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Electrostatic doping-assisted phonon softening has been intensively investigated in semiconducting transition metal dichalcogenides (TMDCs), in which strong electron–phonon interactions can be achieved in thin layers. Though electron–phonon coupling plays an important role in structure phase transitions for metallic 2H-TaX2 (X = S, Se), it has been rarely studied under electrostatic doping. Here, the effect of electrostatic doping on the vibrational phonon modes of 2H-TaSe2 and 2H-TaS2 thin films is studied with ionic liquid gating by the electric-double-layer gating technique. Under a gate bias (VG) of 1.5 V, 2H-TaSe2 has a blue shift of 7 cm−1 and a red shift of 3 cm−1 for the in-plane (E2g) and out-of-plane vibration (A1g) modes, respectively, indicating a strong electron–phonon interaction in both intralayer and interlayer. By varying the thickness of the flakes, it has been found that there exists a threshold VG value for the stiffening of the E2g mode and the softening of the A1g mode because of the strong electrostatic screening effect at lower doping density. As the intensity of the E2g mode decreases with VG, an anomalous enhancement of the A1g phonons can be achieved, which is further convinced in TaS2. The asymmetric phonon evolution behavior is very different with that in the semiconducting TMDCs, which may provide useful information for understanding electron–phonon interplay in metallic layer materials.

In this work, we studied p-i-n InGaN/GaN core-shell microrod (μrod) LEDs using confocal microscopy with a spatial resolution below 500 nm in all three dimensions. At low excitation conditions, the devices emit in the red spectral range, while green and blue emissions become more prominent with increasing driving current. 3D photoluminescence (PL) maps demonstrate that the red emission originates from the apex of the tip area, while the green emission stems from the corners between m- and r-planes and the dominant blue emission from the m-plane. Analyzing individual μrods of the LED chip in a closed circuit configuration, a pronounced photocurrent is found for quasi-resonant laser excitation, indicating charge carrier tunneling losses out of the quantum well. This hypothesis is confirmed by applying an external voltage in the forward direction, where a characteristic blueshift of the single μrod PL signal is observed due to a modified band alignment, and a nonlinear increase in the PL intensity proves suppressed tunneling losses.

In this work we demonstrate the angular color stability of textured c-Si substrates colored by single layer thin film coatings of SiN x. These coatings show higher angular color stability on substrates with a random upright pyramidal surface texture compared to identical coatings on planar silicon substrates. Angle dependent reflectance measurements, supported by a modeling framework, display that the reflectance peaks originating from thin film interference of coated textured substrates only shift about 15 nm with an increasing angle of incidence from 10 ° to 80 °, while the reflectance peaks of planar substrates with identical coatings shift about 120 nm at these angles. More specifically, reflectance peaks of planar substrates shift to shorter wavelengths, leading to a blue shift of the color appearance. The stable peak position of the textured samples is explained by a 2D representation of their surface texture and the primarily double interference interaction on it. While it is well known that a wide range of colors can be realized exhibiting low optical losses with thin film coatings, angular color stability was often not taken into account. However, for building integrated photovoltaics applications, a high angular color stability is desired, underlining the importance of using these textures. In most installed c-Si photovoltaics, similar substrate surface textures and dielectric thin film layers are already used. Therefore, this work envisions a route to facilitate large scale production of colored solar cells on textured c-Si substrates, colored by thin film SiN x layers, with minimized optical losses and improved angular color stability.

Recently, a two-dimensional (2D) MoSi 2N 4 (MSN) structure has been successfully synthesized [Hong et al., Science 369(6504), 670-674 (2020)]. Motivated by this result, we investigate the structural, electronic, and optical properties of MSN monolayer (MSN-1L) and bilayer (MSN-2L) under the applied electric field (E-field) and strain using density functional theory calculations. We find that the MSN-2L is a semiconductor with an indirect bandgap of 1.60 (1.80)eV using Perdew-Burke-Ernzerhof (HSE06). The bandgap of MSN-2L decreases as the E-field increases from 0.1 to 0.6V/angstrom and for larger E-field up to 1.0V/angstrom the bilayer becomes metallic. As the vertical strain increases, the bandgap decreases; more interestingly, a semiconductor to a metal phase transition is observed at a strain of 12 %. Furthermore, the optical response of the MSN-2L is in the ultraviolet (UV) region of the electromagnetic spectrum. The absorption edge exhibits a blue shift by applying an E-field or a vertical compressive strain. The obtained interesting properties suggest MSN-2L as a promising material in electro-mechanical and UV opto-mechanical devices.

Currently, 2D layered material (2DLM) based heterostructures, also known as van der Waals (vdW) heterostructures, are actively pursued owing to their great potential for optoelectronic applications. They are produced either by vertical stacking of individual layers or via in-plane stitching of 2DLMs. Producing vdW heterostructures with clean interfaces and growing them using direct growth methods are challenging. Herein, we report successful growth of large-area MoS2–WS2 vdW heterostructures (single- to few-monolayer, ML, the thickness of MoS2 and WS2) on oxidized Si (100) substrates using the catalyst-free Pulsed Laser Deposition technique. The in-plane (E12g) and out-of-plane (A1g) Raman-active phonon modes are used to probe the interlayer interactions between the constituent 2D layers. We observe a blueshift of 4.73 (1.63) cm−1 of the A1g peak corresponding to MoS2 (WS2) in the MoS2(1ML)–WS2(1ML) heterostructure compared to 1.27 (0.88) cm−1 for the homo-bilayers. The E12g mode also exhibited blueshift for the heterostructure and redshift for the bilayer of the constituent material. We show that the broadband photodetectors fabricated utilizing in situ grown MoS2–WS2 heterostructures exhibit responsivity, specific detectivity, and current on/off ratio as high as 2.51 × 105 A/W, 4.20 × 1014 Jones, and 1.05 × 105, respectively, under 24 μW/cm2 at 405 nm excitation. The successful fabrication of vdW heterostructures using a simple and scalable direct growth method and excellent photodetector performance pave the way for exploitation of their application potential and offer a playground to test some of the theoretical predictions.

When MgZnO serves as the shell to passivate a ZnO nanowire, the proportion of Mg is usually small to avoid the unexpected spectrum from the wurtzite to rock salt transformation. Using the effective mass approximation, we investigate the impact of a mixed-phase MgxZn1−xO shell on the optical absorption spectra in ZnO nanowires. The results show that the dual absorption peaks from the coexisting two sets of band offset tend to appear as an intrinsic line broadening. This is because the spacing of dual peaks is small and even less than the full width at half maximum to be distinguished. The dual peaks get closer by increasing x or core size since the energy levels become less insensitive to the difference of the potentials. Enhanced confinement of an electron from higher x and smaller core size induces not only a blueshift and a slower saturation but also a sharper peak. The above two aspects make the dual peaks appear always as a broadening in inter-band V1–C1 transitions, while only appear as a broadening in inter-subband C1–C2 transitions when the core radius gets larger than the critical value for a certain x. The broadening from the mixed-phase MgZnO-coated ZnO nanowire could be restricted by increasing the core size or the proportion of Mg in the shell.

Ultrathin single- and three-stage Cu(In,Ga)Se-2 absorber layers were analyzed with room temperature photoluminescence (PL) spectra. An anomalous blueshift was observed upon increasing carrier injection for both samples. This blueshift was attributed to the presence of bandgap fluctuations that are of the same order as the minority carrier diffusion length. From time resolved measurements, a diffusion length of a few 100nms was deduced. The single-stage spectrum consists of two peaks, and the sample was, therefore, also analyzed by hyperspectral imaging, providing lateral PL and reflectance data with 1 mu m resolution. Marginal variations were observed in the PL yield and spectra. This homogeneity could again be attributed to an intermediate scale of the bandgap fluctuation with an upper limit of 1 mu m for the scale of the lateral bandgap fluctuations. The two peaks in the PL spectra of the single-stage sample could be attributed to interference, and correction methods were applied. The bandgap fluctuations were extracted for the three-stage and single-stage sample and were 45meV and 72 +/- 3meV, respectively. It is suggested that this difference is attributed to the smaller grains and larger amount of grain boundaries in the single-stage sample. This work received funding from the European Union's H2020 Research and Innovation Program under Grant Agreement No. 715027. We acknowledge Photon etc. and Professor Delphine Bouilly's research group from IRIC for the hyperspectral measurements and Erik Spaans for the python program.

A defective Thue–Morse quasi-photonic crystal containing molybdenum disulfide (MoS2) is suggested to construct an ultra-narrowband multiple resonant absorber in the visible range. Multiple high absorption peaks can be achieved by altering the design of the proposed structure in different ways such as changing the generation number or the symmetry with respect to defect. Two structures are introduced, which create more than seven absorption peaks higher than 40% and one of the peaks about 100%. Defect modes' wavelength can be tuned to show the blue shift by incident angles and the polarization of light. Our optimal structures are useful for applications in multiplex filters and multiple channel sensors due to their high amount and narrowband absorption peaks and can show nearly perfect absorption.

Photoluminescence (PL) measurements at a wide temperature range, up to room temperature, for high-quality and high-density GaAs/AlGaAs quantum dots (QDs) fabricated by droplet epitaxy were carried out to investigate the anomalous temperature dependence of the PL peak energy from the QD ensemble. In addition to a reported redshift that deviated from the so-called Varshni's curve of the PL peak energy in the low temperature region, a new blueshift was observed above 200 K. We analyzed the experimental results using a steady-state rate equation model and observed a good agreement. The distribution of the QD sizes and the presence of the AlGaAs barrier layer as a carrier coupling channel were considered in this model. This means that the wetting layer proposed thus far is not a necessary condition for explaining the anomalous temperature behavior of the PL properties. In addition, it was found that the anomalous temperature behavior was smeared out by the insertion of a GaAs height adjustment layer in order to homogenize the apparent QD size. We found that sufficient control of the QD size is a necessary factor for high temperature stability of QD devices.

Optical properties of thin layers of rhenium diselenide (ReSe$_2$) with thickness ranging from mono- (1 ML) to nona-layer (9 MLs) are demonstrated. The photoluminescence (PL) and Raman scattering were measured at low ($T$=5 K) and room ($T$=300 K) temperature, respectively. The PL spectra of ReSe$_2$ layers display two well-resolved emission lines, which blueshift by about 120 meV when the layer thickness decreases from 9 MLs to a monolayer. A rich structure of the observed low-energy Raman scattering modes can be explained within a linear chain model. The two phonon modes of intralayer vibrations, observed in Raman scattering spectra at about 120 cm$^{-1}$, exhibit very sensitive and opposite evolution as a function of layer thickness. It is shown that their energy difference can serve as a convenient and reliable tool to determine the thickness of ReSe$_2$ flakes in the few-layer limit., Comment: 5 pages, 6 figures

InxAl1−xN (0.15

The impurity-associated optical transitions in a piezoelectric core–shell nanowire were studied using the density matrix formalism. In the calculations, four electron states were considered using a finite-difference algorithm combined with a variational approach. An obvious blueshift in the optical spectrum, especially for the transition from the free electron to impurity-bound ground states, was predicted to result from the intrinsic Stark effect induced by the piezoelectric field. The effects of the optical transition between impurity-bound states on the absorption coefficient and the refractive index of wurtzite nanowires were enhanced as the piezoelectric polarization becomes stronger. The findings are helpful for guiding further experiments on the linear and nonlinear optical properties of piezoelectric nanowires.

The combination of two-dimensional materials in the form of van der Waals heterostructures has been proved to be an effective approach for designing electronic and optoelectronic devices. In this work, we investigate the electronic, optical, and photocatalytic properties of vdW heterostructures based on BlueP, SiC, ZnO, and g-GaN using density functional theory. We find that all the g-GaN based vdW heterostructures are energetically and thermally stable at room temperature. The g-GaN–BlueP and g-GaN–SiC heterostructures show indirect bandgaps with the type-II and type-I band alignments, respectively, whereas the g-GaN–ZnO heterostructure shows a direct bandgap with type-II band alignment. Furthermore, the absorption coefficient is also calculated to understand the optical behavior of these hetrostructures. Our results demonstrate that the lowest energy transitions are dominated by excitons, and the blue shift is also observed in these hetrostructures. The g-GaN–BlueP, g-GaN–SiC, and g-GaN–ZnO vdW heterostructures possess outstanding optical absorption in the visible light. The g-GaN–P shows the highest absorption intensity of 10 5 cm − 1, which is larger than that of g-GaN–SiC and g-GaN–ZnO vdW heterostructures by three times. These findings demonstrate that these vdW heterostructures are promising candidates for water splitting in the visible light region. Moreover, the heterostructures also show good response to the photocatalytic properties at pH = 0 and pH = 7.

Based on first principles calculations within spin polarized-density functional theory, we investigate optoelectronic and magnetic properties of Co-doped and (Co, Al) co-doped ZnO. Our results demonstrate that Co substitution changes the nonspin polarized state of pure ZnO to spin polarized with total magnetic moment of 3 μB. The origin of antiferromagnetic (AFM) coupling between Co spins in the ZnO lattice is guided mainly by a super-exchange mechanism without any additional defects. The effect of Al codoping on the ground state of Co-doped ZnO is also investigated, and we find that the additional electron introduced by Al codoping changes the magnetic ground state of Co-doped ZnO from AFM to FM state, and the estimated Curie temperature is expected to be higher than room temperature. The optical absorption spectra of pure ZnO and Co-doped systems for all compositions are investigated, and we find that with an increase in Co concentration, the bandgap of ZnO and the position of spin-allowed d–d transition peaks of Co spins exhibit a blueshift and redshift behavior, respectively, which are consistent with the experimental results. Al codoping produces absorption peaks near infrared light and visible-light regions and increases transition energy due to the Burstein–Moss effect. Furthermore, the bandgap and d–d transition peaks of Co spins are correlated with magnetic coupling, and we observed a redshift of fundamental bandgap and d–d transition peaks of Co ions for FM coupled Co spins, and blueshift for AFM coupled Co spin systems.Based on first principles calculations within spin polarized-density functional theory, we investigate optoelectronic and magnetic properties of Co-doped and (Co, Al) co-doped ZnO. Our results demonstrate that Co substitution changes the nonspin polarized state of pure ZnO to spin polarized with total magnetic moment of 3 μB. The origin of antiferromagnetic (AFM) coupling between Co spins in the ZnO lattice is guided mainly by a super-exchange mechanism without any additional defects. The effect of Al codoping on the ground state of Co-doped ZnO is also investigated, and we find that the additional electron introduced by Al codoping changes the magnetic ground state of Co-doped ZnO from AFM to FM state, and the estimated Curie temperature is expected to be higher than room temperature. The optical absorption spectra of pure ZnO and Co-doped systems for all compositions are investigated, and we find that with an increase in Co concentration, the bandgap of ZnO and the position of spin-allowed d–d transitio...

Al-rich AlGaN-based deep-ultraviolet light-emitting diodes (DUV LEDs) have a low light extraction efficiency, especially when the emission wavelength is shorter than 280 nm, and this is partially because of the dominant transverse-magnetic polarized light. Our results show that the transverse-electric (TE) polarized light can be obtained even if the emission wavelength becomes even shorter by reducing the quantum well thickness. The ultrathin quantum well enables the enhanced TE-polarized emission that arises from the redistributed subbands for holes. On the contrary to the common belief, we observe a blueshift for the emission wavelength when the AlN composition in the quantum barrier increases. The internal quantum efficiency (IQE) for DUV LEDs with ultrathin quantum wells is no longer determined by the quantum-confined Stark effect, while quantum barrier with high AlN composition is vitally important to improve the electron injection efficiency and thus enhance the IQE.

We report on the unusually large blue shift of the electroluminescence spectrum with an increase of the drive current at 77 K in a double-barrier nanoheterostructure with a deep AlSb/InAs0.83Sb0.17/AlSb quantum well grown by metal-organic vapor phase epitaxy on the n-GaSb:Te substrate. The rise of the drive current from 20 mA to 220 mA led to a shift of the electroluminescence spectrum maximum toward higher photon energies by 100 meV. It was shown that this effect is due to indirect (tunneling) radiative transitions between electrons in InAsSb quantum well and heavy holes localized near the AlSb/p-GaSb heterointerface. The energy of radiative transition was linearly dependent on the applied voltage. In the drive current range of 50–220 mA, an electroluminescence blue shift was accompanied by spectrum narrowing by 40 meV and a noticeable change of the spectrum shape. With a rise in the drive current, a superlinear increase of the electroluminescence intensity caused by the nonlinear dependence of tunneling radiative recombination rate on transition energy was observed at 300 K and 77 K.We report on the unusually large blue shift of the electroluminescence spectrum with an increase of the drive current at 77 K in a double-barrier nanoheterostructure with a deep AlSb/InAs0.83Sb0.17/AlSb quantum well grown by metal-organic vapor phase epitaxy on the n-GaSb:Te substrate. The rise of the drive current from 20 mA to 220 mA led to a shift of the electroluminescence spectrum maximum toward higher photon energies by 100 meV. It was shown that this effect is due to indirect (tunneling) radiative transitions between electrons in InAsSb quantum well and heavy holes localized near the AlSb/p-GaSb heterointerface. The energy of radiative transition was linearly dependent on the applied voltage. In the drive current range of 50–220 mA, an electroluminescence blue shift was accompanied by spectrum narrowing by 40 meV and a noticeable change of the spectrum shape. With a rise in the drive current, a superlinear increase of the electroluminescence intensity caused by the nonlinear dependence of tunneling...

In this work, we use photoluminescence (PL) spectroscopy to investigate how self-assembled GaSb/GaAs quantum dots (QDs) depend on their growth mechanism. Carrier transfer (i.e., carrier recombination in QDs and escape through the barrier layer) is investigated as a function of excitation-power- and temperature-dependent PL measurements. A drastic blueshift of the QD peak energy from 1.23 to 1.30 eV and a further shift to 1.33 eV reveal the influence of the GaSb growth rate and the growth temperature on the optical properties of these QDs. The thermal activation energy is extracted from the temperature-dependent PL by fitting the integrated PL intensity of the QD peaks to the Arrhenius relation. The QDs grown at the growth rate of 0.1 monolayers/s at 450 °C have higher thermal activation energy (109 meV) than those grown at a lower growth rate and higher QD growth temperature. The observed PL characteristics are discussed in terms of QD size, uniformity of QDs, and material intermixing occurring during QD growth on the buffer layer and capping layer.In this work, we use photoluminescence (PL) spectroscopy to investigate how self-assembled GaSb/GaAs quantum dots (QDs) depend on their growth mechanism. Carrier transfer (i.e., carrier recombination in QDs and escape through the barrier layer) is investigated as a function of excitation-power- and temperature-dependent PL measurements. A drastic blueshift of the QD peak energy from 1.23 to 1.30 eV and a further shift to 1.33 eV reveal the influence of the GaSb growth rate and the growth temperature on the optical properties of these QDs. The thermal activation energy is extracted from the temperature-dependent PL by fitting the integrated PL intensity of the QD peaks to the Arrhenius relation. The QDs grown at the growth rate of 0.1 monolayers/s at 450 °C have higher thermal activation energy (109 meV) than those grown at a lower growth rate and higher QD growth temperature. The observed PL characteristics are discussed in terms of QD size, uniformity of QDs, and material intermixing occurring during QD ...

Persistent photocapacitance (PPC) was observed in β-(Al0.14Ga0.84)2O3/n+Ga2O3 heterojunctions at low temperatures. The effect is seen in capacitance-frequency measurements under illumination and in admittance spectra after illumination. In the latter case, the capacitance versus frequency curve after illumination returned to its dark values only at temperatures between 225 and 275 K. Prominent hole-trap-like peaks in optical deep level transient spectroscopy (ODLTS) near 130 K were attributed to quenching with temperature of the PPC effect. The phenomena were assigned to electrons being excited from deep traps in the (Al0.14Ga0.86)2O3 barrier into the two-dimensional electron gas (2DEG) in the Ga2O3 substrate. The reverse process then involves excitation of non-equilibrium electrons in the 2DEG back into the ternary barrier layer and subsequent re-capture by the host deep traps. The effective barrier height for this recovery process was ∼0.2 eV, as estimated from ODLTS measurements. The spectral dependence of the effect suggests the presence of deep traps with optical ionization thresholds near 1 eV and ∼2.3 eV. The shift of the threshold voltage necessary to deplete the 2DEG as a function of the photon energy during illumination at room temperature indicates that the most prominent centers in the barrier have an optical ionization energy near 2.3 eV and a sheet density of ∼1012 cm−2. In microcathodoluminescence (MCL) spectra of the heterojunction, a blue shift by 0.2 eV of the MCL band near 3.1 eV dominant in the substrate and the emergence of a weak MCL peak near 4.8 eV were observed. Electron beam induced current measurements point to the presence of small local areas where the 2DEG formation is handicapped due to Al composition variations or to defects.

We present temperature, laser power, and pressure dependent Raman spectral analysis of C 60 oxide (C 60O) thin films prepared by the photolysis method. The first order temperature, laser power, and pressure coefficients of the Raman frequencies are evaluated and are utilized for evaluating the thermal conductivity of C 60O. Its thermal conductivity is found to be 0.7 W m − 1 K − 1 which is marginally higher than that of bulk C 60. Raman frequencies corresponding to C–O and C–C bonds blueshift with a decrease in temperature which is attributed to the thermal contraction of C 60O molecules. The density functional measurements have been performed to optimize C 60O structure. The contraction in the C–O bond length has been corroborated with the experimental Raman shifts at different temperatures and is used to evaluate the linear expansion coefficient of C 60O. Pressure induced compression and polymerization of C 60O clusters are also illustrated. This study highlights the interplay between thermal and mechanical transformations in the C 60O cluster which may regulate its thermoelectric properties by tuning the intermolecular interactions.

We have studied the intrinsic frequency tuning of several terahertz (THz) quantum-cascade lasers (QCLs) based on a hybrid design. With increasing driving current, most QCLs exhibit either a redshift or a blueshift, while some QCLs show both. An oscillator model describes the observed behavior. The accuracy of the model is affected by the complexity of the current-dependent gain spectra of the THz QCLs. Numerical simulations demonstrate a cavity pulling effect insofar as the tuning behavior depends on the resonator losses and on the width of the gain spectra.

GaN-based 500 nm light-emitting diodes (LEDs) with an air-cavity formed on a laser-drilled hemispherical patterned sapphire substrate (HPSS) were investigated. The cross-section transmission electron microscopy image of the HPSS-LED epilayer indicated that most of the threading dislocations were bent towards the lateral directions. It was found that in InGaN/GaN multiple quantum wells (MQWs) of HPSS-LEDs, there were fewer V-pits and lower surface roughness than those of conventional LEDs which were grown on flat sapphire substrates (FSSs). The high-resolution x-ray diffraction showed that the LED grown on a HPSS has better crystal quality than that grown on a FSS. Compared to FSS-LEDs, the photoluminescence (PL) intensity, the light output power, and the external quantum efficiency at an injected current of 20 mA for the HPSS-LED were enhanced by 81%, 65%, and 62%, respectively, such enhancements can be attributed to better GaN epitaxial quality and higher light extraction. The slightly peak wavelength blueshift of electroluminescence for the HPSS-LED indicated that the quantum confined Stark effect in the InGaN/GaN MQWs has been reduced. Furthermore, it was found that the far-field radiation patterns of the HPSS-LED have smaller view angles than that of the FSS-LED. In addition, the scanning near field optical microscope results revealed that the area above the air-cavity has a larger PL intensity than that without an air-cavity, and the closer to the middle of the air-cavity the stronger the PL intensity. These nano-light distribution findings were in good agreement with the simulation results obtained by the finite difference time domain method.

We study the impact of quantum-confined stark effect (QCSE) on bias dependent micro-photoluminescence emission of the quantum disk (Q-disk) based nanowires light emitting diodes (NWs-LED) exhibiting the amber colored emission. The NWs are found to be nitrogen polar (N-polar) verified using KOH wet chemical etching and valence band spectrum analysis of high-resolution X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. The crystal structure and quality of the NWs were investigated by high-angle annular dark field - scanning transmission electron microscopy. The LEDs were fabricated to acquire the bias dependent micro-photoluminescence spectra. We observe a redshift and a blueshift of the μPL peak in the forward and reverse bias conditions, respectively, with reference to zero bias, which is in contrast to the metal-polar InGaN well-based LEDs in the literature. Such opposite shifts of μPL peak emission observed for N-polar NWs-LEDs, in our study, are due to the change in the direction of the internal piezoelectric field. The quenching of PL intensity, under the reverse bias conditions, is ascribed to the reduction of electron-hole overlap. Furthermore, the blueshift of μPL emission with increasing excitation power reveals the suppression of QCSE resulting from the photo-generated carriers. Thereby, our study confirms the presence of QCSE for NWs-LEDs from both bias and power dependent μPL measurements. Thus, this study serves to understand the QCSE in N-polar InGaN Q-disk NWs-LEDs and other related wide-bandgap nitride nanowires, in general.

In this paper, we investigated tunable lasing properties from the dye-doped holographic polymer dispersed liquid crystal (HPDLC) gratings in capillaries with thermal and optical manners. The thermally tunable range of the lasing from the dye-doped HPDLC reached 8.60 nm with the temperature ranging from 23 °C to 50 °C. The optically tunable laser emission was achieved by doping azo-dye in HPDLC. The transition of azo-dye from trans- to cis-state could induce the reorientation of LC molecules after UV light irradiation, which resulted in the variation of refractive index contrast of LC-rich/polymer-rich layer in HPDLC. Experimentally, the emission wavelength of lasing showed a blueshift (about 2 nm) coupled with decreasing output intensities. The tunable laser based on HPDLC may enable more applications in laser displays, optical communication, biosensors, etc.

In this work, the photoresponse performance of monodisperse PbSe nanocubes in the range of visible and near-infrared (NIR) (400–1500 nm) regions was enhanced by reduced graphene oxide (rGO). A simple cost-effective method is presented to synthesize monodisperse PbSe nanocubes (NCs) that are decorated on the rGO sheets. By the addition of PbSe/rGO nanocomposites with different rGO concentrations, pristine PbSe NCs were synthesized with the same method. Microscopy images showed that the size of NCs was smaller than the exciton Bohr radius (46 nm) of PbSe bulk. Therefore, the UV-Vis-IR spectroscopy result revealed that the PbSe/rGO samples had absorption peaks in the NIR region around 1650 nm and showed a blue shift compared to the absorption peak of the PbSe bulk. J-V measurements of the samples indicated that monodisperse PbSe/rGO nanocomposites had a higher resistance than the other samples under dark condition. On the other hand, the resistance of the monodisperse PbSe/rGO nanocomposites decreased under ...

In this paper, we report the morphologic evolution and optical properties of nanostructured gold dispersed in monolithic mesoporous silica induced by soaking the silica into a HAuCl4 aqueous solution and subsequent treatments. It has been shown that the morphology of nanostructured Au depends on the subsequent treatments after soaking. If the HAuCl4-soaked mesoporous silica was dried at 10h) and annealed at

Pseudomorphic In0.2Ga0.8As∕GaAs quantum wells (QWs) were grown by molecular beam epitaxy on GaAs substrates oriented along (11n) directions, with n=1,2,3,4. The optical and structural properties of the heterostructures were studied by photoluminescence (PL), photoreflectance (PR) spectroscopy, and atomic force microscopy measurements. The energy transitions in the QWs have two contributions, a blueshift due to the compressive strain, and a redshift due to the quantum confined Stark effect produced by the piezoelectric field present in the QWs. A variational approach was employed to calculate the QWs ground energy transitions employing an ideal potential well with sharp interfaces. The theoretical energy transitions were fitted to the PL peaks energy to obtain the electric fields in the InGaAs QWs. The obtained electric fields show discrepancies with theoretical piezoelectric fields calculated from the strain present in the QWs. In order to overcome these discrepancies, we propose to include interdiffusion...

We report photoreflectance investigations of the energy-fine structure of GaInNAs∕GaAs multiple quantum wells (MQWs) grown at different temperatures and postgrown treated by rapid thermal annealing (RTA). A “splitting” of the ground and excited QW transitious due to the presence of different nitrogen nearest-neighbor environments, i.e., N‐Ga4−mInm(0⩽m⩽4) short-range-order clusters, has been observed. The RTA induces a nitrogen redistribution between the five possible N‐Ga4−mInm configurations and thus leads to a blueshift of QW transitions. The magnitude of the blueshift and its dependence on the growth temperature and annealing temperature are investigated in this paper.

Dilute Ga1−xInxNyAs1−y∕GaAs quantum wells with high In-content, which are under compressive strain, have been shown previously to exhibit multiple band gaps, likely due to the presence of different nitrogen nearest-neighbor environments, i.e., N‐Ga4−mInm(0⩽m⩽4) short-range-order clusters. Here, photoreflectance (PR) measurements on lattice-matched dilute GaInNAs-on-GaAs layers with low indium and nitrogen content are reported, which give evidence that these layers also exhibit several distinct band gaps. These distinct band gaps, which were found to coexist, are associated with different nitrogen bonding configurations, as revealed by Raman spectroscopy. Thus, the metastable nature of GaInNAs seems to be a persistent intrinsic property, irrespective of strain and indium content. The annealing-induced blueshift of GaInNAs band gap energy, which is usually observed in this system, has been associated with the change in the intensity of PR resonances related to different N‐Ga4−mInm configurations.

The effects of rapid thermal annealing (RTA) on the optical properties of GaNAs∕GaAs triple quantum wells grown by chemical beam epitaxy are studied in detail by photoluminescence (PL) spectroscopy at 77K. Special emphasis is put on the RTA-induced PL peak blueshift. It is found that the blueshift is neither due to nitrogen diffusion from well layer to barrier layer nor due to homogenization of nitrogen composition fluctuations. The blueshift is due to the coupling between the radiative recombination of PL emission and the nonradiative recombination of nonradiative centers. A quantitative model is proposed in which the blueshift is proportional to the relative change of the concentration of nonradiative centers. This model quantitatively explains not only our present results but also previous observations.

We report studies of the effect of rapid thermal annealing (RTA) on the optical properties of a low-loss 1.3 mum saturable Bragg reflector (SBR), consisting of a GaInNAs/GaAs single quantum well embedded in an AlAs/GaAs Bragg reflector grown monolithically on a GaAs substrate. RTA gives rise to a blueshift of the photoluminescence (PL) peak (and therefore of the excitonic absorption peak) and an enhancement of PL intensity, while the reflectivity properties including peak reflectivity and bandwidth are not degraded. Temperature dependent photoluminescence measurements show that the RTA-induced blueshift of photoluminescence consists of two components: one originating from the increase of optical transition energies and another from the reduction of carrier localization. Time-resolved photoluminescence results at room temperature provide information about the recombination dynamics of carriers directly relevant to the application of the SBR in laser mode locking. Published version

CF4 plasma-passivation enhanced size dependence of the blueshift in photoemission and photoabsorption, E2p-level shift, and band-gap expansion of porous silicon has been measured and analyzed numerically based on the recent “bond order-length-strength” correlation [C. Q. Sun, Phys. Rev. B 69, 045105 (2004)]. Matching predictions to the measurements conducted before and after fluorination reveals that fluorination further enhances both the crystal binding intensity that determines the band gap and core level shift and the electron-phonon coupling that contributes to the energies of photoemission and photoabsorption. This approach enables us to discriminate the effect of surface-bond contraction from the effect of surface-bond nature alteration on the unusual behavior of photons, phonons, and electrons in nanosolid Si.

Photoluminescence (PL) spectra of freshly etched and ambient-aged porous silicon specimens have been measured and analyzed to extract spectral contributions due to quantum confinement (QC) and non-QC effects. It is shown that all spectra can be deconvolved into five Gaussian bands with typical peak energies 1.59, 1.76, 1.84, 1.94, and 2.07 eV. Ambient aging induces ∼0.1 eV blueshift in each of the three highest energy peaks, which is attributed to QC effects. In contrast, the two lowest energy peaks remain unshifted as expected for non-QC effects. Because size of the porous silicon nanoparticles is deduced from the magnitude of blueshift, it is imperative to correctly identify the spectral components associated solely with QC. The three closely spaced Gaussian bands are summed and the resulting single Gaussian band is analyzed with the model of Islam and Kumar [J. Appl. Phys. 93, 1753 (2003)]. Results show that peak energy of the freshly etched sample is 1.86 eV with average nanoparticle size L0=3.90 nm a...

Pure and Mg doped ZnO thin films were deposited at 400 °C on glass substrates by pulsed laser deposition. An x-ray diffractometer (XRD) was used to investigate the structural properties of the thin films. It is found that all the thin films have a preferred (002) orientation. The peak position of (002) orientation is found to shift from 34.39° to 34.55°. The lattice constants of ZnO thin films were also obtained from XRD data. It is found that, with the increase of the dopant concentration, the lattice constant a decreases from 3.25 to 3.23 A, and c decreases from 5.20 to 5.16 A. From the spectrophotometer transmittance data, the band gap energies of the thin films were calculated by a linear fitting process. The band gap energy of Mg doped ZnO thin film increases with increasing dopant concentration. In photoluminescence (PL) spectra, two PL emission peaks are found in pure ZnO thin films, one is the near band edge (NBE) emission at 3.28 eV, and the other is green-yellow-red emission at around 2.4 eV. However, with the increase of the dopants, no green-yellow-red emissions are found in PL of Mg doped ZnO thin films. The NBE emission has a blueshift compared with that of pure ZnO thin film (as much as 0.12 eV). As time goes on, NBE emission in pure ZnO thin film is enhanced, and the green-yellow-red emissions disappear.

To observe the effects of polarization fields and screening, we have performed contacted electroreflectance (CER) measurements on In0.07Ga0.93N/GaN single quantum well light emitting diodes for different reverse bias voltages. Room-temperature CER spectra exhibited three features which are at lower energy than the GaN band gap and are associated with the quantum well. The position of the lowest-energy experimental peak, attributed to the ground-state quantum well transition, exhibited a limited Stark shift except at large reverse bias when a redshift in the peak energy was observed. Realistic band models of the quantum well samples were constructed using self-consistent Schrodinger–Poisson solutions, taking polarization and screening effects in the quantum well fully into account. The model predicts an initial blueshift in transition energy as reverse bias voltage is increased, due to the cancellation of the polarization electric field by the depletion region field and the associated shift due to the quantum-confined Stark effect. A redshift is predicted to occur as the applied field is further increased past the flatband voltage. While the data and the model are in reasonable agreement for voltages past the flatband voltage, they disagree for smaller values of reverse bias, when charge is stored in the quantum well, and no blueshift is observed experimentally. To eliminate the blueshift and screen the electric field, we speculate that electrons in the quantum well are trapped in localized states.

Quantum well (QW) intermixing was carried out by post-growth rapid thermal annealing in InGaAsN/GaAs QW laser structures grown by solid-source molecular-beam epitaxy. The intensity and width of the photoluminescence peak showed a dependence on annealing temperature and time, and the maximum intensity and minimum linewidth were obtained after the wafer was annealed at 670 °C for 60 s. The peak luminescence energy blueshifted with increasing annealing time, although it plateaued at an annealing time that corresponded to that yielding the maximum luminescence intensity. The diffusion coefficient for indium was determined from a comparison between experimental data and modeling, but showed that QW intermixing alone was not sufficient to account for the relatively large blueshift after annealing. Defects related to the incorporation of nitrogen in the QW layer were responsible for the low photoluminescence efficiency in the as-grown samples and were annealed out during rapid thermal annealing. During annealing...

In this article we present an alternative approach for the fabrication of silicon nanocrystals (Si–nc) prepared ex situ of the silicon dioxide (SiO2) host matrix. The Si–nc are scratched from porous silicon layers and incorporated into a host spin-on-glass SiO2 based matrix. High-resolution transmission electron microscopy and Raman spectroscopy revealed Si–nc of 2–5 nm size. These nanocrystallites exhibit visible room temperature photoluminescence (PL) with a maximum at about 700 nm. The presence of the dopant in the host matrix is shown to induce a blueshift of the PL maxima due to modified surface states of the Si–nc. This approach allows the fabrication of self-supporting samples with very high Si–nc concentrations. A bright photoluminescence at room temperature is obtained on such materials. Finally, strong indication of optical gain at room temperature is shown for samples with high Si–nc concentrations in a phosphorus doped sol gel host matrix.

Both crystal structure and energy band-structure changes caused by As+ implantation and by subsequent annealing in GaAs and in an In0.253Ga0.747As quantum well are studied. We demonstrate that the main implantation impact to the crystal structure is the creation of a large number of point defects and strong compressive strain of up to −0.1%. Raman and x-ray data demonstrate almost complete structural recovery for rapid thermal annealing temperatures⩾600 °C. While the lattice expansion becomes relaxed by annealing, the implantation-induced ionized point defects are still present up to the highest annealing temperatures applied. Under these circumstances, a 22 meV blueshift of the heavy-hole–electron (1hh–1e) transition within the quantum well and a substantial reduction of the nonequilibrium carrier lifetime remain as consequence of implantation.

We present a method which increases the versatility of molecular beam epitaxy through multiple application of a stationary shadow mask. The method is based on selected area growth in the overlap of the incidence regions of two molecular beams impinging through different apertures of the mask. The width of the overlap depends on the incidence angles of the beams which can be adjusted in situ. Size-control of CdZnSe quantum-well (QW) islands with a precision of 20 nm by varying the distance between the apertures can be obtained. Without Se beam, a minor quantity of Cd is incorporated in the matrix modulating the band-gap energy by just 5 meV. Cathodoluminescence (CL) of nanoscale QW islands shows dot-like behavior, i.e., sharp emission lines that are attributed to different excited states and a blueshift of the CL on reducing the island dimensions.

We report the optical properties of p-type SrInxTi1−xO3 (x=0.1 and 0.2) films prepared by laser molecular beam epitaxy under different oxygen pressures. The results of x-ray diffraction and near-field scanning optical microscopy indicate that the films have high crystallinity, smoothness, and uniformity. Hall measurement confirms that the films are p-type semiconductors. The optical transmittance spectra reveal that the films are highly transparent in most of the visible region. A blueshift of the absorption edge with an increase in oxygen pressure during deposition has been observed and discussed. Moreover, the first-order Raman scattering peaks of the optical phonons in these In-doped SrTiO3 films are presented, and they are Raman inactive in bulk SrTiO3 single crystal.

The influence of a thin AlAs layer (1 nm) located at different positions inside a GaAs matrix on the electronic states of nearby deposited InAs quantum dots is theoretically investigated. Calculations are performed within the three-dimensional one-band effective mass model including mass dependence on energy and position. In order to provide a realistic description of the wave function diffusion outside the dot, finite confinement barriers are considered. It is shown that the presence of the AlAs high potential barrier can account for the reported experimental blueshift when the AlAs layer is grown as a capping material, but this is not the case when the AlAs layer is grown in the substrate. An alternative explanation of the experimental data [Kim et al., J. Appl. Phys. 91, 5055 (2002)] based on our calculations is proposed.

Energy-band structures of compressively strained GaInAsP/InP quantum wires fabricated by etching and regrowth method have been calculated using an 8 band k⋅p theory including strain relaxation. The effects of strain-compensating barriers and vertically stacking multiple wire layers on band structures are investigated. It is found that due to the dependence of strain relaxation on the amount of strain compensation in barrier regions and on the number of wire layers in the vertical stack, unlike strained quantum films, the energy-band structures of strained quantum wires are dependent on these factors. Experimentally observed wire-width dependence of the large energy blueshift in vertically stacked multiple quantum-wire structures is accurately explained using our calculations without any fitting parameter. Additional broadening in the emission spectra due to vertically stacking multiple quantum wires is found to be negligible. Our results show that strain compensation in barrier layers may be used effectively as an additional parameter to optimize practical device design.

Rapid thermal annealing combined with SiO2 caps deposited on the surface of samples by different techniques is used to selectively disorder 1.3 mum GaInNAs/GaAs multiquantum wells which have been preannealed in situ to the stage of blueshift saturation. After thermal annealing under specific conditions, a shift in band gap of over 170 meV has been obtained in sputtered SiO2-capped samples, while uncapped and plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposited SiO2-capped samples demonstrated a negligible shift. Quantum well intermixing in sputtered SiO2-capped samples originates from enhanced compositional interdiffusion due to the generation of point defects by ion bombardment during the sputtering process. Secondary ion mass spectrometry has confirmed that the enhanced blueshift was caused by the interdiffusion of group III atoms (In and Ga) between the quantum wells and barriers. Detailed photoluminescence and excitation spectroscopy were performed to study the optical properties of both intermixed and nonintermixed samples. Published version

The near-ultraviolet fundamental optical absorption edge of sputter-deposited ZrO2–TiO2 nanolaminate films on SiO2 substrates was studied by transmission-reflection spectrophotometry. Seven different bilayer architectures were investigated, with nominal ZrO2 volume fractions ranging from 0.10 to 0.91 (Zr atom fractions of 0.1–0.9). The absorption coefficient, α(E), was determined as a function of the incident photon energy, E, in the 3.5–5.8 eV range (350–215 nm wavelength). α(E) vs E curves show a systematic blueshift and a change in shape with an increase in the Zr atom fraction in a bilayer. Neither amalgamation nor persistence models can adequately explain the experimental results. The reason why is that an extensive and structurally complex mixed cation interfacial structure formed even during room temperature deposition. A model that takes into account contributions to α(E) from Ti–O–Ti and Zr–O–Zr linkages far from the interfaces between constituents and Ti–O–Zr linkages at these interfaces is succ...

In situ fluorine-modified organosilicate glass (FOSG) thin films and OSG thin films were deposited at various temperatures (250–400 °C) by the plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition method. The fluorine content in the FOSG films was adjusted by varying the SiF4/trimethylsilane gas flow ratio from 0.5 to 2. Film characteristics were investigated by examining the bonding configuration, index of refraction, surface composition, hardness, leakage current density, and breakdown field strength. The absorbance spectrum of Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy shows that the frequency of the Si–O stretching vibration mode in the FOSG films is shifted to a higher wave number (blueshift) with the increase of fluorine incorporation, while that at higher temperatures is shifted to a lower wave number (redshift). Meanwhile, the refractive index increases and decreases slightly with increasing fluorine content and deposition temperature, respectively. The dielectric constant of the FOSG is slightly lower than that...

Porous silicon free-standing microcavity structures, with different layer designs, have been fabricated. Single microcavities show transmission resonances in the technologically relevant wavelength region of 1.55 μm with quality factors up to 3380. High-order cavities show sub-nm transmission peaks over the whole stop band. Coupled microcavity structures, where splitting of the degenerate cavity mode occurs, lead to multiple transmission peaks in a limited region of the stop band. We also report incident angle-dependent measurements, where transmission peak blueshift and splitting of transverse electric and transverse magnetic polarized modes due to porous silicon birefringence were observed.

In connection with some spectral anomalies of the luminescence in III–V semiconductors, we consider here the red spectral shift in partially disordered semiconductors, namely, in heavily doped GaAs and in alloys of InGaP and InGaN. The shift (of the Stokes type) between the Gaussian absorption peak and the quasi-equilibrium low-intensity luminescence peak is equal to σ2/kT, where σ2 is the dispersion of the Gaussian. As this shift is strongly temperature dependent, the temperature-induced blueshift anomaly appears in the temperature dependence of the luminescence peak position in III–V materials. The broadening parameter σ can be derived from spectral measurements. It is determined by the Coulomb-related fluctuations in heavily doped materials or by composition variations in disordered alloys (in bulk materials). In nanostructured materials additional factor of the disordering appears due to roughness of interfaces.

Cathodoluminescence (CL) studies have been carried out on a 30 nm GaN/1.5 nmIn0.28Ga0.72N/(0001) GaN single quantum well (SQW) structure in a field emission scanning electron microscope at voltages

We have investigated the intermixing effect of multilayer self-assembled InAs/GaAs quantum dots on photoluminescence (PL) spectra. Proton implantation combined with rapid thermal annealing is used to induce intermixing at the interface of InAs and GaAs. Intermixing results in a change of both the optical transition energy and the linewidth of the PL emission peaks. A blueshift up to 94.3 meV is obtained in the PL emission peaks. Our results show that proton implantation is an efficient method to tune the electronic states in self-assembled InAs/GaAs quantum dots.

We report the linear optical properties of a titanium nanoparticle composite formed by implantation of low energy Ti+ into single crystalline SiO2. A surface plasmon resonance (SPR) induced absorption band is found in the 650–850 nm wavelength range, i.e., in the visible (red) and near infrared regions, indicating the formation of Ti nanoparticles in the subsurface layer of the SiO2 matrix. The average size of the particles is ∼2.6 nm and the volume fraction is as low as 0.016. At the implantation energy of 9 keV and total dose of 3×1016 ions/cm2, the SPR absorption band becomes distinguishable only at temperatures greater than 600 °C and reaches its maximum at ∼800 °C (1/2Tm). Enhanced nucleation with nearly constant particle size with increasing temperature contributes to the increased SPR absorption intensity at temperatures ⩽800 °C. The SPR absorption intensity decreases significantly near 1000 °C (2/3Tm). A blueshift of the SPR absorption maximum with substrate temperature is also observed. The shape...

Zinc oxide nanocrystallites down to 1.5 nm in diameter were made by spray combustion of Zn/Si precursors. These crystallites exhibit a quantum size effect: blueshift of light absorption with decreasing crystallite size. X-ray diffraction, high-resolution transmission electron microscopy, and nitrogen adsorption showed that the addition of controlled amounts of silica prevented the growth and stabilized the ZnO crystals. The blue shift of the ultraviolet-vis absorption edge with decreasing ZnO crystal size closely followed a correlation between optical band gap and crystallite size from the literature. The band-gap energy of these ZnO quantum dots increased with silica content in the spray and particles consistently. The as-prepared quantum dots were stable and did not require any post processing.