Copper oxide and cobalt oxide (CuO, Co3O4) nanocrystals (NCs) have been successfully prepared in a short time using microwave irradiation without any postannealing treatment. Both kinds of nanocrystals (NCs) have been prepared using copper nitrate and cobalt nitrate as the starting materials and distilled water as the solvent. The resulted powders of nanocrystals (NCs) were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and atomic force microscopy (AFM) measurements. The obtained results confirm the presence of the both of oxides nanopowders produced during chemical precipitation using microwave irradiation. A strong emission under UV excitation is obtained from the prepared CuO and Co3O4nanoparticles. The results show that the nanoparticles have high dispersion and narrow size distribution. The line scans of atomic force microscopy (AFM) images of the nanocrystals (NCs) sprayed on GaAs substrates confirm the results of both X-ray diffraction and transmission electron microscopy. Furthermore, vibrational studies have been carried out using Raman spectroscopic technique. Specific Raman peaks have been observed in the CuO and Co3O4nanostructures, and the full width at half maximum (FWHM) of the peaks indicates a small particle size of the nanocrystals.

LiTaO 3 and LiNbO 3 crystals are investigated here in a combined experimental and theoretical study that uses Raman spectroscopy in a complete set of scattering geometries and corresponding density-functional theory calculations to provide microscopic information on their vibrational properties. The Raman scattering efficiency is computed from first principles in order to univocally assign the measured Raman peaks to the calculated eigenvectors. Measured and calculated Raman spectra are shown to be in qualitative agreement and confirm the mode assignment by Margueron et al. [J. Appl. Phys. 111, 104105 (2012)], thus finally settling a long debate. While the two crystals show rather similar vibrational properties overall, the E-TO 9 mode is markedly different in the two oxides. The deviations are explained by a different anion-cation bond type in LiTaO 3 and LiNbO 3 crystals.

We report the fabrication of periodically poled domain patterns in x-cut lithium niobate thin-film. Here, thin films on insulator have drawn particular attention due to their intrinsic waveguiding properties offering high mode confinement and smaller devices compared to in-diffused waveguides in bulk material. In contrast to z-cut thin film lithium niobate, the x-cut geometry does not require back electrodes for poling. Further, the x-cut geometry grants direct access to the largest nonlinear and electro-optical tensor element, which overall promises smaller devices. The domain inversion was realized via electric field poling utilizing deposited aluminum top electrodes on a stack of LN thin film/SiO2 layer/Bulk LN, which were patterned by optical lithography. The periodic domain inversion was verified by non-invasive confocal second harmonic microscopy. Our results show domain patterns in accordance to the electrode mask layout. The second harmonic signatures can be interpreted in terms of spatially, overlapping domain filaments which start their growth on the +z side.

No abstract

No abstract

Damage caused by laser irradiation on the surface of ZnTe epilayers was studied by micro-Raman and atomic force microscopy (AFM). ZnTe LO-phonon overtones up to four order and TO + (n − 1)LO zone-center phonons were observed in the resonant micro-Raman spectra at room temperature. Discrepancies in the literature regarding the origin of two features observed at low frequencies around 120 and 140 cm −1 in the Raman spectrum of ZnTe are discussed and resolved. These Raman peaks were not detected by using a low excitation laser power density on a Zn-terminated ZnTe surface; however, with the increase of the laser power density they were found to arise irreversibly. The correspondence of these peaks in a wave number with the strongest Raman peaks of the crystalline tellurium phase and the intensity enhancement behavior with the laser power in a similar way as for CdTe strongly suggests the formation of crystalline tellurium aggregates on the layer surface due to laser irradiation damage. AFM data reveal the occurrence of laser ablation on the ZnTe surface even though the surface temperature of the sample is below the melting point.

No abstract

Confocal Raman spectroscopy is applied to identify ferroelectric domain structure sensitive phonon modes in potassium titanyl phosphate. Therefore, polarization-dependent measurements in various scattering configurations have been performed to characterize the fundamental Raman spectra of the material. The obtained spectra are discussed qualitatively based on an internal mode assignment. In the main part of this work, we have characterized z-cut periodically poled potassium titanyl phosphate in terms of polarity-and structure-sensitive phonon modes. Here, we find vibrations whose intensities are linked to the ferroelectric domain walls. We interpret this in terms of changes in the polarizability originating from strain induced by domain boundaries and the inner field distribution. Hence, a direct and 3D visualization of ferroelectric domain structures becomes possible in potassium titanyl phosphate. V