Self-organizing nanodot structures on InP surfaces evolving under low-energy ion irradiation: analysis of morphology and composition

Surfaces of InP were bombarded by 1.9 keV Ar⁺ ions under normal incidence. The total accumulated ion fluence Φ the samples were exposed to was varied from 1 × 10¹⁷ cm⁻² to 3 × 10¹⁸ cm⁻², and ion fluxes f of (0.4 − 2) × 10¹⁴ cm⁻² s⁻¹ were used. The surface morphology resulting from these ion irradiations was examined by atomic force microscopy (AFM). Generally, nanodot structures are formed on the surface; their dimensions (diameter, height and separation), however, were found to depend critically on the specific bombardment conditions. As a function of ion fluence, the mean radius r, height h, and spacing l of the dots can be fitted by power-law dependences: r ∝ Φ^0.40, h ∝ Φ^0.48, and l ∝ Φ^0.19. In terms of ion flux, there appears to exist a distinct threshold: below f ~ (1.3 ± 0.2) × 10¹⁴ cm⁻² s⁻¹, no ordering of the dots exists and their size is comparatively small; above that value of f, the height and radius of the dots becomes substantially larger (h ~ 40 nm and r ~ 50 nm). This finding possibly indicates that surface diffusion processes could be important. In order to determine possible local compositional changes in these nanostructures induced by ion impact, selected samples were prepared for atom probe tomography (APT). The results indicate that APT can provide analytical information on the composition of individual InP nanodots. By means of 3D APT data, the surface region of such nanodots evolving under ion bombardment could be examined with atomic spatial resolution. At the InP surface, the values of the In/P concentration ratio are distinctly higher over a distance of approximately 1 nm and amount to 1.3 to 1.7.     

Tuning of structural,optical, and magnetic properties of ultrathin and thin ZnO nanowire arrays for nano device applications

One-dimensional (1-D) ultrathin (15 nm) and thin (100 nm) aligned 1-D (0001) and (0001¯) oriented zinc oxide (ZnO) nanowire (NW) arrays were fabricated on copper substrates by one-step electrochemical deposition inside the pores of polycarbonate membranes. The aspect ratio dependence of the compressive stress because of the lattice mismatch between NW array/substrate interface and crystallite size variations is investigated. X-ray diffraction results show that the polycrystalline ZnO NWs have a wurtzite structure with a = 3.24 Å, c = 5.20 Å, and [002] elongation. HRTEM and SAED pattern confirmed the polycrystalline nature of ultrathin ZnO NWs and lattice spacing of 0.58 nm. The crystallite size and compressive stress in as-grown 15- and 100-nm wires are 12.8 nm and 0.2248 GPa and 22.8 nm and 0.1359 GPa, which changed to 16.1 nm and 1.0307 GPa and 47.5 nm and 1.1677 GPa after annealing at 873 K in ultrahigh vacuum (UHV), respectively. Micro-Raman spectroscopy showed that the increase in E₂ (high) phonon frequency corresponds to much higher compressive stresses in ultrathin NW arrays. The minimum-maximum magnetization magnitude for the as-grown ultrathin and thin NW arrays are approximately 8.45 × 10⁻³ to 8.10 × 10⁻³ emu/g and approximately 2.22 × 10⁻⁷ to 2.190 × 10⁻⁷ emu/g, respectively. The magnetization in 15-nm NW arrays is about 4 orders of magnitude higher than that in the 100 nm arrays but can be reduced greatly by the UHV annealing. The origin of ultrathin and thin NW array ferromagnetism may be the exchange interactions between localized electron spin moments resulting from oxygen vacancies at the surfaces of ZnO NWs. The n-type conductivity of 15-nm NW array is higher by about a factor of 2 compared to that of the 100-nm ZnO NWs, and both can be greatly enhanced by UHV annealing. The ability to tune the stresses and the structural and relative occupancies of ZnO NWs in a wide range by annealing has important implications for the design of advanced photonic, electronic, and magneto-optic nano devices.     

Role of vanadium ions,oxygen vacancies,and interstitial zinc in room temperature ferromagnetism on ZnO-V2O5 nanoparticles

In this work, we present the role of vanadium ions (V⁺⁵ and V⁺³), oxygen vacancies (V_O), and interstitial zinc (Zn_i) to the contribution of specific magnetization for a mixture of ZnO-V₂O₅ nanoparticles (NPs). Samples were obtained by mechanical milling of dry powders and ethanol-assisted milling for 1 h with a fixed atomic ratio V/Zn?=?5% at. For comparison, pure ZnO samples were also prepared. All samples exhibit a room temperature magnetization ranging from 1.18?×?10⁻³ to 3.5?×?10⁻³ emu/gr. Pure ZnO powders (1.34?×?10⁻³ emu/gr) milled with ethanol exhibit slight increase in magnetization attributed to formation of Zn_i, while dry milled ZnO powders exhibit a decrease of magnetization due to a reduction of V_O concentration. For the ZnO-V₂O₅ system, dry milled and thermally treated samples under reducing atmosphere exhibit a large paramagnetic component associated to the formation of V₂O₃ and secondary phases containing V⁺³ ions; at the same time, an increase of V_O is observed with an abrupt fall of magnetization to σ?~?0.7?×?10⁻³ emu/gr due to segregation of V oxides and formation of secondary phases. As mechanical milling is an aggressive synthesis method, high disorder is induced at the surface of the ZnO NPs, including V_O and Zn_i depending on the chemical environment. Thermal treatment restores partially structural order at the surface of the NPs, thus reducing the amount of Zn_i at the same time that V₂O₅ NPs segregate reducing the direct contact with the surface of ZnO NPs. Additional samples were milled for longer time up to 24 h to study the effect of milling on the magnetization; 1-h milled samples have the highest magnetizations. Structural characterization was carried out using X-ray diffraction and transmission electron microscopy. Identification of V_O and Zn_i was carried out with Raman spectra, and energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy was used to verify that V did not diffuse into ZnO NPs as well to quantify O/Zn ratios.     

DNA stretching on the wall surfaces in curved microchannels with different radii

DNA molecule conformation dynamics and stretching were made on semi-circular surfaces with different radii (500 to 5,000 μm) in microchannels measuring 200 μm × 200 μm in cross section. Five different buffer solutions - 1× Tris-acetate-EDTA (TAE), 1× Tris-borate-EDTA (TBE), 1× Tris-EDTA (TE), 1× Tris-phosphate-EDTA (TPE), and 1× Tris-buffered saline (TBS) solutions - were used with a variety of viscosity such as 40, 60, and 80 cP, with resultant 10⁻⁴ ≤ Re ≤ 10⁻³ and the corresponding 5 ≤ Wi ≤ 12. The test fluids were seeded with JOJO-1 tracer particles for flow visualization and driven through the test channels via a piezoelectric (PZT) micropump. Micro particle image velocimetry (μPIV) measuring technique was applied for the centered-plane velocity distribution measurements. It is found that the radius effect on the stretch ratio of DNA dependence is significant. The stretch ratio becomes larger as the radius becomes small due to the larger centrifugal force. Consequently, the maximum stretch was found at the center of the channel with a radius of 500 μm.     

Spontaneous Mutations in HIV-1 Gag,Protease, RT p66 in the First Replication Cycle and How They Appear: Insights from an In Vitro Assay on Mutation Rates and Types

While drug resistant mutations in HIV-1 are largely credited to its error prone HIV-1 RT, the time point in the infection cycle that these mutations can arise and if they appear spontaneously without selection pressures both remained enigmatic. Many HIV-1 RT mutational in vitro studies utilized reporter genes (LacZ) as a template to investigate these questions, thereby not accounting for the possible contribution of viral codon usage. To address this gap, we investigated HIV-1 RT mutation rates and biases on its own Gag, protease, and RT p66 genes in an in vitro selection pressure free system. We found rare clinical mutations with a general avoidance of crucial functional sites in the background mutations rates for Gag, protease, and RT p66 at 4.71 × 10⁻⁵, 6.03 × 10⁻⁵, and 7.09 × 10⁻⁵ mutations/bp, respectively. Gag and p66 genes showed a large number of ‘A to G’ mutations. Comparisons with silently mutated p66 sequences showed an increase in mutation rates (1.88 × 10⁻⁴ mutations/bp) and that ‘A to G’ mutations occurred in regions reminiscent of ADAR neighbor sequence preferences. Mutational free energies of the ‘A to G’ mutations revealed an avoidance of destabilizing effects, with the natural p66 gene codon usage providing barriers to disruptive amino acid changes. Our study demonstrates the importance of studying mutation emergence in HIV genes in a RT-PCR in vitro selection pressure free system to understand how fast drug resistance can emerge, providing transferable applications to how new viral diseases and drug resistances can emerge.     

Structure relaxation and crystallization of the CoW-CoNiW-NiW electrodeposited alloys

The structure of electrolytically deposited nanocrystalline alloys of the CoW-CoNiW-NiW systems under low-temperature heating was investigated by means of high-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM), high-angle annular dark-field scanning transmission electron microscopy (HAADF STEM), and analytical methods such as energy dispersive x-ray spectroscopy (EDS) and electron energy loss spectroscopy (EELS). Structural relaxation and crystallization were investigated at temperatures of 200°C to 300°C. The structural and compositional inhomogeneities were found in the CoW-CoNiW-NiW alloys, while the local changes in composition were found to reach 18 at.%. Nanocrystals in the alloys grew most intensely in the presence of a free surface, and we found their nuclei density to range from 2 × 10²³ /m³ to 3 × 10²³ /m³. It was determined that the local diffusion coefficient ranged from 0.9 to 1.7 10⁻¹⁸ m²/s, which could be explained by the prevalence of surface diffusion. The data gathered in these investigations can be used to predict the thermal stability of CoW-CoNiW-NiW alloys.     

Efficiency improvement of GaN-based ultraviolet light-emitting diodes with reactive plasma deposited AlN nucleation layer on patterned sapphire substrate

The flip chip ultraviolet light-emitting diodes (FC UV-LEDs) with a wavelength of 365 nm are developed with the ex situ reactive plasma deposited (RPD) AlN nucleation layer on patterned sapphire substrate (PSS) by an atmospheric pressure metal-organic chemical vapor deposition (AP MOCVD). The ex situ RPD AlN nucleation layer can significantly reduce dislocation density and thus improve the crystal quality of the GaN epitaxial layers. Utilizing high-resolution X-ray diffraction, the full width at half maximum of the rocking curve shows that the crystalline quality of the epitaxial layer with the (RPD) AlN nucleation layer is better than that with the low-temperature GaN (LT-GaN) nucleation layer. The threading dislocation density (TDD) is estimated by transmission electron microscopy (TEM), which shows the reduction from 6.8 × 10⁷ cm⁻² to 2.6 × 10⁷ cm⁻². Furthermore, the light output power (LOP) of the LEDs with the RPD AlN nucleation layer has been improved up to 30 % at a forward current of 350 mA compared to that of the LEDs grown on PSS with conventional LT-GaN nucleation layer.     

Surface-enhanced Raman spectra of medicines with large-scale self-assembled silver nanoparticle films based on the modified coffee ring effect

We report here a simple and innovative method to prepare large-scale silver nanoparticle films based on the controlled coffee ring effect. It is demonstrated that the films can be used as surface-enhanced Raman scattering probes to detect low-concentration medicines. Silver nanoparticles with the average size about 70 nm were prepared by reduction of silver nitride. In our experiment, the coffee ring effect was controlled by tilting the substrates during the deposition of silver nanoparticle films. Silver nanoparticle films were spontaneously formed on the surface of silicon substrates at the temperatures about 50°C based on the solvent evaporation and the coffee ring effect. The microstructure of the films was investigated using the scanning electron microscope and atomic force microscope. The surface roughness of the films is found as small as 20 nm. Then, the films were exposed to aqueous solutions of medicine at different concentrations. A comparison with a Raman spectra measured with a conventional Raman spectrometer showed that the Raman signal can be detected in the solution with concentrations as low as 1 × 10⁻⁵ M, and the enhancement factor achieved by the silver nanoparticle film can at least reach to 1.08 × 10⁴. Our experimental results indicate that this technique is promising in the production of large-scale silver nanoparticle films for the surface-enhanced Raman scattering. These may be utilized in biochemical and trace analytical applications.     

One-dimensional CuO nanowire: synthesis,electrical, and optoelectronic devices application

In this work, we presented a surface mechanical attrition treatment (SMAT)-assisted approach to the synthesis of one-dimensional copper oxide nanowires (CuO NWs) for nanodevices applications. The as-prepared CuO NWs have diameter and the length of 50 ~ 200 nm and 5 ~ 20 μm, respectively, with a preferential growth orientation along [1 1¯ 0] direction. Interestingly, nanofield-effect transistor (nanoFET) based on individual CuO NW exhibited typical p-type electrical conduction, with a hole mobility of 0.129 cm²V^-1 s^-1 and hole concentration of 1.34 × 10¹⁸ cm^-3, respectively. According to first-principle calculations, such a p-type electrical conduction behavior was related to the oxygen vacancies in CuO NWs. What is more, the CuO NW device was sensitive to visible light illumination with peak sensitivity at 600 nm. The responsitivity, conductive gain, and detectivity are estimated to be 2.0 × 10² A W^-1, 3.95 × 10² and 6.38 × 10¹¹ cm Hz^1/2 W^-1, respectively, which are better than the devices composed of other materials. Further study showed that nanophotodetectors assembled on flexible polyethylene terephthalate (PET) substrate can work under different bending conditions with good reproducibility. The totality of the above results suggests that the present CuO NWs are potential building blocks for assembling high-performance optoelectronic devices.     

Electrical characteristic fluctuation of 16-nm-gate high-κ/metal gate bulk FinFET devices in the presence of random interface traps

In this work, we study the impact of random interface traps (RITs) at the interface of SiO _x /Si on the electrical characteristic of 16-nm-gate high-κ/metal gate (HKMG) bulk fin-type field effect transistor (FinFET) devices. Under the same threshold voltage, the effects of RIT position and number on the degradation of electrical characteristics are clarified with respect to different levels of RIT density of state (D_it). The variability of the off-state current (I_off) and drain-induced barrier lowering (DIBL) will be severely affected by RITs with high D_it varying from 5 × 10¹² to 5 × 10¹³ eV⁻¹ cm⁻² owing to significant threshold voltage (V_th) fluctuation. The results of this study indicate that if the level of D_it is lower than 1 × 10¹² eV⁻¹ cm⁻², the normalized variability of the on-state current, I_off, V_th, DIBL, and subthreshold swing is within 5%.     

Development of Polypyrrole Modified Screen-Printed Carbon Electrode Based Sensors for Determination of L-Tyrosine in Pharmaceutical Products

Good health, of vital importance in order to carry out our daily routine, consists of both physical and mental health. Tyrosine (Tyr) deficiency as well as its excess are issues that can affect mental health and can generate disorders such as depression, anxiety, or stress. Tyr is the amino acid (AA) responsible for maintaining good mental health, and for this reason, the present research presents the development of new electrochemical sensors modified with polypyrrole (PPy) doped with different doping agents such as potassium hexacyanoferrate (II) (FeCN), sodium nitroprusside (NP), and sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS) for a selective and sensitive detection of Tyr. The development of the sensors was carried out by chronoamperometry (CA) and the electrochemical characterization was carried out by cyclic voltammetry (CV). The detection limits (LOD) obtained with each modified sensor were 8.2 × 10⁻⁸ M in the case of PPy /FeCN-SPCE, 4.3 × 10⁻⁷ M in the case of PPy/NP-SPCE, and of 3.51 × 10⁻⁷ M in the case of PPy/SDS-SPCE, thus demonstrating a good sensitivity of these sensors detecting L-Tyr. The validation of sensors was carried out through quantification of L-Tyr from three pharmaceutical products by the standard addition method with recoveries in the range 99.92–103.97%. Thus, the sensors present adequate selectivity and can be used in the pharmaceutical and medical fields.     

Transparent conductive oxide films mixed with gallium oxide nanoparticle/single-walled carbon nanotube layer for deep ultraviolet light-emitting diodes

We propose a transparent conductive oxide electrode scheme of gallium oxide nanoparticle mixed with a single-walled carbon nanotube (Ga₂O₃ NP/SWNT) layer for deep ultraviolet light-emitting diodes using spin and dipping methods. We investigated the electrical, optical and morphological properties of the Ga₂O₃ NP/SWNT layers by increasing the thickness of SWNTs via multiple dipping processes. Compared with the undoped Ga₂O₃ films (current level 9.9 × 10^-9 A @ 1 V, transmittance 68% @ 280 nm), the current level flowing in the Ga₂O₃ NP/SWNT increased by approximately 4 × 10⁵ times and the transmittance improved by 9% after 15 times dip-coating (current level 4 × 10^-4 A at 1 V; transmittance 77.0% at 280 nm). These improvements result from both native high transparency of Ga₂O₃ NPs and high conductivity and effective current spreading of SWNTs.     

Structural,electrical, and optical properties of Ti-doped ZnO films fabricated by atomic layer deposition

High-quality Ti-doped ZnO films were grown on Si, thermally grown SiO₂, and quartz substrates by atomic layer deposition (ALD) at 200°C with various Ti doping concentrations. Titanium isopropoxide, diethyl zinc, and deionized water were sources for Ti, Zn, and O, respectively. The Ti doping was then achieved by growing ZnO and TiO₂ alternately. A hampered growth mode of ZnO on TiO₂ layer was confirmed by comparing the thicknesses measured by spectroscopic ellipsometry with the expected. It was also found that the locations of the (100) diffraction peaks shift towards lower diffraction angles as Ti concentration increased. For all samples, optical transmittance over 80% was obtained in the visible region. The sample with ALD cycle ratio of ZnO/TiO₂ being 20 had the lowest resistivity of 8.874 × 10⁻⁴ Ω cm. In addition, carrier concentration of the prepared films underwent an evident increase and then decreased with the increase of Ti doping concentration.     

Investigation of hydrogen plasma treatment for reducing defects in silicon quantum dot superlattice structure with amorphous silicon carbide matrix

We investigate the effects of hydrogen plasma treatment (HPT) on the properties of silicon quantum dot superlattice films. Hydrogen introduced in the films efficiently passivates silicon and carbon dangling bonds at a treatment temperature of approximately 400°C. The total dangling bond density decreases from 1.1 × 10¹⁹ cm^-3 to 3.7 × 10¹⁷ cm^-3, which is comparable to the defect density of typical hydrogenated amorphous silicon carbide films. A damaged layer is found to form on the surface by HPT; this layer can be easily removed by reactive ion etching.     

Room temperature-synthesized vertically aligned InSb nanowires: electrical transport and field emission characteristics

Vertically aligned single-crystal InSb nanowires were synthesized via the electrochemical method at room temperature. The characteristics of Fourier transform infrared spectrum revealed that in the syntheses of InSb nanowires, energy bandgap shifts towards the short wavelength with the occurrence of an electron accumulation layer. The current–voltage curve, based on the metal–semiconductor–metal model, showed a high electron carrier concentration of 2.0 × 10¹⁷ cm⁻³ and a high electron mobility of 446.42 cm² V⁻¹ s⁻¹. Additionally, the high carrier concentration of the InSb semiconductor with the surface accumulation layer induced a downward band bending effect that reduces the electron tunneling barrier. Consequently, the InSb nanowires exhibit significant field emission properties with an extremely low turn-on field of 1.84 V μm⁻¹ and an estimative threshold field of 3.36 V μm⁻¹.     

Effect of Au thickness on the evolution of self-assembled Au droplets on GaAs (111)A and (100)

In this paper, we report the effect of Au thickness on the self-assembled Au droplets on GaAs (111)A and (100). The evolution of Au droplets on GaAs (111)A and (100) with the increased Au thickness progress in the Volmer-Weber growth mode results in distinctive 3-D islands. Under an identical growth condition, depending on the thickness of Au deposition, the self-assembled Au droplets show different size and density distributions, while the average height is increased by approximately 420% and the diameter is increased by approximately 830%, indicating a preferential lateral expansion. Au droplets show an opposite evolution trend: the increased size along with the decreased density as a function of the Au thickness. Also, the density shifts on the orders of over two magnitude between 4.23 × 10¹⁰ and 1.16 × 10⁸ cm⁻² over the thickness range tested. At relatively thinner thicknesses below 4 nm, the self-assembled Au droplets sensitively respond to the thickness variation, evidenced by the sharper slopes of dimensions and density plots. The results are systematically analyzed and discussed in terms of atomic force microscopy (AFM), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS), cross-sectional surface line profiles, and Fourier filter transform (FFT) power spectra.     

Optimization of Blood Handling and Peripheral Blood Mononuclear Cell Cryopreservation of Low Cell Number Samples

Background: Rural/remote blood collection can cause delays in processing, reducing PBMC number, viability, cell composition and function. To mitigate these impacts, blood was stored at 4 °C prior to processing. Viable cell number, viability, immune phenotype, and Interferon-γ (IFN-γ) release were measured. Furthermore, the lowest protective volume of cryopreservation media and cell concentration was investigated. Methods: Blood from 10 individuals was stored for up to 10 days. Flow cytometry and IFN-γ ELISPOT were used to measure immune phenotype and function on thawed PBMC. Additionally, PBMC were cryopreserved in volumes ranging from 500 µL to 25 µL and concentration from 10 × 10⁶ cells/mL to 1.67 × 10⁶ cells/mL. Results: PBMC viability and viable cell number significantly reduced over time compared with samples processed immediately, except when stored for 24 h at RT. Monocytes and NK cells significantly reduced over time regardless of storage temperature. Samples with >24 h of RT storage had an increased proportion in Low-Density Neutrophils and T cells compared with samples stored at 4 °C. IFN-γ release was reduced after 24 h of storage, however not in samples stored at 4 °C for >24 h. The lowest protective volume identified was 150 µL with the lowest density of 6.67 × 10⁶ cells/mL. Conclusion: A sample delay of 24 h at RT does not impact the viability and total viable cell numbers. When long-term delays exist (>4 d) total viable cell number and cell viability losses are reduced in samples stored at 4 °C. Immune phenotype and function are slightly altered after 24 h of storage, further impacts of storage are reduced in samples stored at 4 °C.     

Homogeneous crystalline FeSi2 films of c (4?×?8) phase grown on Si (111) by reactive deposition epitaxy

The growth of iron silicides on Si (111) using reactive deposition epitaxy method was studied by scanning tunneling microscopy and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). Instead of the mixture of different silicide phases, a homogeneous crystalline film of c (4 × 8) phase was formed on the Si (111) surface at approximately 750°C. Scanning tunneling spectra show that the film exhibits a semiconducting character with a band gap of approximately 0.85 eV. Compared with elemental Fe, the Fe 2p peaks of the film exhibit a lower spin-orbit splitting (−0.3 eV) and the Fe 2p_3/2 level has a smaller full-width at half maximum (−0.6 eV) and a higher binding energy (+0.3 eV). Quantitative XPS analysis shows that the c (4 × 8) phase is in the FeSi₂ stoichiometry regime. The c (4 × 8) pattern could result from the ordered arrangement of defects of Fe vacancies in the buried Fe layers.     

Microwave-assisted green synthesis of Ag/reduced graphene oxide nanocomposite as a surface-enhanced Raman scattering substrate with high uniformity

A nanocomposite of silver nanoparticles/reduced graphene oxide (Ag/rGO) has been fabricated as a surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) substrate owing to the large surface area and two-dimensional nanosheet structure of rGO. A facile and rapid microwave-assisted green route has been used for the formation of Ag nanoparticles and the reduction of graphene oxide simultaneously with L-arginine as the reducing agent. By increasing the cycle number of microwave irradiation from 1 and 4 to 8, the mean diameters of Ag nanoparticles deposited on the surface of rGO increased from 10.3 ± 4.6 and 21.4 ± 10.5 to 41.1 ± 12.6 nm. The SERS performance of Ag/rGO nanocomposite was examined using the common Raman reporter molecule 4-aminothiophenol (4-ATP). It was found that the Raman intensity of 4-ATP could be significantly enhanced by increasing the size and content of silver nanoparticles deposited on rGO. Although the Raman intensities of D-band and G-band of rGO were also enhanced simultaneously by the deposited Ag nanoparticles which limited the further improvement of SERS detection sensitivity, the detectable concentration of 4-ATP with Ag/rGO nanocomposite as the SERS substrate still could be lowered to be 10⁻¹⁰ M and the enhancement factor could be increased to 1.27 × 10¹⁰. Furthermore, it was also achievable to lower the relative standard deviation (RSD) values of the Raman intensities to below 5%. This revealed that the Ag/rGO nanocomposite obtained in this work could be used as a SERS substrate with high sensitivity and homogeneity.     

Purification/annealing of graphene with 100-MeV Ag ion irradiation

Studies on interaction of graphene with radiation are important because of nanolithographic processes in graphene-based electronic devices and for space applications. Since the electronic properties of graphene are highly sensitive to the defects and number of layers in graphene sample, it is desirable to develop tools to engineer these two parameters. We report swift heavy ion (SHI) irradiation-induced annealing and purification effects in graphene films, similar to that observed in our studies on fullerenes and carbon nanotubes (CNTs). Raman studies after irradiation with 100-MeV Ag ions (fluences from 3 × 10¹⁰ to 1 × 10¹⁴ ions/cm²) show that the disorder parameter α, defined by I_D/I_G ratio, decreases at lower fluences but increases at higher fluences beyond 1 × 10¹² ions/cm². This indicates that SHI induces annealing effects at lower fluences. We also observe that the number of graphene layers is reduced at fluences higher than 1 × 10¹³ ions/cm². Using inelastic thermal spike model calculations, we estimate a radius of 2.6 nm for ion track core surrounded by a halo extending up to 11.6 nm. The transient temperature above the melting point in the track core results in damage, whereas lower temperature in the track halo is responsible for annealing. The results suggest that SHI irradiation fluence may be used as one of the tools for defect annealing and manipulation of the number of graphene layers.

PACS

60.80.x; 81.05.ue