Narrow gap semiconductors are the most important materials for the preparation of advanced modern infrared systems. They often operate at the extremes of the rules of semiconductor science. This book offers clear descriptions of crystal growth and the fundamental structure and properties of these unique materials. Topics covered include band structure, optical and transport properties, and lattice vibrations and spectra. A thorough treatment of the properties of low-dimensional systems and their relation to infrared applications is provided.
E se non che di cid son vere prove A nd were it not for the true evidence Per piti e piti autori, che sa, ra. nno Of many authors who will be Per i miei versi nominati altrove, Mentioned elsewhere in my rhyme Non presterei alla penna 10. mana I would not lend my hand to the pen Per nota1' cid ch'io vidi, can temenza And describe my observations, for fear ehe non fosse do. altri casso e van 0; That they would be rejected and in vane; Mala lor chiara. e vera. esperienza But these authors' clear and true experience Mi assicura. nel dir, come persone Encourages me to report, since they Degne di fede ad ogni gra. n sentenza. Should always be trusted for their word. [From" Dittamondo", by Fazio degli UbertiJ Heterojunction interfaces, the interfaces between different semiconducting materi als, have been extensively explored for over a quarter of a century. The justifica tion for this effort is clear - these interfaces could become the building blocks of lllany novel solid-state devices. Other interfaces involving semiconductors are al ready widely used in technology, These are, for example, metal-semiconductor and insulator-semiconductor junctions and hOll1ojunctions. In comparison, the present applications of heterojunction int. erfaces are limited, but they could potentially becOlne lnuch lllore ext. ensive in the neal' future. The path towards the widespread use of heterojunctions is obstructed by several obstacles
Narrow Gap Semiconductors 1995 contains the invited and contributed papers presented at the Seventh International Conference on Narrow Gap Semiconductors, held in January 1995. The invited review papers provide an overview and the contributed papers provide in-depth coverage of research results across the whole field.
A presentation of the peculiarities of the physical properties of a comparatively new class of solids. GSs are of practical interest since they are very sensitive to impurities, and to the influence of light, magnetic and electric fields, and to pressure.
In this monograph, investigations of the performance of narrow-gap semiconductor photodiodes are presented, and recent progress in different IR photodiode technologies is discussed: HgCdTe photodiodes, InSb photodiodes, alternatives to HgCdTe III-V and II-VI ternary alloy photodiodes, lead chalcogenide photodiodes, and a new class of photodiodes based on two-dimensional solids. Investigations of the performance of photodiodes operated in different spectral regions are presented.
This volume forms a solid presentation in several important areas of NGS research, including materials, growth and characterization, fundamental physical phenomena, and devices and applications. It examines the novel material of InAs and its related alloys, heterostructures, and nanostructures as well as more traditional NGS materials such as InSb, PbTe, and HgCdTe. Several chapters cover carbon nanotubes and spintronics, along with spin-orbit coupling, nonparabolicity, and large g-factors. The book also deals with the physics and applications of low-energy phenomena at the infrared and terahertz ranges.
Density functional theory (DFT) has blossomed in the past few decades into a powerful tool that is used by experimentalists and theoreticians alike. This book highlights the extensive contributions that the DFT-based OLCAO method has made to progress in this field, and it demonstrates its competitiveness for performing ab initio calculations on large and complex models of practical systems. A brief historical account and introduction to the elements of the theory set the stage for discussions on semiconductors, insulators, crystalline metals and alloys, complex crystals, non-crystalline solids and liquids, microstructure containing systems and those containing impurities, defects, and surfaces, biomolecular systems, and the technique of ab initio core level spectroscopy calculation.
Narrow gap semiconductors obey the general rules of semiconductor science, but often exhibit extreme features of these rules because of the same properties that produce their narrow gaps. Consequently these materials provide sensitive tests of theory, and the opportunity for the design of innovative devices. Narrow gap semiconductors are the most important materials for the preparation of advanced modern infrared systems. Device Physics of Narrow Gap Semiconductors, a forthcoming second book, offers descriptions of the materials science and device physics of these unique materials. Topics covered include impurities and defects, recombination mechanisms, surface and interface properties, and the properties of low dimensional systems for infrared applications. This book will help readers to understand not only semiconductor physics and materials science, but also how they relate to advanced opto-electronic devices. The final chapter describes the device physics of photoconductive detectors, photovoltaic infrared detectors, super lattices and quantum wells, infrared lasers, and single photon infrared detectors.
This book discusses the latest investigations into the electronic structure of narrow-gap semiconductors in extreme conditions, and describes in detail magnetic field and pressure measurements using two high-quality single crystals: black phosphorus (BP) and lead telluride (PbTe). The book presents two significant findings for BP and PbTe. The first is the successful demonstration of the pressure-induced transition from semiconductor to semimetal in the electronic structure of BP using magnetoresistance measurements. The second is the quantitative estimation of how well the Dirac fermion description works for electronic properties in PbTe. The overviews on BP and PbTe from the point of view of material properties help readers quickly understand the typical electronic character of narrow-gap semiconductor materials, which has recently attracted interest in topological features in condensed matter physics. Additionally the introductory review of the principles and methodology allows readers to understand the high magnetic field and pressure experiments.