Digital micro-photogrammetry in analysis and modeling habit and sectoral structure of real high-pressure high-temperature single-crystal diamonds.

We demonstrate the potential of using digital stereo micro-photogrammetry for the analysis and modeling of the habit and sectoral structure of real high-pressure high-temperature single-crystal diamonds. A prototype scanning system with a resolution of 5 µm has been implemented based on a digital single-lens reflex camera, making it possible to create highly accurate reproductions of crystal shapes with a minimum size of 4 mm. This method makes it possible to monitor the effect of actual conditions on the physical processes of crystal growth, which is a useful advance for the development of active device elements based on semiconductor diamonds.

Low-Temperature Reduction of Graphene Oxide: Electrical Conductance and Scanning Kelvin Probe Force Microscopy.

Graphene oxide (GO) films were formed by drop-casting method and were studied by FTIR spectroscopy, micro-Raman spectroscopy (mRS), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), four-points probe method, atomic force microscopy (AFM), and scanning Kelvin probe force (SKPFM) microscopy after low-temperature annealing at ambient conditions. It was shown that in temperature range from 50 to 250 °C the electrical resistivity of the GO films decreases by seven orders of magnitude and is governed by two processes with activation energies of 6.22 and 1.65 eV, respectively. It was shown that the first process is mainly associated with water and OH groups desorption reducing the thickness of the film by 35% and causing the resistivity decrease by five orders of magnitude. The corresponding activation energy is the effective value determined by desorption and electrical connection of GO flakes from different layers. The second process is mainly associated with desorption of oxygen epoxy and alkoxy groups connected with carbon located in the basal plane of GO. AFM and SKPFM methods showed that during the second process, first, the surface of GO plane is destroyed forming nanostructured surface with low work function and then at higher temperature a flat carbon plane is formed that results in an increase of the work function of reduced GO.

Infrared Reflectance Analysis of Epitaxial n-Type Doped GaN Layers Grown on Sapphire.

Infrared (IR) reflectance spectroscopy is applied to study Si-doped multilayer n+/n0/n+-GaN structure grown on GaN buffer with GaN-template/sapphire substrate. Analysis of the investigated structure by photo-etching, SEM, and SIMS methods showed the existence of the additional layer with the drastic difference in Si and O doping levels and located between the epitaxial GaN buffer and template. Simulation of the experimental reflectivity spectra was performed in a wide frequency range. It is shown that the modeling of IR reflectance spectrum using 2 × 2 transfer matrix method and including into analysis the additional layer make it possible to obtain the best fitting of the experimental spectrum, which follows in the evaluation of GaN layer thicknesses which are in good agreement with the SEM and SIMS data. Spectral dependence of plasmon-LO-phonon coupled modes for each GaN layer is obtained from the spectral dependence of dielectric of Si doping impurity, which is attributed to compensation effects by the acceptor states.

Silicon Substrate Strained and Structured via Cavitation Effect for Photovoltaic and Biomedical Application.

A hybrid structure, which integrates the nanostructured silicon with a bio-active silicate, is fabricated using the method of MHz sonication in the cryogenic environment. Optical, atomic force, and scanning electron microscopy techniques as well as energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy were used for the investigation of the morphology and chemical compound of the structured surface. Micro-Raman as well as X-ray diffraction, ellipsometry, and photovoltage spectroscopy was used for the obtained structures characterization. Ellipsometer measurements demonstrated the formation of the layer with the thicknesses ~700 nm and optical parameters closed to SiO2 compound with an additional top layer of the thicknesses ~15 nm and the refractive index ~1. Micro-Raman investigation detects an appearance of Ca-O local vibrational mode, and the stretching vibration of SiO4 chains characterized the wollastonite form of CaSiO3. A significant rise in the value and an expansion of the spectral range of the surface photovoltage for silicon structured via the megasonic processing was found. The concept of biocompatible photovoltaic cell on the base of Si\CaSiO3 structure for the application in bioelectronics was proposed.

Possibility of graphene growth by close space sublimation.

Carbon films on the Si/SiO2 substrate are fabricated using modified method of close space sublimation at atmospheric pressure. The film properties have been characterized by micro-Raman and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy and monochromatic ellipsometry methods. Ellipsometrical measurements demonstrated an increase of the silicon oxide film thickness in the course of manufacturing process. The XPS survey spectra of the as-prepared samples indicate that the main elements in the near-surface region are carbon, silicon, and oxygen. The narrow-scan spectra of C1s, Si2p, O1s regions indicate that silicon and oxygen are mainly in the SiOx (x ≈ 2) oxide form, whereas the main component of C1s spectrum at 284.4 eV comes from the sp2-hybridized carbon phase. Micro-Raman spectra confirmed the formation of graphene films with the number of layers that depended on the distance between the graphite source and substrate.