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At least 649 records · Page 36

Tuning the charge density wave and superconductivity in 6R-TaS{sub 2−x}Se{sub x}

The transition-metal dichalcogenides provided a good platform for the investigation of superconductivity and charge-density-wave (CDW) order. A series of high quality 6R-TaS{sub 2−x}Se{sub x} (0 ≤ x ≤ 1.6) single crystals were fabricated by the chemical-vapor-transport method and systematically investigated. The CDW becomes more stable with more S being replaced by Se, which causes expansion of the lattice, and produces a negative chemical pressure in the system. The x dependence of the onset of superconductivity (T{sub c}{sup onset}) shows a dome-like shape with a maximum of T{sub c}{sup onset }= 2.7 K at x = 0.8. The magnetic susceptibility (4πχ) of x = 0.8 under the hydrostatic pressure P = 1.0 GPa was also measured, which showed a small increase of T{sub c} and superconducting volume fraction. A pronounced peak effect was observed in the isothermal hysteresis with magnetic field (H) parallel to c-axis, which may arise from the quenching inhomogeneity and/or the stacking disorder. Finally, the evolution of the electronic states tuned by Se-doping was summarized in the phase diagram.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗

Effect of L1{sub 2} ordering in antiferromagnetic Ir-Mn epitaxial layer on exchange bias of FePd films

Two series of samples of single-layer IrMn and IrMn/FePd bilayer films, deposited on a single-crystal MgO substrate at different IrMn deposition temperatures (T{sub s} = 300–700 °C), were investigated using magnetron sputtering. L1{sub 2} ordering was revealed for the 30 nm-thick IrMn epitaxial (001) films with T{sub s} ≥ 400 °C, determined by synchrotron radiation x-ray diffractometry (XRD). XRD results also provide evidence of the epitaxial growth of the IrMn films on MgO substrate. Increasing T{sub s} from 400 to 700 °C monotonically increases the ordering parameter of L1{sub 2} phases from 0.17 to 0.81. An in-plane exchange bias field (H{sub eb}) of 22 Oe is obtained in a 10 nm-thick FePd film that is deposited on the disordered IrMn films. As the L1{sub 2} ordering of the IrMn layers increases, the H{sub eb} gradually decreases to 0 Oe, meaning that the exchange bias behavior vanishes. The increased surface roughness, revealed by atomic force microscopy, of the epitaxial IrMn layers with increasing T{sub s} cannot be the main cause of the decrease in H{sub eb} due to the compensated surface spins regardless of the disordered and ordered (001) IrMn layers. The change of antiferromagnetic structure from the A1 to the L1{sub 2} phase was correlated with the evolution of H{sub eb}.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗

Nb-doped single crystalline MoS{sub 2} field effect transistor

We report on the demonstration of a p-type, single crystalline, few layer MoS{sub 2} field effect transistor (FET) using Niobium (Nb) as the dopant. The doping concentration was extracted and determined to be ∼3 × 10{sup 19}/cm{sup 3}. We also report on bilayer Nb-doped MoS{sub 2} FETs with ambipolar conduction. We found that the current ON-OFF ratio of the Nb-doped MoS{sub 2} FETs changes significantly as a function of the flake thickness. We attribute this experimental observation to bulk-type electrostatic effect in ultra-thin MoS{sub 2} crystals. We provide detailed analytical modeling in support of our claims. Finally, we show that in the presence of heavy doping, even ultra-thin 2D-semiconductors cannot be fully depleted and may behave as a 3D material when used in transistor geometry. Our findings provide important insights into the doping constraints of 2D materials, in general.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗

Giant volume magnetostriction in the Y{sub 2}Fe{sub 17} single crystal at room temperature

An investigation of the Y{sub 2}Fe{sub 17} compound belonging to the class of intermetallic alloys of rare-earth and 3d-transition metals is presented. The magnetization, magnetostriction, and thermal expansion of the Y{sub 2}Fe{sub 17} single crystal were studied. The forced magnetostriction and magnetostriction constants were investigated in the temperature range of the magnetic ordering close to the room temperature. The giant field induced volume magnetostriction was discovered in the room temperature region in the magnetic field up to 1.2 T. The contributions of both anisotropic single-ion and isotropic pair exchange interactions to the volume magnetostriction and magnetostriction constants were determined. The experimental results were interpreted within the framework of the Standard Theory of Magnetostriction and the Landau thermodynamic theory. It was found out that the giant values of the volume magnetostriction were caused by the strong dependence of the 3d-electron Coulomb charge repulsion on the deformations and width of the 3d-electron energy band.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗

Ferromagnetism in proton irradiated 4H-SiC single crystal

Room-temperature ferromagnetism is observed in proton irradiated 4H-SiC single crystal. An initial increase in proton dose leads to pronounced ferromagnetism, accompanying with obvious increase in vacancy concentration. Further increase in irradiation dose lowers the saturation magnetization with the decrease in total vacancy defects due to the defects recombination. It is found that divacancies are the mainly defects in proton irradiated 4H-SiC and responsible for the observed ferromagnetism.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗

Spin-reorientation and weak ferromagnetism in antiferromagnetic TbMn{sub 0.5}Fe{sub 0.5}O{sub 3}

Orthorhombic single crystals of TbMn{sub 0.5}Fe{sub 0.5}O{sub 3} are found to exhibit spin-reorientation, magnetization reversal, and weak ferromagnetism. Strong anisotropy effects are evident in the temperature dependent magnetization measurements along the three crystallographic axes a, b, and c. A broad magnetic transition is visible at T{sub N}{sup Fe/Mn}=286 K due to paramagnetic to A{sub x}G{sub y}C{sub z} ordering. A sharp transition is observed at T{sub SR}{sup Fe/Mn}=28 K, which is pronounced along c axis in the form of a sharp jump in magnetization where the spins reorient to G{sub x}A{sub y}F{sub z} configuration. The negative magnetization observed below T{sub SR}{sup Fe/Mn} along c axis is explained in terms of domain wall pinning. A component of weak ferromagnetism is observed in field-scans along c-axis but below 28 K. Field-induced steps-like transitions are observed in hysteresis measurement along b axis below 28 K. It is noted that no sign of Tb-order is discernible down to 2 K. TbMn{sub 0.5}Fe{sub 0.5}O{sub 3} could be highlighted as a potential candidate to evaluate its magneto-dielectric effects across the magnetic transitions.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗

Air-stable solution-processed n-channel organic thin film transistors with polymer-enhanced morphology

N,N′-1H,1H-perfluorobutyl dicyanoperylenecarboxydiimide (PDIF-CN{sub 2}) is an n-type semiconductor exhibiting high electron mobility and excellent air stability. However, the reported electron mobility based on spin-coated PDIF-CN{sub 2} film is much lower than the value of PDIF-CN{sub 2} single crystals made from vapor phase deposition, indicating significant room for mobility enhancement. In this study, various insulating polymers, including poly(vinyl alcohol), poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA), and poly(alpha-methylstyrene) (PαMS), are pre-coated on silicon substrate aiming to enhance the morphology of the PDIF-CN{sub 2} thin film, thereby improving the charge transport and air stability. Atomic force microscopy images reveal that with the pre-deposition of PαMS or PMMA polymers, the morphology of the PDIF-CN{sub 2} polycrystalline films is optimized in semiconducting crystal connectivity, domain size, and surface roughness, which leads to significant improvement of organic thin-film transistor (OTFT) performance. Particularly, an electron mobility of up to 0.55 cm{sup 2}/V s has been achieved from OTFTs based on the PDIF-CN{sub 2} film with the pre-deposition of PαMS polymer.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗

Proton irradiation effects on the thermoelectric properties in single-crystalline Bi nanowires

The effects of proton irradiation on the thermoelectric properties of Bi nanowires (Bi-NWs) were investigated. Single crystalline Bi-NWs were grown by the on-film formation of nanowires method. The devices based on individual Bi-NWs were irradiated with protons at different energies. The total number of displaced atoms was estimated using the Kinchin-Pease displacement model. The electric conductivity and Seebeck coefficient in the Bi-NW devices were investigated before and after proton irradiation at different temperatures. Although the Seebeck coefficient remained stable at various irradiation energies, the electrical conductivity significantly declined with increasing proton energy up to 40 MeV.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗

Tip-induced domain growth on the non-polar cuts of lithium niobate single-crystals

Currently ferroelectric materials with designed domain structures are considered as a perspective material for new generation of photonic, data storage and data processing devices. Application of external electric field is the most convenient way of the domain structure formation. Lots of papers are devoted to investigation of the domain kinetics on polar surface of crystals while the forward growth remains one of the most mysterious stages due to lack of experimental methods allowing to study it. Here we performed tip-induced polarization reversal on X- and Y-non-polar cuts in single-crystal of congruent lithium niobate allows us to study the forward growth with high spatial resolution. The revealed difference in the shape and length of domains induced on X- and Y-cuts is beyond previously developed theoretical approaches used for the theoretical consideration of the domains growth at non-polar ferroelectric surfaces. Lastly, to explain experimental results we used kinetic approach with anisotropy of screening efficiency along different crystallographic directions.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗

Softening of infrared-active mode of perovskite BaZrO{sub 3} proved by terahertz time-domain spectroscopy

The low-frequency infrared-active optical modes were studied in a barium zirconate, BaZrO{sub 3}, single crystal with the perovskite structure using terahertz (THz) time-domain spectroscopy (TDS). The real and imaginary parts of the dielectric constants were accurately determined in the frequency range between 0.2 and 2.7 THz. Upon cooling from room temperature to 8 K, the lowest-frequency TO1 mode at 2.32 THz showed a pronounced softening to 1.94 THz. The real part of the dielectric constant at 0.5 THz determined by THz-TDS obeys Barrett's relation, and the existence of a plateau confirms that the quantum effects lead to saturation of the soft mode frequencies of the TO1 and TO2 modes below ≈20 K. This is reminiscent of incipient ferroelectrics with the perovskite structure such as CaTiO{sub 3}.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗

Potassium acceptor doping of ZnO crystals

ZnO bulk single crystals were doped with potassium by diffusion at 950°C. Positron annihilation spectroscopy confirms the filling of zinc vacancies and a different trapping center for positrons. Secondary ion mass spectroscopy measurements show the diffusion of potassium up to 10 μm with concentration ∼1 × 10{sup 16} cm{sup −3}. IR measurements show a local vibrational mode (LVM) at 3226 cm{sup −1}, at a temperature of 9 K, in a potassium doped sample that was subsequently hydrogenated. The LVM is attributed to an O–H bond-stretching mode adjacent to a potassium acceptor. When deuterium substitutes for hydrogen, a peak is observed at 2378 cm{sup −1}. The O-H peak is much broader than the O-D peak, perhaps due to an unusually low vibrational lifetime. The isotopic frequency ratio is similar to values found in other hydrogen complexes. Potassium doping increases the resistivity up to 3 orders of magnitude at room temperature. The doped sample has a donor level at 0.30 eV.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗

Ultra-thin distributed Bragg reflectors via stacked single-crystal silicon nanomembranes

In this paper, we report ultra-thin distributed Bragg reflectors (DBRs) via stacked single-crystal silicon (Si) nanomembranes (NMs). Mesh hole-free single-crystal Si NMs were released from a Si-on-insulator substrate and transferred to quartz and Si substrates. Thermal oxidation was applied to the transferred Si NM to form high-quality SiO{sub 2} and thus a Si/SiO{sub 2} pair with uniform and precisely controlled thicknesses. The Si/SiO{sub 2} layers, as smooth as epitaxial grown layers, minimize scattering loss at the interface and in between the layers. As a result, a reflection of 99.8% at the wavelength range from 1350 nm to 1650 nm can be measured from a 2.5-pair DBR on a quartz substrate and 3-pair DBR on a Si substrate with thickness of 0.87 μm and 1.14 μm, respectively. The high reflection, ultra-thin DBRs developed here, which can be applied to almost any devices and materials, holds potential for application in high performance optoelectronic devices and photonics applications.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗

Strain-controlled optical absorption in epitaxial ferroelectric BaTiO{sub 3} films

A lattice strain of 0.3%–1.3% is achieved in epitaxial tetragonal BaTiO{sub 3} films grown on (001)-oriented SrTiO{sub 3} single-crystal substrates. Our experimental studies of absorption spectra in the range of 0.74–9.0 eV demonstrate that epitaxy produces significant changes in the optical properties of the films compared with those of a reference polydomain BaTiO{sub 3} crystal: the absorption edge and the peak at 5 eV strongly blue-shift by 0.2–0.4 eV, the magnitude of the peak at 5 eV drops, and certain spectral features disappear, whereas the absorption peak at 8.5 eV remains unchanged. The observed behavior is attributed to ferroelectric polarization, which is enhanced by epitaxial strain in the films. Our results indicate that epitaxially induced variations of ferroelectric polarization may be used to tailor the optical properties of thin films for photonic and optoelectronic applications.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗

Facile fabrication of a ultraviolet tunable MoS{sub 2}/p-Si junction diode

Chemical vapor deposition grown MoS{sub 2} single crystals were transferred onto the edge of a p-Si/SiO{sub 2} wafer, forming an abrupt heterogeneous junction diode at the MoS{sub 2}/p-Si interface. When electrically characterized as a field effect transistor, MoS{sub 2} exhibits an n-type response and can be doped in the presence of ultraviolet (UV) light. As a diode, it operates satisfactorily in air, but has higher currents in vacuum with a turn on voltage of ∼1.3 V and an on/off ratio of 20 at ±2 V. UV irradiation increases the diode on state current, decreases the turn-on voltage, and reduces the ideality parameter below 2. These changes are reversible after annealing in air as desorption of electron trapping species like O{sub 2}{sup −} and H{sub 2}O{sup −} are believed responsible for this effect. A circuit integrating this diode was used to rectify a 1 kHz signal with an efficiency of 12%. Its simple design, coupled with the ability to clip AC signals, sense UV light, and reversibly tune these diodes, makes them inexpensive, multifunctional, and usable as active or passive circuit components in complex electronics.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗

A fluctuation method to calculate the third order elastic constants in crystalline solids

This paper derives exact expressions of the isothermal third order elastic constants (TOE) in crystalline solids in terms of the kinetic and potential energies of the system. These expressions reveal that the TOE constants consist of a Born component and a relaxation component. The Born component is simply the third derivative of the system's potential energy with respect to the deformation, while the relaxation component is related to the non-uniform rearrangements of the atoms when the system is subject to a macroscopic deformation. Further, based on the general expressions derived here, a direct (fluctuation) method of computing the isothermal TOE constants is developed. Numerical examples of using this fluctuation method are given to compute the TOE constants of single crystal iron.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗

Response measurement of single-crystal chemical vapor deposition diamond radiation detector for intense X-rays aiming at neutron bang-time and neutron burn-history measurement on an inertial confinement fusion with fast ignition

A neutron bang time and burn history monitor in inertial confinement fusion with fast ignition are necessary for plasma diagnostics. In the FIREX project, however, no detector attained those capabilities because high-intensity X-rays accompanied fast electrons used for plasma heating. To solve this problem, single-crystal CVD diamond was grown and fabricated into a radiation detector. The detector, which had excellent charge transportation property, was tested to obtain a response function for intense X-rays. The applicability for neutron bang time and burn history monitor was verified experimentally. Charge collection efficiency of 99.5% ± 0.8% and 97.1% ± 1.4% for holes and electrons were obtained using 5.486 MeV alpha particles. The drift velocity at electric field which saturates charge collection efficiency was 1.1 ± 0.4 × 10{sup 7} cm/s and 1.0 ± 0.3 × 10{sup 7} cm/s for holes and electrons. Fast response of several ns pulse width for intense X-ray was obtained at the GEKKO XII experiment, which is sufficiently fast for ToF measurements to obtain a neutron signal separately from X-rays. Based on these results, we confirmed that the single-crystal CVD diamond detector obtained neutron signal with good S/N under ion temperature 0.5–1 keV and neutron yield of more than 10{sup 9} neutrons/shot.

46 INSTRUMENTATION RELATED TO NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND ↗

Growth of centimeter-scale atomically thin MoS{sub 2} films by pulsed laser deposition

We are reporting the growth of single layer and few-layer MoS{sub 2} films on single crystal sapphire substrates using a pulsed-laser deposition technique. A pulsed KrF excimer laser (wavelength: 248 nm; pulse width: 25 ns) was used to ablate a polycrystalline MoS{sub 2} target. The material thus ablated was deposited on a single crystal sapphire (0001) substrate kept at 700 °C in an ambient vacuum of 10{sup −6} Torr. Detailed characterization of the films was performed using atomic force microscopy (AFM), Raman spectroscopy, UV-Vis spectroscopy, and photoluminescence (PL) measurements. The ablation of the MoS{sub 2} target by 50 laser pulses (energy density: 1.5 J/cm{sup 2}) was found to result in the formation of a monolayer of MoS{sub 2} as shown by AFM results. In the Raman spectrum, A{sub 1g} and E{sup 1}{sub 2g} peaks were observed at 404.6 cm{sup −1} and 384.5 cm{sup −1} with a spacing of 20.1 cm{sup −1}, confirming the monolayer thickness of the film. The UV-Vis absorption spectrum exhibited two exciton absorption bands at 672 nm (1.85 eV) and 615 nm (2.02 eV), with an energy split of 0.17 eV, which is in excellent agreement with the theoretically predicted value of 0.15 eV. The monolayer MoS{sub 2} exhibited a PL peak at 1.85 eV confirming the direct nature of the band-gap. By varying the number of laser pulses, bi-layer, tri-layer, and few-layer MoS{sub 2} films were prepared. It was found that as the number of monolayers (n) in the MoS{sub 2} films increases, the spacing between the A{sub 1g} and E{sup 1}{sub 2g} Raman peaks (Δf) increases following an empirical relation, Δf=26.45−(15.42)/(1+1.44 n{sup 0.9}) cm{sup −1}.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗

Single Hit Energy-resolved Laue Diffraction

In situ white light Laue diffraction has been successfully used to interrogate the structure of single crystal materials undergoing rapid (nanosecond) dynamic compression up to megabar pressures. However, information on strain state accessible via this technique is limited, reducing its applicability for a range of applications. Here, we present an extension to the existing Laue diffraction platform in which we record the photon energy of a subset of diffraction peaks. This allows for a measurement of the longitudinal and transverse strains in situ during compression. Consequently, we demonstrate measurement of volumetric compression of the unit cell, in addition to the limited aspect ratio information accessible in conventional white light Laue. We present preliminary results for silicon, where only an elastic strain is observed. VISAR measurements show the presence of a two wave structure and measurements show that material downstream of the second wave does not contribute to the observed diffraction peaks, supporting the idea that this material may be highly disordered, or has undergone large scale rotation.

47 OTHER INSTRUMENTATION↗