Cooperative Decode‐and‐Forward Relaying for Secure Multicasting

In this paper, secure multicasting with the help of cooperative decode‐and‐forward relays is considered for the case in which a source securely sends a common message to multiple destinations in the presence of a single eavesdropper. We show that the secrecy rate maximization problem in the secure multicasting scenario under an overall power constraint can be solved using semidefinite programing with semidefinite relaxation and a bisection technique. Further, a suboptimal approach using zero‐forcing beamforming and linear programming based power allocation is also proposed. Numerical results illustrate the secrecy rates achieved by the proposed schemes under secure multicasting scenarios.     

Selective Pd Deposition on Au Nanobipyramids and Pd Site‐Dependent Plasmonic Photocatalytic Activity

The synthesis of anisotropic metal nanostructures is strongly desired for exploring plasmon‐enabled applications. Herein, the preparation of anisotropic Au/SiO₂ and Au/SiO₂/Pd nanostructures is realized through selective silica coating on Au nanobipyramids. For silica coating at the ends of Au nanobipyramids, the amount of coated silica and the overall shape of the coated nanostructures exhibit a bell‐shaped dependence on the cationic surfactant concentration. For both end and side silica coating on Au nanobipyramids, the size of the silica component can be varied by changing the silica precursor amount. Silica can also be selectively deposited on the corners or facets of Au nanocubes, suggesting the generality of this method. The blockage of the predeposited silica component on Au nanobipyramids enables further selective Pd deposition. Suzuki coupling reactions carried out with the different bimetallic nanostructures functioning as plasmonic photocatalysts indicate that the plasmonic photocatalytic activity is dependent on the site of Pd nanoparticles on Au nanobipyramids. Taken together, these results suggest that plasmonic hot spots play an important role in hot‐electron‐driven plasmonic photocatalysis. This study opens up a promising route to the construction of anisotropic bimetallic nanostructures as well as to the design of bimetallic plasmonic‐catalytic nanostructures as efficient plasmonic photocatalysts.     

Interconnection Technology Based on InSn Solder for Flexible Display Applications

A novel interconnection technology based on a 52InSn solder was developed for flexible display applications. The display industry is currently trying to develop a flexible display, and one of the crucial technologies for the implementation of a flexible display is to reduce the bonding process temperature to less than 150°C. InSn solder interconnection technology is proposed herein to reduce the electrical contact resistance and concurrently achieve a process temperature of less than 150°C. A solder bump maker (SBM) and fluxing underfill were developed for these purposes. SBM is a novel bumping material, and it is a mixture of a resin system and InSn solder powder. A maskless screen printing process was also developed using an SBM to reduce the cost of the bumping process. Fluxing underfill plays the role of a flux and an underfill concurrently to simplify the bonding process compared to a conventional flip‐chip bonding using a capillary underfill material. Using an SBM and fluxing underfill, a 20 μm pitch InSn solder SoP array on a glass substrate was successfully formed using a maskless screen printing process, and two glass substrates were bonded at 130°C.     

Superparamagnetic Nanostructures for Off‐Resonance Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopic Imaging

This study proposes a new method to generate positive contrast in magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) using superparamagnetic contrast agents. Superparamagnetic nanostructures consisting of octahedron manganese ferrite nanoparticles embedded in spherical nanogels are fabricated using a bottom‐up approach. The composite nanoparticles are strongly magnetized in an external magnetic field and produce a unique NMR frequency shift in water protons, which can be demonstrated in MR spectroscopy and imaging to be different from the bulk pool. Moreover, the particles exhibit excellent colloidal stability in aqueous media and good cell biocompatibility. Hence, these particles are potentially useful as biomarkers by taking advantage of the positive contrast effects produced in MRI.     

A 3D Hybrid of Chemically Coupled Nickel Sulfide and Hollow Carbon Spheres for High Performance Lithium–Sulfur Batteries

Lithium–sulfur batteries are a promising next‐generation energy storage device owing to their high theoretical capacity and the low cost and abundance of sulfur. However, the low conductivity and loss of active sulfur material during operation greatly limit the rating capabilities and cycling stability of lithium–sulfur batteries. In this work, a unique sulfur host hybrid material comprising nanosized nickel sulfide (NiS) uniformly distributed on 3D carbon hollow spheres (C‐HS) is fabricated using an in situ thermal reduction and sulfidation method. In the hybrid material, the nanosized NiS provides a high adsorption capability for polysulfides and the C‐HS serves as a physical confinement for polysulfides and also a 3D electron transfer pathway. Moreover, NiS has strong chemical coupling with the C‐HS, favoring fast charge transfer and redox kinetics of the sulfur electrode. With a sulfur loading of up to 2.3 mg cm^?2, the hybrid material‐based lithium–sulfur batteries offer a capacity decay as low as 0.013% per cycle and a capacity of 695 mA h g^?1 at 0.5 C after 300 cycles. This unique 3D hybrid material with strong chemical coupling provides a promising sulfur host for high performance lithium–sulfur batteries.     

Epitaxy of Layered Orthorhombic SnS–SnSxSe(1−x) Core–Shell Heterostructures with Anisotropic Photoresponse

Vertical and in‐plane heterostructures based on van der Waals (vdW) crystals have drawn rapidly increasing attention owning to the extraordinary properties and significant application potential. However, current heterostructures are mainly limited to vdW crystals with a symmetrical hexagonal lattice, and the heterostructures made by asymmetric vdW crystals are rarely investigated at the moment. In this contribution, it is reported for the first time the synthesis of layered orthorhombic SnS–SnS_xSe_(1?x) core–shell heterostructures with well‐defined geometry via a two‐step thermal evaporation method. Structural characterization reveals that the heterostructures of SnS–SnS_xSe_(1?x) are in‐plane interconnected and vertically stacked, constructed by SnS_xSe_(1?x) shell heteroepitaxially growing on/around the pre‐synthesized SnS flake with an epitaxial relationship of (303)_SnS//(033)_SnSxSe(1?x), [010]_SnS//[100]_SnSxSe(1?x). On the basis of detailed morphology, structure and composition characterizations, a growth mechanism involving heteroepitaxial growth, atomic diffusion, as well as thermal thinning is proposed to illustrate the formation process of the heterostructures. In addition, a strong polarization‐dependent photoresponse is found on the device fabricated using the as‐prepared SnS?SnS_xSe_(1?x) core–shell heterostructure, enabling the potential use of the heterostructures as functional components for optoelectronic devices featured with anisotropy.     

Ionic Modulation of Interfacial Magnetism in Light Metal/Ferromagnetic Insulator Layered Nanostructures

Ferromagnetic insulator thin film nanostructures are becoming the key component of the state‐of‐the‐art spintronic devices, for instance, yttrium iron garnet (YIG) with low damping, high Curie temperature, and high resistivity is explored into many spin–orbit interactions related spintronic devices. Voltage modulation of YIG, with great practical/theoretical significance, thus can be widely applied in various YIG‐based spintronics effects. Nevertheless, to manipulate ferromagnetism of YIG through electric field (E‐field), instead of current, in an energy efficient manner is essentially challenging. Here, a YIG/Cu/Pt layered nanostructure with a weak spin–orbit coupling interaction is fabricated, and then the interfacial magnetism of the Cu and YIG is modified via ionic liquid gating method significantly. A record‐high E‐field‐induced ferromagnetic resonance field shift of 1400 Oe is achieved in YIG (17 nm)/Cu (5 nm)/Pt (3 nm)/ionic liquid/Au capacitor layered nanostructures with a small voltage bias of 4.5 V. The giant magnetoelectric tunability comes from voltage‐induced extra ferromagnetic ordering in Cu layer, confirmed by the first‐principle calculation. This E‐field modulation of interfacial magnetism between light metal and magnetic isolator may open a door toward compact, high‐performance, and energy‐efficient spintronic devices.     

Layered Orthorhombic Nb2O5@Nb4C3Tx and TiO2@Ti3C2Tx Hierarchical Composites for High Performance Li‐ion Batteries

Engineering electrode nanostructures is critical in developing high‐capacity, fast rate‐response, and safe Li‐ion batteries. This study demonstrates the synthesis of orthorhombic Nb₂O₅@Nb₄C₃T_x (or @Nb₂CT_x) hierarchical composites via a one‐step oxidation —in flowing CO₂ at 850 °C —of 2D Nb₄C₃T_x (or Nb₂CT_x) MXene. The composites possess a layered architecture with orthorhombic Nb₂O₅ nanoparticles decorated uniformly on the surface of the MXene flakes and interconnected by disordered carbon. The composites have a capacity of 208 mAh g^?1 at a rate of 50 mA g^?1 (0.25 C) in 1–3 V versus Li⁺/Li, and retain 94% of the specific capacity with 100% Coulombic efficiency after 400 cycles. The good electrochemical performances could be attributed to three synergistic effects: (1) the high conductivity of the interior, unoxidized Nb₄C₃T_x layers, (2) the fast rate response and high capacity of the external Nb₂O₅ nanoparticles, and (3) the electron “bridge” effects of the disordered carbon. This oxidation method was successfully extended to Ti₃C₂T_x and Nb₂CT_x MXenes to prepare corresponding composites with similar hierarchical structures. Since this is an early report on producing this structure, there is much room to push the boundaries further and achieve better electrochemical performance.     

In Situ Formation of Copper‐Based Hosts Embedded within 3D N‐Doped Hierarchically Porous Carbon Networks for Ultralong Cycle Lithium–Sulfur Batteries

Lithium–sulfur (Li–S) batteries are promising energy storage systems due to their large theoretical energy density of 2600 Wh kg^?1 and cost effectiveness. However, the severe shuttle effect of soluble lithium polysulfide intermediates (LiPSs) and sluggish redox kinetics during the cycling process cause low sulfur utilization, rapid capacity fading, and a low coulombic efficiency. Here, a 3D copper, nitrogen co‐doped hierarchically porous graphitic carbon network developed through a freeze‐drying method (denoted as 3D Cu@NC‐F) is prepared, and it possesses strong chemical absorption and electrocatalytic conversion activity for LiPSs as highly efficient sulfur host materials in Li–S batteries. The porous carbon network consisting of 2D cross‐linked ultrathin carbon nanosheets provides void space to accommodate volumetric expansion upon lithiation, while the Cu, N‐doping effect plays a critical role for the confinement of polysulfides through chemical bonding. In addition, after sulfuration of Cu@NC‐F network, the in situ grown copper sulfide (Cu_xS) embedded within Cu_xS@NC/S‐F composite catalyzes LiPSs conversion during reversible cycling, resulting in low polarization and fast redox reaction kinetics. At a current density of 0.1 C, the Cu_xS@NC/S‐F composites' electrode exhibits an initial capacity of 1432 mAh g^?1 and maintains 1169 mAh g^?1 after 120 cycles, with a coulombic efficiency of nearly 100%.