| 1. |
- Alnoor, Hatim, et al.
(författare)
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Exploring MXenes and their MAX phase precursors by electron microscopy
- 2021
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Ingår i: Materials Today Advances. - : Elsevier. - 2590-0498. ; 9
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- This review celebrates the width and depth of electron microscopy methods and how these have enabled massive research efforts on MXenes. MXenes constitute a powerful recent addition to 2-dimensional materials, derived from their parent family of nanolaminated materials known as MAX phases. Owing to their rich chemistry, MXenes exhibit properties that have revolutionized ranges of applications, including energy storage, electromagnetic interference shielding, water filtering, sensors, and catalysis. Few other methods have been more essential in MXene research and development of corresponding applications, compared with electron microscopy, which enables structural and chemical identification at the atomic scale. In the following, the electron microscopy methods that have been applied to MXene and MAX phase precursor research are presented together with research examples and are discussed with respect to advantages and challenges.
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| 2. |
- Amloy, Supaluck, et al.
(författare)
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Excitons and biexcitons in InGaN quantum dot like localization centers
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Annan publikation (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Indium segregation in a narrow InGaN single quantum well creates quantum dot (QD) like exciton localization centers. Cross section transmission electron microscopy reveals varying shapes and lateral sizes in the range ~1-5 nm of the QD-like features, while scanning near field optical microscopy demonstrates a highly inhomogeneous spatial distribution of optically active individual localization centers. Microphotoluminescence spectroscopy confirms the spectrally inhomogeneous distribution of localization centers, in which the exciton and the biexciton related emissions from single centers of varying geometry could be identified by means of excitation power dependencies. Interestingly, the biexciton binding energy (Ebxx) was found to vary from center to center, between 3 to -22 meV, in correlation with the exciton emission energy. Negative binding energies justify the three-dimensional quantum confinement, which confirms QD-like properties of the localization centers.! The observed energy correlation is proposed to be understood as variations of the lateral extension of the confinement potential, which would yield smaller values of Ebxx for reduced lateral extension and higher exciton emission energy. The proposed relation between lateral extension and Ebxx is further supported by the exciton and the biexciton recombination lifetimes of a single QD, which suggest a lateral extension of merely ~3 nm for a QD with strongly negative Ebxx = -15.5 meV.
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| 3. |
- Amloy, Supaluck, et al.
(författare)
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Excitons and biexcitons in InGaN quantum dot like localization centers
- 2014
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Ingår i: Nanotechnology. - : IOP Publishing. - 0957-4484 .- 1361-6528. ; 25:49, s. 495702-
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Indium segregation in a narrow InGaN single quantum well creates quantum dot (QD) like exciton localization centers. Cross-section transmission electron microscopy reveals varying shapes and lateral sizes in the range ∼1–5 nm of the QD-like features, while scanning near field optical microscopy demonstrates a highly inhomogeneous spatial distribution of optically active individual localization centers. Microphotoluminescence spectroscopy confirms the spectrally inhomogeneous distribution of localization centers, in which the exciton and the biexciton related emissions from single centers of varying geometry could be identified by means of excitation power dependencies. Interestingly, the biexciton binding energy (Ebxx) was found to vary from center to center, between 3 to −22 meV, in correlation with the exciton emission energy. Negative binding energies are only justified by a three-dimensional quantum confinement, which confirms QD-like properties of the localization centers. The observed energy correlation is proposed to be understood as variations of the lateral extension of the confinement potential, which would yield smaller values of Ebxx for reduced lateral extension and higher exciton emission energy. The proposed relation between lateral extension and Ebxx is further supported by the exciton and the biexciton recombination lifetimes of a single QD, which suggest a lateral extension of merely ∼3 nm for a QD with strongly negative Ebxx = −15.5 meV.
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| 4. |
- Bakhit, Babak, 1983-, et al.
(författare)
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Age hardening in superhard ZrB2-rich Zr1-xTaxBy thin films
- 2021
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Ingår i: Scripta Materialia. - : Elsevier. - 1359-6462 .- 1872-8456. ; 191, s. 120-125
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- We recently showed that sputter-deposited Zr1-xTaxBy thin films have hexagonal AlB2-type columnar nanostructure in which column boundaries are B-rich for x < 0.2, while Ta-rich for x ≥ 0.2. As-deposited layers with x ≥ 0.2 exhibit higher hardness and, simultaneously, enhanced toughness. Here, we study the mechanical properties of ZrB2.4, Zr0.8Ta0.2B1.8, and Zr0.7Ta0.3B1.5 films annealed in Ar atmosphere as a function of annealing temperature Ta up to 1200 °C. In-situ and ex-situ nanoindentation analyses reveal that all films undergo age hardening up to Ta = 800 °C, with the highest hardness achieved for Zr0.8Ta0.2B1.8 (45.5±1.0 GPa). The age hardening, which occurs without any phase separation or decomposition, can be explained by point-defect recovery that enhances chemical bond density. Although hardness decreases at Ta > 800 °C due mainly to recrystallization, column coarsening, and planar defect annihilation, all layers show hardness values above 34 GPa over the entire Ta range.
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| 5. |
- Bakhit, Babak, et al.
(författare)
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Improving the high-temperature oxidation resistance of TiB2 thin films by alloying with Al
- 2020
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Ingår i: Acta Materialia. - : PERGAMON-ELSEVIER SCIENCE LTD. - 1359-6454 .- 1873-2453. ; 196, s. 677-689
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Refractory transition-metal diborides (TMB2) are candidates for extreme environments due to melting points above 3000 degrees C, excellent hardness, good chemical stability, and thermal and electrical conductivity. However, they typically suffer from rapid high-temperature oxidation. Here, we study the effect of Al addition on the oxidation properties of sputter-deposited TiB2-rich Ti1-xAlxBy thin films and demonstrate that alloying the films with Al significantly increases the oxidation resistance with a slight decrease in hardness. TiB2.4 layers are deposited by dc magnetron sputtering (DCMS) from a TiB2 target, while Ti1-xAlxBy alloy films are grown by hybrid high-power impulse and dc magnetron co-sputtering (Al-HiPIMS/TiB2-DCMS). All as-deposited films exhibit columnar structure. The column boundaries of TiB2.4 are B-rich, while Ti0.68Al0.32B1.35 alloys have Ti-rich columns surrounded by a Ti(1-x)Al(x)By tissue phase which is predominantly Al rich. Air-annealing TiB2.4 at temperatures above 500 degrees C leads to the formation of oxide scales that do not contain B and mostly consist of a rutile-TiO2 (s) phase. The resulting oxidation products are highly porous due to the evaporation of B2O3 (g) phase as well as the coarsening of TiO2 crystallites. This poor oxidation resistance is significantly improved by alloying with Al. While air-annealing at 800 degrees C for 0.5 h results in the formation of an similar to 1900-nm oxide scale on TiB2.4, the thickness of the scale formed on the Ti0.68Al0.32B1.35 alloys is similar to 470 nm. The enhanced oxidation resistance is attributed to the formation of a dense, protective Al-containing oxide scale that considerably decreases the oxygen diffusion rate by suppressing the oxide-crystallites coarsening. (C) 2020 Acta Materialia Inc. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
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| 6. |
- Bakhit, Babak, 1983-, et al.
(författare)
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Self-organized columnar Zr0.7Ta0.3B1.5 core/shell-nanostructure thin films
- 2020
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Ingår i: Surface & Coatings Technology. - : Elsevier. - 0257-8972 .- 1879-3347. ; 401
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- We recently showed that Zr1−xTaxBy thin films have columnar nanostructure in which column boundaries are B-rich for x < 0.2, while Ta-rich for x ≥ 0.2. Layers with x ≥ 0.2 exhibit higher hardness and, simultaneously, enhanced toughness. Here, we determine the atomic-scale nanostructure of sputter-deposited columnar Zr0.7Ta0.3B1.5 thin films. The columns, 95 ± 17 Å, are core/shell nanostructures in which 80 ± 15-Å cores are crystalline hexagonal-AlB2-structure Zr-rich stoichiometric Zr1−xTaxB2. The shell structure is a narrow dense, disordered region that is Ta-rich and highly B-deficient. The cores are formed under intense ion mixing via preferential Ta segregation, due to the lower formation enthalpy of TaB2 than ZrB2, in response to the chemical driving force to form a stoichiometric compound. The films with unique combination of nanosized crystalline cores and dense metallic-glass-like shells provide excellent mechanical properties.
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| 7. |
- Bakoglidis, Konstantinos, et al.
(författare)
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Self-Healing in Carbon Nitride Evidenced As Material Inflation and Superlubric Behavior
- 2018
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Ingår i: ACS Applied Materials and Interfaces. - : AMER CHEMICAL SOC. - 1944-8244 .- 1944-8252. ; 10:19, s. 16238-16243
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- All known materials wear under extended mechanical contacting. Superlubricity may present solutions, but is an expressed mystery in C-based materials. We report negative wear of carbon nitride films; a wear-less condition with mechanically induced material inflation at the nanoscale and friction coefficient approaching ultralow values (0.06). Superlubricity in carbon nitride is expressed as C-N bond breaking for reduced coupling between graphitic-like sheets and eventual N-2 desorption. The transforming surface layer acts as a solid lubricant, whereas the film bulk retains its high elasticity. The present findings offer new means for materials design at the atomic level, and for property optimization in wear-critical applications like magnetic reading devices or nanomachines.
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| 8. |
- Bangolla, Hemanth Kumar, et al.
(författare)
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Composition-dependent photoconductivities in indium aluminium nitride nanorods grown by magnetron sputter epitaxy
- 2022
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Ingår i: Nanoscale Advances. - : Royal Society of Chemistry. - 2516-0230. ; 4:22, s. 4886-4894
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Photoconduction (PC) properties were investigated for ternary indium aluminium nitride (InxAl1-xN) nanorods (NRs) with different indium compositions (x) from 0.35 to 0.68, as grown by direct-current reactive magnetron sputter epitaxy. Cross-sectional scanning transmission electron microscopy (STEM) reveals single-crystal quality of the vertically aligned InxAl1-xN NRs. Single-rod photodetector devices with good ohmic contacts were fabricated using the focused-ion-beam technique (FIB), where the In-rich In0.68Al0.32N NR exhibits an optimal photocurrent responsivity of 1400 A W-1 and photoconductive gain of 3300. A transition from a positive photoresponse to a negative photoresponse was observed, while increasing the In composition x from 0.35 to 0.57. The negative PC was further enhanced by increasing x to 0.68. A model based on the coexistence and competition of deep electron trap states and recombination centers was proposed to explain the interesting composition-dependent PC in these ternary III-nitride 1D nanostructures.
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| 9. |
- Chen, Jr-Tai, et al.
(författare)
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Room-Temperature mobility above 2200 cm2/V.s of two-dimensional electron gas in a sharp-interface AlGaN/GaN heterostructure
- 2015
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Ingår i: Applied Physics Letters. - : American Institute of Physics (AIP). - 0003-6951 .- 1077-3118. ; 106:25
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- A high mobility of 2250 cm2/V·s of a two-dimensional electron gas (2DEG) in a metalorganic chemical vapor deposition-grown AlGaN/GaN heterostructure was demonstrated. The mobility enhancement was a result of better electron confinement due to a sharp AlGaN/GaN interface, as confirmed by scanning transmission electron microscopy analysis, not owing to the formation of a traditional thin AlN exclusion layer. Moreover, we found that the electron mobility in the sharp-interface heterostructures can sustain above 2000 cm2/V·s for a wide range of 2DEG densities. Finally, it is promising that the sharp-interface AlGaN/GaN heterostructure would enable low contact resistance fabrication, less impurity-related scattering, and trapping than the AlGaN/AlN/GaN heterostructure, as the high-impurity-contained AlN is removed.
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| 10. |
- Chen, Yen-Ting, et al.
(författare)
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Nucleation of single GaN nanorods with diameters smaller than 35 nm by molecular beam epitaxy
- 2013
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Ingår i: Applied Physics Letters. - : American Institute of Physics (AIP). - 0003-6951 .- 1077-3118. ; 103:20, s. 203108-
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Nucleation mechanism of catalyst-free GaN nanorod grown on Si(111) is investigated by the fabrication of uniform and narrow (andlt; 35 nm) nanorods without a pre-defined mask by molecular beam epitaxy. Direct evidences show that the nucleation of GaN nanorods stems from the sidewall of the underlying islands down to the Si(111) substrate, different from commonly reported ones on top of the island directly. Accordingly, the growth and density control of the nanorods is exploited by a "narrow-pass" approach that only narrow nanorod can be grown. The optimal size of surrounding non-nucleation area around single nanorod is estimated as 88 nm.
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