No Arabic abstract
We realize Mn $delta$-doping into Si and Si/Ge interfaces using Mn atomic chains on Si(001). Highly sensitive X-ray absorption fine structure techniques reveal that encapsulation at room temperature prevents the formation of silicides / germanides whilst maintaining one dimensional anisotropic structures. This is revealed by studying both the incident X-ray polarization dependence and post-annealing effects. Density functional theory calculations suggest that Mn atoms are located at substitutional sites, and show good agreement with experiment. A comprehensive magnetotransport study reveals magnetic ordering within the Mn $delta$-doped layer, which is present at around 120,K. We demonstrate that doping methods based on the burial of surface nanostructures allows for the realization of systems for which conventional doping methods fail.
In this paper we examine the electronic and geometrical structure of impurity-vacancy complexes in Si and Ge. Already Watkins suggested that in Si the pairing of Sn with the vacancy produces a complex with the Sn-atom at the bond center and the vacancy split into two half vacancies on the neighboring sites. Within the framework of density-functional theory we use two complementary ab initio methods, the pseudopotential plane wave (PPW) method and the all-electron Kohn-Korringa-Rostoker (KKR) method, to investigate the structure of vacancy complexes with 11 different sp-impurities. For the case of Sn in Si, we confirm the split configuration and obtain good agreement with EPR data of Watkins. In general we find that all impurities of the 5sp and 6sp series in Si and Ge prefer the split-vacancy configuration, with an energy gain of 0.5 to 1 eV compared to the substitutional complex. On the other hand, impurities of the 3sp and 4sp series form a (slightly distorted) substitutional complex. Al impurities show an exception from this rule, forming a split complex in Si and a strongly distorted substitutional complex in Ge. We find a strong correlation of these data with the size of the isolated impurities, being defined via the lattice relaxations of the nearest neighbors.
Combining density-functional theory calculations and microscopic tight-binding models, we investigate theoretically the electronic and magnetic properties of individual substitutional transition-metal impurities (Mn and Fe) positioned in the vicinity of the (110) surface of GaAs. For the case of the $[rm Mn^{2+}]^0$ plus acceptor-hole (h) complex, the results of a tight-binding model including explicitly the impurity $d$-electrons are in good agreement with approaches that treat the spin of the impurity as an effective classical vector. For the case of Fe, where both the neutral isoelectronic $[rm Fe^{3+}]^0$ and the ionized $[rm Fe^{2+}]^-$ states are relevant to address scanning tunneling microscopy (STM) experiments, the inclusion of $d$-orbitals is essential. We find that the in-gap electronic structure of Fe impurities is significantly modified by surface effects. For the neutral acceptor state $[{rm Fe}^{2+}, h]^0$, the magnetic-anisotropy dependence on the impurity sublayer resembles the case of $[{rm Mn}^{2+}, h]^0$. In contrast, for $[{rm Fe}^{3+}]^{0}$ electronic configuration the magnetic anisotropy behaves differently and it is considerably smaller. For this state we predict that it is possible to manipulate the Fe moment, e.g. by an external magnetic field, with detectable consequences in the local density of states probed by STM.
As a first step to porting scanning tunneling microscopy methods of atomic-precision fabrication to a strained-Si/SiGe platform, we demonstrate post-growth P atomic-layer doping of SiGe heterostructures. To preserve the substrate structure and elastic state, we use a T $leq 800^circ$C process to prepare clean Si$_{0.86}$Ge$_{0.14}$ surfaces suitable for atomic-precision fabrication. P-saturated atomic-layer doping is incorporated and capped with epitaxial Si under a thermal budget compatible with atomic-precision fabrication. Hall measurements at T$=0.3$ K show that the doped heterostructure has R$_{square}=570pm30$ $Omega$, yielding an electron density $n_{e}=2.1pm0.1times10^{14}$cm$^{-2}$ and mobility $mu_e=52pm3$ cm$^{2}$ V$^{-1}$ s$^{-1}$, similar to saturated atomic-layer doping in pure Si and Ge. The magnitude of $mu_e$ and the complete absence of Shubnikov-de Haas oscillations in magnetotransport measurements indicate that electrons are overwhelmingly localized in the donor layer, and not within a nearby buried Si well. This conclusion is supported by self-consistent Schrodinger-Poisson calculations that predict electron occupation primarily in the donor layer.
We report direct experimental evidence showing induced magnetic moments on Ge at the interface in an Fe/Ge system. Details of the x-ray magnetic circular dichroism and resonant magnetic scattering at the Ge L edge demonstrate the presence of spin-polarized {it s} states at the Fermi level, as well as {it d} character moments at higher energy, which are both oriented antiparallel to the moment of the Fe layer. Use of the sum rules enables extraction of the L/S ratio, which is zero for the {it s} part and $sim0.5$ for the {it d} component. These results are consistent with layer-resolved electronic structure calculations, which estimate the {it s} and {it d} components of the Ge moment are anti-parallel to the Fe {it 3d} moment and have a magnitude of $sim0.01 mu_B$.
The implementation of graphene in semiconducting technology requires the precise knowledge about the graphene-semiconductor interface. In our work the structure and electronic properties of the graphene/$n$-Ge(110) interface are investigated on the local (nm) and macro (from $mumathrm{m}$ to mm) scales via a combination of different microscopic and spectroscopic surface science techniques accompanied by density functional theory calculations. The electronic structure of freestanding graphene remains almost completely intact in this system, with only a moderate $n$-doping indicating weak interaction between graphene and the Ge substrate. With regard to the optimization of graphene growth it is found that the substrate temperature is a crucial factor, which determines the graphene layer alignment on the Ge(110) substrate during its growth from the atomic carbon source. Moreover, our results demonstrate that the preparation routine for graphene on the doped semiconducting material ($n$-Ge) leads to the effective segregation of dopants at the interface between graphene and Ge(110). Furthermore, it is shown that these dopant atoms might form regular structures at the graphene/Ge interface and induce the doping of graphene. Our findings help to understand the interface properties of the graphene-semiconductor interfaces and the effect of dopants on the electronic structure of graphene in such systems.