[en] The viscous behavior of liquids under nanoconfinement is not well understood. Using a small-amplitude atomic force microscope, we found bulk-like viscosity in a nanoconfined, weakly interacting liquid. A further decrease in viscosity was observed at confinement sizes of a just few molecular layers. Overlaid over the continuum viscous behavior, we measured non-continuum stiffness and damping oscillations. The average stiffness of the confined liquid was found to scale linearly with the size of the confining tip, while the damping scales with the radius of curvature of the tip end

[en] We have used a 45 μJ laser pulse to accelerate the free surface of fine-grained tantalum films up to peak velocities of ∼1.2 km s"−"1. The films had thicknesses of ∼1–2 μm and in-plane grain widths of ∼75–150 nm. Using ultrafast interferometry, we have measured the time history of the velocity of the surface at different spatial positions across the accelerated region. The initial part of the histories (assumed to correspond to the “elastic precursor” observed previously) exhibited measured strain rates of ∼0.6 to ∼3.2 × 10"9" s"−"1 and stresses of ∼4 to ∼22 GPa. Importantly, we find that elastic amplitudes exhibit little variation with strain rate for a constant peak surface velocity, even though, via covariation of the strain rate with peak surface velocity, they vary with strain rate. Furthermore, by comparison with data obtained at lower strain rates, we find that amplitudes are much better predicted by peak velocities rather than by either strain rate or sample thickness.

[en] AlN/GaN resonant tunneling diodes grown on low dislocation density semi-insulating bulk GaN substrates via plasma-assisted molecular-beam epitaxy are reported. The devices were fabricated using a six mask level, fully isolated process. Stable room temperature negative differential resistance (NDR) was observed across the entire sample. The NDR exhibited no hysteresis, background light sensitivity, or degradation of any kind after more than 1000 continuous up-and-down voltage sweeps. The sample exhibited a ∼90% yield of operational devices which routinely displayed an average peak current density of 2.7 kA/cm"2 and a peak-to-valley current ratio of ≈1.15 across different sizes.

[en] The interaction between electrons and vibrational modes in monoclinic β-Ga_2O_3 is theoretically investigated using ab-initio calculations. The large primitive cell of β-Ga_2O_3 gives rise to 30 phonon modes all of which are taken into account in transport calculation. The electron-phonon interaction is calculated under density functional perturbation theory and then interpolated using Wannier–Fourier interpolation. The long-range interaction elements between electrons and polar optical phonon (POP) modes are calculated separately using the Born effective charge tensor. The direction dependence of the long-range POP coupling in a monoclinic crystal is explored and is included in the transport calculations. Scattering rate calculations are done using the Fermi golden rule followed by solving the Boltzmann transport equation using the Rode's method to estimate low field mobility. A room temperature mobility of 115 cm"2/V s is observed. Comparison with recent experimentally reported mobility is done for a wide range of temperatures (30 K–650 K). It is also found that the POP interaction dominates the electron mobility under low electric field conditions. The relative contribution of the different POP modes is analyzed and the mode 21 meV POP is found to have the highest impact on low field electron mobility at room temperature.

[en] Electron spin resonance (ESR) spectroscopy has been performed for gold nanorods (AuNRs) of four different sizes covered with a diamagnetic stabilizing component, cetyltrimethylammonium bromide. ESR signals were detected in AuNRs except the largest one. Two smallest AuNRs showed an abrupt change in the temperature dependence of resonance field and line width at around 60 K, indicating ferromagnetic phase transition. In medium-size AuNRs, the resonance with a large shift was observed below 100 K. The resonance field shifts at the lowest temperature exhibit systematic variation with the system size, which is explained by considering magnetic anisotropy for the ferromagnetic resonance.

[en] High-frequency multilayer-coated blazed diffraction gratings (HFMBGs) are most promising elements for ultrahigh resolution soft x-ray spectroscopy. As it has been demonstrated recently [Voronov et al., Opt. Express 23, 4771 (2015)], the efficiency limit for in-plane diffraction can exceed 2–3 times, in higher orders too, when the period of a HFMBG is shorter than an attenuation length for soft x-rays and a bilayer asymmetry is designed. In this letter, using numerical experiments based on the rigorous electromagnetic theory, a possibility of off-plane diffraction and symmetrical multilayer coatings to enhance the efficiency of soft-x-ray high-order HFMBGs very closely to the absolute limit, i.e., 0.92–0.98 of the reflectance of the respective W/B4C multilayer, has been demonstrated.

[en] Understanding switching mechanisms is very important for resistive random access memory (RRAM) applications. This letter reports an investigation of Al/Mg_0_._5Ca_0_._5TiO_3 (MCTO)/ITO RRAM, which exhibits bipolar resistive switching behavior. The filaments that connect Al electrodes with indium tin oxide electrodes across the MCTO layer at a low-resistance state are identified. The filaments composed of In_2O_3 crystals are observed through energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy, high-resolution transmission electron microscopy, nanobeam diffraction, and comparisons of Joint Committee on Powder Diffraction Standards (JCPDS) cards. Finally, a switching mechanism resulting from an electrical field induced by In"3"+ ion migration is proposed. In"3"+ ion migration forms/ruptures the conductive filaments and sets/resets the RRAM device.

[en] Metal sulfides are highly desirable materials for photocatalytic water splitting because of their appropriate energy bands. However, the poor stability under light illumination in water hinders their wide applications. Here, two-dimensional SnS_2 nanosheets, along with carbon dots of the size around 10 nm, are uniformly grown on fluorine doped tin oxide glasses with a layer of nickel nanoparticles. Significantly, strong light absorption and enhanced photocurrent density are achieved after integration of SnS_2 nanosheets with carbon dots. Notably, the rate of oxygen evolution reached up to 1.1 mmol g"−"1 h"−"1 under simulated sunlight irradiation featuring a good stability.

[en] Compact electret energy harvesters, based on a design recently introduced, are presented. Using electret surface potentials in the 400 V regime and a seismic mass of 10 g, it was possible to generate output power up to 0.6 mW at 36 Hz for an input acceleration of 1 g. Following the presentation of an analytical model allowing for the calculation of the power generated in a load resistance at the resonance frequency of the harvesters, experimental results are shown and compared to theoretical predictions. Finally, the performance of the electret harvesters is assessed using a figure of merit.

[en] We report on a study of spin transport via electrically detected magnetic resonance (EDMR) and near-zero field magnetoresistance (MR) in silicon nitride films. Silicon nitrides have long been important materials in solid state electronics. Although electronic transport in these materials is not well understood, electron paramagnetic resonance studies have identified a single dominating paramagnetic defect and have also provided physical and chemical descriptions of the defects, called K centers. Our EDMR and MR measurements clearly link the near-zero field MR response to the K centers and also indicate that K center energy levels are approximately 3.1 eV above the a-SiN:H valence band edge. In addition, our results suggest an approach for the study of defect mediated spin-transport in inorganic amorphous insulators via variable electric field and variable frequency EDMR and MR which may be widely applicable.