Dissertations / Theses on the topic 'Diluted magnetic semiconductors - Optical properties'

Orientador: José Antônio Brum
Tese (doutorado) - Universidade Estadual de Campinas, Instituto de Física Gleb Wataghin
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Resumo: Nesta tese, investigamos teoricamente as propriedades eletrônicas e ópticas de poços quânticos e pontos quânticos de semicondutores magnéticos diluídos. Este estudo é fortemente motivado por muitos resultados experimentais sobre as propriedades ópticas desse materiais. Usando a teoria do funcional da densidade dependente de spin descrevemos os estados eletrônicos como função do campo magnético externo para poços quânticos que possuem barreiras dopadas com impurezas magnéticas. Nosso modelo leva em conta os efeitos de muitos-corpos do gás de buracos e as interações entre portadores e os íons magnéticos. Comparamos nossos resultados com os dados experimentais disponíveis, que apresentam forte oscilações da luz polarizada circularmente como função do campo magnético. Nossos resultados apresentam excelente concordância qualitativa e quantitativa com os resultados experimentais. Mostramos que os efeitos de troca do gás de buraco são responsáveis pela forte oscilação observada na fotoluminescência. Também realizamos uma investigação sistemática dos parâmetros da heteroestrutura afim de aumentar a interação de troca entre portadores e íons de Mn. Com o nosso modelo entedemos os diferentes regimes de relaxação de spin do elétron em poços quânticos com barreiras dopadas com impurezas magnéticas. Nós também investigamos as propriedades eletrônicas e ópticas de pontos quânticos carregados dopados com uma única impureza magnética em seu centro. Usando métodos de diagonalização exata mostramos que os elétrons que não estão diretamente acoplados com o íon de Mn acoplam-se via uma interação indireta que é mediada pela interação elétron-elétron. Este acoplamento indireto entre elétrons e Mn pode ser tanto ferromagnético quanto antiferromagnético dependendo de ambos confinamento e número de camadas eletrônicas confinadas no ponto quântico. Demonstramos que este acoplamento indireto é um efeito importante mesmo quanto o íon de Mn não esta no centro do ponto quântico. O acoplamento indireto existe independentemente do tipo de interação direta entre portadores e a impureza magnética. Também extendemos a teoria de fotoluminescência para essa heteroestrutura. Observamos que a interação indireta entre portadores e íon magnético gera uma estrutura fina em ambos os estados iniciais e finais da emissão, o que nos permite determinar o número de camadas confinadas no ponto quântico e o spin eletrônico. Com esse método de diagonalização exata, explicamos a origem da estrutura fina do biexciton confinado em um ponto quântico dopado com uma única impureza magnética
Abstract: In this thesis, we theoretically investigate the electronic and optical properties of diluted magnetic semiconductors quantum wells and quantum dots. This is strongly motivated by many experimental results on the optical properties of these materials. Using spin-density functional theory we described the electronic states as a function of the external magnetic field for quantum wells which have barriers doped with magnetic impurities. Our model takes into account the many-body effects of the two-dimensional hole gas and the interaction between carriers and the magnetic ions. We compare our findings with the available experimental data, which shows strong oscillations in the circularly polarized light as a function of the magnetic field. Our results show excellent qualitative and quantitative agreement with the experimental data. We show that the hole gas exchange effects are responsible for the strong oscillations observed in the photoluminescence. We perform a systematic investigation of the heterostructure parameters in order to enhance the carriers-Mn exchange interaction. With our model we understand the different regime of the electron¿s spin relaxation in quantum wells with barriers doped with Mn impurities. We also investigate the electronic and optical properties of charged quantum dots doped with a single magnetic impurity in its center. Using an exact diagonalization method we show that the electrons that are not directly coupled with Mn do so via an indirect coupling mediated by electron-electron interaction. This indirect electron-Mn coupling can be either ferromagnetic or antiferromagnetic depending on both quantum dot confinement and the number of electronic confined shells. We also demonstrate that the indirect electron-Mn coupling is an important effect even when Mn is off-center. This coupling exists independently of the type of the direct interaction between carriers and Mn impurity. We also extend the theory of photoluminescence for charged quantum dots containing a single magnetic impurity. We show that the indirect interaction between carriers and magnetic ion generates a fine structure in both initial and final states of the emission, which allows us to determinate the number of confined shells in the quantum dots and the electronic spins. Whit this exact diagonalizationmethod, we explain the origin of the fine structure of a biexciton confined in quantum dot containing a single Mn impurity
Doutorado
Física
Doutor em Ciências

Nanotechnology is the science and engineering of creating functional materials by precise control of matter at nanometer (nm) length scale and exploring novel properties at that scale. It is vital to understand the quantum mechanical phenomena manifested at nanometer scale dimensions since that will enable us to precisely engineer quantum mechanical properties to realize novel device functionalities. This dissertation investigates optical and electronic properties of compound and transition metal doped compound semiconductor nanowires with a view to exploiting them for a wide range of applications in semiconductor electronic and optical devices. In this dissertation work, basic concepts of optical and electronic properties at low dimensional structures will be discussed in chapter 1. Chapter 2 discusses the nanofabrication technique employed to fabricate highly ordered nanowires. Using this method, which is based on electrochemical self-assembly techniques, we can fabricate highly ordered and size controlled nanowires and quantum dots of different materials. In Chapter 3, we report size dependent fluorescence spectroscopy of ZnSe and Mn doped ZnSe nanowires fabricated by the above method. The nanowires exhibit blue shift in the emission spectrum due to quantum confinement effect, which increases the effective bandgap of the semiconductor. We found that the fluorescence spectrum of Mn doped ZnSe nanowires shows high luminescence efficiency, which seems to increase with increasing Mn concentration. These results are highly encouraging for applications in multi spectral displays. Chapter 4 investigates field emission results of highly ordered 50 nm tapered ZnO nanowires that were also fabricated by electrochemical self-assembly. Subsequent to fabrication, the nanowires tips are exposed by chemical etching which renders the tips conical in shape. This tapered shape concentrates the electric field lines at the tip of the wires, and that, in turn, increases the emission current density while lowering the threshold field for the onset of field emission. Measurement of the Fowler-Nordheim tunneling current carried out in partial vacuum indicates that the threshold electric field for field emission in 50-nm diameter ZnO nanowires is 15 V/µm. In this study we identified the key constraint that can increase the threshold field and reduce emission current density. In Chapter 5 we report optical and magnetic measurement of Mn-doped ZnO nanowires. Hysterisis measurements carried out at various temperatures show a ferromagnetic behavior with a Curie temperature of ~ 200 K. We also studied Mn-doping of the ZnO nanowires. The room temperature fluorescence spectroscopy of Mn-doped ZnO nanowires shows a red-shift in the spectra compared to the undoped ZnO nanowires possibly due to strain introduced by the dopants in the nanowires. Finally, in Chapter 6, we report our study of the ensemble averaged transverse spin relaxation time (T2*) in InSb thin films and nanowires using electron spin resonance (ESR) measurement. Unfortunately, the nanowires contained too few spins to produce a detectable signal in our apparatus, but the thin films contained enough spins (> 109/cm2) to produce a measurable ESR signal. We found that the T2* decreases rapidly with increasing temperature between 3.5 K and 20 K, which indicates that spin-dephasing is primarily caused by spin-phonon interactions.

The electrical and magnetic properties of MOVPE grown epitaxial layers of Hg(_1-x)Mn(_x)Te layers has been investigated using a number of techniques. The samples have been grown by the Inter Diffused Multilayer Process, (IMP) on (100) semi insulating GaAs substrates with ZnTe and CdTe buffer layers. The samples have been shown to show a number of phenomena nopt observed in the bulk material, such as an anomaly in the resistivity, rnagnetoresistance related to the intrinsic magnetism of the material, and saturation of the room temperature magnetisation. In general the samples are of a highly compensated nature with the value of |R(_H)e|(^-1) varying between l0(^14) and 5xI0(^17) cm(^-3) at 20K, the Hall mobilities varying between 8 and 3.5x10(^5) cm(^2)V(^-1)s(^-1) at 20K. Magnetically, the samples generally show a paramagnetic signal that is swamped by the diamagnetic background of the substrate and buffer layers. The paramagnetisrn can be well modelled using a Curie Weiss fit. A number of the samples show a saturation in the magnetisation, which, has been explained via the use of vacancy ordering within MnTe regions in the sample. The susceptibility of the samples has been investigated using a Faraday balance system, and this data has been fitted using; a cluster model for Mn ions within the sample. The photomagnetisation of Cd(_0.9)Mn(_0.1)Te:In has been investigated using a faraday balance system, and modelled using the work of Dietl and Sample, to calculate the number of polarons that had formed on donors in the sample, ΔN(_D)(^MAG) = 1.28x10(^15)cm(^-3). The number of donors in the sample has been measured by means of the Hall effect, ΔN(_D)(^ELEC) = 1.92x10(^15)cm(^-3), and this value compared to that obtained from the model. We have proposed a model to explain this discrepancy based on the concept of band tails in the impurity band.

The aim of the research project presented in this thesis is to investigate the effects of electrostatic gating on the magnetic properties of carrier-mediated ferromagnetic Ga1-xMnxAs diluted magnetic semiconductors. (Ga,Mn)As can be regarded as a prototype material because of its strong spin-orbit coupling and its crystalline properties which can be described within a simple band structure model. Compressively strained (Ga,Mn)As epilayer with more complex in-plane competing cubic and uniaxial magnetic anisotropies is of particular interest since a small variation of these competing anisotropy fields provide a means for the manipulation of its magnetization via external electric field. An all-semiconductor epitaxial p-n junction field-effect transistor (FET) based on low-doped Ga0.975Mn0.025As was fabricated. It has an in-built n-GaAs back-gate, which, in addition to being a normal gate, enhances the gating effects, especially in the depletion of the epilayer, by decreasing the effective channel thickness by means of a depletion region. A shift in the Curie temperature of ~2 K and enhanced anisotropic magnetoresistance (AMR) (which at saturation reaches ~30%) is achieved with a depletion of a few volts. Persistent magnetization switchings with short electric field pulses are also observed. The magnitude of the switching field is found to decrease with increasing depletion of the (Ga,Mn)As layer. By employing the k . p semiconductor theory approach (performed by our collaborators in Institute of Physics, ASCR, Prague), including strong spin-orbit coupling effects in the host semiconductor valence band, a change in sign of Kc at hole density of approximately 1.5x1020 cm-3 is observed. Below this density, the [110]/[1⁻10] magnetization directions are favoured, consistent with experimental data. A double-gated FET, with an ionic-gel top-gate coupled with a p-n junction back-gate based on the same material, was also employed in an attempt to achieve larger effects through gating. It reaffirms the results obtained and demonstrates enhanced gating effects on the magnetic properties of (Ga,Mn)As.

Les propriétés électroniques de (Ga,Mn)N ont été étudiées par spectroscopie d'absorption des rayons X au seuil K du Mn. Des calculs ab-initio ont été utilisés pour interpréter les spectres d'absorption de (Ga,Mn)N. Deux pré-pics sont présents dans le seuil du Mn: le premier pré-pic est attribué aux transitions électronique vers les états 3d du Mn de spin up, tandis que le second pré-pic correspond aux transitions vers les états 3d du Mn de spin down. Cette interprétation nous permet de déterminer que l'état électronique du Mn dans (Ga,Mn)N est Mn3+: deux pré-pics sont présents dans les spectres d'absorption du Mn3+ et un seul pré-pic reste dans les spectres du Mn2+. Ce changement des spectres a été vérifié expérimentalement sur des échantillons de (Zn,Mn2+)Te et (Ga,Mn2+)As. De plus, cette interprétation permet d'étudier la distribution du Mn dans (Ga,Mn)N: la forme des spectres d'absorption suggère que la distribution du Mn est homogène dans nos échantillons de (Ga,Mn)N
Electronic properties of the diluted magnetic semiconductor (Ga,Mn)N were studied by x-ray absorption spectroscopy at the K-edge of Mn. The measured x-ray absorption spectra were further interpreted using the ab-initio calculations. Two pre-edge absorption lines are observed in the x-ray absorption spectra: the first line was attributed to electronic transitions into 3d states of Mn of spin up, while the second line corresponds to transitions into 3d states of Mn of spin down. This interpretation allows us to determine the valence state of Mn: two absorption lines are present in the pre-edge structure of Mn3+ and only one line remains in case of Mn2+. Such a change of the pre-edge structure was checked experimentally on (Zn,Mn2+)Te and on (Ga,Mn2+)As. In addition, the distribution of Mn in (Ga,Mn)N can be studied using the interpretation: the shape of the spectra points to a homogeneous distribution of Mn in our (Ga,Mn)N samples

This work presents the development of a GaN-based dilute magnetic semiconductor (DMS) by metal organic chemical vapor deposition (MOCVD) that is ferromagnetic at room temperature (RT), electrically conductive, and possesses magnetic properties that can be tuned by n- and p-doping. The transition metal series (TM: Cr, Mn, and Fe) along with the rare earth (RE) element, Gd, was investigated in this work as the magnetic ion source for the DMS. Single- phase and strain-free GaTMN films were obtained. Optical measurements revealed that Mn is a deep acceptor in GaN, while Hall measurements showed that these GaTMN films were semi-insulating, making carrier mediated exchange unlikely. Hysteresis curves were obtained for all the GaTMN films, and by analyzing the effect of n- and p-dopants on the magnetic properties of these films it was determined that the magnetization is due to magnetic clusters. These findings are supported by the investigation of the effect of TM dopants in GaN nanostructures which reveal that TMs enhance nucleation resulting in superparamagnetic nanostructures. Additionally, this work presents the first report on the development of GaGdN by MOCVD providing an alternate route to developing a RT DMS. Room temperature magnetization results revealed that the magnetization strength increases with Gd concentration and can be enhanced by n- and p-doping, with holes being more efficient at stabilizing the ferromagnetic signal. The GaGdN films obtained in this work are single-phase, unstrained, and conductive making them suitable for the development of multifunctional devices that integrate electrical, optical, and magnetic properties.

Ink-jet printing offers an ideal answer to the emerging trends and demands of depositing at ambient temperatures picoliter droplets of oxide solutions into functional thin films and device components with a high degree of pixel precision. It is a direct single-step mask-free patterning technique that enables multi-layer and 3D patterning. This method is fast, simple, easily scalable, precise, inexpensive and cost effective compared to any of other methods available for the realization of the promise of flexible, and/or stretchable electronics of the future on virtually any type of substrate. Because low temperatures are used and no aggressive chemicals are required for ink preparation, ink-jet technique is compatible with a very broad range of functional materials like polymers, proteins and even live cells, which can be used to fabricate inorganic/organic/bio hybrids, bio-sensors and lab-on-chip architectures. After a discussion of the essentials of ink-jet technology, this thesis focuses particularly on the art of designing long term stable inks for fabricating thin films and devices especially oxide functional components for electronics, solar energy conversion, opto-electronics and spintronics. We have investigated three classes of inks: nanoparticle suspension based, surface modified nanoparticles based, and direct precursor solution based. Examples of the films produced using these inks and their functional properties are: 1) In order to obtain magnetite nanoparticles with high magnetic moment and narrow size distribution in suspensions for medical diagnostics, we have developed a rapid mixing technique and produced nanoparticles with moments close to theoretical values (APL 2011 and Nanotechnology 2012). The suspensions produced have been tailored to be stable over a long period of time. 2)In order to design photonic band gaps, suspensions of spherical SiO2 particles were produced by chemical hydrolysis (JAP 2010 and JNP 2011 - not discussed in the thesis). 3) Using suspension inks, (ZnO)1-x(TiO2)x composite films have been printed and used to fabricate dye sensitized solar cells (JMR 2012). The thickness and the composition of the films can be easily tailored in the inkjet printing process. Consequently, the solar cell performance is optimized. We find that adding Ag nanoparticles improves the ‘metal-bridge’ between the TiO2 grains while maintaining the desired porous structure in the films. The photoluminescence spectra show that adding Ag reduces the emission intensity by a factor of two. This indicates that Ag atoms act as traps to capture electrons and inhibit recombination of electron-hole pairs, which is desirable for photo-voltaic applications. 4) To obtain and study room temperature contamination free ferromagnetic spintronic materials, defect induced and Fe doped MgO and ZnO were synthesized ‘in-situ’ by precursor solution technique (preprints). It is found that the origin of magnetism in these materials (APL 2012 and MRS 2012) is intrinsic and probably due to charge transfer hole doping. 5) ITO thin films were fabricated via inkjet printing directly from liquid precursors. The films are highly transparent (transparency >90% both in the visible and IR range, which is rather unique as compared to any other film growth technique) and conductive (resistivity can be ~0.03 Ω•cm). The films have nano-porous structure, which is an added bonus from ink jetting that makes such films applicable for a broad range of applications. One example is in implantable biomedical components and lab-on-chip architectures where high transparency of the well conductive ITO electrodes makes them easily compatible with the use of quantum dots and fluorescent dyes. In summary, the inkjet patterning technique is incredibly versatile and applicable for a multitude of metal and oxide deposition and patterning. Especially in the case of using acetate solutions as inks (a method demonstrated for the first time by our group), the oxide films can be prepared ‘in-situ’ by direct patterning on the substrate without any prior synthesis stages, and the fabricated films are stoichiometric, uniform and smooth. This technique will most certainly continue to be a versatile tool in industrial manufacturing processes for material deposition in the future, as well as a unique fabrication tool for tailorable functional components and devices.

QC 20120907

The optical properties of InAs/GaSb heterostructures under applied magnetic fields are studied in experimental and theoretical detail. The InAs/GaSb system is a type-II "crossed-gap" system, where the valence band edge of GaSb lies higher in energy than the conduction band edge of InAs. This leads to a region of energy above the InAs conduction band where conduction and hole states mix. Thin-layer superlattices remain semiconducting due to confinement effects, but thick-layer superlattices experience charge transfer which leads to intrinsic carrier densities approaching 10¹² cm^-2 per layer. Existing multi-band modeling techniques based on the k·p formalism are discussed, and a method of solving superlattice band structure (the "momentum-matrix" technique) is presented. The quantizing effects of the superlattice layers and applied magnetic fields are investigated, and the selection rules for optical transitions are derived. Standard cyclotron resonance (CR) is used to study effective masses in InAs/GaSb structures. The heavy hole mass is found to be strongly orientation-dependent, with a mass in the [111] orientation reduced 25% from the [001] mass. The electron mass is found to be roughly isotropic with respect to growth orientation, but shows variation with the InAs width due to quantum confinement effects. CR of InAs/GaSb heterojunctions display hitherto unexplained oscillations in linewidth, intensity, and effective mass. A model is proposed which explains the oscillations, based on the intrinsic nature of the InAs/GaSb system. CR is performed on an InAs/GaSb heterojunction using a free-electron laser, where due to the high intensities (on the order of MW/cm²) the absorption process saturates. This saturation allows for a determination of non-radiative relaxation lifetimes, and through the energy dependence of these lifetimes the magnetophonon effect is observed, allowing a direct measurement of LO-phonon-assisted energy relaxation rates. Coupling is introduced into the standard CR experiment, either by tilting the sample with respect to the magnetic field, or by applying a metal grating to the surface. These coupled CR experiments have striking qualitative results which allow for determination of subband separation energies and coupling matrix elements. Photoconductivity experiments are performed on thin-layer (semiconducting) superlattices, showing optical response at far-infrared wavelengths (5-20 μm). The results are compared with k·p calculations. One sample is processed for vertical transport, in which conduction occurs perpendicular to the superlattice layers. Strong optical response from this sample indicates the viability of InAs/GaSb-based far-infrared detectors. The momentum-matrix technique is used to predict optimum parameters for semiconducting superlattices with band gaps in the far-infrared. Semimetallic structures are studied via a multi-band self-consistent model, with results corroborating with and extending previous work. Intrinsic structures under applied magnetic field are modeled theoretically for the first time.

Fundação de Amparo a Pesquisa do Estado de Minas Gerais
In this work, Zn1-xAxTe (A = Mn, Co) diluted magnetic semiconductors (DMS) nanocrystal (NCs) were successfully grown in the P2O5 ZnO Al2O3 BaO PbO glass system synthesized by the method of Fusion-Nucleation, after subjecting to appropriate thermal annealing. Various experimental techniques were used in this study in order to get a comprehensive understanding of the optical, morphological, structural and magnetic properties these NCs. Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and atomic force microscopy (AFM) images revealed the size of both of Zn1-xMnxTe and Zn1-xCoxTe NCs. From the vibrating sample magnetometer (VSM) technique, there was growth behavior of magnetization and magnetic susceptibility as a function of the Mn concentration in the samples containing Zn1-xMnxTe NCs. At lower Mn concentrations, the sp electrons of ZnTe host semiconductor interact with the d electrons of Mn2+ ions, resulting in the sp-d exchange interaction, which causes a small increase in susceptibility. At higher Mn concentrations, the d-d exchange interaction between Mn atoms dominates over the sp-d exchange interaction, resulting in an abrupt increase in susceptibility. The EPR spectra, in addition to prove the results exhibited the well-known sextet hyperfine lines of Mn2+ ions, since samples with low Mn concentrations revealed the presence of Mn2+ ions within and near the surface of the ZnTe NCs. From the optical absorption spectra (OA) and photoluminescence (PL), analyzed on the basis of crystal field theory (CFT) as well as of the diffraction X-ray (XRD), Raman scattering (RS) and electron microscopy transmission (TEM) techniques, the substitutional incorporation of Mn2+ ions was confirmed up to its solubility limit (x = 0.100) ZnTe NCs. Above this concentration, can observe the formation of manganese oxide NCs such as MnO and MnO2, since the nucleation rate for the formation of these NCs is greater than that of Zn1-xMnxTe NCs, at high concentrations. Furthermore, from the PL spectra, it was found that it is possible to tune the emission of energy related to transition 4T1(4G) → 6A1(6S) of Mn2+ ions, of the spectral orange region to the near infrared, depending on Mn concentration. This is possible due to the variation of the local crystal field, where these ions are inserted. From the OA spectra, analyzed on the basis of CFT, it showed that Co2+ ions are substitutionally incorporated in tetrahedral sites of ZnTe NCs, due to its characteristics transitions in visible and near infrared spectral region. This evidence has been enhanced from MFM images, since NCs doped with magnetic ions, magnetically respond when induced by the magnetization of the probe.
Neste trabalho, nanocristais semicondutores magnéticos diluídos (SMD) de Zn1-xAxTe (A = Mn; Co) foram crescidos com sucesso no sistema vítreo P2O5 ZnO Al2O3 BaO PbO, sintetizado pelo método de Fusão-Nucleação, após submetê-lo a tratamento térmico apropriado. Várias técnicas experimentais foram utilizadas neste estudo a fim de obter um entendimento compreensivo das propriedades ópticas, morfológicas, estruturais e magnéticas desses NCs. Imagens de microscopia eletrônica de transmissão (MET) e microscopia de força atômica (MFA) revelaram o tamanho tanto de NCs de Zn1-xMnxTe quanto de Zn1-xCoxTe. A partir da técnica de magnetometria de amostra vibrante (MAV), verificou-se o crescimento da magnetização e o comportamento da susceptibilidade magnética, em função da concentração de Mn, em amostras contendo NCs de Zn1-xMnxTe. Em baixas concentrações de Mn, os elétrons sp do semicondutor hospedeiro ZnTe, interagem com os elétrons d dos íons Mn2+, resultando na interação de troca sp-d, que provoca um pequeno aumento na susceptibilidade magnética. Já, em concentrações mais elevadas de Mn, a interação de troca d-d entre átomos de Mn domina a interação de troca sp-d, o que resulta em um aumento abrupto da susceptibilidade. Os espectros RPE, além de comprovar esses resultados, exibiram o bem conhecido sexteto de linhas hiperfinas de íons Mn2+, uma vez que amostras com baixas concentrações de Mn revelaram a presença de íons Mn2+ no interior e próximos à superfície dos NCs de ZnTe. A partir dos espectros de absorção óptica (AO) e fotoluminescência (FL), analisados com base na teoria do campo cristalino (TCC), bem como das técnicas de difração de raios-X (DRX), espalhamento Raman (ER) e microscopia eletrônica de transmissão (MET), confirmou-se a incorporação substitucional de íons Mn2+ até seu limite de solubilidade nominal (x = 0,100) em NCs de ZnTe. Acima dessa concentração, observa-se a formação de NCs de óxido de manganês, tais como MnO e MnO2, uma vez que a taxa de nucleação para a formação desses NCs é maior que a de NCs de Zn1-xMnxTe, em altas concentrações. Além disso, a partir dos espectros FL, verificou-se que é possível sintonizar a energia de emissão relacionada à transição 4T1(4G) → 6A1(6S) de íons Mn2+, da região espectral laranja ao infravermelho próximo, em função da concentração de Mn. Isso é possível devido à variação do campo cristalino local, onde esses íons estão inseridos. A partir dos espectros AO, analisados com base na TCC, evidenciou-se que íons Co2+ são incorporados substitucionalmente em sítios tetraédricos de NCs de ZnTe, devido às suas transições características na região espectral do visível e infravermelho próximo. Essa evidência foi reforçada a partir de imagens de MFM, uma vez que os NCs, dopados com íons magnéticos, respondem magneticamente quando induzidos pela magnetização da sonda.
Doutor em Física

碩士
國立交通大學
電子物理系所
101
This research is dedicated to the growth of high quality ZnMnO thin films on Si(111) substrates with AlN as buffer layer by molecular beam epitaxy (MBE). The optical and magnetic properties were investigated by photoluminescence (PL) system and superconducting quantum interference device (SQUID). The PL spectra confirmed good emission property in ZnO sample, and the quench of excitonic transitions as Mn doping concentration increased was observed. Hence the resonant Raman scattering phenomenon became clear in samples with higher Mn doping concentration and the intensity variation of different peaks could be explained by cascade model. Room temperature magnetic hysteresis loops indicated the existence of room temperature ferromagnetism in all ZnMnO samples including ZnO. Bound magnetic polaron model is employed to describe the distinct magnetic properties in ZnMnO samples and the ferromagnetism in ZnO could be inferred that is induced by defects.

碩士
國立交通大學
電子物理系所
102
Type-II ZnTe/ZnMnSe quantum dots (QDs) were grown in the ZnMnSe matrix by molecular beam epitaxy (MBE). The QDs coverage varies from 1.8 to 2.2, 2.4, 2.7, and 3.0 monolayers (MLs). The photoluminescence (PL), temperature dependent PL, power dependent PL, magneto-PL and time-resolved PL spectra were used to investigate the interesting physical properties. Two different red-shift slopes are observed from the plot of the PL peak energy versus the thickness of ZnTe coverage. The peak energy of PL decreases sharply when the ZnTe coverage is less than the critical thickness and gently when the ZnTe coverage exceeds the critical thickness. The initial decrease which then increases with temperature for the full width at half maximum (FWHM) of PL is attributed to the hole which thermal escapes from the smaller QDs then transfers and is re-captured to the neighboring-larger QDs. The peak energy linearly depends on the cube root of the excitation power, which is a characteristic of all quantum structures with type-II band alignment. In addition, the non-mono-exponential decay profiles could be explained by the band-bending effect and electron-hole wave function overlap. Furthermore, the dependence of circular polarization degree on the magnetic field shows the Brillouin-type para-magnetism. The formation of exciton magnetic polaron (EMP) was illustrated by the time-evolution of QDs emission peak energy.

碩士
中原大學
應用物理學系
82
The strain induced and crystal field induced valence band splitting in the diluted magnetic semiconductors were studied. In the studies of the strain induced valence band splitting,the ZnSe-based diluted magnetic semiconductor epilayers grown on the GaAs substrate were investigated by various optical spectroscopic techniques. We have found that the strain induced heavy-light hole splitting depend on the thickness of the epilayer as well as the magnetic ion concetration. Whereas, in the work on the crystal field induced valence band splitting, the CdS- and CdSe-based diluted magnetic semiconductor bulk crystal were used. It is found that the crystal field splitting is practically magnetic ion independent for the CdSe based crystal, while in the case of CdS based samples a strong influence of magnetic ion substitution on crystal field splitting is observed.

碩士
國立交通大學
電子物理系
88
By using the program of CASTEP (Cambridge Series Total Energy Package) based on the first-principle theory, we have studied the phase transitions of ZnSe and CdSe under high pressure. The result shows that the structure of ZnSe will be transformed from zinc-blende to cinnabar, and become the rocksalt structure as the presssure is increased. It is found that the structure of CdSe is directly transformed from zinc-blende into rocksalt. And the frequencies and modes of LO and TO phonons in CdSe are obtained. Besides, we have also calculated the electronic structures and density of states of the DMS compounds Cd1-xFexSe which is resulted from the partial substitution of Fe into the site of Cd in CdSe. It is found the volume of the unit cell of Cd1-xFexSe decreases when the concentration fraction x is increased. The amplitudes and the positions of peaks of density of states are changed with respect to the fraction x.

碩士
國立彰化師範大學
光電科技研究所
94
This thesis is devoted to the study on the optical and magnetic properties of diluted magnetic semiconducting Mn-doped ZnO crystals. The samples of Mn-doped ZnO were prepared by standard solid-state reaction method. X-ray diffraction (XRD) was used to determine the crystal structure of samples. From the XRD results of samples sintered in air at 900 ℃, wurtzite structure of Mn-doping ZnO crystals was confirmed. However, the diffraction signal Mn2O3 phase was also found and increased as the synthetic concentration of Mn increased. Optical properties of the Mn-doped ZnO crystals were studied by taking reflectance (R) and photoluminescence (PL) measurements. From the R results, the spectro-position of A exciton of Mn-doped ZnO crystals was determined. From the PL results, it was found that the band gap energy of Mn-doped ZnO crystals increases as the synthetic concentration of Mn increases from 0 to 4%. The donor-impurity binding energy, and acceptor-impurity binding energy of Mn-doped ZnO crystals were also determined by the PL measurements. The estimated values were 35 and 175 meV, respectively. Magnetic properties of the samples of Mn-doped ZnO were studied by alternating gradient magnetometer (AGM) measurement. The AGM measurement indicated that the room-temperature ferromagnetism of samples enhances as the synthetic concentration of Mn increases. The room-temperature ferromagnetism of samples prepared using MnO2 was more remarkable than that of samples prepared using MnCO3. From the results of optical and magnetic measurements, the room-temperature ferromagnetism of the samples of Mn-doped ZnO was attributed to the Mn2-xZnxO3-δ phase.

Transition metal and related compounds have been extensively studied over the past several decades. These investigations revealed a wide range of behavior, encompassing colossal magnetoresistance (CMR), high-TC superconductivity, and magnetic semiconductivity, all of which continue to present fundamental challenges to the understanding of such phenomena. There is, however, a close correlation between such characteristics and the appearance of magnetic order. This correlation underlies the present study, which focuses on the magnetic and transport behavior of various Manganese (Mn), Iron (Fe) and Cobalt (Co) containing materials, with particular emphasis on the nature of the magnetic order they display and the critical exponents that characterize the accompanying phase transition. The magnetic and transport properties of two specific systems will be covered: first various doped manganites from the series (La,Pr)1-x(Ca,Ba)xMnO3, and second the magnetic semiconductors Fe0.8Co0.2Si and Ga0.98Mn0.02As. In the manganites, the influence of doping on; (i) the evolution of the metal-insulator transition (MIT) with composition; (ii) the universality class of the magnetic critical behavior associated with the paramagnetic to ferromagnetic transition, which occurs in the vicinity of a MIT with which CMR is associated; (iii) the mechanisms underlying ferromagnetism across the MIT; (iv) the correlation between the appearance of a Griffiths-like phase and CMR, and (v) the origin of Griffiths-like phase have been investigated. Four different systems have been studied: La1-xCaxMnO3 (0.18 ≤ x ≤ 0.27), La1-xBaxMnO3 (x ≤ 0.33), (La1-yPry)0.7Ca0.3Mn16/18O3 (y ≤ 0.85), and Pr1-xCaxMnO3 (x = 0.27, 0.29). In Fe0.8Co0.2Si and Ga0.98Mn0.02As, the scaling between magnetization and conductivity has been the subject of ongoing debate. In bulk Fe0.8Co0.2Si, a novel scaling between the anomalous Hall effect (AHE) and the magnetization enables the anomalous Hall coefficient to be accurately determined. In turn, this enables the universality class for the transition to ferromagnetism to be established independently from the anomalous Hall conductivity. In an epitaxial (metallic) Ga0.98Mn0.02As microstructure, the magnetization has been indirectly determined from the AHE. Subsequent analysis yields magnetic critical exponents consistent with the Mean-Field model, direct support for which had previously been lacking.

Semiconductor devices are the building blocks of electronics and communication technology in the modern world. The charge, mass and spin of charge carriers in the semiconductor devices lay the foundations of the technology developments in the modern age. But to date only the electronic charge of the semiconductors has been exploited for such applications. The significance of the spin of charge carriers is completely ignored because in a semiconductor the half of the carriers are in spin-up state and the remainder are in spin-down state. A new electronics termed as spintronics, spin-transport based electronics, is focused to utilise the spin degree of freedom of the charge carriers in addition to its electronic charge. The devices based on these have the potential for various technological advancements like non-volatility, increased data processing speed, decreased electronic power consumption and increased integration densities as compared to the conventional semiconductor devices. In this study, the author intended to study the growth and properties of magnetic impurity doped antimony based III-V compounds and compare these results with those of the films grown by MBE. This thesis is organised into seven chapters. The first introductory chapter gives a brief review of the work on spintronics, diluted magnetic semiconductors, Ferromagnetic / paramagnetic semiconductor hybrid structures with special emphasis on the properties of antimonides which have already been reported in the literature. This is followed by the scope of the thesis. The second chapter deals with technical details of various instruments used in the present research work. Third chapter describes the growth and structural properties of bulk crystals grown by Bridgman method and thin films grown by liquid phase epitaxy (LPE). Bulk crystals of InSb and GaSb doped with magnetic elements such as Mn and Fe are grown with different doping concentrations. Thin films of InSb and GaSb doped Mn with different doping concentrations are grown by LPE. The grown crystals are processed by slicing, lapping, polishing and chemical etching methods. X-ray diffraction studies are carried out to confirm alloy formation and to find the change in lattice parameter if any. From the powder diffraction patterns, the lattice parameter is refined with the help of Retvield refinement program. A systematic change of lattice parameter with the incorporation of magnetic impurities into InSb and GaSb is observed. Scanning electron microscopy and energy dispersive x-ray analysis are carried out to identify the secondary phases and their composition respectively. Chapter 4 gives the detailed magnetotransport studies carried out on InSb and GaSb crystals doped with Mn and Fe. Also, the magnetotransport studies carried out on thin films grown by liquid phase epitaxy are presented here. This chapter is divided into three sections of which the first section deals with Mn doped bulk crystals of InSb and GaSb, the second section deals with Fe doped bulk crystals of InSb and GaSb and the third section deals with Mn doped InSb and GaSb films grown on GaAs by Liquid Phase Epitaxy. Temperature dependence of zero field resistivity, magnetoresistance and Hall measurements are carried out from 1.4 to 300K. All the samples show p type conduction throughout the temperature range studied except for Fe doped InSb. Mn doped crystals show negative magnetoresistance and anomalous Hall effect below 10K. Anisotropy in magnetoresistance is also observed at low temperatures in InMnSb crystals. On the other hand, Fe doped samples exhibit positive magnetoresistance throughout the temperature range and no anomalous Hall effect is observed. Chapter 5 describes the magnetic properties of bulk InMnSb, GaMnSb, InFeSb and GaFeSb crystals so also the thin films of InMnSb/GaAs. DC magnetization measurements are carried out in the temperature range 2 - 300K. The Mn doped InSb and GaSb crystals as well as InMnSb/GaAs films, show a magnetic ordering below 10K which could arise from the InMnSb and GaMnSb alloy formation. Also, saturation in magnetization observed even at room temperature suggests the existence of ferromagnetic MnSb clusters in the crystals which has been verified by scanning electron microscopy studies. In Fe doped InSb crystals, the temperature dependent DC magnetization shows irreversibility under field cooled and zero field cooled conditions below 12K, suggesting a spin glass-like behaviour. Also, magnetization measurement shows the coexistence of ferromagnetic and paramagnetic phases throughout the temperature range studied. Existence of ferromagnetic phase could arise from secondary phases Fe1-xInx or FeSb2 present in the crystal as clusters and paramagnetic phase could arise from the randomly distributed Fe atoms in the InSb matrix. Fe doped GaSb crystals show interesting magnetic property that arises from the FeGa alloy (secondary phase) present in it. The EPR studies on Ga0.98Mn0.02Sb cluster-free (?) crystal suggest that the dominant Mn impurity in GaMnSb is Mn2+ (d5), described as ionized acceptor A−. This conclusion was derived from EPR experiments, which reveal a strong absorption line with an effective g factor very close to 2.00, the value typical for centre A−. The absence of EPR signal typical for neutral Mn acceptor A0 suggests that this center is absent in the crystal under investigation. The observed behavior is similar to that of Ga1-xMnxAs and In1-xMnxAs epilayers. EPR studies also reveal that the competition between antiferromagnetic and ferromagnetic phases exists in the studied crystal. Chapter 6 describes the optical measurements carried out on bulk Ga1-xMnxSb crystals and their films with different Mn doping concentrations. FTIR studies are carried out in the temperature range 4 - 300 K. From the FTIR studies, it is found that intra valance spin – orbit splitting band absorption is dominant compared to the fundamental absorption in doped crystals. In higher doped crystals (x > 0.01), fundamental band absorption merges with split-off band and could not be resolved. Free carrier absorption studies are also carried out in the energy range below the band gap. FTIR studies on GaMnSb/GaAs films suggest band gap narrowing effect due to Mn doping. Furthermore the Photoluminescence measurements are carried out in the temperature range 10 – 300 K for all the Mn doped GaSb crystals. PL studies also support the band gap narrowing and band filling effects. A comprehensive summary of this research investigation and scope for the further work are presented in the last chapter.

博士
國立臺灣大學
應用力學研究所
99
Spin-dependent materials, due to the charge and spin degrees of freedom accommodated into single matter, are promising candidates for a wide range of spintronic applications. Recently, the study of frequency-dependent transport properties of these materials has received considerable interest because most of their applications require high speed functionality. The transport in these kinds of materials depends sensitively on the details of the growth conditions and geometric structures. The essential underlying question is how these factors affect the frequency-dependent transport properties. Therefore, in this dissertation we study this fundamental problem using impedance spectroscopy methodology. In the first part of this dissertation, we study the bias voltage dependence of tunnel magneto-impedance in two types of AlOx-based magnetic tunnel junctions (i.e., CoFeB/AlOx/CoFeB and CoFeB/AlOx). The equivalent circuit model is applied to characterize the transport properties and barrier/interface behavior of the tunnel junctions. The bias voltage dependence of the impedance spectra shows different behaviors for each type of junction, thus contributing different physical parameters to the equivalent circuit model. By analysis of the physical parameters we discuss the effects of the barrier high and spin-dependent screening on the frequency-dependent transport properties. The results indicate that the decrease in magneto-impedance is the results of decreased effective barrier high and increased inverse screening length. Impedance spectroscopy can be also used as a tool for studying the microstructure-related transport properties. The second part in this dissertation we have carried out a systematic study of the dependence of magneto-electrical properties of Mn-doped ZnO thin films deposited in various gas (Ar, Ar + N2, and Ar + O2) ambiences. The magneto-impedance spectra of the Mn-doped ZnO thin films have been analyzed using brick layer equivalent model. Different contributions are identified, and the results show that both electrical conductivity and dielectric relaxation of grains and grain boundaries contribute to the magneto-dynamics of the polycrystalline film. The grain boundary is found to make a larger contribution in sample grown in Ar + O2 during the sputtering process, resulting in larger resistance and lower relaxation frequency. Also, the results of the impedance spectroscopy are found to agree well with the SEM inspection. Finally, the Al doping effects on high-frequency magneto-electric properties of Zn1-x-yAlxCoyO (x = 0 – 10.65 at.%) thin films are systematically studied in this dissertation. The Zn1-x-yAlxCoyO thin films have been deposited by magnetron co-sputtering onto quartz substrates. The magneto-impedance spectra of the thin films are measured by an impedance analyzer. Among all the doped films studied, the thin film with 6.03 at.% Al-doping shows the highest ac conductivity and relaxation frequency. To characterize the relaxation mechanism underlying the magneto-electric properties, a Cole-Cole impedance model is applied to analyze the impedance spectra. The analyzed result shows that the magneto-impedance of the Zn1-x-yAlxCoyO is contributed by multiple processes of magnetization dynamics and dielectric relaxation.

博士
國立交通大學
材料科學與工程系所
94
The III-V compound semiconductors have been widely used for high-speed electronic devices as well as for optoelectronic devices. However, new magnetic semiconducting nanosized film materials to minimize the scattering of electron spins between layers in the devices have been one of the key issues in spintronic device applications. The semiconductor with lower concentration of magnetic material (also called “diluted magnetic semiconductor (DMS)”) is one of the new developing materials for such applications, which can be formed by incorporating magnetic atoms, e.g. Mn, into conventional III-V semiconductors. In this work, series of processes for fabricating DMS multilayer materials based on GaAs and InP semiconductors were successfully developed to examine their structures and properties. The processes include using the low temperature-molecular beam epitaxial (LT-MBE) (＜300℃) techniques to minimize the mutual diffusion between elements during the deposition period, so the metastable phases can be obtained with a relative higher concentration of magnetic material than the conventional method to improve their magnetic properties. The structures and propertied were characterized by TEM, DXRD (double crystal XRD), EPMA and SQUID. The experimental results can be roughly divided into three categories: (1) On examining excess arsenic precipitation behaviors in LT-GaAs deposits, the results indicate that the excess arsenic content (Asex) is depending on crystallographic orientation of the GaAs substrate, i.e., Asex on (311)B > (311)A > (001); this may be due to a combination effect of the accommodation factors of the crystallographic plane and bonding site difference. By comparing the double- and single-dangling-bond sites, the latter sites preferentially possess a greater accommodation factor. Furthermore, the results of annealing experiments of the LT-GaAs structure containing six active regions (i-n1-i, i-n2-i, i-n3-i, i-p1-i, i-p2-i, and i-p3-i multilayers) find an interesting result: the excess arsenic depletion zone or distribution in i-n-i structures after annealing is depending on the doping concentration. For Si-doped concentration ≦ 1017 cm-3, the arsenic depletion zone in n-layer can be formed in the present cases, which had not reported in the literature. This can be explained by the overlapping the n-layer thickness with the Debye length of the substrate at both sides of i-n interfaces. (2) As to effects of 7 % Mn addition, post annealing and DMS layer thickness of Mn-doped LT-GaAs on their magnetic properties in three-layers structure (LT-(Ga, Mn)As /LT-GaAs/GaAs), the results show that the Curie temperature (Tc) of DMS can be greatly increased by a decrease in thickness and via annealing treatment, and indicates the greatest Tc for (001) GaAs substrate orientation. Annealing treatment is essentially to remove excess MnI from the interstitial sites in the lattice to decrease the donor-like defects, which may cause an increase in hole concentration and Tc. In other words, the diffusion path of Mn for the thinner DMS thickness is much shorter, which may result in a more effective removal of excess MnI from the lattice and a greater increase in Tc after annealing. Effect of substrate orientation is basically to affect the excess arsenic precipitation behavior. Therefore, a greater excess arsenic antisite defects in (311)A substrate orientation than in (001) orientation may neutralize more holes in the lattice to decrease Tc more in (311)A orientation. (3) On (001) InP substrate, effects of the lattice constant variations of buffer layers on Mn doping of LT-(In, Al, Mn)As DMS materials were examined. The buffer layers of LT-(In, Al)As include nearly matched one-layer and the graded three-layers lattice structures. The results show that the LT-(In, Al, Mn)As DMS materials are paramagnetic, and become ferromagnetic for Mn % ≧ 6 %. By using the graded buffer structures, the Mn concentration of DMS can reach 18 % without 2nd phase precipitation. The Tc of the DMS changes from 25K to 40K, when Mn concentration varies from 11 to 18 %.

Polycrystalline Zn1-xCrxO (0.01 ≤ x ≤ 0.09) samples synthesized by solid state reaction technique were sintered at different temperatures following slow step sintering schedule. Structural, micro-structural, optical, magnetic properties and homogeneity were investigated using suitable characterisation techniques. Cr2O3 and CrO2 phases have been detected in the XRD patterns and Raman spectra of Zn1-xCrxO samples with x ≥ 0.05. Photoluminescence study has indicated improved optical property of the samples compared to undoped ZnO. While low percentage Cr doped samples showed diamagnetic behaviour, higher percentage doped samples (≥ 5%) exhibited ferromagnetic, paramagnetic and anti-ferromagnetic behaviours depending upon the sintering temperatures. The magnetic properties have been analysed through Electron Spin Resonance study. A g-value of 1.97 indicates Cr in +3 valence state in doped ZnO system. Presence of Cr3+ and Cr4+ in ZnO is understood to facilitate super exchange interactions to promote ferromagnetism at room temperature. ESR study shows improved magnetic homogeneity achieved by slow step sintering process.
Physics
M. Sc. (Physics)

This thesis on multicarrier effects in the magnetotransport and optical properties of Mercury Cadmium Telluride (MCT or HgCdTe) covers mainly: design, construction and calibration of a 12T 4K and 19T 77K pulsed high magnetic field systems; temperature dependent magnetotransport measurements upto 15T performed on the home-built pulsed magnet systems; computational techniques developed to extract densities and mobilities of various carriers, especially low mobility heavy holes, participating in conduction; theoretical analysis of heavy hole mobility based on Boltzmann transport equation; temperature dependent optical absorption experiments in the Mid and Far-IR on bulk and thin film samples; and theoretical modelling of optical absorption below bandgap. The work essentially probes the low and high frequency conductivity of the semiconductor alloy Hg1?xCdxTe by performing microscopic calculations of scattering related phenomena of its free carriers at higher temperatures (200 K–300 K) and comparing with experimental data. Special attention is given to properties of heavy holes as the effects due to these carriers appear only at higher magnetic fields. It is demonstrated that in this temperature range and at high magnetic fields, taking both measured resistivity and derived conductivity in the multicarrier analysis gives better results which are then applied to explain both heavy hole mobility as well as free carrier absorption without further fitting parameters and using a minimal set of necessary intrinsic properties. The agreement thus obtained with experimental data is shown to be excellent. The bulk and epilayer samples used in this thesis were grown by the MCT group headed by R. K. Sharma (SSPL, Delhi). The organization of the thesis is as follows: Chapter 1 The importance of Mercury Cadmium Telluride as a narrow gap semiconductor for infrared detection is introduced. The relevant physical and material properties of HgCdTe are reviewed. Chapter 2 A low cost 12T pulsed magnet system has been integrated with a closed-cycle Helium refrigerator (CCR) for performing magnetotransport measurements. Minimal delay between pulses and AC current excitation with software lock-in to reduce noise enable quick but accurate measurements to be performed at temperatures 4K-300K upto 12T. An additional pulsed magnet operating with a liquid nitrogen cryostat extends the range upto 19T. The instrument has been calibrated against a commercial superconducting magnet by comparing quantum Hall effect data in a p-channel SiGe/Si heterostructure and common issues arising out of pulsed magnet usage have been addressed. The versatility of the system is demonstrated through magnetotransport measurements in a variety of samples such as heterostructures, narrow gap semiconductors and those exhibiting giant magnetoresistance. Chapter 3 The necessity of employing multicarrier methods in magnetotransport of narrow gap semiconductors is brought out. In these materials, mixed conduction is seen to exist at nearly all temperatures of interest. Methods of extracting two of the most important transport parameters of device interest, density and mobility, from the variable magnetic field Hall and magnetoresistance measurements are elaborated. Improvements have been made to the conventional non-linear least squares fitting procedure and are demonstrated. Chapter 4 Magnetotransport measurements in pulsed fields upto 15 Tesla have been performed on Mercury Cadmium Telluride (Hg1?xCdxTe, x?0.2) bulk as well as liquid phase epitaxially grown samples to obtain the resistivity and conductivity tensors in the temperature range 220K to 300 K. Mobilities and densities of various carriers participating in conduction have been extracted using both conventional multicarrier fitting (MCF) and Mobility Spectrum Analysis(MSA). The fits to experimental data, particularly at the highest magnetic fields, were substantially improved when MCF is applied to minimize errors simultaneously on both resistivity and conductivity tensors. The semiclassical Boltzmann Transport Equation (BTE) has been solved without using adjustable parameters by incorporating the following scattering mechanisms to fit the mobility: ionized impurity, polar and nonpolar optical phonon, acoustic deformation potential and alloy disorder. Compared to previous estimates based on the relaxation time approximation with out-scattering only, polar optical scattering and ionized impurity scattering limited mobilities are shown to be larger due to the correct incorporation of the in-scattering term taking into account the overlap integrals in the valence band. Chapter 5 Optical absorption measurements have been performed on bulk Mercury Cadmium Telluride (Hg1?xCdxTe, x?0.2) samples between 4K and 300 K. After fitting the Urbach part of the spectrum in the mid-infrared, below bandgap absorption is modeled using only basic processes and mechanisms, i.e. intervalence transitions and free carrier absorption (FCA). The additive FCA coefficients for individual carriers have been calculated using known quantum mechanically derived expressions for scattering due to polar and nonpolar optical phonons, ionized impurities and acoustic deformation potential mechanisms found to be relevant for electrical transport in this temperature range. The densities of carriers used in the calculations are derived from a modified multicarrier fitting (MCF) procedure on both resistivity and conductivity tensors from magnetotransport measurements in pulsed fields upto 15 Tesla from 220K to 300 K, thus making hole density more reliable. It is found that such a treatment is sufficient to model the absorption spectra below bandgap quite accurately without introducing any additional mechanical or compositional defect related phenomena. Chapter 6 A summary of the work carried out in this thesis is presented. Some future directions including preliminary work to measure carrier mobilities at high electric fields and effect of hydrogen passivation in MCT are briefly discussed.