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GaAsBi is a relatively unexplored alloy with interesting features such as a large bandgap reduction for a given lattice mismatch with GaAs substrates and good photoluminescence which make it promising for long wavelength light detection and emission applications. In this research, the molecular beam epitaxy (MBE) method was used to grow epi-layers and hetero-structures. A Vertical-external-cavity surface-emitting-laser (VECSEL) was grown as a part of collaboration with Tampere University in Finland. The process of laser growth promoted the writer’s skills in the growth of hetero-structures and led into an investigation of the effect of growth conditions on GaAsBi optical properties with important results. For instance, when the substrate temperature during growth was reduced from 400°C to 300°C and all other growth conditions were fixed, the Bi concentration in the deposited films increased from 1% to 5% and the photoluminescence (PL) intensity decreased by more than a factor of 1000. This is an indication of the importance of growth temperature in GaAsBi crystal quality. n+/p junctions were grown for the deep level transient spectroscopy (DLTS) experiments in collaboration with Simon Fraser University. The DLTS measurements showed that lowering the GaAsBi growth temperature increases the deep level density by a factor of 10. These deep levels are the source of non-radiative recombination and decrease the PL intensity. The structural properties of GaAsBi were investigated by high resolution x-ray diffraction and polarized PL and revealed long distance atomic arrangement (Cu-Pt ordering) in GaAsBi. The measurements showed that the ordering is more probable at high growth temperature. This can be due to the larger mobility of the atoms on the surface at high growth temperatures that allows them to find the ordered low energy sites. / Graduate

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Many materials with complex crystal structures have attractive properties, including high specific strength, good creep resistance, oxidation resistance, often through high silicon or aluminium content. This makes them of interest for high temperature structural applications, but the use of many such phases is limited by low toughness. Even outside structural applications, brittle failure is a primary cause of failure in coatings and device materials and, therefore, improved toughness is desirable. In complex crystals plasticity, and hence toughness, is limited by the energy increases that occur as linear defects, dislocations, move. This is known as the lattice resistance. By understanding the factors controlling the lattice resistance in complex crystal structures, it is hoped that a general method for tailoring the flow stress of a material might be found. Present ductile-brittle criteria are based on simple ratios of polycrystalline elastic constants and are too limited to accurately capture flow behaviour. There are complex materials which, despite such criteria predicting brittle behaviour, exhibit low flow stresses, though on a limited number of slip systems: MAX phases, Mo$_2$BC, Nb$_2$Co$_7$ and Ta$_4$C$_{3-x}$ are examples of this. Where plastic flow is limited by the lattice resistance we must consider the effect of crystal structure on dislocation motion more directly. Aspects which are lost by considering bulk polycrystalline properties are elastic heterogeneity, elastic anisotropy and contributions to the energy changes by other interactions, such as electrostatic interactions. In this work examples of each of these are presented and modelled using an adapted version of the Peierls model. A Peierls model generalised to use the entire stiffness tensor has been implemented in Python; this allows the investigation of the effect of varying anisotropy on the yield stress of materials that would not be picked up by the use of polycrystalline elastic constants. Calculations using the changing elastic tensor during hydrogen loading of cementite suggest that hydrogen loading causes a dramatic reduction in the flow stress, consistent with experiments and associated with hydrogen embrittlement of steel. Materials for which empirical potentials can provide more insight than linear elasticity are explored with the example of ionic materials. This is done with a Peierls dislocation configuration and a molecular statics energy calculation. A simple model built electrostatic and Lennard-Jones interactions was used for the rocksalt structure, this model was found to describe the hard slip system well, but was insufficient to describe the softer slip system. Local heterogeneity in elastic properties is explored in the MAX phases where local variation in chemical environment, characterised by electronegativity, produces pronounced variation in the local stiffness within the unit cell. These local variations have been modelled with density functional theory and have been shown to be consistent with the macroscopic elastic properties while also explaining the apparent scatter in the elastic properties. These non-uniform strains are shown to have a dramatic effect on the flow stress of the MAX phases. The face-centred cubic Ti$_2$Ni structure has been used to experimentally demonstrate this effect of heterogeneity softening. The slip system was characterised by micropillar compression and the slip planes were found to be the {1 1 1} planes. The hardness of a range of alloys with the Ti$_2$Ni structure was characterised by nanoindentation of the {1 1 1} faces of single crystals. The hardness was found to decrease as the chemical, and thus elastic, heterogeneity of the unit cell increased, as expected. This effect of heterogeneity softening presents a potential route to tailoring the yield stress of crystals.

In paleomagnetism, practical measurements are rarely made using perfect, isolated, single-phase, ferromagnetic crystals. Experimental observations are typically made using magnetic materials formed by a variety of natural processes. In this thesis, we will look at bridging the gap between current numerical modelling capability and experimental observations. First, we work towards micromagnetic modelling of multi-phase magnetic materials, including magnetostriction, embedded in a rocky matrix, along with crystal defects. We present a derivation of the Boundary Element Method formulation used by the micromagnetics package, MERRILL, and provide an extension of this from single-phase materials to multi-phase. After discussing issues with previous approaches to modelling magnetostriction, we derive and present a more robust and flexible approach. This model of magnetostriction is suitable for non-uniformmagnetizations, for multi-phase materials, and for arbitrary boundary conditions, and can be incorporated into MERRILL.We then outline a method for extending our model to materials embedded in an infinite elastic matrix of arbitrary elasticity. Finally, we present a method for modelling the magnetic response of a material due to crystal defects, along with a concrete example of a magneto-dislocation coupling energy at a magnetite-ilmenite boundary where stress due to lattice misfit is eased by regular edge dislocations. Second, we work towards being able to verify micromagnetic models against nano-scale experimental data. To do this, we present two techniques for simulating electron holograms from micromagnetic modelling results, a technique capable of imaging magnetic structures at the nano-scale. We also present example electron holograms of commonly occurring magnetic structures in nano-scale rock and mineral magnetism, and highlight some distinguishing features, which may be useful for interpreting experimental electron holography data.

The heteroepitaxial growth of cubic silicon carbide (3C-SiC) on (111) silicon (Si) substrates, via a horizontal hot-wall chemical vapor deposition (CVD) reactor, has been achieved. Growth was conducted using a two step process: first the Si substrate surface is converted to SiC via a carbonization process and second the growth of 3C-SiC is performed on the initial carbonized layer. During carbonization, the surface of the Si is converted to 3C-SiC, which helps to minimize the stress in the growing crystal. Propane (C3H8) and silane (SiH4), diluted in hydrogen (H2), were used as the carbon and silicon source, respectively. A deposition rate of approximately 10 µm/h was established during the initial process at a temperature of ~1380 °C. The optimized process produced films with X-ray rocking curve full-width at half-maximum (FWHM) values of 219 arcsec, which is significantly better than any other published results in the literature. Once this process was developed a lower temperature process was developed at a slower growth rate of ~2 µm/h at 1225 °C. The crystal quality was inferior at the reduced temperature but this new process allows for the growth of 3C-SiC(111) films on oxide release layers for MEMS applications. In addition, for electronic device applications, a lower temperature process reduces the generation of defects caused by the nearly 8 % mismatch in the coefficient of thermal expansion (CTE) between 3C-SiC and Si. Finally a new process using a poly-Si seed layer deposited on an oxide-coated Si wafer was used to form 3C-SiC films for MEMS applications. The results indicated initially that the films may even be monocrystalline (based on X-ray evaluation) but later analysis performed using TEM indicated they were highly-ordered polycrystalline films. The grown 3C-SiC films were analyzed using a variety of characterization techniques. The thickness of the films was assessed through Fourier Transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy, and confirmed (in the case of growth on poly-Si seed layers) by cross-section scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The SEM cross-sections were also used to investigate the 3C-SiC/oxide interface. The surface morphology of the films was inspected via Nomarsky interference optical microscopy, atomic force microscopy (AFM), and SEM. The crystalline quality of the films was determined through X-ray diffraction (XRD).

The heteroepitaxial growth of cubic silicon carbide (3C-SiC) on silicon (Si) substrates at high growth rates, via a horizontal hot-wall chemical vapor deposition (CVD) reactor, has been achieved. The final growth process was developed in three stages; an initial "baseline" development stage, an optimization stage, and a large area growth stage. In all cases the growth was conducted using a two step, carbonization plus growth, process. During carbonization, the surface of the Si is converted to 3C-SiC, which helps to minimize the stress in the growing crystal. Propane (C3H8) and silane (SiH4), diluted in hydrogen (H2), were used as the carbon and silicon source, respectively. A deposition rate of approximately 10 um/h was established during the baseline process. Once the baseline process proved to be repeatable, optimization of the process began. Through variations in temperature, pressure, and the Si/C ratio, thick 3C-SiC films (up to 22 um thick) and high deposition rates (up to 30 um/h) were obtained. The optimized process was then applied to growth on 50 mm diameter Si(100) wafers. The grown 3C-SiC films were analyzed using a variety of characterization techniques. The thickness of the films was assessed through Fourier Transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy, and confirmed by cross-section scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The SEM cross-sections were also used to investigate the 3C-SiC/Si interface. The surface morphology of the films was inspected via Nomarsky interference optical microscopy, atomic force microscopy (AFM), and SEM. The crystalline quality of the films was determined through X-ray diffraction (XRD) and low-temperature photoluminescence (LTPL) analysis. A mercury probe was used to make non-contact CV/IV measurements and determine the film doping.