Nanostructures and energy conversion

The unique properties of nanostructures associated with their low dimensionality give rise to new opportunities for research on nanoscale heat transfer and energy conversion. Inspired by Majumdar’s analysis of the novel aspects of heat, mass, and charge flow across the interface between hard and soft materials, some perspectives about research frontiers in nanoscale heat transfer and energy conversion are provided.

The Effect of Periodic Silane Burst on the Properties of GaN on Si (111) Substrates

The periodic silane burst technique was employed during metalorganic chemical vapor deposition of epitaxial GaN on AlN buffer layers grown on Si (111). Periodic silicon delta doping during growth of both the AlN and GaN layers led to growth of GaN films with decreased tensile stresses and decreased threading dislocation densities, as well as films with improved quality as indicated by x-ray diffraction, micro-Raman spectroscopy, atomic force microscopy, and transmission electron microscopy. The possible mechanism of the reduction of tensile stress and the dislocation density is discussed in the paper.