Research of the behaviour of O chemisorption on the (110) surface of Rhx--Pt1－x alloy

An atomic group model of the disordered binary alloy Rhx-Pt1-x has been constructed to investigate surface segregation. According to the model, we have calculated the electronic structure of the Rhx-Pt1-x alloy surface by using the recursion method when O atoms are adsorbed on the Rhx-Pt1-x （110） surface under the condition of coverage 0.5. The calculation results indicate that the chemical adsorption of O changes greatly the density of states near the Fermi level, and the surface segregation exhibits a reversal behaviour. In addition, when x 〈 0.3, the surface on which O is adsorbed displays the property of Pt; whereas when x 〉 0.3 it displays the property of Rh.     

Effect of substrate temperature on the morphological,structural,and optical properties of RF sputtered Ge_(1-x)Sn_x films on Si substrate

In this study, Ge_(1-x)Sn_x alloy films are co-sputtered on Si(100) substrates using RF magnetron sputtering at different substrate temperatures. Scanning electron micrographs, atomic force microscopy(AFM), Raman spectroscopy, and x-ray photoemission spectroscopy(XPS) are conducted to investigate the effect of substrate temperature on the structural and optical properties of grown Ge Sn alloy films. AFM results show that RMS surface roughness of the films increases from 1.02 to 2.30 nm when raising the substrate temperature. This increase could be due to Sn surface segregation that occurs when raising the substrate temperature. Raman spectra exhibits the lowest FWHM value and highest phonon intensity for a film sputtered at 140?C. The spectra show that decreasing the deposition temperature to 140?C improves the crystalline quality of the alloy films and increases nanocrystalline phase formation. The results of Raman spectra and XPS confirm Ge–Sn bond formation. The optoelectronic characteristics of fabricated metal-semiconductor-metal photodetectors on sputtered samples at room temperature(RT) and 140?C are studied in the dark and under illumination. The sample sputtered at 140?C performs better than the RT sputtered sample.     

Electronic and Shallow Impurity States in Semiconductor Heterostructures Under an Applied Electric Field

With the use of variational method to solve the effective mass equation, we have studied the electronic and shallow impurity states in semiconductor heterostructures under an applied electric field. The electron energy levels are calculated exactly and the impurity binding energies are calculated with the variational approach. It is found that the behaviors of electronic and shallow impurity states in heterostructures under an applied electric field are analogous to that of quantum wells. Our results show that with the increasing strength of electric field, the electron confinement energies increase, and the impurity binding energy increases also when the impurity is on the surface, while the impurity binding energy increases at first, to a peak value, then decreases to a value which is related to the impurity position when the impurity is away from the surface. In the absence of electric field, the result tends to the Levine＇s ground state energy （-1/4 effective Rydberg） when the impurity is on the surface, and the ground impurity binding energy tends to that in the bulk when the impurity is far away from the surface. The dependence of the impurity binding energy on the impurity position for different electric field is also discussed.     

Size effect of the elastic modulus of rectangular nanobeams:Surface elasticity effect

The size-dependent elastic property of rectangular nanobeams （nanowires or nanoplates） induced by the surface elas- ticity effect is investigated by using a developed modified core-shell model. The effect of surface elasticity on the elastic modulus of nanobeams can be characterized by two surface related parameters, i.e., inhomogeneous degree constant and surface layer thickness. The analytical results show that the elastic modulus of the rectangular nanobeam exhibits a distinct size effect when its characteristic size reduces below 1 O0 nm. It is also found that the theoretical results calculated by a mod- ified core-shell model have more obvious advantages than those by other models （core-shell model and core-surface model） by comparing them with relevant experimental measurements and computational results, especially when the dimensions of nanostructures reduce to a few tens of nanometers.     

Effects of rapid thermal annealing on crystallinity and Sn surface segregation of Ge_(1-x)Sn_x films on Si(100) and Si(111)

Germanium-tin films with rather high Sn content(28.04% and 29.61%) are deposited directly on Si(100) and Si(111)substrates by magnetron sputtering. The mechanism of the effect of rapid thermal annealing on the Sn surface segregation of Ge_(1-x)Sn_x films is investigated by x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy(XPS) and atomic force microscopy(AFM). The x-ray diffraction(XRD) is also performed to determine the crystallinities of the Ge_(1-x)Sn_x films. The experimental results indicate that root mean square(RMS) values of the annealed samples are comparatively small and have no noticeable changes for the as-grown sample when annealing temperature is below 400℃. The diameter of the Sn three-dimensional(3 D) island becomes larger than that of an as-grown sample when the annealing temperature is 700℃. In addition, the Sn surface composition decreases when annealing temperature ranges from 400℃ to 700℃. However, Sn bulk compositions in samples A and B are kept almost unchanged when the annealing temperature is below 600℃. The present investigation demonstrates that the crystallinity of Ge_(1-x)Sn_x/Si(111) has no obvious advantage over that of Ge_(1-x)Sn_x/Si(100) and the selection of Si(111) substrate is an effective method to improve the surface morphologies of Ge_(1-x)Sn_x films. We also find that more severe Sn surface segregation occurs in the Ge_(1-x)Sn_x/Si(111) sample during annealing than in the Ge_(1-x)Sn_x/Si(100) sample.     

A density functional theory study on the adsorption of CO and O₂ on Cu-terminated Cu₂O（111） surface

The adsorptions of CO and O2 molecules individually on the stoichiometric Cu-terminated Cu2O(111) surface are investigated by first-principles calculations on the basis of the density functional theory.The calculated results indicate that the CO molecule preferably coordinates to the Cu2 site through its C atom with an adsorption energy of -1.69 eV,whereas the O2 molecule is most stably adsorbed in a tilt type with one O atom coordinating to the Cu2 site and the other O atom coordinating to the Cu1 site,and has an adsorption energy of -1.97 eV.From the analysis of density of states,it is observed that Cu 3d transfers electrons to 2π orbital of the CO molecule and the highest occupied 5σ orbital of the CO molecule transfers electrons to the substrate.The sharp band of Cu 4s is delocalized when compared to that before the CO molecule adsorption,and overlaps substantially with bands of the adsorbed CO molecule.There is a broadening of the 2π orbital of the O2 molecule because of its overlapping with the Cu 3d orbital,indicating that strong 3d-2π interactions are involved in the chemisorption of the O2 molecule on the surface.     

Characteristics of wall sheath and secondary electron emission under different electron temperatures in a Hall thruster

In this paper, a two-dimensional physical model is established in a Hall thruster sheath region to investigate the influences of the electron temperature and the propellant on the sheath potential drop and the secondary electron emission in the Hall thruster, by the particle-in-cell(PIC) method. The numerical results show that when the electron temperature is relatively low, the change of sheath potential drop is relatively large, the surface potential maintains a stable value and the stability of the sheath is good. When the electron temperature is relatively high, the surface potential maintains a persistent oscillation, and the stability of the sheath reduces. As the electron temperature increases, the secondary electron emission coefficient on the wall increases. For three kinds of propellants(Ar, Kr, and Xe), as the ion mass increases the sheath potentials and the secondary electron emission coefficients reduce in sequence.     

The dynamics of one-dimensional random quantum XY system with Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya interaction

In this paper,the effects of random variables on the dynamics of the s = 1/2 XY model with the Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya interaction are studied.By means of the recurrence relation method in the high-temperature limit,we calculate the spin autocorrelation functions as well as the corresponding spectral densities for the cases that the exchange couplings between spins or external magnetic fields satisfy the double-Gaussian distribution.It is found that when the standard deviation of random exchange coupling δJ(or the standard deviation of random external field δB) is small,the dynamics of the system undergoes a crossover from a collective-mode behavior to a central-peak one.However,when δJ(or δB) is large,the crossover vanishes,and the system shows a central-peak behavior or the most disordered one.We also analyze the cases in which the exchange couplings or the external fields satisfy the bimodal and the Gaussian distributions.Our results show that for all the cases considered,the dynamics of the above system is similar to that of the one-dimensional random XY model.     

Study on the laser treatment of electroless Ni-P-SiC composite coatings

Effect of the laser treatment on electroless Ni-P-SiC composite coatings was investigated. The microscopic structure, surface morphology, ingredient, and performance of the Ni-P-SiC composite coatings were synthetically analyzed by the use of X-ray diffraction apparatus, scanning electron microscope, energy distribution spectrometer, micro-hardness tester, wear tester and so on. It was found that the composite coatings did make crystalloblastic transformation after laser heating. Structural analysis confirmed that some new types of phase Ni2Si or Ni3Si compound would emerge in the Ni-P-SiC coatings after laser treatment. The micro-hardness measurement results showed that when the laser power was 450 W with scanning speed of 0.5 m/min, the hardness of the coating was superior to the coating obtained by the conventional furnace heating, and wear resistance of the composite coating after laser treating could also improve.     

Dynamics of one-dimensional random quantum XY system with Dzyaloshinskii–Moriya interaction

In this paper, the effects of random variables on the dynamics of the s=1/2 XY model with the Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya interaction are studied. By means of the recurrence relation method in the high-temperature limit, we calculate the spin autocorrelation functions as well as the corresponding spectral densities for the cases that the exchange couplings between spins or external magnetic fields satisfy the double-Gaussian distribution. It is found that when the standard deviation of random exchange coupling δ_j (or the standard deviation of random external field δ_B) is small, the dynamics of the system undergoes a crossover from a collective-mode behavior to a central-peak one. However, when δ_J (or δ_B) is large, the crossover vanishes, and the system shows a central-peak behavior or the most disordered one. We also analyze the cases in which the exchange couplings or the external fields satisfy the bimodal and the Gaussian distributions. Our results show that for all the cases considered, the dynamics of the above system is similar to that of the one-dimensional random XY model.     

Dynamical energy equipartition of the Toda model with additional on-site potentials

We study the dynamical energy equipartition properties in the integrable Toda model with additional uniform or disordered on-site energies by extensive numerical simulations. The total energy is initially equidistributed among some of the lowest frequency linear modes. For the Toda model with uniform on-site potentials, the energy spectrum keeps its profile nearly unchanged in a relatively short time scale. On a much longer time scale, the energies of tail modes increase slowly with time. Energy equipartition is far away from being attached in our studied time scale. For the Toda model with disordered on-site potentials, the energy transfers continuously to the high frequency modes and eventually towards energy equipartition. We further perform a systematic study of the equipartition time teq depending on the energy density εand the nonlinear parameter α in the thermodynamic limit for the Toda model with disordered on-site potentials. We find teq∝(1/ε)~a(1/α)~b, where b ≈ 2 a. The values of a and b are increased when increasing the strengths of disordered on-site potentials or decreasing the number of initially excited modes.     

Effect of normalized plasma frequency on electron phase-space orbits in a free-electron laser

Irregular phase-space orbits of the electrons are harmful to the electron-beam transport quality and hence deteriorate the performance of a free-electron laser （FEL）. In previous literature, it was demonstrated that the irregularity of the electron phase-space orbits could be caused in several ways, such as varying the wiggler amplitude and inducing sidebands. Based on a Hamiltonian model with a set of self-consistent differential equations, it is shown in this paper that the electron- beam normalized plasma frequency functions not only couple the electron motion with the FEL wave, which results in the evolution of the FEL wave field and a possible power saturation at a large beam current, but also cause the irregularity of the electron phase-space orbits when the normalized plasma frequency has a sufficiently large value, even if the initial energy of the electron is equal to the synchronous energy or the FEL wave does not reach power saturation.     

Local electric field and configuration of CO molecules adsorbed on a nanostructured surface with nanocones

Based on the nanostructured surface model that the (platinum, Pt) nanocones grow out symmetrically from a plane substrate, the local electric field near the conical nanoparticle surface is computed and discussed. On the basis of these results, the adsorbed CO molecules are modelled as dipoles, and three kinds of interactions, i.e. interactions between dipoles and local electric field, between dipoles and dipoles, as well as between dipoles and nanostructured substrate, are taken into account. The spatial configuration of CO molecules adsorbed on the nanocone surface is then given by Monte-Carlo simulation. Our results show that the CO molecules adsorbed on the nanocone surface cause local agglomeration under the action of an external electric field, and this agglomeration becomes more compact with decreasing conical angle, which results in a stronger interaction among molecules. These results serve as a basis for explaining abnormal phenomena such as the abnormal infrared effect (AIRE), which was found when CO molecules were adsorbed on the nanostructured transition-metal surface.     

Electronic states of InAs/GaAs tyre-shape quantum ring

In the framework of the effective mass theory, this paper calculates the electron energy levels of an InAs/GaAs tyre-shape quantum ring （TSQR） by using the plane wave basis. The results show that the electron energy levels axe sensitively dependent on the TSQR＇s section thickness d, and insensitively dependent on TSQR＇s section inner radius R1 and TSQR＇s inner radius R2. The model and results provide useful information for the design and fabrication of InAs/GaAs TSQRs.     

Incorporation Behaviour of Arsenic and Phosphorus in GaAsP／GaAs Grown by Solid Source Molecular Beam Epitaxy with a GaP Decomposition Source

The incorporation behaviour of arsenic and phosphorus in the GaAsP ternary alloy under phosphorus-rich conditions is studied based on the incorporation coefficient model and the growth diffusion model combined with the alloy composition data obtained by high resolution x-ray diffraction analysis. It is found that As adatoms have longer surface lifetime and longer migration length than those of P adatoms, which leads to an arsenic incorporation efficiency much higher than that of phosphorous. With the increase of arsenic flux, the surface lifetime of arsenic adatoms decreases due to the competition of As adatoms. The detailed analysis and discussion are given here.     

Helical Shell Structures of Ni-A1 Alloy Nanowires and Their Electronic Transport Properties

Six kinds of Ni-A1 alloy nanowires are optimized by means of simulated annealing. The optimized structures show that the Ni-A1 alloy nanowires are helical shell structures that are wound by three atomic strands, which is very similar to the case with pure metallic nanowires. The densities of states （DOS）, transmission function T（ E）, current-voltage （I - V） curves, and the conductance spectra of these alloy nanowires are also investigated. Our results indicate that the conductance spectra depend on the geometric structure properties and the ingredients of the alloy nanowires. We observe and study the nonlinear contribution to the I-V characteristics that are due to the quantum size effect and the impurity effect. The addition of Ni atoms decreases the conductance of the Ni-A1 alloy nanowire because the doping atom Ni change the electronic band structures and the charge density distribution. The interesting statistical results shed light on the physics of quantum transport at the nano-scale.     

Analysis of the time-domain spectrum of hydrogen in electric field near helium surface

The Ryderberg electronic wave packet dynamics of hydrogen atom near helium surface in an electric field is investigated using the semiclassical method.The autocorrelation function is calculated when the photoionized electron is excited by a short laser pulse for different atom-surface separations.The results show that new recurrences appear because of the helium surface,and the number of recurrent peaks increases with the decrease in atom-surface distance.The new feature is ascribed to the bifurcation of new closed orbits in the classical dynamics of the photoionized electron.Therefore,surface properties have a significant effect on the spectrum of nearby atoms or ions.     

Defects and hyperfine interactions in binary Fe-Al alloys studied by positron annihilation and Mössbauer spectroscopies

The defects, the behavior of 3d electrons and the hyperfine interactions in binary Fe-Al alloys with different Al contents have been studied by measurements of positron lifetime spectra, coincidence Doppler broadening spectra of positron annihilation radiation and Mössbauer spectra. The results show that on increasing the Al content in Fe-Al alloys, the mean positron lifetime of the alloys increase, while the mean electron density of the alloys decrease. The increase of Al content in binary Fe-Al alloys will decrease the amount of unpaired 3d electrons; as a consequence the probability of positron annihilation with 3d electrons and the hyperfine field decrease rapidly. Mössbauer spectra of binary Fe-Al alloys with Al content less than 25 at.% show discrete sextets and these alloys make a ferromagnetic contribution at room temperature. The Mössbauer spectrum of Fe₇₀Al₃₀ shows a broad singlet. As Al content higher than 40 at.%, the Mössbauer spectra of these alloys are singlet, that is, the alloys are paramagnetic. The behavior of a 3d electron and its effect on the hyperfine field of the binary Fe-Al alloy has been discussed.     

Femtosecond laser microstructuring of nickel foil

We observe the morphological change and grain structure of Ni foil when it is ablated with femtosecond laser pulses. Scanning electron microscopy and field emission transmission electron microscopy are used to study the nature of the morphology and grain structure of nickel foil and determine the essential features. The results indicate that there are many random uanostructures in the center of the ablated region composed of nanocrystalline grains as well as some core-shell structures phase explosion and extremely high cooling rate are the for the formation of surface nanostructures. The observed morphologies seem to suggest that most probable physical mechanisms responsible     

Ultraviolet and Deep-Ultraviolet Emissions from c-MgxZn1-xO/MgO Ultrathin Multilayer Heterostructures

Cubic phase MgxZn1-x O/MgO multilayer heterostructures （c-Mgx Zn1-xO/MgO MHs） are grown on Si（100） and quartz substrates by reactive electron beam evaporation at low temperature （250℃）. Cross-sectional morphology observations by field-emission scanning electron microscopy show the legible interfaces of c-MgxZn1-x O/MgO MHs. X-ray diffraction demonstrates that c-MgxZn1-xO/MgO MHs are of highly （100）-oriented. Optical trans- mission investigations of c-Mgx Zn1-x O/MgO MHs on quartz substrates reveal the coexistence of the two phases, c-MgxZn1-xO and MgO. Photoluminescence examination indicates the emergence of deep-ultraviolet emission centred at about 290nm along with the blue shift of the ultraviolet emission from 405nm to 39Gnm when the nominal thickness of c-MgxZn1-xO well layers of MHs is diminished to 3nm, which is probably originated from quantum confinement effect.