美国科学家研发出直径仅数十纳米的半导体材料纳米线

美国科学家最近成功开发出了一种采用硅锗半导体材料制成的纳米线。该技术的研发团队展示了几种原子级尺寸的,采用不同的硅锗材料制成的分层结构纳米线,这种纳米线可以有效地传输电荷,其接口尺寸可以做到仅有一个原子大小。     

镍间隙掺杂硅纳米线电子结构的研究

采用基于密度泛函理论的第一性原理的方法,对[100]方向镍间隙掺杂硅纳米线结构的稳定性和电子性质进行了计算。计算结果表明Ni原子更喜欢占据硅纳米线内部六角形间隙位置;掺杂体系费米能级附近的电子态密度来源于Ni3d态电子的贡献;同时发现不同构型的Ni掺杂硅纳米线,其带隙不同,且与未掺杂硅纳米线相比,带隙普遍减小。     

掺杂原子质量对硅声子散射的影响

本文采用分子动力学方法,重点研究了掺杂原子质量对硅晶格振动行为的影响,在原子尺度上清楚地展示出目前实际无法展现的点缺陷影响声子散射的演化过程。结果表明:同位素掺杂的存在会在特定声子频率区引起共振,使透射率显著减少,掺杂原子质量较大时共振区域明显扩大,且透射率随掺杂浓度增加下降得越快,会使材料导热性变差;掺杂原子质量相同时,共振区中最小透射率对应的频率值不随浓度变化而改变。在大于共振频率时,有明显LA到TA声子模式的转变,随掺杂原子质量的增加TA模式所占比例增大。这些结果对深入认识点缺陷对晶格导热微观机制的影响有积极意义。     

超高真空中锗衬底上铁锗化合物纳米结构的外延生长

采用分子束外延法在250~700℃的Ge(111)衬底表面生长出铁的锗化物纳米结构,原位扫描隧道显微镜观察表明,在300℃以下,Ge(111)衬底上生长的铁锗化合物以三维岛的形式存在,高于此温度,Ge(111)衬底上将生长出短棒和纳米线形状的铁锗化合物。当温度高于550℃时,Ge(111)衬底上只有纳米线生成,且纳米线沿着1-10三个等价方向生长,具有三重对称性。扫描隧道谱测量表明,三维岛具有金属特性而短棒和纳米线则呈现半导体性质。此外,X射线光电子能谱测试表明,相对于三维岛,纳米线的Fe2p3/2和Fe2p1/2峰向低结合能方向发生了移动,进一步证明了从三维岛到纳米线发生了相变。     

锌浴中加锡对0.37%Si钢热浸镀锌的影响

为避免热镀锌时含硅活性钢形成表面灰暗、超厚而粘附性差的镀层,研究了0.37%Si钢在含锡量分别为0,3%,5%,7%和12%(质量分数)的锌浴中浸镀不同时间时镀锌层的生长及组织变化.结果表明,在锌浴中加入一定量的锡以后,镀层的超厚生长得到了抑制.当锡含量小于5%时,抑制效果随锡量增加而增加,当锡含量大于5%时,抑制效果随锡量增加不再明显增加.在锌浴中加5%锡以后,高硅钢的镀层中的δ层变厚而非常致密,ζ层显著变薄并由疏松的块状变为排列整齐的柱状晶.基于镀层中微区成分分析结果,锌浴加锡抑镀层快速生长的原因是由于在ζ层的前沿形成了一个阻碍铁锌互扩散的富锡区.     

接触--纳电子器件的关键

接触是纳电子器件研究中的重要课题.我们以由6个金原子构成的Au6原子线簇为核心工作区的原型纳电子器件为例,利用Green函数方法计算了它的电流-电压特性.计算结果表明,随着Au6原子线簇与两端电极的接触由弱到强,整个纳电子器件的电学特性发生了由以共振隧穿为主要特征的分子导电到量子化电导的巨大变化.因此,接触在很大程度上决定了纳电子器件的电学特性.     

热蒸发铜粉法制备硅纳米线的研究

研究发现,热蒸发铜粉即可在硅衬底上直接生长出硅纳米线.场发射电子扫描电镜和透射电镜分析表明,纳米线的形貌、结构及生长机制,随沉积区域的不同而变化.在高温沉积区,硅纳米线高度弯曲且相互缠绕,按气-液-固机制生长;在低温沉积区,高度定向生长的直硅纳米线,规整地排列在硅衬底表面,其生长机制是氧化辅助生长机制.     

栅极调制纳米线的场发射特性

建立一个理想的带栅极纳米线模型,利用静电场理论计算出纳米线顶端电场增强因子,进一步分析了栅孔半径以及栅极电压等参数对电场增强因子和纳米线顶端表面电流密度的影响.结果表明,在加较大的栅极电压的情况下栅孔半径越小,电场增强因子就越大,且随着栅极电压的增加电场增强因子近似地线性增加;而当栅极电压等于零(或接近于零)时栅孔对纳米线表面电场的屏蔽效应较显著,栅孔半径越大,电场增强因子反而越大;电流密度在纳米线顶端边缘处最大,而且随着栅极电压的增加而呈指数增加.     

驾驶员座椅半主动空气悬架系统振动特性实验研究

构建了座椅半主动悬架振动特性测试实验系统,将带附加气室的空气弹簧、比例流量阀及磁流变减振器同时应用于座椅悬架,通过控制比例流量阀输入电压和磁流变减振器输入电流调节座椅悬架系统的刚度和阻尼,对不同参变量下座椅悬架系统的振动特性进行了实验研究。研究结果表明,在共振区,比例阀输入电压和磁流变输入电流的变化对系统位移传递率和加速度均方根值影响较大,而在低频振动区和隔振区影响较小;比例阀电压的增大可以降低系统的共振频率,磁流变电流的增大可以减小系统在共振区的位移传递率和加速度均方根值。     

电-磁场协同增强高功率脉冲磁控放电特性研究北大核心CSCD

研究电-磁场协同增强高功率脉冲磁控溅射(Hi PIMS)技术的放电特性。利用数字示波器采集Hi PIMS的基体离子电流用于表征其放电特性的变化。结果表明:当Hi PIMS电压由580增加到660 V时,随励磁线圈电流的增加,基体离子电流平均值单调增加;随辅助阳极电压的增加,基体离子电流平均值单调增加;随辅助阳极在真空室内的位置由与阴极靶成45°位置处变化为成180°位置处时,基体离子电流平均值单调减少。电-磁场协同增强Hi PIMS放电效应存在临界条件。当Hi PIMS电压为580 V、励磁线圈电流为4 A。仅阳极电压大于50 V时,电场和磁场产生协同增强放电效应。同时,当辅助阳极电压为70 V,仅励磁电流大于3 A时,电场和磁场产生协同增强放电效应。与常规Hi PIMS相比,电-磁场协同增强Hi PIMS放电时真空室内不同位置处收集的离子束流均显著增加。其中,当辅助阳极位于45°位置处时,在真空室内不同位置(与阴极靶成0°、45°、90°、135°以及180°位置)处的离子束流值最大。     

Optical resonance near the edge of a photonic band gap (PBG): turning the effects of a PBG on/off using a resonant driving field

We studied the effects of a coherent monochromatic resonant laser field driving the transition of a two-level atom embedded in a photonic band gap (PBG) material on the emission dynamics of the atom. When the transition frequency of the atom lies outside a PBG and sufficiently far from the band edge that the emission dynamics of the atom is not normally affected by the gap, the dynamic stark splitting of the upper level of the atom into two dressed states by a sufficiently strong resonant driving field can bring the lower dressed state close enough to the band edge or even inside the gap so as to be affected by the gap, providing a switchable means of extending the novel effects of atom–photon interaction near the edge of a PBG for atomic transitions outside the gap and far from the band edge. The net effect is as if a sufficiently strong resonant field driving a transition of an atom embedded in a PBG actively shifts the PBG close enough to the transition so that the gap affects the emission dynamics associated with the transition.     

Shaping the Atomic‐Scale Geometries of Electrodes to Control Optical and Electrical Performance of Molecular Devices

A straightforward method to generate both atomic‐scale sharp and atomic‐scale planar electrodes is reported. The atomic‐scale sharp electrodes are generated by precisely stretching a suspended nanowire, while the atomic‐scale planar electrodes are obtained via mechanically controllable interelectrodes compression followed by a thermal‐driven atom migration process. Notably, the gap size between the electrodes can be precisely controlled at subangstrom accuracy with this method. These two types of electrodes are subsequently employed to investigate the properties of single molecular junctions. It is found, for the first time, that the conductance of the amine‐linked molecular junctions can be enhanced ≈50% as the atomic‐scale sharp electrodes are used. However, the atomic‐scale planar electrodes show great advantages to enhance the sensitivity of Raman scattering upon the variation of nanogap size. The underlying mechanisms for these two interesting observations are clarified with the help of density functional theory calculation and finite‐element method simulation. These findings not only provide a strategy to control the electron transport through the molecule junction, but also pave a way to modulate the optical response as well as to improve the stability of single molecular devices via the rational design of electrodes geometries.     

Mechanical and electrical properties of stretched clean and H-contaminated Pd-nanowires

We analyze theoretically the formation of stretched Pd-nanowires and their interaction with hydrogen. In our approach, we simulate the nanowire stretching process using a first-principles molecular-dynamics method to obtain realistic atomic geometries of the contact in its final stages before the nanowire breaks. The electrical conductance of the nanowire is also calculated at each point of the deformation path. For the clean Pd-nanowire in the last stages of the deformation process we find that the nanowire develops, first, a one-atom-neck and, at the end, a dimer whose bond is finally broken. For these atomic configurations, the calculated electrical conductances are in good agreement with the experimental evidence. The interaction with hydrogen is analyzed adsorbing one or two H atoms on the Pd-nanowire for different configurations along the stretching process. In the case of one H atom we obtain geometries with conductances in the range 0.8-1.4G(0), while for two H atoms we find conductance plateaus with values ～0.5G(0) and ～1.0G(0). These results are in excellent agreement with the experimental evidence for nanocontact breaking in an H(2) atmosphere and indicate that the conductance peak around 0.5G(0) observed experimentally is associated with nanowires where two H atoms have been adsorbed.     

Electronic transmission and switch effect in kappa-component Fibonacci nanowires

We present the electronic transport in the k-component Fibonacci (KCF) nanowires, in which kappa different incommensurate intervals are arranged according to a substitution rule. For the KCF nanowires with an identical kappa, by increasing the length of the nanowire, the minima in transmission extend gradually into the band gap over which the transmission is blocked. Meanwhile more transmission peaks appear. For finite KCF nanowire, by increasing the number of different incommensurate intervals kappa, the width of electronic band gap is enlarged. Moreover, when the value of kappa is sufficiently large, the transmission is shut off, except at a few resonant energies. These properties make it possible to use the KCF nanowires as switching devices. Furthermore, a dimensional spectrum of singularities associated with the transmission spectrum demonstrates that the electronic propagation in the KCF nanowire shows multifractality. These investigations open a unique way to control quantum transport in nanodevices.     

Scanned probe imaging of quantum dots inside InAs nanowires

We show how a scanning probe microscope (SPM) can be used to image electron flow through InAs nanowires, elucidating the physics of nanowire devices on a local scale. A charged SPM tip is used as a movable gate. Images of nanowire conductance versus tip position spatially map the conductance of InAs nanowires at liquid-He temperatures. Plots of conductance versus backgate voltage without the tip present show complex patterns of Coulomb-blockade peaks. Images of nanowire conductance identify their source as multiple quantum dots formed by disorder along the nanowire--each dot is surrounded by a series of concentric rings corresponding to Coulomb blockade peaks. An SPM image locates the dots and provides information about their size. In this way, SPM images can be used to understand the features that control transport through nanowires. The nanowires were grown from metal catalyst particles and have diameters approximately 80 nm and lengths 2-3 microm.     

Silicon nanowire Esaki diodes

We report on the fabrication and characterization of silicon nanowire tunnel diodes. The silicon nanowires were grown on p-type Si substrates using Au-catalyzed vapor-liquid-solid growth and in situ n-type doping. Electrical measurements reveal Esaki diode characteristics with peak current densities of 3.6 kA/cm(2), peak-to-valley current ratios of up to 4.3, and reverse current densities of up to 300 kA/cm(2) at 0.5 V reverse bias. Strain-dependent current-voltage (I-V) measurements exhibit a decrease of the peak tunnel current with uniaxial tensile stress and an increase of 48% for 1.3 GPa compressive stress along the <111> growth direction, revealing the strain dependence of the Si band structure and thus the tunnel barrier. The contributions of phonons to the indirect tunneling process were probed by conductance measurements at 4.2 K. These measurements show phonon peaks at energies corresponding to the transverse acoustical and transverse optical phonons. In addition, the low-temperature conductance measurements were extended to higher biases to identify potential impurity states in the band gap. The results demonstrate that the most likely impurity, namely, Au from the catalyst particle, is not detectable, a finding that is also supported by the excellent device properties of the Esaki diodes reported here.     

MgZnO nanowires based deep ultraviolet heterojunction light emitting diodes

Vertically aligned Mg alloyed ZnO nanowires were successfully grown by Chemical Vapor deposition method in a tube furnace. Structural analysis found that the MgZnO nanowires are with single crystalline without phase separations. The atomic ratio of Mg/O in the nanowire was determined to be approximately 15%. Photoluminescence spectra show that the band gap of ZnO nanowire was tuned to approximately 3.6 eV due to Mg incorporation. N-type MgZnO nanowires/p-type GaN was used for heterojunctional light emitting diode fabrication. Electroluminescence measurement yielded ultraviolet emission peaks, which includes a deep ultraviolet at approximately 340 nm. The results suggest that successful Mg alloying in ZnO nanowires was achieved and is promising for deep ultraviolet devices.     

Optical properties of heavily doped GaAs nanowires and electroluminescent nanowire structures

We present GaAs electroluminescent nanowire structures fabricated by metal organic vapor phase epitaxy. Electroluminescent structures were realized in both axial pn-junctions in single GaAs nanowires and free-standing nanowire arrays with a pn-junction formed between nanowires and substrate, respectively. The electroluminescence emission peak from single nanowire pn-junctions at 10 K was registered at an energy of around 1.32 eV and shifted to 1.4 eV with an increasing current. The line is attributed to the recombination in the compensated region present in the nanowire due to the memory effect of the vapor-liquid-solid growth mechanism. Arrayed nanowire electroluminescent structures with a pn-junction formed between nanowires and substrate demonstrated at 5 K a strong electroluminescence peak at 1.488 eV and two shoulder peaks at 1.455 and 1.519 eV. The main emission line was attributed to the recombination in the p-doped GaAs. The other two lines correspond to the tunneling-assisted photon emission and band-edge recombination in the abrupt junction, respectively. Electroluminescence spectra are compared with the micro-photoluminescence spectra taken along the single p-, n- and single nanowire pn-junctions to find the origin of the electroluminescence peaks, the distribution of doping species and the sharpness of the junctions.     

The Effect of Low Level Antimony on the Tin Temperature Fixed Point

Impurities are a major source of uncertainty in the temperature of a thermometry metal fixed point (of the order of 1 mK). A better understanding of the impurity effect is required to improve top-level metrological thermometry. This investigation reports on some unusual effects of antimony doped into a high-purity (99.9999%) tin sample. The change in temperature and shape of the melting and freezing curves of the tin, caused by low concentrations of the Sb dopant, were measured in order to test the interpolation of previous data. Most historical experiments have worked at much higher impurity concentrations??say of the order of 100 ppm??and in arrangements that are not used on a day-to-day basis in a metrology laboratory. These measurements on the tin were done after doping at mass fractions of approximately (1 and 25) parts per million by weight (ppmw) of antimony. Repeated melting and freezing curves, before and after doping, confirmed the reproducibility of the temperature measurements in this tin cell. The freezing temperature of the tin after adding antimony was higher than for ??pure?? tin. However, the temperature change was less than expected, being an average (+0.06±0.03) mK · ppmw^?1. Samples from the tin were analyzed by glow discharge mass spectrometry (GD-MS) before and after doping to detect the distribution of all the impurity elements. If the dopant level detected by GD-MS was used, then a value of (0.18 or 0.29) mK · ppmw^?1 was calculated (much closer to the value interpolated from earlier works). There was evidence that the thermal history of metal phase transitions can cause considerable segregation of some impurities and that the effects of this segregation can be clearly seen on the shape of the melting curves of tin doped with Sb. (The segregation might be more pronounced as Sb forms a peritectic in tin, i.e., a ??positive?? impurity which increase the phase transition temperature).     

Conductance, surface traps, and passivation in doped silicon nanowires

We perform ab initio calculations within the Landauer formalism to study the influence of doping on the conductance of surface-passivated silicon nanowires. It is shown that impurities located in the core of the wire induce a strong resonant backscattering at the impurity bound state energies. Surface dangling bond defects have hardly any direct effect on conductance, but they strongly trap both p- and n-type impurities, as evidenced in the case of H-passivated wires and Si/SiO2 interfaces. Upon surface trapping, impurities become transparent to transport, as they are electrically inactive and do not induce any resonant backscattering.