Related papers: Femtosecond electron diffraction reveals local dis…
SnS and SnSe are isoelectronic materials with a common phase diagram. Recently, SnSe was found to be the most efficient intrinsic thermoelectric material in its high-temperature Cmcm phase above 800 K. Making use of first-principles…
SnSe is a promising thermoelectric material with record-breaking figure of merit, \textit{i.e., ZT}. As a semiconductor, optimal electrical dosage is the key challenge to maximize \textit{ZT} in SnSe. However, to date a comprehensive…
Revealing the bonding and time-evolving atomic dynamics in functional materials with complex lattice structures can update the fundamental knowledge on rich physics therein, and also help to manipulate the material properties as desired. As…
Interatomic forces that bind materials are largely determined by an often complex interplay between the electronic band-structure and the atomic arrangements to form its equilibrium structure and dynamics. As these forces also determine the…
Electron-crystal and phonon-glass are regarded as two essential factors for ideal thermoelectric materials, which require both an enhanced electronic transport and a depressed phononic transport. These two characteristics usually can not…
Local distortions of the crystal structure and their influence on the electronic structure, electron-phonon interaction, and superconductivity are theoretically studied in the superconducting high-entropy alloy (HEA)…
The tin-selenide and tin-sulfide classes of materials undergo multiple structural transitions under high pressure leading to periodic lattice distortions, superconductivity, and topologically non-trivial phases, yet a number of…
Low thermal conductivity is favorable for preserving the temperature gradient between the two ends of a thermoelectric material in order to ensure continuous electron current generation. In high-performance thermoelectric materials, there…
The investigation of ultrafast electronic and structural dynamics in low-dimensional systems like nanowires and two-dimensional materials requires femtosecond probes providing high spatial resolution and strong interaction with small volume…
Introducing hierarchical disorder from multiple defects into materials through nanostructuring is one of the most promising directions to achieve extremely low thermal conductivities and thus improve thermoelectric performance. The success…
The extreme electro-optical contrast between crystalline and amorphous states in phase change materials is routinely exploited in optical data storage and future applications include universal memories, flexible displays, reconfigurable…
Direct electron detectors in scanning transmission electron microscopy give unprecedented possibilities for structure analysis at the nanoscale. In electronic and quantum materials, this new capability gives access to, for example, emergent…
Traditional band theory of perfect crystalline solids often uses as input the structure deduced from diffraction experiments; when modeled by the minimal unit cell this often produces a spatially averaged model. The present study…
In metal nanoparticles (NPs) supracrystals, the metallic core provides some key properties, e.g. magnetization, plasmonic response or conductivity, with the ligand molecules giving rise to others like solubility, assembly or interaction…
We study the ultrafast structural dynamics, in response to electronic excitations, in heterostructures composed of Au$_{923}$ nanoclusters on thin-film substrates with the use of femtosecond electron diffraction. Various forms of atomic…
Disorder has different profound effects on superconducting thin films. For a large variety of materials, increasing disorder reduces electronic screening which enhances electron-electron repulsion. These fermionic effects lead to a…
Phonon localization is a phenomenon that influences numerous material properties in condensed matter physics. Anderson localization brings rise to localized atomic-scale phonon interferences in disordered lattices with an influence limited…
Understanding the microscopic processes affecting the bulk thermal conductivity is crucial to develop more efficient thermoelectric materials. PbTe is currently one of the leading thermoelectric materials, largely thanks to its low thermal…
Without a periodic reference framework, local structures in noncrystalline solids are difficult to specify, but they still exert an enormous influence on materials properties. For example, thermomechanical responses of organic and inorganic…
Anharmonic lattice vibrations govern the thermal dynamics in materials and present how the atoms interact and how they conduct heat. An indepth understanding of the microscopic mechanism of phonon anharmonicity in condensed systems is…