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Silicon nanowires have attracted considerable interest due to their wide-ranging applications in nanoelectromechanical systems and nanoelectronics. Molecular dynamics simulations are powerful tools for studying the mechanical properties of…
The formation of a hydroxylated native oxide layer on Si(001) under wet conditions is studied by means of first principles molecular dynamics simulations. Water molecules are found to adsorb and dissociate on the oxidised surface leading to…
Kinetics of silicon dry oxidation are investigated theoretically and experimentally at low temperature in the nanometer range where the limits of the Deal and Grove model becomes critical. Based on a fine control of the oxidation process…
Precise control of tensile stress and intrinsic damping is crucial for the optimal design of nanomechanical systems for sensor applications and quantum optomechanics in particular. In this letter we study the in uence of oxygen plasma on…
Oxide ceramics are sensitive to slow crack growth because adsorption of water can take place at the crack tip, leading to a strong decrease of the surface energy in humid (or air) conditions. This is a major drawback concerning demanding,…
If metal surfaces are exposed to sufficiently oxygen-rich environments, oxides start to form. Important steps in this process are the dissociative adsorption of oxygen at the surface, the incorporation of O atoms into the surface, the…
The synthesis of Si3N4 nanowires from the reaction of silicon nanoparticles with N2 in the 1200-1440 C temperature range is reported. The nitridation conditions are such that the reaction with nitrogen is favoured by the presence of silicon…
The nature of the conducting filaments in many resistive switching systems has been elusive. Through in situ transmission electron microscopy, we image the real-time formation and evolution of the filament in a silicon oxide resistive…
Nanocrystalline materials exhibit properties that can differ substantially from those of their single crystal counterparts. As such, they provide ways to enhance and optimise their functionality for devices and applications. Here we report…
Using an approximate time-dependent density functional theory method, we calculate the absorption and luminescence spectra for hydrogen passivated silicon nanoscale structures with large aspect ratio. The effect of electron confinement in…
Silicon together with its native oxide SiO$_2$ was recognized as an outstanding material system for the semiconductor industry in the 1950s. In state-of-the-art device technology, SiO$_2$ is widely used as an insulator in combination with…
The giant piezoresistance (PZR) previously reported in silicon nanowires is experimentally investigated in a large number of surface depleted silicon nano- and micro-structures. The resistance is shown to vary strongly with time due to…
Nanocrystalline materials are well known for their beneficial mechanical and physical properties. However, it is of utmost importance to stabilize the microstructure at elevated temperatures to broaden the window of application e.g. by…
A simple and most promising oxide-assisted catalyst-free method is used to prepare silicon nitride nanowires that give rise to high yield in a short time. After a brief analysis of the state of the art, we reveal the crucial role played by…
Silicon-oxygen compounds are among the most important ones in the natural sciences, occurring as building blocks in minerals and being used in semiconductors and catalysis. Beyond the well known silicon dioxide, there are phases with…
In this letter, we study enhanced-retarded diffusion of oxygen in doped silicon by means of first principle calculations. We found that the migration of oxygen dimers can not be significantly affected by strain, doping type or rate. We…
In this work we outline the mechanisms contributing to the oxygen reduction reaction in nanostructured cathodes of La0.8Sr0.2MnO3 (LSM) for Solid Oxide Fuel Cells (SOFC). These cathodes, developed from LSM nanostructured tubes, can be used…
Nanowires play a pivotal role across a spectrum of disciplines such as nanoelectromechanical systems, nanoelectronics, and energy applications. As nanowires continue to diminish in dimensions, their mechanical characteristics are…
Nanostructured silicon is a promising material for thermoelectric conversion, because the thermal conductivity in silicon nanostructures can be strongly reduced with respect to that of bulk materials. We present thermal conductivity…
We investigated the effect of dissolved hydrogen on the microstructure evolution of nanocrystalline silicon. Through molecular dynamics simulations we characterize the local and overall structural features of several hydrogenated samples by…