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Engineering topics

Pan, Minghu

Publications and source records attributed to Pan, Minghu.

At least 19 records
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2024

Large-scale 2D heterostructures from hydrogen-bonded organic frameworks and graphene with distinct Dirac and flat bands

The current strategies for building 2D organic-inorganic heterojunctions involve mostly wet-chemistry processes or exfoliation and transfer, leading to interface contaminations, poor crystallizing, or limited size. Here we show a bottom-up procedure to fabricate 2D large-scale heterostructure with clean interface and highly-crystalline sheets. As a prototypical example, a well-ordered hydrogen-bonded organic framework is self-assembled on the highly-oriented-pyrolytic-graphite substrate. The organic framework adopts a honeycomb lattice with faulted/unfaulted halves in a unit cell, resemble to molecular “graphene”. Interestingly, the topmost layer of substrate is self-lifted by organic framework via strong interlayer coupling, to form effectively a floating organic framework/graphene heterostructure. The individual layer of heterostructure inherits its intrinsic property, exhibiting distinct Dirac bands of graphene and narrow bands of organic framework. Our results demonstrate a promising approach to fabricate 2D organic-inorganic heterostructure with large-scale uniformity and highly-crystalline via the self-lifting effect, which is generally applicable to most of van der Waals materials.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2023

Growth of Mesoscale Ordered Two-Dimensional Hydrogen-Bond Organic Framework with the Observation of Flat Band

Flat bands (FBs), presenting a strongly interacting quantum system, have drawn increasing interest recently. However, experimental growth and synthesis of FB materials have been challenging and have remained elusive for the ideal form of monolayer materials where the FB arises from destructive quantum interference as predicted in 2D lattice models. Here, we report surface growth of a self-assembled monolayer of 2D hydrogen-bond (H-bond) organic frameworks (HOFs) of 1,3,5-tris(4-hydroxyphenyl)benzene (THPB) on Au(111) substrate and the observation of FB. High-resolution scanning tunneling microscopy or spectroscopy shows mesoscale, highly ordered, and uniform THPB HOF domains, while angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy highlights a FB over the whole Brillouin zone. Density-functional-theory calculations and analyses reveal that the observed topological FB arises from a hidden electronic breathing-kagome lattice without atomically breathing bonds. In conclusion, our findings demonstrate that self-assembly of HOFs provides a viable approach for synthesis of 2D organic topological materials, paving the way to explore many-body quantum states of topological FBs.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗
DOE OSTI2022

Discrete scale invariance of the quasi-bound states at atomic vacancies in a topological material

Recently, log-periodic quantum oscillations have been detected in the topological materials zirconium pentatelluride (ZrTe 5 ) and hafnium pentatelluride (HfTe 5 ), displaying an intriguing discrete scale invariance (DSI) characteristic. In condensed materials, the DSI is considered to be related to the quasi-bound states formed by massless Dirac fermions with strong Coulomb attraction, offering a feasible platform to study the long-pursued atomic-collapse phenomenon. Here, we demonstrate that a variety of atomic vacancies in the topological material HfTe 5 can host the geometric quasi-bound states with a DSI feature, resembling an artificial supercritical atom collapse. The density of states of these quasi-bound states is enhanced, and the quasi-bound states are spatially distributed in the “orbitals” surrounding the vacancy sites, which are detected and visualized by low-temperature scanning tunneling microscope/spectroscopy. By applying the perpendicular magnetic fields, the quasi-bound states at lower energies become wider and eventually invisible; meanwhile, the energies of quasi-bound states move gradually toward the Fermi energy (E F ). These features are consistent with the theoretical prediction of a magnetic field–induced transition from supercritical to subcritical states. The direct observation of geometric quasi-bound states sheds light on the deep understanding of the DSI in quantum materials.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗
DOE OSTI2022

Visualizing discrete Fermi surfaces and possible nodal-line to Weyl state evolution in ZrSiTe

Topological nodal line semimetals (TNLSMs) represent a quantum state of topological matter. When the crystal/time-reversal symmetry is broken, a nodal line state is expected to evolve into a Dirac semimetal, a Weyl semimetal, or other topological phases according to theoretical studies. Here, we report scanning tunneling microscopy (STM) based quasiparticle interference (QPI) measurements performed on the surface of TNLSM ZrSiTe single crystal. A discrete Fermi surface with multiple electron/hole pockets and the impurity-induced inter-/intra- pockets scatterings are directly visualized from QPI patterns. Moreover, the degenerated Dirac points at X point evolve into the pairs of Weyl nodes when Fe atoms are deposited, suggesting a possible phase transition from the nodal line to the Weyl state. The calculated band structures and the Weyl points by applying Zeeman splitting energies along x-direction, further confirm the existence of Weyl points in the Fe-doped ZrSiTe induced by the broken of time-reversal symmetry.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2019

Surface superconductivity in the type II Weyl semimetal TaIrTe 4

The search for unconventional superconductivity in Weyl semimetal materials is currently an exciting pursuit, since such superconducting phases could potentially be topologically non-trivial and host exotic Majorana modes. The layered material TaIrTe 4 is a newly predicted time-reversal invariant type II Weyl semimetal with the minimum number of Weyl points. Here, we report the discovery of surface superconductivity in Weyl semimetal TaIrTe 4 . Our scanning tunneling microscopy/spectroscopy (STM/STS) visualizes Fermi arc surface states of TaIrTe 4 that are consistent with the previous angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy results. By a systematic study based on STS at ultralow temperature, we observe uniform superconducting gaps on the sample surface. The superconductivity is further confirmed by electrical transport measurements at ultralow temperature, with an onset transition temperature (T c ) up to 1.54 K being observed. The normalized upper critical field h*(T/T c ) behavior and the stability of the superconductivity against the ferromagnet indicate that the discovered superconductivity is unconventional with the p-wave pairing. The systematic STS, and thickness- and angular-dependent transport measurements reveal that the detected superconductivity is quasi-1D and occurs in the surface states. The discovery of the surface superconductivity in TaIrTe 4 provides a new novel platform to explore topological superconductivity and Majorana modes.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗
DOE OSTI2018

Self-assembly directed one-step synthesis of [4]radialene on Cu(100) surfaces

The synthetic challenges of radialenes have precluded their practical applications. Here, we report a one-step synthetic protocol of [4]radialene on a copper surface. High-resolution scanning tunneling microscopy measurements reveal that such catalytic reaction proceeds readily with high selectivity at the temperature below 120 K. First-principles calculations show that the reaction pathway is characterized by firstly the cooperative inter-molecular hydrogen tautomerization and then the C–C bond formation. The feasibility of such cyclotetramerization reaction can be interpreted by the surface effect of Cu(100), which firstly plays an important role in directing the molecular assembly and then serves as an active catalyst in the hydrogen tautomerization and C–C coupling processes. This work presents not only a novel strategy to the scant number of synthetic methods to produce [4]radialenes via a novel [1 + 1 + 1 + 1] reaction pathway, but also a successful example of C–C bond coupling reactions guided by the surface-induced C–H/π assembly.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2017

Anomalous vibrational modes in few layer WTe 2 revealed by polarized Raman scattering and first-principles calculations

When layered transition-metal dichalcogenides (TMDs) are scaled down from a three- to a two-dimensional geometry, electronic and structural transitions occur, leading to the emergence of properties not usually found in the bulk. Here, we report a systematic Raman study of exfoliated semi-metallic WTe 2 flakes with thickness ranging from few layers down to a single layer. A dramatic change in the Raman spectra occurs between the monolayer and few-layer WTe 2 as a vibrational mode centered at ~86.9 cm -1 in the monolayer splits into two active modes at 82.9 and 89.6 cm -1 in the bilayer. Davydov splitting of these two modes is found in the bilayer, as further evidenced by polarized Raman measurements. Strong angular dependence of Raman modes on the WTe 2 film thickness reflects that the existence of directional interlayer interaction, rather than isotropic van der Waals (vdw) coupling, is playing an essential role affecting the phonon modes, especially in anisotropic 2D WTe 2 material. Therefore, the strong evolution of Raman modes with thickness and polarization direction, can not only be a reliable fingerprint for the determination of the thickness and the crystallographic orientation, but can also be an ideal probe for such strong and directional interlayer interaction.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2017

Self-assembly patterning of organic molecules on a surface

The embodiments disclosed herein include all-electron control over a chemical attachment and the subsequent self-assembly of an organic molecule into a well-ordered three-dimensional monolayer on a metal surface. The ordering or assembly of the organic molecule may be through electron excitation. Hot-electron and hot-hole excitation enables tethering of the organic molecule to a metal substrate, such as an alkyne group to a gold surface. All-electron reactions may allow a direct control over the size and shape of the self-assembly, defect structures and the reverse process of molecular disassembly from single molecular level to mesoscopic scale.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗
DOE OSTI2016

Modification of the electronic properties of hexagonal boron-nitride in BN/graphene vertical heterostructures

Van der Waals (vdW) heterostructures consist of isolated atomic planar structures, assembled layer- by-layer into desired structures in a well-defined sequence. Graphene deposited on hexagonal boron nitride (h-BN) has been first considered as a testbed system for vdW heterostructures, and many others have been demonstrated both theoretically and experimentally, revealing many attractive properties and phenomena. However, much less emphasis has been placed on how graphene actively affects h-BN properties. Here, we perform local probe measurements on single-layer h-BN grown over graphene and highlight the manifestation of a proximity effect that significantly affects the electronic properties of h-BN due to its coupling with the underlying graphene. We find electronic states originating from the graphene layer and the Cu substrate to be injected into the wide electronic gap of the h-BN top layer. Such proximity effect is further confirmed in a study of the variation of h-BN in-gap states with interlayer couplings, elucidated using a combination of topographical/ spectroscopic measurements and first-principles density functional theory calculations. In conclusion, the findings of this work indicate the potential of mutually engineering electronic properties of the components of vdW heterostructures.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2016

Interference evidence for Rashba-type spin splitting on a semimetallic WT e 2 surface

Here, semimetallic tungsten ditelluride displays an extremely large nonsaturating magnetoresistance, which is thought to arise from the perfect n–p charge compensation with low carrier densities in WTe 2 . We find a strong Rashba spin-orbit effect in density functional calculations due to the noncentrosymmetric structure. This lifts twofold spin degeneracy of the bands. A prominent umklapp interference pattern is observed by our scanning tunneling microscopic measurements at 4.2 K, which differs distinctly from the surface atomic structure demonstrated at 77 K. The energy dependence of umklapp interference shows a strong correspondence with densities of states integrated from ARPES measurement, manifesting a fact that the bands are spin-split on the opposite sides of Γ. Spectroscopic survey reveals the electron/hole asymmetry changes alternately with lateral locations along the b axis, providing a microscopic picture for double-carrier transport of semimetallic WTe 2 . The conclusion is further supported by our ARPES results and Shubnikov–de Haas (SdH) oscillations measurements.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗
DOE OSTI2016

Supramolecular polymerization of a prebiotic nucleoside provides insights into the creation of sequence-controlled polymers

The self-assembly of a nucleoside on Au(111) was studied to ascertain whether polymerization on well-defined substrates constitutes a promising approach for making sequence-controlled polymers. Scanning tunneling microscopy and density functional theory were used to investigate the self-assembly on Au(111) of (RS)-N9-(2,3-dihydroxypropyl)adenine (DHPA), a plausibly prebiotic nucleoside analog of adenosine. It is found that DHPA molecules self-assemble into a hydrogen-bonded polymer that grows almost exclusively along the herringbone reconstruction pattern, has a two component sequence that is repeated over hundreds of nanometers, and is erasable with electron-induced excitation. Although the sequence is simple, more complicated ones are envisioned if two or more nucleoside types are combined. Because polymerization occurs on a substrate in a dry environment, the success of each combination can be gauged with high-resolution imaging and accurate modeling techniques. The resulting characteristics make nucleoside self-assembly on a substrate an attractive approach for designing sequence-controlled polymers. Moreover, by choosing plausibly prebiotic nucleosides, insights may be provided into how nature created the first sequence-controlled polymers capable of storing information. Such insights, in turn, can inspire new ways of synthesizing sequence-controlled polymers.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗
DOE OSTI2015

Ultrasensitive gas detection of large-area boron-doped graphene

Significance The gas-sensing performance of graphene could be remarkably enhanced by incorporating dopants into its lattice based on theoretical calculations. However, to date, experimental progress on boron-doped graphene (BG) is still very scarce. Here, we achieved the controlled growth of large-area, high-crystallinity BG sheets and shed light on their electronic features associated with boron dopants at the atomic scale. As a proof-of-concept, it is demonstrated that boron doping in graphene could lead to a much enhanced sensitivity when detecting toxic gases (e.g. NO 2 ). Our results will open up new avenues for developing high-performance sensors able to detect trace amount of molecules. In addition, other new fascinating properties can be exploited based on as-synthesized large-area BG sheets.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2015

Anisotropic magnetotransport and exotic longitudinal linear magnetoresistance in WTe 2 crystals

Recently, the WTe 2 semimetal, as a typical layered transition-metal dichalcogenide, attracted much attention due to an extremely large, non-saturating parabolic magnetoresistance in the perpendicular field. Here, we report a systematic study of the angular dependence of the magnetoresistance in a WTe 2 single crystal. The significant anisotropic magnetotransport behavior in different magnetic field directions and violation of the Kohler's rule are observed. Unexpectedly, when the applied field and excitation current are both parallel to the tungsten chains of WTe 2 , an exotic large longitudinal linear magnetoresistance as high as 1200% at 15T and 2K is identified. These results imply that the WTe 2 semimetal, due to its balanced hole and electron populations, seems to be the first material for which a large longitudinal linear magnetoresistance appears when the external magnetic field is parallel to the applied current. Finally, our work may stimulate studies of double-carrier correlated materials and the corresponding quantum physics.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2015

Role of chalcogen vapor annealing in inducing bulk superconductivity in Fe 1+y Te 1-x Se x [How does annealing in chalcogen vapor induce superconductivity in Fe 1+y Te -x Se x ?]

Recent investigations have shown that Fe 1+y Te 1-x Se x can be made superconducting by annealing it in Se and O vapors. The current lore is that these chalcogen vapors induce superconductivity by removing the magnetic excess Fe atoms. To investigate this phenomenon we performed a combination of magnetic susceptibility, specific heat and transport measurements together with scanning tunneling microscopy and spectroscopy and density functional theory calculations on Fe 1+y Te 1-x Se x treated with Te vapor. We conclude that the main role of the Te vapor is to quench the magnetic moments of the excess Fe atoms by forming FeTe m (m ≥ 1) complexes. We show that the remaining FeTe m complexes are still damaging to the superconductivity and therefore that their removal potentially could further improve superconductive properties in these compounds.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗
DOE OSTI2014

Research Update: Spatially resolved mapping of electronic structure on atomic level by multivariate statistical analysis

Atomic level spatial variability of electronic structure in Fe-based superconductor FeTe0.55Se0.45 (Tc = 15 K) is explored using current-imaging tunneling-spectroscopy. Multivariate statistical analysis of the data differentiates regions of dissimilar electronic behavior that can be identified with the segregation of chalcogen atoms, as well as boundaries between terminations and near neighbor interactions. Subsequent clustering analysis allows identification of the spatial localization of these dissimilar regions. Similar statistical analysis of modeled calculated density of states of chemically inhomogeneous FeTe1 x Sex structures further confirms that the two types of chalcogens, i.e., Te and Se, can be identified by their electronic signature and differentiated by their local chemical environment. This approach allows detailed chemical discrimination of the scanning tunneling microscopy data including separation of atomic identities, proximity, and local configuration effects and can be universally applicable to chemically and electronically inhomogeneous surfaces.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗
DOE OSTI2014

Electronic Bandgap and Edge Reconstruction in Phosphorene Materials

Single-layer black phosphorous (BP), or phosphorene, is a highly-anisotropic two-dimensional elemental material possessing promising semiconductor properties for flexible electronics. However, the direct bandgap of single-layer black phosphorus predicted theoretically has not been directly measured, and the properties of its edges have not been considered in detail. Here we report atomic scale electronic variation related to strain-induced anisotropic deformation of the puckered honeycomb structure of freshly cleaved black phosphorus using a highresolved scanning tunneling spectroscopy (STS) survey along the light (x) and heavy (y) effective mass directions. Through a combination of STS measurements and first-principles calculations, a model for edge reconstruction is also determined. The reconstruction is shown to self-passivate any dangling bond by switching the oxidation state of phosphorous from +3 to +5.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗