No Arabic abstract
This article presents studies on low-field electrical conduction in the range 4-to-300 K for a ultrafast material: InGaAs:ErAs grown by molecular beam epitaxy. The unique properties include nano-scale ErAs crystallines in host semiconductor, a deep Fermi level, and picosecond ultrafast photocarrier recombination. As the temperature drops, the conduction mechanisms are in the sequence of thermal activation, nearest-neighbor hopping, variable-range hopping, and Anderson localization. In the low-temperature limit, finite-conductivity metallic behavior, not insulating, was observed. This unusual conduction behavior is explained with the Abrahams scaling theory.
The low-temperature thermal conductivity in polycrystalline graphene is theoretically studied. The contributions from three branches of acoustic phonons are calculated by taking into account scattering on sample borders, point defects and grain boundaries. Phonon scattering due to sample borders and grain boundaries is shown to result in a $T^{alpha}$-behaviour in the thermal conductivity where $alpha$ varies between 1 and 2. This behaviour is found to be more pronounced for nanosized grain boundaries. PACS: 65.80.Ck, 81.05.ue, 73.43.Cd
The industrial realization of graphene has so far been limited by challenges related to the quality, reproducibility, and high process temperatures required to manufacture graphene on suitable substrates. We demonstrate that epitaxial graphene can be grown on transition metal treated 6H-SiC(0001) surfaces, with an onset of graphitization starting around $450-500^circtext{C}$. From the chemical reaction between SiC and thin films of Fe or Ru, $text{sp}^{3}$ carbon is liberated from the SiC crystal and converted to $text{sp}^{2}$ carbon at the surface. The quality of the graphene is demonstrated using angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy and low-energy electron diffraction. Furthermore, the orientation and placement of the graphene layers relative to the SiC substrate is verified using angle-resolved absorption spectroscopy and energy-dependent photoelectron spectroscopy, respectively. With subsequent thermal treatments to higher temperatures, a steerable diffusion of the metal layers into the bulk SiC is achieved. The result is graphene supported on magnetic silicide or optionally, directly on semiconductor, at temperatures ideal for further large-scale processing into graphene based device structures.
The contribution of bulk and surface to the electrical resistance along crystallographic textit{b}- and textit{c}-axes as a function of crystal thickness gives evidence for a temperature independent surface states in an antiferromagnetic narrow-gap semiconductor CrSb$_{2}$. ARPES shows a clear electron-like pocket at $Gamma$-$Z$ direction which is absent in the bulk band structure. First-principles calculations also confirm the existence of metallic surface states inside the bulk gap. Whereas combined experimental probes point to enhanced surface conduction similar to topological insulators, surface states are trivial since CrSb$_2$ exhibits no band inversion.
Multiferroic materials have driven significant research interest due to their promising technological potential. Developing new room-temperature multiferroics and understanding their fundamental properties are important to reveal unanticipated physical phenomena and potential applications. Here, a new room temperature multiferroic nanocomposite comprised of an ordered ferrimagnetic spinel LiFe5O8 (LFO) and a ferroelectric perovskite BiFeO3 (BFO) is presented. We observed that lithium (Li)-doping in BFO favors the formation of LFO spinel as a secondary phase during the synthesis of LixBi1-xFeO3 nanoceramics. Multimodal functional and chemical imaging methods are used to map the relationship between doping-induced phase separation and local ferroic properties in both the BFO-LFO composite ceramics and self-assembled nanocomposite thin films. The energetics of phase separation in Li doped BFO and the formation of BFO-LFO composites is supported by first principles calculations. These findings shed light on Li-ion role in the formation of a functionally important room temperature multiferroic and open a new approach in the synthesis of light element doped nanocomposites.
Finding new ionic conductors that enable significant advancements in the development of energy-storage devices is a challenging goal of current material science. Aside of material classes as ionic liquids or amorphous ion conductors, the so-called plastic crystals (PCs) have been shown to be good candidates combining high conductivity and favourable mechanical properties. PCs are formed by molecules whose orientational degrees of freedom still fluctuate despite the material exhibits a well-defined crystalline lattice. Here we show that the conductivity of Li+ ions in succinonitrile, the most prominent molecular PC electrolyte, can be enhanced by several decades when replacing part of the molecules in the crystalline lattice by larger ones. Dielectric spectroscopy reveals that this is accompanied by a stronger coupling of ionic and reorientational motions. These findings, which can be understood in terms of an optimised revolving door mechanism, open a new path towards the development of better solid-state electrolytes.