National Institute Of Materials Physics - Romania

We present a method for processing hydroxyapatite (HA) thin films on Ti-5Al-2.5Fe substrates. The films were grown by pulsed laser deposition (PLD) in vacuum at room temperature, using a KrFdouble dagger excimer laser. The amorphous as-deposited HA films were recrystallized in ambient air by a thermal treatment at 550 degreesC. The best results have been obtained when inserting a buffer layer of ceramic materials (TiN, ZrO2 or Al2O3) The films were characterized by complementary techniques: grazing incidence X-ray diffraction (GIXRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), cross-section transmission electron microscopy (XTEM), SAED, energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS) and nanoindentation. The samples with buffer interlayer preserve the stoichiometry are completely recrystallized and present better mechanical characteristics as compared with that without buffer interlayer. (C) 2000 Published by Elsevier Science B.V.

The changes produced by anodic and natural oxidation upon the trap parameters in nanocrystalline porous silicon were compared. To put them in evidence, we used optical charging spectroscopy The same trapping It levels (with the same activation energies) were observed after both oxidation processes. In comparison with flesh samples, a new trapping level (the deepest one) appears and the concentrations of the surface traps strongly diminish.

The distribution of Ge islands is analysed in order to understand their optical behaviour. The Ce islands described in this paper were deposited by low-pressure chemical vapour deposition at relatively high temperature (700 degrees C), therefore the diffusion length of adatoms is high (similar to 100 mu m) and thus, not the limiting factor for nucleation. By changing the deposition time and the coverage, square-based pyramids, domes and relaxed domes are nucleated. Mainly domes emit light, the emission being in the wavelength range 1.38-1.55 mu m. When pyramids or relaxed domes are present, the photoluminescence broadens and decreases in intensity. The electroluminescence of vertically correlated islands increases with the number of layers, i.e. with the number of islands. The nucleation of islands on patterned (001) Si is changed when the deposition is performed on Si mesas with high index facets. The size distribution becomes narrower when the mesa size is decreased. An intermixing of up Bo 40% Si in the 2D layer was determined from photoluminescence data. PIN diodes fabricated on patterned wafers show an area-dependent electroluminecence related to a different microstructure of islands on large and small mesas. Finally, the lateral ordering on {hkl} facets is discussed.

The influence of the mesa size on the structural and luminescence properties of Ge island layers deposited by low-pressure chemical vapour deposition was studied. Diode structures containing one Ge island layer were grown selectively on patterned wafers with variable area. The analysis shows that the electroluminescence spectra could be separated into three contributions lying at low-, medium and high-energy positions, respectively. The absolute peak intensity of each signal depends on the mesa size and on the injected current density. The signal at the low-energy position was assigned to an effect due to the facets of the diodes; the two other signals originate from islands on the (001) plane having different Si contents or strain states on the (001) plane.

The presence and concentration of nitrogen and hydrogen impurities in thick diamond films grown by microwave plasma chemical vapor deposition at various H-2 gas flow rates, keeping a constant [CH4]:[H-2]=2.5% concentration ratio, have been determined by electron spin resonance and optical absorption spectroscopy. The relative concentration of both impurities, present as paramagnetic atomic species with different relaxation properties, has been found by ESR measurements to decrease exponentially with the increase in the H-2 gas flow rate. Moreover, the resulting values were proportional to the content of substitutional nitrogen and CHx groups obtained from infrared and ultraviolet-visible optical absorption measurements, respectively. The decrease in the concentration of both impurities with an increase in the quality of the studied diamond films, early observed from high resolution electron microscopy studies on the same samples, strongly suggests that the incorporation of both impurities, as paramagnetic atomic species, is directly related to the concentration of the extended lattice defects. (C) 2000 American Institute of Physics. [S0021- 8979(00)08611-4].

Trapping levels in fresh (one month) and naturally aged (one year) nanocrystalline porous silicon have been investigated using the optical charging spectroscopy method. Four significant maxima and/or shoulders were observed for fresh samples and five for aged ones. They have been attributed to five and six trapping levels, respectively. The trapping centers corresponding to the most shallow four levels are situated at or nearby the internal surface of the porous silicon films. (C) 2000 American Institute of Physics. [S0003-6951(00)01621-1].

The a-Si:H p-i-n photovoltaic cells photosensitized with an organic layer of 5,10,15,20-tetra (4-pyrydil) 21H,23H porphine (TPyP) have been prepared. The action spectrum of these cells was extended by approximately 30 nm to longer wavelengths, with respect to non-sensitized cells. The presence of the organic layer gives some modifications in the electrical and photovoltaic behavior of the cells, that is why an analysis of dark current-voltage characteristics of the cells at room temperature, is also presented. (C) 2000 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.

In this article we study the electroluminescence of p-i-n diode structures with Ge dots consisting of coherent three-dimensional small (pyramids) and larger (dome) islands. The Ge dots are formed through strain-induced islanding. The diode structures, including one layer with Ge dots, were deposited on Si mesas with variable areas in order to study the influence of limited area deposition on self-assembling. It was observed that the reduction of deposited area improves island uniformity. The combined analysis of island distribution and electroluminescence spectra has lead to the conclusion that domes in small diodes have a smaller Si content or are less relaxed than domes in larger diodes. The diodes are found to emit up to room temperature near the optical communication wavelength of 1.3 microns. (C) 2000 American Institute of Physics. [S0021-8979(00)04610-7].

A correlated ESR and optical emission study on samples doped with different concentrations of Tl+ impurity ions shows the involvement of paramagnetic Pb-2(3+) self-trapped electron centers (STEL) and trapped hole A centers in the electron-hole recombination responsible for the 2.6 eV blue-green luminescence. (C) 2000 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.

The morphology and structure of a La0.6Y0.07Ca0.33MnO3 thin film is studied by transmission electron microscopy. The film was grown by pulsed laser deposition (PLD) on an MgO-buffered silicon <100> wafer. The as-deposited films are polycrystalline and show a columnar morphology. We present a detailed high-resolution transmission electron microscopy structural study concerning a possible monoclinic distortion of the orthorhombic LYCMO crystal cell. (Received February 22, 2000; accepted March 10, 2000).