HgCdTe (MCT) infrared (IR) photodetectors have been used for various military and civilian applications including thermal imaging, medical imaging, and astronomy. These detectors are commonly fabricated on MCT layers grown on a foreign substrate epitaxially using delicate growth techniques such as Molecular Beam Epitaxy (MBE). The crystal quality of epitaxial layers grown on a substrate critically depends on the quality of the substrate. One of the stringent requirements in choosing the substrate material is the lattice match between grown layer and the underlying substrate. With perfectly matching lattice structure, CdZnTe has been the major substrate material for the MCT growth. The production of defect free single crystal CdZnTe bulk crystal has then attracted great attention among the research and industrial community of MCT based photodetectors. This thesis focuses on the growth and characterization of Cd1-xZnxTe crystals with the main objective of obtaining high-quality, CZT bulk crystal with large crystal sizes. To be compatible with the subsequent MCT growth, we aimed to obtain Cd0.96Zn0.04Te crystals with (211) crystal surface orientation. CdZnTe bulk crystal growths were performed in three-zone vertical Bridgman furnace by a high temperature melt process called &ldquo / Modified Bridgman Technique&rdquo / . Difficulties in both growth and characterization are presented and discussed in this report. Characterization of the grown CdZnTe crystal was performed to determine the crystallographic orientation, crystal quality, Zn distribution, IR transmission, resistivity, polarity, etch pit density, and surface properties. For this purpose, electron microscopy with analytical diagnostic tools like EDS and EBSD, XRD, optical transmission spectroscopy, and electrical measurement systems have been employed. We demonstrated the successful growth of single crystal CZT crystals using our simple Bridgman furnace. Physical properties of the grown crystal were very promising and encouraging for future applications. Crystal pieces having sizes larger than 5 x 5 mm2 with uniform Zn distribution and (211) surface orientation were obtained. IR transmission of nearly 60% which is as good as that of the commercial substrates was achieved. The electrical resistivity was much better (higher) than generally accepted values. However, the XRD results indicated the presence of defects and/or micro grains in the bulk crystal. These structures seemed to have prevented obtaining good FWHM values, which are the measure of crystal quality, in the XRD analysis.

In this study, photoluminescence properties of as grown, Ge implanted GaSe and InSe crystals with doses 1013, 1014, and 1015 ions/cm2 and 1015 ions/cm2 Ge implanted and annealed GaSe and InSe single crystals grown by using 3-zone vertical Bridgman-Stockbarger system have been studied by photoluminescence spectroscopy (PL). PL spectra of as grown and implanted GaSe samples with three different doses have been studied in the ranges within the wavelength interval 570-850 nm and in the temperature ranges between 21 and 110 K. Temperature dependencies of all observed bands revealed that the peak with highest energy has excitonic origin and most of the others originate from donor-acceptor pair recombination. For GaSe samples implanted with 1013 and 1015 ions/cm2 Ge, PL spectra exhibited four emission bands while for as grown and the sample implanted with 1014 ions/cm2 v Ge had three bands. Variations of emission peaks were studied as a function of temperature. It was observed that centers of all bands shifted towards red continuously with temperature. The intensities of the emission peaks showed similarities with those obtained from as grown, 1013 and 1014 ions/cm2 Ge implanted GaSe while the peak intensities of the sample implanted with 1015 ions/cm2 Ge decreased with the temperature continuously. Using the temperature variation of the peak intensities and peak energy values activation energies were obtained and these results revealed that the two bands with low wavelength to be excitonic origin for the implanted samples with the doses 1013 and 1015 ions/cm2 Ge. Similar results were obtained for the implanted with 1015 ions/cm2 Ge and annealed sample. The other two peaks observed for these samples were attributed to donor acceptor pair transitions. In addition, direct band gaps were found to be 2.12 eV at 32 K for as grown, 2.121 eV at 25 K for 1013 ions/cm2 Ge implanted, 2.121 eV at 21 K for 1014 ions/cm2 Ge implanted, 2.124 eV at 33 K for 1015 ions/cm2 Ge implanted GaSe samples and lastly 2.113 eV at 28 K for 1015 ions/cm2 Ge implanted and annealed GaSe. PL spectra of as grown, 1013, 1014, 1015 ions/cm2 Ge implanted, and 1015 ion/cm2 Ge implanted and annealed InSe samples were also obtained at 20 K. Two broad bands were observed in the spectrum of all InSe crystals and considered to be due to impurity levels within the materials.

In this study, InSe single crystals were grown from the melt using conventional Bridgman-Stockbarger system. The grown crystals were implanted by N-ions to investigate the doping effect. the stoichiometry and the structural features were examined by scanning electron microscope and X-ray diffraction method, respectively. We have observed that the ingot was stoichiometric and the structure was hexagonal. Temperature dependent conductivity and Hall effect measurements were carried out to investigate the electrical properties of as-grown, as-implanted and annealed samples within the temperature range of 80-400 K. To investigate the annealing effect on both the absorption and photoluminescence (PL) spectra, absorption and PL measurements were performed at room temperature. N-implantation reduced the resistivity order from 103 to 101 (&amp / #937 / -cm). We have used temperature dependent conductivity and Hall effect measurements to analyze the dominant scattering mechanisms. Hall measurements showed that all the samples had n-type conduction. Absorption measurements showed that InSe had direct band gap. It was observed that annealing had almost no effect an both room temperature absorption and PL spectra of the samples.

Single crystals of GaSe were grown from the melt using 3-zone vertical Bridgman-Stockbarger system. In order to determine the doping effect, nitrogen and silicon ions were implanted to the grown crystals. Surface morphology and stoichiometry were examined using scanning electron microscope equipped with EDAX and structure properties were examined by x-ray diffraction technique. It was observed that the resulting ingot was stoichiometric and the structure was hexagonal. To identify the effects of ion implantation on the physical properties of the samples depending on annealing / electrical conductivity, hall measurements, current-voltage characteristics, photoconductivity and photoluminescence measurements were carried out in the temperature range of 100-450 K. Also spectral transmission measurements were carried out for all the samples at room temperature. It was observed that both N- and Si- implantation followed by annealing process decreased the resisitivity values from 107 to 103 (&amp / #61527 / -cm). Temperature dependent conductivity measurements were analyzed to deduce the dominant transport mechanisms. The trap levels were also investigated by the space charge limited currents (SCLC) measurements. The temperature dependence of hole concentrations showed that as-grown, N- and Si-implanted samples behave as partially compensated p-type semiconductors. Using suitable statistical method, transport parameters such as acceptor level, donor and acceptor concentrations were extracted from the experimental data. Trapping centers and recombination mechanisms were determined from the temperature dependent photoconductivity measurements by investigating the relation between photocurrent and illumination intensity. N- and Si- implantation effects on GaSe were also examined by spectral photoconductivity and transmission measurements. And lastly, radiative recombination mechanisms in as-grown GaSe were investigated through photoluminescence (PL) measurements and the information related to the structural defects, the exciton levels and the structure of the forbidden gap were investigated.

In this work, structural, electrical and optical characterization of as-grown, Ge-implanted, and annealed GaSe single crystals grown by using 3-zone vertical Bridgman-Stockbarger system, have been studied by carrying out X-ray Diffraction (XRD), electrical conductivity, Hall effect, photoconductivity, and spectral transmission measurements. The temperature dependent electrical conductivity of these samples have been measured between 100 and 400 K. As a result, it was observed that upon implanting GaSe with germanium following annealing process, the resistivity is reduced from 2.1x109 to 6.5x105 &amp / #937 / -cm. Also it was found that Ge-implantation followed by annealing at 500 oC increases the conductivity in exponential fashion. From the temperature dependent conductivities, the activation energies have been found to be 4, 34 and 314 meV for as-grown, 36 and 472 meV for as-implanted, and 39 and 647 meV for implanted and annealed at 500 oC GaSe single crystals. Using XRD measurements it was observed that there is an increase in peak intensities at specific annealing temperatures (300 and 500 C) and a decrease in higher annealing temperatures (700 C). Temperature dependent carrier concentration and Hall mobility measurement were performed in the temperature range of 230 - 410 and 100 - 400 K for as-grown and Ge-implanted and annealed GaSe samples, respectively. All of the samples in this study were found to be p-type with the help Hall measurements. In addition, the density of donor and acceptor atoms are found for each sample and results are compared with each other. In addition, using photoconductivity measurement the relation between photocurrent and illumination intensity and the character of photoconduction were determined. As a result it was found that while at specific temperature intervals impurity scatterings are dominant, in other intervals phonon scatterings start to dominate. Finally, in order to determine annealing dependent change of band gap of unimplanted and Ge-implanted GaSe samples at room temperature, the transmission measurement have been carried out as a optical characterization part of our study. As a consequence of this measurement it was observed that there is almost no considerable change in optical band gap of samples with increasing annealing temperatures for as-grown GaSe samples and a slight shift of optical band gap toward to high energy for Ge-implanted samples with annealing process.

The objective of this research is to increase the understanding of the solidification behaviour of some industrially important wrought aluminium alloys. The investigation methods range from direct investigations of as-cast ingots to laboratory-scale techniques in which ingot casting is simulated. The methods span from directional solidification at different cooling rates to more fundamental and controlled techniques such as DTA and DSC. The microstructure characteristics of the castings have been investigated by optical and Scanning Electron microscopy. Hardness tests were used to evaluate the mechanical properties. The effects of adding alloying elements to 3XXX and 6XXX aluminium alloys have been studied with special focus on the effects of Zn, Cu, Si and Ti. These elements influence the strength and corrosion properties, which are important for the performance of final components of these alloys. Solidification studies of 0-5wt% Zn additions to 3003 alloys showed that the most important effect on the microstructure was noticed at 2.5 wt% Zn, where the structure was fine, and the hardness had a maximum. Si addition to a level of about 2% gave a finer structure, having a relatively large fraction of eutectic structure, however, it also gave a long solidification interval. The addition of small amounts of Cu, 0.35 and 1.0 wt%, showed a beneficial effect on the hardness. Differences have been observed in the ingot surface microstructures of 6xxx billets with different Mg and Si ratios. Excess Si compositions showed a coarser grain structure and more precipitations with possible negative implications for surface defect formation during DC casting. The comparison of alloys of different Ti content showed that the addition of titanium to a level of about 0.15 wt% gave a coarser grain structure than alloys with a normal Ti content for grain refinement, i.e. < 0.02 wt%, although a better corrosion resistance can be obtained at higher Ti contents. The larger grain size results in crack sensitivity during DC casting. A macroscopic etching technique was developed, based on a NaOH solution, and used in inclusion assessment along DC cast billets. Good quantitative data with respect to the size and spatial distribution of inclusions were obtained. The results from studied billets reveal a decreasing number of inclusions going from bottom to top, and the presence of a ring-shaped distribution of a large number of small defects in the beginning of the casting. The present study shows how composition modifications, i.e. additions of certain amounts of alloying elements to the 3xxx and 6xxx Al alloys, significantly change the microstructures of the materials, its castability, and consequently its mechanical properties / QC 20100901