UV-vis Absorption and PL Properties of Self-Assembled Silicon Nanotubes

Silicon nanotubes （SiNTs） are novel one-dimensional nanomaterials, which have potential applications in nano- photoelectric devices, sensors and field-emission devices. The self-assembled silicon nanotubes have clear structures without metal catalysts. The structures are confirmed by TEM and HRTEM, and the UV-vis absorption spectra with an absorption peak near 685nm and PL spectra with widened strong emission near 436nm are measured by UV-vis spectrometer and spectroftuorophotometer.     

Controllable irregular phenomenon induced by Ag atomic segregation on the melting of (AgPd)561 bimetallic clusters

Here focusing on the very new experimental finding on carbon nanomaterials for solid-state electron mediator applications in Z-scheme photocatalysis, we have investigated different graphene-based nanostructures chemisorbed by various types and amounts of species such as oxygen (O), nitrogen (N) and hydroxyl (OH) and their electronic structures using density functional theory. The work functions of different nanostructures have also been investigated by us to evaluate their potential applications in Z-scheme photocatalysis for water splitting. The N-, O?CN-, and N?CN-chemisorbed graphene-based nanostructures (32 carbon atoms supercell, corresponding to lattice parameter of about 1?nm) are found promising to be utilized as electron mediators between reduction level and oxidation level of water splitting. The O- or OH-chemisorbed nanostructures have potential to be used as electron conductors between H₂-evolving photocatalysts and the reduction level (H⁺/H₂). This systematic study is proposed to understand the properties of graphene-based carbon nanostructures in Z-scheme photocatalysis and guide experimentalists to develop better carbon-based nanomaterials for more efficient Z-scheme photocatalysis applications in the future.     

Textures induced by a femtosecond laser on silicon surfaces under various environments

We employ an ultrafast laser with 1?kHz repetition rate and 130?fs pulse width to fabricate micro/nanotextures and unique surface structures on silicon surfaces under different environments. First, we study the effect of vacuum and fabricate micro-spike structures at 800?nm wavelength and a pressure of 4 ? 10^?3?Pa. We observe even sub-100?nm ripple structures on micro-spikes after 800?nm laser irradiation in distilled water because the produced bubbles are expelled from the chamber. Finally, we show that submicron-spike structures fabricated after 400?nm laser irradiation in distilled water are smaller than those in vacuum.     

Strip silicon waveguide for code synchronization in all-optical analog-to-digital conversion based on a lumped time-delay compensation scheme

An all-optical analog-to-digital converter(ADC) based on the nonlinear effect in a silicon waveguide is a promising candidate for overcoming the limitation of electronic devices and is suitable for photonic integration. In this paper, a lumped time-delay compensation scheme with 2-bit quantization resolution is proposed. A strip silicon waveguide is designed and used to compensate for the entire time-delays of the optical pulses after a soliton self-frequency shift(SSFS) module within a wavelength range of 1550 nm–1580 nm. A dispersion coefficient as high as-19800 ps/(km·nm) with ±0.5 ps/(km·nm)variation is predicted for the strip waveguide. The simulation results show that the maximum supportable sampling rate(MSSR) is 50.45 GSa/s with full width at half maximum(FWHM) variation less than 2.52 ps, along with the 2-bit effectivenumber-of-bit and Gray code output.     

Polymerization of Silicon-Doped Heterofullerenes： an Ab Initio Study

We perform the calculations on geometric and electronic structures of Si-doped heterofullerene C5oSi10 and its derivatives, a C40Si20-C40Si20 dimer and a C40Si20-based nanowire by using density-functional theory, The optimized configuration of the C40Si20-based nanowire exhibits a regular dumbbell-shaped chain nanostructure. The electronic structure calculations indicate that the HOMO-LUMO gaps of the heterofullerene-based materials can be greatly modified by substitutionally doping with Si atoms and show a decreasing trend with increase cluster size. Unlike the band structures of the conventional wide band gap silicon carbide nanomaterials, the C40Si20- based nanowire has a very narrow direct band gap of 0.087eV.     

Electron beam nanofabrication of ferromagnetic nanostructures in TEM

Electron beam (e-beam) fabrication of nanostructures by transmission electron microscopy (TEM) is rapidly developing into a top-down nanofabrication method for the sub-5 nm fabrication of structures that cannot usually be realised using resist based lithographic techniques or by the focused ion beam patterning methods. We describe the usage of a variety of e-beam shapes, including point and elliptical line focus, as well as a comparison of LaB₆ and field-emission guns (FEGs), to achieve versatile sculpting of nanodot arrays, nanobridges and nanotips. We operate our patterning on free-standing nickel (Ni) thin film laterally connected to a silicon (Si) substrate as well as to free-standing Ni nanotips, where we achieve a novel three-dimensional (3D) nano-sculpting methodology.     

Monovacancy and substitutional defects in hexagonal silicon nanotubes

We present a first-principles study of the geometrical and electronic structures of a hexagonal single-walled silicon nanotube with a monovacancy or a substitutional defect. The B, C, N, Al and P atoms are chosen as substitutional impurities. It is found that the defect such as a monovacancy or a substitutional impurity results in deformation of the hexagonal single-walled silicon nanotube. In both cases, a relatively localized unoccupied state near the Fermi level occurs due to this local deformation. The differences in geometrical and electronic properties of different substitutional impurities are discussed.     

Self-consistent formulation of the variational cellular method applied to periodic structures—results for sodium and silicon

The theoretical formulation of the self-consistent variational cellular method (SCVCM) has been developed in order to calculate the electronic structure of crystals with an arbitrary number of atoms per unit cell. Calculations for metallic sodium and silicon have been carried out. The electronic charge density within the atomic polyhedron was calculated assuming two regions, one corresponding to the inscribed sphere and the other corresponding to the interstitial region. The radial electronic charge density in the inscribed sphere was obtained by adding a limited number of contributions of Brillouin zone states using the “mean value point theory”, developed by Baldereschi and Chadi-Cohen. In the interstitial region, the electronic density was taken as of a constant value. The model can be extended to open structures by adding empty cells. Our results for sodium and silicon are in good agreement with those obtained by other methods. The self-consistent scheme proposed is accurate and fast enough to be applied to more complex structures.     

Group-delay-dispersion-matched sum-frequency mixing for the indirect phase control of deep ultraviolet pulses in the sub-20-fs regime

We have demonstrated a novel scheme of sum-frequency mixing in a nonlinear crystal in order to obtain a wave-vector matching condition with a sufficiently broad spectrum, which can be transformed to an ultrashort pulse of sub-20-fs pulse width, in a deep ultraviolet region. Improving upon the noncollinear angularly dispersed geometry with the group-delay (the first-order dispersion) matching condition, the new scheme with the group-delay-dispersion (the second-order dispersion) matching condition, ensures the spectral width will be broader than 10 nm in the wavelength region of 256 nm. This is at the expense of the angular dispersion in the generated UV pulse, which should be compensated. Not only the generation of sub-20-fs pulses but also indirect phase control would be possible if we adopted this novel scheme of sum-frequency mixing. PACS 42.65.Ky; 42.65.Re; 42.79.Nv     

Electroless formation of silver nanoaggregates: an experimental and molecular dynamics approach

The ability to manipulate matter to create non-conventional structures is one of the key issues of material science. The understanding of assembling mechanism at the nanoscale allows us to engineer new nanomaterials, with physical properties intimately depending on their structure.

This paper describes new strategies to obtain and characterise metal nanostructures via the combination of a top-down method, such as electron beam lithography, and a bottom-up technique, such as the chemical electroless deposition. We realised silver nanoparticle aggregates within well-defined patterned holes created by electron beam lithography on silicon substrates. The quality characteristics of the nanoaggregates were verified by using scanning electron microscopy and atomic force microscopy imaging. Moreover, we compared the experimental findings to molecular dynamics simulations of nanoparticles growth. We observed a very high dependence of the structure characteristics on the pattern nanowell aspect ratio. We found that high-quality metal nanostructures may be obtained in patterns with well aspect ratio close to one, corresponding to a maximum diameter of 50 nm, a limit above which the fabricated structures become less regular and discontinuous. When regular shapes and sizes are necessary, as in nanophotonics, these results suggest the pattern characteristics to obtain isolated, uniform and reproducible metal nanospheres.     

Two-color pump-probe ionization spectroscopy of gaseous water enhanced by preliminary impulsive Raman excitation

We use sub-10-fs pulses at 400 nm and 15-fs pulses at 800 nm to ionize water molecules and their isotopomers HDO and D₂O in a pump–probe scheme. Pulses are generated via spectral broadening of 25-fs pulses of a 1-kHz Ti:sapphire amplifier system by self-phase modulation in a noble-gas-filled hollow waveguide and subsequent compression using chirped mirrors. At this time scale vibronic excitation of the first bending mode of water in the electronic ground state by impulsive Raman scattering is possible (e.g. the fundamental bending mode of H₂O: t_vib=20 fs). The effect of this pre-excitation on the ionization rate is shown. Received: 14 May 2001 / Revised version: 24 August 2001 / Published online: 19 September 2001     

Extended Nernst–Planck Equation Incorporating Partial Dehydration Effect

Novel ionic transporting phenomena emerge as nanostructures approach the molecular scale.At the sub-2 nm scale,widely used continuum equations,such as the Nernst-Planck equation,break down.Here,we extend the Nernst-Planck equation by adding a partial dehydration effect.Our model agrees with the reported ion fluxes through graphene oxide laminates with sub-2 nm interlayer spacing,outperforming previous models.We also predict that the selectivity sequences of alkali metal ions depend on the geometries of the nanostructures.Our model opens a new avenue for the investigation of the underlying mechanisms in nanofluidics at the sub-2 nm scale.     

Low-dimensional electronic states at silicon surfaces

Self-assembled atomic chains can be triggered at stepped Si(111) surfaces by adding sub-monolayer amounts of metals, such as gold, silver, platinum, alkali metals, alkaline earths, and rare earths. A common feature of all these structures is the honeycomb chain, a graphitic strip of Si atoms at the step edge that is lattice matched in the direction parallel to the edge but completely mismatched perpendicular to it. This honeycomb chain drives one-dimensional surface reconstructions even on the flat Si(111) surface, breaking its three-fold symmetry. Particularly interesting are metallic chain structures, such as those induced by gold. The Au atoms are locked rigidly to the Si substrate but the electrons near the Fermi level completely decouple from the substrate because they lie in the band gap of silicon. The electronic structure of one-dimensional electrons is predicted to be qualitatively different from that of higher dimensions, since electrons cannot avoid each other when moving along the same line. The single-electron picture has to be abandoned, making way for collective excitations, such as spinons and holons, where the spins and charges of electrons become separated. Although such excitations have yet to be confirmed definitively, the band structure seen in angle-resoled photoemission exhibits a variety of unusual features, such as a fractional electron count and a doublet of nearly half-filled bands. Chains of tunable spins can be created with rare earths. The dimensionality can be controlled by adjusting the step spacing with intra- and inter-chain coupling ratios from 10:1 to >70:1. Thus, metal-induced chain structures on stepped silicon provide a versatile class of low-dimensional materials for approaching the one-dimensional limit and exploring the exotic electronic states predicted for one dimension. PACS 73.20.At; 71.10.Pm; 79.60.Jv; 81.07.Vb; 73.21.Hb     

Effect of metals on UV-excited plasmonic lithography for sub-50 nm periodic feature fabrication

This paper describes and compares the effect of metal films, such as aluminum (Al) and silver (Ag) on UV-excited two-beam surface plasmon interference nanolithography. A planar four-layer configuration has been employed to study the light intensity distribution on the recording medium. It is observed that high-density sub-50 nm periodic structures were achievable by employing the above-mentioned metal films when interrogated with p-polarized, 364 nm illumination wavelength source. It is found that the obtained periodic feature shows good exposure depth and high contrast when Al is used as a metal film. The initial experimental result of planar four-layer configuration is also presented.     

Synthesis of silicon nanocomposite for printable photovoltaic devices on flexible substrate

Renewed interest has been established in the preparation of silicon nanoparticles for electronic device applications. In this work, we report on the production of silicon powders using a simple ball mill and of silicon nanocomposite ink for screen-printable photovoltaic device on a flexible substrate. Bulk single crystalline silicon was milled for 25 h in the ball mill. The structural properties of the produced silicon nanoparticles were investigated using X-ray diffraction (XRD) and transmission electron microscopy. The results show that the particles remained highly crystalline, though transformed from their original single crystalline state to polycrystalline. The elemental composition using energy dispersive X-ray florescence spectroscopy (EDXRF) revealed that contamination from iron (Fe) and chromium (Cr) of the milling media and oxygen from the atmosphere were insignificant. The size distribution of the nanoparticles follows a lognormal pattern that ranges from 60 nm to about 1.2 μm and a mean particle size of about 103 nm. Electrical characterization of screen-printed PN structures of the nanocomposite formed by embedding the powder into a suitable water-soluble polymer on Kapton sheet reveals an enhanced photocurrent transport resulting from photo-induced carrier generation in the depletion region with energy greater that the Schottky barrier height at the metal-composite interface.     

Time resolved spectroscopy with femtosecond soft-x-ray pulses

The most challenging application of time resolved spectroscopy is to directly observe the structural and electronic dynamics. Here we present the combination of x-ray absorption spectroscopy with laser driven x-ray sources, offering atomic spatial and temporal resolution. Our new approaches for optimization of laser driven x-ray sources resulted in the demonstration of spatially coherent sub-20 fs x-ray pulses in a range up to several keV. We excited polycrystalline silicon with an ultrashort laser pulse and characterized the collective motion of atoms with time resolved x-ray absorption spectroscopy at a temporal resolution of less than 20 fs. Finally, we have shown the feasibility of probing the dynamics of the electronic structure of silicon and carbon with near edge x-ray absorption spectroscopy.     

Tuning the electronic properties of the fullerene C<Subscript>20</Subscript> cage via silicon impurities

The fullerene C₂₀ represents one of the most active classes of nanostructures, and they have been widely used as active materials for important applications. In this study, we investigate and discuss the tuning of the electronic properties of the fullerene C₂₀ cage via various consternations and locations of silicon atoms. All calculations are based on the density functional theory (DFT) at the B3LYP/3-21G level through the Gaussian 09W program package. The optimized structures, density of state (DOS) analysis, total energies, dipole moments, HOMO energies, Fermi level energies, LUMO energies, energy gaps, and the work functions were performed and discussed. Our results show that the electronic properties of C₂₀ cage do not only depend on the silicon impurity concentrations, but also depend on the geometrical pattern of silicon impurities in the C₂₀ cage. The tuning of the electronic properties leads to significant changes in the charge transport and the absorption spectra for C₂₀ cage via engineering the energy gap. So, we suggest that substitutional impurities are the best viable option for enhancement of desired electronic properties of C₂₀ cage for using these structures in nanoelectronics and solar cell applications.     

Ca掺杂Si团簇的几何结构和电子性质的密度泛函理论研究

采用密度泛函理论(DFT)B3LYP方法在6-311+G(d,p)基组水平,对CaSi_n(n=1~10)的结构进行优化,得出各个尺寸下团簇处于最低能量的结构模型,并对其稳定性等物理化学性质进行理论研究,表明CaSi_2、CaSi_5和CaSi_9为幻数团簇.     

Integration, processing and performance of low power thermally tunable CMOS-SOI WDM resonators

Ring waveguide resonating structures with high quality factors represent a key component in silicon photonic links. We demonstrate experimentally and validate numerically spectral tuning with a high efficiency of photonic ring structures when manufactured in a commercial 130?nm SOI CMOS technology with localized removal of back-side substrate using silicon micromachining methods. A comprehensive analysis is reported on the thermal tuning efficiency of tunable ring devices as a function of the ring’s size, type of thermal tuner and amount of back- and front-side post-CMOS micromachining. We further propose a path to maintain a high tuning efficiency of photonic devices with partially or completely removed SOI silicon substrate upon their hybridization to electronic driver chips. Such a platform opens up additional options for increased on-chip system functionality and dense integration in 3-D.     

A review of submicron lithography

The techniques of submicron lithography are reviewed with special attention to the sub-100 nm region and the needs of university research. We show that high contrast resists or contrast-enhancement schemes are crucial if one is to extend the useful range of lithographic techniques to near their resolution limits. Resist sensitivity must be properly chosen in order to avoid line-edge uncertainty due to shot noise. Optical projection lithography is readily extended into the deep submicron region, in part because of the statistical advantage of low energy photons. Holographic lithography is the preferred technique for periodic and quasi-periodic patterns, at least down to 0.1 μm linewidths. The high capital and operating costs of scanning-electron-beam lithography (SEBL), are significant impediments to expanded research on applications of artificial microstructures in the submicron and sub-100 nm regions. Replication techniques, such as soft-contact photolithography, x-ray lithography and masked-ion-beam lithography do not have the flexibility of SEBL but they have good throughput and are low cost, convenient and effective. These replication techniques could greatly facilitate sub-100 nm research if methods of gap control and sub-30 nm alignment were available.