Spotting 2D atomic layers on aluminum nitride thin films

Substrates for 2D materials are important for tailoring their fundamental properties and realizing device applications. Aluminum nitride (AIN) films on silicon are promising large-area substrates for such devices in view of their high surface phonon energies and reasonably large dielectric constants. In this paper epitaxial layers of AlN on 2 `' Si wafers have been investigated as a necessary first step to realize devices from exfoliated or transferred atomic layers. Significant thickness dependent contrast enhancements are both predicted and observed for monolayers of graphene and MoS2 on AlN films as compared to the conventional SiO2 films on silicon, with calculated contrast values approaching 100% for graphene on AlN as compared to 8% for SiO2 at normal incidences. Quantitative estimates of experimentally measured contrast using reflectance spectroscopy show very good agreement with calculated values. Transistors of monolayer graphene on AlN films are demonstrated, indicating the feasibility of complete device fabrication on the identified layers.

Optical-Phonon-Limited High-Field Transport in Layered Materials

An optical-phonon-limited velocity model has been employed to investigate high-field transport in a selection of layered 2-D materials for both, low-power logic switches with scaled supply voltages, and high-power, high-frequency transistors. Drain currents, effective electron velocities, and intrinsic cutoff frequencies as a function of carrier density have been predicted, thus providing a benchmark for the optical-phonon-limited high-field performance limits of these materials. The optical-phonon-limited carrier velocities for a selection of multi-layers of transition metal dichalcogenides and black phosphorus are found to be modest compared to their n-channel silicon counterparts, questioning the utility of biasing these devices in the source-injection dominated regime. h-BN, at the other end of the spectrum, is shown to be a very promising material for high-frequency, high-power devices, subject to the experimental realization of high carrier densities, primarily due to its large optical-phonon energy. Experimentally extracted saturation velocities from few-layer MoS2 devices show reasonable qualitative and quantitative agreement with the predicted values. The temperature dependence of the measured v(sat) is discussed and compared with the theoretically predicted dependence over a range of temperatures.

Electron mobility in few-layer MoxW1-xS2

Heterostructures of two-dimensional (2D) layered materials are increasingly being explored for electronics in order to potentially extend conventional transistor scaling and to exploit new device designs and architectures. Alloys form a key underpinning of any heterostructure device technology and therefore an understanding of their electronic properties is essential. In this paper, we study the intrinsic electron mobility in few-layer MoxW1-xS2 as limited by various scattering mechanisms. The room temperature, energy-dependent scattering times corresponding to polar longitudinal optical (LO) phonon, alloy and background impurity scattering mechanisms are estimated based on the Born approximation to Fermi's golden rule. The contribution of individual scattering rates is analyzed as a function of 2D electron density as well as of alloy composition in MoxW1-xS2. While impurity scattering limits the mobility for low carrier densities (<2-4x10(12) cm(-2)), LO polar phonon scattering is the dominant mechanism for high electron densities. Alloy scattering is found to play a non-negligible role for 0.5 < x < 0.7 in MoxW1-xS2. The LO phonon-limited and impurity-limited mobilities show opposing trends with respect to alloy mole fractions. The understanding of electron mobility in MoxW1-xS2 presented here is expected to enable the design and realization of heterostructures and devices based on alloys of MoS2 andWS(2).

Percolative switching in transition metal dichalcogenide field-effect transistors at room temperature

We have addressed the microscopic transport mechanism at the switching or `on-off' transition in transition metal dichalcogenide (TMDC) field-effect transistors (FETs), which has been a controversial topic in TMDC electronics, especially at room temperature. With simultaneous measurement of channel conductivity and its slow time-dependent fluctuation (or noise) in ultrathin WSe2 and MoS2 FETs on insulating SiO2 substrates where noise arises from McWhorter-type carrier number fluctuations, we establish that the switching in conventional backgated TMDC FETs is a classical percolation transition in a medium of inhomogeneous carrier density distribution. From the experimentally observed exponents in the scaling of noise magnitude with conductivity, we observe unambiguous signatures of percolation in a random resistor network, particularly, in WSe2 FETs close to switching, which crosses over to continuum percolation at a higher doping level. We demonstrate a powerful experimental probe to the microscopic nature of near-threshold electrical transport in TMDC FETs, irrespective of the material detail, device geometry, or carrier mobility, which can be extended to other classes of 2D material-based devices as well.

Electron mobility in few-layer MoxW1-xS2

Heterostructures of two-dimensional (2D) layered materials are increasingly being explored for electronics in order to potentially extend conventional transistor scaling and to exploit new device designs and architectures. Alloys form a key underpinning of any heterostructure device technology and therefore an understanding of their electronic properties is essential. In this paper, we study the intrinsic electron mobility in few-layer MoxW1-xS2 as limited by various scattering mechanisms. The room temperature, energy-dependent scattering times corresponding to polar longitudinal optical (LO) phonon, alloy and background impurity scattering mechanisms are estimated based on the Born approximation to Fermi's golden rule. The contribution of individual scattering rates is analyzed as a function of 2D electron density as well as of alloy composition in MoxW1-xS2. While impurity scattering limits the mobility for low carrier densities (<2-4x10(12) cm(-2)), LO polar phonon scattering is the dominant mechanism for high electron densities. Alloy scattering is found to play a non-negligible role for 0.5 < x < 0.7 in MoxW1-xS2. The LO phonon-limited and impurity-limited mobilities show opposing trends with respect to alloy mole fractions. The understanding of electron mobility in MoxW1-xS2 presented here is expected to enable the design and realization of heterostructures and devices based on alloys of MoS2 andWS(2).

Simultaneous tunability of the electronic and phononic gaps in SnS2 under normal compressive strain

Controlled variation of the electronic properties of. two-dimensional (2D) materials by applying strain has emerged as a promising way to design materials for customized applications. Using density functional theory (DFT) calculations, we show that while the electronic structure and indirect band gap of SnS2 do not change significantly with the number of layers, they can be reversibly tuned by applying biaxial tensile (BT), biaxial compressive (BC), and normal compressive (NC) strains. Mono to multilayered SnS2 exhibit a reversible semiconductor to metal (S-M) transition with applied strain. For bilayer (2L) SnS2, the S-Mtransition occurs at the strain values of 17%,-26%, and -24% under BT, BC, and NC strains, respectively. Due to weaker interlayer coupling, the critical strain value required to achieve the S-Mtransition in SnS2 under NC strain is much higher than for MoS2. From a stability viewpoint, SnS2 becomes unstable at very low strain values on applying BC (-6.5%) and BT strains (4.9%), while it is stable even up to the transition point (-24%) in the case of NC strain. In addition to the reversible tuning of the electronic properties of SnS2, we also show tunability in the phononic band gap of SnS2, which increases with applied NC strain. This gap increases three times faster than for MoS2. This simultaneous tunability of SnS2 at the electronic and phononic levels with strain, makes it a potential candidate in field effect transistors (FETs) and sensors as well as frequency filter applications.

Promoting effects in hydrogenation and hydrodesulfurization reactions on the zirconia and titania supported catalysts

Tetralin hydrogenation (HYD) and thiophene hydrodesulfurization (HDS) were studied for the supported MoS2 and WS2 sulfides, either non-promoted or promoted with Co and Ni. The supports used were ZrO2, alumina-stabilized TiO2 and pure alumina. Preparation of catalysts included presulfidation of non-promoted system with subsequent addition of promoter and resulfidation. It has been found that the nature of promoter plays determining role for the catalytic performance. The most active in both HYD and HDS reactions are Ni-promoted Mo and W catalysts, supported on ZrO2. (C) 2003 Published by Elsevier B.V.

3D Fe3S4 flower-like microspheres: high-yield synthesis via a biomolecule-assisted solution approach, their electrical, magnetic and electrochemical hydrogen storage properties

Well-defined 3D Fe3S4 flower-like microspheres were synthesized via a simple biomolecule-assisted hydrothermal process for the first time. On the basis of a series of contrast experiments, the probable growth mechanism and fabrication process of the products were proposed. The electrical conductivity property of the as-synthesized Fe3S4 sample exhibited a rectifying characteristic when a forward bias was applied for the bottom-contacted device. The magnetic properties of the products were studied as well and the results demonstrated that the products presented ferromagnetic properties related to the corresponding microstructure. In addition, we first verified that the Fe3S4 flower-like microspheres could store hydrogen electrochemically, and a discharge capacity of 214 mA h g(-1) was measured without any activation under normal atmospheric conditions at room temperature.

地幔副矿物和硫化物的热（PVT）状态方程研究

矿物PVT状态方程是研究矿物在一定温压条件下的晶胞体积与温度、压力之间的关系，依据这个基本关系，可以了解矿物在高温高压下的密度、弹性、热膨胀等性质。矿物PVT状态方程的研究可以了解矿物在地球深部存在的结构状态，为进一步的理论计算提供基础的数据，其结果也可以与天然和人工地震的地震波反演的结果对比，对地球深部的地质作用过程、物质结构状态和组成进行限制。然而，目前矿物PVT状态方程的研究主要集中在氧化物矿物和上地幔主要矿物（橄榄石和辉石）及其高压相（瓦兹利石、林伍德石、方镁铁矿、Majorite、Mg-Perovskite、Ca-Perovskite）的研究上，对石榴石、尖晶石等地幔常见副矿物和硫化物矿物的PVT状态方程的研究很少。 作者在参与搭建并完善金刚石压腔外加温系统的基础上，利用北京同步辐射X射线衍射实验技术结合金刚石压腔外加温技术对天然铁铝榴石、锰铝榴石、铬尖晶石进行了PVT状态方程的研究，同时对闪锌矿、辰砂、方铅矿、辉钼矿、辉锑矿等硫化物矿物进行了相变及状态方程的研究。结合前人研究成果，讨论了类质同象置换对镁铝－铁铝系列石榴石、锰铝－铁铝系列石榴石、尖晶石和硫化物矿物相变及状态方程的影响。获得了以下研究结果： 1）镁铝－铁铝系列石榴石和锰铝－铁铝系列石榴石的体弹模量都随着铁铝榴石组分的增加而增大。其主要原因是在二价阳离子位置上Fe2+取代了Mg2+、Mn2+。在镁铝－铁铝榴石系列中Mg2+的共价键半径（1.36Å）要大于Fe2+的共价键半径（1.17Å），而Mg2+－O键长（2.270Å）与铁铝榴石中的Fe2+－O（2.299Å）键长基本相当。在锰铝－铁铝榴石系列中， 尽管Mn2+的共价键半径（1.17Å）与铁铝榴石中的Fe2+共价键半径（1.17Å）相等，但是Mn2+－O键长（2.326Å）大于Fe2+－O键长（2.299Å）。较小的键长和共价键半径将会增强离子间的结合力，从而具有较强的抗压缩能力，因此随铁铝榴石组分的增加，镁铝－铁铝榴石系列和锰铝－铁铝榴石系列具有较大的体弹模量。 2）首次获得了铬尖晶石（(Mg0.6766Fe0.2808Na0.0073Ti0.0014)0.9661(Cr1.4874Al0.5367)2.0241O4）的体弹模量的温度导数。结合前人关于其他组分尖晶石的实验结果发现，尖晶石中在四面体位置上发生Fe2+－Mg2+置换对体弹模量的影响要大于在八面体位置上发生Cr3+－Al3+置换对体弹模量的影响。而造成铬尖晶石的体弹模量值比其他组分尖晶石的体弹模量值大的主要原因也是四面体位置上的Fe2+－Mg2+的类质置换。 3）依据获得的尖晶石和石榴石的状态方程计算了不同地幔岩模型（橄榄岩和榴辉岩模型）的密度值在上地幔温压条件下的变化情况。结果表明，在尖晶石二辉橄榄岩模型中尖晶石含量的改变（2％－10％）会引起较大的密度变化（2.2％）；在石榴石二辉橄榄岩（石榴石含量14％－20％）和榴辉岩（石榴石含量37％－45％）模型中石榴石含量的变化几乎未引起其密度值的变化，但石榴石是这两种地幔岩模型中的重要组成矿物。 4）首次获得了辰砂的Cinnabar相、方铅矿的B33相、辉钼矿、辉锑矿体弹模量的温度导数和热膨胀系数。讨论了闪锌矿、辰砂、方铅矿的相变情况。 5）总结了锌的、汞的、铅的硫族化合物发生结构相变的规律。认为造成锌的、汞的、铅的硫族化合物的相变压力随阴离子原子序数的增加（S→Se→Te）而逐渐减小的原因是：元素周期表中相对较大原子序数的原子具有更多的核内电子，引起价电子及导带电子的有效位能相对变弱，引起电离能降低，因此在相对较低的压力下就容易发生结构相变。 6）分析了ZnS中Fe2+替代Zn2+、Sb2S3－Bi2S3、MoS2－WS2以及同族相同结构不同组分的简单硫化物矿物的阴、阳离子对体弹模量值的影响。认为简单硫化物矿物的体弹模量值取决于阴、阳离子的离子半径、电负性以及键长。

The formation of nanotubes and nanocoils of molybdenum disulphide

This work reports the successful realization of MoS2 nanotubes by a novel intercalation chemistry and hydrothermal treatment. An inorganic-organic precursor of hexadecylamine (HDA) and molybdenum disulphide (MoS2) were used in synthesizing the nanocomposite comprising laminar MoS2 with HDA intercalated in the interlaminar spacing. The formation of MoS2 nanotubes occurred during hydrothermal treatment (HT) by a self-organized rolling mechanism. The nanotubes were observed to have dimensions 2-12 µm in length and inner diameters typically in the range of 25-100 nm. We also report the formation of amorphous nanocoils of MoS2 obtained during similar procedures.

Functionalization of lamellar molybdenum disulphide nanocomposite with gold nanoparticles

This work explores the functionalization of an organic-inorganic MoS2 lamellar compound, prepared by a Chemical Liquid Deposition Method (CLD), that has an interlamellar distance of ~5.2 nm, using clusters of gold nanoparticles. The gold nanoparticles have a mean diameter of 1.2 nm, a stability of ~85 days, and a zeta potential measured to be ζ = -6.8 mV (solid). The nanoparticles are localized in the hydrophilic zones, defined by the presence of amine groups of the surfactant between the lamella of MoS2. SEM, TEM, EDAX and electron diffraction provide conclusive evidence of the interlamellar insertion of the gold nanoparticles in the MoS2.

Pressure induced anisotropy of electrical conductivity in polycrystalline molybdenum disulfide

Anisotropic specimens of MoS2 are obtained by pressing the microcrystalline powder into special die. This inelastic compression results in a rearrangement of the disulfide micro platelets observed by Atomic Force Microscopy and reflected in the macroscopic anisotropy in electrical conductivity in these samples. The conductivity measured parallel and perpendicular to the direction of applied pressure exhibits an anisotropy factor of ∼10 at 1 GPa. This behaviour of the conductivity as a function of applied pressure is explained as the result of the simultaneous influence of a rearrangement of the micro platelets in the solid and the change of the inter-grain distances.

Second harmonic generation in h-BN and MoS2 monolayers: Role of electron-hole interaction

We study second-harmonic generation in h-BN and MoS$_2$ monolayers using a novel \emph{ab initio} approach based on Many-body theory. We show that electron-hole interaction doubles the signal intensity at the excitonic resonances with respect to the contribution from independent electronic transitions. This implies that electron-hole interaction is essential to describe second-harmonic generation in those materials. We argue that this finding is general for nonlinear optical properties in nanostructures and that the present methodology is the key to disclose these effects.

2D Monolayer MoS2–Carbon Interoverlapped Superstructure: Engineering Ideal Atomic Interface for Lithium Ion Storage: Engineering Ideal Atomic Interface for Lithium Ion Storage

A novel strategy for the controlled synthesis of 2D MoS<inf>2</inf>/C hybrid nanosheets consisting of the alternative layer-by-layer interoverlapped single-layer MoS<inf>2</inf> and mesoporous carbon (m-C) is demonstrated. Such special hybrid nanosheets with a maximized MoS<inf>2</inf>/m-C interface contact show very good performance for lithium-ion batteries in terms of high reversible capacity, excellent rate capability, and outstanding cycling stability.