Photoelectrical Characteristics of a C/CNx Multiwalled Nanotube

A nanotube diode fabricated from a single C/CN_x multiwalled nanotube exhibits a large photocurrent and a large photovoltage under illumination. The current–voltage (I–V) characteristics of the diode indicate a clear rectification effect. By comparing the I–V characteristics of C, CN_x, and C/CN_x nanotube diodes, we show that the rectifying characteristics of the C/CN_x diode arises from the molecular junction formed at the C/CN_x interface where the C and CN_x segments are chemically bonded. External radiation photochemically generates electrons and holes in the C/CN_x nanotube, producing a large photocurrent because of the influence of the strong electric field in the vicinity of the C/CN_x junction. These unique photoresponsive characteristics of C/CN_x nanotube junction diodes points to potential applications such as photovoltaic devices and photodiodes.     

Fully Transparent p‐MoTe2 2D Transistors Using Ultrathin MoOx/Pt Contact Media for Indium‐Tin‐Oxide Source/Drain

Since transition metal dichalcogenide (TMD) semiconductors are found as 2D van der Waals materials with a discrete energy bandgap, many 2D‐like thin field effect transistors (FETs) and PN diodes are reported as prototype electrical and optoelectronic devices. As a potential application of display electronics, transparent 2D FET devices are also reported recently. Such transparent 2D FETs are very few in report, yet no p‐type channel 2D‐like FETs are seen. Here, 2D‐like thin transparent p‐channel MoTe₂ FETs with oxygen (O₂) plasma‐induced MoO_x/Pt/indium‐tin‐oxide (ITO) contact are reported for the first time. For source/drain contact, 60 s short O₂ plasma and ultrathin Pt‐deposition processes on MoTe₂ surface are sequentially introduced before ITO thin film deposition and patterning. As a result, almost transparent 2D FETs are obtained with a decent mobility of ≈5 cm² V^?1 s^?1, a high ON/OFF current ratio of ≈10⁵, and 70% transmittance. In particular, for normal MoTe₂ FETs without ITO, O₂ plasma process greatly improves the hole injection efficiency and device mobility (≈60 cm² V^?1 s^?1), introducing ultrathin MoO_x between Pt source/drain and MoTe₂. As a final device application, a photovoltaic current modulator, where the transparent FET stably operates as gated by photovoltaic effects, is integrated.     

Decoupling the Impacts of Engineering Defects and Band Gap Alignment Mechanism on the Catalytic Performance of Holey 2D CeO2−x-Based Heterojunctions

Critical catalysis studies often lack elucidation of the mechanistic role of defect equilibria in solid solubility and charge compensation. This approach is applied to interpret the physicochemical properties and catalytic performance of a free-standing 2D–3D CeO_2−x scaffold, which is comprised of holey 2D nanosheets, and its heterojunctions with MoO_3−x and RuO₂. The band gap alignment and structural defects are engineered using density functional theory (DFT) simulations and atomic characterization. Further, the heterojunctions are used in hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) and catalytic ozonation applications, and the impacts of the metal oxide heteroatoms are analyzed. A key outcome is that the principal regulator of the ozonation performance is not oxygen vacancies but the concentration of Ce³⁺ and Ce vacancies. Cation vacancy defects are measured to be as high as 8.1 at% for Ru-CeO_2−x. The homogeneous distribution of chemisorbed, Mo-oxide, heterojunction nanoparticles on the CeO_2−x holey nanosheets facilitates intervalence charge transfer, resulting in the dominant effect and resultant ≈50% decrease in overpotential for HER. The heterojunctions are tested for aqueous-catalytic ozonation of salicylic acid, revealing excellent catalytic performance from Mo doping despite the adverse impact of Ce vacancies. The present study highlights the use of defect engineering to leverage experimental and DFT results for band alignment.     

Piezo‐Phototronic Effect for Enhanced Flexible MoS2/WSe2 van der Waals Photodiodes

The recent discoveries of transition‐metal dichalcogenides (TMDs) as novel 2D electronic materials hold great promise to a rich variety of artificial van der Waals (vdWs) heterojunctions and superlattices. Moreover, most of the monolayer TMDs become intrinsically piezoelectric due to the lack of structural centrosymmetry, which offers them a new degree of freedom to interact with external mechanical stimuli. Here, fabrication of flexible vdWs p–n diode by vertically stacking monolayer n‐MoS₂ and a few‐layer p‐WSe₂ is achieved. Electrical measurement of the junction reveals excellent current rectification behavior with an ideality factor of 1.68 and photovoltaic response is realized. Performance modulation of the photodiode via piezo‐phototronic effect is also demonstrated. The optimized photoresponsivity increases by 86% when introducing a −0.62% compressive strain along MoS₂ armchair direction, which originates from realigned energy‐band profile at MoS₂/WSe₂ interface under strain‐induced piezoelectric polarization charges. This new coupling mode among piezoelectricity, semiconducting, and optical properties in 2D materials provides a new route to strain‐tunable vdWs heterojunctions and may enable the development of novel ultrathin optoelectronics.     

Electrical characteristics of diodes fabricated in selective Si/Si1−x Ge x epitaxial layers

Diodes have been fabricated in layers of Si_1−x Ge _x and silicon deposited selectively on patterned wafers, and the electrical characteristics of the diodes have been examined. For 50 nm thick Si_1−x Ge _x layers containing about 22% Ge, the forward characteristics of larger diodes are nearly ideal. However, the reverse leakage current is higher when the edges of the diode intersect the oxide defining the selectively deposited layers than when the diode edges are separated from this oxide. The diode characteristics are more ideal when the diode edges are aligned along the [100] directions than when aligned along the [110] directions. Higher-temperature hydrogen pre-treatments before epitaxial deposition can degrade the diode characteristics.     

Heterogeneous,Porous 2D Oxide Sheets via Rapid Galvanic Replacement: Toward Superior HCHO Sensing Application

2D heterogeneous oxide nanosheets (NSs) have attracted much attention in various scientific fields owing to their exceptional physicochemical properties. However, the fabrication of 2D oxide NSs with abundant p–n interfaces and large amounts of mesopores is extremely challenging. Here, a facile synthesis of highly porous 2D heterogeneous oxide NSs (e.g., SnO₂/CoO_x) is suggested through a 2D oxide exfoliation approach combined with a fast galvanic replacement reaction (GRR). The ultrathin (<5 nm) layered CoO_x NSs are simply prepared by ion‐exchange exfoliation and a subsequent GRR process that induces a rapid phase transition from p‐type CoO_x to n‐type SnO₂ metal oxides (<10 min). The controlled GRR process enables the creation of heterogeneous SnO₂/CoO_x NSs consisting of small SnO₂ grain sizes (<10 nm), high porosity, numerous heterojunctions, and sub‐10 nm thickness, which are highly advantageous characteristics for chemiresistive sensors. Due to the advantage of these features, the porous SnO₂/CoO_x NSs exhibit an unparalleled HCHO‐sensing performance (R_air/R_gas > 35 @ 5 ppm with a response speed of 9.34 s) with exceptional selectivity compared to that of the state‐of‐the‐art metal oxide‐based HCHO gas sensors.     

Facile Fabrication of SWCNT/SnO2 Nanowire Heterojunction Devices on Flexible Polyimide Substrate

We report on the fabrication and electronic properties of single‐walled carbon nanotube (SWCNT)/tin oxide nanowire (SnO₂ NW) heterojunction device arrays on flexible polyimide (PI) substrates. Hetero‐NW junctions consisting of crossed SnO₂ NWs and SWCNTs were fabricated by sliding transfer of SnO₂ NWs onto the SWCNT channels on PI substrate. Individual SWCNTs and SnO₂ NWs field effect transistors showed p‐ and n‐type transfer properties with current on/off ratios of 7.0 × 10⁵ and 2.7 × 10⁶, respectively. The heterojunction diode showed a rectifying behavior with a rectification ratio of higher than 10³ at ±1 V and the analysis with an equivalent circuit model of serially connected diode and resistor estimated an ideality factor of 1.5 and the resistance of 20 MΩ. The rectification of AC input signal was clearly demonstrated by fabricating a full‐wave bridge circuit of heterojunctions. In addition, the heterojunctions showed a high UV photosensitivity of ～10⁴ under reverse bias, suggesting their implicit applications in UV sensors.     

Interfacial effects during GaN growth on 6H-SiC

GaN growth on 6H-SiC was investigated for heterojunction device applications. Dopant diffusion and surface reactions were discovered at the GaN/SiC heterojunction. A systematic study was therefore conducted focusing on: 1) SiC substrate preparation, 2) SiC nitridation; the effect of flowing ammonia (NH₃) at 1050°C on the SiC, and 3) the conductivity type and carrier concentration of the SiC substrate. Atomic force microscopy measurements revealed that the SiC substrates became smoother after the nitridation process possibly due to nitrogen chemisorption and etching. Current-voltage and capacitance-voltage measurements on Cr-Schottky diodes made on SiC revealed evidence for an increased potential barrier in the nitrided samples that can be explained by an interfacial monolayer ofSiN_x. Furthermore, we compared GaN/SiC heterojunction n-n and n-p diodes made from direct and selective GaN growth. Capacitancevoltage measurements on GaN/SiC n-p heterojunctions indicate that the effective doping in the junction increases as the growth temperature increases. Secondary ion mass spectrometry measurements exposed a tail of Al in the GaN due to acceptor out-diffusion from the p-SiC.     

Temperature dependent current-voltage characteristics of n-MgxZn1−xO/p-GaN junction diodes

This study investigates the temperature dependence of the current-voltage (I-V) characteristics of n-Mg_xZn_1−xO/p-GaN junction diodes. The n-Mg_xZn_1−xO films were deposited on p-GaN using a radio-frequency (rf) magnetron sputtering system followed by annealing at 500, 600, 700, and 800 °C in nitrogen ambient for 60 s, respectively. The n-Mg_xZn_1−xO/p-GaN diode at a substrate temperature of 25 °C had the lowest leakage current in reverse bias. However, the leakage current of the diodes increased with an increase in annealing temperatures. The temperature sensitivity coefficients of the I-V characterizations were obtained at different substrate temperatures (25, 50, 75 100, and 125 °C) providing extracted values of 26.4, 27.2, 17.9, and 0.0 mV/°C in forward bias and 168.8, 143.4, 84.6, and 6.4 mV/°C in reverse bias, respectively. The n-Mg_xZn_1−xO/p-GaN junction diode fabricated with Mg_xZn_1−xO annealed at 800 °C demonstrated the lowest temperature dependence. Based on these findings, the n-Mg_xZn_1−xO/p-GaN junction diode is feasible for GaN-based heterojunction bipolar transistors (HBTs).     

Improvement in HgCdTe diode characteristics by low temperature post-implantation annealing

Hg_1−xCd_xTe diodes (x∼0.22) with different carrier concentrations in p type materials have been fabricated by employing an ion-implantation technique. The performances of the diodes, prior to and after low temperature postimplantation annealing, have been investigated in detail by model fitting, taking into account dark current mechanisms. Prior to the annealing process, dark currents for diodes with relatively low carrier concentrations are found to be limited by generation-recombination current and trap-assisted tunneling current, while dark currents for diodes with higher carrier concentrations are limited by band-to-band tunneling current. These dark currents in both diodes have been dramatically decreased by the low temperature annealing at 120∼150°C. From the model fitting analyses, it turned out that trap density and the density of the surface recombination center in the vicinity of the pn junction were reduced by one order of magnitude for a diode with lower carrier concentration and that the carrier concentration profile in a pn junction changed for a diode with higher carrier concentration. The improvements are explained by changes in both carrier concentration profile and pn junction position determined by interaction of interstitial Hg with Hg vacancy in the vicinity of the junction during the annealing process.     

ZnO/ZnSe/ZnTe Heterojunctions for ZnTe-Based Solar Cells

ZnO and ZnSe are proposed as n-type layers in ZnTe heterojunction diodes to overcome problems associated with the n-type doping of ZnTe. The structural properties and electrical characteristics of ZnO/ZnTe and ZnO/ZnSe/ZnTe heterojunctions grown by molecular beam epitaxy on (001) GaAs substrates are presented. ZnO shows a strong preference for c-plane (0001) orientation resulting in a nonepitaxial relationship and high density of rotational domains for growth on ZnTe (001). ZnSe/ZnTe structures demonstrate a (001) epitaxial relationship with high density of {111} stacking faults originating at the heterojunction interface. ZnO/ZnSe/ZnTe heterojunction diodes show excellent diode rectification and clear photovoltaic response with open-circuit voltage of V _OC = 0.8 V.     

Modification of metal/semiconductor junctions by self-assembled monolayer organic films

Two new metal/molecule/semiconductor contacts, Au/n-Si/TDA/Au and Au/p-Si/ODM/Au, were fabricated to understand effect of organic compounds, tridecylamine and octadecylmercaptan self-assembled monolayer (SAM) films, on electrical charge transport properties of the metal/semiconductor junctions. The morphology of the organic monolayers deposited on Si substrates was investigated by atomic force microscopy. The molecular coverage of ODM deposited on p-Si is poorer than that of TDA on n-Si substrate. The ideality factors of the p-Si/ODM and n-Si/TDA diodes were found to be 1.66 and 1.48, respectively. The electrical results show that the tridecylamine monolayer passivated junction has a lower ideality factor. The ideality factor indicates clear dependence on two different type functional groups R-SH (Thiol) and R-NH₂ (Amin) groups and it increases with different functional groups of organic molecule. The barrier height φ_b value of the n-Si/TDA diode is smaller than that of p-Si/ODM diode, as a result of chain length of the SAM organic molecules. The interface state density D_it values of the diodes were determined using conductance technique. The n-Si/TDA diode has the smaller interface state density according to p-Si/ODM diode.We have evaluated that the organic molecules control the electronic parameters of metal/semiconductor diodes and thus, organic modification helps to get one step closer towards to new organic assisted silicon based microelectronic devices.     

Defective S-TiO2−x/CeO2 Heterojunction for Mutual Reinforcing Chemodynamic/Sonocatalytic Antibacterial Therapy and Sonoelectric/Ion-Activated Bone Regeneration

Sonocatalysis and chemodynamics have attracted widespread attention in antibacterial therapy. The transfer efficiency of electrons plays an important role in sonocatalysis and chemodynamics, and how to regulate electron transfer and achieve mutual-reinforcement between sonocatalysis and chemodynamic to achieve efficient antibacterial therapy is a difficult problem. Here, this study develops a defective S-doped TiO₂ and CeO₂ heterojunction(S-TiO_2−x/CeO₂）sonosensitizer that can enhance chemodynamic therapy by regulating valence transitions of Ce^III/Ce^IV by sonoelectrons, and enhancing sonocatalytic therapy by creating heterojunctions to accelerate the transfer of interface electron, thereby achieving mutual reinforcement of sonocatalysis and chemodynamic. It could kill 99.3% of S. aureus under ultrasound (US) irradiation . Due to the presence of mixed valence states Ce^III/Ce^IV in CeO₂, S-TiO_2−x/CeO₂ could be as oxy-substrates. Ce⁴⁺ can deplete glutathione and reacts with H₂O₂ in bacteria to produce reactive oxygen species (ROS). These activities combines with ROS generated from sonocatalysis, resulting in bacterial death. Meanwhile, the electrical signal generated by S-TiO_2−x/CeO₂ under US stimulation and the cerium ions could activate the Wnt/β-catenin signaling pathway to induce hBMSCs to differentiate into osteoblast. S-TiO_2−x/CeO₂ successfully treats osteomyelitis under US irradiation by effectively clearing infection, suppressing inflammatory, and promoting bone regeneration, and it provides effective treatment for patients with deep infection.     

Electrical properties of manganese doped Ga1−xInxAs grown by liquid phase epitaxy

Mn-doped Ga_1?xIn_xAs crystals (0 < x < 0.25) have been grown by the LPE technique, and the doping characteristics and electrical properties of the layers have been studied by Hall measurement. The distribution coefficient of Mn has been found to depend on the substrate orientation. The acceptor enerby level is about 77 meV and is comparable to that of Mn-doped GaAs. p-n junction diodes with high InAs compositions, grown using the step grading technique, showed a diode factor of 2. Electron diffusion lengths greater than 3μm have been measured in these Mn doped layers.     

Magnetically Controllable Two-Dimensional Spin Transport in a 3D Crystal

2D phases of matter have become a new paradigm in condensed matter physics, bringing in an abundance of novel quantum phenomena with promising device applications. However, realizing such quantum phases has its own challenges, stimulating research into non-traditional methods to create them. One such attempt is presented here, where the intrinsic crystal anisotropy in a “fractional” perovskite, Eu_xTaO₃ (x = 1/3 − 1/2), leads to the formation of stacked layers of quasi-2D electron gases, despite being a 3D bulk system. These carriers possess topologically non-trivial spin textures, indirectly controlled by an external magnetic field via proximity effect, making it an ideal system for spintronics, for which several possible applications are proposed. An anomalous Hall effect with a non-monotonic dependence on carrier density is shown to exist, signifying a shift in band topology with carrier doping. Furthermore, quantum oscillations in charge conductivity and oscillating thermoelectric properties are examined and proposed as routes to experimentally demonstrate the quasi-2D behavior.     

The effect of composition on the barrier height and contact resistance of Tixw1-x/si contacts

Barrier height is an important parameter for metal/silicon rectifying contacts. In this paper the barrier heights of Ti_xW{1-x}/Si contacts have been studied and found to range from 0.54 eV for high Ti content to 0.66 eV for pureW. Interpretation is made in terms of the parallel Schottky diode model of Tu. Ohmic contact measurements of Ti_xW_1-x/ Si metallization after heat treatment at 500° C have also been made and specific contact resistances of less than 10⁻⁶ ohm-cm² obtained in shallow implanted junction devices.     

Effect of growth temperature on diode parameters of n-ZnO/p-Si heterojuction diodes grown by atomic layer deposition

n-ZnO/p-Si heterojunctions were grown by atomic layer deposition (ALD) on (100) p-Si substrates at different growth temperatures in the range of ~100–250 °C. The current-voltage characterization of all the heterojunctions showed typical rectifying behavior, a true signature of a p-n junction diode. The diode grown at 100 °C were having significantly lower reverse saturation current (~21 nA) and high rectification factor (~120) compared to those grown at relatively higher temperatures such as 200 or 250 °C. From capacitance-voltage measurements, it was found that the depletion width in the ZnO side of n-ZnO/p-Si diode was maximum (~60 nm) for the diode grown at 100 °C and decreased gradually to ~3 nm for the diodes grown at high temperatures of 250 °C. The electron concentration in ZnO films was found to increase significantly on increasing the growth temperature from ~100 to 250 °C. The junction capacitance also showed an increasing trend with increase in the growth temperature. The variation of diode parameters with growth temperature has been discussed in terms of carrier concentration in ZnO films and associated growth mechanisms of the ALD. Such low temperature grown n-ZnO/p-Si diodes with lower reverse saturation current and large depletion width may be suitable for photo detection applications.     

A validated SPICE network simulation study on improving tunnel diodes by introducing lateral conduction layers

In this work, network simulations using LTSpice (Linear Technology, Milpitas, CA, USA) for monolithic triple‐junction solar cells have been performed. In order to simulate the internal structure correctly, the integration of the tunnel diode into the network simulation was mandatory. The tunnel‐diode characteristics are modeled by LTSpice's arbitrary behavioral current sources. The integration of tunnel‐diode characteristics into the network model was validated by comparison of simulated and experimental data. Lattice‐matched triple‐junction solar cells were examined under homogenous illumination between 1 and 1900 suns as well as under non‐uniform digital irradiance. The verified model was then used to study the influence of lateral current spreading in layers surrounding the tunnel diodes. It is shown that a lateral current spreading from high to low illumination intensity regions cannot prevent the tunnel diode from switching to thermal diffusion under the used Gaussian illumination profile as it appears in concentrator photovoltaic applications. Furthermore, resistance regimes of the lateral conducting layers were identified, which would enable a current spreading that is high enough to transport all current exclusively by tunneling. It is shown that the presence of at least one additional layer above and one below the tunnel diode is mandatory. Finally, the necessary layer thicknesses using Al_x−1Ga_xAs as lateral conducting layers are calculated for different doping concentrations and mole fractions x. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Type II heterojunctions in an InGaAsSb/GaSb system: Magnetotransport properties

Magnetotransport properties of the narrow-gap In_xGa_1?x As_ySb_1?y /GaSb heterojunctions grown by liquid-phase epitaxy with various In content in the solid solution (x=0.85–0.95 and E _g ≤0.4 eV) were studied. It is shown that, depending on the In content in these heterostructures, type II staggered-lineup (x=0.85) or broken-gap heterojunctions (x=0.95) with high mobility in the electron channel at the interface (μ?20000 cm²/(V s)) can be realized. For x=0.92, depending on temperature, both types of heterojunctions were observed. Obtained results are in good agreement with the band energy diagram of the type II InGaAsSb/GaSb heterostructures under study.     

Covalent Assembly of Two-Dimensional COF-on-MXene Heterostructures Enables Fast Charging Lithium Hosts

2D heterostructured materials combining ultrathin nanosheet morphology, defined pore configuration, and stable hybrid compositions, have attracted increasing attention for fast mass transport and charge transfer, which are highly desirable features for efficient energy storage. Here, the chemical space of 2D–2D heterostructures is extended by covalently assembling covalent organic frameworks (COFs) on MXene nanosheets. Unlike most COFs, which are generally produced as solid powders, ultrathin 2D COF-LZU1 grows in situ on aminated Ti₃C₂T_x nanosheets with covalent bonding, producing a robust MXene@COF heterostructure with high crystallinity, hierarchical porosity, and conductive frameworks. When used as lithium hosts in Li metal batteries, lithium storage and charge transport are significantly improved. Both spectroelectrochemical and theoretical analyses demonstrate that lithiated COF channels are important as fast Li⁺ transport layers, by which Li ions can be precisely nucleated. This affords dendrite-free and fast-charging anodes, which would be difficult to achieve using individual components.