Controlling growth density and patterning of single crystalline silicon nanowires

This study examines the usage of well-patterned Au nanoparticles (NPs) as a catalyst for one-dimensional growth of single crystalline Si nanowires (NWs) through the vapor-liquid-solid (VLS) mechanism. The study reports the fabrication of monolayer Au NPs through the self-assembly of Au NPs on a 3-aminopropyltrimethoxysilane (APTMS)-modified silicon substrate. Results indicate that the spin coating time of Au NPs plays a crucial role in determining the density of Au NPs on the surface of the silicon substrate and the later catalysis growth of Si NWs. The experiments in this study employed optical lithography to pattern Au NPs, treating them as a catalyst for Si NW growth. The patterned Si NW structures easily produced and controlled Si NW density. This approach may be useful for further studies on single crystalline Si NW-based nanodevices and their properties.     

一种新方法制备硅/聚(3, 4-乙撑二氧噻吩)核/壳纳米线阵列杂化太阳能电池

采用气相聚合法制备了有机/无机杂化的硅/聚3, 4-乙撑二氧噻吩核/壳纳米线阵列(SiNWs/PEDOT)太阳能电池. 相对平面结构Si/PEDOT太阳能电池, SiNWs/PEDOT太阳能电池的能量转换效率提升了7倍, 达到3.23%.对比分析反射光谱、I-V曲线及外量子效率的实验结果, 发现SiNWs/PEDOT太阳能电池性能改进的主要原因可归结为: 气相聚合法能够有效地制备出SiNWs/PEDOT电池的核/壳纳米线阵列结构, 使得器件具有高光捕获、高比结面积和高电荷收集效率. 关键词： Si/PEDOT核/壳纳米线结构 太阳能电池 气相聚合     

Hybrid solar cells with conducting polymers and vertically aligned silicon nanowire arrays: The effect of silicon conductivity

Organic/inorganic hybrid solar cells, based on vertically aligned n-type silicon nanowires (n-Si NWs) and p-type conducting polymers (PEDOT:PSS), were investigated as a function of Si conductivity. The n-Si NWs were easily prepared from the n-Si wafer by employing a silver nanodot-mediated micro-electrochemical redox reaction. This investigation shows that the photocurrent-to-voltage characteristics of the n-Si NW/PEDOT:PSS cells clearly exhibit a stable rectifying diode behavior. The increase in current density and fill factor using high conductive silicon is attributed to an improved charge transport towards the electrodes achieved by lowering the device's series resistance. Our results also show that the surface area of the nanowire that can form heterojunction domains significantly influences the device performance.     

A comparison of the vectorial nonparaxial approach with Fresnel and Fraunhofer approximations

Based on the vectorial Rayleigh diffraction integrals, a nonparaxial propagation equation of vectorial plane waves diffracted at a circular aperture is derived. The nonparaxial far-field expression, Fresnel and Fraunhofer diffraction formulae are given and treated as special cases of our general expression. The theoretical formulation permits us to study and compare the transversal and axial intensity distributions of diffracted plane waves both analytically and numerically. Illustrative numerical examples are given. It is shown that the vectorial nonparaxial approach has to be used if the aperture size is comparable with or less than the wavelength, and the knowledge of both transversal and axial intensity distributions is required to provide a comprehensive comparison of the paraxial and nonparaxial results.     

A cell model approach for thermal conductivity of nanofluids

This work presents a cell model for predicting the thermal conductivity of nanofluids. Effects due to the high specific surface area of the mono-dispersed nanoparticles and the micro-convective heat transfer enhancement associated with the Brownian motion of particles are addressed in detail. Novelty of the paper lies in its prediction of the non-linear dependence of thermal conductivity of nanofluids on particle volume fraction at low particle concentrations. The model is found to correctly predict the trends observed in experimental data over a wide range of particle sizes, temperatures and particle concentrations.     

Density-functional theory study of structures,stabilities, and electronic properties of the Cu2-doped silicon clusters: Comparison with pure silicon clusters

Equilibrium geometric structures, stabilities, and electronic properties of Si_nCu₂ (n=1–8) clusters and pure silicon Si_n (n=3–10) clusters are investigated systematically by exchange-correlation density functional (B3LYP). The optimized geometries show that the most stable isomers have 3D structure for n=2, 4–8, and Cu-substituted Si_n+2 clusters is dominating growth pattern for the Si_nCu₂ clusters. The calculated averaged binding energies, fragmentation energies, second-order difference of energies, and the HOMO–LUMO gaps show that Si₂Cu₂ and Si₅Cu₂ clusters have enhanced relative stabilities and chemical stability than their neighboring clusters. Electronic properties of Si_nCu₂ (n=1–8) clusters are studied by calculating the natural population analysis and electrostatic potential, where the results show that the two copper atoms always possess positive charge and positive potential surround them. In addition, the VIP, VEA and the chemical hardness (η) are also analyzed and compared.     

Electronic states and shapes of silicon quantum dots

A curviform surface breaks the symmetrical shape of silicon quantum dots on which some bonds can produce localized electronic states in the bandgap. The calculation results show that the bonding energy and electronic states of silicon quantum dots are different on various curved surfaces, for example, a Si-O-Si bridge bond on curved surface provides localized levels in bandgap and its bonding energy is shallower than that on the facet. The red-shifting ofthe photoluminescence spectrum on smaller silicon quantum dots can be explained by the curved surface effect. Experiments demonstrate that silicon quantum dots are activated for emission due to the localized levels provided by the curved surface effect.     

Hydrodynamic cavitation: A feasible approach to intensify the emulsion cross-linking process for chitosan nanoparticle synthesis

Chitosan nanoparticles (NPs) exhibit great potential in drug-controlled release systems. A controlled hydrodynamic cavitation (HC) technique was developed to intensify the emulsion crosslinking process for the synthesis of chitosan NPs. Experiments were performed using a circular venturi and under varying operating conditions, i.e., types of oil, addition mode of glutaraldehyde (Glu) solution, inlet pressure (P_in), and rheological properties of chitosan solution. Palm oil was more appropriate for use as the oil phase for the HC-intensified process than the other oil types. The addition mode of water-in-oil (W/O) emulsion containing Glu (with Span 80) was more favorable than the other modes for obtaining a narrow distribution of chitosan NPs. The minimum size of NPs with polydispersity index of 0.342 was 286.5 nm, and the maximum production yield (P_y) could reach 47.26%. A positive correlation was found between the size of NPs and the droplet size of W/O emulsion containing chitosan at increasing P_in. Particle size, size distribution, and the formation of NPs were greatly dependent on the rheological properties of the chitosan solution. Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) analysis indicated that the molecular structure of palm oil was unaffected by HC-induced effects. Compared with ultrasonic horn, stirring-based, and conventional drop-by-drop processes, the application of HC to intensify the emulsion crosslinking process allowed the preparation of a finer and a narrower distribution of chitosan NPs in a more energy-efficient manner. The novel route developed in this work is a viable option for chitosan NP synthesis.     

A scattering matrix approach to quantum pumping: beyond the small-AC-driving-amplitude limit

In the adiabatic and weak-modulation quantum pump, net electron flow is driven from one reservoir to another by absorbing or emitting an energy quantum hω from or to the reservoirs. This paper considers high-order dependence of the scattering matrix on the time. Non-sinusoidal behaviour of strong pumping is revealed. The relation between the pumped current and the ac driving amplitude varies from power of 2, 1 to 1/2 when stronger modulation is exerted. Open experimental observation can be interpreted by multi-energy-quantum-related processes.     

Origin of conductance oscillations in square electron billiards: A semi-classical approach

We perform semi-classical and quantum mechanical calculations on square billiards and provide a semi-classical interpretation of the conductance oscillations. We outline its relation to the Gutzwiller's picture of periodic orbits. The frequencies of the conductance oscillations are shown to be due to interference of pairs of long trajectories, which in the phase space are typically situated near the corresponding periodic orbit. We identify the pair of trajectories causing the pronounced peak in a recent experiment and from this directly extract the phase coherence length.     

对硅薄膜型太阳电池的一些思考

在当前迅速发展的绿色环保能源中,硅太阳电池一直占据着首要地位.然而晶体硅太阳电池(单晶硅和多晶硅)由于价格昂贵和材料短缺已不能满足绿色能源快速发展的需要.因此,薄膜型太阳电池已经被视为今后发展的主要方向.非晶硅薄膜太阳电池虽然在性能上还具有不少缺点,但随着薄膜沉积技术的改进以及膜本身质量的不断提高,它在太阳电池领域中仍占有一席之地.多晶硅薄膜太阳电池集晶体硅与非晶硅电池的优点为一体,也受到人们的关注.然而,后起之秀纳米硅薄膜太阳电池,依靠其本身的优越性以及当前纳米技术的进展,将会成为一个新的亮点.     

A semiclassical approach to the ground state and density oscillations of quantum dots

A semiclassical Thomas–Fermi method, including a Weizsäcker gradient term, is implemented to describe ground states of two-dimensional nanostructures of arbitrary shape. Time-dependent density oscillations are addressed in the same spirit using the corresponding semiclassical time-dependent equations. The validity of the approximations is tested, both for ground state and density oscillations, compared with the available microscopic Kohn–Sham solutions.     

Electrical and memory properties of silicon nitride structures with embedded Si nanocrystals

In this work, the electrical and memory behaviour of metal-silicon nitride-silicon structures with an embedded nanocrystalline silicon layer, which either consists of separated silicon nanocrystals, or is a continuous nanocrystalline layer, are presented. The structures were prepared by low-pressure chemical vapour deposition (LPCVD). The effect of the duration of deposition and the structure of the nanocrystalline layer were studied. The writing/erasing behaviour was similar for all the structures, but the retention properties were much worse in the structure with a continuous nanocrystalline layer, than in the structures with separated Si nanocrystals. This indicates that Si nanocrystals play role in charge storage in the studied structures.     

A novel electrochemical approach for fabrication of photoluminescent erbium-doped porous silicon

21 /cm³. After this new ECD treatment, PS:Er was found to emit much more intense room-temperature visible photoluminescence than both the porous silicon control and the PS:Er prepared by constant-current ECD. Room-temperature IR photoluminescence around 1.54 μm was observed for the first time without any post-doping annealing. Received: 3 September 1998/Accepted: 9 September 1998     

Influence of preparation and storage conditions on photoluminescence of porous silicon powder with embedded Si nanocrystals

The time changes of photoluminescence (PL) characteristics of porous silicon (porSi) powder during storing in different ambients have been reported. A porous silicon material with embedded Si nanocrystals of size of few nanometers was prepared by an electrochemical method from 10 to 20 Ωcm p-type Si wafers, and both constant and pulse current anodization regimes were used. A powder with a submicron average particle size was obtained by simple mechanical lift-off of the porous layer followed by additional manual milling. The air, hexane, and water as storage media were used, and modification by a nonionic surfactant (undecylenic acid) of the porSi surface was applied in the latter case. Dependence of PL characteristics on preparation and storage conditions was then studied. A remarkable blue shift of a position of PL maximum was observed in time for porSi powders in each storage media. In water suspension a many-fold build-up (10–30) of PL intensity in a time scale of few days was accompanied by an observed blue shift. Photoluminescence time behavior of porSi powders was described by a known mechanism of the change of porSi PL from free exciton emission of Si nanocrystals to luminescence of localized oxidized states on the Si nanocrystal surface.     

Monte Carlo study of interfacial silicon suboxide layers and oxidation kinetics

A simple simulation scheme that simultaneously describes the growth kinetics of SiO₂ films at the nanometer scale and the SiO_x/Si interface dynamics (its extent, and spatial/temporal evolution) is presented. The simulation successfully applies to experimental data in the region above and below 10 nm, reproduces the Deal and Grove linear-parabolic law and the oxide growth rate enhancement in the very thin film regime (the so-called anomalous region). According to the simulation, the oxidation is governed mainly by two processes: (a) the formation of a transition suboxide layer and (b) its subsequent drift towards the silicon bulk. We found that it is the superposition of these two processes that produces the crossover from the anomalous oxidation region behavior to the linear-parabolic law.     

关于分离变量法的一个注记

从B-cklund变换出发，利用Cole-Hopf变换，一些有重要物理意义的(2+1)维非线性演化方程(组)被简化为具有两个分别关于(x,t),(y,t)的任意函数的单个线性偏微分方程.通过对该方程解的研究，获得了原方程一些新的精确解.其中，一些近年来被广泛研究的由分离变量法所获得的解也被重新得到. 关键词： B-cklund变换 Cole-Hopf变换 分离变量法 精确解     

Room temperature visible light emission from Si/SiO2 multilayers: Roles of interface electronic states and silicon phase

We have studied luminescence properties and microstructure of 20 patterns Si/SiO₂ multilayers. The photoluminescence spectra consist of two gaussian bands in the visible-infrared spectral region. It has been demonstrated that the strong PL band is caused by the radiative recombination in the Si/SiO₂ interfaces states, whereas the weaker band originates from radiative recombination in the nanosized Si layers. The peak shift of this latter band shows a discontinuity that corresponds to a crystalline-to-amorphous phase change when the Si layers are thinner than 30 Å. The peak energy as a function of the layer thickness is interpreted using a quantum confinement model in the case of amorphous Si layers.