Source: https://icn2.cat/en/phononic-and-photonic-nanostructures-group?publications
Timestamp: 2019-04-19 22:43:38+00:00

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All-optical modulation of light relies on exploiting intrinsic material nonlinearities [V. R. Almeida, Nature 431, 1081 (2004)NATUAS0028-083610.1038/nature02921]. However, this optical control is rather challenging due to the weak dependence of the refractive index and absorption coefficients on the concentration of free carriers in standard semiconductors [R. A. Soref and B. R. Bennett, Proc. SPIE 704, 32 (1987)PSISDG0277-786X10.1117/12.937193]. To overcome this limitation, resonant structures with high spatial and spectral confinement are carefully designed to enhance the stored electromagnetic energy, thereby requiring lower excitation power to achieve significant nonlinear effects [K. Nozaki, Nat. Photonics 4, 477 (2010)1749-488510.1038/nphoton.2010.89]. Small mode-volume and high-quality (Q)-factor cavities also offer an efficient coherent control of the light field and the targeted optical properties. Here, we report on optical resonances reaching Q∼105 induced by disorder on photonic/phononic-crystal waveguides. At relatively low excitation powers (below 1mW), these cavities exhibit nonlinear effects leading to periodic (up to ∼35 MHz) oscillations of their resonant wavelength. Our system represents a test bed to study the interplay between structural complexity and material nonlinearities and their impact on localization phenomena and introduces a different functionality to the toolset of disordered photonics. © 2018 American Physical Society.
A series of hybrid heterostructured nanocomposites of ZnO with V2O5 nanotubes (VOx-NTs) in different mixing ratios were synthesized, with the aim of reducing the recombination of photoinduced charge carriers and to optimize the absorption of visible light. The study was focused on the use of heterostructured semiconductors that can extend light absorption to the visible range and enhance the photocatalytic performance of ZnO in the degradation of methylene blue as a model pollutant. The addition of VOx-NTs in the synthesis mixture led to a remarkable performance in the degradation of the model dye, with hybrid ZnO (stearic acid)/VOx-NTs at a ratio of 1:0.06 possessing the highest photocatalytic activity, about seven times faster than pristine zinc oxide. Diffuse reflectance spectroscopic measurements and experiments in the presence of different trapping elements allowed us to draw conclusions regarding the band positions and photocatalytic degradation mechanism. The photocatalytic activity measured in three subsequent cycles showed good reusability as no significant loss in efficiency of dye degradation was observed. © 2018 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.
Nanotechnology, the manipulation of matter on atomic, molecular, and supramolecular scales, has become the most appealing strategy for biomedical applications and is of great interest as an approach to preventing microbial risks. In this study, we utilize the antimicrobial performance and the drug-loading ability of novel nanoparticles based on silicon oxide and strontium-substituted hydroxyapatite to develop nanocomposite antimicrobial films based on a poly(l-lactic acid) (PLLA) polymer. We also demonstrate that nanoimprint lithography (NIL), a process adaptable to industrial application, is a feasible fabrication technique to modify the surface of PLLA, to alter its physical properties, and to utilize it for antibacterial applications. Various nanocomposite PLLA films with nanosized (black silicon) and three-dimensional (hierarchical) hybrid domains were fabricated by thermal NIL, and their bactericidal activity against Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus aureus was assessed. Our findings demonstrate that besides hydrophobicity the nanoparticle antibiotic delivery and the surface roughness are essential factors that affect the biofilm formation. © 2018 American Chemical Society.
In this work, we report the fabrication of the new heterojunction of two 2D hybrid layered semiconductors—ZnO (stearic acid)/V2O5 (hexadecylamine)—and its behavior in the degradation of aqueous methylene blue under visible light irradiation. The optimal photocatalyst efficiency, reached at a ZnO (stearic acid)/V2O5 (hexadecylamine) ratio of 1:0.25, results in being six times higher than that of pristine zinc oxide. Reusability test shows that after three photocatalysis cycles, no significant changes in either the dye degradation efficiency loss, nor the photocatalyst structure, occur. Visible light photocatalytic performance observed indicates there is synergetic effect between both 2D nanocomposites used in the heterojunction. The visible light absorption enhancement promoted by the narrower bandgap V2O5 based components; an increased photo generated charge separation favored by extensive interface area; and abundance of hydrophobic sites for dye adsorption appear as probable causes of the improved photocatalytic efficiency in this hybrid semiconductors heterojunction. Estimated band-edge positions for both conduction and valence band of semiconductors, together with experiments using specific radical scavengers, allow a plausible photodegradation mechanism. © 2018 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.
In this work, the authors present and demonstrate a simple method to fabricate and mass replicate re-entrant structures. The method consists of the direct imprinting of polymer mushroomlike microstructures produced by a combination of photolithography and nickel up-plating process. In particular, they have studied the conditions to generate highly robust mushroomlike topographies and their topographical impact on the replication process. They discuss all the imprinting conditions suitable to replicate such topographies using both ultraviolet light assisted nanoimprint lithography (UV-NIL) and thermal NIL methods in two polymer films, poly(methyl methacrylate) and polypropylene, and a hybrid (organic-inorganic) UV light curable photoresist, namely, Ormocomp. Re-entrant topographies have been widely studied for liquid/oil repelling and dry adhesive properties, whereas in their experiments, they have proved evidence for their amphiphobic potential. © 2018 Author(s).
We describe and discuss the optical design of a diffractometer to carry out in-line quality control during roll-to-roll nanoimprinting. The tool measures diffractograms in reflection geometry, through an aspheric lens to gain fast, non-invasive information of any changes to the critical dimensions of target grating structures. A stepwise tapered linear grating with constant period was fabricated in order to detect the variation in grating linewidth through diffractometry. The minimum feature change detected was ∼40 nm to a precision of 10 nm. The diffractometer was then integrated with a roll-to-roll UV assisted nanoimprint lithography machine to gain dynamic measurements in situ. © 2018 Author(s).
Hydrogel materials offer many advantages for chemical and biological sensoring due to their response to a small change in their environment with a related change in volume. Several designs have been outlined in the literature in the specific field of hydrogel-based optical sensors, reporting a large number of steps for their fabrication. In this work we present a three-dimensional, hydrogel-based sensor the structure of which is fabricated in a single step using thermal nanoimprint lithography. The sensor is based on a waveguide with a grating readout section. A specific hydrogel formulation, based on a combination of PEGDMA (Poly(Ethylene Glycol DiMethAcrylate)), NIPAAm (N-IsoPropylAcrylAmide), and AA (Acrylic Acid), was developed. This stimulus-responsive hydrogel is sensitive to pH and to water. Moreover, the hydrogel has been modified to be suitable for fabrication by thermal nanoimprint lithography. Once stimulated, the hydrogel-based sensor changes its topography, which is characterised physically by AFM and SEM, and optically using a specific optical set-up. © 2018 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.
We deposited Ge layers on (001) Si substrates by molecular beam epitaxy and used them to fabricate suspended membranes with high uniaxial tensile strain. We demonstrate a CMOS-compatible fabrication strategy to increase strain concentration and to eliminate the Ge buffer layer near the Ge/Si hetero-interface deposited at low temperature. This is achieved by a two-steps patterning and selective etching process. First, a bridge and neck shape is patterned in the Ge membrane, then the neck is thinned from both top and bottom sides. Uniaxial tensile strain values higher than 3% were measured by Raman scattering in a Ge membrane of 76 nm thickness. For the challenging thickness measurement on micrometer-size membranes suspended far away from the substrate a characterization method based on pump-and-probe reflectivity measurements was applied, using an asynchronous optical sampling technique. © 2018 Author(s).
While the dispersion of nanomaterials is known to be effective in enhancing the thermal conductivity and specific heat capacity of fluids, the mechanisms behind this enhancement remain to be elucidated. Herein, we report on highly stable, surfactant-free graphene nanofluids, based on N,N-dimethylacetamide (DMAc) and N,N-dimethylformamide (DMF), with enhanced thermal properties. An increase of up to 48% in thermal conductivity and 18% in specific heat capacity was measured. The blue shift of several Raman bands with increasing graphene concentration in DMF indicates that there is a modification in the vibrational energy of the bonds associated with these modes, affecting all the molecules in the liquid. This result indicates that graphene has the ability to affect solvent molecules at long-range, in terms of vibrational energy. Density functional theory and molecular dynamics simulations were used to gather data on the interaction between graphene and solvent, and to investigate a possible order induced by graphene on the solvent. The simulations showed a parallel orientation of DMF towards graphene, favoring π-π stacking. Furthermore, a local order of DMF molecules around graphene was observed suggesting that both this special kind of interaction and the induced local order may contribute to the enhancement of the fluid's thermal properties. © The Royal Society of Chemistry.
Optomechanical (OM) structures are well suited to study photon-phonon interactions, and they also turn out to be potential building blocks for phononic circuits and quantum computing. In phononic circuits, in which information is carried and processed by phonons, OM structures could be used as interfaces to photons and electrons thanks to their excellent coupling efficiency. Among the components required for phononic circuits, such structures could be used to create coherent phonon sources and detectors, but more complex functions remain challenging. Here, we propose and demonstrate a way to modulate the coherent phonon emission from OM crystals by a photothermal effect induced by an external laser, effectively creating a phonon switch working at ambient conditions of pressure and temperature and the working speed of which is only limited by the build-up time of the mechanical motion of the OM structure. We additionally demonstrate two other modulation schemes: modulation of harmonics in which the mechanical mode remains active but different harmonics of the optical force are used, and modulation to and from a chaotic regime. Furthermore, due to the local nature of the photothermal effect used here, we expect this method to allow us to selectively modulate the emission of any single cavity on a chip without affecting its surroundings in the absence of mechanical coupling between the structures, which is an important step toward freely controllable networks of OM phonon emitters. © 2018 Author(s).
We report an anomalous anisotropy in photoluminescence (PL) from crystalline nanobelt of an organic small-molecule semiconductor, 6,13-dichloropentacene (DCP). Large-area well-aligned DCP nanobelt arrays are readily formed by self-assembly through solution method utilizing the strong anisotropic interactions between molecules. The absorption spectrum of the arrays suggests the formation of both intramolecular exciton and intermolecular exciton. However, the results of angle-dependent PL spectroscopy indicate that the PL arises only from the relaxation of intramolecular exciton, which has an optical transition dipole moment with an angle of 115° with the long-axis of the nanobelts. The angular dependence of PL signals follows a quartic rule (IPL(θ) ∞ cos4(θ - 115)) and agrees well with the optical selection rule of individual DCP molecules. The measured polarization ratio ρ from the individual nanobelts is on average 0.91 ± 0.02, superior to that of prior-art organic semiconductors. These results provide new insights into exciton behavior in 1D π-π stacking organic semiconductors and demonstrate DCP's great potential in the photodetectors and optical switches for large-scale organic optoelectronics. © 2017 American Chemical Society.
Environmentally robust chemical sensors for monitoring industrial processes or infrastructures are lately becoming important devices in industry. Low complexity and wireless enabled characteristics can offer the required flexibility for sensor deployment in adaptable sensing networks for continuous monitoring and management of industrial assets. Here are presented the design, development and operation of a class of low cost photonic sensors for monitoring the ageing process and the operational characteristics of coolant fluids used in an industrial heavy machinery infrastructure. The chemical, physical and spectroscopic characteristics of specific industrial-grade coolant fluids were analyzed along their entire life cycle range, and proper parameters for their efficient monitoring were identified. Based on multimode polymer or silica optical fibers, wide range (3–11) pH sensors were developed by employing sol-gel derived pH sensitive coatings. The performances of the developed sensors were characterized and compared, towards their coolants’ ageing monitoring capability, proving their efficiency in such a demanding application scenario and harsh industrial environment. The operating characteristics of this type of sensors allowed their integration in an autonomous wireless sensing node, thus enabling the future use of the demonstrated platform in wireless sensor networks for a variety of industrial and environmental monitoring applications. © 2017 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.
Patterned surfaces with tunable wetting properties are described. A hybrid hierarchical surface realized by combining two different materials exhibits different wetting states, depending on the speed of impingement of the water droplets. Both "lotus" (high contact angle and low adhesion) and "petal" (high contact angle and high adhesion) states were observed on the same surface without the need of any modification of the surface. The great difference between the capillary pressures exerted by the microstructures and nanostructures was the key factor that allowed us to tailor effectively the adhesiveness of the water droplets. Having a low capillary pressure for the microstructures and a high capillary pressure for the nanostructures, we allow to the surface the possibility of being in a lotus state or in a petal state. © 2017 American Chemical Society.
Determination of the mechanical properties of nanostructured soft materials and their composites in a quantitative manner is of great importance to improve the fidelity in their fabrication and to enable the subsequent reliable utility. Here, we report on the characterization of the elastic and photoelastic parameters of a periodic array of nanowalls (grating) by the non-invasive Brillouin light scattering technique and finite element calculations. The resolved elastic vibrational modes in high and low aspect ratio nanowalls reveal quantitative and qualitative differences related to the two-beam interference lithography fabrication and subsequent aging under ambient conditions. The phononic properties, namely the dispersion relations, can be drastically altered by changing the surrounding material of the nanowalls. Here we demonstrate that liquid infiltration turns the phononic function from a single-direction phonon-guiding to an anisotropic propagation along the two orthogonal directions. The susceptibility of the phononic behavior to the infiltrating liquid can be of unusual benefits, such as sensing and alteration of the materials under confinement. © The Royal Society of Chemistry 2017.
The performance gain-oriented nanostructurization has opened a new pathway for tuning mechanical features of solid matter vital for application and maintained performance. Simultaneously, the mechanical evaluation has been pushed down to dimensions way below 1 μm. To date, the most standard technique to study the mechanical properties of suspended 2D materials is based on nanoindentation experiments. In this work, by means of micro-Brillouin light scattering we determine the mechanical properties, that is, Young modulus and residual stress, of polycrystalline few nanometers thick MoS2 membranes in a simple, contact-less, nondestructive manner. The results show huge elastic softening compared to bulk MoS2, which is correlated with the sample morphology and the residual stress. © 2017 American Chemical Society.
In this study we present a flexible and adaptable fabrication method to create complex hierarchical structures over inherently hydrophobic resist materials. We have tested these surfaces for their superhydrophobic behaviour and successfully verified their self-cleaning properties. The followed approach allow us to design and produce superhydrophobic surfaces in a reproducible manner. We have analysed different combination of hierarchical micro-nanostructures for their application to self-cleaning surfaces. A static contact angle value of 170 with a hysteresis of 4 was achieved without the need of any additional chemical treatment on the fabricated hierarchical structures. Dynamic effects were analysed on these surfaces, obtaining a remarkable self-cleaning effect as well as a good robustness over impacting droplets. © 2017 IOP Publishing Ltd.
We investigate the feasibility of activating coherent mechanical oscillations in lasing microspheres by modulating the laser emission at a mechanical eigenfrequency. To this aim, 1.5%Nd3+:Barium- Titanium-Silicate microspheres with diameters around 50 lm were used as high quality factor (Q>106) whispering gallery mode lasing cavities. We have implemented a pump-and-probe technique in which the pump laser used to excite the Nd3+ ions is focused on a single microsphere with a microscope objective and a probe laser excites a specific optical mode with the evanescent field of a tapered fibre. The studied microspheres show monomode and multi-mode lasing action, which can be modulated in the best case up to 10 MHz. We have optically transduced thermally activated mechanical eigenmodes appearing in the 50-70MHz range, the frequency of which decreases with increasing the size of the microspheres. In a pump-and-probe configuration, we observed modulation of the probe signal up to the maximum pump modulation frequency of our experimental setup, i.e., 20 MHz. This modulation decreases with frequency and is unrelated to lasing emission, pump scattering, or thermal effects. We associate this effect to free-carrier-dispersion induced by multiphoton pump light absorption. On the other hand, we conclude that, in our current experimental conditions, it was not possible to resonantly excite the mechanical modes. Finally, we discuss on how to overcome these limitations by increasing the modulation frequency of the lasing emission and decreasing the frequency of the mechanical eigenmodes displaying a strong degree of optomechanical coupling.
Optical nonlinearities, such as thermo-optic mechanisms and free-carrier dispersion, are often considered unwelcome effects in silicon-based resonators and, more specifically, optomechanical cavities, since they affect, for instance, the relative detuning between an optical resonance and the excitation laser. Here, we exploit these nonlinearities and their intercoupling with the mechanical degrees of freedom of a silicon optomechanical nanobeam to unveil a rich set of fundamentally different complex dynamics. By smoothly changing the parameters of the excitation laser we demonstrate accurate control to activate two- A nd four-dimensional limit cycles, a period-doubling route and a six-dimensional chaos. In addition, by scanning the laser parameters in opposite senses we demonstrate bistability and hysteresis between two- A nd four-dimensional limit cycles, between different coherent mechanical states and between four-dimensional limit cycles and chaos. Our findings open new routes towards exploiting silicon-based optomechanical photonic crystals as a versatile building block to be used in neurocomputational networks and for chaos-based applications. © 2017 The Author(s).
Nanophotonics focuses on the control of light and the interaction with matter by the aid of intricate nanostructures. Typically, a photonic nanostructure is carefully designed for a specific application and any imperfections may reduce its performance, i.e., a thorough investigation of the role of unavoidable fabrication imperfections is essential for any application. However, another approach to nanophotonic applications exists where fabrication disorder is used to induce functionalities by enhancing light-matter interaction. Disorder leads to multiple scattering of light, which is the realm of statistical optics where light propagation requires a statistical description. We review here the recent progress on disordered photonic nanostructures and the potential implications for quantum photonics devices. © 2017 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA.
Achieving ultrasmall dimensions of materials and retaining high throughput are critical fabrication considerations for nanotechnology use. This article demonstrates an integrated approach for developing isolated sub-20 nm silicon oxide features through combined “top-down” and “bottom-up” methods: nanoimprint lithography (NIL) and block copolymer (BCP) lithography. Although techniques like those demonstrated here have been developed for nanolithographic application in the microelectronics processing industry, similar approaches could be utilized for sensor, fluidic, and optical-based devices. Thus, this article centers on looking at the possibility of generating isolated silica structures on substrates. NIL was used to create intriguing three-dimensional (3-D) polyhedral oligomeric silsesquioxane (POSS) topographical arrays that guided and confined polystyrene-block-poly(dimethylsiloxane) (PS-b-PDMS) BCP nanofeatures in isolated regions. A cylinder forming PS-b-PDMS BCP system was successfully etched using a one-step etching process to create line-space arrays with a period of 35 nm in confined POSS arrays. We highlight large-area (>6 μm) coverage of line-space arrays in 3-D topographies that could potentially be utilized, for example, in nanofluidic systems. Aligned features for directed self-assembly application are also demonstrated. The high-density, confined silicon oxide nanofeatures in soft lithographic templates over macroscopic areas illustrate the advantages of integrating distinct lithographic methods for attaining discrete features in the deep nanoscale regime.
The selfmixer properties of a laser compound cavity are investigated and experimentally exploited to couple the mechanical fluctuations of a silicon nitride membrane to the laser photons and electronical states, producing an active optomechanical system. © 2017 OSA.
The Er3+-doped bismuth titanate (Bi4Ti3O12, BIT) nanoparticles were synthesized by a combined sol–gel and hydrothermal method under a partial oxygen pressure of 30 bar. The composition and morphology were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and Raman scattering. They showed pure and homogeneous spherical BIT nanoparticles with a size below the 30 nm. The incorporation of Er ions showed a strong decrease in the lattice parameters, as well as averaged particle size. The photoluminescence up-conversion (excitation wavelength =1480 nm) showed an enhancement of the infrared emission (980 nm) as Er concentration increased, achieving a maximum for 6% mol, while photoluminescence spectra (excitation wavelength =473 nm) showed a strong green emission (529 and 553 nm) with a maximum at 4% mol. © 2016 Elsevier Ltd and Techna Group S.r.l.
Heat conduction in silicon can be effectively engineered by means of sub-micrometre porous thin free-standing membranes. Tunable thermal properties make these structures good candidates for integrated heat management units such as waste heat recovery, rectification or efficient heat dissipation. However, possible applications require detailed thermal characterisation at high temperatures which, up to now, has been an experimental challenge. In this work we use the contactless two-laser Raman thermometry to study heat dissipation in periodic porous membranes at high temperatures via lattice conduction and air-mediated losses. We find the reduction of the thermal conductivity and its temperature dependence closely correlated with the structure feature size. On the basis of two-phonon Raman spectra, we attribute this behaviour to diffuse (incoherent) phonon-boundary scattering. Furthermore, we investigate and quantify the heat dissipation via natural air-mediated cooling, which can be tuned by engineering the porosity. © 2017 The Author(s).
The integration of III-V optoelectronic devices on silicon is confronted with the challenge of heat dissipation for reliable and stable operation. A thorough understanding and characterization of thermal transport is paramount for improved designs of, for example, viable III-V light sources on silicon. In this work, the thermal conductivity of heteroepitaxial laterally overgrown InP layers on silicon is experimentally investigated using microRaman thermometry. By examining InP mesa-like structures grown from trenches defined by a SiO2 mask, we found that the thermal conductivity decreases by about one third, compared to the bulk thermal conductivity of InP, with decreasing width from 400 to 250 nm. The high thermal conductivity of InP grown from 400 nm trenches was attributed to the lower defect density as the InP microcrystal becomes thicker. In this case, the thermal transport is dominated by phonon-phonon interactions as in a low defect-density monocrystalline bulk material, whereas for thinner InP layers grown from narrower trenches, the heat transfer is dominated by phonon scattering at the extended defects and InP/SiO2 interface. In addition to the nominally undoped sample, sulfur-doped (1 × 1018 cm−3) InP grown on Si was also studied. For the narrower doped InP microcrystals, the thermal conductivity decreased by a factor of two compared to the bulk value. Sources of errors in the thermal conductivity measurements are discussed. The experimental temperature rise was successfully simulated by the heat diffusion equation using the FEM. © The Royal Society of Chemistry.
We report on structural, compositional, and thermal characterization of self-assembled in-plane epitaxial Si1-xGe x alloy nanowires grown by molecular beam epitaxy on Si (001) substrates. The thermal properties were studied by means of scanning thermal microscopy (SThM), while the microstructural characteristics, the spatial distribution of the elemental composition of the alloy nanowires and the sample surface were investigated by transmission electron microscopy and energy dispersive x-ray microanalysis. We provide new insights regarding the morphology of the in-plane nanostructures, their size-dependent gradient chemical composition, and the formation of a 5 nm thick wetting layer on the Si substrate surface. In addition, we directly probe heat transfer between a heated scanning probe sensor and Si1-xGe x alloy nanowires of different morphological characteristics and we quantify their thermal resistance variations. We correlate the variations of the thermal signal to the dependence of the heat spreading with the cross-sectional geometry of the nanowires using finite element method simulations. With this method we determine the thermal conductivity of the nanowires with values in the range of 2-3 W m-1 K-1. These results provide valuable information in growth processes and show the great capability of the SThM technique in ambient environment for nanoscale thermal studies, otherwise not possible using conventional techniques. © 2017 IOP Publishing Ltd.
Electrical forces are the background of all the interactions occurring in biochemical systems. From here and by using a combination of ab-initio and ad-hoc models, we introduce the first description of electric field profiles with intrabond resolution to support a characterization of single bond forces attending to its electrical origin. This fundamental issue has eluded a physical description so far. Our method is applied to describe hydrogen bonds (HB) in DNA base pairs. Numerical results reveal that base pairs in DNA could be equivalent considering HB strength contributions, which challenges previous interpretations of thermodynamic properties of DNA based on the assumption that Adenine/Thymine pairs are weaker than Guanine/Cytosine pairs due to the sole difference in the number of HB. Thus, our methodology provides solid foundations to support the development of extended models intended to go deeper into the molecular mechanisms of DNA functioning. © 2017 Ruiz-Blanco et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.
A novel hybrid nanocomposite constituted of single TiO2 nanosheets sandwiched between stearic acid self-assembled monolayers was synthesized and tested in the photodegradation of methylene blue under sunlight. The product showed better photocatalytic performance than anatase under similar conditions, which may be further improved through sensitization with cadmium sulfide. © The Royal Society of Chemistry 2016.
Atmospheric contamination with organic compounds is undesired in industry and in society because of odor nuisance or potential toxicity. Resistive gas sensors made of semiconducting metal oxides are effective in the detection of gases even at low concentration. Major drawbacks are low selectivity and missing sensitivity toward a targeted compound. Acetaldehyde is selected due to its high relevance in chemical industry and its toxic character. Considering the similarity between gas-sensing and heterogeneous catalysis (surface reactions, activity, selectivity), it is tempting to transfer concepts. A question of importance is how doping and the resulting change in electronic properties of a metal-oxide support with semiconducting properties alters reactivity of the surfaces and the functionality in gas-sensing and in heterogeneous catalysis. A gas-phase synthesis method is employed for aerogel-like zinc oxide materials with a defined content of aluminum (n-doping), which were then used for the assembly of gas sensors. It is shown that only Al-doped ZnO represents an effective sensor material that is sensitive down to very low concentrations (<350 ppb). The advance in properties relates to a catalytic effect for the doped semiconductor nanomaterial. Doping of a semiconductor nose: Gas-sensors assembled from hollow ZnO aerogels can be made sensitive for new compounds like acetaldehyde via chemical doping with aluminum, which not only leads to effective n-doping but also results in a catalytic effect. Â© 2016 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.
Free-standing Si films have been and remain an excellent example to study experimentally the effect of the reduction of the characteristic size on the phonon dispersion relation. A step further in geometrical complexity and, therefore, in increasing the control and manipulation of phonons is achieved by introducing periodicity in the medium to form phononic crystals. Here we report on the development of the fabrication process of large-area, solid-air and solid-solid two-dimensional phononic crystals, directly on free-standing, single crystalline silicon membranes. The patterning of the membranes involved electron-beam lithography and reactive ion etching for holes or metal evaporation and lift-off for pillars. The fabrication was possible due to the external strain induced on the membrane in order to reduce the buckling, which is typically found in large area free-standing structures. As a result, we obtained 250 nm thick structured membranes with patterned areas up to 100 × 100 μm, feature size between 100 and 300 nm and periodicity between 300 and 500 nm. The changes in dispersion relations of hypersonic acoustic phonons due to nanopatterning in free-standing silicon membranes were measured by Brillouin light scattering and the results were compared with numerical calculations by finite elements method. Information on phonon dispersion relation combined with a reliable fabrication process for large-scale structures opens a way for phonon engineering in more complex devices. © 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
In this paper, we report a theoretical investigation of surface acoustic waves propagating in one-dimensional phononic crystal. Using finite element method eigenfrequency and frequency response studies, we develop two model geometries suitable to distinguish true and pseudo (or leaky) surface acoustic waves and determine their propagation through finite size phononic crystals, respectively. The novelty of the first model comes from the application of a surface-like criterion and, additionally, functional damping domain. Exemplary calculated band diagrams show sorted branches of true and pseudo surface acoustic waves and their quantified surface confinement. The second model gives a complementary study of transmission, reflection, and surface-to-bulk losses of Rayleigh surface waves in the case of a phononic crystal with a finite number of periods. Here, we demonstrate that a non-zero transmission within non-radiative band gaps can be carried via leaky modes originating from the coupling of local resonances with propagating waves in the substrate. Finally, we show that the transmission, reflection, and surface-to-bulk losses can be effectively optimised by tuning the geometrical properties of a stripe. © 2016 AIP Publishing LLC.
The effective thermal conductivity of sintered porous pastes of silver is modeled through two theoretical methods and measured by means of three experimental techniques. The first model is based on the differential effective medium theory and provides a simple analytical description considering the air pores like ellipsoidal voids of different sizes, while the second one arises from the analysis of the scanning-electron-microscope images of the paste cross-sections through the finite element method. The predictions of both approaches are consistent with each other and show that the reduction of the thermal conductivity of porous pastes can be minimized with spherical pores and maximized with pancake-shaped ones, which are the most efficient to block the thermal conducting pathways. A thermal conductivity of 151.6 W/m K is numerically determined for a sintered silver sample with 22% of porosity. This thermal conductivity agrees quite well with the one measured by the Lateral Thermal Interface Material Analysis for a suspended sample and matches, within an experimental uncertainty smaller than 16%, with the values obtained by means of Raman thermometry and the 3u technique, for two samples buried in a silicon chip. The consistence between our theoretical and experimental results demonstrates the good predictive performance of our theoretical models to describe the thermal behavior of porous thermal interface materials and to guide their engineering with a desired thermal conductivity. © 2016 Elsevier Masson SAS.
Understanding and controlling vibrations in condensed matter is emerging as an essential necessity both at fundamental level and for the development of a broad variety of technological applications. Intelligent design of the band structure and transport properties of phonons at the nanoscale and of their interactions with electrons and photons impact the efficiency of nanoelectronic systems and thermoelectric materials, permit the exploration of quantum phenomena with micro- and nanoscale resonators, and provide new tools for spectroscopy and imaging. In this colloquium we assess the state of the art of nanophononics, describing the recent achievements and the open challenges in nanoscale heat transport, coherent phonon generation and exploitation, and in nano- and optomechanics. We also underline the links among the diverse communities involved in the study of nanoscale phonons, pointing out the common goals and opportunities. © The Author(s) 2016.
Yudistira D., Boes A., Graczykowski B., Alzina F., Yeo L.Y., Sotomayor Torres C.M., Mitchell A. Physical Review B; 94 (9, 094304) 2016. 10.1103/PhysRevB.94.094304.
We report on nanoscale pillar-based hypersonic phononic crystals in single crystal Z-cut lithium niobate. The phononic crystal is formed by a two-dimensional periodic array of nearly cylindrical nanopillars 240 nm in diameter and 225 nm in height, arranged in a triangular lattice with a 300-nm lattice constant. The nanopillars are fabricated by the recently introduced nanodomain engineering via laser irradiation of patterned chrome followed by wet etching. Numerical simulations and direct measurements using Brillouin light scattering confirm the simultaneous existence of nonradiative complete surface phononic band gaps. The band gaps are found below the sound line at hypersonic frequencies in the range 2-7 GHz, formed from local resonances and Bragg scattering. These hypersonic structures are realized directly in the piezoelectric material lithium niobate enabling phonon manipulation at significantly higher frequencies than previously possible with this platform, opening new opportunities for many applications in plasmonic, optomechanic, microfluidic, and thermal engineering. © 2016 American Physical Society.
The control of electromechanical responses within bonding regions is essential to face frontier challenges in nanotechnologies, such as molecular electronics and biotechnology. Here, we present Iβ-nanocellulose as a potentially new orthotropic 2D piezoelectric crystal. The predicted in-layer piezoelectricity is originated on a sui-generis hydrogen bonds pattern. Upon this fact and by using a combination of ab-initio and ad-hoc models, we introduce a description of electrical profiles along chemical bonds. Such developments lead to obtain a rationale for modelling the extended piezoelectric effect originated within bond scales. The order of magnitude estimated for the 2D Iβ-nanocellulose piezoelectric response, ∼pm V-1, ranks this material at the level of currently used piezoelectric energy generators and new artificial 2D designs. Such finding would be crucial for developing alternative materials to drive emerging nanotechnologies. © 2016 The Author(s).
Optical forces can set tiny objects in states of mechanical self-sustained oscillation, spontaneously generating periodic signals by extracting power from steady sources. Miniaturized self-sustained coherent phonon sources are interesting for applications such as mass-force sensing, intra-chip metrology and intra-chip time-keeping among others. In this paper, we review several mechanisms and techniques that can drive a mechanical mode into the lasing regime by exploiting the radiation pressure force in optomechanical cavities, namely stimulated emission, dynamical back-action, forward stimulated Brillouin scattering and self-pulsing. © 2016 IOP Publishing Ltd.
High-density arrays of uniform ZnO nanowires with a high-crystal quality have been synthesized by a catalyst-free vapor-transport method. First, a thin ZnO film was deposited on a Si substrate as nucleation layer for the ZnO nanowires. Second, spatially selective and mask-less growth of ZnO nanowires was achieved using inkjet-printed patterned islands as the nucleation sites on a SiO2/Si substrate. Raman scattering and low temperature photoluminescence measurements were applied to characterize the structural and optical properties of the ZnO nanowires. The results reveal negligible amounts of strain and defects in the mask-less ZnO nanowires as compared to the ones grown on the ZnO thin film, which underlines the potential of the inkjet-printing approach for the growth of highcrystal quality ZnO nanowires. © 2016 IOP Publishing Ltd.
Studying thermal transport at the nanoscale poses formidable experimental challenges due both to the physics of the measurement process and to the issues of accuracy and reproducibility. The laser-induced transient thermal grating (TTG) technique permits non-contact measurements on nanostructured samples without a need for metal heaters or any other extraneous structures, offering the advantage of inherently high absolute accuracy. We present a review of recent studies of thermal transport in nanoscale silicon membranes using the TTG technique. An overview of the methodology, including an analysis of measurements errors, is followed by a discussion of new findings obtained from measurements on both "solid" and nanopatterned membranes. The most important results have been a direct observation of non-diffusive phonon-mediated transport at room temperature and measurements of thickness-dependent thermal conductivity of suspended membranes across a wide thickness range, showing good agreement with first-principles-based theory assuming diffuse scattering at the boundaries. Measurements on a membrane with a periodic pattern of nanosized holes (135nm) indicated fully diffusive transport and yielded thermal diffusivity values in agreement with Monte Carlo simulations. Based on the results obtained to-date, we conclude that room-temperature thermal transport in membrane-based silicon nanostructures is now reasonably well understood. © 2016 Author(s).
The design and fabrication of phononic crystals (PnCs) hold the key to control the propagation of heat and sound at the nanoscale. However, there is a lack of experimental studies addressing the impact of order/disorder on the phononic properties of PnCs. Here, we present a comparative investigation of the influence of disorder on the hypersonic and thermal properties of two-dimensional PnCs. PnCs of ordered and disordered lattices are fabricated of circular holes with equal filling fractions in free-standing Si membranes. Ultrafast pump and probe spectroscopy (asynchronous optical sampling) and Raman thermometry based on a novel two-laser approach are used to study the phononic properties in the gigahertz (GHz) and terahertz (THz) regime, respectively. Finite element method simulations of the phonon dispersion relation and three-dimensional displacement fields furthermore enable the unique identification of the different hypersonic vibrations. The increase of surface roughness and the introduction of short-range disorder are shown to modify the phonon dispersion and phonon coherence in the hypersonic (GHz) range without affecting the room-temperature thermal conductivity. On the basis of these findings, we suggest a criteria for predicting phonon coherence as a function of roughness and disorder. © 2016 American Chemical Society.
Mass production of nanostructured surfaces relies on the periodic repetition of micrometre scale patterns. A unit cell with nanometre features in the micrometre size range is repeated thousands of times. The ensemble can used as a diffraction grating for visible light. The relative intensity distribution of the diffraction orders is characteristic for the grating and sensitive to nanometre scale changes. A newly designed subwavelength diffraction setup allows the measurement in real time of the diffraction pattern of an illuminated polymer grating with only one detector image. The setup records diffraction patterns of, for example, polymer gratings with intentionally low scattering contrast and line features ranging from 610 to 80 nm. Thus, sub-100 nm features can be traced. The comparison of the measured diffraction patterns with simulated patterns allows to sense nanometre scale deviations from fabrication goals. © 2015 SPIE.
Kinetics is a key aspect of the renowned protein folding problem. Here, we propose a comprehensive approach to folding kinetics where a polypeptide chain is assumed to behave as an elastic material described by the Hooke[U+05F3]s law. A novel parameter called elastic-folding constant results from our model and is suggested to distinguish between protein with two-state and multi-state folding pathways. A contact-free descriptor, named folding degree, is introduced as a suitable structural feature to study protein-folding kinetics. This approach generalizes the observed correlations between varieties of structural descriptors with the folding rate constant. Additionally several comparisons among structural classes and folding mechanisms were carried out showing the good performance of our model with proteins of different types. The present model constitutes a simple rationale for the structural and energetic factors involved in protein folding kinetics. © 2014 Elsevier Ltd.
We report a novel injection scheme that allows for phonon lasing in a one-dimensional opto-mechanical photonic crystal, in a sideband unresolved regime and with cooperativity values as low as 10'2. It extracts energy from a cw infrared laser source and is based on the triggering of a thermo-optical/free-carrier-dispersion self-pulsing limit-cycle, which anharmonically modulates the radiation pressure force. The large amplitude of the coherent mechanical motion acts as a feedback that stabilizes and entrains the self-pulsing oscillations to simple fractions of the mechanical frequency. A manifold of frequency-entrained regions with two different mechanical modes (at 54 and 122MHz) are observed as a result of the wide tuneability of the natural frequency of the self-pulsing. The system operates at ambient conditions of pressure and temperature in a silicon platform, which enables its exploitation in sensing, intra-chip metrology or time-keeping applications.
Numerous applications in optoelectronics require electrically conducting materials with high optical transparency over the entire visible light range. A solid solution of indium oxide and substantial amounts of tin oxide for electronic doping (ITO) is currently the most prominent example for the class of so-called TCOs (transparent conducting oxides). Due to the limited, natural occurrence of indium and its steadily increasing price, it is highly desired to identify materials alternatives containing highly abundant chemical elements. The doping of other metal oxides (e.g., zinc oxide, ZnO) is a promising approach, but two problems can be identified. Phase separation might occur at the required high concentration of the doping element, and for successful electronic modification it is mandatory that the introduced heteroelement occupies a defined position in the lattice of the host material. In the case of ZnO, most attention has been attributed so far to n-doping via substitution of Zn2+ by other metals (e.g., Al3+). Here, we present first steps towards n-doped ZnO-based TCO materials via substitution in the anion lattice (O2- versus halogenides). A special approach is presented, using novel single-source precursors containing a potential excerpt of the target lattice 'HalZn·Zn3O3' preorganized on the molecular scale (Hal = I, Br, Cl). We report about the synthesis of the precursors, their transformation into halogene-containing ZnO materials, and finally structural, optical and electronic properties are investigated using a combination of techniques including FT-Raman, low-T photoluminescence, impedance and THz spectroscopies. © 2015 Lehr et al.
A study of polymer optical fiber microstructuring by use of deep ultraviolet excimer laser radiation at 193 nm wavelength is performed. The ablation characteristics of the fiber cladding and core materials are analyzed comparatively. The laser irradiation effects are dynamically studied by on-line monitoring of the laser ablation induced waveguiding losses, the latter being correlated with the spatial structuring parameters. The fiber surface is modified to incorporate cavities, which are subsequently employed as sensitive material receptors for the development of customized photonic sensors. The sensing capability of the microstructured plastic optical fibers is demonstrated by ammonia and humidity detection. © 2015 IOP Publishing Ltd.
A simple fiber optic based scheme for the selective detection of proteins, based on surface electrostatic interactions, is presented. The implementation of this method is conducted using a modified polymer optical fiber's surface and thin overlayers of properly designed sensitive copolymer materials with predesigned molecular characteristics. Block poly(styrene-b-2vinylpyridine) (PS-b-P2VP) and random PS-r-P2VP copolymers of the same monomers and similar molecular weights, were modified and used as sensing materials. This configuration proved to be efficient concerning the fast detection of charged proteins, and also the efficient discrimination of differently charged proteins such as lysozyme and bovine serum albumin. Results on the sensing performance of block and random copolymers are also discussed drawing conclusion on their efficiency given their considerable different fabrication cost. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Germanium membranes and microstructures of 50-1000 nm thickness have been fabricated by a combination of epitaxial growth on a Si substrate and simple etching processes. The strain in these structures has been measured by high-resolution micro-X-ray diffraction and micro-Raman spectroscopy. The strain in these membranes is extremely isotropic and the surface is observed to be very smooth, with an RMS roughness below 2 nm. The process of membrane fabrication also serves to remove the misfit dislocation network that originally forms at the Si/Ge interface, with benefits for the mechanical, optical and electrical properties of the crystalline membranes. © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
The analysis of diffracted light from periodic structures is shown to be a versatile metrology technique applicable to inline metrology for periodic nanostructures. We show that 10 nm changes in periodic structures can be traced optically by means of sub-wavelength diffraction. Polymer gratings were fabricated by electron beam lithography. The gratings have a common periodicity of 6 μm, but different line width, ranging from 370 to 550 nm in 10 nm steps. A comparison between the resulting diffraction patterns shows marked differences in intensity which are used to sense nanometre scale deviations in periodic structures. © 2015 SPIE.
Bottom-up alternative lithographic masks from directed self-assembly systems have been extending the limits of critical dimensions in a cost-effective manner although great challenges in controlling defectivity remain open. Particularly, defectivity and dimensional metrology are two main challenges in lithography due to the increasing miniaturisation of circuits. To gain insights about the percentage of alignment, defectivity and order quantification, directed self-assembly block copolymer fingerprints were investigated via an image analysis methodology. Here we present the analysis of hexagonal phase of polystyrene-b-polydimethylsiloxane (PS-b-PDMS) forming linear patterns in topological substrates. From our methodology, we have performed dimensional metrology estimating pitch size and error, and the linewidth of the lines was estimated. In parallel, the methodology allowed us identification and quantification of typical defects observable in self-assembly, such as turning points, disclination or branching points, break or lone points and end points. The methodology presented here yields high volume statistical data useful for advancing dimensional metrology and defect analysis of self- and directed assembly systems. © 2015 SPIE.
The precise control over electronic and optical properties of semiconductor (SC) materials is pivotal for a number of important applications like in optoelectronics, photocatalysis or in medicine. It is well known that the incorporation of heteroelements (doping as a classical case) is a powerful method for adjusting and enhancing the functionality of semiconductors. Independent from that, there already has been a tremendous progress regarding the synthesis of differently sized and shaped SC nanoparticles, and quantum-size effects are well documented experimentally and theoretically. Whereas size and shape control of nanoparticles work fairly well for the pure compounds, the presence of a heteroelement is problematic because the impurities interfere strongly with bottom up approaches applied for the synthesis of such particles, and effects are even stronger, when the heteroelement is aimed to be incorporated into the target lattice for chemical doping. Therefore, realizing coincident shape control of nanoparticle colloids and their doping still pose major difficulties. Due to a special mechanism of the emulsion based synthesis method presented here, involving a gelation of emulsion droplets prior to crystallization of shape-anisotropic ZnO nanoparticles, heteroelements can be effectively entrapped inside the lattice. Different nanocrystal shapes such as nanorods, -prisms, -plates, and -spheres can be obtained, determined by the use of certain emulsification agents. The degree of morphologic alterations depends on the type of incorporated heteroelement Mn+, concentration, and it seems that some shapes are more tolerant against doping than others. Focus was then set on the incorporation of Eu3+ inside the ZnO particles, and it was shown that nanocrystal shape and aspect ratios could be adjusted while maintaining a fixed dopant level. Special PL properties could be observed implying energy transfer from ZnO excited near its band-gap (3.3 eV) to the Eu3+ states mediated by defect luminescence of the nanoparticles. Indications for an influence of shape on photoluminescence (PL) properties were found. Finally, rod-like Eu@ZnO colloids were used as tracers to investigate their uptake into biological samples like HeLa cells. The PL was sufficient for identifying green and red emission under visible light excitation. © 2015 The Royal Society of Chemistry.
Nanofibrillated cellulose, a polymer that can be obtained from one of the most abundant biopolymers in nature, is being increasingly explored due to its outstanding properties for packaging and device applications. Still, open challenges in engineering its intrinsic properties remain to address. To elucidate the optical and mechanical stability of nanofibrillated cellulose as a standalone platform, herein we report on three main findings: (i) for the first time an experimental determination of the optical bandgap of nanofibrillated cellulose, important for future modeling purposes, based on the onset of the optical bandgap of the nanofibrillated cellulose film at Eg ≈ 275 nm (4.5 eV), obtained using absorption and cathodoluminescence measurements. In addition, comparing this result with ab-initio calculations of the electronic structure the exciton binding energy is estimated to be Eex ≈ 800 meV; (ii) hydrostatic pressure experiments revealed that nanofibrillated cellulose is structurally stable at least up to 1.2 GPa; and (iii) surface elastic properties with repeatability better than 5% were observed under moisture cycles with changes of the Young modulus as large as 65%. The results obtained show the precise determination of significant properties as elastic properties and interactions that are compared with similar works and, moreover, demonstrate that nanofibrillated cellulose properties can be reversibly controlled, supporting the extended potential of nanofibrillated cellulose as a robust platform for green-technology applications. ©2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
We investigate experimentally and theoretically the acoustic phonon propagation in two-dimensional phononic crystal membranes. Solid-air and solid-solid phononic crystals were made of square lattices of holes and Au pillars in and on 250 nm thick single crystalline Si membrane, respectively. The hypersonic phonon dispersion was investigated using Brillouin light scattering. Volume reduction (holes) or mass loading (pillars) accompanied with second-order periodicity and local resonances are shown to significantly modify the propagation of thermally activated GHz phonons. We use numerical modeling based on the finite element method to analyze the experimental results and determine polarization, symmetry, or three-dimensional localization of observed modes. © 2015 American Physical Society.
In this paper, we study the interaction of charged polymers with solid-supported 1,2-dimyristoyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphocholine (DMPC) membranes by in-situ neutron reflectivity. We observe an enormous swelling of the oligolamellar lipid bilayer stacks after incubation in solutions of poly(allylamine hydrochloride) (PAH) in D2O. The positively charged polyelectrolyte molecules interact with the lipid bilayers and induce a drastic increase in their d-spacing by a factor of ~4. Temperature, time, and pH influence the swollen interfacial lipid linings. From our study, we conclude that electrostatic interactions introduced by the adsorbed PAH are the main cause for the drastic swelling of the lipid coatings. The DMPC membrane stacks do not detach from their solid support at T > Tm. Steric interactions, also introduced by the PAH molecules, are held responsible for the stabilizing effect. We believe that this novel system offers great potential for fundamental studies of biomembrane properties, keeping the membrane’s natural fluidity and freedom, decoupled from a solid support at physiological conditions. © 2015 by the authors; licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.
Knowledge of the mean-free-path distribution of heat-carrying phonons is key to understanding phonon-mediated thermal transport. We demonstrate that thermal conductivity measurements of thin membranes spanning a wide thickness range can be used to characterize how bulk thermal conductivity is distributed over phonon mean free paths. A noncontact transient thermal grating technique was used to measure the thermal conductivity of suspended Si membranes ranging from 15-1500 nm in thickness. A decrease in the thermal conductivity from 74-13% of the bulk value is observed over this thickness range, which is attributed to diffuse phonon boundary scattering. Due to the well-defined relation between the membrane thickness and phonon mean-free-path suppression, combined with the range and accuracy of the measurements, we can reconstruct the bulk thermal conductivity accumulation vs. phonon mean free path, and compare with theoretical models. © 2015 American Physical Society.
In this work we demonstrate that Reverse Nanoimprint Lithography is a feasible and flexible lithography technique applicable to the transfer of micro and nano polymer structures with no residual layer over areas of cm2 areas on silicon, metal and non-planar substrates. We used a flexible polydimethylsiloxane stamp with hydrophobic features. We present residual layer-free patterns imprinted using a commercial poly(methylmethacrylate) thermoplastic polymer over silicon, nickel and pre-patterned substrates. Our versatile patterning technology is adaptable to free form nano structuring and has coupling to adhesion technologies. © 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
Abstract: A detailed structural study of the incorporation of Fe into SrTiO3 nanoparticles is reported. Slightly iron-doped strontium titanate nanoparticles with 0, 1, 3 and 5 mol% concentration of iron were grown using a sol–gel hydrothermal process and characterised using Raman scattering, X-ray photoelectron and X-ray diffraction spectroscopy. The amorphisation of the nanostructures was observed as the iron content increased, which was confirmed by the TEM images. The XPS results indicated that the oxidation states of the Sr atoms were maintained in 2+. However, a mixture of Fe3+ and Fe4+ atoms was observed as the Fe content increased, resulting in a significant number of oxygen vacancies in the perovskite structure. The analysis of Raman spectra indicated that the intensity, linewidth and frequency shift of the TO4 phonon can be used as an indicator of the Fe content as well as a local temperature probe for future thermal analysis. Graphical abstract: Temperature evolution of the Raman spectra of STO:Fe 1 mol%. The peaks with star correspond to the second-order processes. (b) Temperature dependence of the TO4 phonon mode. Blue dots denote measured Raman spectra, and the red solid lines are the Lorentzian fits to respective spectra.[Figure not available: see fulltext.] © 2015, Springer Science+Business Media New York.
The effective thermal conductivity of nanocrystalline films of AlN with inhomogeneous microstructure is investigated experimentally and theoretically. This is done by measuring the thermal conductivity of the samples with the 3-omega method and characterizing their microstructure by means of electron microscopy. The relative effect of the microstructure and the interface thermal resistance on the thermal conductivity is quantified through an analytical model. Thermal measurements showed that when the thickness of an AlN film is reduced from 1460 to 270 nm, its effective thermal conductivity decreases from 8.21 to 3.12 WYm-1?K-1, which is two orders of magnitude smaller than its bulk counterpart value. It is shown that both the size effects of the phonon mean free paths and the intrinsic thermal resistance resulting from the inhomogeneous microstructure predominate for thicker films, while the contribution of the interface thermal resistance strengthens as the film thickness is scaled down. The obtained results demonstrate that the structural inhomogeneity in polycrystalline AlN films can be efficiently used to tune their cross- plane thermal conductivity. In addition, thermal conductivity measurements of epitaxially grown InP layers on silicon using Raman spectroscopy are reported. ©The Electrochemical Society.
A detailed understanding of the connections of fabrication and processing to structural and thermal properties of low-dimensional nanostructures is essential to design materials and devices for phononics, nanoscale thermal management, and thermoelectric applications. Silicon provides an ideal platform to study the relations between structure and heat transport since its thermal conductivity can be tuned over 2 orders of magnitude by nanostructuring. Combining realistic atomistic modeling and experiments, we unravel the origin of the thermal conductivity reduction in ultrathin suspended silicon membranes, down to a thickness of 4 nm. Heat transport is mostly controlled by surface scattering: rough layers of native oxide at surfaces limit the mean free path of thermal phonons below 100 nm. Removing the oxide layers by chemical processing allows us to tune the thermal conductivity over 1 order of magnitude. Our results guide materials design for future phononic applications, setting the length scale at which nanostructuring affects thermal phonons most effectively. © 2015 American Chemical Society.
Chávez, E. ; Cuffe, J.; Alzina, F. ; Sotomayor Torres, C. M. Journal of Physics: Conference Series; 395: 12105. 2012. .
Reboud, V.; Khokhar, A.Z.; Sepúlveda, B.; Dudek, D.; Kehoe, T.; Cuffe, J.; Kehagias, N.; Lira-Cantu, M.; Gadegaard, N.; Grasso, V.; Lambertini, V.; Sotomayor Torres, C.M. Nanoscale; 4 (11): 3495 - 3500. 2012. .
Reboud, V. ; Sotomayor Torres, C. M. Proceedings of SPIE - The International Society for Optical Engineering; 84280B: 1. 2012. 10.1117/12.925189 .
Ramírez, J.M.; Ferrarese Lupi, F.; Jambois, O.; Berencén, Y.; Navarro-Urrios, D.; Anopchenko, A.; Marconi, A.; Prtljaga, N.; Tengattini, A.; Pavesi, L.; Colonna, J.P.; Fedeli, J.M.; Garrido, B. Nanotechnology; 23 2012. 10.1088/0957-4484/23/12/125203.
Prtljaga, N.; Navarro-Urrios, D.; Tengattini, A.; Anopchenko, A.; Ramírez, J.M.; Rebled, J.M.; Estradé, S.; Colonna, J.-P.; Fedeli, J.-M.; Garrido, B.; Pavesi, L. Optical Materials Express; 2: 1278 - 1285. 2012. 10.1364/OME.2.001278.
Navarro-Urrios, D.; Baselga, M.; Ferrarese Lupi, F.; Martín, L.L.; Pérez-Rodríguez, C.; Lavin, V.; Martín, I.R.; Garrido, B.; Capuj, N.E. Journal of the Optical Society of America B: Optical Physics; 29(12): 3293 - 3298. 2012. .
Khunsin, W. ; Amann, A. ; Kocher-Oberlehner, G. ; Romanov, S. G.; Pullteap, S. ; Cheng Seat, H. ; O'Reilly, E. P.; Zentel, R.; Sotomayor Torres, C. M. Advanced Functional Materials; 22: 1812 - 1821. 2012. DOI: 10.1002/adfm.201102605.
Cuffe, J. ; Chavez, E.; Shchepetov, A. ; Chapuis, P.O.; El Boudouti, E. H.; Alsina, F.; Dudek, D. ; Gomis-Bresco, J. ; Pennec, Y.; Djafari-Rouhani, B.; Prunnila, M.; Ahopelto, J.; Sotomayor Torres, C. M. Nano Letters; 12: 3569 - 3573. 2012. DOI: 10.1021/nl301204u.
Polymer photonic band-gaps fabricated by nanoimprint lithography.
Reboud, V. ; Kehoe, T.; Romero Vivas, J.; Kehagias, N.; Zelsmannd, M.; Alsina, F.; Sotomayor Torres, C.M. Photonics and Nanostructures - Fundamentals and Applications; 10: 632 - 635. 2012. .
Prtljaga, N.; Navarro-Urrios, D.; Pitanti, A.; Ferrarese-Lupi, F.; Garrido, B.; Pavesi, L. Journal of Applied Physics; 111 2012. 10.1063/1.4712626.
Simao, C.; Francone, A.; Borah, D.; Lorret, O.; Salaun, M.; Kosmala, B. ; Shaw, M.T.; Dittert, B.; Kehagias, N.; Zelsmann, M.; Morris, M.A.; Sotomayor Torres, C.M. Journal of Photopolymer Science and Technology; 25(2): 239 - 244. 2012. .
Venkatramu, V.; León-Luis, S.F.; Rodríguez-Mendoza, U.R.; Monteseguro, V.; Manjón, F.J.; Lozano-Gorrín, A.D.; Valiente, R.; Navarro-Urrios, D.; Jayasankar, C.K.; Muñoz, A.; Lavín, V. Journal of Materials Chemistry; 22: 13788 - 13799. 2012. 10.1039/c2jm31386c.
Dyatlova, O.A.; Köhler, C.; Malic, E.; Gomis-Bresco, J.; Maultzsch, J.; Tsagan-Mandzhiev, A.; Watermann, T.; Knorr, A.; Woggon, U. Nano Letters; 12 (5): 2249 - 2253. 2012. .
Segovia, M.; Sotomayor Torres, C.M.; González, G.; Benavente, E. Molecular Crystals and Liquid Crystals; 555: 40 - 50. 2012. 10.1080/15421406.2012.634363.
Gevorgyan, S.A.; Medford, A.J.; Bundgaard, E.; Sapkota, S.B.; Schleiermacher, H.-F.; Zimmermann, B.; Würfel, U.; Chafiq, A.; Lira-Cantu, M.; Swonke, T.; Wagner, M.; Brabec, C.J.; Haillant, O.; Voroshazi, E.; Aernouts, T.; Steim, R.; Hauch, J.A.; Elschner, A.; Pannone, M.; Xiao, M.; Langzettel, A.; Laird, D.; Lloyd, M.T.; Rath, T.; Maier, E.; Trimmel, G.; Hermenau, M.; Menke, T.; Leo, K.; Rösch, R.; Seeland, M.; Hoppe, H.; Nagle, T.J.; Burke, K.B.; Fell, C.J.; Vak, D.; Singh, T.B.; Watkins, S.E.; Galagan, Y.; Manor, A.; Katz, E.A.; Kim, T.; Kim, K.; Sommeling, P.M.; Verhees, W.J.H.; Veenstra, S.C.; Riede, M.; Greyson Christoforo, M.; Currier, T.; Shrotriya, V.; Schwartz, G.; Krebs, F.C. Solar Energy Materials and Solar Cells; 95: 1398 - 1416. 2011. 10.1016/j.solmat.2011.01.010.
Salaün, M.; Kehagias, N.; Salhi, B.; Baron, T.; Boussey, J.; Sotomayor Torres, C.M.; Zelsmann, M. Journal of Vacuum Science and Technology B: Microelectronics and Nanometer Structures; 29 2011. 10.1116/1.3662399.
Cuffe, J. ; Dudek, D.; Kehagias, N.; Chapuis, P.O.; Reboud, V.; Alsina, F. ; McInerney, J.G.; Sotomayor Torres, C.M. Microelectronic Engineering; 2011. .
Kehagias, N.; Zelsmann, M.; Chouiki, M.; Francone, A.; Reboud, V.; Schoeftner, R.; Sotomayor Torres, C. Microelectronic Engineering; 2011. .
López-Cabaña, Z.; Sotomayor Torres, C.M.; González, G. Nanoscale Research Letters; 2011. .
Farrell, R.A.; Kehagias, N.; Shaw, M.T.; Reboud, V.; Zelsmann, M.; Holmes, J.D.; Sotomayor Torres, C.M.; Morris, M.A. ACS Nano; 2011. .
Tao, H.; Moser, J.; Alzina, F.; Wang, Q.; Sotomayor-Torres, C.M. Journal of Physical Chemistry C; 115: 18257 - 18260. 2011. 10.1021/jp2050756.
Bendall, J.S.; Paderi, M.; Ghigliotti, F.; Pira, N.L.; Lambertini, V.; Lesnyak, V.; Gaponik, N.; Visimberga, G.; Eychmüller, A.; Torres, C.M.S.; Welland, M.E.; Gieck, C.; Marchese, L. Advanced Functional Materials; 20: 3298 - 3302. 2010. 10.1002/adfm.201001191.
Kail, F. ; Farjas, J.; Roura, P.; Secouard, C.; Nos, O.; Bertomeu, J.; Alzina, F.; Roca i Cabarrocas, P. Applied Physics Letters; 2010. .
Yang, B.; Lu, N.; Qi, D.; Ma, R.; Wu, A.; Hao, J.; Liu, X.; Mu, Y.; Reboud, V.; Kehagias, N.;Sotomayor Torres, C.M.; Yin Chiang Boey, F.; Chen, X.; Chi, L. Small; 2010. .
C. O'Dwyer; M. Szachowic; G. Visimberga; V. Lavayen; S.B. Newcomb; C.M. Sotomayor Nature Nanotechnology; 4: 239 - 244. 2009. .
T. Kehoe; V. Reboud; N.Kehagias; C.M. Sotomayor Microelectronic Engineering; 86 (04-juny): 1036 - 1039. 2009. .
C. Seledon; C. Quiroz; G. González; C.M. Sotomayor; E. Benavente Materials Research Society Symposium - Proceedings; 44 (5): 1191 - 1194. 2009. 10.1016/j.materresbull.2008.09.043.
V. Reboud; N. Kehagias; T. Kehoe; G. Leveque; C. Mavidis; M. Kafesaki.; C.M. Sotomayor Microelectronic Engineering; 87: 1367 - 1369. 2009. 10.1016/j.mee.2009.12.030.
T. Kehoe; J. Bryner; V. Reboud; J. Vollmann; C. M. Sotomayor Torres Proceeding of the 10th IEEE International Conference on Solid Dielectrics; SPIE 7271: 72711V. 2009. 10.1117/12.814162.
C. O'Dwyer; V. Lavayen; D.A. Tanner; S.B. Newcomb; E. Benavente; G. González; C.M. Sotomayor Advanced Functional Materials; 19: 1736 - 1745. 2009. .
W. Khunsin; M. Scharrer; L. Aagesen; S.G. Romanov; R.P.H. Chang; C.M. Sotomayor Optics Letters; 34: 1519 - 1521. 2009. .
S. Arpiainen; F. Jonsson; J.R. Dekker; G. Kocher; W. Khunsin; C. M. Sotomayor; J. Ahopelto Advanced Functional Materials; 19: 1247 - 1253. 2009. 10.1002/adfm.200801612.
N. Kehagias; V. Reboud; J.de Girolamo; M. Chouiki; M. Zelsmann; J. Boussey; C.M. Sotomayor Microelectronic Engineering; 86: 1036 - 1039. 2009. 10.1016/j.mee.2009.01.052.
B. Yang; N. Lu; D. Qi; Q. Wu; J. Hao; R. Ma; X. Liu; Y. Mu; V. Reboud; N. Kehagias; C. M. Sotomayor; F.Y. Chiang; X. Chen and L. Chi Small; 6 (9): 1038 - 1043. 2009. 10.1002/smll.200902350.
J S Bendall; G Visimberga; M Szachowicz; N O V Plank; S Romanov; C M Sotomayor-Torres; M E Welland Journal of Materials Chemistry; 18: 5259 - 5266. 2008. 10.1039/B812867G .
W. Khunsin; S. G. Romanov; M. Bardosova; D. Whitehead; M. Pemble; C. M. Sotomayor Torres Journal of Optics A: Pure and Applied Optics; 10 (11): 115201. 2008. 10.1088/1464-4258/10/11/115201.
W. Khunsin; S.G. Romanov; M.Scharer; L.Aagesen; R.P.H. Chang; C.M. Sotomayor Torres Optics Letters; 33 (5): 461 - 465. 2008. 10.1364/OL.33.000461.
C. O¿Dwyer; V. Lavayen; C. Clavijo-Cedeño; C. M. Sotomayor Torres Physica Status Solidi (B): Basic Research; 245: 2102. 2008. 10.1002/pssb.200879566.
V Reboud; N Kehagias; M Striccoli; T Placido; A Panniello; M L Curri; M Zelsmann; F Reuther; G Gruetzner; C M Sotomayor Torres Japanese Journal of Applied Physics, Part 1: Regular Papers & Short Notes; 47: 5139 - 5141. 2008. 10.1143/JJAP.47.5139.
J Groenen; F Poinsotte; A Zwick; C M Sotomayor Torres; M Prunnila; J Ahopelto Physical Review B - Condensed Matter and Materials Physics; 77: 45420. 2008. 10.1103/PhysRevB.77.045420.
A. Rogach; N. Gaponik; J M Lupton; C. Bertoni; D. E. Gallardo; S. Dunn; N. Li Pira; M. Paderi; P. M. Repetto; S. G. Romanov; C. O¿Dwyer; C. M. Sotomayor Torres; A. Eychmüller Angewandte Chemie - International Edition; 47: 6538 - 6548. 2008. 10.1002/anie.200705109.
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