arXiv subjects

Stefan Zollner

Publications and source records attributed to Stefan Zollner.

7 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2026

Dispersion models describing coupled systems in doped crystals. II. Infrared phonon excitations in GaAs single crystals and phonon-plasmon coupling in Zn-doped GaAs

We present a temperature-dependent infrared study of intrinsic and Zn-doped GaAs within a generalized dispersion framework describing coupled phonon and free-carrier excitations. Reflectance, transmittance, and ellipsometric data measured from 300 to 440 K are fitted simultaneously using Gaussian-broadened distributions for single-phonon modes and triangle-delta-triangle representations for multiphonon absorption bands. The formalism provides a self-consistent description of lattice and carrier contributions to the dielectric response and reproduces the evolution of phonon-plasmon coupling with doping and temperature. In heavily doped samples, a pronounced Fano-type asymmetry of the TO-phonon resonance is observed and attributed to interference between phonon excitations and the Drude background of light and heavy holes. The resulting optical constants remain physically consistent across the far- and mid-infrared range and demonstrate the applicability of the framework to coupled bound and free excitations in doped semiconductors. The approach provides a quantitative tool for modeling infrared optical properties of GaAs and related photonic materials.

physics.optics↗

arXiv2026

Hole concentrations in doped gray α-Sn on InSb and CdTe measured with infrared ellipsometry

Gray tin (α-Sn) layers with 30 nm thickness were grown on InSb (001) substrates using molecular beam epitaxy. The surface preparation of the substrates was adjusted to achieve either n-type or p-type doping in the α-Sn layer. Fourier-transform infrared ellipsometry was used to find the temperature-dependent dielectric function of the α-Sn layers from 0.03 to 0.8 eV and from 10 to 300 K. Because of the inverted band structure of α-Sn, the spectra show a strong absorption peak at 0.45 eV due to transitions from the inverted {Γ_-^7} "electron" valence band to the {Γ_+^8} heavy hole valence band. Applying the Thomas-Reiche-Kuhn f-sum rule, the integrated oscillator strength of this peak was used to calculate the heavy hole concentration as a function of temperature. For a nearly intrinsic α-Sn layer, the heavy hole concentration agrees well with predictions based on degenerate Fermi-Dirac statistics. Deviations from the intrinsic α-Sn carrier concentrations are attributed to substrate surface preparation leading to the diffusion of donor or acceptor ions into the α-Sn layer causing n-type or p-type doping.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci↗

arXiv2026

Temperature-Dependent Dielectric Function of Tantalum Nitride Formed by Atomic Layer Deposition for Tunnel Barriers in Josephson Junctions

We report the dielectric functions of insulating tantalum nitride (TaN) films, deposited using atomic layer deposition (ALD) on 300 mm Si/SiO2 substrates, to demonstrate their suitability as tunnel barriers in tantalum-based Josephson junctions (JJ) for superconducting quantum circuits. The temperature-dependent ellipsometric angles were measured using ALD TaN films with nominal thicknesses of 13 nm and 25 nm at an incidence angle of 70 degrees, across photon energy ranges of 0.03 eV to 0.7 eV (80-300 K) and 0.5 eV to 6.5 eV (80-600 K). This data was used to develop a dispersion model for insulating ALD TaN films that incorporates a Tauc-Lorentz oscillator with a band gap of 1.5-1.8 eV to model the interband optical transitions. The extracted dielectric function of ALD TaN films shows an insulating behavior (mid-infrared transparency) at all temperatures and for both film thicknesses tested. ALD TaN does not exhibit infrared absorption due to free carriers, even at elevated temperatures, demonstrating its insulating nature, which is required for the tunnel barrier of the JJ in quantum applications. The results of transmission electron microscopy, including selected area electron diffraction, and X-ray diffraction are also discussed. Sputter depth-profile X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) shows an N/Ta ratio of ~1.2 throughout the film. The lower band gap, low roughness, and thermal stability of ALD TaN compared to AlOx suggest the possibility of fabricating JJs with thicker barriers while achieving critical current densities required for qubits, better control of thickness and composition, reduced topography, and resistance to aging.

cond-mat.supr-con↗

arXiv2025

Cryogenic growth of aluminum: structural morphology, optical properties, superconductivity and microwave dielectric loss

We explore the molecular beam epitaxy synthesis of superconducting aluminum thin films grown on c-plane sapphire substrates at cryogenic temperatures of 6 K and compare their behavior with films synthesized at room temperature. We demonstrate that cryogenic growth increases structural disorder, producing crystalline grains that modify the optical, electrical, and superconducting properties of aluminum. We observe that cryogenic deposition changes the color of aluminum from fully reflective to yellow and correlate the pseudo-dielectric function and reflectance with structural changes in the film. We find that smaller grain sizes enhance the superconductivity of aluminum, increasing its critical temperature and critical field. We then estimate the superconducting gap and coherence length of Cooper pairs in aluminum in the presence of disorder. Finally, we fabricate superconducting microwave resonators on these films and find that, independently of the growth temperature, the system is dominated by two-level system loss with similar quality factors in the high and low power regimes. We further measure a higher kinetic inductance in the cryogenically grown films.

cond-mat.supr-con↗

arXiv2025

TeO2-BaO-Bi2O3 tellurite optical glasses II. -- Linear and non-linear optical and magneto-optical properties

The present study investigates the linear and non-linear optical and magneto-optical properties of TeO$_2$-BaO-Bi$_2$O$_3$ (TeBaBi) glasses prepared by the conventional melt-quenching technique at 900 °C. Prepared glass composition ranges across the whole glass-forming-ability (GFA) region focusing on mutual substitution trends of constituent oxides, where TeO$_2$: 55-85 mol.%, BaO: 10-35 mol.%, Bi$_2$O$_3$: 5-15 mol.%. Studied glasses exhibit high values of linear ($n_{632} \approx$ 1.922-2.084) and non-linear refractive index ($n_2\approx$1.63-3.45$\times10^{-11}$ esu), Verdet constant ($V_{632} \approx$ 26.7-45.3 radT$^{-1}$m$^{-1}$) and optical band gap energy ($E_g \approx$ 3.1-3.6 eV). The introduction of TeO$_2$ and Bi$_2$O$_3$ results in increase of both linear/non-linear refractive index and Verdet constant, with a more pronounced influence of Bi$_2$O$_3$. Measured spectral dispersion of refractive index and Verdet constant were used for estimation of magneto-optic anomaly parameter ($γ\approx$ 0.71-0.92), which may be used for theoretical modelling of magneto-optic response in diamagnetic TeBaBi glasses. Additionally, the properties of the prepared TeBaBi glasses were directly compared to those of the TeO$_2$-ZnO-BaO glass system, which was prepared and characterized under similar experimental conditions. The compositional dependence of the refractive index in both glass systems was described using multilinear regression analysis, demonstrating high correlation and uniformity of estimation across the entire GFA region. This makes them highly promising for precise dispersion engineering and construction of optical devices operating from visible to mid-infrared spectral region.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci↗

arXiv2021

Temperature dependence of the optical phonon reflection band in GaP

We explore the effect of temperatures between 80 and 720 K on the energy and linewidth of zone-center transverse (TO) and longitudinal (LO) optical phonons in bulk gallium phosphide (GaP) using Fourier transform infrared ellipsometry from 0.03 to 0.60 eV. We extract the optical phonon parameters of GaP by fitting the ellipsometric angles with the Lowndes-Gervais model, which applies two different broadening parameters to the TO and LO phonons. In GaP, the two-phonon density of states is larger for the decay of TO phonons than for LO phonons. Therefore, we observed a larger TO phonon broadening (compared to the LO phonon) and an asymmetric reststrahlen line shape. This would lead to a negative imaginary part of the dielectric function just above the LO phonon energy, but the addition of two-phonon absorption avoids this. We find a temperature dependent redshift and broadening of TO and LO phonons with increasing temperature due to thermal expansion and anharmonic phonon-phonon scattering, involving three and four phonon decay processes. We also investigate the temperature-dependence of the high-frequency dielectric constant. Its variation is explained by thermal expansion and the temperature dependence of the Penn gap.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci↗

arXiv2020

Ultrafast dynamics of hot charge carriers in an oxide semiconductor probed by femtosecond spectroscopic ellipsometry

Many linked processes occur concurrently in strongly excited semiconductors, such as interband and intraband absorption, scattering of electrons and holes by the heated lattice, Pauli blocking, bandgap renormalization and the formation of Mahan excitons. In this work, we disentangle their dynamics and contributions to the optical response of a ZnO thin film. Using broadband pump-probe ellipsometry, we can directly and unambiguously obtain the real and imaginary part of the transient dielectric function which we compare with first-principles simulations. We find interband and excitonic absorption partially blocked and screened by the photo-excited electron occupation of the conduction band and hole occupation of the valence band (absorption bleaching). Exciton absorption turns spectrally narrower upon pumping and sustains the Mott transition, indicating Mahan excitons. Simultaneously, intra-valence-band transitions occur at sub-picosecond time scales after holes scatter to the edge of the Brillouin zone. Our results pave new ways for the understanding of non-equilibrium charge-carrier dynamics in materials by reliably distinguishing between changes in absorption coefficient and refractive index, thereby separating competing processes. This information will help to overcome the limitations of materials for high-power optical devices that owe their properties from dynamics in the ultrafast regime.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci↗