Time-resolved fluorescence spectrum of wide-gap semiconductors excited by 13.9 nm X-ray laser

Tanaka, Momoko; Furukawa, Yusuke*; Nakazato, Tomoharu*; Tatsumi, Toshihiro*; Murakami, Hidetoshi*; Shimizu, Toshihiko*; Sarukura, Nobuhiko*; Nishikino, Masaharu; Kawachi, Tetsuya; Kagamitani, Yuji*; Ehrentraut, D.*; Fukuda, Tsuguo*; Nishimura, Hiroaki*; Mima, Kunioki*

We measured the time-resolved fluorescence spectra of ZnO and GaN single crystals excited by an X-ray laser operating at 13.9 nm and evaluated their scintillation properties for EUV excitation as compared with UV excitation case. For ZnO, a clear fluorescence peak of excitonic origin was observed at around 380 nm and the decay lifetime of less than 3 ns is found to be almost similar to the UV excitation case. The fluorescence at 380 nm is ideal for scintillator device design in the EUV and further applications. For GaN, the lifetimes are much longer than ZnO and the temporal profile of the EUV-excited fluorescence differs with the UV excitation case. As such, the EUV scintillation properties of ZnO is said to be more favorable than GaN. Finally, it is also demonstrated that an X-ray laser is an excellent tool for spectroscopic characterization of materials intended for next-generation lithography applications.