Flash memories are solid-state non-volatile memories. They play a vital role especially in information storage in a wide range of consumer electronic devices and applications including smart phones, digital cameras, laptop computers, and satellite navigators. The demand for high density flash has surged as a result of the proliferation of these consumer electronic portable gadgets and the more features they offer – wireless internet, touch screen, video capabilities. The increase in the density of flash memory devices over the years has come as a result of continuous memory cell-size reduction. This size scaling is however approaching a dead end and it is widely agreed that further reduction beyond the 20 nm technological node is going to be very difficult, as it would result to challenges such as cross-talk or cell-to-cell interference, a high statistical variation in the number of stored electrons in the floating gate and high leakage currents due to thinner tunnel oxides. Because of these challenges a wide range of solutions in form of materials and device architectures are being investigated. Among them is three-dimensional (3-D) flash, which is widely acclaimed as the ideal solution, as they promise the integration of long-time retention and ultra-high density cells without compromising device reliability. However, current high temperature (>600 °C) growth techniques of the Polycrystalline silicon floating gate material are incompatible with 3-D flash memory; with vertically stacked memory layers, which require process temperatures to be ≤ 400 °C. There already exist some low temperature techniques for producing polycrystalline silicon such as laser annealing, solid-phase crystallization of amorphous silicon and metal-induced crystallization. However, these have some short-comings which make them not suitable for use in 3-D flash memory, e.g. the high furnace annealing temperatures (700 °C) in solid-phase crystallization of amorphous silicon which could potentially damage underlying memory layers in 3-D flash, and the metal contaminants in metal-induced crystallization which is a potential source of high leakage currents. There is therefore a need for alternative low temperature techniques that would be most suitable for flash memory purposes. With reference to the above, the main objective of this research was to develop a novel low temperature method for growing silicon structures at ≤ 400 °C. This thesis thus describes the development of a low-temperature method for polycrystalline silicon growth and the application of the technique in a capacitor-like flash memory device. It has been demonstrated that silicon structures with polycrystalline silicon-like properties can be grown at ≤ 400 °C in a 13.56 MHz radio frequency (RF) plasma-enhanced chemical vapour deposition (PECVD) reactor with the aid of Nickel Formate Dihydrate (NFD). It is also shown that the NFD coated on the substrates, thermally decomposes in-situ during the deposition process forming Ni particles that act as nucleation and growth sites of polycrystalline silicon. Silicon films grown by this technique and without annealing, have exhibited optical band gaps of ~ 1.2 eV compared to 1.78 eV for films grown under identical conditions but without the substrate being coated. These values were determined from UV-Vis spectroscopy and Tauc plots. These optical band gaps correspond to polycrystalline silicon and amorphous silicon respectively, meaning that the films grown on NFD-coated substrates are polycrystalline silicon while those grown on uncoated substrates remain amorphous. Moreover, this novel technique has been used to fabricate a capacitor-like flash memory that has exhibited hysteresis width corresponding to charge storage density in the order of 1012 cm-2 with a retention time well above 20 days for a device with silicon films grown at 300 °C. Films grown on uncoated films have not exhibit any significant hysteresis, and thus no flash memory-like behaviour. Given that all process temperatures throughout the fabrication of the devices are less than 400 °C and that no annealing of any sort was done on the material and devices, this growth method is thermal budget efficient and meets the crucial process temperature requirements of 3-D flash memory. Furthermore, the technique is glass compatible, which could prove a major step towards the acquisition of flash memory-integrated systems on glass, as well as other applications requiring low temperature polycrystalline silicon.

Wide-bandgap (WBG) semiconductor materials such as silicon carbide (SiC) and gallium-nitride (GaN) allow higher voltage ratings, lower on-state voltage drops, higher switching frequencies, and higher maximum temperatures. All these advantages make them an attractive choice when high-power density and high-efficiency converters are targeted. Two different gate-driver designs for SiC power devices are presented. First, a dual-function gate-driver for a power module populated with SiC junction field-effect transistors that finds a trade-off between fast switching speeds and a low oscillative performance has been presented and experimentally verified. Second, a gate-driver for SiC metal-oxide semiconductor field-effect transistors with a short-circuit protection scheme that is able to protect the converter against short-circuit conditions without compromising the switching performance during normal operation is presented and experimentally validated. The benefits and issues of using parallel-connection as the design strategy for high-efficiency and high-power converters have been presented. In order to evaluate parallel connection, a 312 kVA three-phase SiC inverter with an efficiency of 99.3 % has been designed, built, and experimentally verified. If parallel connection is chosen as design direction, an undesired trade-off between reliability and efficiency is introduced. A reliability analysis has been performed, which has shown that the gate-source voltage stress determines the reliability of the entire system. Decreasing the positive gate-source voltage could increase the reliability without significantly affecting the efficiency. If high-temperature applications are considered, relatively little attention has been paid to passive components for harsh environments. This thesis also addresses high-temperature operation. The high-temperature performance of two different designs of inductors have been tested up to 600_C. Finally, a GaN power field-effect transistor was characterized down to cryogenic temperatures. An 85 % reduction of the on-state resistance was measured at −195_C. Finally, an experimental evaluation of a 1 kW singlephase inverter at low temperatures was performed. A 33 % reduction in losses compared to room temperature was achieved at rated power. / <p>QC 20160922</p>

Óxidos transparentes condutores (OTC) são materiais que possuem simultaneamente uma condutividade elétrica, com uma transparência de aproximadamente 90% no espectro visível. Devido a estas características, existe um grande interesse da indústria na aplicação dos OTC em dispositivos eletrônicos como células solares, transistores transparentes, display eletrônico, entre outros. Os OTC podem ser sintetizados tanto na fase cristalina quanto amorfa, mas é conhecido que o tamanho do raio catiônico tem papel fundamental na determinação das estruturas corundum e bixbyite no sistemas M2O3, que engloba o In2O3, Ga2O3 e Al2O3, materiais largamente utilizados. Embora estes óxidos tenham sido amplamente estudados, nesta tese que utiliza ferramentas teóricas baseadas na teria do funcional da densidade, é mostrado que o raio pequeno (grandes) do Al (In) favorece a cristalização da estrutura corundum (bixbyite). Por outro lado, devido ao raio intermediário do Ga, a hibridização entre os estados d do Ga e s do O, que é favorecida pelos sítios com coordenação quatro na estrutura gallia, é a chave fundamental para fazer o Ga2O3 cristaliza em gallia e não em corundum ou bixbyite. A estrutura cristalina, juntamente com os átomos que compões o sistema são fatores que determinam as propriedades eletrônicas e ópticas. Sabe-se que o In2O3 possui uma alta transparência devido a um número muito grande de transições proibidas entre os estados da banda de valência e condução, resultando em uma disparidade entre a banda proibida óptica e fundamental. Nesta tese é mostrado que três fatores são fundamentais para gerar a disparidade entre as bandas: (i) simetria de inversão na célula cristalina; (ii) mínimo da banda de condução formada por estados s do cátion e do O; (iii) vizinhança do máximo da banda de valência com um alto acoplamento entre os estados d do cátion e p do O. Estas três características, que determinam um mecanismo de geração da disparidade entre as bandas, levam os estados da banda de valência e banda de condução à mesma paridade, sendo assim, transições por dipolo são sempre proibida. Esta banda proibida óptica ainda pode depender de um outro fator: a intensidade luminosa. Sob a condição de alta iluminação, transições ópticas de pequena amplitude fora do ponto &Gamma;, que poderiam ser desprezadas sob baixa iluminação, passam a ter uma importância muito maior. Uma consequência direta deste efeito é que sob forte (baixa) iluminação a banda proibida óptica \"clara\" (\"escura\") coincide (não necessariamente coincide) com a banda proibida fundamental. Tendo estes conhecimentos, é possível controlar as propriedades ópticas de um OTC através da composição catiônica de um multi composto, por exemplo. O acoplamento entre os estados p do O e d dos cátions é a principal característica eletrônica afetada de acordo com a composição estequiométrica dos multi compostos, refletindo diretamente nas propriedades ópticas. De acordo com o modelo de geração de disparidade entre as bandas mencionado anteriormente, a mistura de M2O3-ZnO é mais vantajosa para os OTC do que a mistura In2O3-SnO2 devido ao grande acoplamento dos estados d do Zn com os estados p do O nas proximidades do máximo da banda de valência. / Transparent conducting oxides (TCO) are materials that combine electrical conductivity, with transparency around 90% in visible spectrum. Due to these characteristics, there is strong industrial interest in applying TCO in electronic devices, such as solar cells, transparent transistors, electronic displays, etc. TCO can be synthesized in crystalline or amorphous phase, however it is know that the atomic radius plays an important rule in the corundum and bixbyite crystals structures of M2O3, associated with In2O3, Ga2O3 and Al2O3, which are materials widely used. Although these oxides was deeply studied, in this thesis which use theoretical tools based on density functional theory, it is shown that the small (large) radii of Al (In) favor the crystal structure corundum (bixbyite). On the other hand, because of the intermediate radii of Ga, the hybridization between the d states of Ga and the s states of O, which is favor by the four fold site in the gallia structure, is the fundamental key to makes Ga2O3 crystallize in gallia and not in corundum or bixbyite. The crystal structures with the atomic composition are facts that determine the electronic and optical properties. It is known that In2O3 have a high transparency because the large number of forbidden dipole transition between the valence and conduction bands states, resulting in a disparity between the optical and fundamental band gaps. In this thesis it is shown that three fundamental keys are necessary to generate the disparity between the gaps: (i) crystal structure with inversion symmetry; (ii) conduction band minimum formed by cations and O s states; (iii) high coupling between the cation d states and O p states in the vicinity of valence band maximum. These three characteristics, which determine a mechanism to generate the disparity between the gaps, leads the valence and conduction band states to the same parity, resulting in dipole forbidden optical transition. The optical band gap may depend on another effect: the light intensity. Under high illumination, optical transition with small amplitude out of &Gamma; point, which are neglected under low illumination, became more important. A directly consequence of this effect is that under high (low) illumination the \"bright\" (\"dark\") optical band gap coincide (not necessary coincide) with the fundamental band gap. Having this knowledge, it is possible to tune the optical properties of the TCO through the cation composition in the multi compounds, for example. The coupling between the O p and cations d states is the main electronic characteristic affected by the stoichiometric composition, reflecting directly in the optical properties. According to the band gap disparity mechanism, mentioned previously, the mixture of M2O3-ZnO is more advantageous for TCO than the In2O3-SnO2 mixture due to the high coupling between the Zn d states with the O p states in the vicinity of valence band maximum.

Solarzellen auf Basis von hybriden Perowskiten, wie zum Beispiel Methylammoniumbleitriiodid (CH3NH3PbI3), stellen eine der vielversprechendsten Solarzellenkonzepte dar. Dabei wurden Wirkungsgrade über 20 % gezeigt. Perowskite werden durch verschiedene lösungsbasierte Techniken abgeschieden. Daher konzentriert sich der erste Teil dieser Dissertation auf die Bildung von hybriden Perowskiten in der Lösung, während der zweite Teil der Stabilität von hybriden Perowskiten gewidmet ist. Im ersten Teil, wird die Bildung von Polyiodidplumbaten aus PbI2 in Lösung nachgewiesen. Die Bildung dieser Polyiodidplumbate konnte unabhängig von dem gewählten Lösungsmittel sowie unabhängig von der Beigabe von Methylammoniumiodid (CH3NH3I) beobachtet werden. Die Polyiodidplumbate zeigten, ähnlich wie CH3NH3PbI3, ein Photolumineszenzmaximum bei einer Wellenlänge von 760 nm, was auf einen gemeinsamen Ursprung des angeregten Zustands in PbI2-Komplexen und CH3NH3PbI3 hindeutet. Im zweiten Teil wurden darüber hinaus die Lichtbeständigkeit sowie die thermische und kompositionelle Stabilität untersucht. Die Untersuchung der thermischen Stabilität hat gezeigt, dass Tempern bei T <190 °C zu einer Verbesserung der Morphologie und der optoelektronischen Eigenschaften führt. Oberhalb einer Temperatur von 190 °C kam es dabei zur Zersetzung des Materials. Die Stabilität der Komposition wurde anhand von CsPb(I[1-x]Br[x])3-Perowskiten untersucht. Die Herstellung von Perowskiten mit einer großen Bandlücke war zunächst nicht möglich, da es bei den dafür notwendigen Kompositionen (0,3<x<1) zur Phasentrennung kommt. Im Gegensatz dazu konnte durch den Zusatz von Ethylendiammoniumdiodid (EDDI) zu CH3NH3PbI3 die Bandlücke zwischen 1,6 und 1,8 eV variiert werden. Die Lichtstabilität von CH3NH3PbI3, CH(NH2)2PbI3 sowie gemischt Perowskiten wurde mittels in-situ Infrarotspektroskopie analysiert. Die Zersetzung des Materials war durch die lichtinduzierte Spaltung der N-H-Bindungen bei hv ≥ 2,72 eV gekennzeichnet. / Hybrid perovskites such as methylammonium lead iodide, CH3NH3PbI3, are one of the most promising absorber materials for photovoltaic energy conversion with demonstrated power conversion efficiencies beyond 20 %. In addition, hybrid perovskites can be deposited by various solution-based fabrication techniques. Therefore, the first part of this dissertation is focused on the formation of hybrid perovskites in the precursor solution, while the second part is dedicated to the study of the stability of hybrid perovskites. In the first part of this thesis, the formation of polyiodide plumbates between molecules of PbI2 was detected. Importantly, the formation of polyiodide plumbates was observed independently of the solvent choice or the presence of CH3NH3I. The polyiodide plumbates exhibited a photoluminescence peak located at 760 nm, similarly to CH3NH3PbI3, which suggests a common origin of the excited state in PbI2 complexes and CH3NH3PbI3. In the second part of this thesis, the thermal, compositional, and photostability of perovskite thin films were evaluated. The study of the thermal stability has shown that post-annealing at T < 190 °C leads to the improvement of morphology and optoelectronic properties. Above 190 °C, CH3NH3PbI3 was found to degrade. Next, the compositional stability of mixed CsPb(I[1-x]Br[x])3 perovskites was investigated. A fundamental miscibility gap between 0.3 < x <1 was demonstrated, that impedes the preparation of high band-gap perovskites. To overcome this intrinsic instability, a new approach for band-gap engineering was developed. An addition of ethylenediammonium diiodide (EDDI) allowed to alter the band gap of CH3NH3PbI3 from 1.6 to 1.8 eV. Finally, the influence of light on the stability of hybrid perovskites was studied. A degradation of CH3NH3PbI3, CH(NH2)2PbI3, as well as mixed perovskites, was observed through photo-dissociation of N-H bonds with hν ≥ 2.72 eV by means of in-situ Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy.

Diese Arbeit untersucht den Einfluss der elektronischen Bandstruktur von Festkörperoberflächen auf den resonanten Ladungsaustausch zwischen Festkörpern und atomaren Projektilen. Dazu wurden diese atomaren Projektile an einkristallinen Cu(111)- und Cu(110)-Oberflächen gestreut. Die Streuung erfolgt unter streifendem Einfall, typischerweise bei Einfallswinkeln zwischen 0.5 bis zu 4 Grad zur Oberfläche bei Projektilgeschwindigkeiten von 0.05 bis zu 1.4 atomaren Einheiten. Unter diesen Bedingungen erfolgt kein Eindringen des Projektils in den Festkörper, sondern eine Reflektion des Projektils von der Oberfläche. Somit können die Ladungszustände der auslaufenden Projektile als Funktion von Projektilgeschwindigkeit und Einfallswinkel untersucht werden. Die Verteilung der Ladungszustände nach der Streuung hängt theoretischen Vorhersagen zufolge signifikant von der Bandstruktur der Festkörperoberfläche ab. Die Experimente wurden an zwei verschiedenen Cu-Oberflächen durchgeführt. Während die Cu(110)-Oberfläche gut durch das Modell des freien Elektronengases (jellium-Modell) beschrieben werden kann, ist die Cu(111)-Oberfläche durch eine Bandlücke im Bereich der Fermienergie sowie durch einen in der Bandlücke liegenden Oberflächenzustand gekennzeichnet. Um den Effekt der elektronischen Bandstruktur auf den resonanten Ladungsaustausch zwischen Festkörperoberflächen und atomaren Zuständen deutlich herauszustellen, wurden atomare Zustände, die sich energetisch in Resonanz zur Bandlücke befinden, untersucht. Insbesondere wurde der Ladungsaustausch von negativen Wasserstoff-, Fluor-, Chlor-, Sauerstoff-, Kohlenstoff- und Schwefelionen sowie der Grund- und angeregten Zustände von Lithium, Natrium und Kalium mit Cu(110)- und Cu(111)-Oberfläche experimentell untersucht. Die Neutralisation hochgeladener Ionen an einer Cu(111)-Fläche wurde stellvertretend am Beispiel von bis zu 21-fach geladenen Xenonionen studiert. Gravierende Effekte der elektronischen Bandstruktur der Cu(111)-Oberfläche wurden durch die Theorie für die Formierung negativer Wasserstoffionen vorhergesagt. Nach den Ergebnissen der WPP-Methode wird das Maximum der Abhängigkeit der H- -Ausbeute von der Parallelgeschwindigkeit bei 6% erwartet, während bei einer jellium-Oberfläche gleicher Austrittsarbeit und Fermienergie nur etwa 0.3% negativer Ionen vorhergesagt werden. Mit einer experimentell ermittelten H- -Ausbeute von maximal 1% wird ein signifikanter Einfluß der elektronischen Bandstruktur auf den Ladungsaustausch bestätigt. Der Verlauf der Geschwindigkeitsabhängigkeit der Ausbeute an negativen Ionen, insbesondere die Breite der Resonanzstruktur, deutet in Übereinstimmung mit der theoretischen Vorhersage auf eine dominante Beteiligung des Oberflächenzustandes am resonanten Ladungsaustausch hin. Die Differenz zwischen experimentellen und theoretischen Ergebnissen wird durch die Existenz eines zusätzlichen Elektronen-Verlustkanals erklärt. Die Berücksichtigung der Streuung an Festkörperelektronen führt zu einer wesentlichen Verbesserung der Übereinstimmung zwischen Experiment und Theorie. Die experimentelle Untersuchung der Neutralisation der Alkaliatome Lithium, Natrium und Kalium bestätigt einen signifikanten Einfluß der Bandlücke der Cu(111)-Oberfläche auf den resonanten Ladungsaustausch: Im Vergleich zur Vorhersage des jellium-Modells treten deutlich erhöhte Ausbeuten an neutralisierten Projektilen auf. Weiterhin finden sich in der Abhängigkeit der Neutralausbeuten von der Parallelgeschwindigkeit mehrere Maxima bzw. Schulterstrukturen, die auch von der WPP-Theorie qualitativ vorhergesagt werden. Die bei der Formierung negativer Halogenionen experimentell beobachtete Signatur der elektronischen Bandstruktur ist schwächer, als dies bei der Neutralisation von Alkaliatomen und der Formierung negativer Wasserstoffionen beobachtet werden konnte. Ein deutlicher Effekt der Bandlücke kann aber auch hier, wie auch bei der Streuung von Sauerstoff-, Kohlenstoff- und Schwefelionen, konstatiert werden. Die Untersuchung des Ladungsaustausches an der Cu(110)-Oberfläche ergab in allen Fällen eine gute Übereinstimmung mit der Vorhersage des jellium-Modells. Die in dieser Arbeit vorgestellten experimentellen Ergebnisse zeigen, daß die elektronische Bandstruktur der Cu(111)-Oberfläche den resonanten Ladungsaustausch substantiell beeinflußt. Das wurde besonders am Beispiel der Formierung negativer Wasserstoffionen und der Neutralisation von Alkaliatomen überzeugend demonstriert. Die Überzeugungskraft der experimentellen Ergebnisse wird durch die gute Übereinstimmung der an der (110)-Fläche des gleichen Metalls erzielten experimentellen Resultate mit den Vorhersagen des jellium-Modells erhöht. / This thesis investigates the influence of the electronic band structure of single crystal surfaces on the resonant charge transfer between solid and atomic projectiles. Atoms and ions were scattered off Cu(111)- and Cu(110) surfaces under grazing incidence conditions with angles of incidence between 0.5 to 4 degrees. Projectile velocities were varied between 0.05 and 1.4 atomic units. In this regime no penetration of the projectile into the solid occurs. Instead, the projectile is reflected from the crystal surface. Therefore the charge state distribution of scattered projectiles can be investigated as a function of the incidence conditions. According to theoretical predictions this charge state distribution strongly depends on the electronic band structure of the surface. The experiments were performed on 2 different Cu surfaces. While the Cu(110) surface can be well described by the free electron gas model (also refered to as jellium model), the Cu(111) surface is characterized by a bandgap around the Fermi energy and a surface state within this bandgap. To investigate the effect of the electronic band structure on the resonant charge transfer between solids and atoms/ions, the projectiles were choosen in a way that the atomic valence state is in resonance to the bandgap. In particular the formation of negative hydrogen, fluorine, chlorine, oxygen, carbon and sulfur ions as well as the population of ground and excited states of lithium, sodium and potassium in front of Cu(110) and Cu(111) surfaces was investigated. The neutralization of highly charged (up to 21 times positively charged) xenon ions in front of a Cu(111) surface was studied as well. A significant impact of the band structure of the Cu(111) surface has been theoretically predicted for the formation of negatively charged hydrogen ions. From wave packet propagation calculations 6% negative hydrogen ions are expected in front of a Cu(111) surface, compared to 0.3% that are expected for a jellium surface of the same work function and Fermi level. The experimental result of 1% confirms a significant influence of the electronic band structure on the charge exchange. The shape of the velocity dependence of the negative ion yield, in particular the width of this dependence, implies a dominant contribution of the surface state to resonant charge exchange in compliance with the theoretical predicition. The discrepancy between experimental data and theoretical prediction is explained by taking an additional electron loss channel into account. The consideration of scattering from electrons in the solid conduction band significantly improves the agreement between experimental and theoretical data. The investigation of the neutralization of the alkali atoms lithium, sodium and potassium confirms a significant influence of the electronic band structure of the Cu(111) surface on the resonant charge transfer. Significantly higher yields of neutralized projectiles as compared to the prediction of the jellium model are found. Furthermore the parallel velocity dependences of the neutral atom yield shows maxima or shoulder structures which are qualitavely reproduced by wave packet propagation calculations. The formation of negative halogen ions shows less pronounced effects of the Cu(111) surface band structure. However, also for these projectils a significant influence of the band structure on the resonant charge transfer is experimentaly confirmed. This holds as well for the formation of negatively charged oxygen, carbon and sulfur ions. The investigation of the resonant charge transfer in front of a Cu(110)surface resulted for all ions investigated in a good agreement between experiment and theory. The experimental results presented in the framework of this thesis show, that the electronic band structure of the Cu(111) surface has a substantiell impact on the resonant charge transfer. This has been presented in a particularly convincing way by the investigation of negative hydrogen ion and neutral alkali atom formation in front of a Cu(111) surface. The cogency of the experimental results is improved by the good agreement between the experimental results achieved at the Cu(110) surface and the theoretical prediction for a jellium metal.

"Photonic crystals have recently been the subject of studies for use in optical signal processing. In particular, a Coupled Resonator Optical Waveguide (CROW) structure has been considered by M. F. Yanik and S. Fan in “Stopping Light All Optically” for use in a time-varying optical system for the storage of light in order to mitigate the effects of waveguide dispersion. In this thesis, the effects of the thermal field on the state stored in such a structure is studied. Through simulation, this thesis finds that when this structure is constructed of gallium arsenide cylinders in air, loss of the signal was found to be caused by free-carrier absorption, and the decay of the signal dominates over thermal spreading of the optical signal’s spectrum."

L’interaction de molécules organiques avec les surfaces semiconductrices permet de contrôler les propriétés physiques de ces dernières et ce, soit à travers une modification locale en utilisant des molécules individuelles, soit par la passivation de la surface par une mono-couche complète. Aussi, le contrôle de l’interaction moléculaire nous permet de modifier les propriétés intrinsèques des molécules à travers un découplage électronique partiel ou complet entre les orbitales moléculaires et la surface. Pour atteindre ces objectifs, cette thèse présente l’étude expérimentale de l’adsorption de molécules sur la surface semiconductrice à large gap de 6H-SiC(0001)-3x3. Les expériences ont été réalisées à l’aide d’un microscope à effet tunnel opérant dans les conditions d’Ultra-Haut Vide et de température ambiante (UHV RT-STM). Les résultats ont été comparés à des études théoriques employant des calculs selon la théorie de la fonctionnelle de la densité (DFT). Trois molécules on été étudié durant ce travail de thèse : C60, Caltrope et Trima. Les études STM et DFT montre que les molécules individuelles de C60 sont chimisorbé à la surface de carbure de silicium SiC(0001)-3x3 à travers la formation d’une seule liaison Si-C avec un seul adatome de silicium, contrairement aux autres surfaces semiconductrices où la molécule se chimisorbe en formant plusieurs liaisons. Trois sites d’adsorption par rapport à l’adatome de Si de la maille de surface ont été observés. Pour expliquer les observations STM, les forces de Van der Waals entre la molécule de C60 et les atomes de la surface voisins ont du être pris en compte dans les calculs DFT. Il a été observé aussi que les molécules de C60 forment de petits clusters même à de faibles taux de couverture ce qui indique la présence d’un état précurseur de la molécule et des interactions intermoléculaires non négligeable. La molécule de Caltrope, nouvellement synthétisée, a été étudié aussi bien sur la surface de Silicium que celle de SiC. Le dépôt de cette molécule complexe ne peut être réalisé selon la méthode d’évaporation classique sans induire sa dissociation et a donc nécessité l'emploi de techniques d’évaporation spécifiques. Nos résultats expérimentaux montrent un comportement remarquable: le dépôt de molécule individuelle est induit sur la surface de manière efficace par la pointe du STM démontrant ainsi l’idée d’imprimerie moléculaire. Suite à son adsorption sur la surface de silicium à travers une seule liaison, la molécule de Caltrope se comporte comme un moteur moléculaire activé thermiquement. La troisième molécule a être étudié est la molécule de Trima. Elle a été sélectionnée à cause de sa taille comparable à la distance des ad-atomes de silicium de la surface de SiC. La structure chimique de la molécule qui se termine par un groupement cétone rend possible la fonctionnalisation de la surface. Ceci est révélé par les calculs DFT de la densité de charge. La distribution de charge montre qu’il n’y a pas de partage entre les atomes d’oxygènes de la molécule et les ad-atomes de la surface et donc nous avons un évidence claire pour la formation d’une liaison dative. / The interaction of organic molecules with a semiconductor surface enables the physical properties of the surface to be controlled, from a local modification using individual isolated molecules to passivation using a complete monolayer. Controlling the molecular interaction also allows us to modify the intrinsic properties of the molecules by partial or complete electronic decoupling between the molecular orbitals and the surface. To this end, this thesis presents experimental studies of the adsorption of molecules on the wide band gap 6H-SiC(0001)-3×3 substrate. The experiments were performed using Ultra-High Vacuum Room Temperature Scanning Tunneling Microscopy (UHV RT STM) and the results were compared with comprehensive theoretical Density Functional Theory (DFT) calculations. Three different molecules were studied in this thesis: C60, Caltrop and Trima. The STM and DFT studies show that individual C60 fullerene molecules are chemisorbed on the silicon carbide SiC(0001)-3×3 surface through the formation of a single Si-C bond to one silicon adatom, in contrast to multiple bond formation on other semiconducting surfaces. We observed three stable adsorption sites with respect to the Si adatoms of the surface unit cell. To explain the STM observations, Van der Waals forces between the C60 molecule and the neighboring surface atoms had to be included in the DFT calculations. The C60 molecules are also observed to form small clusters even at low coverage indicating the presence of a mobile molecular precursor state and non negligible intermolecular interactions. The second newly designed Caltrop molecule was studied on both the Si and SiC surfaces. Intact adsorption of this complex organic molecule cannot be realized using classical adsorption methods and requires the use of specific evaporation techniques. Our experimental results show remarkable behavior: The STM tip efficiently deposits single molecules one at a time, demonstrating the concept of single molecule printing. After adsorption on the Si surface through one bond, the Caltrop operates as a thermally activated molecular rotor. The third molecule to be studied is the Trima molecule. This molecule was chosen because it is commensurable in size with the surface Si adatom distance. The chemical termination of the molecule with a ketone group enables the successful functionalization of the SiC surface. The Trima molecule provides a rare and clear-cut example of the formation of two dative bonds between the oxygen atoms of the carbonyl groups and the Si adatoms of the SiC surface. This is revealed by the DFT calculations of the charge density. The charge distribution shows that there is no sharing of electrons between the oxygen atoms of the molecule and the surface which is clear evidence for the formation of a dative bond.

<p>A systematic study of trends in band gap and lattice energies for bare zinc oxide nanoparticles were performed by means of quantum chemical density functional theory (DFT) calculations and density of states (DOS) calculations. The geometry of the optimized structures and the appearance of their frontier orbitals were also studied. The particles studied varied in sizes from (ZnO)₆ up to (ZnO)₁₉₂.The functionalization of bare and hydroxylated ZnO surfaces with MPTMS was studied with emphasis on the adsorption energies for adsorption to different surfaces and the effects on the band gap for such adsorptions.</p>

Photonic crystals (PhCs) are periodic dielectric structures that exhibit a photonic band gap; a range of wavelengths for which light propagation is forbidden. 2D PhCs exhibit most of the properties as their three dimension counterparts with a compatibility with standard semiconductor processing techniques such as epitaxial growth, electron beam lithography, Plasma deposition/etching and electromechanical lapping/polishing. Indium Phosphide (InP) is the material of choice for photonic devices especially when it comes to realization of coherent light source at 1.55 μm wavelength. Precise engineering of the nanostructures in the PhC lattice offers novel ways to confine, guide and control light in phonic integrated circuits (PICs). Strong confinement of light in PhCs offer novel opportunities in many areas of physics and engineering. Dry etching, a necessary process step in PhC device manufacturing, is known to introduce damage in the etched material. Process induced damage and its impact on the electrical and optical properties of PhCs depends on the etched material, the etching technique and process parameters. We have demonstrated a novel post-etch process based on so-called mass-transport (MT) technology for the first time on InP-based PhCs that has significantly improved side-wall verticality of etched PhC holes. A statistical analysis performed on several devices fabricated by MT process technology shows a great deal of improvement in the reliability of optical transmission characteristics which is very promising for achieving high optical quality in PhC components. Several PhC devices were manufactured using MT technology. Broad enough PhC waveguides that operate in the mono/multi-mode regime are interesting for coarse wavelength de-multiplexing. The fundamental mode and higher order mode interaction creates mini-stop band (MSB) in the dispersion diagram where the higher order mode has a lower group velocity which can be considered as slow light regime. In this thesis work, the phenomena of MSBs and its impact on transmission properties have been evaluated. We have proposed and demonstrated a method that enables spectral tuning with sub-nanometer accuracy which is based on the transmission MSB. Along the same lines most of the thesis work relates to broad enough PhC guides that operated in the multimode regime. Temperature tuning experiments on these waveguides reveals a clear red-shift with a gradient of dλ/dT=0.1 nm/˚C. MSBs in these waveguides have been studied by varying the width in incremental amounts. Analogous to semiconductors heterostructures, photonic heterostructures are composed of two photonic crystals with different band-gaps obtained either by changing the air-fill factor or by the lattice constant. Juxtaposing two PhC and the use of heterostructures in waveguide geometry has been experimentally investigated in this thesis work. In particular, in multimode line defect waveguides the “internal” MSB effect brings a new dimension in single junction-type photonic crystal waveguide (JPCW) and heterostructure W3 (HW3) for fundamental physics and applications. We have also fabricated an ultra-compact polarization beam splitter (PBS) realized by combining a multimode waveguide with internal PhC. MSBs in heterostructure waveguides have shown interesting applications such as designable band-pass flat-top filters, and resonance-like filters with high transmission. In the course of this work, InGaAsP suspended membrane technology was developed. An H2 cavity with a linewidth of ~0.4 nm, corresponding to a Q value of ~3675 has been shown. InGaAsP PhC membrane is an ideal platform to study coupled quantum well/dot-nanocavity system. / <p>QC 20120831</p>

This thesis focuses on the use of biomolecular assemblies for creating materials with novel properties. Several aspects of biomimetic materials have been investigated, from fundamental studies on membrane shaping molecules to the integration of biomolecules with inorganic materials. Triply periodic minimal surfaces (TPMS) are mathematically defined surfaces that partition space and present a large surface area in a confined space. These surfaces have analogues in many physical systems. The endoplasmic reticulum (ER) can form intricate structures and it acts as a replica for the wing scales of the butterfly C. rubi, which is characterized by electron microscopy and reflectometry. It was shown to contain a photonic crystal and an analogue to a TPMS. These photonic crystals have been replicated in silica and titania, leading to blue scales with replication on the nanometer scale. Replicas analyzed with left and right handed polarized light are shown be optically active. A macroporous hollow core particle was synthesized using a double templating method where a swollen block copolymer was utilized to create polyhedral nanofoam. Emulsified oil was used as a secondary template which gave hollow spheres with thin porous walls. The resulting material had a high porosity and low thermal conductivity. The areas of inorganic materials and functional biomolecules were combined to create a functional nanoporous endoskeleton. The membrane protein ATP synthase were incorporated in liposomes which were deposited on nanoporous silica spheres creating a tight and functional membrane. Using confocal microscopy, it was possible to follow the transport of Na+ through the membrane. Yop1p is a membrane protein responsible for shaping the ER. The protein was purified and reconstituted into liposomes of three different sizes. The vesicles in the 10-20 nm size range resulted in tubular structures. Thus, it was shown that Yop1p acts as a stabilizer of high curvature structures. / <p>At the time of the doctoral defense, the following papers were unpublished and had a status as follows: Paper 2: Manuscript. Paper 3: Submitted. Paper 4: Submitted. Paper 5: Submitted.</p>