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Full-Text Articles in Physics

Electrical And Optical Characterization Of Si-Ge-Sn, Merle D. Hamilton Mar 2012

Electrical And Optical Characterization Of Si-Ge-Sn, Merle D. Hamilton

Theses and Dissertations

The electrical characterization of boron-doped p-Si0.08Ge0.90Sn0.02/p-Ge(100) and p-Si0.112Ge0.86Sn0.028/n-Si(100) with various epilayer thicknesses was measured using the Hall effect. The room temperature sheet carrier concentration ranged from 1.21 x 1013 – 1.32 x 1016 cm-2. The room temperature mobilities were measured to be between 166 and 717 cm2/V·s, depending on sample composition. In the low temperature regime, the mobility was mainly affected by ionized impurity scattering. In the high temperature regime, the mobility was mainly affected by …


Investigation Of Yag:Ce Scintillating Fiber Properties Using Silicon Photomultipliers, Bradley S. Jones Mar 2011

Investigation Of Yag:Ce Scintillating Fiber Properties Using Silicon Photomultipliers, Bradley S. Jones

Theses and Dissertations

The properties of thin, cerium activated, yttrium aluminum garnet (YAG:Ce), scintillating fiber-shaped crystals were investigated for particle tracking and calorimetric applications such as Compton imaging of Special Nuclear Material from remote platforms at standoff ranges. Silicon photomultipliers (SiPMs) are relatively new, efficient, single photon sensitive, solid-state photodiode arrays which are well suited for the readout of scintillating fibers. Using SiPMs, the scintillation decay time profiles of six 400 micrometers YAG:Ce fiber crystals were measured under alpha and gamma irradiation. Interestingly, the observed decay times in the thin fibers were substantially slower than values for bulk single crystal YAG:Ce reported in …


Ultrafast Spectroscopy Of Mid-Infrared Semiconductors Using The Signal And Idler Beams Of A Synchronous Optical Parametric Oscillator, Richard M. Derbis Mar 2008

Ultrafast Spectroscopy Of Mid-Infrared Semiconductors Using The Signal And Idler Beams Of A Synchronous Optical Parametric Oscillator, Richard M. Derbis

Theses and Dissertations

Mid-Wave Infrared (MWIR) semiconductors are of use to the Air Force for several applications. Ultrafast spectroscopy can be used to better quantify the effectiveness of semiconductor opto-electronic devices. The objective of this thesis was to improve the procedure for taking ultrafast, time-resolved measurements of photoluminescence from MWIR semiconductors. Previous work has used a mode-locked titanium sapphire (Ti:Saph) laser to excite the semiconductor sample and to upconvert the photoluminescence from the semiconductor. Work completed in this thesis improved on the techniques developed during previous work. A synchronous Optical Parameter Oscillator (OPO) will be used to convert the Ti:Saph laser (0.830 µm) …


Limitations In Time Resolved Photoluminescence Of Gallium Nitride Using A Streak Camera, Thomas R. Jost Mar 2005

Limitations In Time Resolved Photoluminescence Of Gallium Nitride Using A Streak Camera, Thomas R. Jost

Theses and Dissertations

Semiconductor performance is often characterized in terms of the rate at which its carrier recombination processes occur. Carrier recombination, including radiative, and Shockley-Read-Hall and Auger (both nonradiative), occurs at ultra-fast times in the picosecond or femtosecond regimes. A device which can measure both spectral data and temporal phenomena at this speed is the streak camera. The capability to do time-resolved spectroscopy of wide band gap semiconductors using a streak camera has been established at AFIT for the first time. Time resolved photoluminescence (TRPL) from samples of gallium nitride were measured at temperatures of 5 K over spectral bands of 36.6 …


Optical Characterization And Modeling Of Compositionally Matched Indium Arsenide-Antimonide Bulk And Multiple Quantum Well Semiconductors, Scott C. Phillips Mar 2004

Optical Characterization And Modeling Of Compositionally Matched Indium Arsenide-Antimonide Bulk And Multiple Quantum Well Semiconductors, Scott C. Phillips

Theses and Dissertations

Indium arsenide-antimonide (InAsSb) semiconductors have been determined to emit in the 3-5 micrometer range, the window of interest for countermeasures against infrared electro-optical threats. This experiment set out to cross the bulk to quantum well characterization barrier by optically characterizing two sets of compositionally matched type I quantum well and bulk well material samples. Absorption measurements determined the band gap energy of the bulk samples and the first allowed subband transition for the quantum wells. By collecting absorption spectra at different temperatures, the trend of the energy transitions was described by fitting a Varshni equation to them. The expected result …


Building Blocks For Time-Resolved Laser Emission In Mid-Infrared Quantum Well Lasers, Gabriel D. Mounce Mar 2003

Building Blocks For Time-Resolved Laser Emission In Mid-Infrared Quantum Well Lasers, Gabriel D. Mounce

Theses and Dissertations

The objective of this research is to improve the performance of mid-infrared semiconductor quantum-well lasers. Lasers operating in the mid-infrared are useful for many Air Force applications which include infrared (IR) countermeasures in particular. Countermeasure applications require lasers that are compact, and able to emit at high powers while operating at room temperature. Limits to power increases are seen in the transverse modal development of laser oscillation. These modes typically form in the waveguiding active region contributing to the laser output. However, competing modes outside of this region also develop when the confining structural layers have the right characteristics. These …


Time-Resolved Photoluminescence Of Inas/Gainsb Quantum Well Lasers, Michael R. Mckay Jun 2001

Time-Resolved Photoluminescence Of Inas/Gainsb Quantum Well Lasers, Michael R. Mckay

Theses and Dissertations

In the world of semiconductor photonic device fabrication, one important objective may be to extract as much light as possible from the device. In these devices, photons are created when electrons recombine with holes by transitioning from a high-energy state to a lower one. Unfortunately, electron-hole recombination does not always result in the formation of a photon. There are three basic types of recombination: the first results in the formation of a photon and is called radiative recombination; and the second and third, known as Shockley-Read-Hall and Auger recombination, result in the heating of the device and do not produce …


Photoluminescence Of Single Quantum Well Structures In Gallium Arsenide, Christian A. Bartholomew Mar 2001

Photoluminescence Of Single Quantum Well Structures In Gallium Arsenide, Christian A. Bartholomew

Theses and Dissertations

The continued development of state-of the-art semiconductor technologies and devices by the United States Air Force and the Department of Defense requires accurate and efficient techniques to evaluate and model these new materials. Of particular interest to the Air Force are quantum well structures which can be used for small-scale laser sources in fly-by-light applications, as efficient infrared countermeasures to heat-seeking missiles, or as advanced seekers in optically guided missiles. This thesis provides the initial experimental procedures and data necessary to begin producing accurate yet robust models. Although carrier effective masses could not be evaluated using hot-electron photoluminescence, photoluminescence excitation …


Photoluminescence Study Of Gan Implanted With Erbium And Erbium-Oxygen, Lori R. Everitt Dec 1997

Photoluminescence Study Of Gan Implanted With Erbium And Erbium-Oxygen, Lori R. Everitt

Theses and Dissertations

Erbium emits at 1540 nm, which propagates well through fiber optic cables. This work studies the photoluminescence (PL) from GaN, GaN implanted with Er alone, and GaN implanted with both Er and O as functions of excitation laser energy and sample temperature. When the exciton bound to a neutral donor recombined, a photon was emitted at 3.47 eV. A photon emitted at 3.457 eV may have been evidence of the recombination of an exciton bound to a neutral acceptor. Second, the Er-ion transitions were observed in two groups around 0.805 and 1.25 eV. The PL intensity was measured at four …


Time Resolved Photoluminescence Spectra Of A Mid-Infrared Multiple Quantum Well Semiconductor Laser, Anthony L. Franz Dec 1997

Time Resolved Photoluminescence Spectra Of A Mid-Infrared Multiple Quantum Well Semiconductor Laser, Anthony L. Franz

Theses and Dissertations

Recombination mechanisms in mid-IR semiconductor lasers are strongly dependent on the carrier density of the active region. The objective of this research is to improve previous carrier density estimates through the incorporation of spectral information. One hundred photoluminescence (PL) spectra were calculated for a variety of carrier densities. Calculations were made for an InAsSb/InAlAsSb multiple quantum well laser sample assuming parabolic bands. The widths of the calculated spectral profiles were tabulated as a function of carrier density. Actual spectra were measured using the Ultrafast Mid-Infrared Photoluminescence System, which uses upconversion to measure the PL intensity in time steps smaller than …


Photoluminescence And Electroluminescence Of Erbium And Neodymium Implanted Semiconductors, James R. Hunter Dec 1995

Photoluminescence And Electroluminescence Of Erbium And Neodymium Implanted Semiconductors, James R. Hunter

Theses and Dissertations

Low temperature photoluminescence (PL) and electroluminescence (EL) measurements were used to study the excitation of erbium- and neodymium-implanted GaAs and AlxGa1-xAs (x=0. 1, 0.3) pn-junctions. The rare-earth (RE) emissions were investigated as a function of ion dose, aluminum mole fraction, laser excitation power, and applied forward bias voltage for the implanted samples. Low temperature PL was also measured from Er doped silicon grown by the metalorganic chemical vapor-phase deposition (MOCVD) method using various growth parameters.. The MOCVD-grown Si samples were studied as a function of metalorganic source temperature, silane (SiH4) flow, growth time, and …


The Optical Emission And Absorption Properties Of Silicon-Germanium Superlattice Structures Grown On Non-Conventional Silicon Substrate Orientation, Theodore L. Kreifels Aug 1994

The Optical Emission And Absorption Properties Of Silicon-Germanium Superlattice Structures Grown On Non-Conventional Silicon Substrate Orientation, Theodore L. Kreifels

Theses and Dissertations

Optical emission and absorption properties of Si1-x Gex/Si superlattices grown on (100), (110), and (111) Si substrates were investigated to determine the optimal growth conditions for these structures to be used as infrared detectors. Fully-strained Si1-x Gex/Si superlattices were grown by molecular beam epitaxy MBE and examined using low-temperature photoluminescence PL to identify no-phonon and phonon-replica interband transitions across the alloy bandgap. Phonon-resolved emission was most intense for undoped quantum wells grown at 710°C for all three silicon orientations. Room temperature absorption measurements were conducted on (100) and (110) Si1-x Gex/Si …


The Excitation Mechanism Of Praseodymium-Doped Semiconductors, Paul L. Thee Jun 1994

The Excitation Mechanism Of Praseodymium-Doped Semiconductors, Paul L. Thee

Theses and Dissertations

This study on praseodymium Pr luminescence in AlxGa1-xAs was conducted to enhance the understanding of the excitation mechanism. Pr was implanted at 390 keV with doses from 5 x 1012 to 5 x 1013 sq cm into AlxGa1-xAs x0.0 to 0.50 wafers which were annealed using the rapid thermal annealing RTA method. Low temperature photoluminescence PL was conducted using an Ar-ion laser and Ge detector. PL emissions of Pr from all hosts include peaks near 1.3 and 1.6 µm which are assigned to the intra-4f transitions of 1G4 yielding 3H5 …