Ce travail de thèse est consacré à l’étude expérimentale des mécanismes de démouillage de films solides d’épaisseur nanométrique conduisant à la transformation d’un film mince en une assemblée d’îlots tridimensionnels. L’utilisation de la microscopie à électrons lents (LEEM) nous a permis d’étudier la morphologie et la cinétique in situ et en temps réel du démouillage de films de Si/SiO2 (SOI) et de Ge/SiO2 (GOI) obtenus par collage moléculaire (procédé Smart Cut™). Ces mesures expérimentales ont été complétées par des analyses par diffusion centrale des rayons X en incidence rasante (GISAXS) et des observations ex situ par microscopie à force atomique (AFM). Les mécanismes de démouillage de SOI et GOI sont thermodynamiquement pilotés par la capillarité et cinétiquement contrôlés par la diffusion de surface. L’étude complémentaire du démouillage à partir de fronts cristallographiquement orientés obtenus par lithographie nous a permis d’analyser le rôle central du facettage, de l’anisotropie cristalline et des processus de formation du bourrelet de démouillage. En particulier, le rôle de la nucléation 2D sur la cinétique d’épaississement (couche par couche) du bourrelet a pu être mis en évidence. Les résultats expérimentaux ont pu être confrontés à des modèles analytiques et des simulations de type Monte Carlo cinétique. Nous en avons déduit les valeurs des paramètres physiques pertinents et avons attribué les différences de morphologies entre SOI et GOI à la présence de facettes spécifiques. / This work is devoted to the experimental study of the dewetting mechanisms of ultrathin solid films by which a metastable film transforms into an assembly of tridimensional crystallites. Using low energy Electron Microscopy (LEEM) we analyse, in situ and in real time, the morphology and the kinetics of the dewetting of Si/SiO2 (SOI) and Ge/SiO2 (GOI) systems obtained by molecular bonding (Smart Cut™ process). Further information has been obtained by Grazing Incidence Small Angle X–ray Scattering (GISAXS) and Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM) measurements. We show that the dewetting is driven by surface free energy minimization and mediated by surface diffusion. A complementary study of artificial well-oriented dewetting fronts obtained by lithography enables us to analyze the important role played by facets, the crystal anisotropy and the rim thickening mechanism. We show that the rim thickening proceeds in a layer-by-layer mode and is limited by 2D nucleation. Thanks to analytical models and Kinetics Monte Carlo simulations, numerical values of the pertinent physical parameters involved in the dewetting process are obtained and the morphological differences between SOI and GOI are attributed to the presence of specific facets.

The development and characterization of experimental setups for angle-resolved photoelectron spectroscopy (ARPES) and spin- and angle-resolved photoelectron spectroscopy (SARPES) is described. Subsequently, the two techniques are applied to studies of the electronic band structure in topologically non-trivial materials. The laser-based ARPES setup works at a photon energy of 10.5 eV and a typical repetition rate in the range 200 kHz to 800 kHz. By using a time-of-flight electron energy analyzer electrons emitted from the sample within a solid angle of up to ±15 degrees can be collected and analyzed simultaneously. The SARPES setup is equipped with a traditional hemispherical electron energy analyzer in combination with a mini-Mott electron polarimeter. The system enables software-controlled switching between angle-resolved spin-integrated and spin-resolved measurements, thus providing the possibility to orient the sample by mapping out the electronic band structure using ARPES before performing spin-resolved measurements at selected points in the Brillouin zone. Thin films of the topological insulators (TIs) Bi2Se3, Bi2Te3 and Sb2Te3 are grown using e-beam evaporation and their surface states are observed by means of ARPES. By using a combination of low photon energies and cryogenic sample temperatures the topological states originating from both the vacuum interface (surface) and the substrate interface are observed in Bi2Se3 films and Bi2Se3/Bi2Te3 heterostructures, with total thicknesses in the ultra-thin limit (six to eight quintuple layers), grown on Bi-terminated Si(111) substrates. Band alignment between Si and Bi2Se3 at the interface creates a band bending through the films. The band bending is found to be independent of the Fermi level (EF) position in the bulk of the substrate, suggesting that the surface pinning of EF in the Si(111) substrate remains unaltered after deposition of the TI films. Therefore, the type and level of doping of the substrate does not show any large influence on the size of the band bending. Further, we provide experimental evidence for the realization of a topological crystalline insulator (TCI) phase in the narrow-band semiconductor Pb1−xSnxSe. The TCI phase exists for temperatures below the transition temperature Tc and is characterized by an inverted bulk band gap accompanied by the existence of non-gapped surface states crossing the band gap. Above Tc the material is in a topologically trivial phase where the surface states are gapped. Thus, when lowering the sample temperature across Tc a topological phase transition from a trivial insulator to a TCI is observed. SARPES studies indicate a helical spin structure of the surface states both in the topologically trivial and the TCI phase. / <p>QC 20130507</p>

Dans cette thèse, nous étudions l’effet du désordre magnétique sur les propriétés de transport électronique du graphène et des isolants topologiques 2D de type HgTe. Le graphène et les isolants topologiques sont des matériaux dont les excitations électroniques sont assimilées à des fermions de Dirac sans masse. L’influence des impuretés magnétiques sur les propriétés de transport du graphène est étudiée dans le régime de forts champs électriques. En conséquence de la production de paires électron-trou, la réponse devient non linéaire et dépend de la polarisation magnétique. Nous étudions une transition entre un isolant topologique bi-dimensionnel conducteur, caractérisé par une conductance G = 2 (en quantum de conductance) et un isolant de Chern avec G = 1, induite par des impuretés magnétiques polarisées. / In this thesis, we study the effect of a magnetic disorder on the electronic transport properties of graphene and HgTe-type 2D topological insulators. Graphene and topological insulators are materials whose electronic excitations are treated as massless Dirac fermions.The influence of magnetic impurities on the transport properties of graphene is investigated in the regime of strong applied electric fields. As a result of electron-hole pair creation, the response becomes nonlinear and dependent on the magnetic polarization.We investigate a transition between a two-dimensional topological insulator conduction state, characterized by a conductance G = 2 (in conductance quantum) and a Chern insulator with G = 1, induced by polarized magnetic impurities.

Master of Science / Department of Electrical Engineering / William B. Kuhn / Designers of mixed-signal systems must understand coupling mechanisms at the system, PC board, package and integrated circuit levels to control crosstalk, and thereby minimize degradation of system performance. This research examines coupling mechanisms in a RF-targeted high-resistivity partially-depleted Silicon-on-Insulator (SOI) IC process and applying similar coupling mitigation strategies from higher levels of design, proposes techniques to reduce coupling between sub-circuits on-chip. A series of test structures was fabricated with the goal of understanding and reducing the electric and magnetic field coupling at frequencies up to C-Band. Electric field coupling through the active-layer and substrate of the SOI wafer is compared for a variety of isolation methods including use of deep-trench surrounds, blocking channel-stopper implant, blocking metal-fill layers and using substrate contact guard-rings. Magnetic coupling is examined for on-chip inductors utilizing counter-winding techniques, using metal shields above noisy circuits, and through the relationship between separation and the coupling coefficient. Finally, coupling between bond pads employing the most effective electric field isolation strategies is examined. Lumped element circuit models are developed to show how different coupling mitigation strategies perform. Major conclusions relative to substrate coupling are 1) substrates with resistivity 1 kΩ·cm or greater act largely as a high-K insulators at sufficiently high frequency, 2) compared to capacitive coupling paths through the substrate, coupling through metal-fill has little effect and 3) the use of substrate contact guard-rings in multi-ground domain designs can result in significant coupling between domains if proper isolation strategies such as the use of deep-trench surrounds are not employed. The electric field coupling, in general, is strongly dependent on the impedance of the active-layer and frequency, with isolation exceeding 80 dB below 100 MHz and relatively high coupling values of 40 dB or more at upper S-band frequencies, depending on the geometries and mitigation strategy used. Magnetic coupling was found to be a strong function of circuit separation and the height of metal shields above the circuits. Finally, bond pads utilizing substrate contact guard-rings resulted in the highest degree of isolation and the lowest pad load capacitance of the methods tested.

Thesis (MSc)--Stellenbosch University, 2014. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: Organic molecular salts have a wide range of physical properties which can be chemically tailored by minor variations of their substituents. These characteristics include high degrees of anisotropy, electrical conductivity ranging from superconducting to insulating, and structural changes in the crystal lattice during first order phase transitions brought about by minimal changes in temperature, effective pressure, and in some cases even light. Hence, these materials are particularly interesting for the development of molecular electronics and also as study materials in solid state physics. The family of copper-dimethyl-dicyanoquinone-diimine (Cu(DMe-DCNQI)2) salts forms part of the radical anion salt subclass of organic molecular crystals and is of particular interest due to its extraordinarily high conductivity compared to other quasi one-dimensional organic conductors. Its metal-to-insulator phase transition is characterised by conductivity jumps across several orders of magnitude within a few kelvin. Over the past three decades the metallic and insulating phases, as well as the transition behaviour have been investigated extensively utilising a broad spectrum of methods amongst others electrical conductivity, electron spin resonance, and re ectivity measurements, x-ray photoelectron and infrared spectroscopy, x-ray diffraction, and dilatometry. Fast light-switching between phases has been observed in partially deuterated forms of Cu(DCNQI)2 on sub-100-ps time scales. Furthermore, the phase transition is believed to be induced by a deformation of the crystalline lattice and a charge density wave formation which are detectable in diffraction images. Therefore we want to investigate this metal-to-insulator phase transition structurally and temporally via ultrafast electron diffraction. The technique of ultrafast electron diffraction employs the fundamentals of pump-probe spectroscopy: One of the two femtosecond pulsed laser beams excites the thin, crystalline sample, while the other - after being converted into a pulsed electron beam via the photoelectric effect - forms a diffraction image of the sample's lattice structure. The arrival time of the two pulses at the sample can be varied by a few femtoseconds with respect to each other enabling the resolution of ultrafast structural dynamics of the crystal's atomic lattice via electron diffraction. During the work presented in this thesis the sample preparation and characterisation leading to a successful introduction of Cu(DCNQI)2 into our ultrafast electron diffraction setup is presented. A diffraction pattern of comparable quality to that of a commercially available transmission electron microscope was recorded of the metallic state of partially deuterated d6 Cu(DCNQI)2. Subsequent analysis of the obtained diffraction data and further studies of the low temperature state { including simulations as well as experiments { have narrowed down the factors still making the diffraction pattern evasive. Possible solutions to experimental challenges are proposed to make the documentation of structural ultrafast dynamics in these organic molecular salts an attainable goal in the future. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Organiese molekulêre soute het `n wye verskeidenheid van fisiese eienskappe wat chemies verander kan word deur geringe variasie in die samestelling van die sout. Hierdie eienskappe sluit in `n hoë graad van anisotropie, elektriese geleidingsvermoë wat strek van supergeleiding tot elektriese isolasie, en strukturele veranderinge in die kristalstruktuur tydens eerste orde fase-oorgange wat veroorsaak word deur geringe veranderinge in temperature, effektiewe druk en in sommige gevalle selfs lig. Gevolglik is hierdie material besonder interessant vir die ontwikkeling van molekulêre elektronika en ook as studiemateriaal in vastetoestandfisika. Die familie van koperdimetieldisianokinoondiimien (Cu(DMe-DCNQI)2) soute vorm `n deel van die radikaal-anioon-sout subklas van organiese molekulêre kristalle en is van besondere belang as gevolg van hulle buitengewone hoë elektriese geleidingsvermoë in vergelyking met ander kwasi-eendimensionele organiese geleiers. Die metaal-na-isolator fase-oorgang van hierdie kristal word gekenmerk deur die verandering van die geleidingsvermoë met verskeie ordegroottes binne `n paar kelvin. Gedurende die laaste drie dekades is die metaal en isolator fases, asook die oorgangsgedrag deeglik ondersoek met behulp van `n wye verskeidenheid van metodes wat onder andere elektriese geleidingsvermoë, elektron-spin resonans en reeksiemetings, x-straal fotoelektron en infrarooi spektroskopie, x-straal diffraksie en dilatometrie insluit. Vinnige skakeling tussen fases is waargeneem in gedeeltelik gedeuteerde vorms van Cu(DCNQI)2 op `n sub-100-ps tydskaal. Daar word verder geglo dat die fase-oorgang geïnduseer word deur `n deformasie van die kristalstruktuur en die vorming van `n ladingsdigtheidgolf wat meetbaar is in elektrondiffraksiebeelde. Om hierdie rede wil ons die metaal-na-isolator fase-oorgang se struktuur- en tydafhanklikheid ondersoek deur gebruik te maak van ultra-vinnige elektron diffraksie. Die tegniek van ultra-vinnige elektron diffraksie maak gebruik van die beginsels van pomp-toets spektroskopie: Een van die twee femtosekonde laserpulse wek die dun kristallyne monster op, terwyl die ander na omskakeling in `n elektronpuls via die foto-elektriese effek `n diffraksiebeeld van die monster se kristalstruktuur vorm. Die aankomtyd van die twee pulse by die monster kan met `n paar femtosekondes ten opsigte van mekaar verander word om die tydresolusie van die ultra-vinnige strukturele dinamika van die kristal se atoomstruktuur deur elektrondiffraksie moontlik te maak. In hierdie tesis word die monstervoorbereiding en karakterisering wat gelei het tot suksesvolle eksperimente op Cu(DCNQI)2 in ons ultra-vinnige elektron diffraksie opstelling behandel. `n Diffraksie patroon waarvan die kwaliteit vergelykbaar is met die van `n kommersiëel beskikbare transmissie elektron mikroskoop is gemeet vir die metaalfase van gedeeltelik gedeuteerde d6 Cu(DCNQI)2. Daaropvolgende analiese van die gemete diffraksiedata en verdere studies van die lae temperatuur toestand wat simulasies sowel as eksperimente insluit het `n klein aantal faktore uitgewys wat steeds die deteksie van die isolatorfase se ladingsdigtheidgolf se kenmerkende diffraksiepatroon verhoed. Moontlike oplossings tot eksperimentele uitdagings word voorgestel om die dokumentering van strukturele ultra-vinnige dinamika in hierdie organiese molekulêre soute `n haalbare toekomstige doelwit te maak.

A unique feature of the 5d-iridates is that the spin-orbit interaction (SOI) and Coulomb interactions U are of comparable strength and therefore compete vigorously. The relative strength of these interactions stabilizes new exotic ground states that provide a fertile ground for studying new physics. SOI is proportional to Z^4 (Z is the atomic number), and it is now recognized that strong SOI can drive novel narrow-gap insulating states in heavy transition metal oxides such as iridates. Indeed, strong SOI necessarily introduces strong lattice degrees of freedom that become critical to new physics in the iridates. This dissertation thoroughly examines a wide array of newly observed novel phenomena induced by adjusting the relative strengths of U and SOI interactions via slight chemical doping and application of hydrostatic pressure in the layered iridates, particularly, BaIrO3 and Sr2IrO4.

The topological insulator Bi2Te3 has been grown on Si(111)-(7 × 7) surface by molecular beam epitaxy. Reflection high energy electron diffraction, in situ scanning tunnelling microscopy, x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy and ex situ x-ray diffraction studies have been performed to analyze the quality of the growth. These analyses suggest a very good layer-by-layer epitaxial growth of Bi2Te3 on the atomically at Si surface. The magnetoresistance of the samples has been studied with magnetic field perpendicular and parallel to the sample surface, up to 9 T, over a temperature range of 2 K to 20 K. A sharp dip at low fields (0 T - 1 T) and near-linear behavior for high fields (> 4 T) have been observed in the perpendicular field magnetoresistance. The low field dip is due to weak antilocalization that agrees well with the simplified Hikami-Larkin-Nagaoka model. It has been demonstrated that both the low field dip and the high field near-linear behavior can be explained by the original Hikami-Larkin-Nagaoka formula alone in a system with strong spin-orbit coupling. From the fitting of the perpendicular field magnetoresistance the phase coherence length, the mean free path and the spin-orbit relaxation time have been estimated. The phase coherence length shows power law dependence with temperature indicating two dimensional nature of the transport. The power law also suggests electron electron interaction as the prominent dephasing mechanism. The out-of-plane spin-orbit relaxation time is determined to be small and the in-plane spin-orbit relaxation time is found to be comparable to the momentum relaxation time. The estimation of these charge and spin transport parameters is useful for topological insulator based magneto electric device applications. It also has been shown that the strong spin-orbit coupling suppresses the Zeeman contribution in perpendicular field magnetoresistance. The logarithmic divergence of perpendicular field magnetoresistance with temperature for low temperature range (2 K - 20 K) at high fields shows the presence of Coulomb interaction in the spin singlet channel. For magnetoresistance with the field parallel to the sample surface, the observed magnetoresistance has parabolic dependence for small fields (0 T - 0.6 T) and logarithmic dependence for large fields (> 3 T), which is due to the Zeeman effect. It is found that the data are inconsistent with only the Maekawa and Fukuyama theory of non interacting electrons with Zeeman contributions to the transport, but are consistent with theory if one also takes into account the electron electron interaction and the Zeeman splitting term in the electron electron interaction theory of Lee and Ramakrishnan. The Zeeman g-factor and the strength of Coulomb scattering due to electron electron interaction have been estimated from fitting of the parallel field magnetoresistance. The magnetoresistance also shows anisotropy with respect to the field directions. The angle dependent anisotropic magnetoresistance can be fitted well by the original HLN theory alone. The anisotropy can have potential application in anisotropic magnetic sensors. / text

Two-dimensional (2D) carrier systems built from semiconductor heterostructures have been at the center of a wide variety of experimental and theoretical research over the past decades. The quality improvement of GaAs/AlGaAs systems has allowed the observation of several peculiar ground states stabilized by the subtle interplay between carrier-carrier interaction, disorder and magnetic field. More recently, 2D systems in semiconductor heterostructures have also been used as a prime substrate for further confinement of the carriers to mesoscopic systems of major interest for the emerging fields of quantum computing and spintronics. This thesis addresses both magnetotransport measurements in hole open quantum dots (QDs) and thermopower studies of 2D holes in (311)A GaAs heterostructures. In the first part of this thesis, we describe the fabrication process for hole GaAs open QDs and investigate their magnetotransport properties at very low temperature T. Below 500 mK, the magnetoconductance of the open QDs exhibits clear signatures of coherent transport, namely magnetoconductance fluctuations and weak anti-localization. From these effects, we extract a T dependence for the dephasing time, together with an upper limit for the spin-orbit scattering time using the random matrix theory. Both the dephasing time and the spin-orbit scattering time are found to be much smaller than for electrons in similar systems. In the second part of this work, we report low-T thermopower measurements in the parallel magnetic field-induced metal-insulator transition (MIT) of 2D GaAs hole heterojunctions with different interface-dependent mobilities. When the magnetic field is increased, the diffusion thermopower decreases across the MIT. The reduction of the diffusion thermopower is more pronounced for the lower mobility sample where it reverses its sign. This behaviour indicates that the system does not undergo any ground state modification through the MIT but rather that the parallel magnetic field induces a dramatic change of the dominant hole scattering mechanisms. Finally, the last part of this thesis is devoted to the thermopower study of the insulating phase (IP) observed in 2D GaAs bilayer hole systems around the total Landau level filling factor n = 1. Our measurements show that the diffusion thermopower diverges with decreasing T in the IP. This divergence of the diffusion thermopower at low T indicates the opening of an energy gap in the system's ground state and suggests the formation of a pinned bilayer hole Wigner crystal around n = 1.

Silicon-on-insulator (SOI) technology has become increasingly attractive because of the strong light confinement, which significantly reduces the footprint of the photonic components, and the possibility of monolithically integrating advanced photonic waveguide circuits with complex electronic circuits, which may reduce the cost of photonic integrated circuits by mass production. This thesis is dedicated to numerical simulation and experimental performance measurement of passive SOI waveguide devices. The thesis consists of two main parts. In the first part, SOI curved waveguide and corner turning mirror are studied. Propagation losses of the SOI waveguide devices are accurately measured using a Fabry-Perot interference method. Our measurements verify that the SOI corner turning mirror structures can not only significantly reduce the footprint size, but also reduce the access loss by replacing the curved sections in any SOI planar lightwave circuit systems. In the second part, an optical 90o hybrid based on 4 × 4 multimode interference (MMI) coupler is studied. Its quadrature phase behavior is verified by both numerical simulations and experimental measurements.

Superconductor-Insulator-Superconductor (SIS) mixers are now used regularly in sub- millimetre astronomical receivers. They have already achieved sensitivity approaching the quantum limit at frequencies below the superconducting gap of niobium (~680 GHz). Above that, the mixer performance is compromised by losses, unless materials with higher superconducting gap are employed in conjunction with the niobium tunnel junction. In this thesis, we present the development of 700 GHz niobium SIS mixers, employing a unilateral finline taper on a thin Silicon-On-Insulator (SOI) substrate. These mixers are broadband with full on-chip planar circuit integration, and require only a very simple mixer block. They were designed using rigorous 3-D electromagnetic simulator (HFSS), in conjunction with a quantum mixing software package (SuperMix), and have demonstrated good performance with the best noise temperature measured at 143 K. Our mixer devices were fed by multiple flare angle smooth-walled horns, which are easy to fabricated, yet retain the high performance of corrugated horns. The radiation patterns measured from 600–740 GHz have shown good beam circularity, low sidelobe and cross-polarization levels. In this thesis, we also present SIS mixer designs with balanced and sideband separ- ating capability. These mixers employ back-to-back finline tapers, so that the RF and local oscillator (LO) signals can be injected separately without a beam splitter. We have fabricated and tested the performance of the balanced mixers, and analysed their performance thoroughly. We have also investigated a new method of generating LO signals by beating the tones of two infrared lasers. Using the current 16-pixel 350 GHz SIS receiver, HARP-B, we have observed the ¹²CO J=3→2 emission lines from two nearby galaxies. An important result we found is that the ¹²CO J=3→2 correlates strongly with the 8 μm Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbon emission.