81.15.Hi Molecular, atomic, ion, and chemical beam epitaxy
Refine
Has Fulltext
- yes (6)
Is part of the Bibliography
- yes (6)
Document Type
- Doctoral Thesis (6)
Language
- English (6) (remove)
Keywords
- Molekularstrahlepitaxie (6) (remove)
Institute
The present thesis studies the (Ga,Mn)As material in terms of optimization of very thin (4 nm) (Ga,Mn)As layers, epitaxially fabricated by the molecular beam epitaxy (MBE) technology. First of all, the ferromagnetic semiconductor (Ga,Mn)As with its structural, magnetic and electrical properties is introduced. The influences of point defects, interface and surface effects on bulk and thin (Ga,Mn)As layers are discussed by simplified self-consistent band alignment calculations. The experimental part is divided in three blocks: The first part studies the influence of epitaxial growth parameter conditions on electrical and magnetic properties of bulk (70 nm) (Ga,Mn)As layers. The second part introduces an alternative, parabolical Mn doping-profile instead of a 4 nm layer with a homogeneous Mn doping-profile. Improved properties of the parabolic layer have been observed as well as comparable magnetic and electrical properties to bulk (Ga,Mn)As layers, both with a Mn content of 4%. MBE growth parameters for the (Ga,Mn)As layers with a parabolically graded Mn profile and lowered nominal Mn content of 2.5% have been investigated. A narrow growth window has been found in which low-temperature (LT) layer properties are improved. The last part of this thesis presents an application of magnetic anisotropy control of a bulk (Ga,Mn)As layer.
The present thesis deals with the fabrication, optimization of growth process and characterization of silicon based materials with molecular beam epitaxy. Two material systems are investigated in the course of this work: silicon/silicon suboxide multilayer structures and mono manganese silicide thin films. Mono manganese silicide (MnSi) is grown on Si(111) substrates with an hydrogen passivated surface, that is prepared by wet chemical processes. The growth start is performed by deposition of an amorphous Mn wetting layer that is subsequently annealed to form a MnSi seed layer on which the MnSi molecular beam epitaxy (MBE) is achieved. An amorphous or a crystalline Si cap layer is deposited onto the MnSi film to finalize the growth process and protect the sample from oxidation. With Raman spectroscopy it is shown that the crystalline cap layer is in fact single crystalline silicon. Results of x-ray diffraction and Raman spectroscopy confirm the growth of mono manganese silicide in contrast to other existing manganese silicide phases. In addition, in-plane and out-of-plane residual strain, and twinning of the MnSi thin film is detected with x-ray diffraction of symmetric and asymmetric reflections. Orientation between the Si substrate and the MnSi film is determined with the parallel lattice planes MnSi(210) and Si(511). Transport measurements show a T^2 dependence of the resistivity below 30K and metallic behavior above, a magneto resistance of 0.9% and an unusual memory like effect of the resistance for an in-plane magnetic field sweep measurement. Silicon/Silicon suboxide (SiOx) multilayer structures are grown on Si(100) by interrupting the Si growth and oxidizing the surface with molecular oxygen. During oxidation the RHEED pattern changes from the Si(2x1) reconstruction to an amorphous pattern. When silicon growth is resumed a spotty RHEED pattern emerges, indicating a rough, three dimensional surface. The rough surface can be smoothed out with Si growth at substrate temperatures between 600°C and 700°C. Measurements with transmission electron microscopy show that a silicon suboxide layer of about 1nm embedded in single crystalline silicon is formed with the procedure. Multilayer structures are achieved by repeating the oxidation procedure when the Si spacer layer has a smooth and flat surface. The oxygen content of the suboxide layers can be varied between 7.6% and 26.8%, as determined with secondary ion mass spectrometry and custom-built simulations models for the x-ray diffraction. Structural stability of the multilayer structures is investigated by x-ray diffraction before and after rapid thermal annealing. For temperatures up to 1000°C the multilayer structures show no modification of the SiOx layer in x-ray diffraction.
In this work the epitaxial growth and characterization of the half-metallic ferromagnet NiMnSb was presented. NiMnSb crystallizes in the C1b structure which is similar to the zinc blende structure from widely used III-V semiconductors. One special property of NiMnSb is the theoretical 100% spin-polarization at the Fermi edge. This makes it a perfect candidate for spintronic experiments and the material of choice for building novel spintronic devices. Another important topic in this work were the magnetic properties of NiMnSb, especially the low magnetic damping of the grown thin films. All grown layers were fabricated with the technique of MBE. The layer stacks for all different experiments and devices were grown on InP substrate in (001) or (111)B orientation. Before the NiMnSb layer a buffer layer of undoped (In,Ga)As was grown. Additional for some samples on InP(111)B, a Si doped (In,Ga)As layer was grown on top of the undoped (In,Ga)As layer. The dopant concentration of this n-doped layer was determined by ETCH-CV. All layers were investigated by structural and the NiMnSb layer additional by magnetic properties. For the structural investigation the in-situ technique RHEED and ex-situ tool HRXRD were used. RHEED observations showed a good quality of the grown buffer and half-metallic ferromagnet layers on both orientations. These results were strengthened by the HRXRD measurement. The vertical lattice constant could be determined. The received value of a(NiMnSb_vertical) = 5.925 Å for NiMnSb on InP(001) is in good agreement to the value a(NiMnSb_Lit) = 5.903 Å found in literature [Cas55]. For NiMnSb on InP(111)B a vertical lattice constant of a(NiMnSb_vertikal) = 6.017 Å could be determined. The horizontal lattice constant of the buffer and the half-metallic ferromagnet layer could be determined as the same of the substrate. For NiMnSb this conclusion is only valid up to a thickness of ≈40nm. To increase this maximum thickness, NiMnSb samples were grown on InP(001) substrates and capped with Ti/Au layers. Afterwards a reciprocal space map of the (533) reflex was drawn with GIXRD at the synchrotron beamline BW2 of HASYLAB [Kum07]. It has been shown that the critical thickness is more than doubled by depositing a Ti/Au capping directly after growth of NiMnSb without breaking the ultrahigh vacuum (UHV). The magnetic properties were determined with FMR experiments and SQUID measurements. The received magnetic damping parameter α from a 40nm thick NiMnSb layer on InP(001) could be determined to 3.19e−3 along [1-10]. The resulting line width of our NiMnSb layers on InP(001) is more than 4.88 times smaller than measured before [Hei04]. Another result is the direction dependence of the damping. It has been measured that the difference of the damping is changed by more than 42% when rotating the applied field by 45° from [1-10] to [100].With SQUID we measured a saturation magnetization of a 40nm thick NiMnSb layer as 4µB. NiMnSb layers on InP(111)B substrate where also measured with FMR with a surprising result. These layers not only showed a decreasing in the anisotropy field with increasing thickness but also an uniaxial anisotropy. This behaviour can be explained with defects on these samples. With an AFM triangle-like defects were measured. These defects originated from the buffer layer and influenced the magnetic properties. Another part of this work is dedicated to the behaviour of NiMnSb at temperatures around 80K. With our samples, no phase transition can be observed in the data of the Hall, anomalous Hall term and resistivity. The last part of this work discusses different spintronic devices build with our NiMnSb layers. In a first device the magnetization acts on the current. This Giant Magneto Resistance (GMR) device consisted of InP:S(001) - 180nm undoped (In,Ga)As - 40nm NiMnSb - 10nm Cu - 6nm NiFe - 10nm Ru in current perpendicular to plane (CPP) geometry. We received a Magneto-Resistance-Ratio of 3.4%. In a second device the current acts on the magnetization and makes use of the spin torque phenomena. This so called Spin Torque Oscillator (STO) emitted frequencies in the GHz range (13.94GHz - 14.1GHz). The last fabricated device is based on the magnetic vortex phenomena. For switching the core polarity the gyrotropic frequencies f + = 254MHz f − = 217MHz and a total static magnetic field of only mµ0H = 65mT were necessary. The reversal efficiency has been determined as better than 99% [Lou09].
The present thesis is concerned with molecular beam epitaxy of magnetite (Fe3O4) thin films on semiconducting substrates and the characterization of their structural, chemical, electronic, and magnetic properties. Magnetite films could successfully be grown on ZnO substrates with high structural quality and atomically abrupt interfaces. The films are structurally almost completely relaxed exhibiting nearly the same in-plane and out-of-plane lattice constants as in the bulk material. Films are phase-pure and show only small deviations from the ideal stoichiometry at the surface and in some cases at the interface. Growth proceeds via wetting layer plus island mode and results in a domain structure of the films. Upon coalescence of growing islands twin-boundaries (rotational twinning) and anti-phase boundaries are formed. The overall magnetization is nearly bulk-like, but shows a slower approach to saturation, which can be ascribed to the reduced magnetization at anti-phase boundaries. However, the surface magnetization which was probed by x-ray magnetic circular dichroism was significantly decreased and is ascribed to a magnetically inactive layer at the surface. Such a reduced surface magnetization was also observed for films grown on InAs and GaAs. Magnetite could also be grown with nearly ideal iron-oxygen stoichiometry on InAs substrates. However, interfacial reactions of InAs with oxygen occur and result in arsenic oxides and indium enrichment. The grown films are of polycrystalline nature. For the fabrication of Fe3O4/GaAs films, a postoxidation of epitaxial Fe films on GaAs was applied. Growth proceeds by a transformation of the topmost Fe layers into magnetite. Depending on specific growth conditions, an Fe layer of different thickness remains at the interface. The structural properties are improved in comparison with films on InAs, and the resulting films are well oriented along [001] in growth direction. The magnetic properties are influenced by the presence of the Fe interface layer as well. The saturation magnetization is increased and the approach to saturation is faster than for films on the other substrates. We argue that this is connected to a decreased density of anti-phase boundaries because of the special growth method. Interface phases, viz. arsenic and gallium oxides, are quantified and different growth conditions are compared with respect to the interface composition.
This work studies the fundamental connection between lattice strain and magnetic anisotropy in the ferromagnetic semiconductor (Ga,Mn)As. The first chapters provide a general introduction into the material system and a detailed description of the growth process by molecular beam epitaxy. A finite element simulation formalism is developed to model the strain distribution in (Ga,Mn)As nanostructures is introduced and its predictions verified by high-resolution x-ray diffraction methods. The influence of lattice strain on the magnetic anisotropy is explained by an magnetostatic model. A possible device application is described in the closing chapter.
Shadow Mask assisted Molecular Beam Epitaxy (SMMBE) is a technique enabling selected area epitaxy of semiconductor heterostructures through shadow masks. The objective of this work was the development of the SMMBE technique for the reliable fabrication of compound semiconductor nanostructures of high structural and optical quality. In order to accomplish this, technological processes have been developed and optimized. This, in combination with model calculations of the basic kinetic growth processes has enabled the fabrication of high quality quantum structures. A high spatial precision and control of the incidence regions of the molecular beams during the SMMBE process are required for the fabrication of nanostructures. One of the technological developments to this effect, which has substantially enhanced the versatility of SMMBE, is the introduction of a new type of freestanding shadow masks: Growth through such a mask with different incidence angles of the molecular beams is equivalent to employing different mechanical masks, but is much more accurate since the precision of mechanical alignment is limited. A consistent model has been developed, which successfully explains the growth dynamics of molecular beam epitaxy through shadow masks. The redistribution of molecular fluxes under shadow masks may affect the growth rates on selected areas of the substrate drastically. In the case of compound semiconductors, reactions between the constituent species play important roles in controlling the growth rates as a function of the growth parameters. The predictions of the model regarding the growth of II-VI and III-V compounds have been tested experimentally and the dependence of the growth rates on the growth parameters has been verified. Moreover, it has been shown, that selected area epitaxy of II-VI and III-V compounds are governed by different surface kinetics. Coexisting secondary fluxes of both constituent species and the apparent non-existence of surface diffusion are characteristic for SMMBE of II-VI compounds. In contrast, III-V SMMBE is governed by the interplay between secondary group-V flux and the surface migration of group-III adatoms. In addition to the basic surface kinetic processes described by the model, the roles of orientation and strain-dependent growth dynamics, partial shadow, and material deposition on the mask (closure of apertures) have been discussed. The resulting advanced understanding of the growth dynamics (model and basic experiments) in combination with the implementation of technical improvements has enabled the development and application of a number of different processes for the fabrication of both II-VI and III-V nanostructures. In addition to specific material properties, various other phenomena have been exploited, e.g., self-organization. It has been shown that, e.g., single quantum dots and quantum wires can be reliably grown. Investigations performed on the SMMBE nanostructures have demonstrated the high positional and dimensional precision of the SMMBE technique. Bright cathodoluminescence demonstrates that the resulting quantum structures are of high structural and optical quality. In addition to these results, which demonstrate SMMBE as a prospective nanofabrication technique, the limitations of the method have also been discussed, and various approaches to overcome them have been suggested. Moreover, propositions for the fabrication of complex quantum devices by the multiple application of a stationary shadow mask have been put forward. In addition to selected area growth, the shadow masks can assist in etching, doping, and in situ contact definition in nanoscale selected areas. Due to the high precision and control over the dimensions and positions of the grown structures, which at the same time are of excellent chemical, crystal, and optical quality, SMMBE provides an interesting perspective for the fabrication of complex quantum devices from II-VI and III-V semiconductors.