Using density functional theory, we investigate the possible adsorption sites of CO molecules on the recently discovered Pt induced Ge nanowires on Ge(001). Calculated STM images are compared to experimental STM images to identify the experimentally observed adsorption sites. The CO molecules are found to adsorb preferably onto the Pt atoms between the Ge nanowire dimer segments. This adsorption site places the CO in between two nanowire dimers, pushing them outward, blocking the nearest equivalent adsorption sites. This explains the observed long-range repulsive interaction between CO molecules on these Pt induced nanowires.
Electron irradiation of GaN nanowires in a scanning electron microscope strongly reduces their luminous efficiency as shown by cathodoluminescence imaging and spectroscopy. We demonstrate that this luminescence quenching originates from a combination of charge trapping at already existing surface states and the formation of new surface states induced by the adsorption of C on the nanowire sidewalls. The interplay of these effects leads to a complex temporal evolution of the quenching, which strongly depends on the incident electron dose per area. Time-resolved photoluminescence measurements on…
We carried out first-principles density functional theory calculations of hydrogen and oxygen adsorption and diffusion on subnanometer MoS nanowires. The nanowires are robust against adsorption of hydrogen. On the other hand, interaction with oxygen shows that the nanowires can oxidize with a small barrier. Our results open the path for understanding the behavior of MoS nanowires under realistic environment.
Equilibrium structure, local densities of states, and electronic transport in a gold nanowire made of a four-atom chain supported by two gold electrodes, which has been imaged recently by high-resolution electron microscopy, and chemical modification of the wire via the adsorption of a methylthiol molecule, are investigated with ab-initio local density functional simulations. In the bare wire at the imaged geometry the middle two atoms dimerize, and the structure is strongly modified by the adsorption of the molecule with an accompanying increase of the ballistic conductance through the wire.
Using molecular dynamics simulations, we study the impact of physisorbing adsorbates on the structural and mechanical evolution of gold nanowires (AuNWs) undergoing elongation. We used various adsorbate models in our simulations, with each model giving rise to a different surface coverage and mobility of the adsorbed phase. We find that the local structure and mobility of the adsorbed phase remains relatively uniform across all segments of an elongating AuNW, except for the thinning region of the wire where the high mobility of Au atoms disrupts the monolayer structure, giving rise to higher s…
The adsorption of two different organic molecules cyanidin glucoside (C$_{21}$O$_{11}$H$_{20}$) and TA-St-CA on anatase (101) and (001) nanowires have been investigated using the standard and the range separated hybrid density functional theory calculations. The electronic structures and optical spectra of resulting dye--nanowire combined systems show distinct features for these types of photochromophores. The lowest unoccupied molecular orbital of the natural dye cyanidin glucoside is located below the conduction band of the semiconductor while, in the case of TA-St-CA, it resonates with the …
Pt deposited onto a Ge(001) surface gives rise to the spontaneous formation of atomic nanowires on a mixed Pt-Ge surface after high temperature annealing. We study possible structures of the mixed surface and the nanowires by total energy (density functional theory) calculations. Experimental scanning tunneling microscopy images are compared to the calculated local densities of states. On the basis of this comparison and the stability of the structures, we conclude that the formation of nanowires is driven by an increased concentration of Pt atoms in the Ge surface layers. Surprisingly, the at…
Magnetic properties of quasi one-dimensional vanadium-benzene nanowires (VBNW) are investigated theoretically with the absorption of gas molecules-NO and NO2. With the increase adsorption of NO on VBNW, the phase transition from half metal to ferromagnetic metal and last to paramagnetic semiconductor can be observed. With the increase of NO2 on VBNW, half metallic property can be enhanced at first and decreased later. Thus, the electronic and magnetic properties of VBNW can be sensitive and selective to NO and NO2, revealing the potential applications in spintronic sensors of these two kinds o…
We study formation of the nanowires formed after deposition of Pt on a Ge(001) surface. The nanowires form spontaneously after high temperature annealing. They are thermodynamically stable, only one atom wide and up to a few hundred atoms long. Ab initio density functional theory calculations are performed to identify possible structures of the Pt-Ge (001) surface with nanowires on top. A large number of structures is studied. With nanowires that are formed out of Pt or Ge dimers or mixed Pt-Ge dimers. By comparing simulated scanning tunneling microscopy images with experimental ones we model …
Ion implantation is an interesting method to dope semiconducting materials such as zinc oxide provided that the implantation-induced defects can be subsequently removed. Nitrogen implantation followed by anneals under O2 were carried out on zinc oxide nanowires in the same conditions as in a previous study on bulk ZnO [J. Appl.Phys. 109, 023513 (2011)], allowing a direct comparison of the defect recovery mechanisms. Transmission electron microscopy and cathodoluminescence were carried out to assess the effects of nitrogen implantation and of subsequent anneals on the structural and optical pro…
Magnetism Induced by Azanide and Ammonia Adsorption in Defective Molybdenum Disulfide and Diselenide: A First-Principles Study
State University of Campinas（坎皮纳斯州立大学）；Rice University（莱斯大学）；University of South Florida（南佛罗里达大学）；College of Technology, University of Brasília（巴西利亚大学技术学院）
While the diffusion of hydrogen on silicon surfaces has been relatively well characterised both experimentally and theoretically, the diffusion around corners between surfaces, as will be found on nanowires and nanostructures, has not been studied. Motivated by nanostructure fabrication by Patterned Atomic Layer Epitaxy (PALE), we present a density functional theory (DFT) study of the diffusion of hydrogen around the edge formed by the orthogonal (001) and (110) surfaces in silicon. We find that the barrier from (001) to (110) is approximately 0.3 eV lower than from (110) to (001), and that it…
We investigate adsorption of a gas on the flat surface of a solid deformable adsorbent taking into account thermal fluctuations and analyze in detail the effect of thermal fluctuations on the adsorbent deformation in adsorption. The condition for coexistence of two states of a bistable system of adsorbed particles is derived. We establish the specific properties of the adsorption-induced surface normal relaxation of an adsorbent caused by thermal fluctuations. The mean transition times between two stable states of the bistable system are derived in the parabolic approximation and in the genera…
Pt deposited on a Ge(001) surface spontaneously forms nanowire arrays. These nanowires are thermodynamically stable and can be hundreds of atoms long. The nanowires only occur on a reconstructed Pt-Ge-surface where they fill the troughs between the dimer rows on the surface. This unique connection between the nanowires and the underlying substrate make a thorough understanding of the latter necessary for understanding the growth of the nanowires. In this paper we study possible surface reconstructions containing 0.25 and 0.5 of a monolayer of Pt. Comparison of calculated STM images to experime…
We have investigated the formation of tungsten oxide nanowires under different CVD conditions. We find that exposure of oxidized tungsten films to hydrogen and methane at 900C leads to the formation of a dense array of typically 10 nm diameter nanowires. Structural and chemical analysis shows that the wires are crystalline WO3. We propose a chemically-driven whisker growth mechanism in which interfacial strain associated with the formation of tungsten carbide stimulates nanowire growth. This might be a general concept, applicable also in other nanowire systems.
We report persistently increased conduction in ZnO nanowires irradiated by ion beam with various ion energies and species. This effect is shown to be related to the already known persistent photo conduction in ZnO and dubbed persistent ion beam induced conduction. Both effects show similar excitation efficiency, decay rates, and chemical sensitivity. Persistent ion beam induced conduction will potentially allow countable (i.e., single dopant) implantation in ZnO nanostructures and other materials showing persistent photo conduction.
Nanowire (NW) arrays form spontaneously after high temperature annealing of a submonolayer deposition of Pt on a Ge(001) surface. These NWs are a single atom wide, with a length limited only by the underlying beta-terrace to which they are uniquely connected. Using ab-initio density functional theory (DFT) calculations we study possible geometries of the NWs and substrate. Direct comparison to experiment is made via calculated scanning tunneling microscope (STM) images. Based on these images, geometries for the beta-terrace and the NWs are identified, and a formation path for the nanowires as …
We have carried out a density functional study of the localized constraint on the delocalized, unoccupied resonance states in a mono atomic Au chain on a NiAl(110) surface by adsorption of a CO molecule on one of the adatoms in the chain. This constraint was observed recently by scanning tunnelling microscopy and spectroscopy. The repulsive interaction of the occupied 5$σ$ molecular state with the unoccupied, resonance state in a Au adatom in the chain is found to break the degeneracy of the Au adatom-induced resonance states and to disrupt their delocalization in the chain.
We study band alignment in wurtzite-zincblende polytype InAs heterostructured nanowires using temperature dependent resonance Raman measurements. Nanowires having two different wurtzite fractions are investigated. Using visible excitation wavelengths in resonance Raman measurements, we probe the electronic band alignment of these semiconductor nanowires near a high symmetry point of the Brillouin zone (E$_{1}$ gap). The strain in the crystal structure, as revealed from the shift of the phonon mode, explains the observed band alignment at the wurtzite-zincblende interface. Our experimental resu…
Using first-principles calculation methods, we study the possibility of realizing quantum anomalous Hall effect in graphene from stable 3\textit{d}-atomic adsorption via charge-compensated \textit{n}-\textit{p} codoping scheme. As concrete examples, we show that long-range ferromagnetism can be established by codoping 3\textit{d} transition metal and boron atoms, but only the Ni codopants can open up a global bulk gap to harbour the quantum anomalous Hall effect. Our estimated ferromagnetic Curie transition temperature can reach over 10 Kelvin for various codoping concentrations.
The integration of advanced optoelectronic properties in nanoscale devices of group III nitride can be realized by understanding the coupling of charge carriers with optical excitations in these nanostructures. The native defect induced electron-phonon coupling in GaN nanowires are reported using various spectroscopic studies. The GaN nanowires having different native defects are grown in atmospheric pressure chemical vapor deposition technique. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopic analysis revealed the variation of Ga/N ratios in nanowires having possible native defects, with respect to their gr…
Static and dynamic changes induced by adsorption of atomic hydrogen on the NiAl(110) lattice at 130 K have been examined as a function of adsorbate coverage. Adsorbed hydrogen exists in three distinct phases. At low coverages the hydrogen is itinerant because of quantum tunneling between sites and exhibits no observable vibrational modes. Between 0.4 ML and 0.6 ML, substrate mediated interactions produce an ordered superstructure with c(2x2) symmetry, and at higher coverages, hydrogen exists as a disordered lattice gas. This picture of how hydrogen interacts with NiAl(110) is developed from ou…
We perform molecular dynamics (MD) simulations to investigate the effect of polar surfaces on the thermal transport in zinc oxide (ZnO) nanowires. We find that the thermal conductivity in nanowires with free polar (0001) surfaces is much higher than in nanowires that have been stabilized with reduced charges on the polar (0001) surfaces, and also hexagonal nanowires without any transverse polar surfaces. From normal mode analysis, we show that the higher thermal conductivity is due to a shell-like reconstruction that occurs for the free polar surfaces. This shell-like reconstruction suppresses…
We study theoretically the current-induced magnetic domain wall motion in a metallic nanowire with perpendicular magnetic anisotropy. The anisotropy can reduce the critical current density of the domain wall motion. We explain the reduction mechanism and identify the maximal reduction conditions. This result facilitates both fundamental studies and device applications of the current- induced domain wall motion.
We provide a general thermodynamic framework for the understanding of guest-induced structural transitions in hybrid organic-inorganic materials. The method is based on the analysis of experimental adsorption isotherms. It allows the determination of the free energy differences between host structures involved in guest-induced transitions, especially hard to obtain experimentally. We discuss the general case of adsorption in flexible materials and show how a few key quantities, such as pore volumes and adsorption affinities, entirely determine the phenomenology of adsorption, including the occ…
We investigate the effects of Na adsorption on the electronic structure of bare and Ir cluster superlattice covered epitaxial graphene on Ir(111) using angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy and scanning tunneling microscopy. At Na saturation coverage a massive charge migration from sodium atoms to graphene raises the graphene Fermi level by about 1.4 eV relative to its neutrality point. We find that Na is adsorbed on top of the graphene layer and when coadsorbed onto an Ir cluster superlattice it results in the opening of a large bandgap of Δ = 740 meV comparable to the one of Ge and with …
Our predictions, based on density-functional calculations, reveal that surface doping of ZnO nanowires with Bi leads to a linear-in-$k$ splitting of the conduction-band states, through spin-orbit interaction, due to the lowering of the symmetry in the presence of the dopant. This finding implies that spin polarization of the conduction electrons in Bi-doped ZnO nanowires could be controlled with applied electric (as opposed to magnetic) fields, making them candidate materials for spin-orbitronic applications. Our findings also show that the degree of spin splitting could be tuned by adjusting …
In a world where capture and separation processes represent above 10% of global energy consumption, novel porous materials, such as Metal-Organic Frameworks (MOFs) used in adsorption-based processes are a promising alternative to dethrone the high-energy-demanding distillation. Shape and size tailor-made pores in combination with Lewis acidic sites can enhance the adsorbate-adsorbent interactions. Understanding the underlying mechanisms of adsorption is essential to designing and optimizing capture and separation processes. Herein, we analyze the adsorption behaviour of light hydrocarbons (met…
Breathing transitions represent recently discovered adsorption-induced structural transformations between large-pore and narrow-pore conformations in bistable metal-organic frameworks, such as MIL-53. We present a multiscale physical mechanism of the dynamics of breathing transitions. We show that due to interplay between host framework elasticity and guest molecule adsorption, these transformations on the crystal level occur via layer-by-layer shear. We construct a simple Hamiltonian that describes the physics of host-host and host-guest interactions on the level of unit cells and reduces to …
The geometric and electronic properties of Bi-adsorbed monolayer graphene, enriched by the strong effect of substrate, are investigated by first-principles calculations. The six-layered substrate, corrugated buffer layer, and slightly deformed monolayer graphene are all simulated. Adatom arrangements are thoroughly studied by analyzing the ground-state energies, bismuth adsorption energies, and Bi-Bi interaction energies of different adatom heights, inter-adatom distance, adsorption sites, and hexagonal positions. A hexagonal array of Bi atoms is dominated by the interactions between the buffe…
We investigate molecular adsorption doping by electron withdrawing NO2 and electron donating NH3 on epitaxial graphene grown on C-face SiC substrates. Amperometric measurements show conductance changes upon introduction of molecular adsorbents on epitaxial graphene. Conductance changes are a trade-off between carrier concentration and scattering, and manifest at direct current and optical frequencies. We therefore investigate changes in the infrared (IR) reflection spectra to correlate these two frequency domains, as reflectance changes are due to a change of epitaxial graphene (EG) surface co…
The dynamics of current-induced motion of a magnetic domain wall in a quasi-one-dimensional ferromagnet with both easy-axis and easy-plane anisotropy, is studied. We pay a special attention to the case of a sharp domain wall, and calculate the spin torque created by the electric current. The torque has two components, one of which is acting as a driving force for the motion of the domain wall while the other distorts its shape, forcing thus the magnetic moments to deviate from the easy plane.
Although defects on graphene can degrade electron transport and its ability for use as a protection layer, they can also be helpful to tailor the local properties or activate new sites for particular adsorbates. Here, carbon vacancy defects are formed in graphene films on Ru(0001) using low energy Ar$^+$ bombardment and the materials are then reacted at room temperature with oxygen (O$_2$). Helium low energy ion scattering shows that no oxygen attaches to the intact graphene layer. When isolated single carbon vacancy defects are present, oxygen adsorbs molecularly at the defect sites and inter…
Electron spin relaxation in nanowire-based quantum dots induced by confined phonons is investigated theoretically. Due to the one-dimensional nature of the confined phonons, the van Hove singularities of the confined phonons and the zero of the form factor of the electron-phonon coupling can lead to unique features of the spin relaxation rate. Extremely strong spin relaxation can be obtained at the van Hove singularity. Meanwhile the spin relaxation rate can also be greatly suppressed at the zero of the form factor. This unique feature indicates the flexibility of nanowire-based quantum dots i…
The singlet-triplet relaxation in nanowire-based quantum dots induced by confined phonons is investigated theoretically. Due to the quasi-one-dimensional nature of the confined phonons, the singlet-triplet relaxation rates exhibit multi-peaks as function of magnetic field and the relaxation rate between the singlet and the spin up triplet state is found to be enhanced at the vicinity of the singlet-triplet anti-crossing. We compare the effect of the deformation-potential coupling and the piezoelectric coupling and find that the deformation-potential coupling dominates the relaxation rates in m…
We demonstrate and interpret a technique of laser-induced formation of thin metallic films using alkali atoms on the window of a dense-vapour cell. We show that this intriguing photo-stimulated process originates from the adsorption of Cs atoms via the neutralisation of Cs$^+$ ions by substrate electrons. The Cs$^+$ ions are produced via two-photon absorption by excited Cs atoms very close to the surface, which enables the transfer of the laser spatial intensity profile to the film thickness. An initial decrease of the surface work function is required to guarantee Cs$^+$ neutralisation and re…
Superconducting nanowires can be fabricated by decomposition of an organometallic gas using a focused beam of Ga ions. However, physical damage and unintentional doping often results from the exposure to the ion beam, motivating the search for a means to achieve similar structures with a beam of electrons instead of ions. This has so far remained an experimental challenge. We report the fabrication of superconducting tungsten nanowires by electron-beam-induced-deposition, with critical temperature of 2.0 K and critical magnetic field of 3.7 T, and compare them with superconducting wires made w…
We theoretically showed that the spontaneous polarization in ferroelectric (FE) nanowires (NWs) can be considerably enhanced due to the nanosize confinement by the first-principles calculations. The spontaneous polarization along the wire direction in a fully-relaxed PbTiO3 NW with 1.8 nm diameter is 1.26 times higher than that of bulk counterpart. The tension induced by NW surface curvature counteracts the near-surface depolarizing effect and meanwhile leads to the unusual enhancement of spontaneous polarization. These findings indicated that FE NWs can be promising in the applications of nan…
We propose a simple model to describe the cavitation-induced breakage of mesoscale filaments during their sonication in solution. The model predicts a limiting length below which scission no longer occurs. This characteristic length is a function of the tensile strength and diameter of the filament, as well as the solvent viscosity and cavitation parameters. We show that the model predicts accurately experimental results for materials ranging from carbon nanotubes to protein fibrils, and discuss the use of sonication-induced breakage as a probe for the strength of nanostructures.
By using first principles calculations we report a chemical doping induced gap in graphene. The structural and electronic properties of CrO$_3$ interacting with graphene layer are calculated using ab initio methods based on the density functional theory. The CrO$_3$ acts as an electron acceptor modifying the original electronic and magnetic properties of the graphene surface through a chemical adsorption. The changes induced in the electronic properties are strongly dependent of the CrO$_3$ adsorption site and for some sites it is possible to open a gap in the electronic band structure. Spin p…
In this work we present how the optical properties of ZnSe nanowires are modified by the presence of Ag nanoparticles on the sidewalls of the ZnSe nanowires. In particular we show that the low-temperature luminescence of the ZnSe nanowires changes its shape, enhancing the phonon-replicas of impurity related recombination and affecting rise and decay times of the transient absorption bleaching at room temperatures, with an increase of the former and a decrease of the latter. In contrast, the deposition of Au NPs on the ZnSe nanowires does not change the optical properties of the sample. We sugg…
Transmission probability of a domain wall through a magnetic nanowire is investigated as a function of the external magnetic field. Very intriguing phenomenon is found that the transmission probability shows a significant drop after exceeding the threshold driving field, which contradicts our intuition that a domain wall is more mobile in the higher magnetic field. The micromagnetics simulation reveals that the domain wall motion in the wire with finite roughness causes the dynamical pinning due to the Walker breakdown, which semi-quantitatively explains our experimental results.
We investigate current-driven domain wall (DW) propagation in magnetic nanowires in the framework of the modified Landau-Lifshitz-Gilbert equation with both adiabatic and nonadiabatic spin torque (NAST) terms. Contrary to the common opinion that NAST is indispensable for DW motion[1,2], we point out that adiabatic spin torque (AST) only is enough for current-driven DW motion in a cylindrical (uniaxial) nanowire. Apart from a discussion of the rigid DW motion from the energy and angular momentum viewpoint, we also propose an experimental scheme to measure the spin current polarization by combin…
Present work investigates the structural, electronic and magnetic properties of wurtzite (0001) GaN nanowires (NWs) doped with Gd and point defects by employing the GGA+U approximation. We find that Ga vacancies (VGa) exhibit lower formation energy compared to N vacancies (VN). Further stabilization of point defects occurs due to the presence of Gd and ambient ferromagnetism (FM) can be stabilized in the NW by the additional positive charge induced by the VGa. Electronic structure analysis shows that VGa introduces additional levels in the band gap leading to ferromagnetic coupling due to the …
The thermophysical properties near the magnetic phase transition point is of great importance in the study of critical phenomenon. Low-dimensional materials are suggested to hold different thermophysical properties comparing to their bulk counterpart due to the dimension induced quantum confinement and anisotropy. In this work, we measured the thermal conductivity of $α$-Fe$_2$O$_3$ nanowires along [110] direction (growing direction) with temperature from 100K to 150K and found a dip of thermal conductivity near the Morin temperature. We found the thermal conductivity near Morin temperature va…
Scaling information bits to ever smaller dimensions is a dominant drive for information technology (IT). Nanostructured phase change material emerges as a key player in the current green-IT endeavor with low power consumption, functional modularity and promising scalability. In this work, we present the demonstration of microwave AC voltage induced phase change phenomenon at 3 GHz in single Sb$_2$Te$_3$ nanowires. The resistance change by a total of 6 - 7 orders of magnitude is evidenced by a transition from the crystalline metallic to the amorphous semiconducting phase, which is cross-examine…
Recent I/V curve measurements suggest that C60 molecules deposited in gold nanojunctions change their adsorption configuration when a finite voltage in a 2-terminal setting is applied. This is of interest for molecular electronics because a robust molecular transistor could be based on such junctions if the mechanism of the process is understood. We present density functional theory based plane wave calculations, where we studied the energetics of the molecule's adsorption under the influence of an external field. Particular emphasis was placed on investigating a possible lightning rod effect …
Our ability to understand and tailor metal-organic interfaces is mandatory to functionalize organic complexes for next generation electronic and spintronic devices. For magnetic data storage applications, metal-carrying organic molecules, so called single molecular magnets (SMM) are of particular interest as they yield the possibility to store information on the molecular scale. In this work, we focus on the adsorption properties of the prototypical SMM Sc3N@C80 grown in a monolayer film on the Ag(111) substrate. We provide clear evidence of a pyramidal distortion of the otherwise planar Sc3N …
Cd3As2 is a newly booming Dirac semimetal with linear dispersion along all three momentum directions and can be viewed as 3D analog of graphene. As breaking of either time reversal symmetry or spatial inversion symmetry, the Dirac semimetal is believed to transform into Weyl semimetal with exotic chiral anomaly effect, while the experimental evidence of the chiral anomaly is still missing in Cd3As2. Here we report the magneto-transport properties of individual Cd3As2 nanowires. Large negative magnetoresistance (MR) with magnitude of -63% at 60 K and -11% at 300 K are observed when the magnetic…
Based on DFT+U and Berry curvature calculations, we study the electronic structures and topological properties of 3d transition metal (TM) atom (from Ti to Co) adsorbed germanene (TM-germanene). We find that valley-polarized anomalous hall effect (VAHE) can be realized in germanene by adsorbing Cr, Mn, or Co atom on its surface. A finite valley hall voltage can be easily detected in its nanoribbon, which is important for valleytronics devices. Moreover, different valley-polarized current and even reversible valley Hall voltage can be archived by shifting the Fermi energy of the systems. Such v…
Cooperative adsorption and diffusion trapping induced by AlF3 intercalation in graphite
Instituto de Física del Litoral (IFIS-Litoral, CONICET–UNL)（里奥托尔物理研究所）；Centro Atómico Bariloche, Comisión Nacional de Energía Atómica (CNEA)（巴里洛切原子中心，国家原子能委员会）；Departamento de Física, Facultad de Ingeniería Química, Universidad Nacional del Litoral（国立里奥托尔大学化工学院物理系）；Institute of Environmental Technology (IET), CEET, VSB – Technical University of Ostrava（俄斯特拉发理工大学CEET环境技术研究所）
Molecular adsorption at the surface of a 2D material poses numerous questions regarding the modification to the band structure and interfacial states, which of course deserve full attention. In line with this, first-principle density functional theory is employed on the graphene/ammonia system. We identify the effects on the band structure due to strain, charge transfer and presence of molecular orbitals (MOs) of NH3 for six adsorption configurations. The induced strain upon ammonia-adsorption opens the bandgap (Eg) of graphene due to the breaking of translational symmetry and shifts the equil…
We report a systematic study of p-type polarization induced doping in graded AlGaN nanowire light emitting diodes grown on silicon wafers by plasma-assisted molecular beam epitaxy. The composition gradient in the p-type base is varied in a set of samples from 0.7 %Al/nm to 4.95 %Al/nm corresponding to negative bound polarization charge densities of 2.2x10^18 cm^-3 to 1.6x10^19 cm^-3. Capacitance measurements and energy band modeling reveal that for gradients greater than or equal to 1.30 %Al/nm, the deep donor concentration is negligible and free hole concentrations roughly equal to the bound …
In order to improve the precision of domain wall dynamics measurements, we develop a coplanar waveguide-based setup where the domain wall motion should be triggered by pulses of magnetic field. The latter are produced by the Oersted field of the waveguide as a current pulse travels toward its termination, where it is dissipated. Our objective is to eliminate a source of bias in domain wall speed estimation while optimizing the field amplitude. Here, we present implementations of this concept for magnetic force microscopy (MFM) and synchrotron-based investigation.
We investigate monocrystalline InAs nanowires (NWs) which are grown by molecular beam epitaxy (MBE) and induced by focused ion beam (FIB) implanted Au spots. With this unique combination of methods an increase of the aspect ratio, i.e. the length to width ratio, of the grown NWs up to 300 was achieved. To control the morphology and crystalline structure of the NWs, the growth parameters like temperature, flux ratios and implantation fluence are varied and optimized. Furthermore, the influence of the used molecular arsenic species, in particular the As$_2$ to As$_4$ ratio, is investigated and a…
When a topological insulator is made into a nanowire, the interplay between topology and size quantization gives rise to peculiar one-dimensional states whose energy dispersion can be manipulated by external fields. In the presence of proximity-induced superconductivity, these 1D states offer a tunable platform for Majorana zero modes. While the existence of such peculiar 1D states has been experimentally confirmed, the realization of robust proximity-induced superconductivity in topological-insulator nanowires remains a challenge. Here, we report the realization of superconducting topological…
We report on current induced domain wall propagation in a patterned GaMnAs microwire with perpendicular magnetization. An unexpected slowing down of the propagation velocity has been found when the moving domain wall extends over only half of the width of the wire. This slowing down is related to the elongation of a longitudinal wall along the axis of the wire. By using an energy balance argument, the expected theoretical dependence of the velocity change has been calculated and compared with the experimental results. According to this, the energy associated to the longitudinal domain wall sho…
Compound semiconducting nanowires are promising building blocks for several nanoelectronic devices yet the inability to reliably control their growth morphology is a major challenge. Here, we report the Au-catalyzed vapor-liquid-solid (VLS) growth of GaN nanowires with controlled growth direction, surface polarity and surface roughness. We develop a theoretical model that relates the growth form to the kinetic frustration induced by variations in the V(N)/III(Ga) ratio across the growing nanowire front. The model predictions are validated by the trends in the as-grown morphologies induced by s…
Density Functional Theory calculations are used to investigate the role of substrate-induced cooperative effects on the adsorption of water on a partially oxidized transition metal surface, O(2x2)/Ru(0001). Focussing particularly on the dimer configuration, we analyze the different contributions to its binding energy. A significant reinforcement of the intermolecular hydrogen-bond (H-bond), also supported by the observed frequency shifts of the vibration modes, is attributed to the polarization of the donor molecule when bonded to the Ru atoms in the substrate. This result is further confirmed…
