The direct bandgap of gray α-tin investigated by infrared ellipsometry

Abstract

Using Fourier-transform infrared ellipsometry, the authors provide spectroscopic evidence about the valence band (VB) structure of diamond-like α-tin. The mid-infrared dielectric function of α-tin grown pseudomorphically on InSb or CdTe by molecular beam epitaxy shows a strong E¯0 peak near 0.41 eV. This peak is assigned to allowed intravalence band transitions from the Γ7− (electron-like) VB to the Γ8+v heavy hole VB and/or interband transitions from Γ7− to the Γ8+c light “hole” conduction band. The strength of this peak requires a hole density in the mid-1018 cm−3 range at room temperature, which might be caused by unintentional doping, by thermal electron-hole pair generation, or by the possibility that the L6+ conduction band might have an energy slightly lower than the Γ8+ VB maximum. Alternatively, this E¯0 peak might be enhanced by the M-shape of the Γ7− VB caused by interactions with the Γ7+ split-off hole VB. A sum-rule analysis of the dielectric function between 0.16 and 6.5 eV is consistent with a high-frequency dielectric constant of 24, which has at most a weak temperature dependence between 100 and 300 K.

Document Details

Document Type
Pub Defense Publication
Publication Date
Dec 03, 2018
Source ID
10.1063/1.5053884

Entities

People

  • Arnold Kiefer
  • B. Claflin
  • Cesy M. Zamarripa
  • Gordon Grzybowski
  • Jinsong Duan
  • Jose Menendez
  • Rigo A. Carrasco
  • Stefan Zollner
  • Stephanie A. Chastang

Organizations

  • Air Force Office of Scientific Research
  • Air Force Research Laboratory
  • Arizona State University
  • Division of Human Resource Development
  • Division of Materials Research
  • New Mexico State University

Tags

Fields of Study

  • Materials science

Readers

  • Materials Science and Engineering.

Technology Areas

  • Microelectronics