Evaluation of threading dislocation density of strained Ge epitaxial layer by high resolution x-ray diffraction

The analysis of threading dislocation density （TDD） in Ge-on-Si layer is critical for developing lasers, light emitting diodes （LEDs）, photodetectors （PDs）, modulators, waveguides, metal oxide semiconductor field effect transistors （MOSFETs）, and also the integration of Si-based monolithic photonics. The TDD of Ge epitaxial layer is analyzed by etching or transmission electron microscope （TEM）. However, high-resolution x-ray diffraction （HR-XRD） rocking curve provides an optional method to analyze the TDD in Ge layer. The theory model of TDD measurement from rocking curves was first used in zinc-blende semiconductors. In this paper, this method is extended to the case of strained Ge-on-Si layers. The HR-XRD 2θ/ω scan is measured and Ge （004） single crystal rocking curve is utilized to calculate the TDD in strained Ge epitaxial layer. The rocking curve full width at half maximum （FWHM） broadening by incident beam divergence of the instrument, crystal size, and curvature of the crystal specimen is subtracted. The TDDs of samples A and B are calculated to be 1.41108 cm-2 and 6.47108 cm-2, respectively. In addition, we believe the TDDs calculated by this method to be the averaged dislocation density in the Ge epitaxial layer.

Observation of etch pits in Fe-36wt%Ni Invar alloy

To indirectly investigate the dislocation behavior of Fe-36wt%Ni Invar alloy by the etch pit method, polished Invar specimens were etched by a solution containing 4 g copper sulfate, 20 mL hydrochloric acid, and 20 mL deionized water for 2 min. Etch pits in the etched surfaces were observed. All the etch pits in one specific grain exhibited similar shapes, which are closely related to the grain orienta-tions. These etch pits were characterized as dislocation etch pits. It was observed that etch pits arranged along grain boundaries, gathered at grain tips and strip-like etch pit clusters passed through a number of grains in the pure Invar specimens. After the addition of a small amount of alloying elements, the identification of a single dislocation etch pit is challenging compared with the pure Invar alloy. Thus, the observation of etch pits facilitates the investigation on the dislocation behavior of the pure Invar alloy. In addition, alloying elements may affect the densities and sizes of etch pits.

High-temperature annealing of(201)β-Ga_(2)O_(3) substrates for reducing structural defects after diamond sawing

A commercial epi-ready(201)β-Ga_(2)O_(3) wafer was investigated upon diamond sawing into pieces measuring 2.5×3 mm^(2).The defect structure and crystallinity in the cut samples has been studied by X-ray diffraction and a selective wet etching technique.The density of defects was estimated from the average value of etch pits calculated,including near-edge regions,and was obtained close to 109 cm^(-2).Blocks with lattice orientation deviated by angles of 1-3 arcmin,as well as non-stoichiometric fractions with a relative strain about(1.0-1.5)×10^(-4)in the[201]direction,were found.Crystal perfection was shown to decrease significantly towards the cutting lines of the samples.To reduce the number of structural defects and increase the crystal perfection of the samples via increasing defect motion mobility,the thermal annealing was employed.Polygonization and formation of a mosaic structure coupled with dislocation wall appearance upon 3 h of annealing at 1100℃ was observed.The fractions characterized by non-stoichiometry phases and the block deviation disappeared.The annealing for 11 h improved the homogeneity and perfection in the crystals.The average density of the etch pits dropped down significantly to 8×10^(6) cm^(-2).

Study on the Characteristics of the Gas Switch Electrode Erosion

Gas spark switch is one of the key parts in pulsed power technology.Electrode erosion has great influence on the switch performance and lifetime.In this paper,a field distortion gas switch is selected for the experiment and a great deal of discharging experiments have been conducted in different test conditions.The forming process of etch pit as well as its influencing factors is discussed briefly and surface roughness coefficient(SRC) of the electrode is put forward to evaluate the state of electrode erosion.Experimental results show that current peak plays an important role in electrode erosion when waveforms of discharge current are the same,and electric charge and oscillation frequency of discharge current also have great effect on the electrode erosion when waveforms of discharge current are different.With the increase of discharge times,SRC decreases slowly at first and then decreases quickly after three thousand of discharge times.

Molecular-beam epitaxy-grown HgCdTe infrared detector:Material physics, structure design, and device fabrication

Infrared(IR) detectors have important applications in numerous civil and military sectors. Hg Cd Te is one of the most important materials for IR detector manufacture. This review systematically discusses the progress of Hg Cd Te materials grown via molecular-beam epitaxy(MBE) for IR detection in terms of material physics, structure design, and fabrication. The material physics of Hg Cd Te includes crystal information, band structure, and electrical and optical properties. The characterization methods of the As-grown Hg Cd Te materials are also summarized. Then, four design structures of Hg Cd Te for IR detectors, with multilayer, superlattice, double-layer heterojunction, and barrier properties, which significantly improve the device performance,are discussed. The third section summarizes the studies on Hg Cd Te MBE-grown on different substrates, including Cd Zn Te, Si,and Ga Sb, in recent decades. This review discusses the factors influencing the growth of the Hg Cd Te film and their relationships and optimal conditions. Finally, we present the prospects and challenges associated with the fabrication and applications of Hg Cd Te materials for IR detectors.

Impact of thermal history of spherical silicon crystal on its crystal quality

Spherical Si solar cells were fabricated based on multicrystalline Si spheres produced by a dropping method. The thermal history of Si spheres were calculated by numerical simulation. The simulation result reveals that heat transfered by convection is greater than heat transfered by radiation. Considering the calculation results, Si spheres were dropped in the free-fall tower at low pressure state (0.2×105-0.5×105 Pa) to slow heat transfer by convection. After dash etching for 60 min, low pressure Si spheres have less etch pits, i.e., 80% for etch pit density and 8% for etch pit-area ratio compared to normal one. Furthermore, the conversion efficiency was improved from 6.57% (normal pressure spherical Si solar cell) to 9.56% (low one), which is 45% relative increase. The improvement is due to decrease of undercooling and increase of crystal growth duration. These results demonstrate that the dropping method at low pressure state is useful for fabricating high performance spherical Si solar cells.

Studies on the Properties of ZnO Crystal Plane Grown by the Innovated Hydrothermal Method

ZnO single crystals were grown by the innovated hydrothermal method. The crystal surfaces were polished, and then studied by atom force microscope （AFM） and wet-chemical etching （WCE）. It was found that the Zn polar plane was smoother than O polar plane under the same polishing conditions. The etch pit density of Zn polar plane is 4.3×10^3 cm^-2, which is consistent with the previous report, while the density of etch pit of O polar plane is more than 103cm^-2. After annealing treatment, the density of etch pit of Zn plane reduces to 5.8×102 cm^2 and is superior to the current report. This investigation reveals that the high quality ZnO single crystals with fine Zn polar plane can be obtained by the innovated hydrothermal method.

Preparation of Heavily Te-doped GaSb Single Crystal

Based on comparison of the single crystal growth from several Czochralski techniques,it showed that the most advantageous method for GaSb growth seems to be LEC pulling method.Highly Te doped GaSb single crystals can be prepared on small scale with good reproducibility by using special filtering technology.Using the Te concentrations calculated from the Hall measurement,the distribution coefficient of tellurium in GaSb was estimated to be about 0.38 under our growth conditions.The etch pit density (EPD) examination in <100> GaSb showed that the profile of EPD is of W shape in growth plane and the value of average EPD is about 1.0×10 -3 cm -2 along growth direction.

Chemical etching of a GaSb crystal incorporated with Mn grown by the Bridgman method under microgravity conditions

A GaSb crystal incorporated with Mn has been grown by the Bridgman method on the Polizon facility onboard the FOTON-M3 spacecraft. Structural defects and growth striations have been successfully revealed by the chemical etching method. By calculating various parameters of the convection, the striation patterns can be explained, and the critical value of the Taylor number, which characterizes the convective condition of the rotating magnetic field induced azimuthal flow, was shown. The stresses generated during crystal growth can be reflected by the observations of etch pit distribution and other structural defects. Suggestions for improving the space experiment to improve the quality of the crystal are given.

Temperature dependence of LiNbO3 dislocation density in the near-surface layer

Density of dislocations in the near-surface layer was investigated in X-cut LiNbO_(3) depending on thermal annealing in the temperature range of 400℃–600℃.A dynamic model of randomly distributed dislocations has been developed for LiNbO_(3) by using X-ray diffraction.The experimental results showed that the dislocation density of the near-surface layer reached the minimum at the thermal annealing temperature of 500℃,with the analysis being performed when wet selective etching and X-ray diffraction methods were used.We concluded that homogenization annealing is an effective technique to improve the quality of photonic circuits based on LiNbO_(3).The results obtained are important for optical waveguides,LiNbO_(3)-on-insulator-based micro-photonic devices,electro-optical modulators,sensors,etc.

Limited Contribution of Preferential Dissolution to Radiogenic Uranium Isotope Disequilibrium Observed in Weathered Moraines

Radiogenic uranium isotope disequilibrium(^(234)U/^(238)U) has been used to trace a variety of Earth surface processes,and is usually attributed to direct recoil of ^(234)Th and preferential dissolution of radioactively damaged lattices at the mineral surface.However,the relative contribution of these two mechanisms in the natural environment remains unresolved,making it hard to use the extent of disequilibrium to quantify processes such as weathering.This study tests the contribution of preferential dissolution using well-characterized weathered moraines and river sediments from the southeastern Tibetan Plateau.The observations show that weathering of recent moraines where the contribution from direct recoil is negligible and is not associated with depletion of ^(234)U at the mineral surface.It suggests a limited role for preferential dissolution in this setting.We attribute this lack of preferential dissolution to a near-to-equilibrium dissolution at the weathering interfaces,with little development of etch pits associated with radioactively damaged energetic sites.