Related papers: A multi-technique approach to understanding delith…
Controlling thin film formation is technologically challenging. The knowledge of physical properties of the film and of the atoms in the surface vicinity can help improve control over the film growth. We investigate the use of the…
We fabricate large-area atomically thin MoS$_2$ layers through the direct transformation of crystalline molybdenum MoS$_2$ (MoO$_3$) by sulfurization at relatively low temperatures. The obtained MoS2 sheets are polycrystalline (~10-20 nm…
The complex dielectric functions of LiNbO$_2$ were determined using optical transmittance and reflectance spectroscopies at room temperature. The measured dielectric function spectra reveal distinct structures at several bandgap energies.…
The structure of low-carbon steel after twist extrusion is tested with using electron backscattered diffraction. It has been shown that warm twist extrusion results in grain refinement with conservation of a substantial part of high-angle…
Raman spectra of thin solid electrolyte films obtained by sputtering a lithium sulfate target in nitrogen plasma are measured and compared to ab initio electronic structure calculations for clusters composed of 28 atoms. Agreement between…
A method of using X-ray absorption spectroscopy (XAS) together with resolved grazing incidence geometry for depth profiling atomic, electronic, chemical or magnetic local structures in thin films is presented. The quantitative deconvolution…
The nitrogen substitution into the oxygen sites of several oxide materials leads to a reduction of the band gap to the visible light energy range, which makes these oxynitride semiconductors potential photocatalysts for efficient solar…
We present a study on the crystallization process of undoped and Ta doped TiO2 amorphous thin films. In particular, the effect of ultra-fast annealing treatments in environments characterized by different oxygen concentrations is…
Ni-rich cathode materials achieve both high voltages and capacities in Li-ion batteries but are prone to structural instabilities and oxygen loss via the formation of singlet oxygen. Using ab initio molecular dynamics simulations, we…
La$_2$NiO$_4$ is a very promising cathode material for intermediate and low temperature solid oxide cell applications, due to its good electronic and ionic conductivity, together with its high oxygen exchange activity with a low activation…
Smectic liquid crystals can be viewed as model systems for lamellar structures for which there has been extensive theoretical development. We demonstrate that a nonlinear energy description is required with respect to the usual Landau-de…
We report the synthesis of infinite-layer LaNiO2 thin films by metal organic decomposition. Our work is aimed to synthesize perovskite-like oxides with 3d9 electronic configuration, which is common to high-Tc copper oxides. The 3d9…
The rutile TiO$_2$ (110) surface reduced by the bridging oxygen vacancy, bridging hydroxyl group or Ti interstitial atom has been investigated by calculating their electronic structures using the density functional theory plus U method. It…
In the field of atomically thin 2D materials, oxides are relatively unexplored in spite of the large number of layered oxide structures amenable to exfoliation. There is an increasing interest in ultra-thin film oxide nanostructures from…
First-principles calculations based on density functional theory (DFT) and the pseudopotential method have been used to study the stoichiometric and reduced SnO2 (110) surface. The ionic relaxations are found to be moderate for both the…
This work is devoted so show the appearance of different cracking modes in linearly elastic thin film systems by means of an asymptotic analysis as the thickness tends to zero. By superposing two thin plates, and upon suitable scaling law…
Strontium titanate, SrTiO3, a widely used substrate material for electronic oxide thin film devices, has provided many interesting features. In a combination with a similar oxide material, LaAlO3, it has recently received great interest. It…
The present work is essentially focused on the study of optical and structural properties of hydrogenated amorphous silicon thin films (a-Si:H) prepared by radio-frequency cathodic sputtering. We examine separately the influence of hydrogen…
The temperature-dependent polarization of SrTiO_3 thin films is investigated using confocal scanning optical microscopy. A homogeneous out-of-plane and inhomogeneous in-plane ferroelectric phase are identified from images of the linear…
An in situ study of stress evolution and mechanical behavior of germanium as a lithium-ion battery electrode material is presented. Thin films of germanium are cycled in a half-cell configuration with lithium metal foil as counter/reference…