No Arabic abstract
In this thesis we present a kinetic Monte Carlo model for the description of epitaxial graphene growth. Experimental results suggest a growth mechanism by which clusters of 5 carbon atoms are an intermediate species necessary for nucleation and island growth. This model is proposed by experimentally studying the velocity of growth of islands which is a highly nonlinear function of adatom concentration. In our simulation we incorporate this intermediate species and show that it can explain all other experimental observations: the temperature dependence of the adatom nucleation density, the equilibrium adatom density and the temperature dependence of the equilibrium island density. All these processes are described only by the kinematics of the system.
To study epitaxial thin-film growth, a new model is introduced and extensive kinetic Monte Carlo simulations performed for a wide range of fluxes and temperatures. Varying the deposition conditions, a rich growth diagram is found. The model also reproduces several known regimes and in the limit of low particle mobility a new regime is defined. Finally, a relation is postulated between the temperatures of the kinetic and thermal roughening transitions.
A kinetic Monte Carlo approach is applied to studying shape instability of nanowires that results in their breaking up into chains of nanoparticles. Our approach can be used to explore dynamical features of the process that correspond to experimental findings, but that cannot be interpreted by continuum mechanisms reminiscent of the description of the Plateau-Rayleigh instability in liquid jets. For example, we observe long-lived dumbbell-type fragments and other typical non-liquid-jet characteristics of the process, as well as confirm the observed lattice-orientation dependence of the breakup process of single-crystal nanowires. We provide snapshots of the process dynamics, and elaborate on the nanowire-end effects, as well as on the morphology of the resulting nanoparticles.
Graphene is generally considered to be a strong candidate to succeed silicon as an electronic material. However, to date, it actually has not yet demonstrated capabilities that exceed standard semiconducting materials. Currently demonstrated viable graphene devices are essentially limited to micron size ultrahigh frequency analog field effect transistors and quantum Hall effect devices for metrology. Nanoscopically patterned graphene tends to have disordered edges that severely reduce mobilities thereby obviating its advantage over other materials. Here we show that graphene grown on structured silicon carbide surfaces overcomes the edge roughness and promises to provide an inroad into nanoscale patterning of graphene. We show that high quality ribbons and rings can be made using this technique. We also report on progress towards high mobility graphene monolayers on silicon carbide for device applications.
We consider the use of a Kinetic Monte Carlo approach for the description of non-equilibrium bosonic systems, taking non-resonantly excited exciton-polariton condensates and bosonic cascade lasers as examples. In the former case, the considered approach allows the study of the cross-over between incoherent and coherent regimes, which represents the formation of a quasi-condensate that forms purely from the action of energy relaxation processes rather than interactions between the condensing particles themselves. In the latter case, we show that a bosonic cascade can theoretically develop an output coherent state.
In this work, we adopt first-principle calculations based on density functional theory and Kinetic Monte Carlo simulations to investigate the adsorption and diffusion of lithium in bilayer graphene (BLG) as anodes in lithium-ion batteries. Based on energy barriers directly obtained from first-principle calculations for single-Li and two-Li intercalated BLG, a new equation was deduced for predicting energy barriers considering Lis interactions for multi-Li intercalated BLG. Our calculated results indicate that Li energetically prefers to intercalate within rather than adsorb outside the bilayer graphene. Additionally, lithium exists in cationic state in the bilayer graphene. More excitingly, ultrafast Li diffusion coefficient, within AB-stacked BLG near room temperature was obtained, which reproduces the ultrafast Li diffusion coefficient measured in recent experiment. However, ultrafast Li diffusion was not found within AA-stacked BLG near room temperature. The analyses of potential distribution indicate that the stacking structure of BLG greatly affects its height of potential well within BLG, which directly leads to the large difference in Li diffusion. Furthermore, it is found that both the interaction among Li ions and the stacking, structure cause Li diffusion within AB-stacked BLG to exhibit directional preference. Finally, the temperature dependence of Li diffusion is described by the Arrhenius law. These findings suggest that the stacking structure of BLG has an important influence on Li diffusion within BLG, and changing the stacking structure of BLG is one possible way to greatly improve Li diffusion rate within BLG. At last, it is suggested that AB-stacked BLG can be an excellent candidate for anode material in Lithium-ion batteries.