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Birck and NCN Publications

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Articles 271 - 300 of 353

Full-Text Articles in Nanoscience and Nanotechnology

Accurate Force Spectroscopy In Tapping Mode Atomic Force Microscopy In Liquids, Xin Xu, John Melcher, Arvind Raman Jan 2010

Accurate Force Spectroscopy In Tapping Mode Atomic Force Microscopy In Liquids, Xin Xu, John Melcher, Arvind Raman

Birck and NCN Publications

Existing force spectroscopy methods in tapping mode atomic force microscopy (AFM) such as higher harmonic inversion [M. Stark, R. W. Stark, W. M. Heckl, and R. Guckenberger, Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U. S. A. 99, 8473 (2002)] or scanning probe acceleration microscopy [J. Legleiter, M. Park, B. Cusick, and T. Kowalewski, Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U. S. A. 103, 4813 (2006)] or integral relations [M. Lee and W. Jhe, Phys. Rev. Lett. 97, 036104 (2006); S. Hu and A. Raman, Nanotechnology 19, 375704 (2008); H. Holscher, Appl. Phys. Lett. 89, 123109 (2006); A. J. Katan, Nanotechnology 20, 165703 (2009)] require …

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Molecular Modulation Of Schottky Barrier Height In Metal-Molecule-Silicon Diodes: Capacitance And Simulation Results, Adina Scott, Chad Risko, Nicholas Valley, Mark A. Ratner, David B. Janes Jan 2010

Molecular Modulation Of Schottky Barrier Height In Metal-Molecule-Silicon Diodes: Capacitance And Simulation Results, Adina Scott, Chad Risko, Nicholas Valley, Mark A. Ratner, David B. Janes

Birck and NCN Publications

There is considerable current interest in using molecular materials to influence the surface potential of semiconductor devices for nanoelectronic and sensing applications. We present experimental capacitance-voltage results showing that systematic Schottky barrier height modulation can be achieved using dipolar molecular layers in gold-molecule-silicon devices. A computational methodology that combines quantum chemistry and traditional electrostatic calculations is used to explore various physical effects that can influence barrier heights in such systems. Nonidealities such as silicon surface states can influence both the potential profile within the device and the validity of the extracted barrier height. Our devices exhibit low surface state densities, …

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On Landauer Versus Boltzmann And Full Band Versus Effective Mass Evaluation Of Thermoelectric Transport Coefficients, Changwook Jeong, Raseong Kim, Mathieu Luisier, Supriyo Datta, Mark S. Lundstrom Jan 2010

On Landauer Versus Boltzmann And Full Band Versus Effective Mass Evaluation Of Thermoelectric Transport Coefficients, Changwook Jeong, Raseong Kim, Mathieu Luisier, Supriyo Datta, Mark S. Lundstrom

Birck and NCN Publications

Using a full band description of electronic bandstructure, the Landauer approach to diffusive transport is mathematically related to the solution of the Boltzmann transport equation, and expressions for the thermoelectric parameters in both formalisms are presented. Quantum mechanical and semiclassical techniques to obtain from a full description of the bandstructure, E(k), the density of modes in the Landauer approach or the transport distribution in the Boltzmann solution are compared and thermoelectric transport coefficients are evaluated. Several example calculations for representative bulk materials are presented and the full band results are related to the more common effective mass formalism. Finally, given …

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Theory Of ‘Selectivity’ Of Label-Free Nanobiosensors – A Geometro-Physical Perspective, Pradeep R. Nair, Muhammad A. Alam Jan 2010

Theory Of ‘Selectivity’ Of Label-Free Nanobiosensors – A Geometro-Physical Perspective, Pradeep R. Nair, Muhammad A. Alam

Birck and NCN Publications

Modern label-free biosensors are generally far more sensitive and require orders of magnitude less incubation time compared to their classical counterparts. However, a more important characteristic regarding the viability of this technology for applications in Genomics/Proteomics is defined by the ‘Selectivity’, i.e., the ability to concurrently and uniquely detect multiple target biomolecules in the presence of interfering species. Currently, there is no theory of Selectivity that allows optimization of competing factors and there are few experiments to probe this problem systematically. In this article, we use the elementary considerations of surface exclusion, diffusion limited transport, and void distribution function to …

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Frequency-Domain Simulations Of A Negative-Index Material With Embedded Gain, Yonatan Sivan, Shumin Xiao, Uday K. Chettiar, Alexander V. Kildishev, V. M. Shalaev Dec 2009

Frequency-Domain Simulations Of A Negative-Index Material With Embedded Gain, Yonatan Sivan, Shumin Xiao, Uday K. Chettiar, Alexander V. Kildishev, V. M. Shalaev

Birck and NCN Publications

We solve the equations governing light propagation in a negative-index material with embedded nonlinearly saturable gain material using a frequency-domain model. We show that available gain materials can lead to complete loss compensation only if they are located in the regions where the field enhancement is maximal. We study the increased enhancement of the fields in the gain composite as well as in the metal inclusions and show analytically that the effective gain is determined by the average near-field enhancement.

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Manifestation Of Kohn Anomaly In 1/F Fluctuations In Metallic Carbon Nanotubes, Ju Hee Back, Cheng-Lin Tsai, Sunkook Kim, Saeed Mohammadi, Moonsub Shim Nov 2009

Manifestation Of Kohn Anomaly In 1/F Fluctuations In Metallic Carbon Nanotubes, Ju Hee Back, Cheng-Lin Tsai, Sunkook Kim, Saeed Mohammadi, Moonsub Shim

Birck and NCN Publications

Low-frequency noise in metallic single walled carbon nanotubes is shown to be strongly dependent on the Fermi level position and the applied electric field across the nanotube. Resonance-like enhancement observed near optical phonon energy only when the Fermi level lies near the Dirac point is correlated to Raman G-band softening and broadening. The results suggest that the competition between zone-center and zone-boundary phonon scattering is the underlying origin of the large enhancement and resonance-like behavior of 1/f noise.

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Generating Integrated-Circuit Patterns Via Cutting And Stitching Of Gratings, Lin Zhao, Yi Xuan, Minghao Qi Nov 2009

Generating Integrated-Circuit Patterns Via Cutting And Stitching Of Gratings, Lin Zhao, Yi Xuan, Minghao Qi

Birck and NCN Publications

Integrated-circuit patterns, such as those of transistor gates, usually consist of multivertex paths whose line segments are along two orthogonal directions. Such patterns are sometimes called "Manhattan structures" and are typically designed to achieve the highest packing density with a given linewidth. Owing to their arbitrary shapes, these patterns are predominantly generated via electron-beam lithography, a serial process which is inherently slow compared to parallel processes. Moreover, throughput is further reduced with the necessity of proximity correction in electron-beam lithography. On the other hand, interference lithography is a low-cost, parallel process that can achieve small linewidths and pitches, yet the …

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Thermodynamics Of Hydrogen Vacancies In Mgh2 From First-Principles Calculations And Grand-Canonical Statistical Mechanics, R Grau-Crespo, K C. Smith, Timothy Fisher, N H. De Leeuw, U V. Waghmare Nov 2009

Thermodynamics Of Hydrogen Vacancies In Mgh2 From First-Principles Calculations And Grand-Canonical Statistical Mechanics, R Grau-Crespo, K C. Smith, Timothy Fisher, N H. De Leeuw, U V. Waghmare

Birck and NCN Publications

Ab initio calculations and statistical mechanics are combined to elucidate the thermodynamics of H vacancies in MgH2. A general method based on a grand-canonical ensemble of defect configurations is presented to model the exchange of hydrogen between crystalline MgH2 and gas-phase H-2. We find that, even at the lowest hydrogen partial pressures at which the hydride phase is stable, MgH2 is capable of accommodating only very small concentrations of hydrogen vacancies. These vacancies are mainly isolated rather than forming clusters, contrary to what is expected from a simple energetic analysis.

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Observation Of Quantum-Hall Effect In Gated Epitaxial Graphene Grown On Sic (0001), T Shen, J J. Gu, M Xu, Michael Bolen, Michael A. Capano, L Engel, P. D. Ye Oct 2009

Observation Of Quantum-Hall Effect In Gated Epitaxial Graphene Grown On Sic (0001), T Shen, J J. Gu, M Xu, Michael Bolen, Michael A. Capano, L Engel, P. D. Ye

Birck and NCN Publications

Epitaxial graphene films examined were formed on the Si-face of semi-insulating 4H-SiC substrates by a high temperature sublimation process. A high-k gate stack on the epitaxial graphene was realized by inserting a fully oxidized nanometer thin aluminum film as a seeding layer, followed by an atomic-layer deposition process. The electrical properties of epitaxial graphene films are retained after gate stack formation without significant degradation. At low temperatures, the quantum-Hall effect in Hall resistance is observed along with pronounced Shubnikov-de Haas oscillations in diagonal magnetoresistance of gated epitaxial graphene on SiC (0001).

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Molecular Dynamics Simulations Of Lattice Thermal Conductivity Of Bismuth Telluride Using Two-Body Interatomic Potentials, Bo Qiu, X Ruan Oct 2009

Molecular Dynamics Simulations Of Lattice Thermal Conductivity Of Bismuth Telluride Using Two-Body Interatomic Potentials, Bo Qiu, X Ruan

Birck and NCN Publications

Two-body interatomic potentials in the Morse potential form have been developed for bismuth telluride, and the potentials are used in molecular dynamics simulations to predict the thermal conductivity. The density-functional theory with local-density approximations is first used to calculate the total energies for many artificially distorted Bi2Te3 configurations to produce the energy surface. Then by fitting to this energy surface and other experimental data, the Morse potential form is parameterized. The fitted empirical interatomic potentials are shown to reproduce the elastic and phonon data well. Molecular dynamics simulations are then performed to predict the thermal conductivity of bulk Bi2Te3 at …

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Molecular Dynamics Simulations Of Lattice Thermal Conductivity Of Bismuth Telluride Using Two-Body Interatomic Potentials, Bo Qiu, X Ruan Oct 2009

Molecular Dynamics Simulations Of Lattice Thermal Conductivity Of Bismuth Telluride Using Two-Body Interatomic Potentials, Bo Qiu, X Ruan

Birck and NCN Publications

Two-body interatomic potentials in the Morse potential form have been developed for bismuth telluride, and the potentials are used in molecular dynamics simulations to predict the thermal conductivity. The density-functional theory with local-density approximations is first used to calculate the total energies for many artificially distorted Bi2Te3 configurations to produce the energy surface. Then by fitting to this energy surface and other experimental data, the Morse potential form is parameterized. The fitted empirical interatomic potentials are shown to reproduce the elastic and phonon data well. Molecular dynamics simulations are then performed to predict the thermal conductivity of bulk Bi2Te3 at …

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Gate-Induced G-Factor Control And Dimensional Transition For Donors In Multivalley Semiconductors, Rajib Rahman, Seung H. Park, Timothy B. Boykin, Gerhard Klimeck, Sven Rogge, Lloyd Cl Hollenberg Oct 2009

Gate-Induced G-Factor Control And Dimensional Transition For Donors In Multivalley Semiconductors, Rajib Rahman, Seung H. Park, Timothy B. Boykin, Gerhard Klimeck, Sven Rogge, Lloyd Cl Hollenberg

Birck and NCN Publications

The dependence of the g factors of semiconductor donors on applied electric and magnetic fields is of immense importance in spin-based quantum computation and in semiconductor spintronics. The donor g-factor Stark shift is sensitive to the orientation of the electric and magnetic fields and is strongly influenced by the band-structure and spin-orbit interactions of the host. Using a multimillion atom tight-binding framework, the spin-orbit Stark parameters are computed for donors in multivalley semiconductors, silicon, and germanium. Comparison with limited experimental data shows good agreement for a donor in silicon. Results for gate-induced transition from three-dimensional to two-dimensional wave-function confinement show …

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Atomistic Full-Band Simulations Of Silicon Nanowire Transistors: Effects Of Electron-Phonon Scattering, Mathieu Luisier, Gerhard Klimeck Oct 2009

Atomistic Full-Band Simulations Of Silicon Nanowire Transistors: Effects Of Electron-Phonon Scattering, Mathieu Luisier, Gerhard Klimeck

Birck and NCN Publications

An atomistic full-band quantum transport simulator has been developed to study three-dimensional Si nanowire field-effect transistors in the presence of electron-phonon scattering. The nonequilibrium Green's function (NEGF) formalism is solved in a nearest-neighbor sp(3)d(5)s* tight-binding basis. The scattering self-energies are derived in the self-consistent Born approximation to inelastically couple the full electron and phonon energy spectra. The band dispersion and the eigenmodes of the confined phonons are calculated using a dynamical matrix that includes the bond and the angle deformations of the nanowires. The optimization of the numerical algorithms and the parallelization of the NEGF scheme enable the investigation of …

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Gate-Induced G-Factor Control And Dimensional Transition For Donors In Multivalley Semiconductors, Rajib Rahman, Seung H. Park, Timothy B. Boykin, Gerhard Klimeck, Sven Rogge, Lloyd Cl Hollenberg Oct 2009

Gate-Induced G-Factor Control And Dimensional Transition For Donors In Multivalley Semiconductors, Rajib Rahman, Seung H. Park, Timothy B. Boykin, Gerhard Klimeck, Sven Rogge, Lloyd Cl Hollenberg

Birck and NCN Publications

The dependence of the g factors of semiconductor donors on applied electric and magnetic fields is of immense importance in spin-based quantum computation and in semiconductor spintronics. The donor g-factor Stark shift is sensitive to the orientation of the electric and magnetic fields and is strongly influenced by the band-structure and spin-orbit interactions of the host. Using a multimillion atom tight-binding framework, the spin-orbit Stark parameters are computed for donors in multivalley semiconductors, silicon, and germanium. Comparison with limited experimental data shows good agreement for a donor in silicon. Results for gate-induced transition from three-dimensional to two-dimensional wave-function confinement show …

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Determination Of Size Effects During The Phase Transition Of A Nanoscale Au-Si Eutectic, B J. Kim, J Tersoff, C Y. Wen, M C. Reuter, E A. Stach, F M. Ross Oct 2009

Determination Of Size Effects During The Phase Transition Of A Nanoscale Au-Si Eutectic, B J. Kim, J Tersoff, C Y. Wen, M C. Reuter, E A. Stach, F M. Ross

Birck and NCN Publications

The phase diagram of a nanoscale system can be substantially different than in the bulk, but quantitative measurements have proven elusive. Here we use in situ microscopy to observe a phase transition in a nanoscale system, together with a simple quantitative model to extract the size effects from these measurements. We expose a Au particle to disilane gas, and observe the transition from a two-phase Au + AuSi system to single-phase AuSi. Size effects are evident in the nonlinear disappearance of the solid Au. Our analysis shows a substantial shift in the liquidus line, and a discontinuous change in the …

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Impact Of Sacrificial Layer Type On Thin-Film Metal Residual Stress, Anurag Garg, Joshua A. Small, Xiaoguang Liu, Ajit Mahapatro, Dimitrios Peroulis Oct 2009

Impact Of Sacrificial Layer Type On Thin-Film Metal Residual Stress, Anurag Garg, Joshua A. Small, Xiaoguang Liu, Ajit Mahapatro, Dimitrios Peroulis

Birck and NCN Publications

In this paper we study the impact of two sacrificial layers on the final residual stress of thin gold films. In particular, we comapre a typical photoresist layer (Shipley SC1827) to single-crystalline silicon. We fabricate and measure cantilever beams on both sacrificial layers and study their residual stresses by analyzing the final displacement profile of the released beams. All samples were fabricated at the same time and under identical conditions. The study clearly shows that the induced stress on thin films is dependent on the sacrificial layer. The gold film deposited over the single-crystalline silicon shows nearly zero gradient stress …

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Sers In Salt Wells, G. V. Pavan Kumar, Joseph Irudayaraj Oct 2009

Sers In Salt Wells, G. V. Pavan Kumar, Joseph Irudayaraj

Birck and NCN Publications

We report herein a simple, inexpensive fabrication methodology of salt microwells, and define the utility of the latter as nanoparticle containers for highly sensitive surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) studies. AFM characterization of Ag and Au loaded salt microwells reveal the ability to contain favorable nanostructures such as nanoparticle dimers, which can significantly enhance the Raman intensity of molecules. By performing diffraction-limited confocal Raman microscopy on salt microwells, we show high sensitivity and fidelity in the detection of dyes, peptides, and proteins, as a proof of our concept. The SERS limit of detection (accumulation time of 1 s) for rhodamine B …

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Observation Of Quantum-Hall Effect In Gated Epitaxial Graphene Grown On Sic (0001), T Shen, J J. Gu, Y Q. Wu, M L. Bolen, Michael A. Capano, L W. Engel, P. D. Ye Oct 2009

Observation Of Quantum-Hall Effect In Gated Epitaxial Graphene Grown On Sic (0001), T Shen, J J. Gu, Y Q. Wu, M L. Bolen, Michael A. Capano, L W. Engel, P. D. Ye

Birck and NCN Publications

Epitaxial graphene films examined were formed on the Si-face of semi-insulating 4H-SiC substrates by a high temperature sublimation process. A high-k gate stack on the epitaxial graphene was realized by inserting a fully oxidized nanometer thin aluminum film as a seeding layer, followed by an atomic-layer deposition process. The electrical properties of epitaxial graphene films are retained after gate stack formation without significant degradation. At low temperatures, the quantum-Hall effect in Hall resistance is observed along with pronounced Shubnikov-de Haas oscillations in diagonal magnetoresistance of gated epitaxial graphene on SiC (0001).

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Orbital Stark Effect And Quantum Confinement Transition Of Donors In Silicon, Rajib Rahman, G P. Lansbergen, Seung H. Park, J Verduijn, Gerhard Klimeck, S Rogge, Lloyd Cl Hollenberg Oct 2009

Orbital Stark Effect And Quantum Confinement Transition Of Donors In Silicon, Rajib Rahman, G P. Lansbergen, Seung H. Park, J Verduijn, Gerhard Klimeck, S Rogge, Lloyd Cl Hollenberg

Birck and NCN Publications

Adiabatic shuttling of single impurity bound electrons to gate-induced surface states in semiconductors has attracted much attention in recent times, mostly in the context of solid-state quantum computer architecture. A recent transport spectroscopy experiment for the first time was able to probe the Stark shifted spectrum of a single donor in silicon buried close to a gate. Here, we present the full theoretical model involving large-scale quantum mechanical simulations that was used to compute the Stark shifted donor states in order to interpret the experimental data. Use of atomistic tight-binding technique on a domain of over a million atoms helped …

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Orbital Stark Effect And Quantum Confinement Transition Of Donors In Silicon, Rajib Rahman, G P. Lansbergen, Seung H. Park, J Verduijn, Gerhard Klimeck, S Rogge, Lloyd Cl Hollenberg Oct 2009

Orbital Stark Effect And Quantum Confinement Transition Of Donors In Silicon, Rajib Rahman, G P. Lansbergen, Seung H. Park, J Verduijn, Gerhard Klimeck, S Rogge, Lloyd Cl Hollenberg

Birck and NCN Publications

Adiabatic shuttling of single impurity bound electrons to gate-induced surface states in semiconductors has attracted much attention in recent times, mostly in the context of solid-state quantum computer architecture. A recent transport spectroscopy experiment for the first time was able to probe the Stark shifted spectrum of a single donor in silicon buried close to a gate. Here, we present the full theoretical model involving large-scale quantum mechanical simulations that was used to compute the Stark shifted donor states in order to interpret the experimental data. Use of atomistic tight-binding technique on a domain of over a million atoms helped …

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Mapping Donor Electron Wave Function Deformations At A Sub-Bohr Orbit Resolution, Seung Park, Rajib Rahman, Gerhard Klimeck, Lloyd Cl Hollenberg Sep 2009

Mapping Donor Electron Wave Function Deformations At A Sub-Bohr Orbit Resolution, Seung Park, Rajib Rahman, Gerhard Klimeck, Lloyd Cl Hollenberg

Birck and NCN Publications

Quantum wave function engineering of dopant-based Si nanostructures reveals new physics in the solid state, and is expected to play a vital role in future nanoelectronics. Central to any fundamental understanding or application is the ability to accurately characterize the deformation of the electron wave functions in these atom-based structures through electric and magnetic field control. We present a method for mapping the subtle changes that occur in the electron wave function through the measurement of the hyperfine tensor probed by Si-29 impurities. We calculate Stark parameters for six shells around the donor. Our results show that detecting the donor …

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Optically Induced Electrokinetic Patterning And Manipulation Of Particles, Stuart J. Williams, Aloke Kumar, Steven Wereley Sep 2009

Optically Induced Electrokinetic Patterning And Manipulation Of Particles, Stuart J. Williams, Aloke Kumar, Steven Wereley

Birck and NCN Publications

The ability to easily and dynamically control fluid mo- tion as well as manipulate particles in suspension is impor- tant for the development and characterization of a variety of lab-on-a-chip processes. Recently, we have introduced an op- tically induced electrokinetic technique termed rapid electro- kinetic patterning (REP) that can rapidly concentrate, trans- late, and pattern colloids of many different sizes and compositions. We have tested polystyrene, latex, and silica beads in sizes ranging from 49 nm to 3.0 um.1,2

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Graphene Formation Mechanisms On 4h-Sic(0001), Michael Bolen, Sara E. Harrison, Laura Biedermann, Michael A. Capano Sep 2009

Graphene Formation Mechanisms On 4h-Sic(0001), Michael Bolen, Sara E. Harrison, Laura Biedermann, Michael A. Capano

Birck and NCN Publications

Graphene is created through thermal decomposition of the Si face of 4H-SiC in high-vacuum. Growth temperature and time are varied independently to gain a better understanding of how surface features and morphology affect graphene formation. Growth mechanisms of graphene are studied by ex situ atomic force microscopy (AFM) and scanning tunneling microscopy (STM). On the route toward a continuous graphene film, various growth features, such as macroscale step bunching, terrace pits, and fingers, are found and analyzed. Topographic and phase AFM analysis demonstrates how surface morphology changes with experimental conditions. Step-bunched terraces and terrace pits show a strong preference for …

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Graphene Formation Mechanisms On 4h-Sic(0001), Michael Bolen, Sara E. Harrison, Laura B. Biedermann, Michael A. Capano Sep 2009

Graphene Formation Mechanisms On 4h-Sic(0001), Michael Bolen, Sara E. Harrison, Laura B. Biedermann, Michael A. Capano

Birck and NCN Publications

Graphene is created through thermal decomposition of the Si face of 4H-SiC in high-vacuum. Growth temperature and time are varied independently to gain a better understanding of how surface features and morphology affect graphene formation. Growth mechanisms of graphene are studied by ex situ atomic force microscopy (AFM) and scanning tunneling microscopy (STM). On the route toward a continuous graphene film, various growth features, such as macroscale step bunching, terrace pits, and fingers, are found and analyzed. Topographic and phase AFM analysis demonstrates how surface morphology changes with experimental conditions. Step-bunched terraces and terrace pits show a strong preference for …

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Self-Supporting Nanowire Arrays Templated In Sacrificial Branched Porous Anodic Alumina For Thermoelectric Devices, Kalapi G. Biswas, Hatem El Matbouly, Vijay Rawat, Jeremy L. Schroeder, Timothy D. Sands Aug 2009

Self-Supporting Nanowire Arrays Templated In Sacrificial Branched Porous Anodic Alumina For Thermoelectric Devices, Kalapi G. Biswas, Hatem El Matbouly, Vijay Rawat, Jeremy L. Schroeder, Timothy D. Sands

Birck and NCN Publications

Templated synthesis of thermoelectric nanowires in porous anodic alumina (PAA) have potential for enhanced performance relative to bulk materials. A significant challenge is the template material, which can serve as a thermal shunt. In this work, an approach for creating a branched PAA template is described. The process utilizes localized self-heating to destabilize the planar anodization front, yielding branched and interconnected pores growing at a rate of 300 mu m/h. The template is selectively etched after electrodeposition of desired materials, yielding self-supporting nanowire arrays with thicknesses up to about 300 mu m, thereby eliminating the thermal shunt through the template.

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Thermionic Emission Energy Distribution From Nanocrystalline Diamond Films For Direct Thermal-Electrical Energy Conversion Applications, Kishore Uppireddi, Tyler Westover, Timothy Fisher, Brad H. Weiner, Gerardo Morell Aug 2009

Thermionic Emission Energy Distribution From Nanocrystalline Diamond Films For Direct Thermal-Electrical Energy Conversion Applications, Kishore Uppireddi, Tyler Westover, Timothy Fisher, Brad H. Weiner, Gerardo Morell

Birck and NCN Publications

In the ongoing quest for energy production by nonconventional methods, energy conversion by vacuum and solid-state thermionic emission devices is one of the potentially efficient pathways for converting thermal energy directly into electrical power. The realization of practical of thermionic energy conversion devices strongly depends on achieving low work function materials, which is thus far a limiting factor. In an attempt to develop a new low work function thermionic material, this work reports thermionic emission energy distributions (TEEDs) from nanocrystalline diamond (NCD) films in the temperature range from 700 to 900 degrees C that reveal a consistent effective work function …

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Stable And Reproducible Electronic Conduction Through Dna Molecular Junctions, Ajit K. Mahapatro, Gil Lee, Kyung J. Jeong, David B. Janes Aug 2009

Stable And Reproducible Electronic Conduction Through Dna Molecular Junctions, Ajit K. Mahapatro, Gil Lee, Kyung J. Jeong, David B. Janes

Birck and NCN Publications

This letter presents the observation of stable and reproducible electronic conduction through double stranded (ds) DNA molecules in a nominally dry state. Stable conduction was realized by immobilizing 15 base-pair guanine:cytosine rich dsDNA within gold nanogap junctions, stabilizing the dsDNA with a polycation, and characterizing in nitrogen. In air, the current levels decrease with successive voltage scans likely due to oxidation of the guanine bases under bias. In nitrogen, reproducible current-voltage traces are observed and the current levels at specific bias points are stable with time. The stability allows comprehensive electrical studies and could enable conductance-based DNA sensors.

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Strain Relaxation In Si/Ge/Si Nanoscale Bars From Molecular Dynamics Simulations, Yumi Park, Hasan Metin Atkulga, Ananth Y. Grama, Alejandro Strachan Aug 2009

Strain Relaxation In Si/Ge/Si Nanoscale Bars From Molecular Dynamics Simulations, Yumi Park, Hasan Metin Atkulga, Ananth Y. Grama, Alejandro Strachan

Birck and NCN Publications

We use molecular dynamics (MD) with the reactive interatomic potential ReaxFF to characterize the local strains of epitaxial Si/Ge/Si nanoscale bars as a function of their width and height. While the longitudinal strain (along the bars length) is independent of geometry, surface relaxation leads to transverse strain relaxation in the Ge section. This strain relaxation increases with increasing height of the Ge section and reduction in its width and is complete (i.e., zero transverse strain) for roughly square cross sections of Ge leading to a uniaxial strain state. Such strain state is desirable in some microelectronics applications. From the MD …

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Strain Relaxation In Si/Ge/Si Nanoscale Bars From Molecular Dynamics Simulations, Yumi Park, Hasan Atkulga, Ananth Y. Grama, Alejandro Strachan Aug 2009

Strain Relaxation In Si/Ge/Si Nanoscale Bars From Molecular Dynamics Simulations, Yumi Park, Hasan Atkulga, Ananth Y. Grama, Alejandro Strachan

Birck and NCN Publications

We use molecular dynamics (MD) with the reactive interatomic potential ReaxFF to characterize the local strains of epitaxial Si/Ge/Si nanoscale bars as a function of their width and height. While the longitudinal strain (along the bars length) is independent of geometry, surface relaxation leads to transverse strain relaxation in the Ge section. This strain relaxation increases with increasing height of the Ge section and reduction in its width and is complete (i.e., zero transverse strain) for roughly square cross sections of Ge leading to a uniaxial strain state. Such strain state is desirable in some microelectronics applications. From the MD …

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Self-Supporting Nanowire Arrays Templated In Sacrificial Branched Porous Anodic Alumina For Thermoelectric Devices, Kalapi G. Biswas, Hatem El Matbouly, Vijay Rawat, Jeremy L. Schroeder, Timothy D. Sands Aug 2009

Self-Supporting Nanowire Arrays Templated In Sacrificial Branched Porous Anodic Alumina For Thermoelectric Devices, Kalapi G. Biswas, Hatem El Matbouly, Vijay Rawat, Jeremy L. Schroeder, Timothy D. Sands

Birck and NCN Publications

Templated synthesis of thermoelectric nanowires in porous anodic alumina (PAA) have potential for enhanced performance relative to bulk materials. A significant challenge is the template material, which can serve as a thermal shunt. In this work, an approach for creating a branched PAA template is described. The process utilizes localized self-heating to destabilize the planar anodization front, yielding branched and interconnected pores growing at a rate of 300 mu m/h. The template is selectively etched after electrodeposition of desired materials, yielding self-supporting nanowire arrays with thicknesses up to about 300 mu m, thereby eliminating the thermal shunt through the template.

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