Phase‐Engineered Synthesis of Ultrathin Hexagonal and Monoclinic GaTe Flakes and Phase Transition Study

GaTe is an important III–VI semiconductor with direct bandgap; thus, it holds great potential in the field of optoelectronics. Although it is known that GaTe can exist both in monoclinic and hexagonal phases, current studies are still exclusively restricted to the monoclinic phase of two dimensional (2D) GaTe owing to the difficulty in the fabrication of 2D hexagonal GaTe. Both monoclinic and hexagonal GaTe are demonstrated in this work, which can be selectively synthesized via a physical vapor deposition method, under precisely controlled growth temperatures. The pristine Raman and non‐linear optical properties of hexagonal GaTe has been systematically explored for the first time; moreover, a novel selected‐area phase transition from hexagonal to monoclinic of GeTe has been achieved via fs‐laser irradiation. This work may pave the way for widely use of 2D GaTe in various fields in future.     

Interlayer Transition in a vdW Heterostructure toward Ultrahigh Detectivity Shortwave Infrared Photodetectors

Van der Waals (vdW) heterostructures of 2D atomically thin layered materials (2DLMs) provide a unique platform for constructing optoelectronic devices by staking 2D atomic sheets with unprecedented functionality and performance. A particular advantage of these vdW heterostructures is the energy band engineering of 2DLMs to achieve interlayer excitons through type‐II band alignment, enabling spectral range exceeding the cutoff wavelengths of the individual atomic sheets in the 2DLM. Herein, the high performance of GaTe/InSe vdW heterostructures device is reported. Unexpectedly, this GaTe/InSe vdWs p–n junction exhibits extraordinary detectivity in a new shortwave infrared (SWIR) spectrum, which is forbidden by the respective bandgap limits for the constituent GaTe (bandgap of ≈1.70 eV in both the bulk and monolayer) and InSe (bandgap of ≈1.20–1.80 eV depending on thickness reduction from bulk to monolayer). Specifically, the uncooled SWIR detectivity is up to ≈10¹⁴ Jones at 1064 nm and ≈10¹² Jones at 1550 nm, respectively. This result indicates that the 2DLM vdW heterostructures with type‐II band alignment produce an interlayer exciton transition, and this advantage can offer a viable strategy for devising high‐performance optoelectronics in SWIR or even longer wavelengths beyond the individual limitations of the bandgaps and heteroepitaxy of the constituent atomic layers.     

Effect of Bi doping on the properties of CdSe thin films for optoelectronic device applications

CdSe and Bi (1%, 2%, 3%) doped CdSe thin films were deposited on the glass substrates using thermal evaporation technique. Effect of Bi doping on the structural, optical, electrical and photo response properties of CdSe thin films were investigated. The X-ray diffraction studies reveals that undoped and Bi doped CdSe films are polycrystalline in nature with hexagonal crystal structure along (002) direction. No significant changes are observed in the lattice parameters or the grain size indicating minimum lattice distortion. The optical band gap of undoped CdSe film was estimated to be 1.67 eV. Replacement of cadmium by bismuth results in an increase in the electrical conductivity of doped films. Doping with bismuth is found to improve the photo sensitivity of CdSe thin films.     

Ellipsometric,XPS and FTIR study on SiCN films deposited by hot-wire chemical vapor deposition method

SiCN films were deposited by hot-wire chemical vapor deposition (HWCVD) method using hexamethyldisilazane (HMDS). These films contain a lot of oxygen. Using HMDS with NH₃, low oxygen content films can be obtained. It is found from the structure determination that Si‐N bonds are the vital bonds of SiCN films. It is also found that the highest amount of Si‐N bonds content SiCN has the highest amount of nitrogen and the amount of nitrogen is directly related to the properties of the films. The amount of oxygen, film density, the refractive index and optical band gap are strong functions of the amount of nitrogen in the films. With increasing nitrogen, the amount of oxygen decreases and with decreasing nitrogen, the amount of oxygen increases. The film density and optical band gap also increase with increasing nitrogen. On the other hand with increasing nitrogen, the refractive index decreases.     

Influence of oxygen flow rate on microstructural,electrical and optical properties of indium tin tantalum oxide films

Indium tin oxide (ITO) and indium tin tantalum oxide (ITTO) films were deposited on glass substrates by magnetron sputtering technology with one or two targets. Properties of ITO and ITTO films deposited at different oxygen flow rates were contrastively studied. Ta-doping strengthens along the orientation of (400) plane and leads to better crystalline structure as well as to a decrease in surface roughness. The increase in oxygen flow rate increases sheet resistance and reduces carrier concentration, and ITTO films show higher carrier concentration. Certain oxygen flow rates can improve the visible light transmittance of films, but excessive oxygen can worsen the optical properties. The carrier concentration has an important influence on near-IR reflection, near-UV absorption and optical band gap. The optical band gap decreases with the increasing of oxygen flow rate, and ITTO films show wider optical band gap than ITO films. ITTO films prepared by co-sputtering reveal better optical–electrical properties and chemical and thermal stability than ITO films.     

Effect of Ag in CdSe thin films prepared using thermal evaporation

It has been a general practice to dope thin films with suitable dopants to modify the properties of the films to make them more suitable for potential applications. When the dopant concentrations are low, they do not normally affect the structure and morphology of the films. However, it may lead to drastic changes in electronic properties of the films. This might result from the dopant getting incorporated into the lattice of the material of the films. Cadmium selenide is an important compound semiconductor material with an attractive energy band gap. The present work relates to an attempt made to dope CdSe thin films with silver. CdSe:Ag (1–5%) thin films were deposited on glass substrates at an optimized substrate temperature of 453 K using thermal evaporation technique. The grown films were analyzed using X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy (SEM), energy dispersive analysis of X-ray (EDX) techniques. It is observed that undoped CdSe thin films and CdSe:Ag films have hexagonal structure. The grain size was found to increase marginally with an increase in the Ag concentration. The optical band gap of the films determined by optical transmission measurements agree with that of CdSe. Electrical conductivity is observed to increase from 10^–4 to 3.66 (Ω cm)^–1 on addition of silver. The variation of resistance with temperature indicates that the prepared films consist of CdSe and Ag existing as two separate phases coexisting and contributing individually to the resistivity of the films.     

Re‐endothelialization of Human Umbilical Arteries Treated with Polyelectrolyte Multilayers: A Tool for Damaged Vessel Replacement

The use of cryopreserved arteries for vascular tissue engineering provides a promising way for vessel replacement. Unfortunately cryopreservation induces structural changes that strongly modify the mechanical properties and alter the thrombogenicity of the vessel after implantation. We present here a new procedure to treat the inner coating of cryopreserved arteries with poly(sodium‐4‐styrene sulfonate)/poly(allylamine hydrochloride) polyelectrolyte multilayers. We show that this treatment improves the mechanical properties of the cryopreserved vessel. It also allows the adhesion and spreading of endothelial cells so that the internal structure of the vessel closely resembles that of fresh arteries. Finally, we verify by PECAM‐1 and von‐Willebrand‐factor (vWF) expression that this treatment preserves the phenotype of the endothelial cells. This study should open new routes towards the development of future, new biocompatible tissue substitutes allowing long‐term functionality after implantation.     

RF磁控溅射制备AZO透明导电薄膜及其性能

室温下采用RF磁控溅射技术在石英衬底E制备了多晶ZnO:Al(AZO)透明导电薄膜,通过XRD,AFM,AES,Hall效应及透射光谱等测试研究了RF溅射功率、氩气压强对薄膜的结构、电学和光学性能的影响.分析表明:在最优条件下(溅射功率为250W,氩气压强为1.2Pa时),180nm AZO薄膜的电阻率为2.68×10-3 Ω·cm,可见光区平均透射率为90%,适合作为发光二极管和太阳能电池的透明电极.所制备的AZO薄膜具有c轴择优取向,晶粒问界中的O原子吸附是限制薄膜电学性能的主要因素.     

Grain Boundary Carrier Scattering in ZnO Thin Films: a Study by Temperature-Dependent Charge Carrier Transport Measurements

In the present investigation, the effects of annealing in oxygen atmosphere on the electrical and optical properties of pulsed direct-current (DC) magnetron-sputtered ZnO thin films have been studied. With annealing, the electrical conductivity was found to increase from 2.3 S cm to 123 S cm. The optical transparency was also found to improve from 83% to 90%. The improvement in the electrical properties with annealing is attributed to the reduction of the grain boundary potential from 34 meV to 8 meV. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) measurements revealed oxygen deficiency in as-deposited films, whereas adequate incorporation of oxygen was observed in the annealed films. Ultraviolet photoelectron spectroscopy (UPS) measurements showed a shift of +0.8 eV in the Fermi level with annealing. This shift indicates significant changes in the electrical conductivity with annealing, which is due to an increase in the carrier concentration.     

Direct and Indirect Exciton Dynamics in Few‐Layered ReS2 Revealed by Photoluminescence and Pump‐Probe Spectroscopy

Atomically thin‐layered ReS₂ with a distorted 1T structure has attracted attention because of its intriguing optical and electronic properties. Here, the direct and indirect exciton dynamics of a three‐layered ReS₂ is investigated by polarization‐resolved transient photoluminescence (PL) and ultrafast pump‐probe spectroscopy. The various time scales of the decay signals of the time‐resolved PL (<10 ps), with monitoring of the populations of electron–hole pairs (exciton), and the transient differential reflectance (≈1 and 100 ps), with monitoring of the populations of electrons and/or holes in the excited states, are observed. These results reveal the characteristic exciton dynamics: rapid relaxation of direct excitons (electron–hole pairs) and slow relaxation of the momentum‐mismatched indirect excitons accompanied by a one‐phonon emission process. These findings provide important information regarding the indirect bandgap nature of few‐layered ReS₂ and its characteristic exciton dynamics, boosting the understanding of the novel electronic and optical properties of atomically thin‐layered ReS₂.     

Fluorescence of Colloidal Gold Nanoparticles is Controlled by the Surface Adsorbate

Fluorescent gold nanoparticles are important biological labels, in particular for combined optical and electron microscopy. It is reported that density and type of surface ligands have key influence on the dominant UV‐vis fluorescence band in positively and negatively charged gold nanoparticles capped with citrate, gold oxide, and cetyltrimethyl ammonium bromide (CTAB). The peak excitation and emission energies and fluorescence intensities vary with nanoparticle size, reflecting changes in surface charge and surface potential as well as a varying density of surface adsorbates. The fluorescence peak shifts, the evolution of zeta potentials, and fluorescence intensity trends are explained by a model of the principal fluorescence transitions that takes into account the nanoparticle surface conditions, such as the adhesion of ligands. Varying surface ligands is a simple strategy to optimize fluorescence intensity and to design spectral properties of gold nanoparticles.     

Effects of isostatic oxygen pressure on the crystal growth and optical properties of undoped and Er3+‐doped Ca3(VO4)2 single‐crystal Fibres

The influence of the isostatic oxygen pressure as a crystal growth atmosphere on the optical and structural properties of undoped and erbium‐doped calcium orthovanadate single‐crystal fibres was studied by optical absorption, photoluminescence, energy‐dispersive X‐ray analysis and X‐ray powder diffraction techniques. Relationships between the oxygen pressure used during the crystal growth and some optical and structural parameters are established. Through an oxygen vacancy model the effects of the crystal growth conditions on the physical properties of the material are inferred. Copyright © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Electrical,optical, and photoluminescence properties of ZnO films subjected to thermal annealing and treatment in hydrogen plasma

The photoluminescence and optical absorption spectra and electrical properties of ZnO films grown by the metal–organic chemical vapor deposition and hydrothermal techniques, subjected to heat treatments and plasma treatment in a hydrogen atmosphere, are studied. It is shown that the adsorption of oxygen at grain boundaries upon annealing in an oxidizing atmosphere determines the electrical properties of the films. Vacuum annealing improves the electrical properties of the samples after degradation induced by annealing in air. Treatment in hydrogen plasma passivates surface states at the grain boundaries. The intrinsic photoluminescence intensity after plasma treatment is higher in the case of increased amounts of oxygen adsorbed at grain surfaces upon annealing in air. Surface states involving oxygen and hydrogen atoms are responsible for the high-intensity intrinsic photoluminescence band.     

Effect of yttrium doping on structural and optical properties of zinc sulfide nanoparticles

Present work deals with the effect of Yttrium (Y) doping on the structural and optical properties of Zinc Sulfide (ZnS) nanoparticles synthesized by chemical co-precipitation method. The incorporation of Y in ZnS structure and the resulting elemental composition were confirmed using EDAX analysis. The SEM and HR-TEM images depicted the formation of ZnS agglomerates with narrow size distribution. Using XRD spectra it was analyzed that with increase in concentration of Y atoms, the crystallinity of ZnS lattice structure decreases, a significant deviation in the lattice structure was observed at 15 wt% Y doping. Raman analysis showed a monotonic decrease in vibration frequency of ZnS lattice with the incorporation of bulky Y ions. A decrease in the band gap from 3.97 to 3.75 eV was also observed with increase in Y doping upto 15 wt%. The photoluminescence spectra depicted that Y doping has a strong effect on the emission properties of the ZnS nanoparticles. Initially, it enhances the band edge emission by occupying the Zn vacancies in the lattice structure but at higher doping levels their tendency to move into the interstitial sites suppresses back the band edge emission. The blue emission from S vacancies is also observed to increase with Y doping.     

Behavior of chemically deposited PbS thin films subjected to two different routes of post deposition annealing

Lead sulfide (PbS) thin films were prepared on soda lime glass substrates at room temperature by Chemical Bath Deposition (CBD) technique. This paper reports a comparative study of characteristic properties of as-prepared PbS thin films after thermal treatment through two different routes. Studies were carried out for as-prepared as well as rapidly and gradually annealed samples at 100, 200 and 300 °C. The characterizations of the films were carried out using X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy and optical measurement techniques. The structural studies confirmed the polycrystalline nature and the cubic structure of the films. As-deposited films partly transformed to Pb₂O₃ when gradually annealed to 300 °C. The presence of nano crystallites was revealed by structural and optical absorption measurements. The values of average crystallite size were found to be in the range 18–20 nm. The variation in the microstructure, thickness, grain size, micro strain and optical band gap on two types of annealing were compared and analyzed. Data showed that post deposition parameters and thermal treatment strongly influence the optical properties of PbS films. Optical band gap of the film gets modified remarkably on annealing. Direct band gap energy values for rapidly and gradually annealed samples varied in the range of 1.68–2.01 eV and 1.68–2.12 eV respectively. Thus we were succeeded in tailoring direct band gap energies by post deposition annealing method.     

The Dynamic Phase Transition Modulation of Ion‐Liquid Gating VO2 Thin Film: Formation,Diffusion, and Recovery of Oxygen Vacancies

Electrolyte gating with ionic liquids (IL) on correlated vanadium dioxide (VO₂) nanowires/beams is effective to modulate the metal‐insulator transition (MIT) behavior. While for macrosize VO₂ film, the gating treatment shows different phase modulation process and the intrinsic mechanism is still not clear, though the oxygen‐vacancy diffusion channel is always adopted for the explanation. Herein, the dynamic phase modulation of electrolyte gated VO₂ films is investigated and the oxygen vacancies formation, diffusion, and recovery at the IL/oxide interface are observed. As a relatively slow electrochemical reaction, the gating effect gradually permeates from surface to the inside of VO₂ film, along with an unsynchronized changes of integral electric, optical, and structure properties. First‐principles‐based theoretical calculation reveals that the oxygen vacancies can not only cause the structural deformations in monoclinic VO_2, but also account for the MIT transition by inducing polarization charges and thereby adjusting the d‐orbital occupancy. The findings not only clarify the oxygen vacancies statement of electrolyte gated VO₂ film, but also can be extended to other ionic liquid/oxide systems for better understanding of the surface electrochemical stability and electronic properties modulation.     

Role of Side‐Chain Branching on Thin‐Film Structure and Electronic Properties of Polythiophenes

Side‐chain engineering is increasingly being utilized as a technique to impact the structural order and enhance the electronic properties of semiconducting polymers. However, the correlations drawn between structural changes and the resulting charge transport properties are typically indirect and qualitative in nature. In the present work, a combination of grazing incidence X‐ray diffraction and crystallographic refinement calculations is used to determine the precise molecular packing structure of two thiophene‐based semiconducting polymers to study the impact of side‐chain modifications. The optimized structures provide high‐quality fits to the experimental data and demonstrate that in addition to a large difference in interchain spacing between the two materials, there exists a significant disparity in backbone orientation as well. The calculated structures are utilized in density functional theory calculations to determine the band structure of the two materials and are shown to exhibit a dramatic disparity in interchain dispersion which accounts for the large observed difference in charge carrier mobility. The techniques presented here are meant to be general and are therefore applicable to many other highly diffracting semicrystalline polymers.     

The Gas‐Detection Properties of Light‐Emitting Diatoms

In recent years, the porous silica structures (frustules) created by living diatoms have been studied for several nanoengineering applications based on biomimetic approaches. We focus on the gas‐sensing properties of diatoms: investigation of different species shows that the photoluminescence emission of frustules is affected by even small modifications of the surrounding gas environment, exhibiting a detection limit of few tenths of ppm in the case of nitrogen dioxide. A new understanding of this phenomenon is discussed here in terms of “static‐type” luminescence quenching through suppression of radiative states (most probably surface oxygen vacancies) induced by adsorption of gas molecules. The modeling allows the free energy of desorption to be measured by all‐optical means: the value obtained suggests that a chemisorption process is involved, in agreement with the observed absorption/desorption kinetics. The findings encourage investigation of diatoms as low‐cost biological transducers for detection of gas species.     

Porous Nanostructured Optical Filters Rendered Insensitive to Humidity by Vapor‐Phase Functionalization

Water adsorption in many porous optical coatings can cause a detrimental red‐shift in the optical properties. In this study, a porous nanostructured rugate filter is fabricated using the glancing‐angle deposition (GLAD) technique, and rendered insensitive to large changes in ambient humidity by post‐deposition vapor‐phase functionalization. A central defect mode is added to the stop band of the filter by integrating a phase shift into the sinusoidal refractive‐index profile of the film. By monitoring the wavelength of the defect mode under variable humidity conditions, a six‐times reduction in sensitivity to water vapor is observed upon functionalization with 3,3,3‐trifluoropropyltrichlorosilane. Electrical characterization and advancing aqueous contact‐angle measurements are used to verify the hydrophobic properties of the functionalized thin films.     

Aging of a Vanadium Precursor Solution: Influencing Material Properties and Photoelectrochemical Water Oxidation Performance of Solution‐Processed BiVO4 Photoanodes

Metal–organic decomposition is an easy way to fabricate BiVO₄ (BVO) photoanodes; however, it often experiences a reproducibility issue. Here, the aging duration of a vanadium precursor solution, vanadyl acetylacetonate in methanol, is identified as a factor that profoundly affects reproducibility. Substantial changes in structural, optical, and electrical properties of BVO films are observed upon varying aging time of vanadium precursor solutions, which subsequently impacts photoelectrochemical (PEC) water oxidation and sulfite oxidation reactions. With the optimum number of aging days (3 d), some deficiency of oxygen is observed, which is accompanied by an increase in carrier concentration and a reduced charge transfer resistance in the PEC device, which produces the highest PEC performance that is comparable to the state‐of‐the‐art undoped BVO photoanodes. The findings point to the importance of understanding solution chemistry and demonstrate that utilization of the understanding of fine adjustment of the composition of BVO films can produce highly reproducible and efficient BiVO₄ photoanodes.