Although various defect centers have displayed promise as either quantum sensors, single photon emitters, or light-matter interfaces, the search for an ideal defect with multifunctional ability remains open. In this spirit, we study the dichroic silicon vacancies in silicon carbide that feature two well-distinguishable zero-phonon lines and analyze the quantum properties in their optical emission and spin control. We demonstrate that this center combines 40% optical emission into the zero-phonon lines showing the contrasting difference in optical properties with varying temperature and polarization, and a 100% increase in the fluorescence intensity upon the spin resonance, and long spin coherence time of their spin-3/2 ground states up to 0.6 ms. These results single out this defect center as a promising system for spin-based quantum technologies.

Amorphous silicon carbonitride thin films for biomedical applications were deposited in an industrial coating unit from a silicon target in different argon/nitrogen/acetylene mixtures by reactive high power impulse magnetron sputtering (rHiPIMS). The effects of acetylene (C₂H₂) flow rate, substrate temperature, substrate bias voltage, and HiPIMS pulse frequency on the film properties were investigated. Low C₂H₂ flow rates (<10 sccm) resulted in silicon nitride-like film properties, seen from a dense morphology when viewed in cross-sectional scanning electron microscopy, a hardness up to ∼22 GPa as measured by nanoindentation, and Si-N bonds dominating over Si-C bonds in X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy core-level spectra. Higher C₂H₂ flows resulted in increasingly amorphous carbon-like film properties, with a granular appearance of the film morphology, mass densities below 2 g/cm³ as measured by X-ray reflectivity, and a hardness down to 4.5 GPa. Increasing substrate temperatures and bias voltages resulted in slightly higher film hardnesses and higher compressive residual stresses. The film H/E ratio showed a maximum at film carbon contents ranging between 15 and 30 at.% and at elevated substrate temperatures from 340 °C to 520 °C.

Reactive direct current magnetron sputtering (DCMS) and high power impulse magnetron sputtering (HiPIMS) discharges of carbon in different inert gas mixtures (N-2/Ne, N-2/Ar, and N-2/Kr) were investigated for the growth of carbon-nitride (CNX) thin films. Ion mass spectrometry showed that energies of abundant plasma cations are governed by the inert gas and the N-2-to-inert gas flow ratios. The population of ion species depends on the sputter mode; HiPIMS yields approximately ten times higher flux ratios of ions originating from the target to process gas ions than DCMS. Exceptional are discharges in Ne with N-2-to-Ne flow ratios &lt;20%. Here, cation energies and the amount of target ions are highest without influence on the sputter mode. CNX thin films were deposited in 14% N-2/inert gas mixtures at substrate temperatures of 110 degrees C and 430 degrees C. The film properties show a correlation to the substrate temperature, the applied inert gas and sputter mode. The mechanical performance of the films is mainly governed by their morphology and composition, but not by their microstructure. Amorphous and fullerene-like CN0.14 films exhibiting a hardness of similar to 15 GPa and an elastic recovery of similar to 90% were deposited at 110 degrees C in reactive Kr atmosphere by DCMS and HiPIMS.

Abstract SiC has, during the last few years, become increasingly important as a power-device material for high voltage applications. The thick, low-doped voltage-supporting epitaxial layer is normally grown by CVD on 4° off-cut 4H–SiC substrates at a growth rate of 5 – 10 ÎŒ m / h using silane (SiH4) and propane (C3H8) or ethylene (C2H4) as precursors. The concentrations of epitaxial defects and dislocations depend to a large extent on the underlying substrate but can also be influenced by the actual epitaxial growth process. Here we will present a study on the properties of the epitaxial layers grown by a Cl-based technique on an a-axis (90° off-cut from c-direction) 4H–SiC substrate.

We demonstrate growth of thick SiC layers (100–200 µm) on nominally on-axis hexagonal substrates using sublimation epitaxy in vacuum (10⁻⁵ mbar) at temperatures varying from 1700 to 1975 °C with growth rates up to 270 µm/h and 70 µm/h for 6H- and 4H–SiC, respectively. The stability of hexagonal polytypes are related to process growth parameters and temperature profile which can be engineered using different thermal insulation materials and adjustment of the induction coil position with respect to the graphite crucible. We show that there exists a range of growth rates for which single-hexagonal polytype free of foreign polytype inclusions can be maintained. Further on, foreign polytypes like 3C–SiC can be stabilized by moving out of the process window. The applicability of on-axis growth is demonstrated by growing a 200 µm thick homoepitaxial 6H–SiC layer co-doped with nitrogen and boron in a range of 10¹⁸ cm⁻³ at a growth rate of about 270 µm/h. Such layers are of interest as a near UV to visible light converters in a monolithic white light emitting diode concept, where subsequent nitride-stack growth benefits from the on-axis orientation of the SiC layer.

We report on the application of a single layer graphene substrates for the growth of polycrystalline ZnO films with advanced light emission properties. Unusually high ultraviolet (UV) and visible (VIS) photoluminesce was observed from the ZnO/Gr/SiC structures in comparison to identical samples without graphene. The photoluminescence intensity depends non-monotonically on the films thickness, reaching its maximum for 150 nm thick films. The phenomena observed is explained as due to the dual graphene role: i) the dangling bond free substrate, providing growth of relaxed thin ZnO layers ii) a back reflector active mirror of the Fabry-Perot cavity that is formed. The reported results demonstrate the potential of two-dimensional carbon materials integration with light emitting wide band gap semiconductors and can be of practical importance for the design of future optoelectronic devices.

Two-dimensional materials offer a unique platform for sensing where extremely high sensitivity is a priority, since even minimal chemical interaction causes noticeable changes inelectrical conductivity, which can be used for the sensor readout. However, the sensitivity has to becomplemented with selectivity, and, for many applications, improved response- and recovery times are needed. This has been addressed, for example, by combining graphene (for sensitivity) with metal/oxides (for selectivity) nanoparticles (NP). On the other hand, functionalization or modification of the graphene often results in poor reproducibility. In this study, we investigate thegas sensing performance of epitaxial graphene on SiC (EG/SiC) decorated with nanostructured metallic layers as well as metal-oxide nanoparticles deposited using scalable thin-film depositiontechniques, like hollow-cathode pulsed plasma sputtering. Under the right modification conditions the electronic properties of the surface remain those of graphene, while the surface chemistry can betuned to improve sensitivity, selectivity and speed of response to several gases relevant for airquality monitoring and control, such as nitrogen dioxide, benzene, and formaldehyde.

Epitaxial graphene is grown on semi-insulating (SI) 4H-SiC in a hot wall CVD reactor by graphitization and in-situ intercalation with (H)ydrogen. A holistic material characterization is performed in order to ascertain the number of layers, layer uniformity, and electron transport properties of the epi-layers via electronic test structures and Raman spectroscopy. Bilayer graphene field effect transistors (GFETs) are fabricated using a full electron beam lithography (EBL) process which is optimized for low contact resistances of r(c) less than 0.2 Omega mm. Mobilities of order 2500 cm(2)/V s are achieved on bilayer samples after fabrication. The devices demonstrate high transconductance g(m) = 400 mS/mm and high current density I-ds = 1.8 A/mm. The output conductance at the bias of maximum transconductance is g(ds) = 300 mS/mm. The GFETs demonstrate an extrinsic f(t)(ext) and f(max)(ext) of 20 and 13 GHz, respectively and show 6 dB power gain at 1 GHz in a 50 Omega system, which is the highest reported to date.

Chlorinated chemical vapor deposition (CVD) chemistry for growth of homoepitaxial layers of silicon carbide (SiC) has paved the way for very thick epitaxial layers in short deposition time as well as novel crystal growth processes for SiC. Here, we explore the possibility to also use a brominated chemistry for SiC CVD by using HBr as additive to the standard SiC CVD precursors. We find that brominated chemistry leads to the same high material quality and control of material properties during deposition as chlorinated chemistry and that the growth rate is on average 10 % higher for a brominated chemistry compared to chlorinated chemistry. Brominated and chlorinated SiC CVD also show very similar gas phase chemistries in thermochemical modelling. This study thus argues that brominated chemistry is a strong alternative for SiC CVD since the deposition rate can be increased with preserved material quality. The thermochemical modelling also suggest that the currently used chemical mechanism for halogenated SiC CVD might need to be revised.

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