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The strong interest in graphene has motivated the scalable production of high quality graphene and graphene devices. Since large-scale graphene films synthesized to date are typically polycrystalline, it is important to characterize and…
Materials containing a high proportion of grain boundaries offer significant potential for the development of radiation-resistent structural materials. However, a proper understanding of the connection between the radiation-induced…
Post-deposition CdCl$_2$ treatment of polycrystalline CdTe is known to increase photovoltaic efficiency. However, the precise chemical, structural, and electronic changes that underpin this improvement are still debated. In this study,…
Strain governs not only the mechanical response of materials but also their electronic, optical, and catalytic properties. For this reason, the measurement of the 3D strain field is crucial for a detailed understanding and for further…
Understanding and controlling the properties and dynamics of topological defects is a lasting challenge in the study of two-dimensional materials, and is crucial to achieve high-quality films required for technological applications. Here…
Grain boundaries control a wide variety of bulk properties in polycrystalline materials, so simulation methods like density functional theory are routinely used to study their structure-property relationships. A standard practice for such…
Grain boundaries play a critical role in applications of superconducting Nb$_3$Sn: in dc applications, grain boundaries preserve the material's inherently high critical current density by pinning flux, while in ac applications grain…
An innovative image analysis technique is proposed to process real solar cell pictures, identify grains and grain boundaries in polycrystalline Silicon, and finally generate finite element meshes. Using a modified intrinsic cohesive zone…
Ductile fracture has been extensively studied in metals with weak mechanical anisotropy such as copper and aluminum. The fracture of more anisotropic metals, especially those with a hexagonal crystal structure (e.g. titanium), remains far…
Three-dimensional X-ray diffraction (3DXRD) has been used to measure, in-situ, the evolution of $\sim 1800$ grains in a single phase low carbon ferritic steel sample during uniaxial deformation. The distribution of initial residual grain…
Molybdenum disulfide (MoS2) is a particularly interesting member of the family of two-dimensional (2D) materials due to its semiconducting and tunable electronic properties. Currently, the most reliable method for obtaining high-quality…
The fourth flight of the Focusing Optics X-ray Solar Imager sounding rocket experiment (FOXSI-4) aimed to achieve the first imaging spectroscopic observations of mid-to-large class ( >= GOES C5 class) solar flares, in contrast to the…
Grain boundaries in ultrafine grained (UFG) materials processed by severe plastic deformation (SPD) are often called "non-equilibrium" grain boundaries. Such boundaries are characterized by excess grain boundary energy, presence of long…
Understanding irradiation-induced strain in silicon carbide (SiC) is essential for designing radiation-tolerant ceramic materials. However, conventional methods often fail to resolve nanoscale strain gradients, especially in polycrystalline…
Thin film polycrystalline photovoltaics are a mature, commercially-relevant technology. However, basic questions persist about the role of grain boundaries in the performance of these materials, and the extent to which these defects may…
We present quantum-based simulations of single grain boundary reflectivity of electrons in metals, Cu and Ag. We examine twin and non-twin grain boundaries using non-equilibrium Green's function and first principles methods. We also…
Grain boundaries (GBs) trigger structure-specific chemical segregation of solute atoms. According to the three-dimensional (3D) topology of grains, GBs - although defined as planar defects - cannot be free of curvature. This implies…
We study alignment of grains by radiative torques. We found steep rise of radiative torque efficiency as grain size increases. This allows larger grains that are known to exist within molecular clouds to be aligned by the attenuated and…
Grain boundaries in epitaxial graphene on the SiC(000$\bar{1}$) substrate are studied using scanning tunneling microscopy and spectroscopy. All investigated small-angle grain boundaries show pronounced out-of-plane buckling induced by the…
Quasi-two-dimensional (quasi-2D) materials hold promise for future electronics because of their unique band structures that result in electronic and mechanical properties sensitive to crystal strains in all three dimensions. Quantifying…