The C 1<Emphasis Type="Italic">s</Emphasis> core level spectroscopy of carbon atoms at the surface SiC/Si(111)-4° layer and Cs/SiC/Si(111)-4° interface

Photoemission studies of the electronic structure of the Cs/nano-SiC/Si(111)-4° nanointerface are for the first time carried out with the use of synchrotron radiation in the photon energy range 120–450 eV. The in situ experiments are conducted in the case of submonolayer Cs coating of the surface of an epitaxial SiC layer grown on the vicinal surface Si(111)-4° by a new method of substrate-atom substitution. Modification of the valence-band spectra and the C 1s and Si 2p core levels is studied. The appearance of Cs-induced surface states, with binding energies of 1.2 and 7.4 eV, and a sharp change in the spectrum of the C 1s core level with the appearance of two additional modes are found. The evolution of the spectra shows that the Cs/nano-SiC/Si(111)-4° interface is formed due to charge transfer from Cs adatoms to surface atoms at terraces and steps of the vicinal surface. It is found that the structure of the C layer is nontrivial and involves energetically different carbon states.     

Detecting and quantifying oxygen functional groups on graphite nanofibers by fluorescence labeling of surface species

The ability to quantify functional groups on graphitic carbon nanofiber (GCNF) surfaces and to covalently attach ligands chemoselectively will aid in the development of functionalized GCNFs and potentially other carbon nanomaterials for applications in nanotechnology. Herein, we report the identification and quantification of functional groups on the surface of GCNFs using fluorescence labeling of surface species (FLOSS). Using reactions that are selective for specific functional groups and fluorescent dyes containing the dansyl group, surface aldehyde/ketone, carboxyl, and hydroxyl groups were identified and quantified in their total and relative amounts by FLOSS. Oxygen-containing functionality that was detected by FLOSS on nitric acid-oxidized GCNFs totaled approximately 2.5% of surface carbon, present as 0.9% aldehyde/ketone, 1.2% carboxyl groups on average, and 0.4% hydroxyl groups. The amounts of oxygen-containing functional groups on as-produced and demineralized GCNFs were much lower, amounting to no more than 0.05% of aldehyde/ketone groups on demineralized GCNFs and 0.3% of these groups on as-produced fibers. The FLOSS method has revealed information about the fiber surface that is not accessible by other methods, while also providing insight into the chemical reactivities of functional groups that can be used as sites for the attachment of ligands to give covalently functionalized materials.     

Laser Setup for Testing Silicon Microstrip Detectors

Instruments and Experimental Techniques - A setup for conducting channel-by-channel testing and calibration of microstrip silicon detectors using collimated laser pulses is described. A feature of...     

Detection of low concentration oxygen containing functional groups on activated carbon fiber surfaces through fluorescent labeling

Covalent fluorescent labeling of surface species (FLOSS) was used to detect relatively low concentrations of surface functional groups (OH, COOH and CHO) on activated carbon fiber surfaces. The chromophores were attached to the surface through a reaction specific to each type of surface functional group. FLOSS indicated the presence of 8.7 × 10¹¹ COOH groups/cm² and 1.3 × 10¹² CHO groups/cm² on the ACF 25 fiber surface. Neither the infrared spectrum nor the X-ray photoelectron spectrum showed evidence of the existence of those low concentration groups. The concentration of OH groups on the fiber surface was lower than the detection limit (∼10¹⁰/cm²) of FLOSS under the present conditions. The FLOSS results for CHO and COOH groups were compared with the concentrations determined by Boehm titration (3.11 × 10¹³/cm² for CHO and 1.05 × 10¹³/cm² for COOH). The limited accessibility of the ACF surface to relatively large chromophores is one of the main reasons for the discrepancy between these two methods. FLOSS detects only exposed functional groups as opposed to functional groups hidden in small pores. This apparent limitation, however, highlights the surface sensitivity and specificity of FLOSS technique.     

Transformation of the buffer layer grown on 4H-SiC to single-layer graphene by ex situ hydrogen intercalation

Abstract

The buffer layer samples grown on the Si-face of the 4H- and 6H-SiC substrates were heated in a hydrogen flow at different temperatures (600–900?°C) and heating times (40–60?min) in order to obtain quasi-freestanding monolayer graphene. Their structural properties were characterized before and after heating by using the methods of Raman spectroscopy, atomic force microscopy, Kelvin probe force microscopy, and low-energy electron diffraction. The dependence of the degree of coverage of the sample with quasi-freestanding graphene and the number of defects in the resulting films on the heating temperature was studied. As a result of optimization of the technological parameters, it is shown that the highest quality of the resulting quasi-freestanding graphene can be achieved by using the following parameters: heating time of 40?minutes and temperature of 800?°C.     

Topological Surface States of Multicomponent Thermoelectrics Based on Bismuth Telluride

Semiconductors - The surface states of Dirac fermions in p-Bi2Te3, p-Bi2 –xSbxTe3 –ySey, and p-Bi2 –x–ySnxGeyTe3 thermoelectrics were studied and its topological...     

Development of the Physicochemical Properties of the GaSb(100) Surface in Ammonium Sulfide Solutions

Semiconductors - Various conditions of passivation of the GaSb(100) surface by ammonium sulfide ((NH4)2S) solutions depending on the solution concentration, solvent, and treatment time are...     

Topological Surface States of Dirac Fermions in n-Bi2Te3 –ySey Thermoelectrics

Semiconductors - In n-Bi2Te3 and n-Bi2Te3 –ySey thermoelectrics, the surface states of Dirac fermions of the interlayer Van der Waals surface (0001) are studied by scanning tunneling...     

Comparison of graphene films grown on 6H-SiC and 4H-SiC substrates

Abstract

Atomic force microscopy, Kelvin-probe microscopy and Raman spectroscopy have been used to examine graphene films grown by thermal decomposition of the Si face of semi-insulating substrates of 6H-SiC and 4H-SiC polytypes in the atmosphere of argon. It was demonstrated that the quality of graphene grown on substrates of various polytypes at identical technological growth regimes is about the same. A conclusion was made that the differences in crystal structure between 6H-SiC and 4H-SiC does not lead to significant dissimilarities in the mechanism of sublimation of silicon carbide components from the surface of a crystal and in that of graphene crystallization.     

Comparative Study of Conventional and Quasi-Freestanding Epitaxial Graphenes Grown on 4H-SiC Substrate

Semiconductors - The structural and some other characteristics of quasi-freestanding single-layer graphene obtained by annealing of the buffer layer in the flow of hydrogen are studied in...