Displacement damage dose analysis of the output characteristics of In0.5Ga0.5P and Cu(In,Ga)(S,Se)2 solar cells irradiated with alpha ray simulated helium ions

To investigate applicability of radiation-hard indium–gallium–phosphide (InGaP) and copper–indium–gallium–sulfide–selenide (CIGS) solar cells to dosimeter devices without any modification, we irradiated high-energy He+ ions, which were simulated α-ray particles, to an InGaP and a CIGS solar cell. We found that both types of solar cells have sufficient resistance to He+ ions. By using displacement damage dose (DDD) analysis, the obtained He+ ion-induced degradation trends were compared with those induced by high-energy electrons, and we found that the degradation trends due to He+-ions, electrons, and protons aligned on the same curve when we plotted the data as a function of a modified DDD conversion equation, which originally was applied to space solar cells. The obtained DDD formulas enable us to predict the device lifetime or correction of an output signal for degradation when such solar cells are employed as a dosimeter.

Versatile Sensing Structure: GaP/Au/Graphene/Silicon

A versatile sensing scheme for gas and biomolecule detection has been proposed theoretically using optimized GaP/Au/Graphene/Silicon structures. A Gallium Phosphide (GaP) prism is used as a substrate in the proposed surface plasmon resonance based sensing scheme, which is designed to be in Kretschmann configuration. The thicknesses of different constituent layers have been optimized for the maximum values of the sensitivities of the gas and bio-sensing probes. To delineate the role of the silicon layer, sensing probes without a silicon layer have also been numerically modelled and compared. The present GaP/Au/Graphene/Silicon probes possess higher values of sensitivity for the detection of gas and biomolecules compared to the conventional SPR sensing probes reported in the literature.

Plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition of gallium phosphide at low temperature

This article is devoted to the formation and study of the properties of amorphous gallium phosphide layers obtained by plasma-chemical deposition at a temperature of 250 °C. The optical and structural properties of the obtained layers on fused silica and silicon substrates were investigated. The possibility of the formation of a homogeneous amorphous gallium phosphide with a smooth surface at a low temperature and low power of RF plasma was shown.

Work function of polytypic gallium phosphide nanowires

In this work we investigate the work function of gallium phosphide nanowires by the means of frequency-modulated Kelvin probe force microscopy. Polytypic wurtzite/zinc blende nanowires were synthesized via self-catalytic molecular beam epitaxy. Mixed crystal phase was achieved by controlling the catalytic droplet contact angle and confirmed via transmission electron microscopy and Raman spectroscopy. Kelvin probe study showed a contrast between the work function of (110) zinc blende and (1120) wurtzite gallium phosphide: ϕZB = 4.28 eV and ϕWZ = 4.2 eV. Also, it was shown that sub-monolayer arsenic shell increases the work function up to 4.75 eV. Thus, two mechanisms for work function adjustment in the range 4.2-4.75 eV are shown. The results are important for optimization of Schottky barriers in nanowire-based devices.

Polarized Raman spectroscopy of GaP nanowires under 5% elastic strain

Optical porperties of highly-strained gallium phosphide nanowires were investigated via polarized Raman spectroscopy. 5% elastic strain was created in individual nanowire lying on nickel substrate by the means of atomic force microscopy. Micro-Raman mapping along the nanowire cross section in parallel and perpendicular polarization was carried out. Strain-induced effects on transverse optical mode position and shape were analyzed. The pronounced splitting of the mode due to high level of strain was observed. It was found that in parallel polarization the mode shape is sensitive to the position of the pumping spot which can be attributed to enhanced light-nanowire coupling effects.

Investigation of the Crystallographic Perfection and Photoluminescence Spectrum of the Epitaxial Films of (Si2)1-x(GaP)x 0 ≤ x ≤ 1 Solid Solution, Grown on Si and GaP Substrates with the Crystallographic Orientation (111)

Epitaxial layers of the solid solution of molecular substitution (Si2)1-x(GaP)x (0 ≤ x ≤ 1) on Si (111) and GaP (111) substrates are grown by liquid-phase epitaxy from an Sn solution-melt. Such graded-gap solid solutions allow the integration of well-established silicon technology with the advantages of III-V semiconductor compounds. The structural features, the distribution of the atoms of the components over the thickness of the epitaxial layer, the photoluminescence spectrum of the (Si2)1-x(GaP)x (0 ≤ x ≤ 1) solid solution, and the electroluminescence of the structure n-GaP-n+-(Si2)x (GaP)1-x (0 ≤ x ≤ 0.01) have been investigated. It is shown that the layers of the solid solution have a perfect single-crystal structure with the crystallographic orientation (111), with the size of subcrystallites ∼ 39 ± 1 nm. The epitaxial layer (Si2)1-x(GaP)x (0 ≤ x ≤ 1) is a graded-gap layer with a smoothly and monotonically varying composition from silicon to 100% GaP. The energy levels of atoms of Si2 molecules which are located 1.47 eV below the bottom of the conduction band of gallium phosphide are revealed. Red emission of n-GaP-n+-(Si2)x(GaP)1-x (0 ≤ x ≤ 0.01) structure which is caused by electron transitions with participation of energy levels of Si2 atoms is detected.

Bright single photon emitters with enhanced quantum efficiency in a two-dimensional semiconductor coupled with dielectric nano-antennas

Single photon emitters in atomically-thin semiconductors can be deterministically positioned using strain induced by underlying nano-structures. Here, we couple monolayer WSe2 to high-refractive-index gallium phosphide dielectric nano-antennas providing both optical enhancement and monolayer deformation. For single photon emitters formed on such nano-antennas, we find very low (femto-Joule) saturation pulse energies and up to 104 times brighter photoluminescence than in WSe2 placed on low-refractive-index SiO2 pillars. We show that the key to these observations is the increase on average by a factor of 5 of the quantum efficiency of the emitters coupled to the nano-antennas. This further allows us to gain new insights into their photoluminescence dynamics, revealing the roles of the dark exciton reservoir and Auger processes. We also find that the coherence time of such emitters is limited by intrinsic dephasing processes. Our work establishes dielectric nano-antennas as a platform for high-efficiency quantum light generation in monolayer semiconductors.

Engineering gallium phosphide nanostructures for efficient nonlinear photonics and enhanced spectroscopies

Optical resonances arising from quasi-bound states in the continuum (QBICs) have been recently identified in nanostructured dielectrics, showing ultrahigh quality factors accompanied by very large electromagnetic field enhancements. In this work, we design a periodic array of gallium phosphide (GaP) elliptical cylinders supporting, concurrently, three spectrally separated QBIC resonances with in-plane magnetic dipole, out-of-plane magnetic dipole, and electric quadrupole characters. We numerically explore this system for second-harmonic generation and degenerate four-wave mixing, demonstrating giant per unit cell conversion efficiencies of up to ∼ 2 W−1 and ∼ 60 W−2, respectively, when considering realistic introduced asymmetries in the metasurface, compatible with current fabrication limitations. We find that this configuration outperforms by up to more than four orders of magnitude the response of low-Q Mie or anapole resonances in individual GaP nanoantennas with engineered nonlinear mode-matching conditions. Benefiting from the straight-oriented electric field of one of the examined high-Q resonances, we further propose a novel nanocavity design for enhanced spectroscopies by slotting the meta-atoms of the periodic array. We discover that the optical cavity sustains high-intensity fields homogeneously distributed inside the slot, delivering its best performance when the elliptical cylinders are cut from end to end forming a gap, which represents a convenient model for experimental investigations. When placing an electric point dipole inside the added aperture, we find that the metasurface offers ultrahigh radiative enhancements, exceeding the previously reported slotted dielectric nanodisk at the anapole excitation by more than two orders of magnitude.