Multifrequency ESR Characterization of Paramagnetic Point Defects in Semiconducting Cubic BN Crystals

Experimental techniques for defect characterization of highly irradiated materials and structures

“…The EPR technique is one of the most powerful tools for evidencing the presence and determining the atomic structure of the paramagnetic point defects produced by irradiation in semiconductors [35,36]. Since the first reported use of EPR to characterize the radiation induced paramagnetic point defects (IPPDs) in Si [37] more than 400 paramagnetic point defects have been reported so-far [38][39][40].…”

Microstructure and Conduction Electron Quantum Properties of Small Diamond Cubic α-Sn Nanocrystals Embedded in Cubic Boron Nitride Crystals

“…Cubic boron nitride (cBN) with zinc blende structure is a wide band-gap (∼6.4 eV) semiconductor, industrially prepared as a crystalline superhard powder by the temperature gradient method, at high pressure and high temperature (HP-HT), in a variety of alkali or alkali-earth B-N solvents to which additives and/or catalysts are added. − Despite the cBN outstanding properties, − the presence, distribution, and atomic properties of the impurities incorporated in its crystal lattice are little known. The main reason is the extreme difficulty of preparing enough large (mm-sized), good quality single crystals with controlled impurity content, as required for physical investigations. − With recent advances in microanalysis and microstructural techniques using electron beams, , it is now possible to investigate the presence, nature, and aggregation state of the impurities incorporated in the submillimeter-sized cBN crystallites found in large-sized commercial superabrasive powders. Thus, recent studies by analytical high-resolution scanning transmission electron microscopy/transmission electron microscopy [a-(HR)­STEM/TEM], cathodoluminescence, ionoluminescence, and electron spin resonance (ESR) evidenced the presence and non-uniform distribution of certain impurities incorporated in the cBN crystallites. − As reported here, tin (Sn) is such an impurity, which we found in dark BORAZON CBN Type 1 crystallites.…”