| 1. |
- Siller, L., et al.
(författare)
-
Core and valence exciton formation in x-ray absorption, x-ray emission and x-ray excited optical luminescence from passivated Si nanocrystals at the Si L-2,L-3 edge
- 2009
-
Ingår i: Journal of Physics: Condensed Matter. - : IOP Publishing. - 1361-648X .- 0953-8984. ; 21:9
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Resonant inelastic x-ray scattering (RIXS), x-ray absorption spectroscopy and x-ray excited optical luminescence (XEOL) have been used to measure element specific filled and empty electronic states over the Si L-2,L-3 edge of passivated Si nanocrystals of narrow size distribution ( diameter 2.2 +/- 0.4 nm). These techniques have been employed to directly measure absorption and luminescence specific to the local Si nanocrystal core. Profound changes occur in the absorption spectrum of the nanocrystals compared with bulk Si, and new features are observed in the nanocrystal RIXS. Clear signatures of core and valence band exciton formation, promoted by the spatial confinement of electrons and holes within the nanocrystals, are observed, together with band narrowing due to quantum confinement. XEOL at 12 K shows an extremely sharp feature at the threshold of orange luminescence (i.e., at similar to 1.56 eV ( 792 nm)) which we attribute to recombination of valence excitons, providing a lower limit to the nanocrystal band gap.
|
|
| 2. |
- Tao, Feng, et al.
(författare)
-
Microbial carbon use efficiency promotes global soil carbon storage
- 2023
-
Ingår i: Nature. - 0028-0836 .- 1476-4687. ; 618:7967, s. 981-985
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Soils store more carbon than other terrestrial ecosystems. How soil organic carbon (SOC) forms and persists remains uncertain, which makes it challenging to understand how it will respond to climatic change. It has been suggested that soil microorganisms play an important role in SOC formation, preservation and loss. Although microorganisms affect the accumulation and loss of soil organic matter through many pathways, microbial carbon use efficiency (CUE) is an integrative metric that can capture the balance of these processes. Although CUE has the potential to act as a predictor of variation in SOC storage, the role of CUE in SOC persistence remains unresolved. Here we examine the relationship between CUE and the preservation of SOC, and interactions with climate, vegetation and edaphic properties, using a combination of global-scale datasets, a microbial-process explicit model, data assimilation, deep learning and meta-analysis. We find that CUE is at least four times as important as other evaluated factors, such as carbon input, decomposition or vertical transport, in determining SOC storage and its spatial variation across the globe. In addition, CUE shows a positive correlation with SOC content. Our findings point to microbial CUE as a major determinant of global SOC storage. Understanding the microbial processes underlying CUE and their environmental dependence may help the prediction of SOC feedback to a changing climate.
|
|
| 3. |
- Chao, Yimin, et al.
(författare)
-
Evaporation and deposition of alkyl-capped silicon nanocrystals in ultrahigh vacuum
- 2007
-
Ingår i: Nature Nanotechnology. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 1748-3395 .- 1748-3387. ; 2:8, s. 486-489
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Nanocrystals are under active investigation because of their interesting size- dependent properties(1,2) and potential applications(3-5). Silicon nanocrystals have been studied for possible uses in optoelectronics(6), and may be relevant to the understanding of natural processes such as lightning strikes(7). Gas-phase methods can be used to prepare nanocrystals, and mass spectrometric techniques have been used to analyse Au-8,(9) and CdSe clusters(10). However, it is difficult to study nanocrystals by such methods unless they are synthesized in the gas phase(11). In particular, pre-prepared nanocrystals are generally difficult to sublime without decomposition. Here we report the observation that films of alkyl-capped silicon nanocrystals evaporate upon heating in ultrahigh vacuum at 200 degrees C, and the vapour of intact nanocrystals can be collected on a variety of solid substrates. This effect may be useful for the controlled preparation of new quantum-confined silicon structures and could facilitate their mass spectroscopic study and size- selection(12).
|
|
| 4. |
- Chao, Y, et al.
(författare)
-
Reactions and luminescence in passivated Si nanocrystallites induced by vacuum ultraviolet and soft-x-ray photons
- 2005
-
Ingår i: Applied Physics Reviews. - : AIP Publishing. - 1931-9401. ; 98:4
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Alkyl-modified silicon nanocrystallites are efficient fluorophores which are of interest for fundamental spectroscopic studies and as luminescent probes in biology because of their stability in aqueous media. In this work we have investigated these particles using scanning tunneling microscopy, synchrotron-radiation excited photoemission, and x-ray excited optical luminescence (XEOL). During the course of illumination with 145-eV photons we have monitored the evolution of the Si2p core level and, in samples which have suffered prolonged atmospheric exposure, observed in real time the growth of an extra Si2p component attributed to in situ photoinduced oxidation of the Si nanocrystallites. XEOL reveals that two emission bands are active upon soft-x-ray photon excitation and that photoluminescence intensity decreases with photon exposure, which is attributed to charge trapping within the film.
|
|
