Repositório RCAAP

We have carried out van der Pauw resistivity and Hall effect measurements on a series of Molecular Beam Epitaxy InAs/GaAs superlattice samples containing InAs quantum dots. Three growth parameters were varied, the InAs coverage, the number of repetitions of the InAs/GaAs layers, and the GaAs spacer thickness. The results can be grouped in two sets, those samples presenting low and high resistivity. The group presenting low resistivity is composed by the samples with GaAs spacer of 30 monolayers (ML) and InAs coverage of 1.9 monolayers. The group presenting high resistivity is composed of samples with GaAs spacer of 40 ML. We claim that the high resistivity characteristic is due to the presence of deep level. Increasing the spacer from 30 to 40 ML decouples the InAs planes favouring the deep level formation.

Bi-covered (<FONT FACE=Symbol>Ö</font>3× <FONT FACE=Symbol>Ö</font>3) reconstructed Si(111) surface has been studied by first principles calculations. Three different Bi coverages have been considered: 1 monolayer (ML), 1/3 ML and 2/3 ML, leading to the milkstool, T4 and the honeycomb structural models, respectively. Our total energy calculations show that the milkstool model is the energetically most stable structure for high Bi coverages followed by the T4 model for low Bi coverages, without going through a stable structure for the honeycomb model. We performed theoretical STM simulations for the three structures. For 1 ML coverage we observe the formation of Bi-trimers for occupied states, and a honeycomb image for empty states. It is suggested that the experimentally obtained STM image of a honeycomb structure does not correspond to a Bi-coverage of 2/3 ML, but it could represent a STM image of empty states localized in the T4 sites aside the Bi-trimers of the milkstool model.

The spin dependence of the conductance of an asymmetric double-barrier InGaAs device is studied within the multiband k·p and envelope function approximations. The spin-dependent transmission probability for electrons across the structure is obtained using transfer matrices and the low bias conductance per unit area is calculated as a function of the Fermi energy (or doping) in the contacts. The possibility to obtain spin polarized currents in such devices is demonstrated, however, the resulting degree of polarization is rather small (a few percent) in the specific InGaAs structures considered here.

We have performed ab initio calculations of the atomic structure and energetic stability of the Bi-covered InAs(110) surface. The calculations were performed within the density-functional theory, using norm-conserving fully separable ab initio pseudopotentials. Two experimentally proposed structural models have been considered: (1×1)-ECLS and (1×2). Our total energy calculations indicate that the formation of the (1×2) model is energetically more favourable than the (1×1) model by 41 meV/(1×2). The calculated equilibrium geometries, for the InAs(110)-Bi(1×1) and -Bi(1×2) surfaces, show in general a good agreement with the experimental x-ray measurements carried out by Betti et al.

We calculated the classical electron dynamics of three-dimensional electrons in a billiard system in tilted magnetic field and analyzed the evolution of trajectories in phase space by means of Poincaré space of sections. The low field magnetoresistance rhoxx was calculated through linear response theory and found that nonlinear resonances between the cyclotron radius Rc, the antidot lattice period a, and the well width W, are reflected in the observed magnetoresistance peaks.

In this work we investigate the electrical properties of PbTe p - n+ junction. Mesa diodes were fabricated from p - n+ PbTe layers grown on (111) BaF2 substrates by molecular beam epitaxy. From the analysis of the current versus voltage characteristic measured at 80K, the incremental differential resistance and the series resistance were determined. The capacitance versus voltage curves were measured at a frequency of 1MHz. The one-sided abrupt junction was checked through the 1/C²xV plot. From the linear fit, the hole concentration and the depletion layer width in the p-side were obtained. The high detectivity values measured for the p - n+ PbTe diode confirm that it is very suitable for infrared detection.

Nanotubes have been proved as promising candidates for many technological applications in the nanoscale word and different physical properties have been studied and measured along the few recent years. Here we investigate the role played by external magnetic and electric fields on the electronic properties of toroidal and cylindrical straight carbon nanotubes. A single-p band tight-binding Hamiltonian is used and two types of model-calculations are adopted: real-space renormalization techniques, based on Green function formalism, and straight diagonalization calculation. Both electric and magnetic fields may be properly applied, in different configurations, to modify the energy spectra and transport properties, providing metal-insulator transitions for particular tube geometries.

The utilization of the quantum properties of the electron spin wave function will allow the development of a new class of devices. The problem is still controversial and unsettled, even qualitatively, especially for concentrated spin systems such as 3d metals and their alloys. The variety of crystal structures of 3d metals makes difficult the direct comparison between the experimental results and the theoretical conclusions. On the account of this difficulty, substitutional alloys with the same crystal structure, especially face-centered cubic alloys, have been investigated extensively. In this work the properties of diluted Ga1-xMn xN (x = 0.0630; 0.0315) alloys are calculated in the zinc-blende phase, within the framework of the density functional theory, using the fullpotential linearized augmented plane wave (FLAPW) method and the local density approximation (LDA). The alloys are simulated using 32-atom and 64-atom large unit cells, containing one substitutional Mn atom for a Ga atom. The calculations are spin-polarized and we analyze band structures, density of states and total magnetizations. A half-metallic state is predicted at a0 ~ 4:45Å. The majority-spin band has a rather sharp peak, characteristic of a narrow band, while the minority-spin has a gap. The total magnetization of the cell is 4.00muB which does not change with the Mn concentration. The valence band is ferromagnetically coupled with the Mn atoms, and the spin splitting is not linearly dependent on the Mn concentration.

We have studied doped superlattices of GaAs/AlGaAs composition. When the doping atoms are introduced into the barriers surrounding the superlattice, as well as to the inner ones, but with half of the concentration, the photoluminescence due to interband transitions from extended superlattice states is detected. This is demonstrated by a study of the sample´s photoluminescence in a magnetic field, whose intensity oscillates in concomitance with the SdH spectrum of electrons confined in the miniband.

Resisistivity and Hall measurements were performed at temperatures from 10 to 320K on Bi-doped PbTe layers grown on (111) BaF2 by molecular beam epitaxy. Samples with electron concentration varying from 1x10(17) to 4x10(19)cm-3 were obtained. Results indicated that all offered Bi atoms in the vapor phase were effectively incorporated in the PbTe as active donors. No thermal activation in the whole doping range was observed, indicating that the Bi donor level lies resonant with the conduction band. The mobility curve showed that the PbTe layers tend to a metallic behavior as the electron concentration increases. A value around 1x10(19) cm-3 is suggested for n+ PbTe contact layers in device application.

Progress is reported towards the development of a new route to obtain cadmium sulfide (CdS) thin films by using ethylene-diamine-tetra-acetic acid (EDTA) ligand on the chemical bath deposition (CBD) method. Different chemical baths are used to study changes in the structures of the CdS films for different EDTA concentrations. X-ray diffraction (XRD) is used to prove the structural characterization of the samples, and to obtain the grain size with the Scherrer´s equation. The pH variations during the growth also affect the structural film quality, and it was verified by using ammonia chloride as an auxiliar-buffer plus Triton-X100.

We report on time resolved photoluminescence (PLRT) measurements in poly(p-phenylene vinylene) (PPV) films irradiated by laser in the presence of air. We observe a PL intensity enhancement and a biexponential decay dynamics of PL signal for all irradiated films. These results can be understood in terms of a chain shortening process due to carbonyl incorporation and formation of an energy profile that extends and migrates into the film and enables efficient spectral diffusion of excited carriers to a non-degraded PPV segments by Förster energy transfer.

We have calculated the optical absorption spectra of magnetoexcitons in T-wire semiconductor. It is calculated using the semiconductor Bloch equations in time and real-space domains. The peak and the linewitdth of the fundamental exciton transition are investigated as a function of the applied magnetic and static electric field. The latter is applied along the wire axis and induces a broadening in the absorption spectra line, energy shift, and the characterisitic Franz-Keldysh oscillations. The exciton binding energy enhances increasing the magnetic field strength.

We have studied the energy spectrum of a system formed by two concentric, coupled, semiconductor quantum rings. We have investigated the effect of a uniform magnetic field applied along the rings axis, on the energy spectrum of the system. We found that the spectrum of the coupled rings with similar confinement length corresponds roughly to the superposition of the spectra of two separate rings, although modified by the anticrossings produced among different states of the individual rings with same angular momentum. The Aharonov-Bohm oscillations do not have a definite period.

Isolated nickel impurities in diamond have been investigated using the spin-polarized full-potential linearized augmented plane wave total energy method. The electronic and atomic structures, symmetries, transition energies, and formation energies of substitutional and interstitial Ni impurities in diamond were computed. The results were discussed in the context of the electrically active centers in synthetic diamond.

Epilayers of Sn1-xEu xTe (0 < x < 0:03) were grown by molecular beam epitaxy on freshly cleaved BaF2(111) substrates and their structural, electrical and optical properties were investigated. The thicknesses of epilayers were about 1.5 mum and deposition was carried out at growth temperatures of 300 ºC. The structural properties were investigated by high resolution X-ray diffraction and a sharp film degradation could be observed with increasing europium content. Electrical measurements with temperature varying from 300 to 10K indicated that the epilayers present carrier concentration ranging between 3 x 10(20) and 6 x 10(20)cm-3 and a low resistivity from 6.3 x 10-5 to 1.2 x 10-4 omega.cm. From optical measurements it could be seen that spectra present a low energy edge corresponding to the beginning of intra band excitations and the high energy edge due to inter band excitations.

We report a detailed analysis of how the existence of interface roughness can change exciton localization in CdTe/Cd1-xMn xTe strained double quantum wells (DQW´s) taking into account magnetic and electric field effects. We consider that the potential, effective mass, and the intrinsic magnetization are dependent on the profile of the Mn molar fraction at the interfacial region. Results obtained with CdTe/Cd0.68Mn0.32Te DQW´s show that the energy band tailoring generated by the strain and the Zeeman effect is responsible by a displacement of the exciton energy peaks and that small changes in the interface width (10 Å) can be responsible for 30 meV exciton energy broadening.

In this work, by using the density-functional theory within the local density approximation, plane wave expansions and the pseudopotential method, we present our preliminary results for the strain-induced shifts of the zone center phonon modes and of the effective charges on the III-Nitrides. Our results are in good agreement with the experiment as well as with other calculations, whenever a comparison is possible.

We carried a theoretical investigation on the properties of mercuric iodide in the red tetragonal crystalline phase, and its respective intrinsic defects. Our calculations were performed using the ab initio spin-polarized full-potential linearized augmented plane wave method, and taking into account full atomic relaxation. The results on the structural, electronic, and optical properties were compared to available experimental data.

In order to analyze the charging effects on electronic spectrum of Silicon (Si) based quantum wells (QW's), we use a method based on the calculation of the image charge potential by solving Poisson equation in cylindrical coordinates. The numerical results shows that the confined electron ground state energy level can be shifted by more than 50 meV due to the contribution of the image charges to the confinement potential of the graded quantum well.