Epitaxial growth of stoichiometric SiC on Si(111) and 2°–5° off-oriented 6H–SiC(0001) substrates was carried out at low temperatures (800–1000 °C) by means of solid-source molecular beam epitaxy controlled by a quadrupole mass spectrometry based flux meter. The films were obtained on Si-stabilized surfaces showing (3×3) and (2×2) superstructures in the case of SiC(0001). The reflection high-energy diffraction (RHEED) patterns and damped RHEED-oscillations during the growth on 6H–SiC(0001) at T≳900 °C indicate that two-dimensional nucleation on terraces is the dominant growth process.

We demonstrate that variable angle spectroscopic ellipsometry (SE) is capable of determining both ordinary and extraordinary dielectric functions (DFs) in the transparent region of group III nitride wurtzite films even if the optical axis is oriented normal to the surface plane. In contrast to the so far used prism coupling technique, the SE method is neither restricted to layers deposited on lower refractive index substrates nor to available laser wavelengths. Application to AlN and GaN films grown on 6H-SiC substrates yields experimental data which can be represented in simple analytical form. The difference in energy dispersion for ordinary and extraordinary DFs is related to the effective optical band gap depending on the light polarization. Extrapolation of data to lower photon energies allows estimation of the ordinary and extraordinary high-frequency dielectric constants.

The authors demonstrate the ability of multiwall carbon nanotubes to generate photocurrents in the near ultraviolet and visible spectral ranges using electrochemical photocurrent measurements. The photogenerated current depends on the excitation wavelength similar to that for single wall carbon nanotubes. Its intensity and modulation can be related to the carbon nanotubes morphology. The maximum photon-to-current conversion efficiency is approximately 7%, about 50 times higher than that reported for single wall carbon nanotubes. This result is of particular relevance for photovoltaic nanodevices and solar energy conversion applications. (c) 2006 American Institute of Physics

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The structural properties of copper selenide (CuxSe), formed as a secondary phase on the surface of CuGaSe2 films grown under Cu-rich conditions on GaAs (100) substrates, were studied by micro-Raman spectroscopy. Raman bands at 45 and 263cm−1, observed on crystallites dispersed on the CuGaSe2 film, are in agreement with the Raman modes of CuSe and Cu2Se. Polarization- and angular-dependent micro-Raman measurements reveal that the CuxSe-crystallites are grown with a preferential orientation on the CuGaSe2 surface.