Related papers: Structural modification of thin Bi(1 1 1) films by…
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 presence of 2D electron gases at surfaces or interfaces in oxide thin films remains a hot topic in condensed matter physics. In particular, BaBiO3 appears as a very interesting system as it was theoretically proposed that its (001)…
Organisms in nature can alter the short-range order of an amorphous precursor phase, thereby controlling the resulting crystalline structure. This phenomenon inspired an investigation of the effect of modifying the short-range order within…
Thin films of transition metal oxides open up a gateway to nanoscale electronic devices beyond silicon characterized by novel electronic functionalities. While such films are commonly prepared in an oxygen atmosphere, they are typically…
The oxidation of the Ni(111) surface is studied experimentally with low energy electron microscopy and theoretically by calculating the electron reflectivity for realistic models of the NiO/Ni(111) surface with an ab-initio scattering…
The durability of passivable metals and alloys is often limited by the stability of the surface oxide film, the passive film, providing self-protection against corrosion in aggressive environments. Improving this stability requires to…
Freestanding single-bilayer Bi(111) is a two-dimensional topological insulator with edge states propagating along its perimeter. Given the interlayer coupling experimentally, the topological nature of Bi(111) thin films and the impact of…
A recent experiment(Bollmann11) suggested that bismuth forms hexagonal close packed (HCP) films on the Ni(111) surface, of heights 3, 5 and 7 layers. A quantum size effect based on free electrons was proposed in explanation. To test this…
Electron transport is studied in surface oxidized single-crystal copper thin films with a thickness of up to 5.6 nm by applying density functional theory and density functional tight binding methods to determine electron transport…
Recently, there have been intense efforts in searching for new topological insulator (TI) materials. Based on first-principles calculations, we find that all the ultrathin Bi (111) films are characterized by a nontrivial Z2 number…
The electrical conductance of molecular beam epitaxial Bi on BaF2(111) was measured as a function of both film thickness (4-540 nm) and temperature (5-300 K). Unlike bulk Bi as a prototype semimetal, the Bi thin films up to 90 nm are found…
Layered oxides have been intensively studied due to their high designability for various electronic functions. Here we synthesize a new oxide as epitaxial thin film form by pulsed laser deposition. Film characterizations including…
Here we demonstrate the controlled growth of Bi(110) and Bi(111) films on an (insulating) $\alpha$-Al$_2$O$_3$(0001) substrate by surface X-ray diffraction and X-ray reflectivity using synchrotron radiation. At temperatures as low as 40 K,…
We have investigated the structures and electronic properties of ultra-thin Bi(110) films grown on an s-wave superconductor substrate using low-temperature scanning tunneling microscopy and spectroscopy. Remarkably, our experimental results…
Ni-doped Cd1-xMnxS (x=0.4) thin films were prepared via a cost-effective chemical bath deposition (CBD) method to investigate their suitability for optoelectronic applications. Incorporation of a secondary transition metal such as Ni is…
We propose a model for predicting the fluctuations of electron states in thin films as function of film thickness. The model was derived based on the assumption of the existence of potential barrier fluctuations on the film surface. Since…
Recent experimental advances in surface science have made it possible to track the evolution of superconductivity in films as the thickness enters the nanoscale region where it is expected that the substrate plays an important role. Here,…
The surfaces of metal oxides often are reconstructed with a geometry and composition that is considerably different from a simple termination of the bulk. Such structures can also be viewed as ultrathin films, epitaxed on a substrate. Here,…
The instability, dynamics and morphological transitions of patterns in thin liquid films on periodic striped surfaces (consisting of alternating less and more wettable stripes) are investigated based on 3-D nonlinear simulations that…
Nickel/Bismuth (Ni/Bi) bilayers have recently attracted attention due to the occurrence of time-reversal symmetry breaking in the superconducting state. Here, we report on the structural, magnetic and electric characterization of thin film…