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Thin-film solar cells based on Cu(In,Ga)Se2 (CIGSe) reach high power-conversion efficiencies in spite of large dislocation densities of up to 1010–1011 cm–2. The present work gives insight into the structural and compositional properties of dislocations in CIGSe thin films, which are embedded in a complete solar cell stack. These properties are related to the average electrical potential distributions obtained by means of inline electron holography. At a part of the dislocations studied, the average electrostatic potential shows local minima, all with depths of about –1.4V. The measured average electrostatic potential distributions were modeled in order to reveal possible influences from strain fields, excess charge, and also compositional changes at the dislocation core. Cu depletion around the dislocation core, as evidenced by atom-probe tomography, explains best the measured potential wells. Their influences of the strain field around the dislocation core and of excess charge at the dislocation core are small. A structural model of dislocations in CIGSe thin films is provided which includes a Cu-depleted region around the dislocation core and gives a possible explanation for why decent photovoltaic performances are possible in the presence of rather large dislocation densities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The defects and strain of GaN(0001) films as virtual substrate on Si(111) with step-graded Sc2O3(111)/Y2O3(111) buffers were investigated by means of transmission electron microscopy. The misfit dislocation network identified in the interfaces nearly fully compensates the lattice mismatch. Inversion domains and pinholes occur within the closed GaN film. The atomic structure of the inversion domain boundaries is identified. Major parts of the films were found to be N-polar. Threading dislocations were formed as remains from the coalescence of initial GaN islands. Furthermore, the formation of small cubic inclusions is found to be restricted to the vicinity of the interface only. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The final film quality of GaN on foreign substrates is known to crucially depend on the initial GaN interface and nucleation characteristics. To shed light on these characteristics of recently pioneered virtual, hexagonal GaN(0001) substrates on Si(111) via step graded Sc2O3(111)/Y2O3(111) buffers, a complex GaN(0001)/Sc2O3(111) interface structure model and the initial nucleation scenario is derived from a combined experimental (reflection high energy electron diffraction and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy) and theoretical ab initio study. It is shown that the GaN/Sc2O3 interface chemistry is determined by a N-Ga-O-Sc atomic arrangement leading to N-polar GaN films. However, the atomic GaN(0001)/Sc2O3(111) interface configuration is complex and local perturbations might be at the origin of Ga-polar inversion domains in the mainly N-polar GaN films. The initial growth of GaN on Sc2O3 is characterized by an ultrathin N-Ga-O-Sc wetting layer which carries tensile strain and relaxes with increasing thickness. Further GaN deposition results in the formation of 3D islands which fully relax before island coalescence occurs. The implications of the GaN/Sc2O3 interface configuration, the 3D nucleation growth mode, and the coalescence process of misaligned islands are discussed with respect to the defect characteristics (inversion domains, cubic inclusions, threading dislocations) of the final GaN layer. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The atomic structure of multiple buried InAs depositions with a nominal thickness below one monolayer, separated by thin GaAs spacer layers, was investigated using Cs-corrected high-resolution transmission electron microscopy. InAs composition maps were obtained with sub-nanometer resolution by local evaluation of the {200}-Fourier coefficients of the lattice images. A strong segregation behavior of the InAs depositions is found, which leads to significant intermixing with the spacer layers. The segregation coefficient R≈0.7 is found to be independent of the spacer thickness, even for thin spacers with a thickness near the segregation length of about 3 monolayers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Quantitative lattice-site determination of manganese in spatially inhomogeneous low-temperature GaN is performed by channeling enhanced microanalysis. The technique allows one to measure the substitutional-to-interstitial ratio at a spatial resolution suitable to study individual single-crystalline columns. Numerical fitting to full dynamical Bloch wave calculations yields a fraction of (95.6±6.3)% manganese incorporated on substitutional sites. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We report on a characteristic photoluminescence feature of the substitutional Mn in high quality GaMnN layers. The lattice site was identified using atom localization by channeling enhanced microanalysis with a transmission electron microscope. It shows that 96.5%±5.0% of the Mn atoms are incorporated on the substitutional Ga site. In photoluminescence a feature appears at 1.41 eV with a phonon sideband related to the GaN matrix. The temperature evolution is characteristic of an intra-atomic transition and it is assigned to the internal transition 5E→5T2 of the Mn3+ ion. The assignment is supported by absorption experiments. The persistence of the clear PL signal up to about 1% Mn concentration is proposed to be a fingerprint of high quality diluted GaMnN. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Stranski-Krastanov (SK) growth of In0.5Ga0.5Sb quantum dots (QDs) on GaP(001) by metalorganic vapor phase epitaxy is demonstrated. A thin GaAs interlayer prior to QD deposition enables QD nucleation. The impact of a short Sb-flush before supplying InGaSb is investigated. QD growth gets partially suppressed for GaAs interlayer thicknesses below 6 monolayers. QD densities vary from 5 × 109 to 2 × 1011 cm-2 depending on material deposition and Sb-flush time. When In0.5Ga0.5Sb growth is carried out without Sb-flush, the QD density is generally decreased, and up to 60% larger QDs are obtained. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We report the growth of thin ScN layers deposited by plasma-assisted molecular beam epitaxy on Sc2O3/Y2O3/Si(111) substrates. Using x-ray diffraction, Raman spectroscopy, and transmission electron microscopy, we find that ScN films grown at 600 °C are single crystalline, twin-free with rock-salt crystal structure, and exhibit a direct optical band gap of 2.2 eV. A high degree of crystalline perfection and a very good lattice matching between ScN and GaN (misfit<0.1%) makes the ScN/Sc2O3/Y2O3 buffer system a very promising template for the growth of high quality GaN layers on silicon. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

While electron holography in the transmission electron microscope offers the possibility to measure maps of the electrostatic potential of semiconductors down to nanometer dimensions, these measurements are known to underestimate the absolute value of the potential, especially in GaN. We have varied the dose rates of electron irradiation over several orders of magnitude and observed strong variations of the holographically detected voltages. Overall, the results indicate that the electron beam generates electrical currents within the specimens primarily by the photovoltaic effect and due to secondary electron emission. These currents have to be considered for a quantitative interpretation of electron holographic measurements, as their negligence contributes to large parts in the observed discrepancy between the measured and expected potential values in GaN. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We present a study of self-assembled In0.5Ga0.5As quantum dots on GaP(001) surfaces linking growth parameters with structural, optical, and electronic properties. Quantum dot densities from 5.0 × 107 cm-2 to 1.5 × 1011 cm-2 are achieved. A ripening process during a growth interruption after In0.5Ga0.5As deposition is used to vary the quantum dot size. The main focus of this work lies on the nature of optical transitions which can be switched from low-efficient indirect to high-efficient direct ones through improved strain relief of the quantum dots by different cap layers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this letter we report results of the investigation of Nd60Fe30Al10 thin films prepared by electron-beam evaporation and studied by analytical transmission electron microscopy, x-ray diffraction, and magnetometry. Structural and magnetic characterizations show the existence of an amorphous matrix, which embeds a second glassy phase. The observed microstructure confirms the tendency of the Nd60Fe30Al10 system to show phase separation and to form an intrinsic composite as previously reported for slow-cooled bulk samples of the same composition. The magnetic properties of the thin films prepared with high cooling rate are discussed, taking into account magnetic pinning effects of the main magnetic phase. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The multi-layer multi-configurational time-dependent Hartree (MCTDH) approach is an efficient method to study quantum dynamics in real and imaginary time. The present work explores its potential to describe quantum fluids. The multi-layer MCTDH approach in second quantization representation is used to study lattice models beyond one dimension at finite temperatures. A scheme to map the lattice sites onto the MCTDH tree representation for multi-dimensional lattice models is proposed. A statistical sampling scheme previously used in MCTDH calculations is adapted to facilitate an efficient description of the thermal ensemble. As example, a two-dimensional hard-core Bose-Hubbard model is studied considering up to 64 × 64 lattice sites. The single particle function basis set size required to obtain converged results is found to not increase with the lattice size. The numerical results properly simulate the finite temperature Berezinskii-Kosterlitz-Thouless phase transition., (© 2024 Author(s). Published under an exclusive license by AIP Publishing.)