Resumo em Inglês:

Atomic hydrogen diffuses in semiconductor lattices and binds to impurities by forming complexes that can lead to a full neutralization of the impurity effects. In the present paper, the structural, vibrational, electronic and magnetic properties of complexes formed by H in the Mn xGa1-xAs (x=0.03) dilute magnetic semiconductor have been investigated by using first-principles DFT-LSD and LDA+U theoretical methods. The results account for recent experimental findings showing a H passivation of the electronic and magnetic properties of Mn in GaAs. Moreover, they show that electron correlation has crucial effects on the properties of H-Mn complexes.

Resumo em Inglês:

We investigated the effect of adding the field-dependent recombination process, namely field-enhanced trapping, to the generation-recombination processes of charge carriers that model current oscillations in semiconductors. The main new features arising from this modification are identified in bifurcation diagrams with the electric field as the control parameter. The characteristic of the bifurcation diagrams is a function of impurity energy. Thus, we generated a set of bifurcation diagrams for a range of the impurity energy and applied bias. The energy dependence of the bifurcation diagrams is discussed considering the context of the competition between the generation-recombination mechanisms impact ionization and field-enhanced trapping.

Resumo em Inglês:

Electric transport properties measured by Van der Pauw resistivity experiments of Low-Temperature Molecular Beam Epitaxy (LT-MBE) GaAs samples are used to identify a method to improve the resistivity of GaAs material. We present results on five samples grown at 265, 310, 315, 325, and 345 ºC. The electric measurements were carried out at temperatures ranging from 130 to 300 K. In this temperature range the dominant transport process is identified as variable range hopping. The hopping parameter plotted against the growth temperature is shown to present a maximum. The mechanisms responsible for this behavior are discussed in relation to the compensation ratio.

Resumo em Inglês:

A theoretical study of the mobility of n-doped III-Nitrides in wurtzite phase is reported. We have determined the nonequilibrium thermodynamic state of the bulk n-InN, n-GaN, and n-AlN systems - driven far away from equilibrium by a strong electric field - in the steady state, which follows after a very fast transient. For this we solve the set of coupled nonlinear integro-differential equations of evolution of the nonequilibrium thermodynamic variables, for the three materials, to obtain their steady state values. The dependence of the mobility (which depends on the nonequilibrium thermodynamic state of the sample) on the electric field strength and the concentration (of electrons and impurities) is derived, which decreases with the increase of the electric field strength and the concentration of carriers, evidencing the influence of the nonlinear transport involved.

Resumo em Inglês:

We present an experimental study of bifurcation diagrams from low frequency current oscillations (LFO) measurements obtained from semi-insulating GaAs samples grown by low temperature molecular beam Epitaxy (LT-MBE). The considered growth temperatures were 215ºC and 265ºC. LFO are considered to be spontaneously generated oscillations under constant applied bias V. These oscillations were measurement and recorded in the form of time series. The bifurcation diagrams were obtained from the sequence of minima as a function of the applied bias. The standard measurement procedure was described elsewhere. As the control parameter, the bias allows the identification of a bifurcation route to chaos.

Resumo em Inglês:

We investigated the interaction of As impurities with a 90º partial dislocation in Si. The calculations show that As atoms segregate to the dislocation core. The most stable site for the As atom is at the stacking fault side, which is favorable by 0.26 eV as compared to an As atom in a crystalline position. There is no charge transfer from the As impurity to the dislocation core when the impurity is far from it. The segregation of the impurity can be understood mainly due to structural effects. This result let us conclude that the experimentally observed negatively charged dislocations are due to impurities trapping at the core of the dislocation and not charge transfer from impurities away from the dislocation.

Resumo em Inglês:

Morphological and microstructure properties of reticulated vitreous carbon (RVC) were analyzed by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), micro-Raman spectroscopy and x-ray diffraction (XRD) techniques as a function of heat treatment temperature (HTT). Samples produced in the HTT range of 1000 to 2400 K have demonstrated a strong dependence of HTT in their structural order mainly attributed to the presence of hydrogen and oxygen (heteroatoms), originated from precursor. In this range, the material is changed from pyropolymer to carbon. The polyfurfuryl alcohol precursor has furanic groups and its cure originates methylenical bonds and sulphur atoms. At HTT higher than 1300 K, these atoms are gradually liberated from the material generating a discrete structure ordering.

Resumo em Inglês:

We present a theoretical investigation on the properties of interstitial nickel and its related complexes in diamond. The atomic configurations, symmetries, spins, and energetics of interstitial nickel, nickel-boron and nickel-vacancy complexes were investigated by a total energy ab initio methodology. Those results are used to explain certain electrically active centers, commonly found in synthetic diamond.

Resumo em Inglês:

Er3+ emission in the wide bandgap matrix SnO2 is observed either through a direct Er ion excitation process as well as by an indirect process, through energy transfer in samples codoped with Yb3+ ions. Electron-hole generation in the tin dioxide matrix is also used to promote rare-earth ion excitation. Photoluminescence spectra as function of temperature indicate a slight decrease in the emission intensity with temperature increase, yielding low activation energy, about 3.8meV, since the emission even at room temperature is rather considerable.

Resumo em Inglês:

Mercuric Iodide (HgI2) is a semiconductor candidate for the construction of X- and gamma-ray detectors for digital medical imaging due to its high atomic number (Z Hg = 80, Z I = 53). Also, HgI2 has a wide optical band-gap (2.13 eV) and high photon absorption coefficient for high-energy radiation. Different structures can lead to varying electrical and optical properties of the final material. In this work, HgI2 crystals were produced by the solvent evaporation technique. The solvents used were ethanol (solubility around 20 mg/ml at 25ºC), ether (solubility around 3.5 mg/ml at 25ºC) and acetone (solubility around 24mg/ml at 25ºC). The evaporation conditions were varied in order to produce different final crystals. The Bérnard cells are responsible for crystallites formation due to the Bérnard-Maragoni convection in the liquid. Millimeter-sized crystals can be obtained as seen by Scanning Electron Microscopy.

Resumo em Inglês:

In this work we report the observation of two different EL2 metastable states in GaAs and the effect of the optical/thermal history of the sample on the behavior of the photoquenching kinetics. In one thermal/optical preparation, the photoquenching curve presented two time constants that have already been interpreted as an indication of two different metastable states. With another preparation, the initial rise in transmittance displayed only one time constant, and we observed that a temperature increase to 83K triggered a second photoquenching process. We associated this new photoquenching with a transition from the first to the second metastable state. The experimental data is explained in terms of a new proposal for the microscopic structure of the EL2 complex.

Resumo em Inglês:

We report the investigation of Xe clusters in amorphous carbon by x-ray absorption spectroscopy (XAS) to understand the properties of solid xenon. Measurements have been performed on xenon L3 absorption edge at room temperature (300K). Using computational XANES calculation for fcc and hcp structures it was possible to study the XANES fine structure origin and a relation between the x-ray absorption near edge structure and the lattice constant. Comparing those results with our experimental data we determined that the XAS fine near edge structure has a specific behavior for solid xenon and does not have this behavior for gas Xe end Xe diluted in others chemical elements matrices.

Resumo em Inglês:

We propose the local density approximation (LDA) plus an on-site Coulomb self-interaction-like correction (SIC) potential for describing sp-hybridized bonds in semiconductors and insulators. We motivate the present LDA+U SIC scheme by comparing the exact exchange (EXX) hole with the LDA exchange hole. The LDA+U SIC method yields good band-gap energies Eg and dielectric constants epsilon(omega ~ 0) of Si, Ge, GaAs, and ZnSe. We also show that LDA consistently underestimates the gamma-point effective electron m c and light-hole m lh masses, and the underlying reason for this is a too strong light-hole-electron coupling within LDA. The advantages of the LDA+U SIC approach are a computational time of the same order as the ordinary LDA, the orbital dependent LDA+U SIC exchange-correlation interaction is asymmetric analogously to the EXX potential, and the method can be used for materials and compounds involving localized d- and f-orbitals.

Resumo em Inglês:

Using a first-principles pseudopotential technique within a generalized gradient approximation of the density functional theory, we have investigated the mechanism of adsorption of molecular oxygen on the CdTe(110) surface. The determination of the more favorables structures and their formation through the activation barrier analysis indicates that the formation can occur in the regimes of low and high temperatures. According to our calculations it was verified that in the regime of low temperatures the oxygen molecule binds exclusively to Cd at the topmost site through Cd-O-O or Cd-O2 bonds. The electronic band structure presents a characteristic state like a double acceptor defect. In the high temperature regime the molecule adsorbs between Cd of the surface and Te of the subsurface, breaking Cd-Te bond and causing an upward dislocation of Cd from the subsurface. In this regime of high temperatures the complex presents Cd-O, Cd-O2, Te-O and O-O bonds and the electronic band structure is almost free of gap of states.

Resumo em Inglês:

In the last few years intense efforts have been devoted to the growth and characterization of semiconductor nanostrucutures. In particular, quantum dots of CdTe grown by hot wall epitaxy on Si(111) substrates constitute a very interesting example. CdTe/Si systems follow the Volmer-Weber growth mode with nucleation of 3D CdTe islands on the Si substrate even for less than one monolayer of evaporated material. In the present work, we proposed a simple one-dimension model to reproduce a very peculiar behavior observed in the quantum dot height and size distributions at distinct temperatures. The model, which includes CdTe deposition, diffusion, and revaporization, qualitatively reproduces these distributions. Moreover, the width distributions suggest a transition from Stranski-Krastanow growth mode at lower temperatures to Volmer-Weber growth mode at higher temperatures.

Resumo em Inglês:

In this work, we present our preliminary ab initio results for the structural and electronic properties of both Si- and C-terminated SiC (100) surfaces in (2×1) and c(2×2) reconstruction patterns. Based on our results, we found that the Si-terminated surfaces are dominated by weak bonded Si-dimers, which are stabilized only at Si-rich conditions, leading to (3×2) or more complex reconstruction patterns, as verified experimentally. Also, our results show that the C-terminated surfaces is characterized by strong triply-bonded C-dimers, in a c(2×2) reconstruction pattern, which consists of C2 pairs over Si bridge sites, in agreement with experimental results.

Resumo em Inglês:

In this work, we presented our preliminary ab initio results for the vibrational modes and the phonon frequencies of the SiC (100) surfaces. Our results are in good agreement with the available experimental data whenever this comparison is possible. For the accepted models of the C-terminated surfaces in the c(2×2) reconstruction, while in the bridge-dimer model there is an acetylene-like vibrational A1 mode at 2031 cm-1, which is infrared active, in the staggered-dimer model, there is a Füchs-Kliewer (FK) mode at 1328 cm-1, which is experimentally detected. For Si-terminated surfaces in the p(2×1) reconstruction, instead, no FK was obtained, in contradiction with the HREELS experimental results for the Si-terminated surfaces, but they are in consonance with the fact that this surface should be described by a (3×2) or more complex models.

Resumo em Inglês:

We present, our preliminary results of a systematic theoretical study of the adsorption of N over As-terminated GaAs (100) (2×1) surfaces. We analyzed the changes in the bond-lengths, bond-angles and the energetics involved before and after deposition. Our results show that the N-atoms will prefer the unoccupied sites of the surface, close to the As dimer. The presence of N pushes the As dimer out of the surface, leading to the anion exchange between N and As atoms. Based on our results, we discussed the kinetics of the N islands formation during epitaxial growth of the III-Nitrides.

Resumo em Inglês:

In this work we employ the state of the art pseudopotential method, within a generalized gradient approximation to the density functional theory, to investigate the dissociative adsorption process of glycine on the silicon surface. Our total energy calculations indicate that the chemisorption of the molecule is as follow. The gas phase NH2-C2H2-OOH adsorbs molecularly to the electrophilic surface Si atom and then dissociates into NH2-C2H2-OO and H, bonded to the electrophilic and nucleophilic surface silicon dimer atoms respectively, with an energy barrier corresponding to a thermal activation that is smaller than the usual growth temperature, indicating that glycine molecules will be observed in their dissociated states at room temperature. This picture is further support by our calculated vibrational modes for the considered adsorbed species.

Resumo em Inglês:

Hot-filament chemical vapour deposition (HFCVD) is a common method employed for diamond deposition. Typically in this method a dilute mixture of carbon containing gas such as methane in hydrogen is thermally activated at sub atmospheric pressures by a hot filament. Due to the filament-substrate proximity, large temperature variation across the substrate is possible. In this work we investigate the role of fluid flow and heat transfer from the filament to substrate in determining the quality of diamond growth. The commercial software CFX was used to calculate velocity field, temperature distribution and fluid flow. A vortex was identified on the substrate.

Resumo em Inglês:

In this work we have investigated the properties of CdTe thin films grown on glass substrates by Hot Wall Epitaxy. Its most important feature is the growth at very low temperatures, which would allow the growth even on polymer substrates. Our samples were grown at temperatures between 150 and 250 ºC at a growth rate between 0.2 and 2 µm/h. The CdTe films were characterized by x-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy and optical transmission. The x-ray teta-2teta scans revealed films with cubic structure and a very high degree of preferential orientation. In fact, for films thicker than 1 µm, no other reflections have been observed on the spectra besides the (111), (333) and (444). The scanning electron micrographs showed a grain size about 0.3 µm and the optical transmission indicated a very good optical quality of the interfaces, showing pronounced interference fringes.

Resumo em Inglês:

In this work we present the structural properties and stoichiometry analysis of thin films of lead iodide (PbI2). This material is a very promising semiconductor material for the development of X-ray detectors in digital medical imaging. An alternative deposition method called Spray Pyrolysis was used. We discuss the main advantages and limitations of the deposition process comparing three different starting material powders. Extra iodine atmosphere during deposition and the effect of post-deposition thermal treatment is also discussed. The structural properties were studied by X-ray diffraction, Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM), Scanning Electronic Microscopy (SEM) and stoichiometry analysis were performed using Energy Dispersive Spectroscopy (EDS).

Resumo em Inglês:

A series of SnTe layers with thicknesses varying from 0.42 to 9.1 µm were grown by molecular beam epitaxy on (111) BaF2 substrates. The SnTe lattice parameter was found to be 6.331 Å as determined from x-ray diffraction spectra measured in the triple-axis configuration. The FWHM of the (222) SnTe x-ray rocking curves indicated a good crystalline quality and an unusual dependence on layer thickness. Atomic force microscopy (AFM) of the SnTe surface revealed spirals with monolayer steps formed around threading dislocations, similar to the PbTe on BaF2 epitaxy. The dislocation density was estimated from the AFM picture to be 9x10(8) cm-2. Small black pits corresponding to holes that were left during growth were also observed on the AFM images. Sn diffusion can be a possible reason for these pits and the relatively high dislocation density. Electrical measurements showed that the SnTe epilayers present a typical p-type carrier concentration around 10(20) cm- 3 almost temperature independent and a Hall mobility which decreases from 10(4) to 10³ cm²/V.s as the temperature increases from 10 to 350K.

Resumo em Inglês:

We study numerically the equilibrium shape, shape transition and dislocation nucleation in strained epitaxial islands with a two-dimensional atomistic model, using interatomic potentials of Lennard-Jones type. The phase diagram for the equilibrium island shapes as a function of island size and lattice misfit with the substrate is obtained by an energy minimization procedure which does not require predefined faceted shapes. We determine the energy barrier and transition path for transition between different shapes of the islands and for dislocation nucleation in initially coherent islands using a method introduced recently, based on a systematic search of the transition paths for activated events.

Resumo em Inglês:

A new dc hollow cathode plasma source has been assembled whith a conventional planar magnetron cathode used together with another plane cathode plate to form a hollow cathode cavity. The system comprises two cathode plates of aluminium separated by a distance d, one of them acting as target of the magnetron cathode, the other being an ordinary plate. The discharge anode is a metallic flange of the vacuum chamber. This leads to enhanced ionization in the cathode cavity region and enables the discharge to operate at significantly lower pressures than for a typical planar magnetron configuration. As a consequence, sputtered atoms can reach a substrate with minimum energy loss due to collisions with filling gas atoms. The discharge gas was a mixture of argon and nitrogen. AlN thin films were grown on silicon substrates, at ambient temperature, and characterized with respect to the structure and morphology by XRD and AFM analyses respectively. The structure and roughness of the AlN films were studied as a function of the deposition parameters.

Resumo em Inglês:

We compare the transport properties for triangular, parabolic and cubic quantum wells. We calculate the transport mobility for electrons belonging to the different subbands. We obtain the energy spacing between first and second subbands from the electron sheet density and compare results for different potential profiles. We find that experimental results are in quantitative agreements with our calculations.

Resumo em Inglês:

It is reported a theoretical and numerical study of non-markovian memory effects in backscattering of ballistic electrons constrained to move in a corrugated surface topography. Two approaches to model the electron trajectories are used, better approximation is obtained with the Hamilton-Dirac method for constrained system.

Resumo em Inglês:

The aim of this work is to study the importance of minority carrier transport in double barrier diodes (DBD). We propose a theoretical model capable to describe the photoluminescence properties observed in GaAs-Al0.35Ga0.65As double barrier diodes with the increase of temperature. In this model, we considered that the minority carries (holes) photocreated at the contact of the structure diffuse, drift and then tunnel to the well. To study the influence of previous transport mechanisms, we solved the continuity equation under the influence of an applied bias and an excitation laser light. The theoretical photocurrent and photoluminescence calculations agree quite well with the experimental observations. Within the approaches of our model, we are able to simulate the minority holes mobility from the photocurrent measurements suggesting the use of the experimental technique as a probe of the carrier mobility.

Resumo em Inglês:

In the present work we develop a theoretical study to analyze how the image charges effects can modify the electronic properties in Si and SrTiO3-based quantum wells. We have used the method based on the calculation of the image charge potential by solving Poisson equation in cylindrical coordinates. The numerical results show that the electron-heavy hole recombination energy can be shifted by more than 200 meV due to the combination of charge image and SiO2 (SrTiO3) interface thickness effects.

Resumo em Inglês:

Using the effective-mass approximation and the variational method, we have calculated the effects of hydrostatic pressure on the donor- and acceptor-related optical absorption spectra in symmetrical GaAs double quantum well structures. A central finite potential barrier and two infinite external barriers constitute the profile of the potential barrier considered for the wells. Our results are presented as a function of the well and barrier widths and hydrostatic pressure. For the pressure dependence we consider the gamma-X mixing in the central barrier layer. For symmetrical and infinite-external-barrier quantum wells, and depending on the sizes of the structure and the hydrostatic pressure, the donor-related spectra show three special structures, whereas for the acceptor one only two structures appear.

Resumo em Inglês:

In this work we present a calculation of the intradonor 1s-2p+ transition energies for an impurity donor present in a GaAs-AlGaAs Double Quantum Well structure as a function of an applied external magnetic field. In our calculation the impurity energy levels were obtained from a variational method by choosing a Gaussian trial wave function, and the energy corrections due to the polaronic effect were included by second order perturbation theory IWBPT as modified by Cohn, Larsen and Lax. We have considered only the GaAs bulk LO phonon in the electron-phonon coupling. A very good agreement between the theoretical and experimental results for a DQW consisting of two 100 Å well widths separated by a 100 Å potential barrier width was obtained.

Resumo em Inglês:

Recent results on magnetoresistance in a two dimensional electron gas (2DEG) under crossed magnetic and microwave fields show a new class of oscillations, suggesting a new kind of zero-resistance states. We consider the problem from the point of view of the electronic structure dressed by photons due to an in-plane linearly polarized ac field. In the strong modulation limit predictions on dressed Hofstadter spectra are discussed, which could be of interest since the bare spectra have been observed in the past few years.

Resumo em Inglês:

A series of PbTe/PbEuTe double barrier samples with different barrier widths were successfully grown on BaF2 substrates by molecular beam epitaxy. The electron concentration of PbTe spacer and well layers was controlled by the deviation from stoichiometry, while the buffer and cap layers were intentionally doped with bismuth to obtain low-resistivity layers to be used as top and bottom contacts. Assuming 50% of band offset, a barrier height of 150 meV was determined by infrared transmission measurements, corresponding to a PbEuTe barrier with 5% of europium content. The structural parameters of the samples were accurately determined by combining the measurement in a high-resolution x-ray diffractometer in the triple-axis configuration with a simulation within the framework of dynamical theory of diffraction.

Resumo em Inglês:

The low-temperature electron mobility is investigated here for electrons confined in modulation-doped In0.53Ga0.47As/InP single symmetric quantum wells. The subband structure calculation is developed via variational method, both Schrödinger and Poisson equations being solved simultaneously with adequate heterointerface matching conditions. With this in hands, the main electron scattering rates are computed, namely alloy disorder, remote ionized impurity, and interface roughness. As a result, interesting interchanges in these scattering rates were found by varying the well width and the spacer width, which show that some scattering mechanisms can surpass the alloy disorder scattering rate and come to limit the electron mobility, a behavior not reported in the literature.

Resumo em Inglês:

The influence of dimensionality on the conductance of semiconductor cross junctions is investigated in the effective mass approximation and quantum ballistic regime. Our calculations exhibit some similar features for both two- and three-dimensional models, namely the conductance peaks before the fundamental eigenenergy of the quantum wire that represents the sidearms and the zero conductance dip. Despite this, we show that, in general, the conductance and the electronic wave function are strongly affected when the third spatial dimension is taken into account. In other words, we prove that two-dimensional models are not suitable for representing this kind of system.

Resumo em Inglês:

Theoretical calculations of electron-phonon scattering rates in GaAs/Al xGa1 - xAs spherical quantum dots have been performed by means of effective mass approximation in the frame of finite element method. The influence of a roughness interface and external magnetic fields are analysed for different scattering rate transition. Our results open interesting channels for electron dephasing times manipulation.

Resumo em Inglês:

The electronic band structure of various Ge quantum wires of different sizes, with hydrogenated surfaces, is studied using a nearest-neighbor empirical tight-binding Hamiltonian by means of a sp³s* atomic orbitals basis set. We suppose that the nanostructures have the same lattice structure and the same interatomic distance as in bulk Ge and that all the dangling bonds are saturated with hydrogen atoms. These atoms are used to simulate the bonds at the surface of the wire and sweep surface states out of the fundamental gaps. One of the most important features is a clear broadening of the band gap due the quantum confinement. Comparing to experimental data, we conclude that, similar to the case of Si, the size dependent PL in the near infrared may involve a trap in the gap of the nanocrystals.

Resumo em Inglês:

Motivated by recent experiments and theoretical works that contradict the original explanation for fractal conductance fluctuations (FCF) in electron billiards, based on the "mixed" structure of the classical phase space, we propose an alternative approach to investigate FCF using Random Matrix Theory (RMT). By means of a semiclassical estimate for value of the magnetic correlation field B C we conclude that most of the experiments on FCF were performed for magnetic fields around or greater than B C. This strongly suggests that the appropriate explanation for the observed FCF should rely on the absence of long-range correlations and not on the structure of the classical phase space. This idea is supported by a numerical study of parametric variations within the framework of RMT, which validates our surmise that the observed FCF actually reflect a diffusive scenario for electronic transport.

Resumo em Inglês:

We have studied the collective magneto-optical response of layers of semiconductor quantum dots and nano-rings. Expressions for both the polarizability of the individual nano-objects have been used to determine the magneto-optical response on square two-dimensional lattices on those nano-objects as a function on frequency, magnetic field and angle of incidence. The magnetic field dependence of the response for layers of rings gives rise to the Aharonov-Bohm type oscillatory behavior in the reflectance and absorbance that can be measurable. Layers of dots do not display any remarkable magnetic field dependence.

Resumo em Inglês:

Using a variational procedure for a hydrogenic donor-impurity we have investigated the influence of an axial magnetic field and hydrostatic pressure in the binding energy and the impurity-related photoionization cross-section in 1D and 0D GaAs low dimensional systems. Our results are given as a function of the radius, the impurity position, the polarization of the photon, the applied magnetic field, the normalized photon energy, and the hydrostatic pressure. In order to describe the gamma-X mixing in the Ga1-xAl xAs layer, we use a phenomenological procedure to describe the variation of the potential barrier that confines the carriers in the GaAs layer. Our results agree with previous theoretical investigations in the limit of atmospheric pressure. We found that the binding energy and the photoionization cross-section depend on the size of the structures, the potential well height, the hydrostatic pressure, and the magnetic field.

Resumo em Inglês:

In this work we have studied the electron LO phonon interaction on the pair-correlation function g(x) and its dependence on the electronic density for a GaAs-AlGaAs rectangular quantum wire within the random-phase approximation (RPA). We assumed two different values of the wire width. As negative non-physical results are found for lower electronic densities and small interparticle separations in the RPA approach, we have delimited the regions where the RPA approach cannot be used for the calculation of the Q1D electron gas collective excitation.

Resumo em Inglês:

The fusion method was used to produce PbS quantum dots (QDs) embedded in S-doped glass matrix (SiO2-Na2CO3-Al2O3-PbO2-B2O3:S). Measurements of optical absorption (OA), photoluminescence (PL) and atomic force microscopy (AFM) have been carried out in order to characterize the produced QDs. A strong red-shift observed in the optical features with an increase of the annealing time indicates an increase in QD-size. The QD sizes predicted by k.p theoretical results were confirmed by AFM observation.

Resumo em Inglês:

We describe the Kondo resonance in quantum dots employing the atomic model. We calculate approximate Green's functions of the impurity Anderson model employing the exact solution of the system with a conduction band with zero width, and we use the completeness condition to choose the position of that band. At low temperatures, there are two solutions close to the chemical potential µ, satisfying this condition, and we choose the one with minimum Helmholtz free energy, considering that this corresponds to the Kondo solution. At high temperatures, this solution no longer exist, corresponding to the disappearance of the Kondo peak. We present curves of density of states that characterize the Kondo peak structure problem. As a simple application we calculate the conductance of a side-coupled quantum dot and we obtain good agreement with recent experimental results.

Resumo em Inglês:

We are interested in studying the transport properties of metallic single-wall carbon nanotubes (SWCNTs) with isolated magnetic impurities. We consider a metallic zigzag SWCNT in the form of an infinitely long cylinder of diameter D, connected by two metallic electrodes under a bias voltage $E$, with a magnetic impurity located on its surface. To describe the Kondo resonance we employ an impurity version of the atomic model, previously developed to study the Kondo insulator properties in the lattice case. We calculate the approximate Green's functions of the impurity Anderson model by employing the exact solution of the atomic limit of the Anderson model, where we use the completeness condition to choose the position of the chemical potential. We consider the SWCNT Green's functions in a tight-binding approach. We calculate density of states curves that characterize well the structure of the Kondo peak and we also present the dependence of the conductance with the diameter of the SWCNT.

Resumo em Inglês:

In this work we studied the molecular-beam epitaxy of large InAs quantum dots embedded in an InGaAs quantum well. The formation of the quantum dots was performed by pulsed deposition of InAs material, simulating therefore a low deposition rate. Room-temperature photoluminescence experiments carried out on these samples showed intense emissions with a wavelength exceeding 1.35µm. Our preliminary data indicate that even better results can be achieved by further manipulation of the growth conditions.

Resumo em Inglês:

The conductance of a double-dot system in a ring threaded by a magnetic flux is studied. The ring is connected to two leads in such a way that each dot is embedded in one arm of the structure. The currents going through each arm of the ring are determined by the Aharonov-Bohm effect and the dot charging effects. The conductance for different values of the magnetic flux is obtained as a function of the gate potentials applied to the dots, for two situations: when the dot level energies are equal, deltaE = 0, and when they are different but with deltaE smaller than the Coulomb interaction U. The conductance shows quite distinct behavior according to having a finite or zero magnetic flux threading the ring. The system presents S = 1/2 and S = 1 Kondo phenomena for no magnetic flux and is in the S = 1/2 Kondo regime in the case of half a quantum of magnetic flux.

Resumo em Inglês:

CdO quantum dots (QDs) incorporated in polyacrylamide were synthesized adding aqueous suspension of cadmium oxide in acrylamide:bisacrylamide copolymer. Optical properties of CdO nanocrystals were studied by optical absorption. The size ranges (2-3 nm) were calculated by the effective mass approximation.

Resumo em Inglês:

We theoretically study many-body excitations in three different quasi-one-dimensional (Q1D) electron systems: (i) those formed on the surface of liquid Helium; (ii) in two coupled semiconductor quantum wires; and (iii) Q1D electrons embedded in polar semiconductor-based quantum wires. Our results show intersubband coupling between higher subbands and the two lowest subbands affecting even the lower energy intersubband plasmons on the liquid Helium surface. Concerning the second system, we show a pronounced extra peak appearing in the intersubband impurity spectral function for temperatures as high as 20 K. We finally show coupled intersubband plasmon-phonon modes surviving for temperatures up to 300 K.

Resumo em Inglês:

Coherent properties and Rabi oscillations in two-level donor systems, under terahertz excitation, are theoretically investigated. Here we are concerned with donor states in bulk GaAs and GaAs - (Ga, Al)As quantum dots. We study confinement effects, in the presence of an applied magnetic field, on the electronic and on-center donor states in GaAs - (Ga, Al)As dots, as compared to the situation in bulk GaAs, and estimate some of the associated decay rate parameters. Using the optical Bloch equations with damping, we study the time evolution of the 1s and 2p+ states in the presence of an applied magnetic field and of a terahertz laser. We also discuss the role played by the distinct dephasing rates on the photocurrent and calculate the electric dipole transition moment. Results indicate that the Rabi oscillations are more robust as the total dephasing rate diminishes, corresponding to a favorable coherence time.

Resumo em Inglês:

We present simulations of transport through highly transmitting open cavities within a lattice Green's function formalism. The qualitative relation between the line shape of the conductance and the symmetries of the corresponding scar wavefunctions is discussed. This system presents similar scar wavefunctions at different conductance plateaus. At the high plateau index limit the scars associated with bouncing ball classic orbits suffer a transition from accessible to quasi-unaccessible from outside the square billiard.

Resumo em Inglês:

Micron-sized spheres of mesoporous styrene-divinylbenzene (Sty-DVB) copolymer were produced by suspension polymerisation in the presence of inert diluents. Using these mesoporous microspheres as a template, optically stable CdS nanoparticles have been synthesized. To characterize these CdS nanoparticles, Raman spectroscopy and micro-photoluminescence were used. We have observed enhanced emission and lasing action at certain wavelengths that correspond to the whispering gallery (WG) modes of the microspheres. High optical stability and low threshold value make this optical system promising in microlaser applications.

Resumo em Inglês:

We calculated optical absorption coefficients for linear and monolayer arrays of ionized quantum dots (QD) of spherical or cylindrical shape with random dimensions and occupation numbers, obtained by Monte Carlo simulation. When submitted to an oscillating electric field each ionized QD behaves as a dipole and the interaction of them changes the form of the light absorption. The effect of the many electron system is considered by Density Functional Theory. The results obtained show a shift of the absorption peak to the right for increasing densities of QD's, whatever kind of shape or array of QD. Also absorption only, occurs when the electric field has a normal component to the array.

Resumo em Inglês:

Stationary states of an electron in thin GaAs elliptical quantum rings are calculated within the effective-mass approximation. The width of the ring varies smoothly along the centerline, which is an ellipse. The solutions of the Schrödinger equation with Dirichlet boundary conditions are approximated by a product of longitudinal and transversal wave functions. The ground-state probability density shows peaks: (i) where the curvature is larger in a constant-with ring, and (ii) in thicker parts of a circular ring. For rings of typical dimensions, it is shown that the effects of a varying width may be stronger than those of the varying curvature. Also, a width profile which compensates the main localization effects of the varying curvature is obtained.

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The energy spectrum and optical absorption of confined carriers in ellipsoidal CdSe quantum dots are calculated. Our model relies on the effective mass approximation and Fermi's golden rule for the electronic structure and optical properties, respectively. We demonstrate that the electronic structure and the interband optical absorption are highly dependent on the ellipsoid aspect ratio.

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We study the optical properties of carbon nanotubes within the single-band tight-binding approximation.The great number of one-dimensional-like subbands of the nanotubes lead to typical van Hove singularities on the local density of states. When a tube is under the influence of a laser beam, optical transitions are allowed between Van Hove singularities and they can be observed experimentally in absorption spectra. External magnetic and electric fields modify the energy spectrum of carbon nanotubes inducing changes on the optical phenomena at low frequencies. Results for the inter-band absorption coefficient are shown for nanotubes under an additional external electrostatic potential for parallel light polarization. This is an important problem to understand since low energy laser beams are being used to identify the chirality and diameter of the tubes and their electronic character.

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Phonon-induced spin relaxation rates and electron g-factor tuning of quantum dots are studied as function of in-plane and perpendicular magnetic fields for different dot sizes. We consider Rashba and Dresselhaus spin-orbit mixing in wide and narrow-gap semiconductors, and show how Zeeman sublevels can relax via piezoelectric (GaAs) and deformation (InSb) potential coupling to acoustic phonons. We find that strong confinement may induce minima in the rates at particular values of the magnetic field (due to a magnetic field-induced cancellation of the spin-orbit effects), where spin relaxation times can reach seconds. We also report on g-factor anisotropy. We obtain good agreement with available experimental values.

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Electronic band-edge structure and optical properties of Si1-xGe x are investigated theoretically emloying a full-potential linearized augmented plane wave (FPLAPW) method. The exchange-correlation potential in the local density approximation (LDA) is corrected by an on-site Coulomb potential (i.e., within the LDA+U SIC approach) acting asymmetrically on the atomic-like orbitals in the muffin-tin spheres. The electronic structure of the Si1-xGe x is calculated self-consistently, assuming a Td symmetrized Hamiltonian and a linear behavior of the valence-band eigenfunctions for Si, SiGe, and Ge with respect to Ge composition x, assuming randomly alloyed crystal structure. i.e., a "virtual-crystal like" approximation (VCA). We show that this approach yields accurate band-gap energies, effective masses, dielectric function, and optical properties of Si1-xGe x. We perform absorption measurements showing the band-gap energy for x < 0.25.

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In this work optical and semiconductor characteristics of gallium oxide based thin films are studied. This material has important electro-optic applications and offers possibilities for semiconductor applications in heavy metal oxide semiconductor technology. In this study thin films of PbO-Bi2O3-Ga2O3 were deposited by reactive sputtering. Two targets with different concentrations of Nd2O3 (0.2 and 1.0 wt%) were prepared. Thin films were deposited by pure Ar plasma, at 5 mTorr pressure and RF power of only 20 W. Films were deposited on three inch diameter substrates of (100) silicon wafers. Optical UV-Vis-Nir transmittance and FTIR analyses showed that the films are transparent in the visible and middle infrared region of the electromagnetic spectrum. The refractive index of the films was of about 2.3, as measured by ellipsometry; Rutherford Backscattering Spectroscopy (RBS) analyses were employed for the compositional analysis of the films. For the electrical characterization it was used metallic electrodes, and the final structure obtained is a capacitor structure where the gallium oxide film plays the role of a dielectric. In the current versus voltage (IxV) analyses, the samples with 1.0 wt% of Nd2O3 show semiconductor characteristics similar to the ones obtained for the degenerated transistors. The electric characteristics of these films allow applications with electro-optic devices (phototransistors and photo detectors).

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We study organic microcavities in the strong coupling regime. The cavity exciton-polariton dispersion relations and quantum states are derived in using a microscopic theory. We consider the two cases of anisotropic organic crystals with one and two molecules per unit cell. In general, the cavity exciton-polaritons are a coherent superposition of both cavity mode polarizations and of both Davydov exciton branches. The obtained polarization mixing is in contrast to the case of typical inorganic semiconductor cavities in which no mixing between the TM and TE polarizations occurs. By applying the quasi-mode approximation, we derive the transmission, reflection, and absorption coefficients for high quality organic cavities.

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Recent studies suggest that base pairing is an efficient electronic delocalization mechanism. However, defects may break down such effect. In the present work we show how a simple model of defects suppresses the delocalization, which survives only for low defect concentrations.

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A study of ultraviolet and visible Raman spectroscopy was made in amorphous carbon nitride (a-C:Nx) and amorphous hydrogenated carbon nitride (a-C:Nx:H) thin films. Two growth techniques were used: 1) glow discharge was used for depositing hydrogenated films with diamond-like (at -200V of bias) and graphite-like (-800V of bias) structure and 2) ion beam assisted deposition (IBAD) to deposit non-hydrogenated films and to obtain high nitrogen concentrations (~30%). The difference in energy between the visible and UV Raman, the so called G dispersion parameter, was investigated for both series of films. This parameter brings additional information concerning the structure of the films regarding size and concentration of graphitic clusters, and qualitative information on the sp²/sp³ concentration. The characterization of the structural properties in these films indicates an increase of graphite clusters with the incorporation of nitrogen.

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As device dimensions shrink to the deep-submicron scale, new challenges arises from the very small scale used and even poly crystalline silicon (poly-Si) presents problems as gate electrode. The use of SiGe as gate material can present many advantages over the poly-Si, as it leads to a lower boron penetration and gate depletion. In this paper authors present some morphological studies of polycrystalline SiGe thin films deposited in a vertical LPCVD (Low Pressure Chemical Vapor Deposition) reactor for using as MOS (Metal Oxide Semiconductor) gate electrode.

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A systematic study of the zinc-blende-type 4d-transition-metal nitrides, which still need to be synthesized, is carried out by means of spin-polarized first-principles full-potential-linearized-augmented-plane- wave calculations using the local spin density approximation. In particular, lattice constants, bulk moduli, band structures and density of states are reported, and trends are discussed.

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PbTe mesa diodes were fabricated from a series of p - n junctions grown on BaF2 substrates. For this series, the hole concentration was kept constant at 10(17) cm-3 and the electron concentration varied between 10(17) and 10(19) cm-3. Capacitance versus voltage analysis revealed that for n > 10(18) cm-3, a one-sided abrupt junction is formed. The direct and reverse branches of the current versus voltage curves exhibited different forms among the diodes. The R0A product varied between 0.23 and 31.8 omegacm², and the integral detectivity ranged from 1.1x10(8) to 6.5x10(10) cmHz½W-1. The performance of the best PbTe photodiodes fabricated here is comparable to the commercial InSb and HgCdTe infrared detectors, and to the PbTe sensors grown on Si substrate.

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Extended gate field-effect transistor (EGFET) is a device composed of a conventional ion-sensitive electrode and a MOSFET device, which can be applied to the measurement of ion content in a solution. This structure has a lot of advantages as compared to the Ion- Sensitive Field Effect Transistor (ISFET). In this work, we constructed an EGFET by connecting the sensing structure fabricated with SnO2 to a commercial MOSFET (CD4007UB). From the numerical simulation of site binding model it is possible to determine some of the desirable characteristics of the films. We investigate and compare SnO2 films prepared using both the Sol-gel and the Pechini methods. The aim is an amorphous material for the EGFET. The SnO2 powder was obtained at different calcinating temperatures (200 - 500ºC) and they were investigated by X-ray diffraction (XRD), infrared spectroscopy (IR), thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) and differential thermal analysis (DTA). The films were investigated as pH sensors (range 2-11).

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We have investigated the electron and hole spin dynamics in p-doped semiconductor InAs/GaAs quantum dots by time resolved photoluminescence. We observe a decay of the average electron spin polarisation down to 1/3 of its initial value with a characteristic time of T<FONT FACE=Symbol>D »</FONT> 500ps. We attribute this decay to the hyperfine interaction of the electron spin with randomly orientated nuclear spins. Magnetic field dependent studies reveal that this efficient spin relaxation mechanism can be suppressed by a field of the order of 100mT. In pump-probe like experiments we demonstrate that the resident hole spin, "written" with a first pulse, remains stable long enough to be "read" 15ns later with a second pulse.

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We report observation of the Hall slope change in wide Al cGa1-cAs parabolic wells in the presence of a quasi-parallel magnetic field. Above the critical magnetic field B > 4T, the Hall resistance becomes temperature dependent and can be described by equation Rxy/costheta ~ (B-B0)/en s, where n s is the electron density, B0=2-2.6 T and theta is the angle between magnetic field and the normal to the well plane. The effect strongly depends on the electron density; it is observed only in parabolic wells, which are almost completely filled by electrons. We attribute the Hall slope change to the unusual behaviour of the effective g factor in such parabolic well, which depends on the Al composition and changes the sign along the well width.

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A double barrier resonant tunneling device in which the well is made of a semi-magnetic material can work as an efficient spin filter. Today it is possible to make semiconductors that are ferromagnetic at room temperature. Therefore the device studied here has a great potential to be used as a polarizer, an analyzer and other spintronic applications. We discuss here the case of a Ga1-xMn xAs/Ga1-yAl yAs system because it can be integrated into the well known AlGaAs/GaAs technology. Our tight-binding Hamiltonian includes the kinetic energy, the double-barrier profile, the electric field, the magnetic term, the hole-impurity and the hole-hole interactions. The profile and the charge distribution are calculated self-consistently. In previous works we studied this system by solving the Hamiltonian in the reciprocal space, in order to simplify the treatment of the Poisson equation for the charge distribution. Here we introduce a simple one dimensional Green function that permits to solve all terms in the real space. Besides, a real space renormalization formalism is used to calculate exactly the electronic currents for each spin polarization. The results confirm that the proposed system is a good device for spintronics.

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We report optical and morphological properties of poly(2-methoxy-5-hexyloxy-p-phenylenevinylene) (OC1OC6-PPV) films processed by casting, spin-coating (SC) and Langmuir-Blodgett (LB) techniques. The absorption spectra are practically the same, with an absorption maximum at approximately at 500 nm. For the photoluminescence (PL) spectra at low temperature (T=10K), a small but significant difference was noted in the cast film, in comparison with the LB and SC films. The zero-phonon transition shifted from 609 nm for the LB film to 615 and 621 nm for the SC and cast films, respectively. At room temperature, the PL spectra are similar for all films, and blue shifted by ca. 25 nm in comparison with the spectra at low temperature due to thermal disorder. Using atomic force microscopy (AFM) we inferred that the distinctive behavior of the cast film, probably associated with structural defects, is related to the large thickness of this film. The surface roughness, which was surprisingly higher for the LB film, apparently played no role in the emission properties of OC1OC6-PPV films.

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We report a study of a new chemical synthetic route of polystyrene sulphonate (PSS) films doped with neodymium ion (Nd+3) from a neodymium nitrate solution. The UV-Vis-NIR spectrum presents an intense characteristic electronic transition at 800 nm and the infrared spectrum presents low definition bands as a result of Nd3+ coordination with PSS molecule. Additionally, the spectrum of Nd-PSS film presents the same line shape profile of Nd3+ salt in aqueous solution. Selective luminescence spectroscopy measures shows that the incorporation of neodymium ion introduces a red shift bands and a better line shape definition in UV luminescence compared to PSS film, decreasing the interaction between PSS aromatic groups. The near-infrared emission was observed in the large spectrum region from 600 to 800 nm; it is associated with the Nd3+ complex of PSS monomer.

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We have calculated the vibrational modes and frequencies of the crystalline PPP (in both the Pbam and Pnnm symmetries) and PPV (in the P2(1)/c symmetry). Our results are in good agreement with the available experimental data. Also, we have calculated the temperature dependence of their specific heats at constant volume, and of their vibrational entropies. Based on our results, at high temperatures, the PPP is more stable in the Pnnm structure than in the Pbam one.