Amorphous Carbon Film with Self-modified Carbon Nanoparticles Synthesized by Low Temperature Carbonization of Phenolic Resin for Simultaneous Sensing of Dopamine and Uric Acid

A self-modified film electrode consisting of homogeneous snowflake-shaped nanoparticles on the amorphous carbon substrate (HNAC) was prepared by low temperature carbonization of phenolic resin. Such a unique structure was beneficial to enhance the electroanalysis signal responds. Simultaneous detection of DA and UA was performed on the HNAC using differential pulse voltammetry (DPV) at pH 8 phosphate buffer. The well-defined oxidation peak potential separation reached 260 mV between DA and UA. Meanwhile, the detection limit of HNAC were 0.401 μM (DA) and 2.800 μM (UA).     

Mn掺杂后三元黄铜矿结构半导体CuInTe2的缺陷特征与热电性能

三元黄铜矿结构(也称类金刚石结构)半导体是一类具有热电转换潜力的新型热电材料. 本次工作中采用电负性更小的Mn元素替换CuInTe₂黄铜矿结构半导体中的Cu元素, 设计制备贫Cu化合物Cu_1-xInMn_xTe₂. 研究表明, 当Mn含量较低时, Mn优先占位在In 位置产生受主缺陷Mn_In^-. 因此随着Mn含量的增大, 载流子浓度和电导率均得到改善. 但当Mn含量进一步增大后, Mn可同时占位在In位置和Cu位置, 除产生受主缺陷Mn_In^-外, 还能产生施主缺陷Mn_Cu⁺. 由于两类极性相反的缺陷之间的湮灭现象, 使得缺陷浓度及载流子浓度开始降低, 晶格结构畸变有变小趋势, 因此在高温下晶格热导率仅略有提高. 研究结果表明, 在某一特定的Mn含量(x=0.05)时, 材料具有最优的热电性能(ZT=0.84@810.0 K), 这一性能约是未掺杂CuInTe₂的2倍.     

Microstructures and soft magnetic properties of Fe80P20-xSix (x = 4.5–6.5) amorphous ribbons

Fe-based amorphous ribbons with excellent soft magnetic properties and mechanical properties were prepared in the Fe–Si–P ternary system. Enhanced soft magnetic properties could be achieved through annealing treatment of the ribbons for 1 h at 325 °C, which is far below the glass transition temperatures (462–474 °C). Icosahedral medium-range ordering with a size range of around 2 nm occurred throughout the amorphous matrix during the low-temperature annealing treatment. The annealed ribbons exhibited improved magnetic saturation of over 185 emu/g while maintaining good mechanical flexibility. During icosahedral ordering, the distance between the Fe atoms and the coordination number within the amorphous ribbon can be optimised for achieving high magnetic saturation. However, nanocrystallisation of the SiP and Fe₂P transition phases embedded within the amorphous matrix occurred after the annealing treatment for 1 h at 385 °C, which caused deterioration of the soft magnetic properties and mechanical flexibility of the ribbons. Therefore, the combination of high magnetic saturation and mechanical flexibility of the amorphous ribbons could be optimised through low-temperature annealing treatment without any nanocrystallisation.     

Bulk and surface electron transport in topological insulator candidate YbB6–δ

We report the study of transport and magnetic properties of the YbB_6–δsingle crystals grown by inductive zone melting. A strong disparity in the low temperature resistivity, Seebeck and Hall coefficients is established for the samples with the different level of boron deficiency. The effective parameters of the charge transport in YbB_6–δ are shown to depend on the concentration of intrinsic defects, which is estimated to range from 0.09% to 0.6%. The pronounced variation of Hall mobility μ_H found for bulk holes is induced by the decrease of transport relaxation time from τ ≈ 7.7 fs for YbB_5.994 to τ ≈ 2.2 fs for YbB_5.96. An extra contribution to conductivity from electrons with μ_H≈ –1000 cm² V^–1 s^–1 and the very low concentration n /n_Yb≈ 10^–6 discovered below 20 K for all the single crystals under investigation is suggested to arise from the surface electron states appeared in the inversion layer due to the band bending. (© 2016 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH &Co. KGaA, Weinheim)     

Spin–orbit stiffness of the spin‐polarized electron gas

In a spin‐polarized electron gas, Coulomb interaction couples the spin and motion degrees of freedom to build propagating spin waves. The spin wave stiffness S_sw quantifies the energy cost to trigger such excitation by perturbing the kinetic energy of the electron gas (i.e. putting it in motion). Here we introduce the concept of spin–orbit stiffness, S_so, as the energy necessary to excite a spin wave with a spin polarization induced by spin–orbit coupling. This quantity governs the Coulombic enhancement of the spin–orbit field acting of the spin wave. First‐principles calculations and electronic Raman scattering experiments carried out on a model spin‐polarized electron gas, embedded in a CdMnTe quantum well, demonstrate that S_so = S_sw. Through optical gating of the structure, we demonstrate the reproducible tuning of S_so by a factor of 3, highlighting the great potential of spin–orbit control of spin waves in view of spintronics applications. (© 2016 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH &Co. KGaA, Weinheim)     

InGaAsP/InP photodetectors targeting on 1.06 μm wavelength detection

InP-based InGaAsP photodetectors targeting on 1.06 μm wavelength detection have been grown by gas source molecular beam epitaxy and demonstrated. For the detector with 200 μm mesa diameter, the dark current at 10 mV reverse bias and R₀A are 8.89 pA (2.2 × 10⁻⁸ A/cm²) and 3.9 × 10⁵ Ω cm² at room temperature. The responsivity and detectivity of the InGaAsP detector are 0.30 A/W and 1.45 × 10¹² cm Hz^1/2 W⁻¹ at 1.06 μm wavelength. Comparing to the reference In_0.53Ga_0.47As detector, the dark current of this InGaAsP detector is about 570 times lower and the detectivity is more than ten times higher, which agrees well with the theoretical estimation.     

Self-assembly of Mo<Subscript> 6</Subscript>S<Subscript> 8</Subscript> clusters on the Au(111) surface

The preferred adsorption sites and the propensity for a self-organised growth of the molybdenum sulfide cluster Mo₆S₈ on the Au(111) surface are investigated by density-functional band-structure calculations with pseudopotentials and a plane wave basis set. The quasi-cubic cluster preferentially adsorbs via a face and remains structurally intact. It experiences a strong, mostly non-ionic attraction to the surface at several quasi-isoenergetic adsorption positions. A scan of the potential energy surface exhibits only small barriers between adjacent strong adsorption sites. Hence, the cluster may move in a potential well with degenerate local energy minima at room temperature. The analysis of the electronic structure reveals a negligible electron transfer and S-Au hybridised states, which indicate that the cluster-surface interaction is dominated by S-Au bonds, with minor contributions from the Mo atom in the surface vicinity. All results indicate that Mo₆S₈ clusters on the Au(111) surface can undergo a template-mediated self-assembly to an ordered inorganic monolayer, which is still redox active and may be employed as surface-active agent in the integration of noble metal and ionic or biological components within nano-devices. Therefore, a classical potential model was developed on the basis of the DFT data, which allows to study larger cluster assemblies on the Au(111).     

Hollow polyhedron structure of amorphous Ni-Co-S/Co(OH)_2 for high performance supercapacitors

In power storage technology,ion exchange is widely used to modify the electronic structures of electrode materials to stimulate their electrochemical properties.Here,we proposed a multistep ion exchange(cation exchange and anion exchange) strategy to synthesize amorphous Ni-Co-S and β-Co(OH)_2 hybrid nanomaterials with a hollow polyhedron structures.The synergistic effects of different components and the remarkable superiorities of hollow structure endow Ni-Co-S/Co(OH)_2 electrode with outstanding electrochemical performance,including ultra-high specific capacity(1440.0 C/g at 1 A/g),superior capacitance retention rate(79.1% retention at 20 A/g) and long operating lifespan(81.4% retention after5000 cycles).Moreover,the corresponding hybrid supercapacitor enjoys a high energy density of 58.4 Wh/kg at the power density of 0.8 kW/kg,and a decent cyclability that the capacitances are maintained at80.8% compared with the initial capacitance.This research presents a high-performance electrode material and provides a promising route for the construction of electrode materials for supercapacitors with both structural and component advantages.     

Simultaneous studies of pressure effect on charge transport and photophysical properties in organic semiconductors: A theoretical investigation

High-mobility and strong luminescent materials are essential as an important component of organic photodiodes, having received extensive attention in the field of organic optoelectronics. Beyond the conventional chemical synthesis of new molecules, pressure technology, as a flexible and efficient method, can tune the electronic and optical properties reversibly. However, the mechanism in organic materials has not been systematically revealed. Here, we theoretically predicted the pressure-depended luminescence and charge transport properties of high-performance organic optoelectronic semiconductors, 2,6-diphenylanthracene (DPA), by first-principle and multi-scale theoretical calculation methods. The dispersion-corrected density functional theory (DFT-D) and hybrid quantum mechanics/molecular mechanics (QM/MM) method were used to get the electronic structures and vibration properties under pressure. Furthermore, the charge transport and luminescence properties were calculated with the quantum tunneling method and thermal vibration correlation function. We found that the pressure could significantly improve the charge transport performance of the DPA single crystal. When the applied pressure increased to 1.86 GPa, the hole mobility could be doubled. At the same time, due to the weak exciton coupling effect and the rigid flat structure, there is neither fluorescence quenching nor obvious emission enhancement phenomenon. The DPA single crystal possesses a slightly higher fluorescence quantum yield ～ 0.47 under pressure. Our work systematically explored the pressure-dependence photoelectric properties and explained the inside mechanism. Also, we proposed that the external pressure would be an effective way to improve the photoelectric performance of organic semiconductors.     

Magnetic properties of iron nitride films prepared by oblique sputtering under different nitrogen gas flow ratios (N2/N2+Ar)

Iron nitride thin films were prepared on Si (100) substrates by oblique radio-frequency reactive magnetron oblique sputtering. Structures, phases and magnetic properties were investigated as a function of nitrogen gas flow ratio F_N(F_N=F_N2/(F_N2+F_Ar)×100%). When F_N is in the range of 2–7%, the iron nitride films show amorphous or nano-crystalline structures, which exhibit good soft magnetic properties. With 3%≤F_N≤6%, films show in-plane uniaxial magnetic anisotropy. Both intrinsic damping factor α_in and extrinsic damping factor α_ex of the iron nitride films increase with increasing F_N. The film deposited under F_N=6% with the resonance frequency f_r=3.3 GHz and full width at half-maximum Δf=3.6 GHz has great potential for high-frequency electromagnetic shielding applications.