Synthesis, characterization, and electrical properties studies of cadmium selenide nanoparticle

A new solvothermal route was used for the preparation of CdSe nanoparticles at 160 °C for 10 h using ethylenediamine as a solvent. X-ray powder diffraction and transmission electron microscope were employed to characterize the size, morphology, and crystalline structure of the as-prepared sample. The formation process was discussed and it revealed a uniform hexagonal shape of CdSe nanoparticle with good dispersion, with an average size of 35 nm. Fourier transform infrared and ultraviolet-visible spectroscopies were used to follow the reaction and to determine the optical band gap. DC and AC electrical conductivities were studied and the activation energies were determined as well as the conduction mechanism. The results indicated that CdSe behaves as a semiconducting material. The dielectric properties were measured as a function of temperature at different frequencies ranging from 100 Hz to 100 kHz. The increase of the dielectric constant with increasing temperature was discussed on the basis of increasing polarizability, while its decrease with increasing frequency is attributed to the dielectric dispersion.     

Discrete-charge quantum circuits and electrical resistance

From the theory of quantum LC circuits with discrete charge, and semiclassical considerations, we obtain approximate energy eigenvalues, depending on the parameter . Next, we include electrical resistance for the quantum RLC circuit, obtaining a relation that strongly reminds us of the Landauer formula.     

Bonds and Fermi surfaces studied by photoelectron spectroscopy

Photoelectron spectroscopy with synchrotron radiation employing high energy and angular resolutions is a very efficient tool for experimental investigations of the electronic structure of solids and their surfaces. In addition to standard band-mapping applications, photoemission intensity and line-shape analyses provide valuable information about wave functions, bonds and interactions of a many-electron system. In this report we choose covalent semiconductor surfaces as well as metallic clean and nanostructured surfaces of layered materials to serve as model systems for assessing the spatial origin of photoelectrons and the three-dimensional shape of Fermi surfaces. Received: 11 July 2001 / Accepted: 23 July 2001 / Published online: 3 April 2002     

Spin-flip shot noise in a quantum dot coupled to carbon nanotube terminals responded by a rotating magnetic field

We have investigated the spectral density of shot noise of the system with a quantum dot (QD) coupled to two single-wall carbon nanotube terminals, where a rotating magnetic field is applied to the QD. The carbon nanotube (CN) terminals act as quantum wires which open quantum channels for electrons to transport through. The shot noise and differential shot noise exhibit novel behaviors originated from the quantum nature of CNs. The shot noise is sensitively dependent on the rotating magnetic field, and the differential shot noise exhibits asymmetric behavior versus source-drain bias and gate voltage. The Fano factor of the system exhibits the deviation of shot noise from the Schottky formula. The super-Poissonian and sub-Poissonian shot noise can be achieved in different regime of source-drain bias.     

A new approach to the quantized electrical conductance

The quanta of electrical conductance is derived for a one-dimensional electron gas both by making use of the quasi-classical motion of a quantum fluid and by using arguments related to the uncertainty principle. The result is extended to a nanowire of finite cross section area and to electrons in magnetic field, and the quantization of the electrical conductance is shown. An additional application is made to the two-dimensional electron gas.     

Multiwalled carbon nanotubes are ballistic conductors at room temperature

Following the experiments of Frank et al. [1], which demonstrated quantum transport in multiwalled carbon nanotubes, there have been several experiments that appear to contradict the main conclusion of that paper, which is that the transport of a MWNT at room temperature is ballistic. Here we demonstrate that the intrinsic resistance of clean-arc-produced carbon nanotubes is at most 200 Ω/ μm, which implies that the momentum mean free path is greater than 30 μm, which in turn is much larger than the tube length. This implies that these tubes are ballistic, according to the standard definition of ballistic transport. We also show that the contact resistance with mercury is quite large: a nanotube in contact with Hg over 100 nm of its length still represents a 3000 Ω resistance. Received: 14 September 2001 / Accepted: 3 December 2001 / Published online: 4 March 2002     

Infrared absorption spectra of few-layer graphenes studied by first principles calculations

The infrared (IR) absorption spectra of the undoped, the hole- and electron-doped few-layer graphene (FLG) with layer number of N=1,2,3 have been calculated using the density functional theory in the local density approximation. It is found that in contrast with the featureless optical spectrum of the undoped monolayer graphene, the undoped AB-stacking bilayer and trilayer graphenes exhibit interesting rich IR spectra, e.g., the peaks and jumps in their IR spectra, which are caused by the coupling between different layers. And clear characteristic peaks, lying at different energies, exist in the IR spectra of the hole- or electron-doped bilayer and trilayer graphenes due to the asymmetrical band structures. Beside, based upon their different IR spectra, a powerful experimental tool has been proposed to identify accurately the layer number and doping type of the FLGs.     

First-principles calculations for magnetic properties of Mn-doped GaN nanotubes

Based on first-principles spin-density functional calculations, we investigate the electronic and magnetic properties of Mn-doped GaN nanotubes in which two of Ga atoms are substituted by Mn atoms. Similar to the case of Mn in bulk GaN, our calculations show that Mn atoms also act as an acceptor and all of the ground states for the Mn-doped GaNNTs are ferromagnetic. Moreover, the ferromagnetism is isotropic and independent of the chirality and diameter of the nanotubes. It is found that the most favorable configuration is the first-nearest neighbor Mn model, which is mainly mediated by both the hole-hole interaction and the dipole-dipole interaction.     

Influence of High Atomic Hydrogenation on the Electronic Structure of Zigzag Carbon Nanotubes： A First-Principles Study

Using density functional theory, we study high hydrogenated zigzag single-walled carbon nanotubes from （7,0） to （11,0）. Two structure transitions are classified： type A is a metallic transition and type B is a ＂semiconductive transition＂ according to the energy band structure. The charge density transforms only at the C-C bonds without hydrogenated sites. The sp^3 hybridization is mainly enhanced for all the C-C bonds in the vertical axial direction for type-A configurations, and the sp^3 hybridization mainly increases for all C-C bonds along the axial direction for the type-B case.     

Tunneling mechanism through the nonlinear electrical transport in Co/CoO particles with core-shell nanostructure

We investigate the nonlinear electrical transport as a function of temperature in Co/CoO nanoparticles having core-shell nanostructure. Nanoparticle was synthesized by sol-gel citrate precursor technique where core-shell nanostructure is confirmed by the high resolution Transmission Electron Microscopy. Current-voltage (I-V) characteristics are measured over the temperature range 20-295 K. I-V curve exhibits ohmic behaviour at 295 K. Nonlinear electrical transport is observed at low temperature (T) for T?275 K. Electrical transport properties have been interpreted in terms of tunneling mechanism where tunneling between ferromagnetic Co nanoparticles takes place through the antiferromagnetic CoO layer. Analysis of dynamic conductance (G=dI/dV) indicates that the inelastic tunneling via localized states of antiferromagnetic CoO layers is dominant in the transport mechanism at low temperature.     

Conduction switching in aluminum nitride thin films containing Al nanocrystals

Conduction switching, i.e., a sharp change in the conduction from a lower-conductance state to a higher-conductance state or vice versa in aluminum nitride thin films embedded with Al nanocrystals (nc–Al) has been observed in the ramped-voltage and ramped-current current–voltage (I–V) measurements and the time-domain current measurement as well. Each state is well defined and its I–V characteristic follows a power law. It is observed that the conductance decreases (or increases) with charging (or discharging) in the nc–Al. It is shown that the conduction switching is due to the charging and discharging in the nc–Al at certain strategic sites. With the connecting (or breaking) of some conductive tunneling paths formed by the uncharged nc–Al due to the discharging (or charging) in the nc–Al at the strategic sites, a conduction switching occurs.     

Fabrication and Characterization of Si Nanocrystals Synthesized by Electron Beam Evaporation of Si and SiO2 Mixture

Silicon nanocrystals synthesized by electron beam （e-beam） evaporation of Si and SiO2 mixture are studied. Rutherford backscattering spectrometry of the as-deposited Si-rich silicon dioxide or oxide （SRO） thin film shows that after evaporation, the Si and SiO2 concentration is well kept, indicating that the e-beam evaporation is suitable for evaporating mixtures of Si and SiO2. The SRO thin films are annealed at different temperatures for two hours to synthesize silicon nanoerystals. For the sample annealed at 1050℃, silicon nanoerystals with different sizes and the mean diameter of 4.5 nm are evidently observed by high resolution transmission electron microscopy （HRTEM）. Then the Raman scattering and photoluminescence spectra arising from silicon nanocrystals are further confirmed the above results.     

CMOS-compatible light-emitting devices based on thin aluminum nitride film containing Al nanocrystals

Electroluminescence (EL) from Al-rich AlN thin films grown on p-type Si substrate by radio frequency (RF) magnetron sputtering has been observed at room temperature. The light-emitting structure based on the thin films can be driven by an electrical pulse as short as 10⁻⁵ s. No obvious change in the light emission intensity was observed after 10⁶ pulse cycles. It has been found that the light emission intensity increases with the Al concentration. It is shown that the phenomenon is due to the enhancement of the percolative conduction via the Al nanocrystals distributed in the AlN matrix as a result of the increase in Al concentration.     

Optical properties of fullerene and non-fullerene peapods

Single-wall carbon nanotubes (SWNTs) encapsulating fullerenes, so-called fullerene peapods, were synthesized in high yield by using diameter-selected nanotubes as pods. Transmission electron microscopy revealed high-density fullerene chains inside the nanotubes. X-ray-diffraction measurements indicate 85% filling for C₆₀ and 72% filling for C₇₀ molecules as a total yield. Interestingly, C₆₀ peas do not show any thermal expansion while C₇₀ peas show normal behavior. Room-temperature Raman spectra show one-dimensional photopolymerization of C₆₀ inside nanotubes by blue-laser irradiation, suggesting molecular rotation inside them. In C₇₀ peapods, no photopolymerization was observed but the relative Raman intensity of each peak is different from the C₇₀ 3D crystal. This is probably caused by mixing of two different crystal structures in C₇₀ peas. Furthermore, we synthesized Zn-diphenylporphyrin peapods. Optical absorption and Raman spectra suggest that the encapsulated molecules are deformed by interaction with the SWNT. Received: 12 November 2001 / Accepted: 3 December 2001 / Published online: 4 March 2002     

Optical properties of semiconducting carbon nanotubes under axial magnetic field

The linear polarizability absorption spectra of semiconducting carbon nanotubes under axial magnetic field (B) have been calculated by the π-orbital tight-binding model and sum-over-state method. We have found that the optical spectra are split by the B-induced symmetry breaking and the amount of splitting increases with increase of magnetic field. Although the results are obtained within the noninteracting tight-binding model, the amount of splitting is still consistent with the experimental observation, offering a fast estimation of the B-induced splitting. Our numerical results also indicate that the splitting amounts of the second and third absorption peaks are close to that of the first one, which may be observed by the future experiments.     

Electronic properties of double-layer carbon nanotubes

The electronic spectra for double-wall zigzag and armchair nanotubes are found. The influence of nanotube curvatures on the electronic spectra is also calculated. Our finding that the outer shell is hole doped by the inner shell is in the difference between Fermi levels of individual shells which originate from the different hybridization of π orbital. The shift and rotation of the inner nanotube with respect to the outer nanotube are investigated. We found stable semimetal characteristics of the armchair DWNTs in regard of the shift and rotation of the inner nanotube. We predict the shift of k_F towards the bigger wave vectors with decreasing of the radius of the armchair nanotube.     

Coulomb interactions of massless Dirac fermions in graphene; pair-distribution functions and exchange-driven spin-polarized phases

The quasi-2D electrons in graphene behave as massless fermions obeying a Dirac-Weyl equation in the low-energy regime near the two Fermi points. The stability of spin-polarized phases (SPP) in graphene is considered. The exchange energy is evaluated from the analytic pair-distribution functions, and the correlation energies are estimated via a closely similar four-component 2D electron fluid which has been investigated previously. SPPs appear for sufficiently high doping, when the exchange energy alone is considered. However, the inclusion of correlations is found to suppress the spin-phase transition in ideal graphene.     

Codoping of Potassium and Bromine in Carbon Nanotubes： A Density Functional Theory Study

We investigate the co-doping of potassium and bromine in single-walled carbon nanotubes （SWCNTs） and doublewalled carbon nanotubes （DWCNTs） based on density functional theory. In the co-doped （6,0） SWCNTs, the 4s electron of potassium is transferred to nanotube and Br, leading to the n-type feature of SWCNTs. When potassium is intercalated into inner tube and bromine is put on outer tube, the positive and negative charges reside on the outer and inner tubes of the （7,0）@（16,0） DWCNT, respectively. It is expected that DWCNTs would be an ideal candidate for p-n junction and diode applications.     

Quantum RLC circuits: Charge discreteness and resonance

In a recent article [C.A. Utreras-Díaz, Phys. Lett. A 372 (2008) 5059], we have advanced a semiclassical theory of quantum circuits with discrete charge and electrical resistance. In this work, we present a few elementary applications of this theory. For the zero resistance inductive circuit, we obtain the Stark ladder energies in yet another way; for the circuit driven by a combination d.c. plus a.c. electromotive force (emf) we generalize earlier results by Chandía et al. [K. Chandía, J.C. Flores, E. Lazo, Phys. Lett. A 359 (2006) 693]. As a second application, we investigate the effect of electrical resistance and charge discreteness, in the resonance conditions of a series RLC quantum circuit.     

Mo6S6 nanowires: structural, mechanical and electronic properties

The properties of nanowires were investigated with ab initio calculations based on the density-functional theory. The molecules build weakly coupled one-dimensional chains, like and Mo₆S_9-xI_x, and the crystals are strongly uniaxial in their mechanical and electronic properties. The calculated moduli of elasticity and resilience along the chain axis are c₁₁ = 320 GPa and E_R = 0.53 GPa, respectively. The electronic band structure and optical conductivity indicate that the crystals are good quasi-one-dimensional conductors. The frequency-dependent complex dielectric tensor ε, calculated in the random-phase approximation, shows a strong Drude peak in ε_∥, i.e., for the electric field polarised parallel to the chain axis, and several peaks related to interband transitions. The electron energy loss spectrum is weakly anisotropic and has a strong peak at the plasma frequency ħω_p ≈20 eV. The stability analysis shows that is metastable against the formation of the layered .