ALBERT

Description: Charge generation in a typical intermediate connector, composed of “n-type doped layer/transition metal oxide (TMO)/hole transporting layer (HTL),” of a tandem organic light-emitting device (OLED) has recently been found to arise from charge transfer at the TMO/HTL interfaces. In this paper, we investigate the effect of hole injection barriers from intermediate connectors on the performance of tandem OLEDs. The hole injection barriers are caused by the offset of the highest occupied molecular orbital (HOMO) energy levels between HTLs contained in the intermediate connector and the top electroluminescence (EL) unit. We also find that although charge generation can occur at the interfaces between the TMO and a wide variety of HTLs of different HOMO values, an increase in the hole injection barrier however limits the electroluminescence efficiency of the top EL units. In the case of large hole injection barriers, significant charge accumulation in the HTLs makes the intermediate connector lose its functionality gradually over operating time, and limits device stability.

Description: Structured metal surfaces could support spoof surface plasmon polaritons (SPPs), the dispersion of which is determined by the cutoff condition of guided modes in the nanostructures. We show that we can achieve split spoof SPPs by breaking the degeneracy of guided helical modes in concentric nanostructures via the classic analogue of the Zeeman effect. This split effect is shown to be observable from the spectra of enhanced electromagnetic transmission. Spin-sensitive enhanced electromagnetic transmission and the associated characteristics of field are investigated. Transmission branches versus parallel wavevector can be satisfactorily fitted by using the dispersion of spoof SPPs.

Description: Light-induced degradation (LID) is a deleterious effect in crystalline silicon, which is considered to originate from recombination-active boron-oxygen complexes and/or copper-related defects. Although LID in both cases appears as a fast initial decay followed by a second slower degradation, we show that the time constant of copper-related degradation increases with increasing boron concentration in contrast to boron-oxygen LID. Temperature-dependent analysis reveals that the defect formation is limited by copper diffusion. Finally, interface defect density measurements confirm that copper-related LID is dominated by recombination in the wafer bulk.

Description: In a recent article, Serov et al. [J. Appl. Phys. 116 , 034507 (2014)] claim: “This study represents the first time that the high-field behavior in graphene on a substrate was investigated taking into account intrinsic graphene properties,” ignoring the most recent anisotropic distribution function [V. K. Arora et al ., J. Appl. Phys. 112 , 114330 (2012)] also published in J. Appl. Phys., targeting the same experimental data [V. E. Dorgan et al. , Appl. Phys. Lett. 97 , 082112 (2010)]. The claim of Serov et al. of being first is refuted and many shortcomings of the hydrodynamic model for a highly quantum and degenerate graphene nanolayer are pointed out.

Description: Fe thin films were deposited on sodium chloride (NaCl) substrates using magnetron sputtering to investigate means of texture control in free standing metal films. The Fe thin films were studied using transmission electron microscopy equipped with automated crystallographic orientation microscopy. Using this technique, the microstructure of each film was characterized in order to elucidate the effects of altering deposition parameters. The natural tendency for Fe films grown on (100) NaCl is to form a randomly oriented nanocrystalline microstructure. By careful selection of substrate and deposition conditions, it is possible to drive the texture of the film toward a single (100) orientation while retaining the nanocrystalline microstructure.

Description: The current paper reports successful syntheses of Ni–TiN composite coatings by pulse electrodeposition. The effect of pulse frequency on the microstructures, nanomechanical, and wear properties of the coatings was investigated using transmission electron microscopy, X–ray diffraction, nanoindenter, scanning electron microscopy, and wear test instrument. The results showed that the Ni–TiN composite coating prepared at the pulse frequency of 100 Hz showed the presence of a less number of TiN particles and some degrees of aggregation in micro-regions. By contrast, in the Ni–TiN coating deposited at the pulse frequency of 500 Hz, the TiN particles were large in number and dispersed homogeneously, thereby, offering the coating a uniform and fine structure. The average grain diameters of Ni and TiN in the coating prepared at 100 Hz were 154.7 and 44.8 nm, respectively, whereas those for the coating prepared at 500 Hz were 67.3 and 25.9 nm, respectively. The maximum TiN content in the Ni-TiN coating deposited at 800 Hz was approximately 10.5 wt. %. The maximum microhardness and the Young's modulus values for the Ni–TiN composite coatings deposited at 800 Hz were 35.7 GPa and 167.4 GPa, respectively. Furthermore, the Ni–TiN composite coating prepared at 100 Hz had more severe damages, whereas the morphologies of worn surface of the coatings deposited at 500 Hz and 800 Hz were smooth and only a few small pits appeared on the surface.

Description: This paper analyses the use of impedance spectroscopy as a characterization tool applied to thermoelectric materials. The impedance function of the thermoelectric system under adiabatic conditions and Peltier mode operation is calculated by solving the heat equation in the frequency domain. The analysis, focused on the complex plane, provides the required equivalent circuit elements to interpret the impedance measurements. Using this approach, all the relevant thermoelectric parameters and thermal properties can be potentially extracted at a given temperature from the impedance spectra, i.e., the Seebeck coefficient, electrical resistivity, thermal conductivity, figure of merit (zT), specific heat, and thermal diffusivity. This can be done without the need of measuring temperature differences. To validate the models described, impedance measurements have been carried out in single thermoelectric elements and modules, showing an excellent agreement with the theory. The simple nature of the measurements in conjunction with the advantage of obtaining all the important thermoelectric parameters opens up the possibility of establishing impedance spectroscopy as a very useful characterization method for the thermoelectric field.

Description: Single-phase and oxygen doped Mn 2 N 0.86 thin films have been grown on MgO (111) by plasma-assisted molecular beam epitaxy. The films grow under tensile strain and, remarkably, they show ferromagnetic-like interactions at low temperature and ferromagnetic ordering agreed well with the Bloch-law T 3 / 2 at room-temperature. We further demonstrate the enlarged Mn 3s splitting (6.46 eV) and its possible relation to the observed ferromagnetism. Our study not only provide a strategy for further theoretical work on oxygen doped manganese nitrides, but also shed promising light on utilizing its room-temperature FM property to fabricate spintronic devices.

Description: An arsenic (As)-doped poly-silicon nanowire gate-all-around transistor fabricated using standard semiconductor methods was used to measure the Coulomb blockade effect by applying a tunable gate voltage. Two-level trapping states due to the random telegraph signal of fluctuating drain current were observed in the silicon transport channel. Under high magnetic fields, the superposition points of differential conductance revealed weak 2-electron singlet-triplet splitting states of the arsenic magnetic impurity. The weak spin-orbital coupling suggests that the electron-spin-polarization in the As-doped silicon nanowire and the two-level trapping state coexisted in the Coulomb blockade oscillations. These characteristics indicate that a few arsenic donors strongly affect the quantum behavior of the poly-silicon material.

Description: Enhancing the visibility of images taken in the hazy weather is important in many applications. Among many dehazing methods, those based on polarimetric imaging techniques have several advantages, such as ease of keeping detailed information, low cost, and high efficiency. In this paper, we propose a novel and robust dehazing algorithm based on polarimetric imaging. By introducing the orientation-angle information from the Stokes matrix, all the parameters used in dehazing performance can be effectively, precisely and automatically estimated, and no additional human-computer interaction is needed. Besides, this method can also be used in handling hazy images without sky region. Experimental results show that such a method can greatly enhance the visibility of hazy images.

Description: The field-orientation dependent magnetoelectric coupling is experimentally studied for a rectangular Terfenol-D/PZT/Terfenol-D laminated structure. The considered magnetic field, namely the dc-bias magnetic field or the ac-excitation magnetic field, is allowed to be spatially re-orientated between two orthogonal geometric dimensions of the composite. In the study, the direction of the excitation can be fixed in the longitudinal (Scheme-I) or thickness (Scheme-II) directions, while considering the bias orientation. Alternatively, the bias field can be restricted to the longitudinal (Scheme-III) or thickness (Scheme-IV) directions, while the excitation orientation is considered. The variation in magnetoelectric coefficient as a function of the bias magnitude is studied with special attention paid to the field-orientation dependency. For the testing schemes of I and II, the direction of the dc-bias field can be re-oriented by forming an angle with the fixed direction of the ac-excitation field. As the angle changes from 0° to 90°, the magnetoelectric coupling evolves from L-T mode to S-T surface shear for Scheme-I, and from T-T mode to S-T thickness shear for Scheme-II. The bias-field-orientation dependence demonstrates a complex pattern due to the varying overall state of anisotropy in Terfenol-D. In Scheme-I with low bias magnitude, the orientation dependence can be represented by the measured effective longitudinal piezomagnetic coefficient. In addition, the optimal bias field for maximum magnetoelectric coefficient is observed to linearly increase with the bias orientation angle. Alternatively, the orientation dependence in Schemes III and IV is more predictable due to the barely changed overall state of anisotropy. In this case, Scheme-III shows that the magnetoelectric coefficient decreases monotonically with the orientation angle and Scheme-IV indicates that the maximum coefficient is attained at around 60°. The dependence of the magnetoelectric coupling on the excitation-filed orientation can be understood via analysis of the resultant magnetostriction in Terfenol-D with assumed effective magnetization, which may depart from the bias field due to the strong demagnetization effect. The analysis is supported by the computed field-orientation dependence of the magnetostriction in Terfenol-D.

Description: The results of electronic structure calculations for a variety of palladium hydrides are presented. The calculations are based on density functional theory and used different local and semilocal approximations. The thermodynamic stability of all structures as well as the electronic and chemical bonding properties are addressed. For the monohydride, taking into account the zero-point energy is important to identify the octahedral Pd-H arrangement with its larger voids and, hence, softer hydrogen vibrational modes as favorable over the tetrahedral arrangement as found in the zincblende and wurtzite structures. Stabilization of the rocksalt structure is due to strong bonding of the 4 d and 1 s orbitals, which form a characteristic split-off band separated from the main d -band group. Increased filling of the formerly pure d states of the metal causes strong reduction of the density of states at the Fermi energy, which undermines possible long-range ferromagnetic order otherwise favored by strong magnetovolume effects. For the dihydride, octahedral Pd-H arrangement as realized, e.g., in the pyrite structure turns out to be unstable against tetrahedral arrangement as found in the fluorite structure. Yet, from both heat of formation and chemical bonding considerations, the dihydride turns out to be less favorable than the monohydride. Finally, the vacancy ordered defect phase Pd 3 H 4 follows the general trend of favoring the octahedral arrangement of the rocksalt structure for Pd:H ratios less or equal to one.

Description: The strategy of suppressing grain growth by dispersing nanoscale particles that pin the grain boundaries is demonstrated in a nanocrystalline thermoelectric compound. Yttria nanoparticles that were incorporated by mechanical alloying enabled nanocrystalline (i.e., d 

Description: This work shows the application of metal ion-implantation to realize an efficient second-generation TiO 2 photocatalyst. High fluence Fe + ions were implanted into thin TiO 2 films and subsequently annealed up to 550 °C. The ion-implantation process modified the TiO 2 pure film, locally lowering its band-gap energy from 3.2 eV to 1.6–1.9 eV, making the material sensitive to visible light. The measured optical band-gap of 1.6–1.9 eV was associated with the presence of effective energy levels in the energy band structure of the titanium dioxide, due to implantation-induced defects. An accurate structural characterization was performed by Rutherford backscattering spectrometry, transmission electron microscopy, Raman spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction, and UV/VIS spectroscopy. The synthesized materials revealed a remarkable photocatalytic efficiency in the degradation of organic compounds in water under visible light irradiation, without the help of any thermal treatments. The photocatalytic activity has been correlated with the amount of defects induced by the ion-implantation process, clarifying the operative physical mechanism. These results can be fruitfully applied for environmental applications of TiO 2 .

Description: Monolayers of tin (stannanane) functionalized with halogens have been shown to be topological insulators. Using density functional theory (DFT), we study the electronic properties and room-temperature transport of nanoribbons of iodine-functionalized stannanane showing that the overlap integral between the wavefunctions associated to edge-states at opposite ends of the ribbons decreases with increasing width of the ribbons. Obtaining the phonon spectra and the deformation potentials also from DFT, we calculate the conductivity of the ribbons using the Kubo-Greenwood formalism and show that their mobility is limited by inter-edge phonon backscattering. We show that wide stannanane ribbons have a mobility exceeding 10 6 cm 2 /Vs. Contrary to ordinary semiconductors, two-dimensional topological insulators exhibit a high conductivity at low charge density, decreasing with increasing carrier density. Furthermore, the conductivity of iodine-functionalized stannanane ribbons can be modulated over a range of three orders of magnitude, thus rendering this material extremely interesting for classical computing applications.

Description: Work function, photoemission yield, and Auger electron spectra were measured on (001) p-type GaAs during negative electron affinity (NEA) surface preparation, surface degradation, and heating processes. The emission current sensitively depends on work function change and its dependence allows us to determine that the shape of the vacuum barrier was close to double triangular. Regarding the NEA surface degradation during photoemission, we discuss the importance of residual gas components the oxygen and hydrogen. We also found that gentle annealing (≤100 °C) of aged photocathodes results in a lower work function and may offer a patch to reverse the performance degradation.

Description: Trivalent dysprosium-doped Lu 3 Ga 5 O 12 nano-garnets have been prepared by sol-gel method and characterized by X-ray powder diffraction, high-resolution transmission electron microscopy, dynamic light scattering, and laser excited spectroscopy. Under a cw 457 nm laser excitation, the white luminescence properties of Lu 3 Ga 5 O 12 nano-garnets have been studied as a function of the optically active Dy 3+ ion concentration and at low temperature. Decay curves for the 4 F 9/2 level of Dy 3+ ion exhibit non-exponential nature for all the Dy 3+ concentrations, which have been well-fitted to a generalized energy transfer model for a quadrupole-quadrupole interaction between Dy 3+ ions without diffusion. From these data, a simple rate-equations model can be applied to predict that intense white luminescence could be obtained from 1.8 mol% Dy 3+ ions-doped nano-garnets, which is in good agreement with experimental results. Chromaticity color coordinates and correlated color temperatures have been determined as a function of temperature and are found to be within the white light region for all Dy 3+ concentrations. These results indicate that 2.0 mol% Dy 3+ ions doped nano-garnet could be useful for white light emitting device applications.

Description: In this paper, 80GeO 2 -8Ga 2 O 3 -10BaO-2Nb 2 O 5 -6PbO (in mol%) glass samples with different Tm 2 O 3 concentrations (0, 0.5, 0.75, 1, 1.25, and 1.5 mol. %) were prepared by traditional melt-quenching method. According to the measurement of thermal properties of the host glass, the glass transition temperature is 596.7 °C and no crystallization peak is observed. Judd–Ofelt parameters Ω t (t = 2, 4, 6) and fluorescent lifetimes were obtained by Judd-Ofelt theory. The similar values of Judd–Ofelt parameters and the full-width at half-maximums of ∼1800 nm indicate the local environment of Tm 3+ changes little with increment of Tm 2 O 3 concentrations. Maximum stimulated emission cross-section of ∼1800 nm is 6.22 × 10 −21 cm 2 as calculated by Fuchtbauer–Ladenburg formula. Energy migration among Tm 3+ ions was analyzed by the extended overlap integral method. The non-radiative transition rates between mainly energy levels of Tm 3+ were calculated. Non-radiative transition rate of 3 F 4 energy level caused by OH was analyzed by rate equation and deduced by fitting the fluorescence decay curve.

Description: Properties of metallic materials are intrinsically determined by their electron behavior. However, relevant theoretical treatment involving quantum mechanics is complicated and difficult to be applied in materials design. Electron work function (EWF) has been demonstrated to be a simple but fundamental parameter which well correlates properties of materials with their electron behavior and could thus be used to predict material properties from the aspect of electron activities in a relatively easy manner. In this article, we propose a method to extract the electron work functions of binary solid solutions or alloys from their phase diagrams and use this simple approach to predict their mechanical strength and surface properties, such as adhesion. Two alloys, Fe-Ni and Cu-Zn, are used as samples for the study. EWFs extracted from phase diagrams show same trends as experimentally observed ones, based on which hardness and surface adhesive force of the alloys are predicted. This new methodology provides an alternative approach to predict material properties based on the work function, which is extractable from the phase diagram. This work may also help maximize the power of phase diagram for materials design and development.

Description: The magnetic and dielectric polarization properties of the single crystal samples of CuFe 1− x Ga x O 2 ( x  = 0 and 0.02) are investigated. Experimental results show that the magnetization and dielectric polarizations are anisotropy and coupled together. Compared with pure CuFeO 2 , in the case with the magnetic field parallel to the c axis, a field-induced phase transition with a hysteresis is clearly observed between the five-sublattice (5SL) and three-sublattice (3SL) phases. Specially, an obvious spontaneous dielectric polarization is observed in CuFe 0.98 Ga 0.02 O 2 in a lower magnetic field region, indicating that the Ga doping has an effect on the enhancement of spontaneous dielectric polarization. Based on the dilution effect, change of exchange interaction, and partial release of the spin frustration due to the structural modulation of the Ga ion dopant, the origin of the magnetization, and spontaneous polarization characteristics are discussed and the complete dielectric polarization diagrams are assumed.

Description: Perovskite phase SnTiO 3 was predicted to have a large spontaneous polarization of 1.1 C/m 2 , but its synthesis has been unsuccessful so far. Here, we calculated the ferroelectric properties of a series of Ruddleson-Popper (RP) phase SnO(SnTiO 3 ) n ( n  = 1 ∼ 6), with perovskite SnTiO 3 as the ending structure ( n  = ∞), using the first principles calculations. An analysis of RP phase tolerance factor indicated that the fabrication of the RP phase SnO(SnTiO 3 ) n may be easier than that for SnTiO 3 . For bulk SnO(SnTiO 3 ) 1 , the most stable phase is Aba2 with a spontaneous polarization of 0.53 C/m 2 along [110]. Aba2 is also the most stable phase for SnO(SnTiO 3 ) 1 under biaxial strain. For RP phase SnO(SnTiO 3 ) n on a SrTiO 3 substrate, there is also a phase transition with the increasing layer thickness n . The polarization increases with strain or layer thickness. The ferroelectric properties and size effect in the free standing RP phase SnO(SnTiO 3 ) n nanosheets were also investigated, and the in -plane polarization is 60% larger than that of the bulk.

Description: We investigate the growth-temperature dependence of the properties of the group-IV-based ferromagnetic semiconductor Ge 1− x Fe x films ( x  = 6.5% and 10.5%), and reveal the correlation of the magnetic properties with the lattice constant, Curie temperature ( T C ), non-uniformity of Fe atoms, stacking-fault defects, and Fe-atom locations. While T C strongly depends on the growth temperature, we find a universal relationship between T C and the lattice constant, which does not depend on the Fe content x . By using the spatially resolved transmission-electron diffractions combined with the energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy, we find that the density of the stacking-fault defects and the non-uniformity of the Fe concentration are correlated with T C . Meanwhile, by using the channeling Rutherford backscattering and particle-induced X-ray emission measurements, we clarify that about 15% of the Fe atoms exist on the tetrahedral interstitial sites in the Ge 0.935 Fe 0.065 lattice and that the substitutional Fe concentration is not correlated with T C . Considering these results, we conclude that the non-uniformity of the Fe concentration plays an important role in determining the ferromagnetic properties of GeFe.

Description: A strong microwave shielding effect due to the excitation of microwave eddy-currents exists for metallic films of sub-skin-depth thickness (10–100 nm). If the film is ferromagnetic, this effect strongly influences results of the broadband stripline ferromagnetic resonance (FMR) spectroscopy. It also potentially hampers the development of magnetically tuneable metamaterials. By means of rigorous numerical simulations, we address an important problem of the dependence of the eddy current effect on the width of the stripline used for driving magnetisation dynamics in the broadband FMR spectroscopy. We study theoretically electrodynamics of realistic striplines and also extend the main result from the case of continuous conductive films to periodic conductive nanostructures—magnonic crystals. Based on these findings, we also give recommendations on improving performance of magnetically tuneable metamaterials, which are based on conductive ferromagnetic films and nanostructures. In our simulations, we consider examples of microstrip lines which are 5  μ m to 1.5 mm wide. However, the simulation results should be equally applicable to coplanar waveguides with the same width of the signal line.

Description: We demonstrate a resolution of 45 nm with a sample size down to 3  μ m × 3  μ m is achieved in a short exposure time of 2 s, from the diffraction pattern generated by a table-top high harmonic source at around 30 nm. By using a narrow-bandwidth focusing mirror, the diffraction pattern's quality is improved and the required exposure time is significantly reduced. In order to obtain a high quality of the reconstructed image, the ratio of the beam size to the sample size and the curvature of the focused beam need to be considered in the reconstruction process. This new experimental scheme is very promising for imaging sub-10 nm scale objects with a table-top source based on a small inexpensive femtosecond laser system.

Description: Core/shell heterostructured TiO 2 /CdS x Se 1-x nanowire arrays (NWAs) were prepared via physical vapor deposition of CdS x Se 1-x layer onto the hydrothermal pre-grown TiO 2 NWAs with FTO as conductive substrate. By change the sulfur content ( x ) in the TiO 2 /CdS x Se 1-x nano-composites, it was observed that the light absorption edge can be gradually tuned within a broad wavelength from 540 to 710 nm. When used as photoanodes for hydrogen generation, the as-prepared TiO 2 /CdS x Se 1-x NWAs show much higher photoelectroncatalytic activity than the pristine TiO 2 NWAs. Moreover, the TiO 2 /CdS x Se 1-x photoelectrode with x  = 0.52 exhibited the highest photocurrent level and outstanding stability, which is more suitable for long-time hydrogen generation. This study may be useful in the design of alloy hetrostructure photoelectrodes with optimal chemical composition toward the more efficient solar conversion devices.

Description: This work studies the electron mobility in InAs nanowires (NWs), by solving the Boltzmann Transport Equation under the Momentum Relaxation Time approximation. The numerical solver takes into account the contribution of the main scattering mechanisms present in III-V compound semiconductors. It is validated against experimental field effect-mobility results, showing a very good agreement. The mobility dependence on the nanowire diameter and carrier density is analyzed. It is found that surface roughness and polar optical phonons are the scattering mechanisms that mainly limit the mobility behavior. Finally, we explain the origin of the oscillations observed in the mobility of small NWs at high electric fields.

Description: We investigate homeotropically aligned fluorophores and Förster resonance energy transfer (FRET) for luminescent solar concentrators using Monte-Carlo ray tracing. The homeotropic alignment strongly improves the trapping efficiency, while FRET circumvents the low absorption at homeotropic alignment by separating the absorption and emission processes. We predict that this design doped with two organic dye molecules can yield a 82.9% optical efficiency improvement compared to a single, arbitrarily oriented dye molecule. We also show that quantum dots are prime candidates for absorption/donor fluorophores due to their wide absorption band. The potentially strong re-absorption and low quantum yield of quantum dots is not a hindrance for this design.

Description: A transmission-grating-sampled circular dichroism absorption spectroscopy (TGS-CDAS) and its theoretical model are developed sensitively to measure decay dynamics of a transient spin grating (TSG). A binary transmission grating with the same period as TSG is set behind TSG. It allows only a same small part of each period in TSG measured by circular dichroism absorption effect of a probe. In this way, the zero average of spin-dependent effects measured over a whole period in TSG is avoided so that TGS-CDAS has a high sensitivity to spin evolution in TSG. Spin transport experiments are performed on GaAs/AlGaAs quantum wells. Experimental results prove the feasibility and reliability of TGS-CDAS.

Description: Deep Level Transient Spectroscopy (DLTS) reveals three electrical levels of substitutional nickel in silicon at E C – 0.07 eV, E C – 0.45 eV, and E V  + 0.16 eV. A number of additional DLTS peaks are observed after hydrogenation of the samples. We identify different NiH x -complexes with x = 1, 2, and 3. NiH introduces a single acceptor and a single donor state at about E C – 0.17 eV and E V  + 0.49 eV into the band gap of silicon. NiH 2 and NiH 3 are shown to have a single acceptor state at E V  + 0.58 eV and E V  + 0.46 eV, respectively. In addition to the electrically active NiH x -complexes, a total passivation of the electrical activity of nickel by hydrogen is observed.

Description: A compact quantum correction model for a symmetric double gate (DG) metal-oxide-semiconductor field-effect transistor (MOSFET) is investigated. The compact quantum correction model is proposed from the concepts of the threshold voltage shift (Δ V TH QM ) and the gate capacitance ( C g ) degradation. First of all, Δ V TH QM induced by quantum mechanical (QM) effects is modeled. The C g degradation is then modeled by introducing the inversion layer centroid. With Δ V TH QM and the C g degradation, the QM effects are implemented in previously reported classical model and a comparison between the proposed quantum correction model and numerical simulation results is presented. Based on the results, the proposed quantum correction model can be applicable to the compact model of DG MOSFET.

Description: Single phase polycrystalline BiFeO 3 thin films were grown on three different substrates via chemical solution deposition. Our results indicate that the band gap of as-prepared BiFeO 3 films can be tuned (2.02–2.67 eV) by the grain size effects caused by the substrates. These BiFeO 3 films show good photocatalytic properties by the degradation of Congo red solution under visible-light irradiation ( λ   〉 400 nm). Additionally, weak ferromagnetic behaviors can be observed at room temperature in all the films, which should be correlated to the destruction of the incommensurate cycloid spin structure of BiFeO 3 phase and the coexistence of Fe 3+ and Fe 2+ as confirmed by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy.

Description: Recently, interest in alnico magnetic alloys has been rekindled due to their potential to substitute for rare-earth based permanent magnets provided modest improvements in their coercivity can be achieved without loss of saturation magnetization. Recent experimental studies have indicated that atomic and magnetic structure of the two phases (one AlNi-based, the other FeCo-based) that comprise these spinodally decomposed alloy is not as simple as previously thought. A key issue that arises is the distribution of Fe, Co, and Ti within the AlNi-based matrix phase. In this paper, we report the results of first-principles calculations of the site preference of ternary alloying additions in DO 3 Fe 3 Al, Co 3 Al, and Ni 3 Al alloys, as models for the aluminide phase. For compound compositions that are Al rich, which correspond to experimental situation, Ti and Fe are found to occupy the α sites, while Co and Ni prefer the γ sites of the DO 3 lattice. An important finding is that the magnetic moments of transition metals in Fe 3 Al and Co 3 Al are ordered ferromagnetically, whereas the Ni 3 Al were found to be nonmagnetic unless the Fe or Co is added as a ternary element.

Description: In this work, single-phase Ba 1−x−y Sr y ZrSi 3 O 9 :xEu 2 + phosphors were synthesized via the solid-state reaction method. The crystal structure and luminescence properties were investigated using X-ray diffraction and photoluminescence measurements, respectively. An increase of the dopant Sr 2+ increased the emission intensity of the phosphors. The peak intensity of the samples was at y = 0.4 under near-ultraviolet light excitation (397 nm). The wavelength of the emission peaks red-shifts slightly from 477 to 483 nm due to the splitting of the 5d energy level. Sr 2+ ions have a smaller ionic radius than that of Ba 2+ ions, and thus the dopant changes the crystal structure, improving the energy transfer efficiency between luminescence centers. More Eu 2+ solid solubility was found in Ba 0.6−x Sr 0.4 ZrSi 3 O 9 :xEu 2 + phosphors (10 mol. %) than in the host BaZrSi 3 O 9 (6 mol. %), which enhanced the emission intensity. In addition, the thermal reliability of the phosphors was studied.

Description: This work presents an atomic scale study of the electric field gradient (EFG) in the tetragonally distorted CdMn 2 O 4 spinel manganite. The EFG temperature dependence at the Cd and Mn sites was followed via perturbed angular correlation measurements with the 111 In and 111m Cd probes, from 873 down to 12 K at Isolde-CERN. The results show that in the 12–600 K temperature range, a single Jahn-Teller distorted local phase exists. However above 100 K, a dynamic lattice distortion, evidenced by time dependent EFG fluctuations, sets in suggesting a structural instability. Above 600 K, a local MnO 6 octahedra with relaxed Jahn-Teller distortions emerge and grow in the low temperature matrix, although no macroscopic tetragonal to cubic phase transition was observed.

Description: Detailed investigations of the quadratic nonlinear response of a series of new polyimides with covalently attached chromophore DR13 are performed by the Maker fringes method in the range of fundamental wavelength from 850 to 1450 nm. Polymer films with thickness of 100–400 nm were spin-coated on glass substrates and corona poled. For these materials, the maximum values of the second harmonic generation coefficients d 33 are 80–120 pm/V. A red shift of the nonlinear response dispersion with respect to the linear absorption spectrum was observed for the DR13 chromophore. The temperature dependences of linear absorption and nonlinear coefficients d 33 for studied structures are observed. It was found that the temperature changes of the absorption spectra lead to appreciable contribution to the value of the nonlinear coefficient d 33 . The demonstrated high temperature stability (up to 120 °C) of chromophore-containing polyimide thin films makes it possible to eliminate the degradation of their nonlinear optical properties in the future applications of such structures.

Description: Atomic- or nanometer-scale surface roughening has been investigated during Si etching in inductively coupled Cl 2 plasmas, as a function of rf bias power or ion incident energy E i , by varying feed gas flow rate, wafer stage temperature, and etching time. The experiments revealed two modes of surface roughening which occur depending on E i : one is the roughening mode at low E i  

Description: The elastic and thermoelectric properties of Ca 5 Al 2 Sb 6 under pressure are studied using ab initio calculation and semiclassical Boltzmann theory. The calculated elastic constants and minimum thermal conductivity indicate that Ca 5 Al 2 Sb 6 exhibits an anisotropic structure and high thermoelectric performance. The size of the band gap shows a nonlinear change with increasing pressure. Based on the electronic structure, the calculated thermoelectric parameters show that the Seebeck coefficient has no obvious change under pressure, whereas the electrical conductivity improves with increasing pressure. Therefore, the power factor increases at an appropriate pressure of P = 2.6 GPa. P-type doping of Ca 5 Al 2 Sb 6 may achieve better thermoelectric performance than n-type doping, in agreement with experiment. The anisotropic thermoelectric properties of Ca 5 Al 2 Sb 6 indicate that the thermoelectric performance along the z-direction is superior to other directions. This is attributed to the combination of the large dispersion and high band degeneracy along the Γ-Z direction in the band structure.

Description: Here, we demonstrate X-ray fitting through kinematical simulations of the intensity profiles of symmetric reflections for epitaxial compositionally graded layers of AlGaN grown by molecular beam epitaxy pseudomorphically on [0001]-oriented GaN substrates. These detailed simulations depict obvious differences between changes in thickness, maximum concentration, and concentration profile of the graded layers. Through comparison of these simulations with as-grown samples, we can reliably determine these parameters, most important of which are the profiles of the concentration and strain which determine much of the electrical properties of the film. In addition to learning about these parameters for the characterization of thin film properties, these fitting techniques create opportunities to calibrate growth rates and control composition profiles of AlGaN layers with a single growth rather than multiple growths as has been done traditionally.

Description: We performed noise measurements to obtain the quality factor (Q) and frequency shift of gold coated microcantilevers before and after surface modification using focused ion beam. As a result of our studies, it is demonstrated that surface engineering offers a promising method to control and increase the Q factor up to 50% for operation in vacuum. Surface modification could also lead to deviations from the known Q ∼ P −1 behavior at low vacuum pressures P within the molecular regime. Finally, at higher pressures within the continuum regime, where Q is less sensitive to surface changes, a power scaling Q ∼ P c with c ≈ 0.3 was found instead of c = 0.5. The latter is explained via a semi-empirical formulation to account for continuum dissipation mechanisms at significant Reynolds numbers Re ∼ 1.

Description: We have investigated the magnetic and magnetocaloric properties of ferromagnetic superconductor Ru(Sr 1– x La x ) 2 GdCu 2 O 8 (x = 0–0.10) by magnetization and heat capacity measurements. RuSr 2 GdCu 2 O 8 shows onset of superconductivity at around 46 K, which coexists with the weak ferromagnetic ordering of the RuO 2 moments and the antiferromagnetic ordering of the Gd moments. Both superconducting RuSr 2 GdCu 2 O 8 and non-superconducting Ru(Sr 0.9 La 0.1 ) 2 GdCu 2 O 8 compounds exhibit a large magnetic entropy change due to the field-induced metamagnetic transition. The maximum values of entropy change, adiabatic temperature change, and refrigerant capacity are ∼15.5 J kg −1 K −1 , ∼14 K, and ∼125 J kg −1 , respectively, for a field change of 0–7 T for both the compounds. These magnetocaloric parameters also have reasonably good values for a moderate field change (2–3 T), therefore, fulfilling the necessary conditions for refrigeration in the low-temperature region.

Description: Determination of atomic and electronic structures of ferroelectric domain walls is crucial to understand and explore their unusual properties. Using first-principles calculations based on the density functional theory, we explored the atomic and electronic structures of 180° domain walls in PbTiO 3 , in order to understand the origin of Bloch-type polarization components. It is found that Bloch-type polarization components originate from the large displacements of Pb atoms and the Pb-O hybridization at the domain walls. The development of Bloch-type polarization components significantly reduce the domain wall energies and change the Peierls barriers of domain wall motion in different orientations.

Description: After three years of upgrading work, the Pohang Light Source-II (PLS-II) is now successfully operating. The final quantitative goal of PLS-II is a top-up user-service operation with beam current of 400 mA to be completed by the end of 2014. During the beam store test up to 400 mA in the storage ring (SR), it was observed that the vacuum pressure around the radio frequency (RF) window of the superconducting cavity rapidly increases over the interlock level limiting the availability of the maximum beam current storing. Although available beam current is enhanced by setting a higher RF accelerating voltage, it is better to keep the RF accelerating voltage as low as possible in the long time top-up operation. We investigated the cause of the window vacuum pressure increment by studying the changes in the electric field distribution at the superconducting cavity and waveguide according to the beam current. In our simulation, an equivalent physical modeling was developed using a finite-difference time-domain code. The simulation revealed that the electric field amplitude at the RF window is exponentially increased as the beam current increases, thus this high electric field amplitude causes a RF breakdown at the RF window, which comes with the rapid increase of window vacuum pressure. The RF accelerating voltage of PLS-II RF system was set to 4.95 MV, which was estimated using the maximum available beam current that works as a function of RF voltage, and the top-up operation test with the beam current of 400 mA was successfully carried out.

Description: A charged impurity outside the plane of a graphene layer contributes to scattering of electrons (and holes) in the graphene. The interaction occurs through two distinct mechanisms associated with the charge: (1) the (screened) Coulomb potential, and (2) the electric field perpendicular to the graphene plane that causes a spatially varying Rashba spin-orbit interaction. Both types of scattering are examined, with the screened potential self-consistently calculated in nonlinear Thomas-Fermi approximation. Different selection rules for the two mechanisms lead to qualitative differences in the differential scattering cross-sections. Using accepted parameters for the Rashba interaction, the latter is found to make only a very small contribution to the scattering associated with a remote charge.

Description: The impact of thermal post deposition annealing in oxygen at different temperatures on the Ge/Y 2 O 3 interface is investigated using metal oxide semiconductor capacitors, where the yttrium oxide was grown by atomic layer deposition from tris(methylcyclopentadienyl)yttrium and H 2 O precursors on n-type (100)-Ge substrates. By performing in-situ X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, the growth of GeO during the first cycles of ALD was proven and interface trap densities just below 1 × 10 11 eV −1  cm −2 were achieved by oxygen annealing at high temperatures (550 °C–600 °C). The good interface quality is most likely driven by the growth of interfacial GeO 2 and thermally stabilizing yttrium germanate.

Description: We present a dynamic Monte Carlo (DMC) study of s-shaped current-voltage (I-V) behaviour in organic solar cells. This anomalous behaviour causes a substantial decrease in fill factor and thus power conversion efficiency. We show that this s-shaped behaviour is induced by charge traps that are located at the electrode interface rather than in the bulk of the active layer, and that the anomaly becomes more pronounced with increasing trap depth or density. Furthermore, the s-shape anomaly is correlated with interface recombination, but not bulk recombination, thus highlighting the importance of controlling the electrode interface. While thermal annealing is known to remove the s-shape anomaly, the reason has been not clear, since these treatments induce multiple simultaneous changes to the organic solar cell structure. The DMC modelling indicates that it is the removal of aluminium clusters at the electrode, which act as charge traps, that removes the anomalous I-V behaviour. Finally, this work shows that the s-shape becomes less pronounced with increasing electron-hole recombination rate; suggesting that efficient organic photovoltaic material systems are more susceptible to these electrode interface effects.

Description: Combination of two dimensional graphene and semi-conducting molybdenum disulfide (MoS 2 ) is of great interest for various electronic device applications. Here, we demonstrate fabrication of a hybridized structure with the chemical vapor deposited graphene and MoS 2 crystals to configure a memory device. Elongated hexagonal and rhombus shaped MoS 2 crystals are synthesized by sulfurization of thermally evaporated molybdenum oxide (MoO 3 ) thin film. Scanning transmission electron microscope studies reveal atomic level structure of the synthesized high quality MoS 2 crystals. In the prospect of a memory device fabrication, poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) is used as an insulating dielectric material as well as a supporting layer to transfer the MoS 2 crystals. In the fabricated device, PMMA-MoS 2 and graphene layers act as the functional and electrode materials, respectively. Distinctive bistable electrical switching and nonvolatile rewritable memory effect is observed in the fabricated PMMA-MoS 2 /graphene heterostructure. The developed material system and demonstrated memory device fabrication can be significant for next generation data storage applications.

Description: With large-scale molecular dynamics simulations, we investigate shock response of He nanobubbles in single crystal Cu. For sufficient bubble size or internal pressure, a prismatic dislocation loop may form around a bubble in unshocked Cu. The internal He pressure helps to stabilize the bubble against plastic deformation. However, the prismatic dislocation loops may partially heal but facilitate nucleation of new shear and prismatic dislocation loops. For strong shocks, the internal pressure also impedes internal jetting, while a bubble assists local melting; a high speed jet breaks a He bubble into pieces dispersed among Cu. Near-surface He bubbles may burst and form high velocity ejecta containing atoms and small fragments, while the ejecta velocities do not follow the three-dimensional Maxwell-Boltzmann distributions expected for thermal equilibrium. The biggest fragment size deceases with increasing shock strength. With a decrease in ligament thickness or an increase in He bubble size, the critical shock strength required for bubble bursting decreases, while the velocity range, space extension and average velocity component along the shock direction, increase. Small bubbles are more efficient in mass ejecting. Compared to voids and perfect single crystal Cu, He bubbles have pronounced effects on shock response including bubble/void collapse, Hugoniot elastic limit (HEL), deformation mechanisms, and surface jetting. HEL is the highest for perfect single crystal Cu with the same orientations, followed by He bubbles without pre-existing prismatic dislocation loops, and then voids. Complete void collapse and shear dislocations occur for embedded voids, as opposed to partial collapse, and shear and possibly prismatic dislocations for He bubbles. He bubbles lower the threshhold shock strength for ejecta formation, and increase ejecta velocity and ejected mass.

Description: In this work, we investigated the strong perpendicular magnetic anisotropy (PMA) in CoFe/A1-FePt films. In our experiment, after rapid thermal annealing at a low temperature, CoFe (5 nm)/A1-FePt (3 nm) films present an effective PMA energy density up to 7.50 × 10 6  erg/cm 3 . The PMA diminishes when the A1-FePt film thickness increases, indicating that the magnetic anisotropy mainly originates in the interface region of CoFe/A1-FePt films. Moreover, the calculated PMA energy density by first principles is more than 5.51 × 10 6  erg/cm 3 which is consistent with our experimental results. The calculated results further suggest an enhanced PMA and a lower saturation magnetization of CoFe/A1-FePt films would be obtained by introducing proper strain at the CoFe/A1-FePt interface region. The CoFe/A1-FePt films have the potential to be applied in low-power and thermally stable perpendicular spintronic devices.

Description: A model is presented that addresses the energy stability of localized electron states in insulating polymers with respect to delocalized free electron-like states at variable charge densities. The model was derived using an effective Hamiltonian for the total energy of electrons trapped in large polarons and spin-paired bipolarons, which includes the electrostatic interaction between charges that occurs when the charge density exceeds the infinite dilution limit. The phase diagram of the various electronic states with respect to the charge density is derived using parameters determined from experimental data for polyethylene, and it is found that a phase transition from excess charge in the form of stable polarons to a stable state of bipolarons with charge = 2 and spin number S = 0 is predicted for a charge density between 0.2 C/m 3 and ∼2 C/m 3 . This transition is consistent with a change from low mobility charge transport to charge transport in the form of pulses with a mobility orders of magnitude higher that has been observed in several insulating polymers.

Description: X-ray and neutron reflectivity are mature experimental techniques for the exploration of film thicknesses and interface roughnesses on the nanoscale. Combining with photon and neutron polarization, these methods can be carried forward to the analysis of magnetic thin films and magnetic domain structures. New opportunities open up when these methods are used either in the time or in the frequency domain. Then dynamical processes can be studied such as domain oscillations, domain propagation, precession of spins, and damping effects. Two methods are discussed which have been developed recently: polarized neutron reflectivity from magnetic films in an alternating magnetic field and time resolved resonant magnetic x-ray reflectivity of the free precessional dynamics in films and multilayers.

Description: Dispersion of nanoparticles in polymer nanocomposite films determines the application potential of these systems as novel materials with unique physical properties. Grafting polymers to, mostly inorganic, nanoparticles has been suggested as an effective strategy to enhance dispersion and hence the efficacy of materials. In this review, we discuss the various parameters which control dispersion of polymer grafted nanoparticles in polymer nanocomposite films. We discuss how surface x-ray scattering and microscopy can provide complementary and unique information in thin polymer nanocomposite films to unravel the subtle interplay of entropic and surface interactions, mediated by confinement, that leads to enhanced dispersion of the nanoparticles in these films.

Description: Ni-aluminides are an important class of intermetallics from technological point of view. Ni-Al phase diagram has been studied in detail experimentally as well as theoretically. It is known that if annealed at low temperature, the first alloy phase is usually NiAl 3 according to Bené's rule. It is also understood that heat of formation may get modified by local densities of the constituents forming the alloy. In this regard, it is important to identify a kinetic length scale for defining “ local density ” in a system. We have deposited ultrathin multilayers of Ni and Al of layer thickness in tens of nanometres with Ni:Al stoichiometric ratio as 3:1 and 1:3, respectively. Considering these stoichiometry, Ni 3 Al and NiAl 3 are the thermodynamically favoured alloy phases in these samples. We used x-ray reflectivity, polarized neutron reflectivity, x-ray diffraction, and secondary ion mass spectroscopy to follow the alloy formation after annealing and identified the alloy phases at interfaces with nanometre resolution. Diffusion length of Ni and Al was obtained using Darken's law. Our results predict that ‘ diffusion length ’ is the unique length scale that connects kinetics to local density. In another interesting observation, using “ virtual Kirkendall markers ” at the interfaces, we showed asymmetry in consumption of Al for alloy formation, at Al on Ni (Al/Ni) and Ni on Al (Ni/Al) interfaces by comparing as-deposited and annealed states with respect to the markers.

Description: Oxidation of the phase-change material germanium telluride (GeTe) is an atomic-scale process of fundamental importance, as it is detrimental to the stability of GeTe-based data-storage devices. Here, we present comprehensive density-functional theory simulations of molecular and atomic oxygen in contact with GeTe(111) surfaces. Molecular O 2 is predicted to readily adsorb on the Ge-terminated (111) surface; the pristine Te-terminated counterpart, by contrast, appears quite inert. The coverage-dependent adsorption of O atoms is then investigated, and based on these data, a surface phase diagram for GeTe(111)/O is constructed. These results afford a detailed, atom-resolved picture of the initial surface oxidation of GeTe, and they harmonize well with a previous X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy study on this very topic.

Description: Charge trapping dynamics induced by exposition to γ-ray ( 60 Co) radiation and bias switching in MOS capacitors with atomic layer deposited Al 2 O 3 as insulating layer was studied. Electrical characterization prior to irradiation showed voltage instabilities due to electron tunneling between the substrate and preexisting defects inside the dielectric layer. Real-time capacitance-voltage (C-V) measurements during irradiation showed two distinct regimes: For short times, the response is strongly bias dependent and linear with log(t), consistent with electron trapping/detrapping; for long times, the voltage shift is dominated by the radiation-induced hole capture being always negative and linear with dose. A simple model that takes into account these two phenomena can successfully reproduce the observed results.

Description: YPO 4 :Yb 3+ , Er 3+ near infrared luminescent materials have been prepared with a co-precipitation method. It is found that Ce 3+ , Li + ions co-doped into the Y 0.59 Yb 0.4 Er 0.01 PO 4 can result in the 1530 nm emission a 20 times of enhancement as compared with the Y 0.58 Yb 0.4 Er 0.01 Ce 0.01 PO 4 counterpart, meaning it a promising phosphor of wide application prospects. The mechanism of the near infrared emission enhancement is ascribed to the high efficiency energy transfer from Er 3+ to Ce 3+ and the modification of the crystal field around Er 3+ and Yb 3+ ions caused by the doped Li + ions.

Description: A unified model for the direct gap absorption coefficient (band-edge and sub-bandgap) is developed that encompasses the functional forms of the Urbach, Thomas-Fermi, screened Thomas-Fermi, and Franz-Keldysh models of sub-bandgap absorption as specific cases. We combine this model of absorption with an occupation-corrected non-equilibrium Planck law for the spontaneous emission of photons to yield a model of photoluminescence (PL) with broad applicability to band-band photoluminescence from intrinsic, heavily doped, and strongly compensated semiconductors. The utility of the model is that it is amenable to full-spectrum fitting of absolute intensity PL data and yields: (1) the quasi-Fermi level splitting, (2) the local lattice temperature, (3) the direct bandgap, (4) the functional form of the sub-bandgap absorption, and (5) the energy broadening parameter (Urbach energy, magnitude of potential fluctuations, etc.). The accuracy of the model is demonstrated by fitting the room temperature PL spectrum of GaAs. It is then applied to Cu(In,Ga)(S,Se) 2 (CIGSSe) and Cu 2 ZnSn(S,Se) 4 (CZTSSe) to reveal the nature of their tail states. For GaAs, the model fit is excellent, and fitted parameters match literature values for the bandgap (1.42 eV), functional form of the sub-bandgap states (purely Urbach in nature), and energy broadening parameter (Urbach energy of 9.4 meV). For CIGSSe and CZTSSe, the model fits yield quasi-Fermi leveling splittings that match well with the open circuit voltages measured on devices made from the same materials and bandgaps that match well with those extracted from EQE measurements on the devices. The power of the exponential decay of the absorption coefficient into the bandgap is found to be in the range of 1.2 to 1.6, suggesting that tunneling in the presence of local electrostatic potential fluctuations is a dominant factor contributing to the sub-bandgap absorption by either purely electrostatic (screened Thomas-Fermi) or a photon-assisted tunneling mechanism (Franz-Keldysh). A Gaussian distribution of bandgaps (local E g fluctuation) is found to be inconsistent with the data. The sub-bandgap absorption of the CZTSSe absorber is found to be larger than that for CIGSSe for materials that yield roughly equivalent photovoltaic devices (8% efficient). Further, it is shown that fitting only portions of the PL spectrum (e.g., low energy for energy broadening parameter and high energy for quasi-Fermi level splitting) may lead to significant errors for materials with substantial sub-bandgap absorption and emission.

Description: This work examines the coupling effect in concentric double split-ring-resonator devices in terahertz (THz) range when the inner ring changes its relative orientation to the outer ring. Through detailed analysis on the simulation results of surface current and electrical field distributions, we look into the changes of inductance and capacitance in the system caused by structural layouts, and present a set of coherent theory that is solely rooted in the inductance-capacitance circuit analogy to systematically account for the resonance change. Such coupling effect combined with polarization of the incident wave is further explored to demonstrate continuous modulation of THz resonances. A variation range of transmission intensity from 20% to 80% has been successfully achieved. These experimental results demonstrate the promise of realizing future tunable THz filters by means of rotating sub-structures of the device only.

Description: This work addresses the frequent discrepancy between transient photoconductive (PC) decay and transient photoluminescence (PL) decay. With this dual- sensor technique, one measures the transient PC and PL decay simultaneously with the same incident light pulse, removing injection-level uncertainty. Photoconductive decay measures the transient photoconductivity, Δσ(t). PCD senses carriers released from shallow traps as well as the photo-generated electron-hole pairs. In addition, variations in carrier mobility with injection level (and time) contribute to the decay time. PL decay senses only electron-hole recombination via photon emission. Theory and experiment will show that the time dependence of the two techniques can be quite different at high injection.

Description: Electric field-induced polarization rotation, phase changes, and piezoelectric effect of strained PbTiO 3 films have been investigated using a phenomenological approach. Low-symmetry monoclinic and triclinic structures have been induced, and the type of intermediate phases during polarization rotation is closely related to both the initial state at zero electric field and anisotropy of the in-plane strain. The monoclinic M C and triclinic structures in general may exhibit high shear piezoelectric coefficient d 35 and sometimes also remarkable enhancement of longitudinal piezoelectric coefficient d 33 around the transition point. High piezoelectric activity and low critical field have been found in epitaxial PbTiO 3 with equal but opposite in-plane strain where monoclinic M C is the only intermediate phase on the polarization path. The present results suggest that anisotropy of epitaxial strain may have significant impact on polarization rotation behavior and electromechanical coupling of ferroelectric thin films.

Description: A poled lead titanate zirconate rectangular parallelepiped is subjected to electric field pulses with gradually increasing magnitude at room and high temperatures. From measured electric displacement and strain responses, permittivity and piezoelectric coefficients are estimated and plotted with respect to remnant polarization. Equations for piezoelectric coefficients are proposed as functions of relative remnant polarization and temperature. The so-called reference remnant polarization and strains are calculated from measured remnant polarization and strains. Reference remnant strains are plotted with respect to reference remnant polarization, and their evolutions during polarization reversal are analyzed and compared.

Description: To more accurately describe the noncontact transport behavior of traveling acoustic waves, a nonlinear model is presented in this paper for the squeeze gas film with consideration of gas inertia in the case of a large amplitude motion and low viscosity of the gas. A closed form solution is derived for the vertical and horizontal forces of the film from this model. Our results have shown that the gas inertia has a significant influence on the pressure distribution in the squeeze film, and the inertial force is higher than the viscous force. The predicted levitation and horizontal driving forces are found to be in good agreement with our experimental measurements. Our inertia model provides a powerful tool for the force estimation and its potential benefits could be far reaching. The accurate prediction of these forces is useful to design the system for levitating and transporting planar objects, such as MEMS devices, glass substrates, and IC chips

Description: In this contribution, based on the detailed understanding of the processes at the target during reactive high power impulse magnetron sputtering (HiPIMS), we demonstrate the deposition of both low- and high-index films and their implementation in optical interference filters with enhanced performance. We first investigate strategies for stabilizing the arc-free HiPIMS discharges above Si and Ta targets in the presence of oxygen. We show that hysteresis can be suppressed for these two target materials by suitable pulse-management strategies, ensuring good process stability without having to rely on any feedback control. Afterwards, we discuss the room temperature deposition of optically transparent SiO 2 and Ta 2 O 5 single layers as well as the fabrication of SiO 2 /Ta 2 O 5 stacks such as 7 layer Bragg reflectors and 11 layer Fabry-Perot interference filters. We also analyze the optical and mechanical characteristics of these various coatings and compare them with their counterparts obtained by radio-frequency magnetron sputtering (RFMS). Among other findings, we observe that the coatings prepared by HiPIMS present higher refractive index and lower surface roughness values, suggesting a denser microstructure. In addition, the HiPIMS-deposited optical filters exhibit a better optical performance than their counterparts fabricated by RFMS, but it is especially with respect to the mechanical properties such as scratch resistance and low residual stress, that the coatings prepared by HiPIMS present the most dramatic improvements (up to 42% and 72% enhancement, respectively). Finally, we show that the stress values obtained for the HiPIMS-deposited SiO 2 and Ta 2 O 5 coatings are lower than for other deposition techniques commonly used in the fabrication of optical interference filters.

Description: The optoelectronic and piezoelectric properties of AlN:Er thin films have been of great recent interest for potential device applications. In this work, the focus is on the electronic state of Er in AlN:Er thin films prepared by reactive magnetron sputtering on (001) p-type Si substrate. X-ray diffraction shows that Er doping expands the lattice and the AlN:Er film has preferential c-plane orientation. To determine whether Er in AlN:Er is present as Er metal, Er 2 O 3 , or Er 3+ substituting for Al 3+ , detailed measurements and analysis of the temperature dependence (2 K–300 K) of the magnetization M at a fixed magnetic field H along with the M vs. H data at 2 K up to H = 90 kOe are presented. The presence of Er 2 O 3 and Er metal is ruled out since their characteristic magnetic transitions are not observed in the AlN:Er sample. Instead, the observed M vs. T and M vs. H variations are consistent with Er present as Er 3+ substituting for Al 3+ in AlN:Er at a concentration x = 1.08% in agreement with x = 0.94% ± 0.20% determined using x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). The larger size of Er 3+ vs. Al 3+ explains the observed lattice expansion of AlN:Er.

Description: The antiperovskite intermetallic compounds AgN 1− x C x Mn 3 (0 ≤  x  ≤ 0.15) have been synthesized. As x increases, the temperature coefficient of resistivity (TCR) above room temperature decreases monotonically and finally changes the sign from positive to negative above x  = 0.1. Meanwhile, the temperature range is gradually broadened. For x  = 0.07, TCR is ∼3.1 ppm/K between 280 K and 375 K. Both the resistivity and its slope are insensitive to the external magnetic field, indicating an insignificant contribution from magnetic scattering or short-range magnetic ordering to the observed low-TCR. As manifested by the Hall effect, the charge carrier density in the paramagnetic state for x  = 0.15 is reduced by an order of magnitude in comparison with that for x  = 0. The reduction of carrier density and the enhancive disorders when x increases was proposed to be responsible for the decrease in TCR and its sign switch.

Description: We have characterized the surface plasmon resonance (SPR) in silver nanowires using spatially resolved electron energy loss spectroscopy (EELS) in the scanning transmission electron microscope. Non-symmetric EELS spectra due to high-k SPR propagation along the nanowire and spectral shifts due to higher-order mode excitation are observed when the beam is positioned near the tip of the nanowire. When the beam is far from the tip region and on the side of nanowire, no spectral shifts are observed as the beam is scanned in the radial direction of the nanowire. The experimental spectra are compared with three different theoretical approaches: direct numerical calculation of the energy loss, analytical models for energy loss, and numerical simulations using an optical model. All three models reproduce the spectral shifts as the electron beam approaches the cap of the nanowire. The analytical model reveals the origin of the shifts in high-order plasmon mode excitation.

Description: A two degrees-of-freedom (DOF) ultrasonic micromotor made of piezoelectric Pb(In 1/2 Nb 1/2 )O 3 -Pb(Mg 1/3 Nb 2/3 )O 3 -PbTiO 3 (PIN-PMN-PT) single crystal square-bar (dimensions 2 × 2 × 9 mm 3 ) was developed. The PIN-PMN-PT square-bar stator can generate standing wave elliptical motions in two orthogonal vertical planes by combining the first longitudinal and second bending vibration modes, enabling it to drive a slider in two orthogonal directions. The relatively large driving forces of 0.25 N and motion speed of 35 mm/s were obtained under a voltage of 80 V pp at its resonance frequency of 87.5 kHz. The proposed micromotor has potential for applications in micro robots, cell manipulators, and digital cameras as a two-DOF actuator.

Description: We studied the adsorption behavior of the gas octafluoropropane at the water/gas interface as a function of different pressures. In a custom-made measurement cell, the gas pressure was varied in a range between 1 bar and close to the condensation pressure of octafluoropropane. The electron density profiles of the adsorption layers show that the layer thickness increases with pressure. The evolution of the layer electron density indicates that the bulk electron density is reached if a layer consisting of more than one monolayer of octafluoropropane is adsorbed on the water surface.

Description: The effect of atomic layer deposition (ALD) growth temperature on the interfacial characteristics of p-GaAs MOS capacitors with ALD HfO 2 high-k dielectric using tetrakis(ethylmethyl)amino halfnium precursor is investigated in this study. Using the combination of capacitance-voltage (C-V) and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) measurements, ALD growth temperature is found to play a large role in controlling the reaction between interfacial oxides and precursor and ultimately determining the interface properties. The reduction of surface oxides is observed to be insignificant for ALD at 200 °C, while markedly pronounced for growth at 300 °C. The corresponding C-V characteristics are also shown to be ALD temperature dependent and match well with the XPS results. Thus, proper ALD process is crucial in optimizing the interface quality.

Description: Efficient single-layer organic light-emitting diodes (OLEDs) were reported based on a green fluorescent dye 10-(2-benzothiazolyl)-2,3,6,7-tetrahydro-1,1,7,7–tetramethyl-1H,5H,11H-(1) benzopyropyrano (6,7-8-I,j)quinolizin-11-one (C545T). Herein, poly(3,4-ethylenedioxy thiophene) poly(styrene sulfonate) were, respectively, applied as the injection layer for comparison. The hole transport properties of the emission layer with different hole injection materials are well investigated via current-voltage measurement. It was clearly found that the hole injection layers (HILs) play an important role in the adjustment of the electron/hole injection to attain transport balance of charge carriers in the single emission layer of OLEDs with electron-transporting host. The layer of tris-(8-hydroxyquinoline) aluminum played a dual role of host and electron-transporting materials within the emission layer. Therefore, appropriate selection of hole injection layer is a key factor to achieve high efficiency OLEDs with single emission layer.

Description: Nanocrystalline Fe-X-N thin films (with doping X = 0, 3.1 at. % Al, 1.6 at. % Zr), were deposited using reactive ion beam sputtering. Magnetization study reveals that the deposited films exhibit a perpendicular magnetic anisotropy. Thermal stability of the films was investigated systematically and it was observed that the structural and the magnetic stability gets significantly enhanced with Al doping, whereas Zr doping has only a marginal effect. Fe self-diffusion, obtained using polarized neutron reflectivity, shows a suppression with both additives. A correlation between the thermal stability and the diffusion process gives a direct evidence that the enhancement in the thermal stability is primarily diffusion controlled. A combined picture of diffusion, structural, and magnetic stability has been drawn to understand the obtained results.

Description: X-ray studies of the interface between liquid metals and their coexisting vapor are reviewed. After a brief discussion of the few elemental liquid metals for which the surface Debye-Waller effect is sufficiently weak to allow measurement, this paper will go on to discuss the various types of surface phenomena that have been observed for liquid metal alloys. These include surface adsorption, surface freezing, surface aggregation of nm size atomic clusters, and surface chemistry that leads to new 3D crystalline phases.

Description: CuCrO 2 -based heterojunction diodes with rectifying characteristics have been fabricated by combining p -type Mg-doped CuCrO 2 and n -type Al-doped ZnO. It was found that the current for the heterojunction in low bias voltage region is dominated by the trap-assisted tunneling mechanism. Positive magnetoresistance (MR) effect for the heterojunction can be observed at room temperature due to the tunneling-induced antiparallel spin polarization near the heterostructure interface. The MR effect becomes enhanced with the magnetic field, and shows the maximum at a bias voltage around 0.5 V. The phenomena indicate that the CuCrO 2 -based heterojunction is a promising candidate for low-power semiconductor spintronic devices.

Description: Here, we present x-ray resonant magnetic dichroism and x-ray resonant magnetic scattering measurements of the temperature dependence of magnetism in Pr-doped La-Ca-Mn-O films grown on (110) NdGaO 3 substrates. We observed thermal hysteresis of the ferromagnetism in one film that also showed large thermal hysteresis of ∼18 K in transport measurements. While in a second film of a different nominal chemistry, which showed very small thermal hysteresis ∼3 K in transport measurements, no thermal hysteresis of the ferromagnetism was observed. These macroscopic properties are correlated with evolution of surface magnetization across metal insulator transition for these films as observed by soft x-ray resonant magnetic scattering measurements.

Description: The skyrmionic state is an exciting realm of study and the skyrmions are being explored as the promising candidates of information carriers. In most systems, the skyrmions originate from the Dzyaloshinsky–Moriya interaction (DMI). However, in this work, it is demonstrated that in the triple-layer CoPt/Co/CoPt structure, the skyrmion-like state can be formed not only in the CoPt layers but also in the middle Co layer, without DMI. In this new structure, the skyrmion-like state in Co layer can exist in a large CoPt thickness range with thick Co. It can be very stable even against the external field from −500 to 200 mT along Z axis. The skyrmion number ( S ) in Co ( S Co ) can be as large as 0.9. These advanced properties make it high application potential for the future information-processing and storage devices.

Description: The strong enhancement, by several orders of magnitude, of the excitonic peak within the photoconductivity spectrum of TlGaSe 2 semiconductor was observed. The samples were polarized in external dc electric field, which was applied prior to the measurements. Due to the accumulation of charges near the surface, an internal electric field was formed. Electron-hole pairs that were created after the absorption of light are fallen in and then separated by the built-in electric field, which prevents radiative recombination process.

Description: Synaptic Long-Term Potentiation (LTP), which is a long-lasting enhancement in signal transmission between neurons, is widely considered as the major cellular mechanism during learning and memorization. In this work, a NiO x -based memristor is found to be able to emulate the synaptic LTP. Electrical conductance of the memristor is increased by electrical pulse stimulation and then spontaneously decays towards its initial state, which resembles the synaptic LTP. The lasting time of the LTP in the memristor can be estimated with the relaxation equation, which well describes the conductance decay behavior. The LTP effect of the memristor has a dependence on the stimulation parameters, including pulse height, width, interval, and number of pulses. An artificial network consisting of three neurons and two synapses is constructed to demonstrate the associative learning and LTP behavior in extinction of association in Pavlov's dog experiment.

Description: Lanthanum calcium manganites (La 0.5 Ca 0.5 MnO 3 ) with a composition close to charge ordering, synthesized by high energy ball milling, was found to exhibit colossal thermoelectric power. Thermoelectric power (TEP) data was systematically analyzed by dividing the entire temperature range (5 K–300 K) into three different regimes to explore different scattering mechanisms involved. Mandal's model has been applied to explain TEP data in the region below the Curie temperature (T C ). It has been found that the variation of thermoelectric power with temperature is pronounced when the system enters the charge ordered region at T 

Description: The aim of this study was to clarify the initiation process and the propagation mechanism of positive underwater streamers under the application of pulsed voltage with a duration of 10  μ s, focusing on two different theories of electrical discharges in liquids: the bubble theory and the direct ionization theory. The initiation process, which is the time lag from the beginning of voltage application to streamer inception, was found to be related to the bubble theory. In this process, Joule heating resulted in the formation of a bubble cluster at the tip of a needle electrode. Streamer inception was observed from the tip of a protrusion on the surface of this bubble cluster, which acted as a virtual sharp electrode to enhance the local electric field to a level greater than 10 MV/cm. Streak imaging of secondary streamer propagation showed that luminescence preceded gas channel generation, suggesting a mechanism of direct ionization in water. Streak imaging of primary streamer propagation revealed intermittent propagation, synchronized with repetitive pulsed currents. Shadowgraph imaging of streamers synchronized with the light emission signal indicated the possibility of direct ionization in water for primary streamer propagation as well as for secondary streamer propagation.

Description: Grain texturing is a known method of exploiting the intrinsic dielectric and piezoelectric anisotropy in ferroelectric ceramics. However, the role of crystallographic texture on anisotropic extrinsic contributions including domain wall motion is not yet understood. Here, we investigate the dielectric and piezoelectric properties and small signal dielectric nonlinearities in K 0.5 Na 0.5 NbO 3 ceramics in different directions of textured specimens and compare to ceramics without crystallographic texture. We demonstrate that directions in which pseudo-cubic 〈100〉 poles have greatest orientation density exhibit both an enhanced longitudinal piezoelectric response and lower dielectric nonlinearity.

Description: We performed pseudopotential based density functional theory (DFT) calculations for GaSb/InAs type II superlattices (T2SLs), with bandgap errors from the local density approximation mitigated by applying an empirical method to correct the bulk bandgaps. Specifically, this work (1) compared the calculated bandgaps with experimental data and non-self-consistent atomistic methods; (2) calculated the T2SL band structures with varying structural parameters; (3) investigated the interfacial effects associated with the no-common-atom heterostructure; and (4) studied the strain effect due to lattice mismatch between the two components. This work demonstrates the feasibility of applying the DFT method to more exotic heterostructures and defect problems related to this material system.

Description: Magnetic properties and magnetocaloric effect (MCE) of intermetallic HoNiSi compound have been investigated systematically. It is found that HoNiSi exhibits antiferromagnetic (AFM) state below the Néel temperature T N of 3.8 K, which is quite close to the liquid helium temperature (4 K). A giant MCE without hysteresis loss is observed in HoNiSi, which is related to the field-induced first-order metamagnetic transition from AFM to ferromagnetic states. For a magnetic field change of 2 T, the maximum values of magnetic entropy change (−Δ S M ) and adiabatic temperature change (Δ T ad ) are 17.5 J/kg K and 4.5 K, respectively. In addition, HoNiSi presents both large values of positive and negative Δ S M for the low field changes, i.e., the maximum −Δ S M values are 9.2 J/kg K around T N and −7.2 J/kg K below T N for the field changes of 1 and 0.5 T, respectively. A universal curve of Δ S M is successfully constructed by using phenomenological procedure, proving the applicability of universal Δ S M curve for AFM materials. The giant reversible MCE for relatively low magnetic field change makes HoNiSi attractive candidate for magnetic refrigerant materials around liquid helium temperature.

Description: The room temperature carrier mobility in atomically thin 2D materials is usually far below the intrinsic limit imposed by phonon scattering as a result of scattering by remote charged impurities in its environment. We simulate the charged impurity-limited carrier mobility μ in bare and encapsulated monolayer phosphorene. We find a significant temperature dependence in the carrier mobilities ( μ ∝ T − γ ) that results from the temperature variability of the charge screening and varies with the crystal orientation. The anisotropy in the effective mass leads to an anisotropic carrier mobility, with the mobility in the armchair direction about one order of magnitude larger than in the zigzag direction. In particular, this mobility anisotropy is enhanced at low temperatures and high carrier densities. Under encapsulation with a high- κ overlayer, the mobility increases by up to an order of magnitude although its temperature dependence and its anisotropy are reduced.

Description: High mobility thin film transistors (TFTs) with a high conductivity amorphous InGaZnO (a-IGZO) active layer were successfully fabricated. The operation of the high-carrier-IGZO thin film transistor with a Schottky barrier (SB) was proposed and clearly experimentally explained. The switching characteristic of SB-TFT does not rely on the accumulation process but due to the Schottky barrier height control. Leakage current can be reduced by Schottky contact at the source/drain (S/D), while it was as high as the on current so that the switch properties could not achieve in ohmic ones. The a-IGZO SB-TFTs with Ag S/D contact express the high performance with μ FE of 20.4 cm 2  V −1  s −1 , V th of 5.8 V, and I ON /I OFF of 2 × 10 7 @ VD = 1V. The introduction of operating mechanism for TFTs using high conductivity a-IGZO promises an expansion study for other active layer materials.

Description: We present a detailed magnetic and magnetotransport investigation of spinel zinc ferrite Zn x Fe 3−x O 4−y (0.1 ≤ x ≤ 0.6) thin films grown by pulsed laser deposition on various substrates. The films are ranging from polycrystalline to (001)- or (111)-oriented. It is shown associating magnetic and resistivity measurements to x-ray and ion beam scattering analyses that the magnetic and electrical properties are tightly linked to the chemical composition and crystallinity/microstructure of the films, as they result from the choice of substrate and growth conditions. The use of oxidizing conditions (O 2 pressure ≈ 10 −4 –10 −2 mbar) is highly detrimental to the crystalline quality and thus to the ferromagnetism. On the contrary, a partial O 2 pressure of 3 × 10 −7 mbar combined to a growth temperature of 500 °C allows obtaining Zn x Fe 3−x O 4−y films displaying very good ferromagnetic features. The SiO 2 /Si substrates, promoting (111) growth without interfacial effects, lead to better film properties than Al 2 O 3 (0001), MgO(001), or SrTiO 3 (001) substrates: higher Curie temperatures and higher magnetization values (≈490 kAm −1 ) at room temperature. Above a Verwey-type critical temperature, a thermally activated spin polarized charge transport is observed, while in the low temperature range, the resistivity is well described by the variable range hopping model. However, the negative magnetoresistance response at low field remains modest and a monotonous decrease with increasing magnetic field is observed. We show that a steeper low field magnetoresistance decrease may be obtained in polycrystalline stoichiometric layers formed by a specific two-step growth process, which significantly reduces the density of grain/antiphase boundaries.

Description: To clarify the origin of the major donor states in indium gallium zinc oxide (IGZO), we report measurement results and an analysis of several physical properties of IGZO thin films. Specifically, the concentration of H atoms and O vacancies (V O ), carrier concentration, and conductivity are investigated by hard X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, secondary ion mass spectroscopy, thermal desorption spectroscopy, and Hall effect measurements. The results of these experiments suggest that the origin of major donor states is H occupancy of V O sites. Furthermore, we use first-principles calculations to investigate the influence of the coexistence of V O and H in crystalline InGaO 3 (ZnO) m ( m  = 1). The results indicate that when H is trapped in V O , a stable complex is created that serves as a shallow-level donor.

Description: Integration of epitaxial complex ferroelectric oxides such as BaTiO 3 on semiconductor substrates depends on the ability to finely control their structure and properties, which are strongly correlated. The epitaxial growth of thin BaTiO 3 films with high interfacial quality still remains scarcely investigated on semiconductors; a systematic investigation of processing conditions is missing although they determine the cationic composition, the oxygen content, and the microstructure, which, in turn, play a major role on the ferroelectric properties. We report here the study of various relevant deposition parameters in molecular beam epitaxy for the growth of epitaxial tetragonal BaTiO 3 thin films on silicon substrates. The films were grown using a 4 nm-thick epitaxial SrTiO 3 buffer layer. We show that the tetragonality of the BaTiO 3 films, the crystalline domain orientations, and SiO 2 interfacial layer regrowth strongly depend on the oxygen partial pressure and temperature during the growth and on the post-deposition anneal. The ferroelectricity of the films, probed using piezoresponse force microscopy, is obtained in controlled temperature and oxygen pressure conditions with a polarization perpendicular to the surface.

Description: Brillouin light scattering was applied for the investigation of surface waves propagation in phononic materials made of a silicon substrate loaded with a permalloy layer and a modulated nanostructure of aluminum stripes. The results revealed the impact of one-dimensional modulation of the surface phononic crystal on the propagation of surface acoustic waves along the modulated aluminum stripes. The dispersion relation was experimentally and theoretically investigated. The new modes propagating in the investigated structure are localized in the stripes and are defined.

Description: Rare earth free alloys are in focus of permanent magnet research since the accessibility of the elements needed for nowadays conventional magnets is limited. Tetragonally strained iron-cobalt (Fe-Co) has attracted large interest as promising candidate due to theoretical calculations. In experiments, however, the applied strain quickly relaxes with increasing film thickness and hampers stabilization of a strong magnetocrystalline anisotropy. In our study, we show that already 2 at. % of carbon substantially reduces the lattice relaxation leading to the formation of a spontaneously strained phase with 3% tetragonal distortion. In these strained (Fe 0.4 Co 0.6 ) 0.98 C 0.02 films, a magnetocrystalline anisotropy above 0.4 MJ/m 3 is observed while the large polarization of 2.1 T is maintained. Compared to binary Fe-Co, this is a remarkable improvement of the intrinsic magnetic properties. In this paper, we relate our experimental work to theoretical studies of strained Fe-Co-C and find a very good agreement.

Description: A traveling wave applicator particularly suitable for heating low loss materials is described. The applicator consists of a dielectric Cantor multilayer inserted in a single-mode rectangular metallic waveguide. Field localization phenomenon occurring in the multilayer allows high field amplitude (several times the amplitude of the incident field) to be obtained in a load placed at the center of the applicator. Design examples and numerical characterization of an applicator in WR-284 waveguide operating at 2.45 GHz are presented for cylindrical and planar loads. Results show that the proposed applicator can significantly enhance the effectiveness of the heating process.

Description: Phononic crystals (PC) can be used to control the dispersion properties of acoustic waves, which are essential to direct their propagation. We use a PC-based two-dimensional solid/solid composite to demonstrate experimentally and theoretically the spatial filtering of a monochromatic non-directional wave source and its emission in a surrounding water medium as an ultra-directional beam with narrow angular distribution. The phenomenon relies on square-shaped equifrequency contours (EFC) enabling self-collimation of acoustic waves within the phononic crystal. Additionally, the angular width of collimated beams is controlled via the EFC size-shrinking when increasing frequency.

Description: Structural and optical qualities of half-a- μ m-thick m -plane Al 1− x In x N epilayers grown by metalorganic vapor phase epitaxy were remarkably improved via coherent growth on a low defect density m -plane freestanding GaN substrate prepared by hydride vapor phase epitaxy. All the epilayers unexceptionally suffer from uniaxial or biaxial anisotropic in-plane stress. However, full-width at half-maximum values of the x-ray ω -rocking curves were nearly unchanged as the underlayer values being 80 ∼ 150 arc sec for ( 10 1 ¯ 0 ) and ( 10 1 ¯ 2 ) diffractions with both ⟨ 0001 ⟩ and ⟨ 11 2 ¯ 0 ⟩ azimuths, as long as pseudomorphic structure was maintained. Such Al 1− x In x N epilayers commonly exhibited a broad but predominant luminescence peak in ultraviolet ( x  ≤ 0.14) to green ( x  = 0.30) wavelengths. Its equivalent value of the internal quantum efficiency at room temperature was as high as 67% for x  = 0.14 and 44% for x  = 0.30. Because its high-energy cutoff commonly converged with the bandgap energy, the emission peak is assigned to originate from the extended near-band-edge states with strong carrier localization.

Description: The dynamic properties of vertically coupled vortices in two magnetic nanodisks were studied using numerical simulations and analytical calculations. If the core polarizations of the two vortices are parallel, there exist two distinct normal modes with two distinct eigenfrequencies corresponding to the apparent complex motions of two vortices. Conversely, only a degenerate mode with a single eigenfrequency exists when the cores have opposite polarization. We show that the gyration eigenfrequencies can be tuned by changing the coupling strength, i.e., the separation between the disks. The dependence of the normal modes and the eigenfrequencies on the relative vortex-state configuration can be well understood based on the analytic model.

Description: Nanomechanical transistor (NMT) has evolved from the single electron transistor, a device that operates by shuttling electrons with a self-excited central conductor. The unfavoured aspects of the NMT are the complexity of the fabrication process and its signal processing unit, which could potentially be overcome by designing much larger devices. This paper reports a new design of large scale electromechanical transistor (LSEMT), still taking advantage of the principle of shuttling electrons. However, because of the large size, nonlinear electrostatic forces induced by the transistor itself are not sufficient to drive the mechanical member into vibration—an external force has to be used. In this paper, a LSEMT device is modelled, and its new application in mass sensing is postulated using two coupled mechanical cantilevers, with one of them being embedded in the transistor. The sensor is capable of detecting added mass using the eigenstate shifts method by reading the change of electrical current from the transistor, which has much higher sensitivity than conventional eigenfrequency shift approach used in classical cantilever based mass sensors. Numerical simulations are conducted to investigate the performance of the mass sensor.

Description: The stable positions, binding energies, and dynamic properties of Li impurity in the presence of a 90° partial dislocation in Si have been studied by using the multi-scale simulation method. The corresponding results are compared with the defect-free Si crystal in order to reflect how the dislocation defect affects the performances of Li-ion batteries (LIBs) at the atomic level. It is found that the inserted Li atom in the dislocation core and nearest regions is more stable, since the binding energies are 0.13 eV to 0.52 eV larger than the bulk Si. Moreover, it is easier for Li atom to diffuse into those defect areas and harder to diffuse out. Thus, Li dopant may tend to congregate in the dislocation core and nearest regions. On the other side, the 90° partial dislocation can glide in the {111} plane accompanied by the diffusion of Li impurity along the pentagon ring of core. In addition, the spacious heptagon ring of dislocation core can lower the migration barrier of Li atom from 0.63 eV to 0.34 eV, which will enhance the motion of the dopant. Therefore, the presence of 90° partial dislocations may provide a fast and favorable diffusion path for the congregated Li impurity, which finally facilitates the lithiation of LIBs.

Description: A qualitative analysis on capacitance-voltage and conductance data for high-κ/InAs capacitors is presented. Our measured data were evaluated with a full equivalent circuit model, including both majority and minority carriers, as well as interface and border traps, formulated for narrow band gap metal-oxide-semiconductor capacitors. By careful determination of interface trap densities, distribution of border traps across the oxide thickness, and taking into account the bulk semiconductor response, it is shown that the trap response has a strong effect on the measured capacitances. Due to the narrow bandgap of InAs, there can be a large surface concentration of electrons and holes even in depletion, so a full charge treatment is necessary.

Description: The mechanical properties of a super-lattice architecture composed of nanocrystalline Mg and Mg-Al amorphous alloy are investigated using molecular dynamics simulation. The results indicate that deformation mechanism of nanocrystalline Mg is obviously affected by the amorphous boundary spacing and temperature. The strength of the material increases with the decrease of amorphous boundary spacing, presenting a Hall-Petch effect at both 10 K and 300 K. A stress platform and following stiffness softening, as well as a linear strengthening in the plastic stage, are observed when the amorphous boundary spacing below 8.792 nm at 10 K. The implying reason may be that the amorphous boundary acts as the dislocations emission and absorption source. However, the second stress peak is not observed for the models at 300 K. Instead, the flow stress in plastic stage is a nearly constant value. The simulation demonstrates the emergence of the new grain, accompanied by the deformation twins and stacking faults associated with the plastic behaviors at 300 K. The general conclusions derived from this work may provide a guideline for the design of high-performance hexagonal close-packed metals.