Feedstock and byproduct diffusion in the root growth of aligned CNT arrays was discussed in this work. A non-dimensional modulus was proposed to differentiate catalyst-decay controlled growth deceleration from diffusion controlled one. It was found that aligned MWNT arrays are usually free of feedstock diffusion while SWNT arrays are usually facing strong diffusion limit. The present method can also be utilized to predict the maximum length that CNT forest can grow in certain CVD process.
Microtribological properties of vertically-aligned carbon-nanotube (VACNT) films have been studied. Adhesion forces were obtained by measuring force-displacement curves. Friction experiments were conducted in reciprocating sliding configurations. Effects of tip radius, applied force, scan speed, and relative humidity were investigated. A model of the friction of VACNT film is discussed on the basis of in-situ tribological experiments inside a scanning electron microscope (SEM).
The aim of this study is to probe the influence of water vapor environment on the microtribological properties of a forestlike vertically aligned carbon nanotube (VACNT) film, deposited on a silicon (001) substrate by chemical vapor deposition. Tribological experiments were performed using a gold tip under relative humidity varying from 0 to 100%. Very low adhesion forces and high friction coefficients of 0.6 to 1.3 resulted. The adhesion and friction forces were independent of humidity, due probably to the high hydrophobicity of VACNT. These tribological characteristics were compared to those of a diamond like carbon (DLC) sample.
We study theoretically the in-plane electromagnetic response and the exciton-plasmon interactions for an experimentally feasible carbon nanotube (CN) film systems composed of parallel aligned periodic semiconducting CN arrays embedded in an ultrathin finite-thickness dielectric. For homogeneous single-CN films, the intertube coupling and thermal broadening bring the exciton and interband plasmon resonances closer together. They can even overlap due to the inhomogeneous broadening for films composed of array mixtures with a slight CN diameter distribution. In such systems the real part of the response function is negative for a broad range of energies (negative refraction band), and the CN film behaves as a hyperbolic metamaterial. We also show that for a properly fabricated two-component CN film, by varying the relative weights of the two constituent CN array components one can tune the optical absorption profile to make the film transmit or absorb light in the neighborhood of an exciton absorption resonance on-demand.
We report the growth of the intrinsic magnetic topological system MnTe(Bi2Te3)n by molecular beam epitaxy. By mapping the temperature and the Bi:Mn flux ratio, it is shown that there is a narrow growth window for the n=1 phase MnBi2Te4 with 2.0<Bi:Mn<2.6 at 225 {deg}C. Here the films are stoichiometric and excess Bi and Te is not incorporated. At higher flux ratios (Bi:Mn>4.5) it is found that the n = 2 MnBi4Te7 phase is stabilized. Transport measurements indicate that the MnBi2Te4 and MnBi4Te7 undergo magnetic transitions around 25 K, and 10 K, respectively, consistent with antiferromagnetic phases found in the bulk. Further, for Mn-rich conditions (Bi:Mn<2), ferromagnetism emerges that exhibits a clear hysteretic state in the Hall effect, which likely indicates Mn-doped MnBi2Te4. Understanding how to grow ternary chalcogenide phases is the key to synthesizing new materials and to interface magnetism and topology, which together are routes to realize and control exotic quantum phenomena.
We present a new theoretical framework for Diffusion Limited Aggregation and associated Dielectric Breakdown Models in two dimensions. Key steps are understanding how these models interrelate when the ultra-violet cut-off strategy is changed, the analogy with turbulence and the use of logarithmic field variables. Within the simplest, Gaussian, truncation of mode-mode coupling, all properties can be calculated. The agreement with prior knowledge from simulations is encouraging, and a new superuniversality of the tip scaling exponent is both predicted and confirmed.