Tunable electronic and optical properties of GaS/GaSe van der Waals heterostructure

We have used first-principles calculations to investigate the electronic and optical properties of GaS/GaSe van der Waals heterostructures formed by stacking two-dimensional GaSe and GaSe monolayers. Our findings confirm that the GaS/GaSe heterostructures transform from an indirect to a direct band gap material for the two stackings considered in this study. In addition, we found that the direct band gaps are 1.780 eV and 1.736 eV for AA and AB stacking, respectively. It is observed that the behavior of the optical properties of AA stacking is similar to AB stacking with some differences in details and both heterostructures located in UV range. The refractive index values are 2.21 (AA pattern) and 2.18 (AB pattern) at zero photon energy limit and increase to 2.937 for AA and 2.18 AB patterns and both located in the visible region. More importantly, the GaS/GaSe heterostructures have a variety of extraordinary electronic and optical properties. Accordingly, these heterostructures can be useful for the solar cell, nanoelectronics, and optoelectronic applications.     

Electronic and magnetic properties of semihydrogenated,fully hydrogenated monolayer and bilayer MoN_2 sheets

Based on density functional theory, we investigate the electronic and magnetic properties of semi-hydrogenated, fully hydrogenated monolayer and bilayer MoN_2. We find that the AB stacking bilayer MoN_2 exhibits ferromagnetic coupling of intralayer and antiferromagnetic coupling of interlayer, however, the ground states of the semi-hydrogenated, fully hydrogenated monolayer and AA stcaking bilayer MoN_2 are nonmagnetic. The fully hydrogenated system has a quasidirect band-gap of 2.5 eV, which has potential applications in light-emitting diode and photovoltaics. The AB stacking bilayer MoN_2 shows the Dirac cone at K point in BZ around Fermi energy. Furthermore, the interlayer of the AB stacking bilayer MoN_2 is subjected to a weak van der Waals force, while the interlayer of the AA stacking forms N-N covalent bond.     

Surface effect on the GSF energy of Al

The second-nearest-neighbor modified embedded atom method (2NN-MEAM) is used to calculate the generalized stacking fault (GSF) energy for (1 1 1) surface of Al crystal. It is found that the GSF energy curve is much lower for the fault in the first layer of the (1 1 1) surface than that in the bulk. When the fault exists in the second layer, the energy curve becomes considerably on the verge of that in the bulk. With a much lower unstable stacking fault energy γ_usf, the dislocation should be easier to set on at the outermost of the free surface. Expansion in relaxation always exists for the stacking fault either in bulk or near the surface and the GSF energy increases with the vertical expansion.     

On distance variation effects on graphene bilayers

The opening of the energy gap and the total energy of the graphene-like bilayers are investigated using ab initio calculations. The studied model consists of a static single layer of graphene interacting with an extra dynamic one placed at a varying vertical distance d in the (AB) stacking arrangement. The effects of the vertical distance variation on the energy gap and the total energy of the system are discussed first. Starting from a distance around the van der Waals length, the energy gap does not depend on the vertical distance variation and the system exhibits graphene-like properties with minor deformations in the lattice size parameter and the energy dispersion behaviour around K points. However, it has been shown that the diagonal distance variation of the graphene-like bilayer modifies the electronic structure properties. This modification depends on an intermediate stacking arrangement between the (AA) and the (AB) configurations. It has been shown that the diagonal distance variation has an influence on the states of p_z electrons in the (AB) arrangement and it can be explored to open the energy gap.     

Effects of defects on heat conduction of graphene/hexagonal boron nitride heterointerface

We investigate the effects of point defects on the Interface Thermal Resistance (ITR) of graphene/hexagonal boron nitride (G/h-BN) heterointerface with various stacking forms by ultrafast thermal pulse method. The results reveal that the ITR of different stacking forms presents a significant downward trend with the existence of point defects. This counterintuitive behavior is attributed to the defects increase the vibration intensity of out-of-plane phonons of graphene in low-frequency region, thus enhancing the phonons coupling between graphene and h-BN layer. ITR of G/h-BN is further reduced by 50% with the defect rate increases from 0% to 5% and that is reduced by 65% with the temperature rises from 200 K to 700 K. Besides, it is found that the defective G/h-BN has thermal rectification characteristic and that is positively related to temperature and defect rate. Our study provides a practical way for the application of defects in graphene and a new approach for the design of thermal rectifier devices.     

Assessment of the thermodynamic dimension of the stacking fault energy

Especially with respect to high Mn and other austenitic TRansformation and/or TWinning Induced Plasticity (TRIP/TWIP) steels, it is a current trend to model the stacking fault energy of a stacking fault that is formed by plastic deformation with an equilibrium thermodynamic formalism as proposed by Olson and Cohen in 1976. In the present paper, this formalism is critically discussed and its ambiguity is stressed. Suggestions are made, how the stacking fault energy and its relation to the formation of hexagonal ?-martensite might be treated appropriately. It is further emphasized that a thermodynamic treatment of deformation-induced stacking fault phenomena always faces some ambiguity. However, an alternative thermodynamic approach to stacking faults, twinning and the formation of ?-martensite in austenitic steels might rationalize the specific stacking fault arrangements encountered during deformation of TRIP/TWIP alloys.     

Low speed bearing fault diagnosis using acoustic emission sensors

In this paper, a new methodology for low speed bearing fault diagnosis is presented. This acoustic emission (AE) based technique starts with a heterodyne frequency reduction approach that samples AE signals at a rate comparable to vibration centered methodologies. Then, the sampled AE signal is time synchronously resampled to account for possible fluctuations in shaft speed and bearing slippage. The resampling approach is able to segment the AE signal according to shaft crossing times such that an even number of data points are available to compute a single spectral average which is used to extract features and evaluate numerous condition indicators (CIs) for bearing fault diagnosis. Unlike existing averaging based noise reduction approaches that require the computation of multiple averages for each bearing fault type, the presented approach computes only one average for all bearing fault types. The presented technique is validated using the AE signals of seeded fault steel bearings on a bearing test rig. The results in this paper have shown that the low sampled AE signals in combination with the presented approach can be utilized to effectively extract condition indicators to diagnose all four bearing fault types at multiple low shaft speeds below 10 Hz.     

Bilayer graphene on h-BN substrate: investigating the breakdown voltage and tuning the bandgap by electric field

By performing density functional theory calculations we show that it is possible to make the electronic bandgap in bilayer graphene supported on hexagonal boron nitride (h-BN) substrates tunable. We also show that, under applied electric fields, it is possible to insert states from h-BN into the bandgap, which generate a conduction channel through the substrate making the system metallic. In addition, we verify that the breakdown voltage strongly depends on the number of h-BN layers. We also show that both the breakdown voltage and the bandgap tuning are independent of the h-BN stacking order.     

Domain growth and aging scaling in coarsening disordered systems

We explore the electronic and transport properties out of a biased multilayer hexagonal boron nitride (h-BN) by first-principles calculations. The band gaps of multilayer h-BN decrease almost linearly with increasing perpendicular electric field, irrespective of the layer number N and stacking manner. The critical electric filed (E ₀) required to close the band gap decreases with the increasing N and can be approximated by E ₀ = 3.2 / (N ? 1) (eV). We provide a quantum transport simulation of a dual-gated 4-layer h-BN with graphene electrodes. The transmission gap in this device can be effectively reduced by double gates, and a high on-off ratio of 3000 is obtained with relatively low voltage. This renders biased MLh-BN a promising channel in field effect transistor fabrication.     

The anomalous exhibition of GSF energy at surface of fcc metals

The generalized stacking fault (GSF) energy curves for (1 1 1) surface of fcc metals are calculated by the second nearest-neighbor modified embedded atom method (2NN-MEAM), in order to investigate the deformation mechanism of (1 1 1) surface. Except the energy reduce for all these metals, strange energy curves are found for Au, Pd and Pt, especially for Au. Combining the surface GSF energy data and the experimental results, we find that the deformation mechanism should be explained by not only the values of the stable stacking fault energy γ_sf and unstable stacking fault energy γ_usf, but the whole shape of a metal’s energy curve.     

Shrinking stacking fault through glide of the Shockley partial dislocation in hard-sphere crystal under gravity

Disappearance of a stacking fault in the hard-sphere crystal under gravity, such as reported by Zhuet al. [Nature 387, 883 (1997)], has successfully been demonstrated by Monte Carlo simulations. We previously found that a less ordered (or defective) crystal formed above a bottom ordered crystal under stepwise controlled gravity [Moriet al. J. Chem. Phys. 124, 174507 (2006)]. A defect in the upper defective region has been identified with a stacking fault for the (001) growth. We have looked at the shrinking of a stacking fault mediated by the motion of the Shockley partial dislocation; the Shockley partial dislocation terminating the lower end of the stacking fault glides. In addition, the presence of crystal strain, which cooperates with gravity to reduce stacking faults, has been observed.     

Relative stability of cubic and different hexagonal forms of boron nitride

Boron nitride in the cubic form has a hardness approaching that of diamond. It is synthesized from a hexagonal graphitic phase. The physical behavior of the hexagonal phase depends upon the nature of layer stacking. This stacking is investigated using density functional approaches with the local density approach being far more successful than the generalized gradient approach. Various forms of the AaAa… stacking are predicted to be stable suggesting the existence of slightly different phases of the material. At the same time the energy differences between the stacking geometries is small and associated with small changes in the inter-layer spacing. This could have implications for the h-BN to c-BN transformation.     

Selectively strong molecular adsorption on boron nitride monolayer induced by transition metal substrate

We studied adsorption of several molecules (CO, CO₂, H₂O, N₂O, NO, NO₂, and O₂) on hexagonal boron nitride (h-BN) monolayers supported on transition metal (TM) surfaces, using density functional calculations. We observed that all the molecules bind very weakly on the pristine h-BN, with binding energies in the range of 0.02–0.03 eV. Interestingly, however, when h-BN is supported on the TM surface, NO₂ and O₂ become strongly chemisorbed on h-BN, with binding energies of >1 eV, whereas other molecules still physisorbed, with binding energies of ～0.1 eV at most. The electron transfer from TM to p_z states of h-BN played a substantial role in such strong bindings of NO₂ and O₂ on h-BN, as these molecules possess unpaired electrons that can interact with p_z states of h-BN. Such selective molecular binding on h-BN/TM originates from the peculiar distribution of the spin-polarized highest occupied and lowest unoccupied molecular orbitals of NO₂ and O₂. Strong molecular adsorption and high selectivity would make the h-BN/TM system possible for a variety of applications such as catalysts and gas sensors.     

Relaxation and movement of point defect clusters in copper by molecular dynamics simulation

Abstract

The structures of point defect clusters of both interstitial and vacancy type were examined by computer simulation using molecular dynamics and molecular statics with the DYNAMO code (Daw, Foiles and Baskes [6]). The code implements an isotropic potential of embedded atom method (EAM) developed by Daw and Baskes [5]. Interstitial clusters relax to either the immobile mixture of <100> dumbbell and bcc interstitials or a mobile platelet of parallel <110> interstitials. The latter cluster moves along <110> directions. A tri-vacancy relaxes to an un-collapsed stacking fault tetrahedron (sft) of Damask-Dienes type (3v-sft) containing a central atom that vibrates with a large amplitude. A hexa-vacancy relaxes to a stacking fault tetrahedron the structure of which fluctuates between a sft and void. Larger vacancy clusters are stable as a combination of sft and 3v-sft. In these vacancy clusters, atoms show significant vibration with large amplitude. Voids form only with the inclusion of gas-atoms into vacancy clusters.     

Hexagonal boron nitride film substrate for fabrication of nanostructures

The fabrication of material with an atomic scale manipulation requires the suitable advanced substrate for epitaxial growth without the effect by the substrate lattice structure. Hexagonal boron nitride (h-BN) can be the advanced substrate for atomic manipulation due to van der Waals’ gap with little attractive force along to c axis. We have successfully synthesized h-BN layer on the co-deposited Cu/BN film by surface segregation phenomena using helicon wave plasma enhanced radio frequency (rf) magnetron sputtering system. Auger electron spectroscopy (AES) and X-ray photon spectroscopy (XPS) analysis showed that the h-BN composite segregated on the surface of Cu/BN film covered over 95% of the film annealed at 900 K for 30 min. Atomic forces microscopy (AFM) and scanning tunneling microscopy (STM) analysis showed that attractive force on the film surface is uniformly distributed to an extent of 2nN and that the h-BN surface can be a good electric insulator like sintered h-BN plate.     

Phase transformation in BN films by nitrogen-protected annealing at atmospheric pressure

Two groups of RF-sputtered BN films (pure hexagonal phase and approximately 27.5% cubic content, respectively) were annealed at 600 to 1000 °C under nitrogen at atmospheric pressure after deposition. FTIR spectroscopy indicates a reversible transformation from hexagonal phase to cubic phase, and again hexagonal phase. The most effective temperature for h-BN converting to cubic zincblende (c-BN) is 900 °C. Further, the indirectly stepwise transformation from hexagonal (h-BN) to explosive BN (E-BN) and then to c-BN employing metastable E-BN as an intermedium was observed. In addition, we tentatively put forward that the existence of defective h-BN and the N defects plays a key role on h-BN to c-BN transformation.     

Localization of π‐electron density in twisted bilayer graphene

In bilayer graphene, mutual rotation of layers has strong effect on the electronic structure. We theoretically study the distribution of electron density in twisted bilayer graphene with the rotation angle of 21.8° and find that regions with AA‐like and AB‐like stacking patterns separately contribute to the interlayer low‐energy van Hove singularities. In order to investigate the peculiarities of interlayer coupling, the charge density map between the layers is examined. The presented results reveal localization of π‐electrons between carbon atoms belonging to different graphene layers when they have AA‐like stacking environment, while the interlayer coupling is stronger within AB‐stacked regions.

Charge density map for bilayer graphene with a layer twist of 21.8° (interlayer region).     

Dynamical thermal conductivity of bilayer graphene in the presence of bias voltage

We study dynamical thermal conductivity of doped biased bilayer graphene for both AA and AB-stacking in the context of tight binding model Hamiltonian. The effects of bias voltage and chemical potential on the behavior of dynamical thermal conductivity are discussed for different stacking of bilayer graphene. Green's function approach has been implemented to find the behavior of thermal conductivity of bilayer graphene within linear response theory. We have found that thermal conductivity decreases with chemical potential for different values of temperature and frequency. Also thermal conductivity of AB stacked bilayer graphene versus bias voltage includes a peak for each value of chemical potential. Furthermore we study the frequency dependence of thermal conductivity of AA stacked bilayer graphene for different values of temperature and bias voltage.     

Theoretical study of Ti and Fe surface alloys on Al(0 0 1) substrate

Accurate density-functional calculations are performed to investigate the formation of Ti and Fe ultrathin alloys on Al(0 0 1) surface. It is demonstrated that a deposition of Ti monolayer on Al(0 0 1) substrate leads to the formation of Al₃Ti surface alloy with Ti atoms arranged according to the L1₂ stacking, distinct from the D0₂₂ structure characteristic of a bulk Al₃Ti compound. A quest for the reason of this distinct atomic arrangement led us to the study of the surface structure of Al₃Ti(0 0 1) compound. It is concluded that even the Al₃Ti(0 0 1) surface is terminated with three layers assuming a L1₂ stacking and hence this stacking fault can be classified as a surface-induced stacking fault. Several possibilities of Fe atoms distributed in the surface region of Al(0 0 1) have been examined. The most stable configuration is the one with the compact Fe monolayer on Al(0 0 1) and covered by one Al monolayer. Lastly, our calculations show that there is no barrier for the penetration of Fe adatoms below the Al(0 0 1) surface; however, such a barrier is present for a Ti-alloyed Al(0 0 1) surface.     

Dislocation modeling in bcc lithium: A comparison between continuum and atomistic predictions in the modified embedded atoms method

In this study, the modified embedded-atom method (MEAM) was applied to compare the predictions of dislocation core properties obtained by molecular statics with the continuum predictions obtained in the framework of the simplified 1D-Peierls–Nabarro model. To this end, a set of four fictive Li potentials in the MEAM framework was proposed with the condition that all four potentials reproduce the same elastic constants, the same transition energies between bcc and fcc crystal structures, and between bcc and hcp crystal structures, while the unstable stacking fault energy on the plane {110} in the direction <111> was varied around the value predicted by first-principles. Within these potentials, direct atomistic calculations were performed to evaluate dislocation core properties such as dislocation half width and Peierls stress and the results were compared with continuum predictions. We found that the trends predicted by the Peierls–Nabarro model, i.e. (i) a decrease of the dislocation half width with increasing unstable stacking fault energy, and (ii) an increase of the Peierls stress with increasing the magnitude of the unstable stacking fault energy, were recovered using atomic calculations in the MEAM framework. Moreover, the magnitude of the dislocation half width and the Peierls stress calculated in the MEAM framework are in good agreement with the Peierls–Nabarro predictions when the dislocation half width is determined using a generic strategy. Specifically, the dislocation half width is defined as the distance for which the disregistery is included between b/4 and 3b/4. It was, therefore, demonstrated herein that the set of fictive potentials could be parameterized in the MEAM framework to validate or to disprove the continuum theory using atomistic methods.