The 100 most-cited articles in Journal of Applied Physics, 2017

Hall thrusters are very efficient and competitive electric propulsion devices for satellites and are currently in use in a number of telecommunications and government spacecraft. Their power spans from 100 W to 20 kW, with thrust between a few mN and 1 N and specific impulse values between 1000 and 3000 s. The basic idea of Hall thrusters consists in generating a large local electric field in a plasma by using a transverse magnetic field to reduce the electron conductivity. This electric field can extract positive ions from the plasma and accelerate them to high velocity without extracting grids, providing the thrust. These principles are simple in appearance but the physics of Hall thrusters is very intricate and non-linear because of the complex electron transport across the magnetic field and its coupling with the electric field and the neutral atom density. This paper describes the basic physics of Hall thrusters and gives a (non-exhaustive) summary of the research efforts that have been devoted to the modelling and understanding of these devices in the last 20 years. Although…

High Power Impulse Magnetron Sputtering (HiPIMS) is a coating technology that combines magnetron sputtering with pulsed power concepts. By applying power in pulses of high amplitude and a relatively low duty cycle, large fractions of sputtered atoms and near-target gases are ionized. In contrast to conventional magnetron sputtering, HiPIMS is characterized by self-sputtering or repeated gas recycling for high and low sputter yield materials, respectively, and both for most intermediate materials. The dense plasma in front of the target has the dual function of sustaining the discharge and providing plasma-assistance to film growth, affecting the microstructure of growing films. Many technologically interesting thin films are compound films, which are composed of one or more metals and a reactive gas, most often oxygen or nitrogen. When reactive gas is added, non-trivial consequences arise for the system because the target may become “poisoned,” i.e., a compound layer forms on the target surface affecting the sputtering yield and the yield of secondary electron emission and thereby…

The field of terahertz science and technology has been an active and thriving research area for several decades. However, the field has recently experienced an inflection point, as several exciting breakthroughs have enabled new opportunities for both fundamental and applied research. These events are reshaping the field, and will impact research directions for years to come. In this Perspective article, I discuss a few important examples: the development of methods to access nonlinear optical effects in the terahertz range; methods to probe nanoscale phenomena; and, the growing likelihood that terahertz technologies will be a critical player in future wireless networks. Here, a few examples of research in each of these areas are discussed, followed by some speculation about where these exciting breakthroughs may lead in the near future.

Low temperature plasmas have been used in various plasma processing applications for several decades. But it is only in the last thirty years or so that sources generating such plasmas at atmospheric pressure in reliable and stable ways have become more prevalent. First, in the late 1980s, the dielectric barrier discharge was used to generate relatively large volume diffuse plasmas at atmospheric pressure. Then, in the early 2000s, plasma jets that can launch cold plasma plumes in ambient air were developed. Extensive experimental and modeling work was carried out on both methods and much of the physics governing such sources was elucidated. Starting in the mid-1990s, low temperature plasma discharges have been used as sources of chemically reactive species that can be transported to interact with biological media, cells, and tissues and induce impactful biological effects. However, many of the biochemical pathways whereby plasma affects cells remain not well understood. This situation is changing rather quickly because the field, known today as “plasma medicine,” has experienced…

Electrical characterizations of Nb2O5 doped 0.65BiFeO3–0.35BaTiO3 (0.65BF–0.35BT) ceramic were carried out over broad temperature and frequency ranges through dielectric spectroscopy, impedance spectroscopy, and ac conductivity measurements. The dielectric constant and loss tangent are drastically reduced with introducing Nb2O5 into the 0.65BF–0.35BT system. Two dielectric anomalies are detected in the temperature regions of 100 °C ≤ T ≤ 280 °C and 350 °C ≤ T ≤ 480 °C, and the Curie temperature (TC) was confirmed in higher temperature region. A dielectric relaxation with large dielectric constants was detected near the TC. This dielectric relaxation becomes even stronger with the gradual increase in the Nb2O5 content. Impedance spectroscopy results clearly show the contributions of grains and grain boundaries in the frequency range of 100 Hz ≤ f ≤ 1 MHz, and the relaxation processes for grains and grain boundaries are non-Debye-type. The grain boundaries are more resistive than that of the grains, revealing the inhomogeneity in samples. The experimental results are well fitted based…

An efficient two dimensional T-A formulation based approach is proposed to calculate the electromagnetic characteristics of tape stacks and coils made of second generation high temperature superconductors. In the approach, a thin strip approximation of the superconductor is used in which the superconducting layer is modeled as a 1-dimensional domain. The formulation is mainly based on the calculation of the current vector potential T in the superconductor layer and the calculation of the magnetic vector potential A in the whole space, which are coupled together in the model. Compared with previous T-based models, the proposed model is innovative in terms of magnetic vector potential A solving, which is achieved by using the differential method, instead of the integral method. To validate the T-A formulation model, it is used to simulate racetrack coils made of second generation high temperature superconducting (2G HTS) tape, and the results are compared with the experimentally obtained data on the AC loss. The results show that the T-A formulation is accurate and efficient in…

We investigate the relationship between the Rabi frequency (ΩRF, related to the applied electric field) and Autler-Townes (AT) splitting, when performing atom-based radio-frequency (RF) electric (E) field strength measurements using Rydberg states and electromagnetically induced transparency (EIT) in an atomic vapor. The AT splitting satisfies, under certain conditions, a well-defined linear relationship with the applied RF field amplitude. The EIT/AT-based E-field measurement approach derived from these principles is currently being investigated by several groups around the world as a means to develop a new SI-traceable RF E-field measurement technique. We establish conditions under which the measured AT-splitting is an approximately linear function of the RF electric field. A quantitative description of systematic deviations from the linear relationship is key to exploiting EIT/AT-based atomic-vapor spectroscopy for SI-traceable field measurement. We show that the linear relationship is valid and can be used to determine the E-field strength, with minimal error, as long as the EIT…

CdTe devices have reached efficiencies of 22% due to continuing improvements in bulk material properties, including minority carrier lifetime. Device modeling has helped to guide these device improvements by quantifying the impacts of material properties and different device designs on device performance. One of the barriers to truly predictive device modeling is the interdependence of these material properties. For example, interfaces become more critical as bulk properties, particularly, hole density and carrier lifetime, increase. We present device-modeling analyses that describe the effects of recombination at the interfaces and grain boundaries as lifetime and doping of the CdTe layer change. The doping and lifetime should be priorities for maximizing open-circuit voltage (Voc) and efficiency improvements. However, interface and grain boundary recombination become bottlenecks for device performance at increased lifetime and doping levels. This work quantifies and discusses these emerging challenges for next-generation CdTe device efficiency.

Lead-free (1−x)(0.8Bi0.5Na0.5TiO3-0.2SrTiO3)-xNaNbO3 (x = 0–0.1, abbreviated as BNT-ST-xNN) ceramics were fabricated by a conventional sintering route with pure perovskite phase via XRD analysis. Raman spectrum was exploited in order to give an insight into the variation of local structural evolution. All compositions exhibited an obvious evolution of dielectric relaxation behaviors. Dielectric and ferroelectric properties clarified that a crossover from nonergodic to ergodic relaxor properties was obtained with the addition of NN content. A relatively large energy storage density was obtained WRec ∼ 0.74 J/cm3 at 7 kV/mm for x = 0.05 at room temperature. Particularly, the energy storage properties exhibited temperature (25–160 °C) and frequency stability (0.1–20 Hz) with WRec around 0.6 J/cm3 at 6 kV/mm for x = 0.05 within the ergodic region. Pulsed discharging current waveforms were measured under different electric fields to detect the energy storage density and discharging speed behavior. An illustration of the charge-discharge process for the nonergodic and ergodic relaxor was…

We report on the thin film resistivity of several platinum-group metals (Ru, Pd, Ir, and Pt). Platinum-group thin films show comparable or lower resistivities than Cu for film thicknesses below about 5 nm due to a weaker thickness dependence of the resistivity. Based on experimentally determined mean linear distances between grain boundaries as well as ab initio calculations of the electron mean free path, the data for Ru, Ir, and Cu were modeled within the semiclassical Mayadas–Shatzkes model [Phys. Rev. B 1, 1382 (1970)] to assess the combined contributions of surface and grain boundary scattering to the resistivity. For Ru, the modeling results indicated that surface scattering was strongly dependent on the surrounding material with nearly specular scattering at interfaces with SiO2 or air but with diffuse scattering at interfaces with TaN. The dependence of the thin film resistivity on the mean free path is also discussed within the Mayadas–Shatzkes model in consideration of the experimental findings.

The dopant-induced ferroelectric HfO2 formation has been systematically investigated by using cation (Sc, Y, Nb, Al, Si, Ge, and Zr) and anion (N) dopants. Both differences and similarities are discussed among various dopants by focusing on two major factors, the oxygen vacancy (Vo) and the dopant ionic size. First, the doping concentration dependence of the remanent polarization in 27 (±2) nm HfO2 films is quantitatively estimated. Then, by comparing the polarization result with the structural transformation in doped HfO2, the pathway of the dopant-induced HfO2 phase transition is discussed among monoclinic, ferroelectric orthorhombic, tetragonal, and cubic phases. Finally, it is addressed that a dopant species independent phase transition route may exist in HfO2 owing to the same kinetic transition process, in which the ferroelectric phase seems to be at an intermediate state between tetragonal and monoclinic phases.

A broadband microwave cross-polarization-conversion (CPC) metasurface is designed, simulated, fabricated, and tested. The metasurface consists of coupled split-ring-resonators (SRRs) with two splits in each SRR and is designed on an FR4 dielectric substrate backed by a metallic ground plane. An efficient CPC, both for normal as well as for oblique incidence, is achieved with 3 dB fractional bandwidth of 73% from 5 to 10.8 GHz. This wideband polarization conversion results from multiple plasmonic resonances occurring at three neighboring frequencies. Owing to the sub-wavelength unit cell size and symmetric structure of the coupled SRRs, the response of the metasurface is independent of the polarization and incidence angle of the incoming wave, which makes it a potential candidate for many practical applications. The proposed design is validated both numerically and experimentally. Experimental results are found to be in good agreement with simulations.

The effects of many process variables and alloy properties on the structure and properties of additively manufactured parts are examined using four dimensionless numbers. The structure and properties of components made from 316 Stainless steel, Ti-6Al-4V, and Inconel 718 powders for various dimensionless heat inputs, Peclet numbers, Marangoni numbers, and Fourier numbers are studied. Temperature fields, cooling rates, solidification parameters, lack of fusion defects, and thermal strains are examined using a well-tested three-dimensional transient heat transfer and fluid flow model. The results show that lack of fusion defects in the fabricated parts can be minimized by strengthening interlayer bonding using high values of dimensionless heat input. The formation of harmful intermetallics such as laves phases in Inconel 718 can be suppressed using low heat input that results in a small molten pool, a steep temperature gradient, and a fast cooling rate. Improved interlayer bonding can be achieved at high Marangoni numbers, which results in vigorous circulation of liquid metal, larger…

The Acoustic Black Hole (ABH) effect can be used to effectively reduce structural vibrations by trapping flexural waves in a thin-walled structure with a power-law thickness variation. In the present study, we used a wavelet-decomposed energy method to investigate an Euler-Bernoulli beam embedded with multiple ABHs. Broadband transmission attenuation bands at relatively low frequencies are observed in a beam containing only a few ABH elements. To explain the underlying phenomena, an infinite structure with periodic ABH elements is analyzed. Numerical results show that the periodic boundary conditions in terms of displacement and rotational slope of a unit cell, based on the finite model, are sufficient to describe the band structures, without requiring full treatment of the entire infinite structure. This provides an efficient and flexible means to predict, and eventually optimize, the band structure based on a single element. Meanwhile, the ABH-induced locally resonant band gaps coincide with the attenuation bands observed in the finite beams. Because of the unique ABH feature, the…

We investigate the high-field transport in monoclinic β-Ga2O3 using a combination of ab initio calculations and full band Monte Carlo (FBMC) simulation. Scattering rate calculation and the final state selection in the FBMC simulation use complete wave-vector (both electron and phonon) and crystal direction dependent electron phonon interaction (EPI) elements. We propose and implement a semi-coarse version of the Wannier-Fourier interpolation method [Giustino et al., Phys. Rev. B 76, 165108 (2007)] for short-range non-polar optical phonon (EPI) elements in order to ease the computational requirement in FBMC simulation. During the interpolation of the EPI, the inverse Fourier sum over the real-space electronic grids is done on a coarse mesh while the unitary rotations are done on a fine mesh. This paper reports the high field transport in monoclinic β-Ga2O3 with deep insight into the contribution of electron-phonon interactions and velocity-field characteristics for electric fields ranging up to 450 kV/cm in different crystal directions. A peak velocity of 2 × 107 cm/s is estimated at…

In this paper, an optically transparent metamaterial with broadband absorption is presented theoretically and demonstrated experimentally. The design comprises of structures made of resistive films of indium-tin-oxide and the metamaterial exhibits over 10 dB absorption in the frequency range of 6.06–14.66 GHz. The novelty of the structure lies in its large absorption bandwidth along with a reduced thickness and optical transparency compared to broadband absorbers reported earlier. Besides, the proposed design is polarization-insensitive and gives rise to angular independent absorption for both transverse electric and transverse magnetic polarizations. The absorption mechanism in the structure has been studied by deriving an equivalent circuit model as well as analyzing several design parameters. Finally, a prototype of the proposed structure has been fabricated and measured, which shows good agreement with the simulated results.

The growth of high quality epitaxial beta-gallium oxide (β-Ga2O3) using a compound source by molecular beam epitaxy has been demonstrated on c-plane sapphire (Al2O3) substrates. The compound source provides oxidized gallium molecules in addition to oxygen when heated from an iridium crucible in a high temperature effusion cell enabling a lower heat of formation for the growth of Ga2O3, resulting in a more efficient growth process. This source also enabled the growth of crystalline β-Ga2O3 without the need for additional oxygen. The influence of the substrate temperatures on the crystal structure and quality, chemical bonding, surface morphology, and optical properties has been systematically evaluated by x-ray diffraction, scanning transmission electron microscopy, x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, atomic force microscopy, spectroscopic ellipsometry, and UV-vis spectroscopy. Under optimized growth conditions, all films exhibited pure 2¯01 oriented β-Ga2O3 thin films with six-fold rotational symmetry when grown on a sapphire substrate. The thin films demonstrated significant…

Temperature dependent diffuse reflectance spectroscopy measurements were carried out on polycrystalline samples of BaTiO3 across the tetragonal to cubic structural phase transition temperature (TP). The values of various optical parameters such as band gap (Eg), Urbach energy (Eu), and Urbach focus (E0) were estimated in the temperature range of 300 K to 480 K. It was observed that with increasing temperature, Eg decreases and shows a sharp anomaly at TP. First principle studies were employed in order to understand the observed change in Eg due to the structural phase transition. Near TP, there exist two values of E0, suggesting the presence of electronic heterogeneity. Further, near TP, Eu shows metastability, i.e., the value of Eu at temperature T is not constant but is a function of time (t). Interestingly, it is observed that the ratio of Eu (t=0)/Eu (t = tm), almost remains constant at 300 K (pure tetragonal phase) and at 450 K (pure cubic phase), whereas this ratio decreases close to the transition temperature, which confirms the presence of electronic metastability in the…

Enhancing the piezoelectric activity of AlN by partially substituting Al with Sc to form Al1–xScxN is a promising approach to improve the performance of piezoelectric micro-electromechanical systems. Here, we present evidence of an instability in the morphology of Al1–xScxN, which originates at, or close to, the substrate/Al1–xScxN interface and becomes more pronounced as the Sc content is increased. Based on Transmission electron microscopy, piezoresponse force microscopy, X-ray diffraction, and SEM analysis, it is identified to be the incipient formation of (100) oriented grains. Approaches to successfully reestablish exclusive c-axis orientation up to x = 0.43 are revealed, with electrode pre-treatment and cathode-substrate distance found to exert significant influence. This allows us to present first measurements of the transversal thin film piezoelectric coefficient e31,f and dielectric loss tangent tan δ beyond x = 0.3.

A variety of organic-inorganic hybrid perovskites (APbX3) consisting of mixed center cations [A = CH3NH3+, HC(NH2)2+, and Cs+] with different PbX3− cages (X = I, Br, and Cl) have been developed to realize high-efficiency solar cells. Nevertheless, clear understanding of the effects of A and X on the optical transition has been lacking. Here, we present universal rules that allow the unified interpretation of the optical absorption in various hybrid perovskites. In particular, we find that the influence of the A-site cation on the light absorption is rather significant and the absorption coefficient (α) reduces to half when CH3NH3+ is replaced with HC(NH2)2+ in the APbI3 system. Our density functional theory calculations reproduce all of the fine absorption features observed in HC(NH2)2PbI3 and CH3NH3PbBr3, allowing the unique assignment of the interband transitions in the Brillouin zone. In contrast to general understanding that the A-site cation involves weakly in the optical process, our theoretical calculations reveal that the center cation plays a critical role in the interband…

We have experimentally observed self-trapped holes (STHs) in a β-Ga2O3 crystal using electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR). These STHs are an intrinsic defect in this wide-band-gap semiconductor and may serve as a significant deterrent to producing usable p-type material. In our study, an as-grown undoped n-type β-Ga2O3 crystal was initially irradiated near room temperature with high-energy neutrons. This produced gallium vacancies (acceptors) and lowered the Fermi level. The STHs (i.e., small polarons) were then formed during a subsequent irradiation at 77 K with x rays. Warming the crystal above 90 K destroyed the STHs. This low thermal stability is a strong indicator that the STH is the correct assignment for these new defects. The S = 1/2 EPR spectrum from the STHs is easily observed near 30 K. A holelike angular dependence of the g matrix (the principal values are 2.0026, 2.0072, and 2.0461) suggests that the defect's unpaired spin is localized on one oxygen ion in a nonbonding p orbital aligned near the a direction in the crystal. The EPR spectrum also has resolved hyperfine…

Polyimide (PI) films with extremely high breakdown strength (451 kV/mm), energy density (5.2 J/cm3), and discharge efficiency (86.7%) at the room temperature are fabricated by simple solution casting method. Barium titanate (BaTiO3) nanoparticles are introduced into PI matrix, giving rise to enhanced dielectric permittivity (6.8) and low dielectric loss (0.012). Dielectric and energy storage performances of the BTO/PI nanocomposites are thoroughly investigated up to 200 °C. The breakdown strengths of both pure PI and BTO/PI nanocomposites decrease dramatically with the increase in the temperature, owing to the low thermal conductivity of PI and the consequent thermal runaway caused by the accumulation of Joule heat under high electric field. Despite of the enhanced electric displacement, BTO/PI nanocomposites exhibit low discharge energy density due to the substantially compromised breakdown strength induced by the BTO nanoparticles.

Periodic structures are effective in attenuating waves in low frequency range at local resonance (LR) conditions, but it is still a challenge to achieve this in very low frequency range. The main original contribution of this paper is to further lower the band gaps of flexural wave propagation in LR beams by developing a new resonator with high-static-low-dynamic stiffness (HSLDS). The proposed resonator is designed by combining a vertical spring with two oblique springs that provide negative stiffness in the vertical direction, and thus the stiffness of the vertical spring can be counteracted effectively by the negative-stiffness (NS) mechanisms. The band structures of HSLDS-LR beams, obtained by the transfer matrix method and verified by numerical simulations, demonstrate that band gaps can be shifted to much lower frequency than that of conventional LR beams. Most importantly, the band gaps can be assigned to desired locations by adjusting only the stiffness of the oblique springs. For wave attenuation in HSLDS-LR beams with a finite length, a sufficient number of unit cells are…

Although recent advances have made it possible to manipulate electromagnetic and acoustic wavefronts with sub-wavelength metasurface slabs, the design of elastodynamic counterparts remains challenging. We introduce a novel but simple design approach to control SV-waves in elastic solids. The proposed metasurface can be fabricated by cutting an array of aligned parallel cracks in a solid such that the materials between the cracks act as plate-like waveguides in the background medium. The plate array is capable of modulating the phase change of SV-wave while keeping the phase of P-wave unchanged. An analytical model for SV-wave incidence is established to calculate the transmission coefficient and the transmitted phase through the plate-like waveguide explicitly. A complete 2π range of phase delay is achieved by selecting different thicknesses for the plates. An elastic metasurface for splitting SV- and P-waves is designed and demonstrated using full wave finite element simulations. Two metasurfaces for focusing plane and cylindrical SV-waves are also presented.

We investigate the electrical and optical properties of oxygen vacancies (VO), zinc vacancies (VZn), hydrogenated VZn, and isolated dangling bonds in ZnO using hybrid functional calculations. While the formation energy of VO is high in n-type ZnO, indicating that this center is unlikely to form, our results for optical absorption signals associated with VO are consistent with those observed in irradiated samples, and give rise to emission with a peak at less than 1 eV. Under realistic growth conditions, we find that VZn is the lowest-energy native defect in n-type ZnO, acting as an acceptor that is likely to compensate donor doping. Turning to optical transitions, we first examine NO as a case study, since N-related transitions have been identified in experiments on ZnO. We also examine how hydrogen, often unintentionally present in ZnO, forms stable complexes with VZn and modifies its optical properties. Compared with isolated VZn, VZn-H complexes have charge-state transition levels lower in the band gap as well as have lower formation energies. These complexes also lead to…

Despite extensive experimental and theoretical studies, the atomistic mechanisms responsible for dielectric breakdown (BD) in amorphous (a)-SiO2 are still poorly understood. A number of qualitative physical models and mathematical formulations have been proposed over the years to explain experimentally observable statistical trends. However, these models do not provide clear insight into the physical origins of the BD process. Here, we investigate the physical mechanisms responsible for dielectric breakdown in a-SiO2 using a multi-scale approach where the energetic parameters derived from a microscopic mechanism are used to predict the macroscopic degradation parameters of BD, i.e., time-dependent dielectric breakdown (TDDB) statistics, and its voltage dependence. Using this modeling framework, we demonstrate that trapping of two electrons at intrinsic structural precursors in a-SiO2 is responsible for a significant reduction of the activation energy for Si-O bond breaking. This results in a lower barrier for the formation of O vacancies and allows us to explain quantitatively the…

We report a systematic study of high quality GaAs growths on on-axis (001) GaP/Si substrates using molecular beam epitaxy. Various types of dislocation filter layers and growth temperatures of initial GaAs layer were investigated to reduce the threading dislocation densities in GaAs on GaP/Si. Electron channeling contrast imaging techniques revealed that an optimized GaAs buffer layer with thermal cycle annealing and InGaAs/GaAs dislocation filter layers has a threading dislocation density of 7.2 × 106 cm−2, which is a factor of 40 lower than an unoptimized GaAs buffer. The root-mean-square surface roughness was greatly decreased from 7.8 nm to 2.9 nm after the optimization process. A strong enhancement in photoluminescence intensity indicates that the optimized GaAs template grown on on-axis (001) GaP/Si substrates is a promising virtual substrate for Si-based optoelectronic devices.

Motivated by the development of ultracompact electronic devices as miniaturized energy autonomous systems, great research efforts have been expended in recent years to develop various types of nano-structural energy storage components. The electrostatic capacitors characterized by high power density are competitive; however, their implementation in practical devices is limited by the low intrinsic energy storage density (ESD) of linear dielectrics like Al2O3. In this work, a detailed experimental investigation of energy storage properties is presented for 10 nm thick silicon-doped hafnium oxide anti-ferroelectric thin films. Owing to high field induced polarization and slim double hysteresis, an extremely large ESD value of 61.2 J/cm3 is achieved at 4.5 MV/cm with a high efficiency of ∼65%. In addition, the ESD and the efficiency exhibit robust thermal stability in 210–400 K temperature range and an excellent endurance up to 109 times of charge/discharge cycling at a very high electric field of 4.0 MV/cm. The superior energy storage performance together with mature technology of…

This paper proposes the creation of strain powered antennas that radiate electromagnetic energy by mechanically vibrating a piezoelectric or piezomagnetic material. A closed form analytic model of electromagnetic radiation from a strain powered electrically small antenna is derived and analyzed. Fundamental scaling laws and the frequency dependence of strain powered antennas are discussed. The radiation efficiency of strain powered electrically small antennas is contrasted with a conventional electric dipole. Analytical results show that operating at the first mechanical resonance produces the most efficient strain powered radiation relative to electric dipole antennas. A resonant analysis is exploited to determine the material property space that produces efficient strain powered antennas. These results show how a properly designed strain powered antenna can radiate more efficiently than an equally sized electric dipole antenna.

The crystal structures and electrical properties of lead-free BiFeO3-BaTiO3 [(1-x)BFxBT] piezoelectric system are investigated as a function of BaTiO3 concentration. The well-saturated P-E hysteresis loop was observed in the 0.80BiFeO3–0.20BaTiO3 composition system, while a less hysteretic strain-electric field curve was exhibited by the 0.70BiFeO3–0.30BaTiO3 with a strain hysteresis of 16%, the value comparable to PZT-based piezoelectric ceramics. The crystal structures investigated under the synchrotron radiation X-ray diffraction exhibited a rhombohedral structure for BFBT system with x = 0.10–0.25 and a pseudo-cubic structure for BFBT system with x = 0.30–0.40. The structural phase diagram for the BiFeO3-BaTiO3 system is suggested based on the results of temperature-dependent synchrotron radiation X-ray diffraction measurement and investigated electrical properties.

The inorganic lead halide perovskite CsPbBr3 promises similar solar cell efficiency to its hybrid organic-inorganic counterpart CH3NH3PbBr3 but shows greater stability. Here, we exploit this stability for the study of band alignment between perovskites and carrier selective interlayers. Using ultraviolet, X-ray, and inverse photoemission spectroscopies, we measure the ionization energy and electron affinities of CsPbBr3 and the hole transport polymer polytriarylamine (PTAA). We find that undoped PTAA introduces a barrier to hole extraction of 0.2–0.5 eV, due to band bending in the PTAA and/or a dipole at the interface. p-doping the PTAA eliminates this barrier, raising PTAA's highest occupied molecular orbital to 0.2 eV above the CsPbBr3 valence band maximum and improving hole transport. However, IPES reveals the presence of states below the PTAA lowest unoccupied molecular level. If present at the CsPbBr3/PTAA interface, these states may limit the polymer's efficacy at blocking electrons in solar cells with wide band gap materials like CsPbBr3 and CH3NH3PbBr3.

In this work, a metasurface acting as a linear polarization rotator, that can efficiently convert linearly polarized electromagnetic waves to cross polarized waves within an ultra wide frequency band and with a broad incident angle, is proposed. Based on the electric and magnetic resonant features of the unit cell, composed by a double-head arrow, a cut-wire, and two short V-shaped wire structures, three resonances, which lead to the bandwidth expansion of cross-polarization reflections, are generated. The simulation results show that an average polarization conversion ratio of 90% from 17.3 GHz to 42.2 GHz can be achieved. Furthermore, the designed metasurface exhibits polarization insensitivity within a broad incident angle, from 0° to 50°. The experiments conducted on the fabricated metasurface are in good agreement with the simulations. The proposed metasurface can find potential applications in reflector antennas, imaging systems, and remote sensors operating at microwave frequencies.

We review the conventional measuring standard for dc Hall measurements in van der Pauw configuration with particular focus on the challenges arising from a small Hall signal compared to sizable offset voltages, which is a typical scenario for many material systems, particularly low-mobility thin films. We show that the conventional approach of using a simple field-reversal technique is often unsuited to obtain reliable results, and present an improved correction scheme to extend the accessible measurement range to mobility values well below 1 cm2/(V s). We discuss procedures to limit the impact of temperature fluctuations and long stabilization times for highly resistive materials. We further address potential sources of error due to the presence of grain boundaries in polycrystalline specimen and due to multi-carrier conduction, both of which might yield low apparent Hall mobilities significantly underestimating the actual mobility.

The thermal conductivity of undoped, Sn-doped, and Fe-doped β-Ga2O3 bulk crystals was measured by the 3ω technique in the temperature range of 295–410 K. A unique approach for extracting the thermal conductivity along the lateral and transverse heat flow directions was used in order to determine the thermal conductivity along different crystallographic directions. The data analysis at room temperature confirmed the expected anisotropy of the thermal conductivity of β-Ga2O3, revealing the highest value of ∼29 W/m K in the [010] direction. The thermal conductivity of the Sn-doped and Fe-doped β-Ga2O3 samples was found to be lower than that of the undoped samples due to the enhanced phonon-impurity scattering contribution, which reduces the thermal conductivity. This tendency was maintained for the thermal conductivity at elevated temperatures. The thermal conductivity in all samples decreased with increasing temperature, but the slope of the temperature dependence was found to depend on both the doping and the crystallographic orientation.

We report on the highest responsivity for III-nitride Metal Semiconductor Metal solar-blind photodetectors on sapphire. Devices on unintentionally doped AlGaN epilayers grown by Metal Organic Chemical Vapor Deposition exhibited sharp absorption cut-off in the range of 245–290 nm. Very high responsivity >5 A/W at 10 V bias was achieved with visible rejection exceeding three orders of magnitude for front illumination. Compared to the responsivity values reported in the literature for state-of-the-art solar-blind photodetectors, this work presents the highest values of responsivity at a given bias and up to sub-250 nm detection threshold. The high responsivity is attributed to an internal gain mechanism operating on these devices. The reverse-bias leakage current across these samples was found to be dominated by thermionic field emission at low biases and Poole-Frenkel emission from a deep trap level (0.7 eV from the conduction band-edge for Al0.50Ga0.50 N) at high biases.

Two-dimensional (2D) materials may have potential applications in thermoelectric devices. In this work, the thermoelectric properties of orthorhombic group IV–VI monolayers AB (A = Ge and Sn; B = S and Se) are systematically investigated by the first-principles calculations and semiclassical Boltzmann transport theory. The spin-orbit coupling (SOC) is considered for their electron part, which produces observable effects on the power factor, especially for n-type doping. According to the calculated ZT, the four monolayers exhibit diverse anisotropic thermoelectric properties although they have a similar hinge-like crystal structure. The GeS along zigzag and armchair directions shows the strongest anisotropy, while SnS and SnSe show mostly isotropic efficiency of thermoelectric conversion. This can be explained by the strength of anisotropy of their respective power factor and electronic and lattice thermal conductivities. The calculated results show that the ZT between n- and p-type doping has little difference for GeS, SnS, and SnSe. It is found that GeSe, SnS, and SnSe show better…

A model of cathode spots in high-current vacuum arcs is developed with account of all the potentially relevant mechanisms: the bombardment of the cathode surface by ions coming from a pre-existing plasma cloud; vaporization of the cathode material in the spot, its ionization, and the interaction of the produced plasma with the cathode; the Joule heat generation in the cathode body; melting of the cathode material and motion of the melt under the effect of the plasma pressure and the Lorentz force and related phenomena. After the spot has been ignited by the action of the cloud (which takes a few nanoseconds), the metal in the spot is melted and accelerated toward the periphery of the spot, with the main driving force being the pressure due to incident ions. Electron emission cooling and convective heat transfer are dominant mechanisms of cooling in the spot, limiting the maximum temperature of the cathode to approximately 4700–4800 K. A crater is formed on the cathode surface in this way. After the plasma cloud has been extinguished, a liquid-metal jet is formed and a droplet is…

Various forms of carbon based complexes in GaN are studied with first-principles calculations employing Heyd-Scuseria-Ernzerhof hybrid functionals within the framework of the density functional theory. We consider carbon complexes made of the combinations of single impurities, i.e., CN−CGa, CI−CN, and CI−CGa, where CN, CGa, and CI denote C substituting nitrogen, C substituting gallium, and interstitial C, respectively, and of neighboring gallium/nitrogen vacancies (VGa/VN), i.e., CN−VGa and CGa−VN. Formation energies are computed for all these configurations with different charge states after full geometry optimizations. From our calculated formation energies, thermodynamic transition levels are evaluated, which are related to the thermal activation energies observed in experimental techniques such as deep level transient spectroscopy. Furthermore, the lattice relaxation energies (Franck-Condon shift) are computed to obtain optical activation energies, which are observed in experimental techniques such as deep level optical spectroscopy. We compare our calculated values of…

We emphasized on a detailed investigation of the structural, optical, and magnetic properties of pure and Ni-doped SnO2 nanoparticles (NPs) synthesized by a sol-gel process. An extensive structural study has been carried out using various characterization techniques. The X-ray Diffraction (XRD) spectra show the formation of the single phase tetragonal structure of pure and Ni-doped SnO2 NPs without any noticeable impurity phase such as NiO. XRD results indicate that the crystallite size of SnO2 is found to be decreased with Ni doping, which has also been confirmed by the Field Emission Scanning Electron Microscopy study. X-ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy (XPS) measurements displayed a clear sign for Ni2+ ions occupying the lattice sites of Sn4+ in the SnO2 host which also gives clear evidence for the formation of single phase Sn1-xNixO2 NPs. The optical analysis shows a significant decrease in the energy gap of SnO2, i.e., (from 3.71 eV to 3.28 eV) as Ni concentration increases which may be correlated with the core level valence band XPS analysis. Photoluminescence studies show that…

To reduce the level of thermally generated electrical noise transmitted to superconducting quantum devices operating at 20 mK, we have developed thin-film microwave power attenuators operating from 1 to 10 GHz. The 20 and 30 dB attenuators are built on a quartz substrate and use 75 nm thick films of nichrome for dissipative components and 1 μm thick silver films as hot electron heat sinks. The noise temperature of the attenuators was quantified by connecting the output to a 3D cavity containing a transmon qubit and extracting the dephasing rate of the qubit as a function of temperature and dissipated power Pd in the attenuator. The minimum noise temperature Tn of the output from the 20 dB attenuator was Tn≤53 mK for no additional applied power and Tn≈120 mK when dissipating 30 nW. In the limit of large dissipated power (Pd>1 nW), we find Tn∝Pd1/5.4, consistent with detailed thermal modeling of heat flow in the attenuators.

Today, the optimum material systems for photoconductive emitters and receivers are different. In THz reflection measurements, this leads to complicated optics or performance compromises. We present photoconductive emitters and detectors fabricated from molecular beam epitaxy (MBE) grown iron (Fe) doped InGaAs, which are well suited for a THz time-domain spectroscopy as both emitters and detectors. As a photoconductive emitter, 75 μW ± 5 μW of radiated THz power was measured. As a detector, THz pulses with a bandwidth of up to 6 THz and a peak dynamic range of 95 dB could be detected. These results are comparable to state-of-the-art THz photoconductors, which allows for simple reflection measurements without a performance decrease. The incorporation of Fe in InGaAs during MBE growth is investigated by secondary ion mass spectroscopy, Hall, and transient differential transmission measurements. Growth temperatures close to 400 °C allow for homogeneous Fe doping concentrations up to 5 × 1020 cm−3 and result in a photoconductor with an electron lifetime of 0.3 ps, a resistivity of 2 kΩ…

The extraordinary sensitivity of nonlinear ultrasonic waves to the early stages of material degradation makes them excellent candidates for nondestructive material characterization. However, distinguishing weak material nonlinearity from instrumentation nonlinearity remains problematic for second harmonic generation approaches. A solution to this problem is to mix waves having different frequencies and to let their mutual interaction generate sum and difference harmonics at frequencies far from those of the instrumentation. Mixing of bulk waves and surface waves has been researched for some time, but mixing of guided waves has not yet been investigated in depth. A unique aspect of guided waves is their dispersive nature, which means we need to assure that a wave can propagate at the sum or difference frequency. A wave vector analysis is conducted that enables selection of primary waves traveling in any direction that generate phase matched secondary waves. We have tabulated many sets of primary waves and phase matched sum and difference harmonics. An example wave mode triplet of two…

In this paper, we present new insight in the degradation and subsequent recovery of charge carrier lifetime upon light soaking at 75 °C observed in float-zone silicon wafers. Variations of doping type, dielectric passivation schemes and thermal treatments after layer deposition were performed. The degradation was only observed for p-type float-zone silicon wafers passivated with passivation schemes involving silicon nitride layers. An influence of thermal treatments after deposition was found. N-type wafers did not degrade independent of their passivation scheme. Room temperature re-passivation experiments showed the degradation to affect the wafer bulk, and photoluminescence studies demonstrated fine lateral striations of effective lifetime. We conclude that the degradation is caused by bulk defects that might be related to hydrogen complexes.

We present a theoretical study on the equilibrium state of a PN junction, which is created by two piezoelectric semiconductor half spaces doped oppositely, based on the equations of linear piezoelectricity and the conservation of charge for holes and electrons. The nonlinearity associated with the drift currents of electrons and holes, which appears as products of the unknown carrier concentrations and the unknown electric field, is linearized for small carrier concentration perturbations. An analytical solution is rigorously derived, which is able to show the shaping of the PN junction near the interface. The electromechanical fields and concentrations of electrons and holes near the interface of the PN junction, and the forward-bias current-voltage characteristics of the PN junction under different applied stresses, are calculated and discussed. The effects of a few physical parameters on the properties of the PN junction are investigated as well.

In this study, we present a method to calculate the temperature and heat flux profiles as a function of depth and radius for bulk, homogeneous materials and samples with layered thin-film structures, including geometries supporting bidirectional heat fluxes, during pulsed and continuous wave (CW) laser heating. We calculate the temperature profiles for both modulated and unmodulated heating events to reveal that the thermal penetration depth (defined as the depth at which temperature decays to 1/e of the surface temperature) for a pulsed laser is highly dependent on time and repetition rate. In the high repetition rate limit, the temperature profile relaxes to that of a CW source profile, while in the opposite extreme, a single pulse response is observed such that the concept of the thermal penetration depth loses any practical meaning. For modulated heating events such as those used in time- and frequency-domain thermoreflectance, we show that there is a limit to the thermal penetration depth obtainable in an experiment, such that simple analytical expressions commonly used to…

The integration of strongly contrasting materials can enable performance benefits for semiconductor devices. One example is composite substrates of gallium nitride (GaN) and diamond, which promise dramatically improved conduction cooling of high-power GaN transistors. Here, we examine phonon conduction in GaN-diamond composite substrates fabricated using a GaN epilayer transfer process through transmission electron microscopy, measurements using time-domain thermoreflectance, and semiclassical transport theory for phonons interacting with interfaces and defects. Thermoreflectance amplitude and ratio signals are analyzed at multiple modulation frequencies to simultaneously extract the thermal conductivity of GaN layers and the thermal boundary resistance across GaN-diamond interfaces at room temperature. Uncertainties in the measurement of these two properties are estimated considering those of parameters, including the thickness of a topmost metal transducer layer, given as an input to a multilayer thermal model, as well as those associated with simultaneously fitting the two…

We present a quantitative model that addresses the influence of incoherent twin boundaries on the electrical properties in β-Ga2O3. This model can explain the mobility collapse below a threshold electron concentration of 1 × 1018 cm−3 as well as partly the low doping efficiency in β-Ga2O3 layers grown homoepitaxially by metal-organic vapor phase epitaxy on (100) substrates of only slight off-orientation. A structural analysis by transmission electron microscopy (TEM) reveals a high density of twin lamellae in these layers. In contrast to the coherent twin boundaries parallel to the (100) plane, the lateral incoherent twin boundaries exhibit one dangling bond per unit cell that acts as an acceptor-like electron trap. Since the twin lamellae are thin, we consider the incoherent twin boundaries to be line defects with a density of 1011–1012 cm−2 as determined by TEM. We estimate the influence of the incoherent twin boundaries on the electrical transport properties by adapting Read's model of charged dislocations. Our calculations quantitatively confirm that the mobility reduction and…

We experimentally demonstrate the integration of a microfluidic trap array on top of metamaterial resonators for size selective trapping and remote sensing of microparticles. A split-ring resonator (SRR) design supports strongly confined electric field in the capacitive split gap at the fundamental inductive-capacitive resonance mode. The tightly confined electric field in the SRR gap forms a hot-spot that has become an enabling platform for sensing applications. Here, we extend the concept of metamaterial sensing to “trapping and sensing” by fabricating trapezoidal shaped structures near the split gap that enables trapping of microparticles in the split-gap region of each SRR. The proposed microfluidic metamaterial sensor enables sensing of different refractive index microparticles in terms of change in the transmitted amplitude and resonance frequency of the fundamental resonance mode operating in the terahertz spectral region. The proposed approach exploits the advantages offered by microfluidics, metamaterials, and terahertz technologies to form an ideal platform for…

Wireless power transfer (WPT) has been an active topic of research, with a number of WPT schemes implemented in the near-field (coupling) and far-field (radiation) regimes. Here, we consider a beamed WPT scheme based on a dynamically reconfigurable source aperture transferring power to receiving devices within the Fresnel region. In this context, the dynamic aperture resembles a reconfigurable lens capable of focusing power to a well-defined spot, whose dimension can be related to a point spread function. The necessary amplitude and phase distribution of the field imposed over the aperture can be determined in a holographic sense, by interfering a hypothetical point source located at the receiver location with a plane wave at the aperture location. While conventional technologies, such as phased arrays, can achieve the required control over phase and amplitude, they typically do so at a high cost; alternatively, metasurface apertures can achieve dynamic focusing with potentially lower cost. We present an initial tradeoff analysis of the Fresnel region WPT concept assuming a…

Initial oxidation of gallium nitride (GaN) (0001) epilayers and subsequent growth of thermal oxides in dry oxygen ambient were investigated by means of x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, spectroscopic ellipsometry, atomic force microscopy, and x-ray diffraction measurements. It was found that initial oxide formation tends to saturate at temperatures below 800 °C, whereas the selective growth of small oxide grains proceeds at dislocations in the epilayers, followed by noticeable grain growth, leading to a rough surface morphology at higher oxidation temperatures. This indicates that oxide growth and its morphology are crucially dependent on the defect density in the GaN epilayers. Structural characterizations also reveal that polycrystalline α- and β-phase Ga2O3 grains in an epitaxial relation with the GaN substrate are formed from the initial stage of the oxide growth. We propose a comprehensive model for GaN oxidation mediated by nitrogen removal and mass transport and discuss the model on the basis of experimental findings.

A direct and efficient method for determining the complex permittivity of materials at microwave frequencies using a Split Ring Resonator (SRR) metamaterial structure is presented. A single SRR unit fabricated on a substrate arranged between transmitting and receiving probes acts as a test probe. Dielectric samples having at least one flat surface of area greater than or equal to the area of SRR structure are used as test samples. The relative permittivity and the loss tangent of the dielectric are evaluated from the resonant frequency shift and the bandwidth of the SRR resonator, by placing the sample over it. The LC resonance of the SRR test probe is theoretically related to the permittivity by considering its equivalent circuit in terms of the dielectric filled capacitances formed on the upper and lower surfaces of the SRR. The permittivity measurements are performed using test probes of different resonant frequencies, and the results are compared with the values obtained by the cavity perturbation method.

The biological effects of ionizing radiation at the cellular level are frequently studied using the well-known formalism of microdosimetry, which provides a quantitative description of the stochastic aspects of energy deposition in irradiated media. Energy deposition can be simulated using Monte Carlo codes, some adopting a computationally efficient condensed-history approach, while others follow a more detailed track-structure approach. In this work, we present the simulation of microdosimetry spectra and related quantities (frequency-mean and dose-mean lineal energies) for incident monoenergetic electrons (50 eV–10 keV) in spheres of liquid water with dimensions comparable to the size of biological targets: base pairs (2 nm diameter), nucleosomes (10 nm), chromatin fibres (30 nm) and chromosomes (300 nm). Simulations are performed using the condensed-history low-energy physics models (“Livermore” and “Penelope”) and the track-structure Geant4-DNA physics models, available in the Geant4 Monte Carlo simulation toolkit. The spectra are compared and the influence of simulation…

Using movable emissive and floating probes, we determined the plasma and floating potentials of an ionization zone (spoke) in a direct current magnetron sputtering discharge. Measurements were recorded in a space and time resolved manner, which allowed us to make a three-dimensional representation of the plasma potential. From this information we could derive the related electric field, space charge, and the related spatial distribution of electron heating. The data reveal the existence of strong electric fields parallel and perpendicular to the target surface. The largest E-fields result from a double layer structure at the leading edge of the ionization zone. We suggest that the double layer plays a crucial role in the energization of electrons since electrons can gain several 10 eV of energy when crossing the double layer. We find sustained coupling between the potential structure, electron heating, and excitation and ionization processes as electrons drift over the magnetron target. The brightest region of an ionization zone is present right after the potential jump, where…

In this paper, a metamaterial absorber is designed, fabricated, and experimentally demonstrated to realize ultra-wideband absorption, which is composed of three layers of square resistive metasurfaces with different dimensions. Multilayer resistive metasurfaces can not only broaden the absorption bandwidth but also adjust the impedance matching based on multi-resonant modes. The total thickness of the proposed absorber is 3.8 mm, which is only 0.09λ at the lowest frequency. The bandwidth of absorptivity more than 90% is from 7.0 GHz to 37.4 GHz, and the relative absorption bandwidth is about 137%. The proposed absorber has good polarization-insensitiveness and wide incident angle stability. The measured results agree well with the theoretical design and the numerical simulations.

Surface charge decay kinetics on corona-charged polymeric insulators were studied. In the experiment, the sample surface exposed to corona was kept open to ambient air whereas the opposite surface was in contact with a grounded plate. The resulting surface potential distribution was scanned in a raster mode using a Kelvin electrostatic probe, from which the relief map of charge density was obtained by an inverse calculation method. The developed procedure allowed for implementation of two study cases: (i) gas neutralization took place under natural conditions, with enhanced concentration of free ions, and with limited gas volume; (ii) surface charge decay occurred only due to bulk neutralization. Three mechanisms were considered responsible for surface charge decay, i.e., bulk neutralization, gas neutralization, and surface conduction. They were discussed separately with the help of numerical models, which quantified the relative importance of each mechanism on the total process of charge decay. The results of the latter case were further utilized to determine the energy…

Depending on the frequency, waves can either propagate (transmission band) or be attenuated (attenuation band) while travelling through a one-dimensional spring-mass chain with internal resonators. The literature on wave propagation through a 1D mass-in-mass chain is vast and continues to proliferate because of its versatile applicability in condensed matter physics, optics, chemistry, acoustics, and mechanics. However, in all these areas, a uniformly periodic arrangement of identical linear resonating units is normally used which limits the attenuation band to a narrow frequency range. To counter this limitation of linear uniformly periodic metamaterials, the attenuation bandwidth in a one-dimensional finite chain with frequency graded linear internal resonators are investigated in this paper. The result shows that a properly tuned frequency graded arrangement of resonating units can extend the upper part of the attenuation band of 1D metamaterial theoretically up to infinity and also increases the lower part of the attenuation bandwidth by around 40% of an equivalent uniformly…

Recent studies have introduced a new class of two-dimensional acoustic metamaterials whose dispersion and propagation properties result from the use of geometric inhomogeneities in the form of Acoustic Black Holes (ABH). The ABH is an element able to smoothly bend acoustic rays and slow down elastic bending waves, therefore providing a variety of unconventional dispersion and propagation properties that are typically observed in more complex multi-material and locally resonant designs. Our approach enables full integration of acoustic lenses in thin-walled structural elements while preserving the structural character. The lenses are capable of different high-level functionalities such as focusing, collimation, and negative refraction. Numerical and experimental results show that such structures exhibit broadband operating conditions that span both the metamaterial and the phononic range.

Successful doping of single-layer transition metal dichalcogenides (TMDs) remains a formidable barrier to their incorporation into a range of technologies. We use density functional theory to study doping of molybdenum and tungsten dichalcogenides with a large fraction of the periodic table. An automated analysis of the energetics, atomic and electronic structure of thousands of calculations results in insightful trends across the periodic table and points out promising dopants to be pursued experimentally. Beyond previously studied cases, our predictions suggest promising substitutional dopants that result in p-type transport and reveal interesting physics behind the substitution of the metal site. Doping with early transition metals (TMs) leads to tensile strain and a significant reduction in the bandgap. The bandgap increases and strain is reduced as the d-states are filled into the mid TMs; these trends reverse as we move into the late TMs. Additionally, the Fermi energy increases monotonously as the d-shell is filled from the early to mid TMs and we observe few to no gap…

The resistivity of nanoscale metallic conductors is orientation dependent, even if the bulk resistivity is isotropic and electron scattering cross-sections are independent of momentum, surface orientation, and transport direction. This is demonstrated using a combination of electron transport measurements on epitaxial tungsten layers in combination with transport simulations based on the ab initio predicted electronic structure, showing that the primary reason for the anisotropic size effect is the non-spherical Fermi surface. Electron surface scattering causes the resistivity of epitaxial W(110) and W(001) layers measured at 295 and 77 K to increase as the layer thickness decreases from 320 to 4.5 nm. However, the resistivity is larger for W(001) than W(110) which, if describing the data with the classical Fuchs-Sondheimer model, yields an effective electron mean free path λ* for bulk electron-phonon scattering that is nearly a factor of two smaller for the 110 vs the 001-oriented layers, with λ(011)*= 18.8 ± 0.3 nm vs λ(001)* = 33 ± 0.4 nm at 295 K. Boltzmann transport simulations…

AlN Lamb wave resonators enjoy advanced and attractive properties for enabling the next-generation single-chip radio frequency front-end, but their moderate effective electromechanical coupling coefficient (k2eff) poses a limit to their application in filters and multiplexers. Despite the fact that the reported k2eff enhancement techniques of doped AlN thin films which are expensive and trade off the quality factor (Q), the transducer topology itself extensively impacts the k2eff value. Although an AlN cross-sectional Lame mode resonator exhibiting a k2eff of 6.34% has been demonstrated without the need for changing the piezoelectric material, a detailed study of transducer design for AlN Lamb wave resonators has not been conducted. In this work, we investigate the impact of (i) transducer configurations, (ii) electrode materials, (iii) electrode thicknesses, and (iv) interdigital transducer duty factors on the k2eff dispersive characteristics of one-port AlN Lamb wave resonators by using the finite element analysis approach. By properly designing and optimizing the transducers, the…

In this work, it is shown that image reconstruction methods from ultrasonic imaging can be employed for thermographic signals. Before using these imaging methods, a virtual signal is calculated by applying a local transformation to the temperature evolution measured on a sample surface. The introduced transformation describes all the irreversibility of the heat diffusion process and can be used for every sample shape. To date, one-dimensional methods have been primarily used in thermographic imaging. The proposed two-stage algorithm enables reconstruction in two and three dimensions. The feasibility of this approach is demonstrated through simulations and experiments. For the latter, small steel beads embedded in an epoxy resin are imaged. The resolution limit is found to be proportional to the depth of the structures and to be inversely proportional to the logarithm of the signal-to-noise ratio. Limited-view artefacts can arise if the measurement is performed on a single planar detection surface. These artifacts can be reduced by measuring the thermographic signals from multiple…

We demonstrate a high-performance coherent-population-trapping (CPT) Cs vapor cell atomic clock using the push-pull optical pumping technique in the pulsed regime, allowing the detection of high-contrast and narrow Ramsey-CPT fringes. The impact of several experimental parameters onto the clock resonance and short-term fractional frequency stability, including the laser power, the cell temperature, and the Ramsey sequence parameters, has been investigated. We observe and explain the existence of a slight dependence on laser power of the central Ramsey-CPT fringe line-width in the pulsed regime. We report also that the central fringe line-width is commonly narrower than the expected Ramsey line-width given by 1/(2TR), with TR the free-evolution time, for short values of TR. The clock demonstrates a short-term fractional frequency stability at the level of 2.3×10−13 τ−1/2 up to 100 s averaging time, mainly limited by the laser amplitude modulation noise. Comparable performances are obtained in the conventional continuous wave regime, with the use of an additional laser power…

We study order transitions and defect formation in a model high-entropy alloy (CuNiCoFe) under ion irradiation by means of molecular dynamics simulations. Using a hybrid Monte-Carlo/molecular dynamics scheme, a model alloy is generated which is thermodynamically stabilized by configurational entropy at elevated temperatures, but partly decomposes at lower temperatures by copper precipitation. Both the high-entropy and the multiphase sample are then subjected to simulated particle irradiation. The damage accumulation is analyzed and compared to an elemental Ni reference system. The results reveal that the high-entropy alloy—independent of the initial configuration—installs a certain fraction of short-range order even under particle irradiation. Moreover, the results provide evidence that defect accumulation is reduced in the high-entropy alloy. This is because the reduced mobility of point defects leads to a steady state of defect creation and annihilation. The lattice defects generated by irradiation are shown to act as sinks for Cu segregation.

Steady-state thermal transport in nanostructures with dimensions comparable to the phonon mean-free-path is examined. Both the case of contacts at different temperatures with no internal heat generation and contacts at the same temperature with internal heat generation are considered. Fourier's law results are compared to finite volume method solutions of the phonon Boltzmann equation in the gray approximation. When the boundary conditions are properly specified, results obtained using Fourier's law without modifying the bulk thermal conductivity are in essentially exact quantitative agreement with the phonon Boltzmann equation in the ballistic and diffusive limits. The errors between these two limits are examined in this paper. For the four cases examined, the error in the apparent thermal conductivity as deduced from a correct application of Fourier's law is less than 6%. We also find that the Fourier's law results presented here are nearly identical to those obtained from a widely used ballistic-diffusive approach but analytically much simpler. Although limited to steady-state…

In this work, a co-culture system with liver cancer cell line HepG2 and normal cell line L02 is used to investigate the selective effect on cancer and normal cells by plasma activated medium (PAM), which is closer to the real environment where cancer cells develop. Besides, the co-culture system is a better model to study the selective effect than the widely used separate culture systems, where the cancer cell line and normal cell line are cultured independently. By using the co-culture system, it is found that there is an optimum dose of PAM to induce significant cancer cell apoptosis while keeping minimum damage to normal cells.

As interest in the triboelectric effect increases in line with the development of tribo-electrification related devices, the mechanisms involved in this phenomenon require more systematic review from the dual perspectives of developed classical insights and emerging quantum understanding. In this paper, the clear energy changing and transferring process of electrons have been proposed from the quantum point of view as the trigger for the charging initiation process in the triboelectric effect, and the phonon modes on the friction surfaces are believed to hold great importance as one of the main driving forces. Compatible with Maxwell Displacement Current theory, the complete consideration for charging steady state, i.e., the competition mechanisms between the breakdown process and the continuously charging process, and the balance mechanisms of phonon-electron interaction, built voltage, and induced polarization, are illustrated. In brief, the proposed theory emphasizes the fundamental role of electron transferring in tribo-electrical fields. By comparing certain experimental…

Surface acoustic waves (SAW) on piezoelectric substrates can excite spin wave resonance (SWR) in magnetostrictive films through magnetoelastic coupling. This acoustically driven SWR enables the excitation of a single spin wave mode with an in-plane wave vector k matched to the magnetoelastic wave vector. A 2D frequency domain finite element model is presented that fully couples elastodynamics, micromagnetics, and piezoelectricity with interface spin pumping effects taken into account. It is used to simulate SAW driven SWR on a ferromagnetic and piezoelectric heterostructure device with an interdigital transducer configuration. These results, for the first time, present the spatial distribution of magnetization components that, together with elastic wave, exponentially decays along the propagation direction due to magnetic damping. The results also show that the system transmission rate S21(dB) can be tuned by both an external bias field and the SAW wavevector. Acoustic spin pumping at magnetic film/normal metal interface leads to damping enhancement in magnetic films that decreases…

Ferroelectric hafnium oxide is a promising candidate for logic and memory applications as it maintains excellent ferroelectric properties at nm-size ensuring compatibility with state of the art semiconductor manufacturing. Most of the published papers report on the study of this material through Metal-Insulator-Metal capacitors or Metal-Insulator-Silicon transistors. However, for 3D vertical transistors in which both the channel and gate are polysilicon, the case of silicon-based electrodes cannot be ignored. In this paper, we report the fabrication of various ferroelectric capacitors with silicon (S) based conductive layers and titanium nitride metal (M) electrodes using aluminum doped hafnium oxide (I). The ferroelectric device with silicon-based electrodes shows superior polarization and steeper switching. These results pave the way toward 3D integration for potential 3D NAND replacement.

Large area epitaxy of two-dimensional (2D) layered materials with high material quality is a crucial step in realizing novel device applications based on 2D materials. In this work, we report high-quality, crystalline, large-area gallium selenide (GaSe) films grown on bulk substrates such as c-plane sapphire and gallium nitride (GaN) using a valved cracker source for Se. (002)-Oriented GaSe with random in-plane orientation of domains was grown on sapphire and GaN substrates at a substrate temperature of 350–450 °C with complete surface coverage. Higher growth temperature (575 °C) resulted in the formation of single-crystalline ε-GaSe triangular domains with six-fold symmetry confirmed by in-situ reflection high electron energy diffraction and off-axis x-ray diffraction. A two-step growth method involving high temperature nucleation of single crystalline domains and low temperature growth to enhance coalescence was adopted to obtain continuous (002)-oriented GaSe with an epitaxial relationship with the substrate. While six-fold symmetry was maintained in the two step growth, β-GaSe…

Current knowledge and understanding of phonon transport at interfaces are wholly based on the phonon gas model (PGM). However, it is difficult to rationalize the usage of the PGM for disordered materials, such as amorphous materials. Thus, there is essentially no intuition regarding interfaces with amorphous materials. Given this gap in understanding, herein we investigated heat conduction at different crystalline and amorphous Si/Ge interfaces using the recently developed interface conductance modal analysis method, which does not rely on the PGM and can therefore treat an interface with a disordered material. The results show that contrary to arguments based on lower mean free paths in amorphous materials, the interface conductances are quite high. The results also show that the interfacial modes of vibration in the frequency region of 12–13 THz are so important that perturbing the natural vibrations with velocity rescaling heat baths (i.e., in non-equilibrium molecular dynamics simulations) affects the conductance even when the heat baths are >60 nm away from the interface. The…

Acoustic metamaterials derive their novel characteristics from the interaction between acoustic waves with designed structures. Since its inception seventeen years ago, the field has been driven by fundamental geometric and physical principles that guide the structure design rules as well as provide the basis for wave functionalities. Recent examples include resonance-based acoustic metasurfaces that offer flexible control of acoustic wave propagation such as focusing and re-direction; parity-time (PT)-symmetric acoustics that utilizes the general concept of pairing loss and gain to achieve perfect absorption at a single frequency; and topological phononics that can provide one-way edge state propagation. However, such novel functionalities are not without constraints. Metasurface elements rely on resonances to enhance their coupling to the incident wave; hence, its functionality is limited to a narrow frequency band. Topological phononics is the result of the special lattice symmetry that must be fixed at the fabrication stage. Overcoming such constraints naturally forms the basis…

Recent advances in microelectromechanical systems often require multifunctional materials, which are designed so as to optimize more than one property. Using density functional theory calculations for alloyed nitride systems, we illustrate how co-alloying a piezoelectric material (AlN) with different nitrides helps tune both its piezoelectric and mechanical properties simultaneously. Wurtzite AlN-YN alloys display increased piezoelectric response with YN concentration, accompanied by mechanical softening along the crystallographic c direction. Both effects increase the electromechanical coupling coefficients relevant for transducers and actuators. Resonator applications, however, require superior stiffness, thus leading to the need to decouple the increased piezoelectric response from the softened lattice. We show that co-alloying of AlN with YN and BN results in improved elastic properties while retaining some of the piezoelectric enhancements from YN alloying. This finding may lead to new avenues for tuning the design properties of piezoelectrics through composition-property maps.

Determination of the optical bandgap (Eg) in semiconductor nanostructures is a key issue in understanding the extent of quantum confinement effects (QCE) on electronic properties and it usually involves some analytical approximation in experimental data reduction and modeling of the light absorption processes. Here, we compare some of the analytical procedures frequently used to evaluate the optical bandgap from reflectance (R) and transmittance (T) spectra. Ge quantum wells and quantum dots embedded in SiO2 were produced by plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition, and light absorption was characterized by UV-Vis/NIR spectrophotometry. R&T elaboration to extract the absorption spectra was conducted by two approximated methods (single or double pass approximation, single pass analysis, and double pass analysis, respectively) followed by Eg evaluation through linear fit of Tauc or Cody plots. Direct fitting of R&T spectra through a Tauc-Lorentz oscillator model is used as comparison. Methods and data are discussed also in terms of the light absorption process in the presence of QCE.…

This paper is to study ramping turn-to-turn loss and magnetization loss of a no-insulation (NI) high temperature superconductor (HTS) pancake coil wound with (RE)Ba2Cu3Ox (REBCO) conductors. For insulated (INS) HTS coils, a magnetization loss occurs on superconducting layers during a ramping operation. For the NI HTS coil, additional loss is generated by the “bypassing” current on the turn-to-turn metallic contacts, which is called “turn-to-turn loss” in this study. Therefore, the NI coil's ramping loss is much different from that of the INS coil, but few studies have been reported on this aspect. To analyze the ramping losses of NI coils, a numerical method is developed by coupling an equivalent circuit network model and a H-formulation finite element method model. The former model is to calculate NI coil's current distribution and turn-to-turn loss, and the latter model is to calculate the magnetization loss. A test NI pancake coil is wound with REBCO tapes and the reliability of this model is validated by experiments. Then the characteristics of the NI coil's ramping losses are…

The mathematical dependence of bandgap-voltage offset on Auger and radiative recombination is derived. To study the recombination near the intrinsic limit, we manufacture thin silicon heterojunction test structures designed to minimize surface recombination, and to measure voltages and effective lifetimes near the Auger and radiative limit. Open-circuit voltages over 760 mV were measured on 50-μm-thick structures, leading to bandgap-voltage offsets at open-circuit down to 0.35 V. The Auger and radiative recombination represents over 90% of the recombination at open-circuit. This dominance also holds at the maximum power point, giving pseudo-fill factors of 86%. We demonstrate the potential of thin silicon devices to reach high voltages, and bandgap-voltage offsets in line with the best reported for direct bandgap materials such as gallium indium phosphide and gallium arsenide.

The ignition of the Al/CuO multilayered material is studied experimentally to explore the effects of the heating surface area, layering, and film thickness on the ignition characteristics and reaction performances. After the description of the micro-initiator devices and ignition conditions, we show that the heating surface area must be properly calibrated to optimize the nanothermite ignition performances. We demonstrated experimentally that a heating surface area of 0.25 mm2 is sufficient to ignite a multilayered thermite film of 1.6 mm wide by a few cm long, with a success rate of 100%. A new analytical and phenomenological ignition model based on atomic diffusion across layers and thermal exchange is also proposed. This model considers that CuO first decomposes into Cu2O, and then the oxygen diffuses across the Cu2O and Al2O3 layers before reaching the Al layer, where it reacts to form Al2O3. The theoretical results in terms of ignition response times confirm the experimental observation. The increase of the heating surface area leads to an increase of the ignition response time…

In this paper, we propose a general design concept for acoustic metamaterials that introduces a ubiquitous synergetic behavior into the design procedure, in which the structure of the design is driven by its functional requirements. Since the physical properties of the widely used, resonant-type metamaterials are mainly determined by the eigenmodes of the structure, we first introduce the design concept through the modal displacement distributions on two typical plate-type structures. Next, by employing broadband sound attenuations that involve both the insulation and absorption as the typical targets, two synergetic coupling behaviors are systematically revealed among the dense resonant modes and multi-cell. Furthermore, through plate-type multiple-cell structures assembled from nine oscillators, the design is shown to realize strong broadband attenuations with either the average sound transmission loss (STL) below 2000 Hz higher than 40 dB or the absorption approximately 0.99 in the range of 400–700 Hz wherein the average absorption below 800 Hz remains higher than 0.8. Finally,…

We have studied the electronic and magnetic properties of BaTiO3 (BTO)/La0.7Sr0.3MnO3(LSMO) bilayer thin films deposited by pulse laser deposition on SrTiO3 (100) substrate. X-ray diffraction and reciprocal space mappings show that the grown bilayers are single phase and epitaxial in nature. We observed by the X-ray absorption study that the relative hybridization of t2g orbitals of Ti 3d with oxygen 2p decreases with increasing Ti3+ fraction in the BTO layer. We found the anomalies in magnetization versus temperature behaviour near the structure transition of BTO, indicating coupling of the LSMO layer with the BTO structure. We also observed the pinched M-H hysteresis loop at low 5 K in this bilayer, and this pinched behaviour completely disappeared when the BTO layer is used as the bottom layer of the bilayer. It is shown that this pinched hysteresis behaviour arises because of coupling of Ti3+ which is present at the interface in the nonstoichiometric BTO top layer with the bottom LSMO layer at the interface.

SrTiO3 is a widely used substrate for the growth of other functional oxide thin films. The reactivity of the substrate with respect to the film during deposition, particularly with regard to redox reactions, has typically been glossed over. We demonstrate by depositing a variety of metals (Ti, Al, Nb, Pt, Eu, and Sr) and measuring the in situ core level spectra of both the metal and SrTiO3 that, depending on the oxide formation energy and work function of the metal, three distinct types of behavior occur in thin metal films on SrTiO3 (100). In many cases, there will be an interfacial layer of oxygen-deficient SrTiO3 formed at the interface with the overlying film. We discuss how this may affect the interpretation of the well-known two-dimensional electron gas present at the interface between SrTiO3 and various oxides.

The evolution of magnetism for graphene oxide (GO) before and after chemical reduction was investigated by means of static magnetization and electron spin resonance (ESR) spectroscopy. Strong paramagnetism with a saturation magnetization of ∼1.2 emu/g and weak antiferromagnetic interactions were identified in pristine GO. Apart from spin-half defect centers, ESR spectroscopy indicated the excitation of high spin states, consistently with the high spin (S = 2) magnetic moments derived from the magnetization analysis, corroborating the formation of spatially “isolated” magnetic clusters in GO. A marked reduction of GO's magnetization (∼0.17 emu/g) along with an appreciable rise of diamagnetism (−2.4 × 10−6 emu/g Oe) was detected after chemical reduction by sodium borohydride, reflecting the drastic removal of paramagnetic defects and the concomitant growth of sp2 domains in reduced graphene oxide (rGO). ESR revealed a large drop of the spin susceptibility for rGO, which, in addition to the main paramagnetic Curie component, showed an appreciable Pauli contribution. The latter together…

The experimental realization and theoretical understanding of a two-dimensional multiple cells lumped ultrathin lightweight plate-type acoustic metamaterials structures have been presented, wherein broadband excellent sound attenuation ability at low frequencies is realized by employing a lumped element coupling resonant effect. The basic unit cell of the metamaterials consists of an ultrathin stiff nylon plate clamped by two elastic ethylene-vinyl acetate copolymer or acrylonitrile butadiene styrene frames. The strong sound attenuation (up to nearly 99%) at low frequencies is experimentally revealed by the precisely designed metamaterials, for which the physical mechanism of the sound attenuation could be explicitly understood using the finite element simulations. As to the designed samples, the lumped effect from the frame compliance leads to a coupling flexural resonance at designable low frequencies. As a result, the whole composite structure become strongly anti-resonant with the incident sound waves, followed by a higher sound attenuation, i.e., the lumped resonant effect has…

Fabrication and optoelectronic applications of graphene based hybrid 2D-1D semiconductor nanostructures have gained tremendous research interest in recent times. Herein, we present a systematic study on the origin and evolution of strong broad band visible and near infrared (NIR) photoluminescence (PL) from vertical ZnO nanorods (NRs) and nanowires (NWs) grown on single layer graphene using both above band gap and sub-band gap optical excitations. High resolution field emission scanning electron microscopy and X-ray diffraction studies are carried out to reveal the morphology and crystalline quality of as-grown and annealed ZnO NRs/NWs on graphene. Room temperature PL studies reveal that besides the UV and visible PL bands, a new near-infrared (NIR) PL emission band appears in the range between 815 nm and 886 nm (1.40–1.52 eV). X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy studies revealed excess oxygen content and unreacted metallic Zn in the as-grown ZnO nanostructures, owing to the low temperature growth by a physical vapor deposition method. Post-growth annealing at 700 °C in the Ar gas…

This work describes a small-signal microwave method for determining the differential carrier lifetime and transport effects in electrically injected InGaN/GaN light-emitting diodes (LEDs). By considering the carrier diffusion, capture, thermionic escape, and recombination, the rate equations are used to derive an equivalent small-signal electrical circuit for the LEDs, from which expressions for the input impedance and modulation response are obtained. The expressions are simultaneously fit to the experimental data for the input impedance and modulation response for nonpolar InGaN/GaN micro-LEDs on free-standing GaN substrates. The fittings are used to extract the transport related circuit parameters and differential carrier lifetimes. The dependence of the parameters on the device diameter and current density is reported. We also derive approximations for the modulation response under low and high injection levels and show that the transport of carriers affects the modulation response of the device, especially at low injection levels. The methods presented are relevant to the…

Disordered many-particle hyperuniform systems are exotic amorphous states of matter that lie between crystals and liquids. Hyperuniform systems have attracted recent attention because they are endowed with novel transport and optical properties. Recently, the hyperuniformity concept has been generalized to characterize two-phase media, scalar fields, and random vector fields. In this paper, we devise methods to explicitly construct hyperuniform scalar fields. Specifically, we analyze spatial patterns generated from Gaussian random fields, which have been used to model the microwave background radiation and heterogeneous materials, the Cahn-Hilliard equation for spinodal decomposition, and Swift-Hohenberg equations that have been used to model emergent pattern formation, including Rayleigh-Bénard convection. We show that the Gaussian random scalar fields can be constructed to be hyperuniform. We also numerically study the time evolution of spinodal decomposition patterns and demonstrate that they are hyperuniform in the scaling regime. Moreover, we find that labyrinth-like patterns…

Motion picture response time (MPRT) affects the image blurs of thin-film transistor (TFT) liquid crystal displays and organic light emitting diode (OLED) displays. We derive an analytical equation to correlate MPRT with the liquid crystal (LC)/OLED response time and TFT frame rate. Good agreement between our physical model and experimental results is obtained. Based on our model, we find that if the LC's response time is 2 ms or less, then its MPRT is nearly the same as that of OLED, even if OLED's response time is assumed to be 0. To achieve MPRT comparable to OLEDs, we developed an ultra-low viscosity LC mixture for the vertical alignment mode operation. The measured average gray-to-gray response time is 0.93 ms, and its MPRT at 120 Hz is 6.88 ms. In comparison, OLED's MPRT is 6.67 ms. To further shorten MPRT, we could either increase the frame rate or reduce the backlight duty ratio. Pros and cons of these approaches are discussed.

Thermochromic GexV1−xO2+y thin films have been deposited on Si (100) substrates by means of reactive magnetron sputtering. The films were then characterized by Rutherford backscattering spectrometry (RBS), four-point probe electrical resistivity measurements, X-ray diffraction, and atomic force microscopy. From the temperature dependent resistivity measurements, the effect of Ge doping on the semiconductor-to-metal phase transition in vanadium oxide thin films was investigated. The transition temperature was shown to increase significantly upon Ge doping (∼95 °C), while the hysteresis width and resistivity contrast gradually decreased. The precise Ge concentration and the film thickness have been determined by RBS. The crystallinity of phase-pure VO2 monoclinic films was confirmed by XRD. These findings make the use of vanadium dioxide thin films in solar and electronic device applications—where higher critical temperatures than 68 °C of pristine VO2 are needed—a viable and promising solution.

A novel growth technique, called atomic partial layer deposition (APLD), has been proposed to expand the applications of, and the research in, atomic layer deposition (ALD). This technique allows the possibility for the fabrication of well-controlled alloys on a single atomic layer scale. To demonstrate the capabilities of this technique, samples of HfO2 and TiO2 were prepared as conventional ALD nanolaminates through the repeated exposure of the separated metal-precursor and reactant. Subsequently, HfO2-TiO2 APLD growth mode samples were obtained by varying the precursor doses and exposure times to obtain a fractional coverage in the monolayer of Hf and Ti. The thickness and structure of the samples were studied by X-ray reflectivity. The surface topography was studied using atomic force microscopy along with Kelvin probe force microscopy for surface potential mapping. Clear differences on the surface, compared with the conventional HfO2/TiO2 ALD nanolaminates, were observed, which confirmed the HfO2-TiO2 APLD growth. The films were analyzed using X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy…

The leakage current of BiFeO3 thin films can be reduced by Sm or Ti doping, and their codoping effect is significant. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy revealed that the reduction in the leakage current can be ascribed to decreased Fe2+ ions and oxygen vacancies. The leakage mechanisms of pristine and doped BiFeO3 films were studied by analyzing their leakage current characteristics through curve fitting. It was found that Ti could stabilize the trapped carriers, while Sm might decrease the trap energy and contrarily benefit the excitation of the trapped carriers, which explains the greater effect of Ti in reducing the leakage current than that of Sm. The piezoelectric properties of Sm/Ti-codoped BiFe0.9Ti0.1O3 (BFO) films were comparable to those of pristine BFO owing to the enhanced electric breakdown despite their reduced remanent polarization.

An origami sonic barrier composed of cylindrical inclusions attached onto an origami sheet is proposed. The idea allows for tunable sound blocking properties for application in attenuating complex traffic noise spectra. Folding of the underlying origami sheet transforms the periodicity of the inclusions between different Bravais lattices, viz. between a square and a hexagonal lattice, and such significant lattice re-configuration leads to drastic tuning of dispersion characteristics. The wave tuning capabilities are corroborated via performing theoretical and numerical investigations using a plane wave expansion method and an acoustic simulation package of COMSOL, while experiments are performed on a one-seventh scaled-down model of origami sonic barrier to demonstrate the lattice re-configuration between different Bravais lattices and the associated bandgap adaptability. Good sound blocking performance in the frequency range of traffic noise spectra combined with less efforts, required for actuating one-degree of freedom folding mechanism, makes the origami sonic barrier a…

The wake-up effect in yttrium doped hafnium oxide is investigated by pulse measurements, revealing the initial distribution of oxygen vacancies within symmetrical and asymmetrical layer stacks. It is shown that single pulses are sufficient to achieve a significant wake-up, whereby additional pulses lead to a stronger wake-up. Further cycling induces a degradation of the devices, which is explained by generation of oxygen vacancies and results in an electroforming step where subsequently resistive valence change mechanism switching is observed. The degradation and therefore the generation of oxygen vacancies show a strong frequency dependence, whereby the device lifetime is strongly increased for increasing frequencies.

The electro-optic and dielectric properties of barium titanate, BaTiO3, and nanoparticle (NP) doped nematic and ferroelectric liquid crystal materials were examined with respect to different size and concentrations of the NPs. Smaller size paraelectric NPs (≈80 nm) are compared to larger, ferroelectric NPs (≈240 nm). It is found that for concentrations larger than 0.5 vol. %, the ferroelectric NPs exhibit an increasing effect on the electro-optic response of the nematic liquid crystal, which is demonstrated by the enhancement of the dielectric anisotropy. This could be induced by the coupling of the electrical dipole moments in the spherical NPs with the LC director field. The electro-optical properties of the SmC* phase, such as the tilt angle Θ, switching time τs, and spontaneous polarisation Ps, are found to be independent of the concentration and size of the NPs. The rotational viscosity η calculated from response times, polarization reversal current, and dielectric properties is comparable for all three methods employed and practically independent of particle concentration and…

A dual broadband anisotropic cross-polarization-conversion (CPC) metasurface is designed and tested. The unit cell of the proposed metasurface consists of a two-slit rectangular split-ring-resonator inside of which a metallic cross element is placed. The unit cell is printed on a dielectric substrate backed by a metallic plane. Excellent CPC is achieved in two wide frequency bands from 5 to 9.7 GHz (4.7 GHz bandwidth) and from 11.2 to 15 GHz (3.8 GHz bandwidth) for both normal and oblique incidences. The wide CPC bandwidth is due to the plasmonic resonances occurring at three distinct frequencies. The unique physical structure, sub-wavelength size, and electrically small substrate thickness make the response of the metasurface identical for both x and y polarizations and insensitive to incidence angles (up to 60°). The physical mechanism behind polarization conversion is also elucidated through surface current distribution and through the concept of a high impedance surface. The proposed design is validated by full-wave simulations and experimental measurements.

Transparent conducting oxides such as ZnO doped with Al or Mg are commonly used in solar cells, light emitting diodes, photodetectors, and ultraviolet laser diodes. In our work, we focus on a comparative study of the structural, optical, and electrical properties of ZnO films highly doped with Al (AZO) and Mg (MZO). These films are deposited on glass substrates by the sol-gel spin coating method. The doping concentrations for Al and Mg are fixed to 5%–30%. The XRD spectra indicate that all the samples are polycrystalline with hexagonal wurtzite structures, exhibiting a preferred orientation along the (002) plane. Low degradation in crystallinity was observed for MZO even at a Mg concentration of 30%. The MgO phase started to appear compared to Al-doped layers where smaller grains are formed inducing a deterioration in the films just after doping but no new phase appeared. This result is in agreement with other experimental results [J. K. Rath, Sol. Energy Mater. Sol. Cells 76, 431–487 (2003); Morris et al., J. Appl. Phys. 67, 1079–1087 (1990)]. By AFM analysis, the results indicate…

This paper presents a comprehensive study of the impact of defects on quantum yield in Nitrogen doped graphene quantum dots (N-GQDs). The facile and high yielding hydrothermal method was used to process the N-GQDs by selecting two different nitrogen containing powders, that is, NH4Cl (sample-I) and (NH4)2SO4(sample-II). Initially, the synthesized samples were characterized by using High Resolution Transmission Electron Microscope (HRTEM), Powdered X-Ray Diffraction, Raman Spectroscopy, and UV-Visible spectroscopy, Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy, and Photoluminescence (PL) for sample integrity. HRTEM images suggest that the majority of the both sample types were in the narrow range of 5–20 nm in diameter. The samples show blue photoluminescence and excitation dependent PL emission characteristics. As expected, by using the different excitation energy in PL, appearance of peak introduces additional energy levels between π and π* that provide alternative electron transition pathways. The most remarkable finding is that the fluorescence quantum yield is up to 28% for sample-I…

Electron transpiration cooling (ETC) is a recently proposed approach to manage the high heating loads experienced at the sharp leading edges of hypersonic vehicles. Computational fluid dynamics (CFD) can be used to investigate the feasibility of ETC in a hypersonic environment. A modeling approach is presented for ETC, which includes developing the boundary conditions for electron emission from the surface, accounting for the space-charge limit effects of the near-wall plasma sheath. The space-charge limit models are assessed using 1D direct-kinetic plasma sheath simulations, taking into account the thermionically emitted electrons from the surface. The simulations agree well with the space-charge limit theory proposed by Takamura et al. for emitted electrons with a finite temperature, especially at low values of wall bias, which validates the use of the theoretical model for the hypersonic CFD code. The CFD code with the analytical sheath models is then used for a test case typical of a leading edge radius in a hypersonic flight environment. The CFD results show that ETC can lower…

In this paper, we study the structural and electronic properties of graphene adsorbed on MoS2 monolayer (G/MoS2) with different stacking configurations using dispersion-corrected density functional theory. Our calculations show that the interaction between graphene and MoS2 monolayer is a weak van der Waals interaction in all four stacking configurations with the binding energy per carbon atom of −30 meV. In the presence of MoS2 monolayer, the linear bands on the Dirac cone of graphene at the interfaces are slightly split. A band gap about 3 meV opens in G/MoS2 interfaces due to the breaking of sublattice symmetry by the intrinsic interface dipole, and it could be effectively modulated by the stacking configurations. Furthermore, we found that an n-type Schottky contact is formed at the G/MoS2 interface in all four stacking configurations with a small Schottky barrier about 0.49 eV. The appearance of the non-zero band gap in graphene has opened up new possibilities for its application in electronic devices such as graphene field-effect transistors.

In this study, we investigate the structural and electronic properties of MoS2, WS2, and WS2/MoS2 structures encapsulated within hexagonal boron nitride (h-BN) monolayers with first-principles calculations based on density functional theory by using the recently developed non-local van der Waals density functional (rvv10). We find that the heterostructures are thermodynamically stable with the interlayer distance ranging from 3.425 Å to 3.625 Å implying van der Waals type interaction between the layers. Except for the WS2/h-BN heterostructure which exhibits direct band gap character with the value of 1.920 eV at the K point, all proposed heterostructures show indirect band gap behavior from the valence band maximum at the Γ point to the conduction band minimum at the K point with values varying from 0.907 eV to 1.710 eV. More importantly, it is found that h-BN is an excellent candidate for the protection of intrinsic properties of MoS2, WS2, and WS2/MoS2 structures.

The synthesis, physical, photocatalytic, and antibacterial properties of MgO and graphene nanoplatelets (GNPs) nanocomposites are reported. The crystallinity, phase, morphology, chemical bonding, and vibrational modes of prepared nanomaterials are studied. The conductive nature of GNPs is tailored via photocatalysis and enhanced antibacterial activity. It is interestingly observed that the MgO/GNPs nanocomposites with optimized GNPs content show a significant photocatalytic activity (97.23% degradation) as compared to bare MgO (43%) which makes it the potential photocatalyst for purification of industrial waste water. In addition, the effect of increased amount of GNPs on antibacterial performance of nanocomposites against pathogenic micro-organisms is researched, suggesting them toxic. MgO/GNPs 25% nanocomposite may have potential applications in waste water treatment and nanomedicine due its multifunctionality.

In this work, an interatomic potential for the W-Re system is fitted and benchmarked against experimental and density functional theory (DFT) data, of which part are generated in this work. Having in mind studies related to the plasticity of W-Re alloys under irradiation, emphasis is put on fitting point-defect properties, elastic constants, and dislocation properties. The developed potential can reproduce the mechanisms responsible for the experimentally observed softening, i.e., decreasing shear moduli, decreasing Peierls barrier, and asymmetric screw dislocation core structure with increasing Re content in W-Re solid solutions. In addition, the potential predicts elastic constants in reasonable agreement with DFT data for the phases forming non-coherent precipitates (σ- and χ-phases) in W-Re alloys. In addition, the mechanical stability of the different experimentally observed phases is verified in the temperature range of interest (700–1500 K). As a conclusion, the presented potential provides an excellent tool to study plasticity in W-Re alloys at the atomic level.

A theoretical framework that provides a quantitative relationship between point defect formation energies and growth process parameters is presented. It enables systematic point defect reduction by chemical potential control in metalorganic chemical vapor deposition (MOCVD) of III-nitrides. Experimental corroboration is provided by a case study of C incorporation in GaN. The theoretical model is shown to be successful in providing quantitative predictions of CN defect incorporation in GaN as a function of growth parameters and provides valuable insights into boundary phases and other impurity chemical reactions. The metal supersaturation is found to be the primary factor in determining the chemical potential of III/N and consequently incorporation or formation of point defects which involves exchange of III or N atoms with the reservoir. The framework is general and may be extended to other defect systems in (Al)GaN. The utility of equilibrium formalism typically employed in density functional theory in predicting defect incorporation in non-equilibrium and high temperature MOCVD…