Anti-photon

It should be apparent from the title of this article that the author does not like the use of the word photon, which dates from 1926. In his view, there is no such thing as a photon. Only a comedy of errors and historical accidents led to its popularity among physicists and optical scientists. I admit that the word is short and convenient. Its use is also habit forming. Similarly, one might find it convenient to speak of the aether or vacuum to stand for empty space, even if no such thing existed. There are very good substitute words for photon, (e.g., radiation or light), and for photonics (e.g., optics or quantum optics). Similar objections are possible to use of the word phonon, which dates from 1932. Objects like electrons, neutrinos of finite rest mass, or helium atoms can, under suitable conditions, be considered to be particles, since their theories then have viable non-relativistic and non-quantum limits. This paper outlines the main features of the quantum theory of radiation and indicates how they can be used to treat problems in quantum optics.It is a pleasure to join in the 60th birthday celebration of the Director, Herbert Walther, of the Max-Planck-Institute for Quantum Optics at Garching, and wish him much happiness and many more years of his very great scientific creativity.     

In Situ Transmission Electron Microscopy Observation of Melted Germanium Encapsulated in Multilayer Graphene

Germanene is a two-dimensional germanium (Ge) analogous of graphene, and its unique topological properties are expected to make it a material for next-generation electronics. However, no germanene electronic devices have yet been reported. One of the reasons for this is that germanene is easily oxidized in air due to its lack of chemical stability. Therefore, growing germanene at solid interfaces where it is not oxidized is one of the key steps for realizing electronic devices based on germanene. In this study, the behavior of Ge at the solid interface at high temperatures is observed by transmission electron microscopy (TEM). To achieve such in situ heating TEM observation, this work fabricates a graphene/Ge/graphene encapsulated structure. In situ heating TEM experiments reveal that Ge like droplets move and coalesce with other Ge droplets, indicating that Ge remains as a liquid phase between graphene layers at temperatures higher than the Ge melting point. It is also observed that Ge droplets incorporate the surrounding amorphous Ge as Ge nuclei, thereby increasing its size (domain growth). These results indicate that Ge crystals can be grown at the interface of van der Waals materials, which will be important for future germanene growth at solid interfaces.     

Interactions between dislocations and γ/γ' interfaces in superalloys

In situ transmission electron microscopy observations of the dislocation motion at vicinity of the /' interfaces in a Ni-base superalloy have been performed. They allow to identify the elemental mechanisms, under stress and at different temperatures, of the deformation propagation across the interfaces. It is shown that some of the mechanisms already analyzed in the literature occur. Moreover, new processes are revealed such as the formation of small dislocation pile-ups on the /' interfaces. Such a configuration, which increases the local stress, favors the overcoming of the interface.These observations together with new considerations on stresses are taken into account for proposing a new equilibrium equation for a dislocation abutting on a /' interface. This equation involves all the stress components acting on a dislocation: the applied stress, the misfit stress, the friction stress, the stress concentration due to the dislocation pile-up and the image stress.     

Growth of ultrathin Pd films on Al(001) surfaces

High-energy ion backscattering spectroscopy (HEIS) and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) were used to determine the growth mode and the interface structure of ultrathin Pd films deposited on Al(001) surfaces at room temperature. Measured Al and Pd surface peak areas for MeV He⁺ ions incident normal to the surface show that Pd atoms intermix with and displace Al substrate atoms. The mixing continues for Pd coverages from 0–5 monolayers, at which point a Pd metal film begins to grow on the alloy surface. XPS measurements of the Pd 3d photopeaks show a chemical shift that is consistent with the formation of an AlPd-like compound during the mixing phase, and Pd metal thereafter. HEIS results further reveal that the alloyed overlayer as well as the Pd metal film have some degree of axial alignment with respect to the Al substrate. The XPS intensity measurements are consistent with this two-stage growth model.     

Growth mode and interface structure of Ag on the HF-treated Si(111):H surface

A growth mode and interface structure analysis has been performed for Ag deposited at a high temperature of 300°C on the HF-treated Si(111):H surface by means of medium-energy ion scattering and elastic recoil detection analysis of hydrogen. The measurements show that Ag grows in the Volmer-Weber mode and that the Ag islands on the surface are epitaxial with respect to the substrate. The preferential azimuthal orientation is A-type only when Ag is deposited slowly. The interface does not reconstruct to the √3 × √3-Ag structure, which is normally observed for Ag deposition above 200°C on the Si(111)7 × 7 surface, but retain bulk-like structure. The presence of hydrogen at the interface is demonstrated after deposition of thick (1100 Å) Ag films. However, the amount of hydrogen at the interface is not a full monolayer. This partial desorption of hydrogen from the interface explains why the Schottky barrier heights of Ag/Si(111):H diodes are close to those of Ag/Si(111)7 × 7 and Ag/Si(111)2 × 1.     

Following the Azide‐Alkyne Cycloaddition at the Silica/Solvent Interface with Sum Frequency Generation

The Cu^I‐catalyzed 1,3‐dipolar azide‐alkyne cycloaddition (CuAAC) has arisen as one of the most useful chemical transformations for introducing complexity onto surfaces and materials owing to its functional‐group tolerance and high yield. However, methods for monitoring such reactions in situ at the widely used silica/solvent interface are hampered by challenges associated with probing such buried interfaces. Using the surface‐specific technique broadband sum frequency generation (SFG), we monitored the reaction of a benzyl azide monolayer in real time at the silica/methanol interface. A strong peak at 2096 cm^?1 assigned to the azides was observed for the first time by SFG. Using a cyano‐substituted alkyne, the decrease of the azide peak and the increase of the cyano peak (2234 cm^?1) were probed simultaneously. From the kinetic analysis, the reaction order with respect to copper was determined to be 2.1, suggesting that CuAAC on the surface follows a similar mechanism as in solution.     

Equilibrium morphologies of epitaxially strained islands

An analytical expression of the free energy consisting of the strain energy, surface energy and interfacial energy for the coherent island/substrate system, as well as the evolving relations of aspect ratio against volume of the island, and misfit of the system, which provides a broad perspective on island behavior, is obtained, and used to study the equilibrium shapes of the systems. A two-dimensional model assuming linear elastic behavior is used to analyze an isolated island with elastic properties similar to those of the substrate. The results show that in order to minimize the total free energy, a coherent island will adopt a particular shape and height-to-width aspect ratio that are a function of only the island volume. The effect of a misfit dislocation on the equilibrium shape of an island is in passing examined. These can serve as a basis for interpretation of experiments.     

Interface effects for metal oxide thin films deposited on another metal oxide I. SnO deposited on SiO2

The growing mode of SnO overlayers deposited on SiO₂ has been studied by ISS and XPS. This study has shown that SnO spreads on the surface of SiO₂. The oxidation state of tin under different experimental conditions of preparation has been characterized by XPS and ELS and a procedure has been found to produce pure SnO. For comparison, SnO has been evaporated on highly oriented pyrolytic graphite (HOPG). In this case, independent of the deposited amount of SnO, XPS and ELS did not show any significant difference in the photoemission and loss features of this material as a function of coverage (i.e. there are no size effects). On the contrary, at low coverages of SnO deposited on SiO₂ XPS showed a shift of 1 eV in the BE of the Sn 3d_5/2 peak another of 1.7 eV in the values of the Auger parameter with respect to the values found for the bulk material. These shifts, very common on deposited metal particles, have been previously reported by us for TiO₂/SiO₂, and are tentatively attributed to t of the interaction of small deposits of SnO with the surface of SiO₂. The characterization by ELS and valence band photoemission of SnO completes the set of results reported in this paper.     

Pt/Cu(001)-p(2×2)-O表面吸附结构的总能计算

采用密度泛函理论(DFT)研究了氧吸附后Pt/Cu(001)表面合金的原子结构和表面性质. 计算结果表明, 在Pt/Cu(001)-p(2×2)-O表面最稳定结构中, 衬底表面原子层不发生再构, 氧原子吸附于4重对称的Pt原子谷位, 每个氧原子吸附能约为2.303 eV. 吸附结构的Cu—O和Pt—O键键长分别为0.202和0.298 nm, 氧原子的吸附高度ZCu—O约为0.092 nm. 吸附前后Pt/Cu(001)-1ML(monolayer)表面合金的表面功函数分别为4.678和5.355 eV. 吸附表面氧原子和衬底的结合主要来自氧原子2p轨道和衬底金属原子d轨道的杂化作用, 氧原子吸附形成的表面电子态主要位于费米能级以下约-2.7 eV 处.     

Combined effects of substrate compliance and film compositional grading on strain relaxation in layer-by-layer semiconductor heteroepitaxy: the case of InAs/In0.50Ga0.50As/GaAs(1 1 1)A

A systematic theoretical analysis is presented of the combined effects of substrate compliance and film compositional grading on the relaxation of strain due to lattice mismatch in layer-by-layer semiconductor heteroepitaxy. The analysis is based on a combination of continuum elasticity theory and a novel atomistic simulation approach for modeling structural and compositional relaxation in layer-by-layer heteroepitaxial systems. Results are presented for InAs epitaxy on GaAs(1 1 1)A compliant substrates with some marginal film compositional grading that consists of one monolayer of In_0.50Ga_0.50As grown on the substrate surface prior to InAs growth. A parametric study is carried out over a wide range of substrate thicknesses. Interfacial stability with respect to misfit dislocation formation, the dependence on substrate thickness of a thermodynamic critical film thickness, and the completion of the coherent-to-semicoherent interfacial transition are examined in detail. In addition, the structural characteristics and compositional distribution of the corresponding semicoherent interfaces, the associated strain fields, as well as the film surface morphological characteristics are analyzed. Most importantly, the role of segregation at defects of a semicoherent interface in the thermodynamics of layer-by-layer heteroepitaxial growth is demonstrated. Our study shows that systematic combination of the mechanical behavior of thin compliant substrates with grading of the epitaxial film composition provides a very promising engineering strategy for strain relaxation in heteroepitaxy.