Volume 51, Nº 9 (2017)

The distributions of internal stresses in undoped and tin-doped silicon and the influence of electron irradiation with an energy of 5 MeV and of heat treatment at 450°C on the stresses are studied. The stresses are measured by a method based on the detection of birefringence by modulation polarimetry. It is shown that tin-doped silicon includes stripes of point defects with a nonuniform distribution of residual stresses of up to 20 kg cm^–2. Heat treatment at 450°C induces an increase in the residual stresses in the sample to 50 kg cm^–2. It is established that the radiation defects formed upon the irradiation of tin-doped silicon reduce the residual stresses to 2–3 kg cm^–2.

The properties of epitaxial Ga_xIn_{1 – x}P alloys with an ordered arrangement of atoms in the crystal lattice are studied by a number of spectroscopic methods. The alloys are grown by metal-organic chemical vapor deposition onto single-crystal GaAs(100) substrates. It is shown that, under conditions of the coherent growth of an ordered Ga_xIn_{1 – x}P alloy on a GaAs(100) substrate, atomic ordering results in radical modifications of the optical properties of the semiconductor compared to the properties of disordered alloys. Among these modifications are a decrease in the band gap and an increase in the luminescence intensity. From the data of dispersion analysis of the infrared dispersion spectra and from ultraviolet spectroscopy data obtained in the transmittance–reflection mode of measurements, the basic optical characteristics, specifically, the dispersion of the refractive index and the high-frequency permittivity of Ga_xIn_{1 – x}P alloys with ordering are determined. All of the experimental data are in good agreement with the developed theoretical concepts.

The possibility of fabricating hybrid metamorphic heterostructures for vertical-cavity surfaceemitting lasers working in the 1300-nm spectral range is demonstrated. The metamorphic semiconductor part of the heterostructure with a GaAs/AlGaAs distributed Bragg reflector and an active region based on InAlGaAs/InGaAs quantum wells is grown by molecular-beam epitaxy on a GaAs (100) substrate. The top dielectric mirror with a SiO₂/Ta₂O₅ distributed Bragg reflector is formed by magnetron sputtering. The spectra of the room-temperature microphotoluminescence of these vertical-cavity surface-emitting laser heterostructures are studied under 532-nm excitation in the power range of 0–70 mW (with a focused-beam diameter of ~1 μm). The superlinear dependence of the photoluminescence intensity on the excitation power, narrowing of the photoluminescence peaks, and a change in the modal composition may be indications of lasing. The results obtained give evidence that the technology of the metamorphic growth of heterostructures on GaAs substrates can be used for the fabrication of vertical-cavity surface-emitting lasers working in the 1300- nm spectral range.

The high-frequency capacitance–voltage characteristics of metal–oxide–semiconductor structures on n-Si substrates with an oxide thickness of 39 Å are studied upon being subjected to damage by field stress. It is shown that the action of a high, but pre-breakdown electric field on an ultrathin insulating layer brings about the formation of a large number of additional localized interface electron states with an energy level arranged at 0.14 eV below the conduction band of silicon. It is found that, as the field stress is increased, the recharging of newly formed centers provides the accumulation of excess charge up to 8 × 10¹² cm^–2 at the silicon–oxide interface. The lifetime of localized centers created under field stress is two days, after which the dependences of the charge localized at the semiconductor–insulator interface on the voltage at the gate after and before field stress are practically the same.

Heterostructures, which incorporate GaAs/InGaAs/GaAs quantum wells and are doped with spatially remote monatomic Mn layers, are formed on GaAs(001) substrate under conditions of multilayer buildup by the method of molecular-beam epitaxy. Combined studies of the obtained samples were performed by the method of secondary-ion mass spectrometry, by measurements of X-ray diffraction, and using a transmission electron microscope. The heterostructures under study with a doping impurity concentration amounting to 0.5 single layers are elastically stressed and demonstrate planar clearly defined interfaces without visible extended or point defects. A method for visualization of the distribution of the manganese concentration in the three-dimensional GaAs matrix in the vicinity of a quantum well is suggested. According to experimental results, there is a probability for manganese diffusion into the GaAs/InGaAs/GaAs quantum well when the critical thickness of the GaAs buffer layer is decreased to a value smaller than 3 nm.

Interest in the sintering of macroporous silicon is due to the possibility of purposefully modifying its structure. The annealing of macroporous structures in an atmosphere of Ar, instead of H₂, simplifies the requirements to equipment and safety engineering. The sintering of macroporous silicon as result of annealing at T = 1000–1280°C in a horizontal tube purged with high-purity gases: Ar or Ar + 3%H₂ is examined. Experiments were conducted with layers having deep cylindrical macropores produced by the electrochemical etching of samples with seed pits on their surface (ordered pores) and without seeds (random pores). The morphology of the porous structure and the changes in this structure upon annealing are studied with electron and optical microscopes. It is shown that, depending on the pore diameter and treatment temperature, the following transformation occurs: the pore surface is smoothed, pores are closed and a surface crust is formed, cylindrical pores are spheroidized and decompose into isolated hollow spheres, and a fine structure and faceting are formed. It is shown that the (111) planes have the minimal surface energy. It is found that the annealing of macroporous silicon in an inert gas leads to strong thermal etching, which is manifested in the fact that the porosity increases or even the porous layer at the sample edge fully disappears. Moreover, an oxide layer appears as a film, beads, or long filaments forming a glass wool upon annealing, especially at low temperatures. These features can be attributed to the presence of trace amounts of an oxidizing agent in the inert gas, which causes the formation of highly volatile SiO and products formed in the reaction involving this compound.

A technique for deriving an analytical expression describing an experimental curve with one or several kinks is proposed. Depending on the pattern of the partial processes involved in the resulting process, derivation is based on calculating either their sum or geometric mean. “Participation functions” of the processes, whose run is determined by the coordinate of the intersection point of the processes and the “accuracy parameter,” are introduced into these expressions in order to increase the approximation accuracy. The choice of these parameters provides a correspondence between the approximation accuracy and the accuracy of measuring the experimental curve. Application of this technique in analytical calculations consisting of a combination of several processes and in the derivation of an analytical expression for an experimental curve with kinks is demonstrated. The thus obtained approximating expression, characterized by clarity, a high approximation accuracy, and physical simplicity, may be used to calculate other characteristics of a semiconductor device.

A study of the current and capacitance dependences on the forward voltage in Au/n-GaN Schottky diodes, the sub-band optical absorption spectra, and the defect photoluminescence in n-GaN bulk crystals and thin layers is reported. It is shown that defect-assisted tunneling is the dominant transport mechanism for forward-biased Schottky contacts on n-GaN. The dependences of the current and capacitance on forward bias reflect the energy spectrum of defects in the band gap of n-GaN: the rise in the density of deep states responsible for yellow photoluminescence in GaN with increasing energy and the steep exponential tail of states with an Urbach energy of E_U = 50 meV near the conduction-band edge. A decrease in the frequency of electron hops near the Au/n-GaN interface results in a wide distribution of local dielectric relaxation times and in a dramatic transformation of the electric-field distribution in the space-charge region under forward biases.

A scheme for an optical quantum external-electric-field sensor based on a double quantum dot placed in a high-Q semiconductor microcavity is proposed. A model of the dynamic processes occurring in this system is developed, its spectral characteristics are investigated, and the noise stability of the sensor is examined. It is demonstrated that, owing to design features, the device has a number of advantages, including high sensitivity, the presence of different excitation and measurement channels, and the possibility of accurate determination of the spatial field distribution.

The energy efficiency of optoelectronic switches based on high-voltage silicon photodiodes, phototransistors, and photothyristors controlled by picosecond laser pulses during the formation of voltage pulses on resistive load R_L is studied for the first time. It is shown that at the given values of the resistive load R_L, pulse amplitude U_R and duration t_R, there exist optimum device areas, energies, and absorbances of control radiation providing a maximum total switch efficiency of ~0.92. All three switch types feature almost the same efficiency at short t_R; at longer t_R, photothyristors have a noticeable advantage.

Samples of coupled semiconductor disk laser based on quantum-dimensional GaInAsSb/AlGaAsSb nanoheterostructures (emission wavelength of λ ≈ 2.28 μm) operating in the whispering-gallery modes are fabricated and studied. The emission spectra and directivity patterns are studied for laser systems of two types, i.e., coupled disk lasers with a bridge between resonators and those without it. It is found that both types of these lasers generate collective modes with an intermodal difference twice as small as that for a single disk laser. It is suggested that this effect is caused by the propagation of radiation from one disk laser to the other.

Low-dimensional quantum-well and nanoisland heterostructures formed in the InSb/AlAs system by molecular-beam epitaxy are studied by transmission electron microscopy and steady-state photoluminescence spectroscopy. The structures are grown under conditions of alternate In and Sb deposition (the socalled atomic-layer epitaxy mode) and the simultaneous deposition of materials (the traditional molecularbeam epitaxy mode). In both modes of growth, at a nominal amount of the deposited material in a single layer, large-sized (200 nm–1 μm) imperfect islands arranged on the In_xAl_{1 – x}Sb_yAs_1–y quantum-well layer are formed. In the heterostructures grown under conditions of atomic layer epitaxy, the islands are surrounded by ring-shaped arrays of much smaller (~10 nm), coherently strained islands consisting of the In_xAl_{1 – x}Sb_yAs_{1 – y} alloy as well. The composition of the alloy is defined by the intermixing of Group-V materials in the stage of InSb deposition and by the intermixing of materials because of the segregation of In and Sb atoms during overgrowth of the InSb layer by an AlAs layer.