SearcharxivSearch

arXiv · 1610.06265

Molecular Beam Epitaxy of 2D-layered Gallium Selenide on GaN substrates

Abstract

Large area epitaxy of two-dimensional (2D) layered materials with high material quality is a crucial step in realizing novel device applications based on 2D materials. In this work, we report high-quality, crystalline, large-area gallium selenide (GaSe) films grown on bulk substrates such as c-plane sapphire and gallium nitride (GaN) using a valved cracker source for Se. (002)-oriented GaSe with random in-plane orientation of domains was grown on sapphire and GaN substrates at a substrate temperature of 350-450 C with complete surface coverage and smooth surface morphology. Higher growth temperature (575 C) resulted in the formation of single-crystalline {\epsilon}-GaSe triangular domains with six-fold symmetry confirmed by in-situ reflection high electron energy diffraction (RHEED) and off-axis x-ray diffraction (XRD). A two-step growth method involving high temperature nucleation of single crystalline domains and low temperature growth to enhance coalescence was adopted to obtain continuous (002)-oriented GaSe with an epitaxial relationship with the substrate. While six-fold symmetry was maintained in the two step growth, {\beta}-GaSe phase was observed in addition to the dominant {\epsilon}-GaSe in cross-sectional scanning transmission electron microscopy images. This work demonstrates the potential of growing high quality 2D-layered materials using molecular beam epitaxy and can be extended to the growth of other transition metal chalcogenides.

Explore related subjects

Keep this discovery

BibTeXRIS

Choong Hee Lee, Sriram Krishnamoorthy, Dante J. O'Hara, Jared M. Johnson, John Jamison, Roberto C. Myers, Roland K. Kawakami, Jinwoo Hwang, Siddharth Rajan. 2016-10-20. Molecular Beam Epitaxy of 2D-layered Gallium Selenide on GaN substrates. https://doi.org/10.1063/1.4977697

Cite the original work for its findings. Save a collection to share your selection of sources.

KEEP EXPLORING

Related papers

Measuring chiral phonons

Chiral phonons are quantized vibrations where the atomic motion in a solid breaks improper rotation symmetries. In many cases, chiral phonons possess angular momenta and are therefore selective to circularly polarized light. Both fundamental and applied research efforts on chiral phonons have been gaining increasing attention owing to their importance in a variety of fields including spintronics, spin-selective chemical reactions, thermal transport, quantum information processing and biosensing, where the bi-directional spin-lattice coupling enabled by chiral phonons can be harnessed in new ways, and potentially lead to new functionalities. Thus far, the studies of chiral phonons across diverse materials platforms have evolved largely independently within these fields, but the experimental techniques are often interrelated. In this perspective, we present a detailed description, as well as advantages and disadvantages of the current approaches for experimentally measuring chiral phonons in chiral and achiral materials. We conclude with a discussion of new methods for measuring chiral phonons. Ultimately, this work seeks to offer an experimental guide for systematically investigating the properties of chiral phonons in various materials systems and applications.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci

A model of grain growth in UN integrating molecular dynamics, phase-field modeling, and uncertainty quantification

Grain growth kinetics and grain-boundary (GB) properties in uranium mononitride (UN) are investigated through an integrated multiscale framework combining molecular dynamics (MD), phase-field modeling, and surrogate-assisted uncertainty quantification. MD simulations yield GB energies for 27 symmetric tilt boundaries from 0--2000~K, which are consistent with available DFT values. The average GB energy is nearly temperature-independent below 1000~K and increases at higher temperatures. A mechanistic pore-drag model applied to the only available grain growth dataset for actinide nitrides yields a mobility reduction factor of $s \approx 0.93$--$0.99$, statistically indistinguishable from unity, confirming that pore drag is negligible under the experimental conditions. The intrinsic GB mobility is therefore extracted directly from the effective mobility, yielding $M_0 = 2.05\times10^{-15}$~m$^4$/(J$\cdot$s) and $Q_M = 0.89$~eV. Phase-field simulations conducted from 1500--2000~K confirm normal curvature-driven grain growth, with grain size distributions converging to the Hillert-like form. A surrogate-assisted global sensitivity analysis---combining principal component analysis, Gaussian process regression, and Sobol decomposition---reveals that the mobility prefactor $M_0$ dominates output variance at all times, followed by the activation energy $Q_M$, while the GB energy $\gamma$ contributes minimally. These results establish the first quantitative grain growth framework for UN and identify the reduction of uncertainty in $M_0$ and $Q_M$ as the highest-priority target for future experimental efforts.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci

Silicon Solar Cell Design for >30% Efficiency via Singlet Fission

Singlet fission (SF) materials convert high-energy photons into multiple charge carriers, providing a route to exceed the efficiency limits of single-junction silicon solar cells without many of the complexities of multi-junction tandem designs. Following the first demonstration of an SF-enhanced silicon solar cell in 2025, there is a need to understand how SF materials can be effectively integrated into high-efficiency industrial silicon devices and translated from proof of concept to a manufacturable technology. Using coupled optical and electrical simulations, we assess the efficiency potential of several industrially relevant silicon cell architectures combined with SF materials. Interdigitated back-contact (IBC) cells offer the greatest potential for improvement due to unrestricted front-surface access and can achieve efficiencies exceeding 33%. However, performance is highly sensitive to front-surface passivation quality. Appropriate silicon design, particularly controlled surface doping and fixed interfacial charge, can mitigate recombination losses and relax passivation requirements for ultra-thin exciton-transfer layers.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci