Step unbunching phenomenon on 4H-SiC (0001) surface during hydrogen etching

Sakakibara, Ryotaro*; Bao, J.*; Yuhara, Keisuke*; Matsuda, Keita*; Terasawa, Tomoo; Kusunoki, Michiko*; Norimatsu, Wataru*

Applied Physics Letters, 123(3), p.031603_1 - 031603_4, 2023/07

https://doi.org/10.1063/5.0153565

We here report a step unbunching phenomenon, which is the inverse of the phenomenon of step bunching. When a 4H-SiC (0001) surface is annealed at a high temperature, step bunching arises due to the different velocities of the step motion in adjacent steps, resulting in steps with a height of more than several nanometers. We found that the bunched steps, thus, obtained by hydrogen etching in an Ar/H atmosphere were "unbunched" into lower height steps when annealed subsequently at lower temperatures. This unbunching phenomenon can be well explained by the consequence of the competition between energetics and kinetics. Our findings provide another approach for the surface smoothing of SiC by hydrogen etching and may give significant insight into the application of SiC power devices and two-dimensional materials growth techniques in general.

Work function lowering of LaB by monolayer hexagonal boron nitride coating for improved photo- and thermionic-cathodes

Yamaguchi, Hisato*; Yusa, Ryunosuke*; Wang, G.*; Pettes, M. T.*; Liu, F.*; Tsuda, Yasutaka; Yoshigoe, Akitaka; Abukawa, Tadashi*; Moody, N. A.*; Ogawa, Shuichi*

Applied Physics Letters, 122(14), p.141901_1 - 141901_7, 2023/04

https://doi.org/10.1063/5.0142591

A lowering of work function for LaB by monolayer hexagonal BN coating is reported. Photoemission electron microcopy (PEEM) and thermionic emission electron microscopy (TEEM) both revealed that the hBN coated region of a LaB(100) single crystal has lower work function compared to the bare (i.e., non-coated) and graphene coated regions. A larger decrease of work function for the hBN coated LaB(100) compared to graphene coated LaB(100) was qualitatively supported by our density functional theory (DFT) calculations. Adding an oxide layer in the calculations improved consistency between the calculation and experimental results. We followed up our calculations with synchrotron-radiation X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (SR-XPS) and confirmed the presence of an oxide layer on our LaB.

Thermal stability of non-collinear antiferromagnetic MnSn nanodot

Sato, Yuma*; Takeuchi, Yutaro*; Yamane, Yuta*; Yoon, J.-Y.*; Kanai, Shun*; Ieda, Junichi; Ohno, Hideo*; Fukami, Shunsuke*

Applied Physics Letters, 122(12), p.122404_1 - 122404_5, 2023/03

https://doi.org/10.1063/5.0135709

Electrical properties and energy band alignment of SiO/GaN metal-oxide-semiconductor structures fabricated on N-polar GaN(000) substrates

Mizobata, Hidetoshi*; Tomigahara, Kazuki*; Nozaki, Mikito*; Kobayashi, Takuma*; Yoshigoe, Akitaka; Hosoi, Takuji*; Shimura, Takayoshi*; Watanabe, Heiji*

Applied Physics Letters, 121(6), p.062104_1 - 062104_6, 2022/08

https://doi.org/10.1063/5.0095468

The interface properties and energy band alignment of SiO/GaN metal-oxide-semiconductor (MOS) structures fabricated on N-polar GaN(000) substrates were investigated by electrical measurements and synchrotron-radiation X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. They were then compared with those of SiO/GaN MOS structures on Ga-polar GaN(0001). Although the SiO/GaN(000) structure was found to be more thermally unstable than that on the GaN(0001) substrate, excellent electrical properties were obtained for the SiO/GaN(000) structure by optimizing conditions for post-deposition annealing. However, the conduction band offset for SiO/GaN(000) was smaller than that for SiO/GaN(0001), leading to increased gate leakage current. Therefore, caution is needed when using N-polar GaN(000) substrates for MOS device fabrication.

Fabrication of (Bi)(BiTe) superlattice films by Te desorption from a pristine BiTe film

Kusaka, Shotaro*; Sasaki, Taisuke*; Sumida, Kazuki; Ichinokura, Satoru*; Ideta, Shinichiro*; Tanaka, Kiyohisa*; Hono, Kazuhiro*; Hirahara, Toru*

Applied Physics Letters, 120(17), p.173102_1 - 173102_5, 2022/04

https://doi.org/10.1063/5.0090207

Martensitic transformation in CrCoNi medium-entropy alloy at cryogenic temperature

Naeem, M.*; Zhou, H.*; He, H.*; Harjo, S.; Kawasaki, Takuro; Lan, S.*; Wu, Z.*; Zhu, Y.*; Wang, X.-L.*

Applied Physics Letters, 119(13), p.131901_1 - 131901_7, 2021/09

https://doi.org/10.1063/5.0067268

Observation of quantum interference conductance fluctuations in metal rings with strong spin-orbit coupling

Ramos, R.*; Makiuchi, Takahiko*; Kikkawa, Takashi*; Daimon, Shunsuke*; Oyanagi, Koichi*; Saito, Eiji

Applied Physics Letters, 117(24), p.242402_1 - 242402_5, 2020/12

https://doi.org/10.1063/5.0031708

Electric field effect on the magnetic domain wall creep velocity in Pt/Co/Pd structures with different Co thicknesses

Koyama, Tomohiro*; Ieda, Junichi; Chiba, Daichi*

Applied Physics Letters, 116(9), p.092405_1 - 092405_5, 2020/03

AA2019-0550.pdf:0.91MB

https://doi.org/10.1063/1.5143970

Polaronic nature of a muonium-related paramagnetic center in SrTiO

Ito, Takashi; Higemoto, Wataru; Koda, Akihiro*; Shimomura, Koichiro*

Applied Physics Letters, 115(19), p.192103_1 - 192103_4, 2019/11

https://doi.org/10.1063/1.5125919

Magnetomechanical sensing based on delta-E effect in YFeO micro bridge

Arisawa, Hiroki*; Daimon, Shunsuke*; Oikawa, Yasuyuki*; Seo, Y.-J.*; Harii, Kazuya; Oyanagi, Koichi*; Saito, Eiji

Applied Physics Letters, 114(12), p.122402_1 - 122402_5, 2019/03

https://doi.org/10.1063/1.5090272