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Conjugated coordination polymers (c‐CPs) are unique organic–inorganic hybrid semiconductors with intrinsically high electrical conductivity and excellent charge carrier mobility. However, it remains a challenge in tailoring electronic structures, due to the lack of clear guidelines. Here, we develop a strategy wherein controlling the redox state of hydroquinone/benzoquinone (HQ/BQ) ligands allows for the modulation of the electronic structure of c‐CPs while maintaining the structural topology. The redox‐state control is achieved by reacting the ligand TTHQ (TTHQ=1,2,4,5‐tetrathiolhydroquinone) with silver acetate and silver nitrate, yielding Ag4TTHQ and Ag4TTBQ (TTBQ=1,2,4,5‐tetrathiolbenzoquinone), respectively. In spite of sharing the same topology consisting of a two‐dimensional Ag−S network and HQ/BQ layer, they exhibit different band gaps (1.5 eV for Ag4TTHQ and 0.5 eV for Ag4TTBQ) and conductivities (0.4 S/cm for Ag4TTHQ and 10 S/cm for Ag4TTBQ). DFT calculations reveal that these differences arise from the ligand oxidation state inhibiting energy band formation near the Fermi level in Ag4TTHQ. Consequently, Ag4TTHQ displays a high Seebeck coefficient of 330 μV/K and a power factor of 10 μW/m ⋅ K2, surpassing Ag4TTBQ and the other reported silver‐based c‐CPs. Furthermore, terahertz spectroscopy demonstrates high charge mobilities exceeding 130 cm2/V ⋅ s in both Ag4TTHQ and Ag4TTBQ. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Nowadays ferromagnetism is often found in potential diluted magnetic semiconductor systems. However, many authors argue that the observed ferromagnetism stems from ferromagnetic precipitates or spinodal decomposition rather than from carrier-mediated magnetic impurities, as required for a diluted magnetic semiconductor. In the present article, we answer this question for Fe-implanted ZnO single crystals comprehensively. Different implantation fluences, temperatures, and post-implantation annealing temperatures have been chosen in order to evaluate the structural and magnetic properties over a wide range of parameters. Three different regimes with respect to Fe concentration and process temperature are found: (1) Disperse Fe2+ and Fe3+ at low Fe concentrations and low processing temperatures, (2) FeZn2O4 at very high processing temperatures, and (3) an intermediate regime with a coexistence of metallic Fe (Fe0) and ionic Fe (Fe2+ and Fe3+). Ferromagnetism is only observed in the latter two cases, where inverted spinel ZnFe2O4 and α-Fe nanocrystals are the origin of the observed ferromagnetic behavior, respectively. The ionic Fe in the last case could contribute to a carrier-mediated coupling. However, the separation between Fe ions is too large to couple ferromagnetically due to the lack of p-type carrier. For comparison, investigations of Fe-implanted epitaxial ZnO thin films are presented. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We report the structural and magnetic properties of ZnO single crystals implanted at 623 K with up to 10 at. % of Ni. As revealed by x-ray diffraction, crystalline fcc-Ni nanoparticles were formed inside ZnO. The magnetic behavior (magnetization with field reversal and with different temperature protocols) of all samples is well explained by a magnetic Ni-nanoparticle system. Although the formation of Ni:ZnO based diluted magnetic semiconductor cannot be ruled out, the major contribution to the magnetic properties stems from crystalline nanoparticles synthesized under these implantation conditions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Making semiconductors ferromagnetic has been a long dream. One approach is to dope semiconductors with transition metals (TM). TM ions act as local moments and they couple with free carriers to develop collective magnetism. However, there are no fundamental reasons against the possibility of local moment formation from localized sp states. Recently, ferromagnetism was observed in nonmagnetically doped, but defective semiconductors or insulators including ZnO and TiO2. This kind of observation challenges the conventional understanding of ferromagnetism. Often the defect-induced ferromagnetism has been observed in samples prepared under non-optimized condition, i.e. by accident or by mistake. Therefore, in this field theory goes much ahead of experimental investigation. To understand the mechanism of the defect-induced ferromagnetism, one needs a better controlled method to create defects in the crystalline materials. As a nonequilibrium and reproducible approach of inducing defects, ion irradiation provides such a possibility. Energetic ions displace atoms from their equilibrium lattice sites, thus creating mainly vacancies, interstitials or antisites. The amount and the distribution of defects can be controlled by the ion fluence and energy. By ion irradiation, we have generated defect-induced ferromagnetism in ZnO, TiO2 and SiC. In this short review, we also summarize some results by other groups using energetic ions to introduce defects, and thereby magnetism in various materials. Ion irradiation combined with proper characterizations of defects could allow us to clarify the local magnetic moments and the coupling mechanism in defective semiconductors. Otherwise we may have to build a new paradigm to understand the defect-induced ferromagnetism. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: High-quality AlInGaN quaternary layers were grown on c-Al2O3 using a thick GaN template. A full width at half maximum of 0.075° from AlInGaN(0004) rocking curve and a minimum yield of 5.6% from Rutherford backscattering/channelling spectrometry (RBS) prove the AlInGaN layer of a comparable crystalline quality with GaN layers. The chemical compositions (both of Al and In contents) of AlInGaN layers are directly obtained from RBS and elastic recoil detection analysis. The lattice parameters both in perpendicular and parallel directions are deduced from X-ray diffraction. The AlInGaN layer is found to process a compressive strain in parallel direction and a tensile strain in perpendicular direction. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: We report on structural characterization of AlGaN/GaN superlattices grown on sapphire. The superlattice formation is evidenced by high-resolution x-ray diffraction and transmission electron microscopy. The high resolution x-ray diffraction spectra exhibit a pattern of satellite peaks. The in-plane lattice constants of the superlattices indicate the coherent growth of the AlGaN layer onto GaN. The average Al composition in the superlattices is determined to be 0.08 by Rutherford backscattering spectroscopy. The average parallel and perpendicular elastic strains for the SLs are determined to be and . [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Taking Mn doped Germanium as an example, we evoke the consideration of a two-band-like conduction in diluted ferromagnetic semiconductor (FMS). The main argument for claiming Ge:Mn as a FMS is the occurrence of the anomalous Hall effect (AHE). Usually, the reported AHE (1) is observable at temperatures above 10 K, (2) exhibits no hysteresis, and (3) changes the sign of slope. We observed a similar Hall resistance in Mn implanted Ge with the Mn concentration as low as 0.004%. We show that the puzzling AHE features can be explained by considering a two-band-like conduction in Ge:Mn. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Unwanted secondary phases are one of the major problems in diluted magnetic semiconductor creation. Here, the authors show possibilities to avoid such phases in Fe implanted and postannealed ZnO(0001) single crystals. While α-Fe nanoparticles are formed after such doping in as-polished crystals, high temperature (1273 K) annealing in O2 or high vacuum before implantation suppresses these phases. Thus, the residual saturation magnetization in the preannealed ZnO single crystals is about 20 times lower than for the as-polished ones and assigned to indirect coupling between isolated Fe ions rather than to clusters. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

P‐type hyperdoped germanium (Ge) has attracted significant attention for the development of superconducting semiconductors. However, the limited solid solubility of acceptors, especially boron (B), in Ge makes hyperdoping challenging. Herein, a systematic study on the electrical properties of boron‐implanted germanium is presented with an atomic concentration beyond 10 at%. The B‐implanted Ge was annealed by millisecond flash lamp annealing (ms‐FLA) with different parameters. The results indicate that millisecond solid phase epitaxy ensures the electrical activation of B much above the solubility limit with hole concentration as high as 2 × 1021 cm−3 and low‐temperature sheet resistance of 13 Ω sq−1 which is promising for superconductivity. It is also shown that millisecond annealing effectively suppresses the B diffusion and provides much higher activation efficiency of acceptors compared to conventional annealing methods. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Review: 183 refs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Review: 56 refs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The clear understanding of exchange interactions between magnetic ions in substituted BiFeO3 is the prerequisite for the comprehensive studies on magnetic properties. BiFe0.5Mn0.5O3 films and BiFeO3/BiMnO3 superlattices have been fabricated by pulsed laser deposition on (001) SrTiO3 substrates. Using piezoresponse force microscopy (PFM), the ferroelectricity at room temperature has been inferred from the observation of PFM hysteresis loops and electrical writing of ferroelectric domains for both samples. Spin glass behavior has been observed in both samples by temperature dependent magnetization curves and decay of thermo-remnant magnetization with time. The magnetic ordering has been studied by X-ray magnetic circular dichroism measurements, and Fe-O-Mn interaction has been confirmed to be antiferromagnetic (AF). The observed spin glass in BiFe0.5Mn0.5O3 films has been attributed to cluster spin glass due to Mn-rich ferromagnetic (FM) clusters in AF matrix, while spin glass in BiFeO3/BiMnO3 superlattices is due to competition between AF Fe-O-Fe, AF Fe-O-Mn and FM Mn-O-Mn interactions in the well ordered square lattice with two Fe ions in BiFeO3 layer and two Mn ions in BiMnO3 layer at interfaces. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

One of the solutions enabling performance progress, which can overcome the downsizing limit in silicon technology, is the integration of different functional optoelectronic devices within a single chip. Silicon with its indirect band gap has poor optical properties, which is its main drawback. Therefore, a different material has to be used for the on-chip optical interconnections, e.g. a direct band gap III–V compound semiconductor material. In the paper we present the synthesis of single crystalline InP nanodots (NDs) on silicon using combined ion implantation and millisecond flash lamp annealing techniques. The optical and microstructural investigations reveal the growth of high-quality (100)-oriented InP nanocrystals. The current–voltage measurements confirm the formation of an n–p heterojunction between the InP NDs and silicon. The main advantage of our method is its integration with large-scale silicon technology, which allows applying it for Si-based optoelectronic devices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we perform a comparison of magnetic and electrical properties between Mn-doped and (Mn, Zn) co-doped GaP dilute ferromagnetic semiconductors. Due to the shallow Zn impurity level (∼20–40 meV above the top of the III-V compounds valence band), the Zn co-doping leads to the increase of conductivity of (Ga,Mn)P, however both the Curie temperature and magnetization reduce, which is probably due to the suppression of active Mn substitution by Zn co-doping. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]