of semi-infinite metal/dielectric superlattices and predicted new SP modes in physics. We find that four dispersion-equation sets and all possible SP modes are determined by them. Our analysis and numerical calculations indicate that besides the SP mode obtained in the original theory, the other two SP modes are predicted, which have either a positive group velocity or a negative group velocity. We also point out the possible defect in the previous theoretical method in accordance to the linear algebra principle.

Spin-polarized transport in graphene nanoribbon superlattices

By the Green＇s function method,we investigate spin transport properties of a zigzag graphene nanoribbon superlattice（ZGNS） under a ferromagnetic insulator and edge effect.The exchange splitting induced by the ferromagnetic insulator eliminates the spin degeneracy,which leads to spin-polarized transport in structure.Spin-dependent minibands and minigaps are exhibited in the conductance profile near the Fermi energy.The location and width of the miniband are associated with the geometry of the ZGNS.In the optimal structure,the spin-up and spin-down minibands can be separated completely near the Fermi energy.Therefore,a wide,perfect spin polarization with clear stepwise pattern is observed,i.e.,the perfect spin-polarized transport can be tuned from spin up to spin down by varying the electron energy.

Optical transmission through basic-structural-unit superlattices

In this paper, by the transparent-component-decimation （TCD） method we obtain three kinds of new basic- components （BCs） through simplifying and decomposing the BCs of three-component Thue-Morse （3CTM） sequence. Based on these new BCs we propose a type of basic-structural-units （BSUs） and investigate the optical transmission of the one-dimensional （1D） superlattices composed of these BSUs. It is found that if the substrates of the 1D BSU superlattices are certain, the optical transmission at the central wavelength （CW） will be determined completely by the number and the type of BSUs and has nothing to do with the marshalling sequence. In particular, if the substrates are identical, the numbers of different types of BSUs are all the same and the middle two elements of BSUs constitute a cycle, then no matter whether the system is periodic, or quasiperiodic, or aperiodic, or unordered, or even random, it will be transparent at the CW. The conclusion is confirmed by the numerical results. Similar to the even layers of neighbourhood identical elements in TCD method, such a kind of optical BSU subsystem can also be decimated from the chain in the process of transmission investigation. There would be a potential application in the designing of some interesting optical devices.

Structure and Strain Properties of GaN Films Grown on Si（111） Substrates with AlxGa1-xN/AlyGa1-yN Superlattices

CaN films with an AlxGa1-xN/AlyGa1-xN superlattice （SL） buffer layer are grown on Si（111） substrates by metal-organic chemical vapor deposition （MOCVD）. The structure and strain properties of the samples are studied by optical microscopy, Raman spectroscopy, x-ray diffractometry and atomic force microscopy. The results show that the strain status and crystalline quality of the CaN layers are strongly dependent on the difference of the Al composition between AlxCa1-xN barriers and AlyCa1-yN wells in the SLs. With a large Al composition difference, the CaN film tends to generate cracks on the surface due to the severe relaxation of the SLs. Otherwise, when using a small Al composition difference, the crystalline quality of the CaN layer degrades due to the poor function of the SLs in filtering dislocations. Under an optimized condition that the Al composition difference equals 0.1, the crack-free and compressive strained CaN film with an improved crystalline quality is achieved. Therefore, the AlxGa1-xN/AlyGal-yN SL buffer layer is a promising buffer structure for growing thick CaN films on Si substrates without crack generation.

Self-Organization of PbS into Quantum Dots Superlattices

Self-organization of PbS into quantum dots superlattices is demonstrated for the first lime, and hexaplanar colloidal crystals 1-10 mu m in size made from PbS quantum dots 4nm in diameter are shown in Transmission Electron Microscope (TEM) micrograph, and the inner structures of the superlattices can be seen from the High Resolution Transmission Electron Microscope (HRTEM).

Defect solitons supported by parity-time symmetric defects in superlattices

The existence and stability of defect solitons supported by parity-time （PT） symmetric defects in superlattices are investigated. In the semi-infinite gap, in-phase solitons are found to exist stably for positive defects, zero defects, and negative defects. In the first gap, out-of-phase solitons are stable for positive defects or zero defects, whereas in-phase solitons are stable for negative defects. For both the in-phase and out-of-phase solitons with the positive defect and in-phase solitons with negative defect in the first gap, there exists a cutoff point of the propagation constant below which the defect solitons vanish. The value of the cutoff point depends on the depth of defect and the imaginary parts of the PT symmetric defect potentials. The influence of the imaginary part of the PT symmetric defect potentials on soliton stability is revealed.