We report the structural, electrical and optical properties of bulk InAsN alloy with various nitrogen contents deposited on (100) InP substrates using plasma-assisted gas-source molecular beam epitaxy. From absorption measurements, it is found that the fundamental absorption energy of InAsN is higher than that of InAs due to the Burstein-Moss effect resulting from the high residual carrier concentration in InAsN. To deduce the 'real' band-gap energy of InAsN samples, the energy shift due to the Burstein-Moss effect and the band-gap narrowing effect are calculated by using a self-consistent approach based on the band-anticrossing (BAC) model [Shan et al.: Phys. Rev. Lett. 82 (1999) 1221. After correction, the 'real' band-gap energy of InAsN samples decreases as N increases. The electron effective mass of InAsN is also investigated by plasma-edge measurement. We found a sizeable increase of the electron effective mass in these InAsN alloys, which is consistent with the theoretical predictions based on the BAC model.

The optical absorption of synthetic ReS2 and ReSe2 single crystals is reported over a temperature range from 25 to 300 K. Analysis reveals that the absorption edges of ReS2 and ReSe2 are indirect allowed transitions. The indirect band gaps at various temperatures are determined and their temperature dependence is analyzed by the Varshni equation [Physica 34, 149 (1967)] and an empirical expression proposed by O’Donnel and Chen [Appl. Phys. Lett. 58, 2924 (1991)]. The parameters that describe the temperature dependence of energy gaps of these two materials are evaluated and discussed.

Room temperature measurements of the far-infrared (FIR) reflectance spectra are reported for the polar optical phonons in a series of bulk Cd x Zn 1−x Te (0 x 1) and CdSe x Te 1−x (0 < x 0.35) crystals grown by Bridgman technique. The composition-dependent spectra exhibited many fundamental aspects of lattice vibrations, while the results of long-wavelength optical modes for the end member binary compounds displayed phonon values in good agreement with the existing inelastic neutron scattering and/or Raman spectroscopy data. Using a standard methodology of multilayer optics with effective-medium dielectric tensors, we simulated the FIR transmission and reflectivity spectra at oblique incidence (Berreman's effect) in many II-VI free-standing thin films, epilayers and superlattices. Berreman's approach provided us with a strong basis for analyzing the infrared experimental data and offered an effective means of estimating the zone-center transverse and longitudinal optical (ω TO , ω LO) phonon frequencies in polar-semiconductor thin films and heterostructure materials of increasing technological importance.

The optical-absorption study of synthetic pyrite FeS2 single crystals prepared by the chemical-vapor-transport method is reported over a temperature range from 4.2 to 300 K. At lower temperatures several features which occur below the absorption edge are superposed on the absorption curve. The origin of the sharpest peak is identified as the transition between the top of valence band and Cr3+ trapping center through comparison of the results with that of the low-temperature photoconductivity and the photoelectron paramagnetic resonance measurements. The nature of other weaker features is discussed. The existence of these features prevents the determination of the band gap of FeS2 by fitting the optical-absorption data to the form of (αhν)∝(hν−E0)n. Therefore, the energy gap of FeS2 at low temperatures is estimated by adding the thermal ionization energy of the shallow acceptor states to the photoionization energy between the (SCl)2− states and the bottom of the conduction band. The band gap of various temperatures is determined and its temperature dependence is analyzed by an empirical expression proposed by O’Donnell and Chen [Appl. Phys. Lett. 58, 2924 (1991)]. The parameters that describe the temperature dependence of Eg of the material are evaluated and discussed.

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