No Arabic abstract
Inelastic scattering and carrier capture by defects in semiconductors are the primary causes of hot-electron-mediated degradation of power devices, which holds up their commercial development. At the same time, carrier capture is a major issue in the performance of solar cells and light-emitting diodes. A theory of nonradiative inelastic scattering by defects, however, is non-existent, while the the- ory for carrier capture by defects has had a long and arduous history. Here we report the construction of a comprehensive theory of inelastic scattering by defects, with carrier capture being a special case. We distinguish between capture under thermal equilibrium conditions and capture under non-equilibrium conditions, e.g., in the presence of electrical current or hot carriers where carriers undergo scattering by defects and are described by a mean free path. In the thermal-equilibrium case, capture is mediated by a non-adiabatic perturbation Hamiltonian, originally identified by Huang and Rhys and by Kubo, which is equal to linear electron-phonon coupling to first order. In the non-equilibrium case, we demonstrate that the primary capture mechanism is within the Born-Oppenheimer approximation, with coupling to the defect potential inducing Franck-Condon electronic transitions, followed by multiphonon dissipation of the transition energy, while the non-adiabatic terms are of secondary importance. We report density-functional-theory calculations of the capture cross section for a prototype defect using the Projector-Augmented-Wave which allows us to employ all-electron wavefunctions. We adopt a Monte Carlo scheme to sample multiphonon configurations and obtain converged results. The theory and the results represent a foundation upon which to build engineering-level models for hot-electron degradation of power devices and the performance of solar cells and light-emitting diodes.
Alternative methods to calculate neutron capture cross sections on radioactive nuclei are reported using the theory of Inclusive Non-Elastic Breakup (INEB) developed by Hussein and McVoy [1]. The statistical coupled-channels theory proposed in Ref. [2] is further extended in the realm of random matrices. The case of reactions with the projectile and the target being two-cluster nuclei is also analyzed and applications are made for scattering from a deuteron target [3]. An extension of the theory to a three-cluster projectile incident on a two-cluster target is also discussed. The theoretical developments described here should open new possibilities to obtain information on the neutron capture cross sections of radioactive nuclei using indirect methods.
The Liouville-Lanczos approach to linear-response time-dependent density-functional theory is generalized so as to encompass electron energy-loss and inelastic X-ray scattering spectroscopies in periodic solids. The computation of virtual orbitals and the manipulation of large matrices are avoided by adopting a representation of response orbitals borrowed from (time-independent) density-functional perturbation theory and a suitable Lanczos recursion scheme. The latter allows the bulk of the numerical work to be performed at any given transferred momentum only once, for a whole extended frequency range. The numerical complexity of the method is thus greatly reduced, making the computation of the loss function over a wide frequency range at any given transferred momentum only slightly more expensive than a single standard ground-state calculation, and opening the way to computations for systems of unprecedented size and complexity. Our method is validated on the paradigmatic examples of bulk silicon and aluminum, for which both experimental and theoretical results already exist in the literature.
Lattice vibrations of point defects are essential for understanding non-radiative electron and hole capture in semiconductors as they govern properties including persistent photoconductivity and Shockley-Read-Hall recombination rate. Although the harmonic approximation is sufficient to describe a defect with small lattice relaxation, for cases of large lattice relaxation it is likely to break down. We describe a first-principles procedure to account for anharmonic carrier capture and apply it to the important case of the textit{DX} center in GaAs. This is a system where the harmonic approximation grossly fails. Our treatment of the anharmonic Morse-like potentials accurately describes the observed electron capture barrier, predicting the absence of quantum tunnelling at low temperature, and a high hole capture rate that is independent of temperature. The model also explains the origin of the composition-invariant electron emission barrier. These results highlight an important shortcoming of the standard approach for describing point defect ionization that is accompanied by large lattice relaxation, where charge transfer occurs far from the equilibrium configuration.
Solar neutrino capture cross-section by 127I nucleus has been studied with taking into account the influence of the resonance structure of the nuclear strength function S(E). Three types of isobaric resonances: giant Gamow-Teller, analog resonance and low-lying Gamow-Teller pigmy resonances has been investigated on the framework of self-consistent theory of finite Fermi systems. The calculations have been performed considering the resonance structure of the charge-exchange strength function S(E). We analyze the effect of each resonance on the energy dependence of the cross-section. It has been shown that all high-lying resonances should be considered. Neutron emission process for high energy nuclear excitation leads to formation 126Xe isotope. We evaluate contribution from various sources of solar neutrinos to the 126Xe/127Xe isotopes ratio formed by energetic neutrinos. 126Xe/127Xe isotope ratio could be an indicator of high-energy boron neutrinos in the solar spectrum. We also discuss the uncertainties in the often used Fermi-functions calculations.
The size of non-perturbative corrections to high E_T jet production in deep-inelastic scattering is reviewed. Based on predictions from fragmentation models, hadronization corrections for different jet definitions are compared and the model dependence as well as the dependence on model parameters is investigated. To test whether these hadronization corrections can be applied to next-to-leading order (NLO) calculations, jet properties and topologies in different parton cascade models are compared to those in NLO. The size of the uncertainties in estimating the hadronization corrections is compared to the uncertainties of perturbative predictions. It is shown that for the inclusive k_perp ordered jet clustering algorithm the hadronization corrections are smallest and their uncertainties are of the same size as the uncertainties of perturbative NLO predictions.