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Purdue University

2010

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Articles 1 - 30 of 59

Full-Text Articles in Nanoscience and Nanotechnology

Universality Of Non-Ohmic Shunt Leakage In Thin-Film Solar Cells, Sourabh Dongaonkar, J. D. Servaites, G. M. Ford, S. Loser, R. M. Gelfand, H. Mohseni, Hugh Hillhouse, R. Agrawal, M. A. Ratner, T. J. Marks, Mark S. Lundstrom, Muhammad A. Alam Dec 2010

Universality Of Non-Ohmic Shunt Leakage In Thin-Film Solar Cells, Sourabh Dongaonkar, J. D. Servaites, G. M. Ford, S. Loser, R. M. Gelfand, H. Mohseni, Hugh Hillhouse, R. Agrawal, M. A. Ratner, T. J. Marks, Mark S. Lundstrom, Muhammad A. Alam

Other Nanotechnology Publications

We compare the dark current-voltage (IV) characteristics of three different thin-film solar cell types: hydrogenated amorphous silicon (a-Si:H) p-i-n cells, organic bulk heterojunction (BHJ) cells, and Cu(In, Ga)Se-2 (CIGS) cells. All three device types exhibit a significant shunt leakage current at low forward bias (V < similar to 0.4) and reverse bias, which cannot be explained by the classical solar cell diode model. This parasitic shunt current exhibits non-Ohmic behavior, as opposed to the traditional constant shunt resistance model for photovoltaics. We show here that this shunt leakage (I-sh), across all three solar cell types considered, is characterized by the following common phenomenological features: (a) voltage symmetry about V = 0, (b) nonlinear (power law) voltage dependence, and (c) extremely weak temperature dependence. Based on this analysis, we provide a simple method of subtracting this shunt current component from the measured data and discuss its implications on dark IV parameter extraction. We propose a space charge limited (SCL) current model for capturing all these features of the shunt leakage in a consistent framework and discuss possible physical origin of the parasitic paths responsible for this shunt current mechanism. (C) 2010 American Institute of Physics. [doi:10.1063/1.3518509]


Uncertainty Propagation In A Multiscale Model Of Nanocrystalline Plasticity, Marisol Koslowski, Alejandro Strachan Dec 2010

Uncertainty Propagation In A Multiscale Model Of Nanocrystalline Plasticity, Marisol Koslowski, Alejandro Strachan

PRISM: NNSA Center for Prediction of Reliability, Integrity and Survivability of Microsystems

We characterize how uncertainties propagate across spatial and temporal scales in a physicsbased model of nanocrystalline plasticity of fcc metals. Our model combines molecular dynamics (MD) simulations to characterize atomic level processes that govern dislocation basedplastic deformation with a phase field approach to dislocation dynamics (PFDD) that describes how an ensemble of dislocations evolve and interact to determine the mechanical response of the material. We apply this approach to a nanocrystalline Ni specimen of interest in micro-electromechanical (MEMS) switches. Our approach enables us to quantify how internal stresses that result from the fabrication process affect the properties of dislocations (using …


Small-Scale Solutions To Grand Challenges In Thermal Management, Suresh V. Garimella Nov 2010

Small-Scale Solutions To Grand Challenges In Thermal Management, Suresh V. Garimella

Birck and NCN Publications

Research needs in the field of thermal management of microelectronics and microsystems are identified, followed by a brief discussion of recent advances in solution approaches. These include novel solutions that rely on two-phase flow at the microscale, micropumps, droplet actuation on structured surfaces, passive transport in wick structures, ion-driven and piezoelectrically driven airflow, nanostructured thermal materials, and novel diagnostic tools.


Coherent Electron Transport By Adiabatic Passage In An Imperfect Donor Chain, Rajib Rahman, Richard P. Muller, James E. Levy, Malcolm S. Carroll, Gerhard Klimeck, Andrew D. Greentree, Lloyd C. L. Hollenberg Sep 2010

Coherent Electron Transport By Adiabatic Passage In An Imperfect Donor Chain, Rajib Rahman, Richard P. Muller, James E. Levy, Malcolm S. Carroll, Gerhard Klimeck, Andrew D. Greentree, Lloyd C. L. Hollenberg

Birck and NCN Publications

Coherent Tunneling Adiabatic Passage (CTAP) has been proposed as a long-range physical qubit transport mechanism in solid-state quantum computing architectures. Although the mechanism can be implemented in either a chain of quantum dots or donors, a 1D chain of donors in Si is of particular interest due to the natural confining potential of donors that can in principle help reduce the gate densities in solid-state quantum computing architectures. Using detailed atomistic modeling, we investigate CTAP in a more realistic triple donor system in the presence of inevitable fabrication imperfections. In particular, we investigate how an adiabatic pathway for CTAP is …


Uncertainty Quantification Study For A Comprehensive Electrostatic Mems Switch Model, Michael G. Snow, Anil K. Bajaj Sep 2010

Uncertainty Quantification Study For A Comprehensive Electrostatic Mems Switch Model, Michael G. Snow, Anil K. Bajaj

PRISM: NNSA Center for Prediction of Reliability, Integrity and Survivability of Microsystems

This work presents an uncertainty analysis of a comprehensive model for an electrostatic MEMS switch. The goal is to elucidate the effects of parameter variations on certain performance characteristics. A sufficiently detailed model of an electrostatically actuated beam is developed. This model accounts for various physical effects, including the electrostatic fringing field, finite length of electrodes, squeeze film damping, and contact between the beam and the dielectric layer. The performance characteristics of immediate interest are the static and dynamic pull-in voltages for switch. Using Latin Hypercube and other sampling methods, the model is evaluated to find these performances characteristics when …


Comprehensive Reduced-Order Models Of Electrostatically Actuated Mems Switches And Their Dynamics Including Impact And Bounce, Michael G. Snow, Anil K. Bajaj Aug 2010

Comprehensive Reduced-Order Models Of Electrostatically Actuated Mems Switches And Their Dynamics Including Impact And Bounce, Michael G. Snow, Anil K. Bajaj

PRISM: NNSA Center for Prediction of Reliability, Integrity and Survivability of Microsystems

As MEMS technology develops it is becoming better understood that MEMS designers must account for the large uncertainties characteristic of the relevant manufacturing processes. Uncertainty quantification tasks the designer with evaluating many different possible outcomes from the manufacturing process which creates a demand for models that are accurate and comprehensive, yet fast to evaluate. This work presents a comprehensive reduced-order model of electrostatically actuated switches incorporating a range of effects that are typically included only in FE modeling codes. Specifically, the model accounts for variable electrode geometry, stretching of centerline or large displacement effects, fringing field, squeeze film and rarefied …


Simulation Of Sub-Micron Thermal Transport In A Mosfet Using A, James Loy, Druv Singh, Jayathi Y. Murthy Aug 2010

Simulation Of Sub-Micron Thermal Transport In A Mosfet Using A, James Loy, Druv Singh, Jayathi Y. Murthy

PRISM: NNSA Center for Prediction of Reliability, Integrity and Survivability of Microsystems

Self-heating has emerged as a critical bottleneck to scaling in modern transistors. In simulating heat conduction in these devices, it is important to account for the granularity of phonon transport since electron-phonon scattering occurs preferentially to select phonon groups. However, a complete accounting for phonon dispersion, polarization and scattering is very expensive if the Boltzmann transport equation (BTE) is used. Moreover, difficulties with convergence are encountered when the phonon Knudsen number becomes small. In this paper we simulate a two-dimensional bulk MOSFET hotspot problem using a partially-implicit hybrid BTE-Fourier solver which is significantly less expensive than a full BTE solution, …


Acoustic Phonon Scattering In Bi2te3/Sb2te3 Superlattices, Yaguo Wang, Carl Liebig, Xianfan Xu, Rama Venkatasubramanian Aug 2010

Acoustic Phonon Scattering In Bi2te3/Sb2te3 Superlattices, Yaguo Wang, Carl Liebig, Xianfan Xu, Rama Venkatasubramanian

Birck and NCN Publications

Ultrafast time-resolved measurements were conducted to investigate long-wavelength acoustic phonon scattering and velocity reduction in Bi2Te3/Sb2Te3 superlattices. We show that both these phenomena suppress heat transfer process, with the phonon scattering contributing more in differentiating the lattice thermal conductivities among films with different periods. Measurements of reduction in the acoustic phonon amplitudes support the decrease in the thermal conductivity for certain superlattice periods, which is not predicted by acoustic mismatch theory. This study is a direct measurement of coherent acoustic phonons in superlattices which is of significant interest to thermoelectrics.


Eight-Channel Reconfigurable Microring Filters With Tunable Frequency, Extinction Ratio And Bandwidth, Hao Shen, Maroof H. Khan, Li Fan, Lin Zhao, Yi Xuan, Jing Ouyang, Leo T. Varghese, Minghao Qi Aug 2010

Eight-Channel Reconfigurable Microring Filters With Tunable Frequency, Extinction Ratio And Bandwidth, Hao Shen, Maroof H. Khan, Li Fan, Lin Zhao, Yi Xuan, Jing Ouyang, Leo T. Varghese, Minghao Qi

Birck and NCN Publications

We demonstrate an eight-channel reconfigurable optical filter on a silicon chip. It consists of cascaded microring resonators and integrated compact heaters. With an embedded Mach-Zehnder (MZ) arm coupling to a microring resonator, the important parameters of a filter such as center frequency, extinction ratio and bandwidth can be controlled simultaneously for purposes of filtering, routing and spectral shaping. Thus our device could potentially be useful in dense wavelength division multiplexing (DWDM) and radio frequency arbitrary waveform generation (RFAWG). Multichannel filter response was successfully tuned to match the International Telecommunication Unit (ITU) grid with 50, 100 and 200GHz in channel spacing. …


Iii-Nitride Nanopyramid Light Emitting Diodes Grown By Organometallic Vapor Phase Epitaxy, Isaac Wildeson, Robert Colby, David Ewoldt, Zhiwen Liang, Dmitri Zakharov, Nestor J. Zaluzec, R. Edwin García, E A. Stach, Timothy D. Sands Aug 2010

Iii-Nitride Nanopyramid Light Emitting Diodes Grown By Organometallic Vapor Phase Epitaxy, Isaac Wildeson, Robert Colby, David Ewoldt, Zhiwen Liang, Dmitri Zakharov, Nestor J. Zaluzec, R. Edwin García, E A. Stach, Timothy D. Sands

Birck and NCN Publications

Nanopyramid light emitting diodes (LEDs) have been synthesized by selective area organometallic vapor phase epitaxy. Self-organized porous anodic alumina is used to pattern the dielectric growth e templates via reactive ion etching, eliminating the need for lithographic processes. (In,Ga)N quantum well growth occurs primarily on the six {1 (1) over bar 01} semipolar facets of each of the nanopyramids, while coherent (In,Ga)N quantum dots with heights of up to similar to 20 nm are incorporated at the apex by controlling growth conditions. Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) indicates that the (In,Ga)N active regions of the nanopyramid heterostructures are completely dislocation-free. Temperature-dependent …


Microcantilever Dynamics In Liquid Environment Dynamic Atomic Force Microscopy When Using Higher-Order Cantilever Eigenmodes, Daniel Kiracofe, Arvind Raman Aug 2010

Microcantilever Dynamics In Liquid Environment Dynamic Atomic Force Microscopy When Using Higher-Order Cantilever Eigenmodes, Daniel Kiracofe, Arvind Raman

Birck and NCN Publications

Dynamic atomic force microscopy is currently evolving from a single to a multifrequency instrument for nanoscale imaging often employing higher-order microcantilever eigenmodes for improved resolution and force spectroscopy. In this work the authors study the fundamentals of cantilever dynamics and energy dissipation when soft cantilevers are driven at their second flexural eigenmode and interact with samples in liquid environments. Contrary to the conventional first eigenmode operation, second eigenmode operation in liquids is often dominated by a subharmonic response (e.g., one tap every four drive cycles) and there is an energy transfer to the first eigenmode creating a new channel of …


Metric Signature Transitions In Optical Metamaterials, Igor Smolyaninov, Evgenii Narimanov Aug 2010

Metric Signature Transitions In Optical Metamaterials, Igor Smolyaninov, Evgenii Narimanov

Birck and NCN Publications

We demonstrate that the extraordinary waves in indefinite metamaterials experience an (- - + +) effective metric signature. During a metric signature change transition in such a metamaterial, a Minkowski space-time is created together with a large number of particles populating the space-time. Such metamaterial models provide a tabletop realization of metric signature change events suggested to occur in Bose-Einstein condensates and quantum gravity theories.


Current Density And Continuity In Discretized Models, Timothy B. Boykin, Mathieu Luisier, Gerhard Klimeck Jul 2010

Current Density And Continuity In Discretized Models, Timothy B. Boykin, Mathieu Luisier, Gerhard Klimeck

Birck and NCN Publications

Discrete approaches have long been used in numerical modelling of physical systems in both research and teaching. Discrete versions of the Schr ¨ odinger equation employing either one or several basis functions per mesh point are often used by senior undergraduates and beginning graduate students in computational physics projects. In studying discrete models, students can encounter conceptual difficulties with the representation of the current and its divergence because different finite-difference expressions, all of which reduce to the current density in the continuous limit, measure different physical quantities. Understanding these different discrete currents is essential and requires a careful analysis of …


What Determines Knudsen Force At The Microscale, Jeremy S. Nabeth, Sruti Chigullapalli, Alina A. Alexeenko Jul 2010

What Determines Knudsen Force At The Microscale, Jeremy S. Nabeth, Sruti Chigullapalli, Alina A. Alexeenko

PRISM: NNSA Center for Prediction of Reliability, Integrity and Survivability of Microsystems

Knudsen forces arise in microscale systems when there is a thermal gradient with a characteristic length scale comparable to the molecular mean free path of the ambient gas. These forces are sometimes referred as radiometric or thermo-molecular forces [1] and have been recently measured experimentally in a microscale configuration using heated atomic force microscopy (AFM) probes [2]. The Knudsen force on microstructures with thermal gradients can provide a novel actuation mechanism for mass detection, thermogravimetry, and very high-resolution heat flux measurements. While measuring such forces precisely at microscale can be an arduous task especially since only limited analytical results exist, …


Knudsen Force Modeling In Application To Microsystems, Jeremy S. Nabeth, Sruti Chigullapalli, Alina A. Alexeenko Jul 2010

Knudsen Force Modeling In Application To Microsystems, Jeremy S. Nabeth, Sruti Chigullapalli, Alina A. Alexeenko

PRISM: NNSA Center for Prediction of Reliability, Integrity and Survivability of Microsystems

At the microscale, even moderate temperature differences can result in significant Knudsen forces generated by the energy exchange between gas molecules and solids immersed in a gas. Creating, controlling and measuring Knudsen forces in microsystems can be an arduous task since only limited theory exists at present. This present study investigates the mechanism of Knudsen forces in detail based on numerical solution of the Boltzmann kinetic equation. The Knudsen force is shown, in general, to be a result of thermal nonequilibrium between gas and solid. The simulations are validated by comparison with experimental measurements that have been reported by Passian …


High Performance Atomic-Layer-Deposited Laluo3/Ge-On-Insulator P-Channel Metal-Oxide-Semiconductor Field-Effect Transistor With Thermally Grown Geo2 As Interfacial Passivation Layer, J J. Gu, Y Q. Liu, M Xu, G K. Celler, R G. Gordon, P. D. Ye Jul 2010

High Performance Atomic-Layer-Deposited Laluo3/Ge-On-Insulator P-Channel Metal-Oxide-Semiconductor Field-Effect Transistor With Thermally Grown Geo2 As Interfacial Passivation Layer, J J. Gu, Y Q. Liu, M Xu, G K. Celler, R G. Gordon, P. D. Ye

Birck and NCN Publications

Enhancement-mode p-channel metal-oxide-semiconductor field-effect transistor (MOSFET) on germanium-on-insulator substrate is fabricated with atomic-layer-deposited (ALD) LaLuO3 as gate dielectric. Significant improvement in both on-state current and effective hole mobility has been observed for devices with thermal GeO2 passivation. The negative threshold voltage (V-T) shift in devices with GeO2 interfacial layer (IL) further demonstrates the effectiveness of surface passivation. Results from low temperature mobility characterization show that phonon scattering is the dominant scattering mechanism at a large inversion charge, indicating good interface quality. The combination of higher-k LaLuO3 and ultrathin GeO2 IL is a promising solution to the tradeoff between the aggressive …


Numerical Approach For Quantification Of Epistemic Uncertainty, John Jakeman, Michael Eldred, Dongbin Xiu Jun 2010

Numerical Approach For Quantification Of Epistemic Uncertainty, John Jakeman, Michael Eldred, Dongbin Xiu

PRISM: NNSA Center for Prediction of Reliability, Integrity and Survivability of Microsystems

In the field of uncertainty quantification, uncertainty in the governing equations may assume two forms: aleatory uncertainty and epistemic uncertainty. Aleatory uncertainty can be characterised by known probability distributions whilst epistemic uncertainty arises from a lack of knowledge of probabilistic information. While extensive research efforts have been devoted to the numerical treatment of aleatory uncertainty, little attention has been given to the quantification of epistemic uncertainty. In this paper, we propose a numerical framework for quantification of epistemic uncertainty. The proposed methodology does not require any probabilistic information on uncertain input parameters. The method only necessitates an estimate of the …


Puremd Manual (Purdue Reactive Molecular Dynamics Program), Hasan Metin Aktulga Jun 2010

Puremd Manual (Purdue Reactive Molecular Dynamics Program), Hasan Metin Aktulga

PRISM: NNSA Center for Prediction of Reliability, Integrity and Survivability of Microsystems

No abstract provided.


Strain Rate Sensitivity Of Nanocrystalline Au Films At Room Temperature, K Jonnalagadda, N Karanjgaokar, Joo Lien Chee, Dimitrios Peroulis Jun 2010

Strain Rate Sensitivity Of Nanocrystalline Au Films At Room Temperature, K Jonnalagadda, N Karanjgaokar, Joo Lien Chee, Dimitrios Peroulis

PRISM: NNSA Center for Prediction of Reliability, Integrity and Survivability of Microsystems

The effect of strain rate on the inelastic properties of nanocrystalline Au films was quantified with 0.85 and 1.76 lm free-standing microscale tension specimens tested over eight decades of strain rate, between 6 106 and 20 s1. The elastic modulus was independent of the strain rate, 66 ± 4.5 GPa, but the inelastic mechanical response was clearly rate sensitive. The yield strength and the ultimate tensile strength increased with the strain rate in the ranges 575–895 MPa and 675–940 MPa, respectively, with the yield strength reaching the tensile strength at strain rates faster than 101 s1. The activation volumes for …


The Impact Of Nonlinearity On Degenerate Parametric Amplifiers, Jeff Rhoads, Steven W. Shaw Jun 2010

The Impact Of Nonlinearity On Degenerate Parametric Amplifiers, Jeff Rhoads, Steven W. Shaw

Birck and NCN Publications

This work investigates the effects of system nonlinearities on degenerate parametric amplifiers. A simple, Duffing-type nonlinearity is appended to a representative equation of motion for a mechanical or electromechanical parametric amplifier, and classical perturbation methods are used to characterize the resulting effects on the amplifier's frequency response and performance. Ultimately, the work demonstrates that parametric amplification can be realized in nonlinear, dynamic-range limited systems, such as resonant micro-or nanosystems, but at the expense of performance degradation. Additionally, it is shown that nonlinear amplifiers can be operated above their linear instability threshold but that doing so results in bistable amplified responses.


Ambipolar Graphene Field Effect Transistors By Local Metal Side Gates, J F. Tian, L A. Jauregui, G Lopez, H Cao, Yong P. Chen Jun 2010

Ambipolar Graphene Field Effect Transistors By Local Metal Side Gates, J F. Tian, L A. Jauregui, G Lopez, H Cao, Yong P. Chen

Birck and NCN Publications

We demonstrate ambipolar graphene field effect transistors individually controlled by local metal side gates. The side gated field effect can have on/off ratio comparable with that of the global back gate, and can be tuned in a large range by the back gate and/or a second side gate. We also find that the side gated field effect is significantly stronger by electrically floating the back gate compared to grounding the back gate, consistent with the finding from electrostatic simulation.


On The Bandstructure Velocity And Ballistic Current Of Ultra-Narrow Silicon Nanowire Transistors As A Function Of Cross Section Size, Orientation, And Bias, Neophytos Neophytou, Sung-Geun Kim, Gerhard Klimeck, Hans Kosina Jun 2010

On The Bandstructure Velocity And Ballistic Current Of Ultra-Narrow Silicon Nanowire Transistors As A Function Of Cross Section Size, Orientation, And Bias, Neophytos Neophytou, Sung-Geun Kim, Gerhard Klimeck, Hans Kosina

Birck and NCN Publications

A 20 band sp(3)d(5)s* spin-orbit-coupled, semiempirical, atomistic tight-binding model is used with a semiclassical, ballistic field-effect-transistor model, to theoretically examine the bandstructure carrier velocity and ballistic current in silicon nanowire (NW) transistors. Infinitely long, uniform, cylindrical, and rectangular NWs, of cross sectional diameters/sides ranging from 3-12 nm are considered. For a comprehensive analysis, n-type and p-type metal-oxide semiconductor (NMOS and PMOS) NWs in [100], [110], and [111] transport orientations are examined. In general, physical cross section reduction increases velocities, either by lifting the heavy mass valleys or significantly changing the curvature of the bands. The carrier velocities of PMOS [110] …


Nanoscale Metal-Metal Contact Physics From Molecular Dynamics: The Strongest Contact Size, Hojin Kim, Alejandro Strachan May 2010

Nanoscale Metal-Metal Contact Physics From Molecular Dynamics: The Strongest Contact Size, Hojin Kim, Alejandro Strachan

PRISM: NNSA Center for Prediction of Reliability, Integrity and Survivability of Microsystems

Using molecular dynamics we find that the tensile strength of the contacts between two clean platinum surfaces with nanoscale asperities is strongly size dependent with a maximum strength for contact lengths of approximately 5 nm. This is the first time a strongest size is observed in single crystals. The strengthening with decreasing size down to 5 nm results from a decrease in the initial density of mobile dislocations available for plastic deformation and the subsequent weakening originates from a reduction in the constraint to mechanical deformation inside the contact by the bulk.


A Reactive Molecular Dynamics Simulation Of The Silica-Water Interface, Joseph C. Fogarty, Hasan Metin Aktulga, Ananth Y. Grama, Adri C. T. Van Duin, Sagar A. Pandit May 2010

A Reactive Molecular Dynamics Simulation Of The Silica-Water Interface, Joseph C. Fogarty, Hasan Metin Aktulga, Ananth Y. Grama, Adri C. T. Van Duin, Sagar A. Pandit

PRISM: NNSA Center for Prediction of Reliability, Integrity and Survivability of Microsystems

We report our study of a silica-water interface using reactive molecular dynamics. This first-of-its-kind simulation achieves length and time scales required to investigate the detailed chemistry of the system. Our molecular dynamics approach is based on the ReaxFF force field of van Duin [J. Phys. Chem. A 107, 3803 (2003)]. The specific ReaxFF implementation (SERIALREAX) and force fields are first validated on structural properties of pure silica and water systems. Chemical reactions between reactive water and dangling bonds on a freshly cut silica surface are analyzed by studying changing chemical composition at the interface. In our simulations, reactions involving silanol …


An Experimental Investigation On Viscoelastic Behavior In Tunable, Hao-Han Hsu, Dimitrios Peroulis May 2010

An Experimental Investigation On Viscoelastic Behavior In Tunable, Hao-Han Hsu, Dimitrios Peroulis

PRISM: NNSA Center for Prediction of Reliability, Integrity and Survivability of Microsystems

Abstract—In this paper, the viscoelastic behavior of a tunable RF-MEMS resonator and its impacts are studied by means of direct RF measurements for the first time. This tunable resonator consists of one λ/2 coplanar waveguide (CPW) resonator and two nanocrystalline-Ni RF-MEMS varactors. S-parameters of this tunable resonator have been measured for 80 hours under a bi-state bias condition of 0 and 40 V. It is demonstrated that the resonant frequency is shifted by 90 MHz and the varactor deformed by 0.12 μm over the 80 hour period. The gap of the loaded varactor is extracted from the measured S-parameters using …


Higher-Order Eigenmodes Of Qplus Sensors For High Resolution Dynamic Atomic Force Microscopy, Ryan C. Tung, Thorsten Wutscher, David Martinez-Martin, R. Reifenberger, Franz Giessibl, Arvind Raman May 2010

Higher-Order Eigenmodes Of Qplus Sensors For High Resolution Dynamic Atomic Force Microscopy, Ryan C. Tung, Thorsten Wutscher, David Martinez-Martin, R. Reifenberger, Franz Giessibl, Arvind Raman

Birck and NCN Publications

The time response of tuning-fork based sensors can be improved by operating them at higher eigenmodes because a measurement takes at least one oscillation cycle in dynamic force microscopy and the oscillation period of the second eigenmode is only about one sixth of the fundamental mode. Here we study the higher-order eigenmodes of quartz qPlus sensors [Bettac et al., Nanotechnology 20, 264009 (2009); Giessibl and Reichling, Nanotechnology 16, S118 (2005); Giessibl, Appl. Phys. Lett. 76, 1470 (2000); and Giessibl, Appl. Phys. Lett. 73, 3956 (1998)], their equivalent stiffness, and piezoelectric sensitivity, while paying special attention to the influence of the …


Nanoscale Metal-Metal Contact Physics From Molecular Dynamics: The Strongest Contact Size, Hojin Kim, Alejandro Strachan May 2010

Nanoscale Metal-Metal Contact Physics From Molecular Dynamics: The Strongest Contact Size, Hojin Kim, Alejandro Strachan

Birck and NCN Publications

Using molecular dynamics we find that the tensile strength of the contacts between two clean platinum surfaces with nanoscale asperities is strongly size dependent with a maximum strength for contact lengths of approximately 5 nm. This is the first time a strongest size is observed in single crystals. The strengthening with decreasing size down to 5 nm results from a decrease in the initial density of mobile dislocations available for plastic deformation and the subsequent weakening originates from a reduction in the constraint to mechanical deformation inside the contact by the bulk.


Extraordinary Transmission From High-Gain Nanoaperture Antennas, Edward C. Kinzel, Pornsak Srisungsitthisunti, Yan Li, Arvind Raman, Xianfan Xu May 2010

Extraordinary Transmission From High-Gain Nanoaperture Antennas, Edward C. Kinzel, Pornsak Srisungsitthisunti, Yan Li, Arvind Raman, Xianfan Xu

Birck and NCN Publications

This letter describes a bowtie nanoaperture antenna for coupling light to a subdiffraction limited near-field spot (<λ/8). The gain of the antenna is increased using a concentric grating structure to coherently diffract normally incident light toward the aperture. We experimentally demonstrate that the addition of the grating structure enhances the far-field transmission through the aperture by 6.9 times while the intensity at the near-field is increased more than 15 times. The nanoantenna is useful for applications including nanolithography and data storage.


Experimental Observation Of The Trapped Rainbow, Vera N. Smolyaninova, Igor Smolyaninov, Alexander V. Kildishev, V. M. Shalaev May 2010

Experimental Observation Of The Trapped Rainbow, Vera N. Smolyaninova, Igor Smolyaninov, Alexander V. Kildishev, V. M. Shalaev

Birck and NCN Publications

We report on the experimental demonstration of the broadband "trapped rainbow" in the visible frequency range using an adiabatically tapered optical nano waveguide. Being a distinct case of the slow light phenomenon, the trapped rainbow effect could be applied to optical computing and signal processing, such as spectroscopy on a chip, and to providing enhanced light-matter interactions. (C) 2010 American Institute of Physics.


Simulation Of Nanowire Tunneling Transistors: From The Wentzel-Kramers-Brillouin Approximation To Full-Band Phonon-Assisted Tunneling, Mathieu Luisier, Gerhard Klimeck Apr 2010

Simulation Of Nanowire Tunneling Transistors: From The Wentzel-Kramers-Brillouin Approximation To Full-Band Phonon-Assisted Tunneling, Mathieu Luisier, Gerhard Klimeck

Birck and NCN Publications

Nanowire band-to-band tunneling field-effect transistors 􏰀TFETs􏰁 are simulated using the Wentzel– Kramers–Brillouin 􏰀WKB􏰁 approximation and an atomistic, full-band quantum transport solver including direct and phonon-assisted tunneling 􏰀PAT􏰁. It is found that the WKB approximation properly works if one single imaginary path connecting the valence band 􏰀VB􏰁 and the conduction band 􏰀CB􏰁 dominates the tunneling process as in direct band gap semiconductors. However, PAT is essential in Si and Ge nanowire TFETs where multiple, tightly-coupled, imaginary paths exist between the VB and the CB. © 2010 American Institute of Physics. 􏰂doi:10.1063/1.3386521􏰃