Solution-phase deposition and nanopatterning of GeSbSe phase-change materials

Chalcogenide films with reversible amorphous-crystalline phase transitions have been commercialized as optically rewritable data-storage media, and intensive effort is now focused on integrating them into electrically addressed non-volatile memory devices (phase-change random-access memory or PCRAM). Although optical data storage is accomplished by laser-induced heating of continuous films, electronic memory requires integration of discrete nanoscale phase-change material features with read/write electronics. Currently, phase-change films are most commonly deposited by sputter deposition, and patterned by conventional lithography. Metal chalcogenide films for transistor applications have recently been deposited by a low-temperature, solution-phase route. Here, we extend this methodology to prepare thin films and nanostructures of GeSbSe phase-change materials. We report the ready tuneability of phase-change properties in GeSbSe films through composition variation achieved by combining novel precursors in solution. Rapid, submicrosecond phase switching is observed by laser-pulse annealing. We also demonstrate that prepatterned holes can be filled to fabricate phase-change nanostructures from hundreds down to tens of nanometres in size, offering enhanced flexibility in fabricating PCRAM devices with reduced current requirements.     

核壳结构SiC/SiO2纳米线的低温合成与表征

以酚醛树脂(PF)作为碳源, 纳米SiO₂为硅源, 在1300℃氩气气氛下通过碳热还原反应, 制备出具有核壳结构的SiC/SiO₂纳米线。采用X射线分析衍射仪(XRD)、扫描电子显微镜(SEM)、透射电子显微镜(TEM)、高分辨率透射电子显微镜(HRTEM)、拉曼光谱(Raman)对产物的组成、形貌、微观结构等进行了表征。结果表明; SiC/SiO₂纳米线长可达数毫米, 单根SiC/SiO₂纳米线由直径30 nm的β-SiC晶体为内核和厚度约12 nm的无定形SiO₂壳层组成; 室温下SiC/SiO₂纳米线的PL发光峰与β-SiC单晶的发光特征峰相比有蓝移。最后, 讨论了核壳结构SiC/SiO₂纳米线的生成机制。     

Surface disordered ge-si core-shell nanowires as efficient thermoelectric materials

Ge-Si core-shell nanowires with surface disorder are shown to be very promising candidates for thermoelectric applications. In atomistic calculations we find that surface roughness decreases the phonon thermal conductance significantly. On the contrary, the hole states are confined to the Ge core and are thereby shielded from the surface disorder, resulting in large electronic conductance values even in the presence of surface disorder. This decoupling of the electronic and phonon transport is very favorable for thermoelectric purposes, giving rise to promising room temperature figure of merits ZT > 2. It is also found that the Ge-Si core-shell wires perform better than pure Si nanowires.     

Bipolar Resistive Switching of Single Gold-in-Ga(2)O(3) Nanowire

We have fabricated single nanowire chips on gold-in-Ga(2)O(3) core-shell nanowires using the electron-beam lithography techniques and realized bipolar resistive switching characteristics having invariable set and reset voltages. We attribute the unique property of invariance to the built-in conduction path of gold core. This invariance allows us to fabricate many resistive switching cells with the same operating voltage by simple depositing repetitive metal electrodes along a single nanowire. Other characteristics of these core-shell resistive switching nanowires include comparable driving electric field with other thin film and nanowire devices and a remarkable on/off ratio more than 3 orders of magnitude at a low driving voltage of 2 V. A smaller but still impressive on/off ratio of 10 can be obtained at an even lower bias of 0.2 V. These characteristics of gold-in-Ga(2)O(3) core-shell nanowires make fabrication of future high-density resistive memory devices possible.     

Tailoring the crystal structure of individual silicon nanowires by polarized laser annealing

We study the effect of polarized laser annealing on the crystalline structure of individual crystalline-amorphous core-shell silicon nanowires (NWs) using Raman spectroscopy. The crystalline fraction of the annealed spot increases dramatically from 0 to 0.93 with increasing incident laser power. We observe Raman lineshape narrowing and frequency hardening upon laser annealing due to the growth of the crystalline core, which is confirmed by high resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM). The anti-Stokes:Stokes Raman intensity ratio is used to determine the local heating temperature caused by the intense focused laser, which exhibits a strong polarization dependence in Si NWs. The most efficient annealing occurs when the laser polarization is aligned along the axis of the NWs, which results in an amorphous-crystalline interface less than 0.5 μm in length. This paper demonstrates a new approach to control the crystal structure of NWs on the sub-micron length scale.     

几种Si、Ge纳米线导热系数的原子模拟

采用非平衡分子动力学方法模拟了Si纳米线、Ge纳米线、核-壳结构的Si/Ge纳米线及超晶格结构的Si/Ge纳米线的导热系数,给出了纳米线的温度与导热系数关系曲线,对比了几种纳米线导热特性的差异,研究结果表明,随着温度的升高,各纳米线的导热系数降低;相同温度下,纳米线导热系数的大小顺序为：核-壳结构的Si/Ge纳米线、超晶格结构的Si/Ge纳米线、Si纳米线、Ge纳米线。     

Vertically aligned ZnO/amorphous-Si core-shell heterostructured nanowire arrays

We report the synthesis of vertically aligned ZnO/a-Si core-shell nanowire arrays (ZnO nanowires coated with amorphous silicon) through chemical vapor deposition. The core-shell heterostructured nanowires possessed uniform morphology and the thickness of the amorphous silicon shells could be controlled easily by tuning the deposition duration and temperature. The core-shell heterostructured nanowires exhibited enhanced antireflection and absorption performance as well as tunable PL properties. Because the individual ZnO/a-Si nanowires showed p-type characteristics and the ZnO cores were n-type semiconductors, the core-shell nanowires formed p-n junctions naturally.     

Bucky-wires and the instability of diamond (111) surfaces in one-dimension

Recent advances in the fabrication and characterization of semiconductor and metallic nanowires are meeting the high expectations of nanotechnolgists. Although diamond has remarkable electronic and chemical properties, development of diamond nanowires has been slow, while the development of carbon nanotube-based technologies continues at a furious pace. Recently, the theoretical and experimental observation of the transformation of nanodiamonds into carbon-onions (and vice versa) has led to a new intermediate phase of carbon, denoted "bucky diamond", with a diamond core encased in an carbon onion-like shell. These findings lead to the question of whether a similar transformation occurs in diamond nanowires. We used ab initio techniques to determine the relaxed structure of diamond nanowires with octahedral surface facets, with results exhibiting delamination of octahedral surfaces, and indicating the formation of "bucky-wires". The effects of surface hydrogenation upon this transition also is examined.     

Thermal conductivity of ge and ge-si core-shell nanowires in the phonon confinement regime

Heterostructure core-shell semiconductor nanowires (NWs) have attracted tremendous interest recently due to their remarkable properties and potential applications as building blocks for nanodevices. Among their unique traits, thermal properties would play a significant role in thermal management of future heterostructure NW-based nanoelectronics, nanophotonics, and energy conversion devices, yet have been explored much less than others. Similar to their electronic counterparts, phonon spectrum and thermal transport properties could be modified by confinement effects and the acoustic mismatch at the core-shell interface in small diameter NWs (<20 nm). However, fundamental thermal measurement on thin core shell NWs has been challenging due to their small size and their expected low thermal conductivity (κ). Herein, we have developed an experimental technique with drastically improved sensitivity capable of measuring thermal conductance values down to ～10 pW/K. Thermal conductivities of Ge and Ge-Si core-shell NWs with diameters less than 20 nm have been measured. Comparing the experimental data with Boltzmann transport models reveals that thermal conductivities of the sub-20 nm diameter NWs are further suppressed by the phonon confinement effect beyond the diffusive boundary scattering limit. Interestingly, core-shell NWs exhibit different temperature dependence in κ and show a lower κ from 300 to 388 K compared to Ge NWs, indicating the important effect of the core-shell interface on phonon transport, consistent with recent molecular dynamics studies. Our results could open up applications of Ge-Si core shell NWs for nanostructured thermoelectrics, as well as a new realm of tuning thermal conductivity by "phononic engineering".     

One-pot synthesis of biocompatible Te@phenol formaldehyde resin core-shell nanowires with uniform size and unique fluorescent properties by a synergized soft-hard template process

One-pot hydrothermal process has been developed to synthesize uniform Te@phenol formaldehyde resin core-shell nanowires with unique fluorescent properties. A synergistic soft-hard template mechanism has been proposed to explain the formation of the core-shell nanowires. The Te@phenol formaldehyde resin core-shell nanowires display unique fluorescent properties, which give strong luminescent emission in the blue-violet and green regions with excitation wavelengths of 270 nm and 402 nm, respectively.     

Thermal conductivity modeling of core-shell and tubular nanowires

The heteroepitaxial growth of crystalline core-shell nanostructures of a variety of materials has become possible in recent years, allowing the realization of various novel nanoscale electronic and optoelectronic devices. The increased surface or interface area will decrease the thermal conductivity of such nanostructures and impose challenges for the thermal management of such devices. In the meantime, the decreased thermal conductivity might benefit the thermoelectric conversion efficiency. In this paper, we present modeling results on the lattice thermal conductivity of core-shell and tubular nanowires along the wire axis direction using the phonon Boltzmann equation. We report the dependence of the thermal conductivity on the surface conditions and the core-shell geometry for silicon core-germanium shell and tubular silicon nanowires at room temperature. The results show that the effective thermal conductivity changes not only with the composition of the constituents but also with the radius of the nanowires and nanopores due to the nature of the ballistic phonon transport. The results in this work have implications for the design and operation of a variety of nanoelectronic devices, optoelectronic devices, and thermoelectric materials and devices.     

Band-offset driven efficiency of the doping of SiGe core-shell nanowires

Impurity doping of semiconducting nanowires has been predicted to become increasingly inefficient as the wire diameter is reduced, because impurity states get deeper due to quantum and dielectric confinement. We show that efficient n- and p-type doping can be achieved in SiGe core-shell nanowires as thin as 2 nm, taking advantage of the band offset at the Si/Ge interface. A one-dimensional electron (hole) gas is created at the band-edge and the carrier density is uniquely controlled by the impurity concentration with no need of thermal activation. Additionally, SiGe core-shell nanowires provide naturally the separation between the different types of carriers, electron and holes, and are ideally suited for photovoltaic applications.     

Characterization of luminescence properties of V2O5-capped ZnSe nanowires

ZnSe-core/V2O5-shell nanowires were synthesized by the thermal evaporation of ZnSe powders on gold-coated Si (100) substrates followed by the sputter depositon of V2O5. Scanning electron microscopic images showed that the core-shell nanowires were a few tens to a few hundreds of nanometers in diameter and a few hundreds of micrometers in length. Transmission electron microscopy and X-ray diffraction analyses revealed that the core and shell of the core-shell nanowires were single crystal wurtzite-structured ZnSe and amorphous V2O5, respectively. Photoluminescence measurement showed that the core-shell nanowires as-synthesized or annealed in an oxidative atmosphere had a green emission band centered at around 520 nm whereas the as-synthesized ZnSe nanowires and the ZnSe-core/V2O5-shell nanowires annealed in a reducing atmosphere had a yellow emission band centered at around 590 nm. Our results also showed that V2O5 capping with an optimal thickness and subsequent annealing in a reducing atmosphere could significantly enhance the emission intensity of the ZnSe nanowires. In addition, the origins of the enhancement in intensity and the blue shift of the major emission by V2O5 capping are discussed.     

Core-shell morphology and characterization of carbon nanotube nanowires click coupled with polypyrrole

Core-shell nanowires having multiwalled carbon nanotubes (MWNT) as a core and polypyrrole (PPy) as a shell were synthesized using Cu(I)-catalyzed azide-alkyne cycloaddition click chemistry. According to transmission electron microscopy measurements, the uniform PPy layers of 10-20 nm in thickness were formed well on the MWNT's surface. In particular 'grafting from' click coupling was more effective in obtaining uniform and stable core-shell nanowires as well as in the reaction yield, compared to 'grafting to' click coupling. This is due to chemical bond formation between PPy and MWNT in equal intervals along the longitudinal direction of the MWNT, achieved by 'grafting from' click coupling. As a result, the core-shell nanowires were very stable even in the sonication of nanowires and showed an enhanced electrical conductivity of 80 S cm(-1), due to the synergetic interaction between MWNTs and PPy, which is higher than the conductivity of pure MWNTs and pure PPy. In addition, the core-shell nanowires could show better NO2 gas sensing properties compared to pure MWNTs and pure PPy as well as MWNT/PPy composites prepared by in situ polymerization. The synthesized core-shell nanowires would play an important role in preparing electrical and sensing devices.     

"Quantum coaxial cables" for solar energy harvesting

Type II core-shell nanowires based on III-V and II-VI semiconductors are designed to provide the highly desirable but not readily available feature--efficient charge separation--and concurrently address the different material challenges specific for a few key renewable energy applications: including hydrogen generation via photoelectrochemical water splitting, dye-sensitized solar cells, and conventional solar cells. They also open up new avenues for studying novel physics and material sciences in reduced dimensionality of very unusual quasi-one-dimensional systems. A first-principles density function theory within the local density approximation (LDA) is used for the electronic structure calculation and a valence-force-field method for the structural relaxation, and empirical corrections to the LDA errors are applied.     

Enhanced surface-excitonic emission in ZnO/Al(2)O(3) core-shell nanowires

We report the influence of an Al(2)O(3) shell on the photoluminescence emission of ZnO nanowires. At room temperature, the spectrum of the core-shell nanowires shows a strong reduction of the relative intensity of the green defect emission with respect to the near-band-edge emission. At 5?K an increase of the relative intensity of the surface exciton band with respect to the donor-bound exciton emission is observed. Annealing the core-shell nanowires at 500?°C does not increase the green defect luminescence at 5?K. We propose a model explaining the spectral changes.     

Coaxial metal-silicide Ni2Si/C54-TiSi2 nanowires

One-dimensional metal silicide nanowires are excellent candidates for interconnect and contact materials in future integrated circuits devices. Novel core-shell Ni(2)Si/C54-TiSi(2) nanowires, 2 μm in length, were grown controllably via a solid-liquid-solid growth mechanism. Their interesting ferromagnetic behaviors and excellent electrical properties have been studied in detail. The coercivities (Hcs) of the core-shell Ni(2)Si/C54-TiSi(2) nanowires was determined to be 200 and 50 Oe at 4 and 300 K, respectively, and the resistivity was measured to be as low as 31 μΩ-cm. The shift of the hysteresis loop with the temperature in zero field cooled (ZFC) and field cooled (FC) studies was found. ZFC and FC curves converge near room temperature at 314 K. The favorable ferromagnetic and electrical properties indicate that the unique core-shell nanowires can be used in penetrative ferromagnetic devices at room temperature simultaneously as a future interconnection in integrated circuits.     

Direct growth of core-shell SiC-SiO(2) nanowires and field emission characteristics

A simple, direct synthesis method was used to grow core-shell SiC-SiO(2) nanowires by heating NiO-catalysed silicon substrates. A carbothermal reduction of WO(3) provided a reductive environment and carbon source to synthesize crystalline SiC nanowires covered with SiO(2) sheaths at the growth temperature of 1000-1100?°C. Transmission electron microscopy showed that the SiC core was 15-25?nm in diameter and the SiO(2) shell layer was an average of 20?nm in thickness. The thickness of the SiO(2) shell layer could be controlled using hydrofluoric acid (HF) etching. Field emission results of core-shell SiC-SiO(2) and bare SiC nanowires showed that the SiC nanowires coated with an optimum SiO(2) thickness (10?nm) have a higher field emission current than the bare SiC nanowires.     

Coaxial metal-oxide-semiconductor (MOS) Au/Ga2O3/GaN nanowires

Coaxial metal-oxide-semiconductor (MOS) Au-Ga2O3-GaN heterostructure nanowires were successfully fabricated by an in situ two-step process. The Au-Ga2O3 core-shell nanowires were first synthesized by the reaction of Ga powder, a mediated Au thin layer, and a SiO2 substrate at 800 degrees C. Subsequently, these core-shell nanowires were nitridized in ambient ammonia to form a GaN coating layer at 600 degrees C. The GaN shell is a single crystal, an atomic flat interface between the oxide and semiconductor that ensures that the high quality of the MOS device is achieved. These novel 1D nitride-based MOS nanowires may have promise as building blocks to the future nitride-based vertical nanodevices.     

Sol-gel synthesis of silver/titanium dioxide (Ag/TiO2) core-shell nanowires for photocatalytic applications

Silver/titanium dioxide (Ag/TiO₂) core-shell nanowires were synthesized by direct coating of TiO₂ shells on the surface of silver nanowires (AgNWs) through a simple sol-gel process. TEM image and EDX elemental analysis had confirmed the presence of TiO₂ coating on the surface of AgNWs. The thickness of titanium dioxide coating was about 10 nm. These Ag/TiO₂ core-shell nanowires showed good photocatalytic activities in the decomposition of methylene blue as a model organic dye in aqueous solution under UV light irradiation. Ag/TiO₂ core-shell nanowires are potentially useful in photocatalytic applications.