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International audience; A comparison between dewetting properties of amorphous Ge and GeMn layers on SiO2, followed by a detailed study of magnetic and structural properties of GeMn nanocrystals (NCs), is done by means of several characterization techniques. The formation of three-dimensional Ge and GeMn NCs by solid-state dewetting process was evidenced by transmission electron microscopy. Studying the dewetting morphologies revealed a weak dependence on the Mn content. We show that the size of the dewetted NCs is proportional to the initial film thickness. SQUID measurements of GeMn NCs show the ferromagnetic behavior of Mn5Ge3 phase with Curie temperature at 300 K. Raman spectroscopy was performed for GeMn self-assembled NCs in order to investigate the effects of Mn-doping and the nature of the capping layer on the strain level.

III-N materials have made a significant gain in component performance for power electronics applications. The major potential of GaN for these applications lies in its large breakdown field resulting from its wide bandgap, high polarization field and high electronic saturation velocity. AlGaN/GaN heterostructures have been, until recently, the system of choice for power electronics. The limits are known and alternatives are studied to overcome them. Thus, lattice matched InAlN/GaN heterostructures have attracted a great deal of research interest, especially for high frequency power electronic applications. The aim in this work of thesis consists in developing and in characterizing High Electron Mobility Transistors (HEMTs) to establish correlations between structural, electrical defects and technologic processes. A study will therefore be conducted on the characterization of AlGaN/GaN components to enhance the parameters of growth susceptible to have a notable impact on the structural and electrical quality of the structure, in particular on the electrical isolation of the buffer layers and the transport properties. For InAlN/GaN HEMTs, the objective is to evaluate the quality of the barrier layer. For this, a study of the influence of the thickness as well as the composition of the barrier will be conducted. The combination of these studies will allow identifying the optimum structure. Then, the analysis of Schottky contacts by measurements of current and capacity at different temperatures will allow us to identify the several conduction modes through the barrier. Finally, the effects of traps which constitute one of the fundamental limits inherent to the studied materials will be characterized by various defects spectroscopy methods.; Les matériaux III-N ont apporté un gain considérable au niveau des performances des composants pour les applications en électronique de puissance. Les potentialités majeures du GaN pour ces applications résident dans son grand champ de claquage qui résulte de sa large bande interdite, son champ de polarisation élevé et sa vitesse de saturation importante. Les hétérostructures AlGaN/GaN ont été jusqu’à maintenant le système de choix pour l’électronique de puissance. Les limites sont connues et des alternatives sont étudiées pour les surmonter. Ainsi, les hétérostructures InAlN/GaN en accord de maille ont suscité beaucoup d’intérêts, notamment pour des applications en électronique de puissance à haute fréquence. L’enjeu de ce travail de thèse consiste à élaborer et caractériser des hétérostructures HEMTs (High Electron Mobility Transistors) afin d’établir des corrélations entre défauts structuraux, électriques et procédés de fabrication. Une étude sera donc menée sur la caractérisation de composants AlGaN/GaN afin de cerner les paramètres de croissance susceptibles d’avoir un impact notable sur la qualité structurale et électrique de la structure, notamment sur l’isolation électrique des couches tampons et le transport des porteurs dans le canal. En ce qui concerne les HEMTs InAlN/GaN, l’objectif est d’évaluer la qualité de la couche barrière. Pour cela, une étude de l’influence des épaisseurs ainsi que la composition de la barrière sera menée. La combinaison de ces études permettra d’identifier la structure optimale. Ensuite, l’analyse des contacts Schottky par des mesures de courant et de capacité à différentes températures nous permettra d’identifier les différents modes de conduction à travers la barrière. Enfin, les effets de pièges qui constituent l’une des limites fondamentales inhérentes aux matériaux étudiés seront caractérisés par différentes méthodes de spectroscopie de défauts.

III-N materials have made a significant gain in component performance for power electronics applications. The major potential of GaN for these applications lies in its large breakdown field resulting from its wide bandgap, high polarization field and high electronic saturation velocity. AlGaN/GaN heterostructures have been, until recently, the system of choice for power electronics. The limits are known and alternatives are studied to overcome them. Thus, lattice matched InAlN/GaN heterostructures have attracted a great deal of research interest, especially for high frequency power electronic applications. The aim in this work of thesis consists in developing and in characterizing High Electron Mobility Transistors (HEMTs) to establish correlations between structural, electrical defects and technologic processes. A study will therefore be conducted on the characterization of AlGaN/GaN components to enhance the parameters of growth susceptible to have a notable impact on the structural and electrical quality of the structure, in particular on the electrical isolation of the buffer layers and the transport properties. For InAlN/GaN HEMTs, the objective is to evaluate the quality of the barrier layer. For this, a study of the influence of the thickness as well as the composition of the barrier will be conducted. The combination of these studies will allow identifying the optimum structure. Then, the analysis of Schottky contacts by measurements of current and capacity at different temperatures will allow us to identify the several conduction modes through the barrier. Finally, the effects of traps which constitute one of the fundamental limits inherent to the studied materials will be characterized by various defects spectroscopy methods.; Les matériaux III-N ont apporté un gain considérable au niveau des performances des composants pour les applications en électronique de puissance. Les potentialités majeures du GaN pour ces applications résident dans son grand champ de claquage qui résulte de sa large bande interdite, son champ de polarisation élevé et sa vitesse de saturation importante. Les hétérostructures AlGaN/GaN ont été jusqu’à maintenant le système de choix pour l’électronique de puissance. Les limites sont connues et des alternatives sont étudiées pour les surmonter. Ainsi, les hétérostructures InAlN/GaN en accord de maille ont suscité beaucoup d’intérêts, notamment pour des applications en électronique de puissance à haute fréquence. L’enjeu de ce travail de thèse consiste à élaborer et caractériser des hétérostructures HEMTs (High Electron Mobility Transistors) afin d’établir des corrélations entre défauts structuraux, électriques et procédés de fabrication. Une étude sera donc menée sur la caractérisation de composants AlGaN/GaN afin de cerner les paramètres de croissance susceptibles d’avoir un impact notable sur la qualité structurale et électrique de la structure, notamment sur l’isolation électrique des couches tampons et le transport des porteurs dans le canal. En ce qui concerne les HEMTs InAlN/GaN, l’objectif est d’évaluer la qualité de la couche barrière. Pour cela, une étude de l’influence des épaisseurs ainsi que la composition de la barrière sera menée. La combinaison de ces études permettra d’identifier la structure optimale. Ensuite, l’analyse des contacts Schottky par des mesures de courant et de capacité à différentes températures nous permettra d’identifier les différents modes de conduction à travers la barrière. Enfin, les effets de pièges qui constituent l’une des limites fondamentales inhérentes aux matériaux étudiés seront caractérisés par différentes méthodes de spectroscopie de défauts.

In this work, BxGa1−xAs/GaAs epilayers with three different boron compositions were elaborated by Metal Organic Chemical Vapor Deposition (MOCVD) on GaAs (001) substrate. The boron fraction has been estimated using High resolution X-ray diffraction (HRXRD) spectroscopy. Using the photoluminescence PL spectroscopy, the emission energy as well as the PL intensity was carried out as functions of temperature in the range 10–300 K. The temperature dependence of the PL peak energy has shown an S-shaped behavior. It is a result of the competition process between localized and delocalized states induced by the boron clusters. We have shown that the localization effects increase by increasing boron composition and then drops for high compositions (up to 8%). Qualitative and quantitative interpretations based on the Localized States Exciton (LSE) parameters evolution in order to explain the unusual photoluminescence behavior of the two luminescence keys. At high temperatures, the model can be approximated to the band-tail-state emission. The LSE model succeeds in accurately reproducing of the atypical PL peak emission and normalized intensity of BGaAs/GaAs epilayers.

International audience; In recent years, data centers have witnessed an exponential growth for hosting hundreds of thousands of servers as well as to accommodating a very large demand for resources. To fulfill the required level of demand, some approaches tackled network aspects so to host a huge number of servers while others focused on delivering rapid services to the clients by minimizing the path length between any two servers. In general, network devices are often designed to achieve 1:1 oversubscription. Alternatively, in a realistic data center environment, the average utilization of a network could vary between 5% and 25%, and thus the energy consumed by idle devices is wasted. This paper proposes a new parameterizable data center topology, called PTNet. PTNet offers a gradual scalability that interconnects small to large networks covering different ranges of sizes. This new interconnection network provides also a small path length between any two servers even in large sized data centers. PTNet does not only reduce path length and latency, it also uses a power-aware routing algorithm which saves up to 40% of energy with an acceptable computation time. In comparison to existing solutions (e.g. Flatnet, BCube, DCell and Fat-tree), PTNet shows substantial improvements in terms of capacity, robustness, cost-effectiveness and power efficiency: this improvement reaches up to 50% in some cases. (C) 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

In this paper, single quantum well (SQW) structure of BxInyGa1-x-yAs/GaAs lattice-matched to GaAs has been grown by metal organic vapor phase epitaxy (MOVPE). The sample was characterized morphologically and structurally using the atomic force microscopy AFM, transmission electron microscopy TEM and high resolution X-ray diffraction HRXRD measurements. The optical study was investigated by photoluminescence (PL) spectroscopy as a function of temperature. The PL peak energy, the full width at half maximum (FWHM) and the PL intensity, versus temperature, exhibit anomalous behaviors such as S-shaped and N-shaped. They were attributed to the creation of a fluctuation potential in the band edge of the host material from the non-uniform distribution of boron atoms in the structure induced exciton localization. We investigate the localization phenomenon by excitation density variation. Then, a quasi-steady state rate-equation model for temperature dependent luminescence spectra of localized-state material system (LSE) was presented to quantitatively reinterpret the band gap emission process. The novel analytical models, compared with the classical ones, were used to fit the PL peak energy evolution. Good agreement between experimental and theoretical results has been observed using the modified Passler model. Modeling results will be discussed based on specified parameters. These results can improve the fundamental properties of quaternary based on light-emitting and optoelectronic devices.

Optical and thermal properties of BGaAs/GaAs alloys grown by metal organic chemical vapor deposition (MOCVD) have been studied using both photothermal deflection spectroscopy (PDS) and photoluminescence spectroscopy (PL). It is found that gap energy decrease when increasing the boron composition. Then, the difference between the measured values of gap energies from PDS and PL is linked to the band tails above the conduction band formed by boron clustering in this structure. Indeed, a decrease in thermal conductivity with increasing the boron composition have been also shown and discussed.

In this work, BxGa1-xAs/GaAs epilayers with three different boron compositions were elaborated by metal organic chemical vapor deposition (MOCVD) on GaAs (001) substrate. Structural study using High resolution X-ray diffraction (HRXRD) spectroscopy and Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM) have been used to estimate the boron fraction. The luminescence keys were carried out as functions of temperature in the range 10–300 K, by the techniques of photoluminescence (PL). The low PL temperature has shown an abnormal emission appeared at low energy side witch attributed to the recombination through the deep levels. In all samples, the PL peak energy and the full width at half maximum (FWHM), present an anomalous behavior as a result of the competition process between localized and delocalized carriers. We propose the Localized-state Ensemble model to explain the unusual photoluminescence behaviors. Electrical carriers generation, thermal escape, recapture, radiative and non-radiative lifetime are taken into account. The temperature-dependent photoluminescence measurements were found to be in reasonable agreement with the model of localized states. We controlled the evolution of such parameters versus composition by varying the V/III ratio to have a quantitative and qualitative understanding of the recombination mechanisms. At high temperature, the model can be approximated to the band-tail-state emission.

We report on the impact of phosphorous ion-implantation-induced band gap tuning on the temperature dependent photoluminescence (PL) properties of InAs/InP quantum dashes (QDas). The high temperature range carriers' activation energy, extracted from Arrhenius plots, is found to decrease from 238 to 42 meV when the ion implantation dose increases from 10(11) cm(-2) to 5 x 10(14) cm(-2) which is consistent with the observed emission energy blueshift increase with increasing the ion implantation doses. This effect is attributed to the As/P exchange which reduces the carrier confining potential depth. For intermediate ion implantation doses the reduced carrier confining potential barrier combined with the non-uniform intermixing process, that causes an increased QDas size dispersion, result in anomalous temperature-dependent PL properties. Indeed, the temperature induced PL emission energy redshift measured between 10 K and 300 K is found to be strongly affected by the carrier redistribution within the broadened localized QDas states.

Deep level transient spectroscopy (DLTS) technique at low temperature has been performed to study the electrical properties of the In0.52Al0.48As epilayer lattice matched with InP(0 0 1). A new level, labelled N, has been detected at a temperature of about 36 K with an activation energy of about 20 meV. Photoluminescence (PL) studies together with numerical calculations based on the resolution of the Schrodinger equation have led us the proposition that the N signal is related to localized states due to compositional fluctuations in In0.52Al0.48As epilayer.

68.37.Lp, 78.55.Cr, 78.67.Hc, 78.67.Pt, 79.40.+z InAs/GaAs vertically stacked self-assembled quantum dot (QD) structures with different GaAs spacer layer thicknesses are grown by solid source molecular beam epitaxy (SSMBE) and investigated by trans-mission electron microscopy (TEM) and photoluminescence (PL) spectroscopy. An increase in the polari-zation anisotropy is observed when the spacer layer thickness decreases. For a 10 monolayer (ML) thick inter-dots GaAs spacer, the TEM image shows an increase in the QD size when moving to the upper layer accompanied by the generation of dislocations. Consequently, the corresponding temperature-dependant PL properties are found to exhibit an unusual behaviour. The main PL peak is quenched at a temperature around 190 K giving rise to a broad background correlated with the formation of a miniband in the growth direction due to the strong interlayer coupling. For a thicker GaAs spacer layer (30 ML), multilayer QDs align vertically in stacks with no apparent structural defects. Over the whole temperature range, the exci-tonic band energies are governed by the Varshni empirical relation using InAs bulk parameters and the PL line width shows a slight monotonic increase. For a thinner GaAs interlayer, the thermal activation ener-gies of the carrier emission out of the quantum dots are found to be considerably small (about 25 meV) due to the existence of defects. By combining these structural and optical results, we can conclude that a thinner GaAs spacer has a poorer quality.

July 7-11, 2014; International audience; no abstract

The absorption and emission polarization properties of InAs quantum rods embedded in InP nanowires (NWs) are investigated by mean of (micro-)photoluminescence spectroscopy. It is shown that the degree of linear polarization of emission (0.94) and absorption (0.5) of a single NW can be explained by the photonic nature of the NW structure. Knowing these parameters, optical properties of single NWs and ordered ensembles of these NWs can be correlated one to another via proposed model, so that polarization properties of NWs can be studied using ordered ensembles on as-grown samples. As an example, the polarization anisotropy is investigated as a function of the excitation wavelength on a NW ensemble and found to be in agreement with theoretical prediction.

Optical and thermal properties of metal organic chemical vapor deposition (MOCVD) grown BGaAs/GaAs alloys with boron composition of 3% and 8% are investigated by photothermal deflection spectroscopy (PDS). The band gap energy, absorption spectrum and thermal conductivities are evaluated by comparing the experimental and the theoretical PDS signals amplitude and phase. The boron effects in these parameters have been shown. In fact, it was found that gap energy and thermal conductivity of BGaAs/GaAs alloys with 3% of boron are respectivelly 1376 mev and 4.7 W/m K, these values decrease to 1360 mev and 3.5 W/m K for 8% of boron composition.

With the help of photoluminescence Spectroscopy (PLS), we have investigated the optoelectronic properties of two different families of InAs quantum dashes (QDashes) grown on misoriented InP(001) substrate with 2[Formula: see text]off miscut angle toward the [110] direction (2[Formula: see text]F type). The lowest full width at half maximum (FWHM) of the PL spectrum measured at 12 K indicates the good self organization of InAs QDashes. The weak ratio of the integrated PL measured in 12–300 K temperature range denotes the good spatial confinement of the photogenerated carriers in InAs QDashes. The fast redshift of the PL peaks energy and the anomalous decrease of the FWHM with the increase of the temperature are attributed to an efficient thermal relaxation process of photogenerated carriers in the vicinal sample. This result is highlighted with the help of theoretical modeling of the PL peak energy as a function of the temperature, using three models (Varshni, “Vina, Logothetidis and Cardona” and Pässler). From experimental and theoretical results, we have evidenced the contribution of longitudinal acoustic-phonons (LA-phonons) in the PL of InAs/InP QDashes, via the deformation potential, especially in high temperatures range. We have attributed this behavior to the strained InAs/InP QDashes and/or to the topography of the vicinal InP(001) substrate which favors the presence of stepped phonons polarized along the steps. These vibrational modes can further interact with the excitons at high temperatures. The measured thermal activation energies of each family of InAs QDashes demonstrate that the InAs wetting layer act as a barrier for the thermoionic emission of photogenerated carriers. This result confirms the good spatial confinement of excitons in this sample.

Wurtzite InP nanowires (NWs), transferred onto various substrates, were investigated by low temperature micro-photoluminescence. A clear PL emission shift, depending on the substrate, is observed and attributed to the substrate-induced strain, generated due to the difference in the thermal expansion coefficients of the InP NWs and the host-substrate during the sample cooling. Moreover, a blueshift of the PL emission peak is observed as the excitation power is increased. This effect, which is not observed on the as-grown sample, is thus a consequence of the host substrate and not an intrinsic property of the nanowires.

InP nanowires (NWs) with an InAs insertion were grown on (001)- and (111)-oriented silicon substrates by catalyst assisted molecular beam epitaxy. To prevent the crystallization of the catalyst droplet we propose a procedure based on the realization of the switching of the elements V flux during a growth interruption. With this procedure and with the growth conditions we have used, the crystal structure of the NWs is purely wurtzite without any stacking faults. With these growth conditions, both radial and axial growths occur simultaneously and we show that the growth time of the InAs insertion could be adjusted to obtain radial quantum well emitting in the 1.3–1.6 μm telecom band at room temperature.

InP nanowires grown on silicon substrate are investigated using time-resolved spectroscopy. A strong modification of the exciton lifetime is observed (from 0.11 to 1.2 ns) when the growth temperature is increased from 340 °C to 460 °C. This strong dependence is not related to the density of zinc-blende insertions in the wurtzite nanowires or to the wurtzite exciton linewidth. The excitation power dependence of the lifetime and linewidth is investigated, and these results allow us to interpret the growth temperature dependence on the lifetime as a consequence of the reduction of the surface recombination velocity with the growth temperature.

International audience; Optical properties of wurtzite InP/InAs/InP core–shell nanowires grown on silicon substrates by solid source molecular beam epitaxy are studied by means of photoluminescence and microphotoluminescence. The growth conditions were optimized to obtain purely wurtzite radial quantum wells emitting in the telecom bands with a radiative lifetime in the 5–7 ns range at 14 K. Optical studies on single nanowires reveal that the polarization is mainly parallel to the growth direction. A 20-fold reduction of the photoluminescence intensity is observed between 14 and 300 K confirming the very good quality of the nanowires.

Capacitance–voltage and deep level transient spectroscopy were used to study the capture characteristics of self-assembled InAs/InAlAs quantum dots grown on the InP substrate. It is found that the number of electrons captured by quantum dots can be controlled by varying the width of applied pulse voltage in the DLTS measurements. The Coulomb charging energy and the time of capture can be deduced from the filling time dependent deep level transient spectra.

This work reports on InAs/GaAs quantum dots (QDs) intermixing, induced by phosphorous ion implantation and subsequent rapid thermal annealing. The implantation process was carried out at room temperature at various doses ( 5 × 10 10 – 10 14 ions / cm 2 ), where the ions were accelerated at 50 keV. To promote the atomic intermixing, implanted samples are subjected to rapid thermal annealing at 675 °C for 30 s. Low temperature photoluminescence (PL) measurements are carried out to investigate the influence of the interdiffusion process on the optical and electronic properties of the QDs. PL emission energy; linewidth and integrated intensity are found to exhibit a drastic dependence on the ion implantation doses. The band gap tuning limit has been achieved for an implantation dose of 5 × 10 13 ions / cm 2 . However, our measurement reveals that the accumulated defects for implantation doses higher than 10 12 ions / cm 2 drive the system towards the degradation of the QDs structure's quality.

Vertically stacked multilayers of self-organized InAs/GaAs quantum dots (QDs) structures with different GaAs intermediate layer thicknesses varying between 2.8 and 17 nm are grown by solid source molecular beam epitaxy (SSMBE) and investigated by photoluminescence spectroscopy (PL). For 17 nm thick GaAs spacer, the PL spectra show two well separated features attributed to the formation of two QDs family with a bimodal size distribution indicating no correlation between the dots in different layers. In the meanwhile, the structures having thinner spacer thickness demonstrate single PL peaks showing an enhancement of high energy side asymmetrical broadening when increasing the excitation power. The corresponding emission energies exhibit a red shift when the spacer layer thickness decreases and correlated with the enhancement of the vertical electronic coupling as well as the rise of the QD's size in the upper layers induced by the build up of the strain field along the columns. The spacer thickness of 8.5 nm is found to yield the best optical properties.

Spring Conference of the E-MRS/IUMRS/ICEM, STRASBOURG, FRANCE, MAY 30-JUN 02, 2000; We have investigated the electron density of the delta -doped conventional AlGaAs/GaAs and pseudomorphic AlGaAs/InGaAs/GaAs heterojunctions. Shubnikov-de Hass (SdH) and quantum Hall effect measurements at 4.2 K have been carried out to investigate the existence of a quasi-two-dimensional gas (2DEG) in delta Si-doped AlGaAs/GaAs heterostructure. Cases have been also examined where the g-doping is placed in a narrow quantum well within the AlGaAs barrier with an Al concentration in the well (x(Al)(well)) less than in the barrier (x(Al)(Barr)). This is intended to increase the electron density. Secondary-ion mass spectroscopy (SIMS) measurements were also performed on one of these structures in order to demonstrate the spreading of the dopants. To improve the electron density, we have combined in only one structure the delta Si, in a narrow quantum well, and the InGaAs layer introduced at the heterointerface between the AlGaAs and the GaAs. A comparison between the theoretical and experimental results was performed. The variation trends of calculated electron density are in good agreement with the experimental ones. (C) 2001 Published by Elsevier Science B.V.

We report on the effects of the As/P intermixing induced by phosphorus ion implantation in InAs/InP quantum dashes (QDas) on their photoluminescence (PL) properties. For nonintermixed QDas, usual temperature-dependent PL properties characterized by a monotonic redshift in the emission band and a continual broadening of the PL linewidth as the temperature increases, are observed. For intermediate ion implantation doses, the inhomogeneous intermixing enhances the QDas size dispersion and the enlarged distribution of carrier confining potential depths strongly affects the temperature-dependent PL properties below 180 K. An important redshift in the PL emission band occurs between 10 and 180 K which is explained by a redistribution of carriers among the different intermixed QDas of the ensemble. For higher implantation doses, the homogeneous intermixing reduces the broadening of the localized QDas state distribution and the measured linewidth temperature behavior matches that of the nonintermixed QDas. An anomalous temperature-dependent emission energy behavior has been observed for extremely high implantation doses, which is interpreted by a possible QDas dissolution.

In this work, low-temperature photoluminescence (PL) and photoluminescence excitation (PLE) experiments have been carried out to investigate the optical and electronic properties of InAs/GaAs quantum dots (QDs) subjected to room-temperature proton implantation at various doses (5 × 10 10 –10 14 ions cm −2 ) and subsequent thermal annealing. The energy shift of the main QD emission band is found to increase with increasing implantation dose. Our measurements show clear evidence of an inhomogeneous In/Ga intermixing at low proton implantation doses (5 × 10 11 ions cm −2 ), giving rise to the coexistence of intermixed and non-intermixed QDs. For higher implantation doses, a decrease of both the PL linewidth and the intersublevel spacing energy have been found to occur, suggesting that the dot-size, dot-composition and dot-strain distributions evolve towards more uniform ones. (Some figures in this article are in colour only in the electronic version)