Metal Evaporation-Induced Degradation of Fullerene Acceptors in Polymer/Fullerene Solar Cells

Surface-sensitive NEXAFS spectroscopy is used to probe the interaction between low work function metal electrodes and fullerene derivatives in organic solar cells. Evaporation of either Ca or Al electrodes onto films of the fullerene derivatives (6,6)-phenyl-C₆₁-butyric acid methyl ester (PCBM) and indene-C₆₀ bisadduct (ICBA) leads to a dramatic change in the observed NEXAFS spectrum. The observed changes cannot be explained only in terms of interfacial electronic doping or charge transfer, but rather point to the formation of new chemical bonds that destroy the extensive electron delocalization on the C₆₀ cage. A combination of ex situ and in situ ultrahigh vacuum measurements indicates that metal evaporation results in a change in the electronic structure of PCBM that then facilitates chemical degradation and oxidation in the presence of oxygen. To investigate the effect of this chemical interaction on device performance, a unique transfer method to laminate the Al electrode to the top of polymer blend is used, in which case, the chemical degradation of the fullerene is not observed. Device performance of P3HT/PCBM blend solar cells in which the top metal electrode has either been thermally evaporated or transferred is then compared. These results highlight that chemical, as well as electronic, interactions between metals and organic semiconductors must be considered

Is Charge-Transfer Doping Possible at the Interfaces of Monolayer VSe₂ with MoO₃ and K?

Being a metallic transition-metal dichalcogenide, monolayer vanadium diselenide (VSe2) exhibits many novel properties, such as charge density waves and magnetism. Its interfaces with other materials can potentially be used in device applications as well as for manipulating its intrinsic properties. Here, we present a scanning tunneling microscopy and synchrotron-based X-ray photoemission spectroscopy study of the surface charge-transfer doping using efficient electron-withdrawing and electron-donating materials, that is, molybdenum trioxide (MoO3) and potassium (K), on the molecular beam epitaxy-grown monolayer VSe2 on highly oriented pyrolytic graphite (HOPG). We demonstrate that monolayer VSe2 is immune to MoO3- and K-doping effects. However, at the monolayer edges where the local chemical reactivity is higher because of Se deficiency, MoO3 is seen to react with VSe2 to form molybdenum dioxide (MoO2) and vanadium dioxide (VO2). Compared to the obvious charge-transfer doping effects of MoO3 and K on HOPG, the electronic structure of monolayer VSe2 is barely perturbed. This is attributed to the large density of states at the Fermi level of monolayer VSe2 carrying the metallic character. This work provides new insights into the chemical and electronic properties of monolayer VSe2, important for future VSe2-based electronic device design

Developing high-power Li||S batteries via transition metal/carbon nanocomposite electrocatalyst engineering

The activity of electrocatalysts for the sulfur reduction reaction (SRR) can be represented using volcano plots, which describe specific thermodynamic trends. However, a kinetic trend that describes the SRR at high current rates is not yet available, limiting our understanding of kinetics variations and hindering the development of high-power Li||S batteries. Here, using Le Chatelier’s principle as a guideline, we establish an SRR kinetic trend that correlates polysulfide concentrations with kinetic currents. Synchrotron X-ray adsorption spectroscopy measurements and molecular orbital computations reveal the role of orbital occupancy in transition metal-based catalysts in determining polysulfide concentrations and thus SRR kinetic predictions. Using the kinetic trend, we design a nanocomposite electrocatalyst that comprises a carbon material and CoZn clusters. When the electrocatalyst is used in a sulfur-based positive electrode (5 mg cm−2 of S loading), the corresponding Li||S coin cell (with an electrolyte:S mass ratio of 4.8) can be cycled for 1,000 cycles at 8 C (that is, 13.4 A gS−1, based on the mass of sulfur) and 25 °C. This cell demonstrates a discharge capacity retention of about 75% (final discharge capacity of 500 mAh gS−1) corresponding to an initial specific power of 26,120 W kgS−1 and specific energy of 1,306 Wh kgS−1

New Insights into the Substrate–Plasma Polymer Interface

We describe a new method to characterize the underside (substrate interface) of plasma polymer (PP) thin films via their simple delamination from a sodium chloride single crystal substrate. By depositing the PP film onto an ionic bonded surface such as a sodium chloride crystal, the PP films investigated were easily delaminated from the substrate. Two plasma polymer films deposited from 1-bromopropane (BrPP) and allylamine (AAPP) were used to exemplify this new technique. The top- and underside (substrate–plasma polymer interface) of the films were examined by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and synchrotron-based near edge X-ray adsorption fine structure (NEXAFS) spectroscopy. The results demonstrate that both films exhibit heterogeneous film structures with their chemical composition and levels of unsaturated species. The underside of both the BrPP and the AAPP films exhibited higher concentrations of oxygen, while their topsides contained higher levels of unsaturated species. These results provide useful insights into the BrPP and AAPP film formation and the chemistry. The delamination technique provides a simple method to analyze the early stages of film chemistry for plasma polymer thin films. Furthermore, this approach opens new opportunities for additional studies on the mechanisms and fundamentals of plasma polymer thin film formation with various monomers

Anion Disorder in Lanthanoid Zirconates Gd_2–<i>x</i>Tb_<i>x</i>Zr₂O₇

The pyrochlore–defect fluorite order–disorder transition has been studied for a series of oxides of the type Gd_2–<i>x</i>Tb_<i>x</i>Zr₂O₇ by a combination of diffraction and spectroscopy techniques. Synchrotron X-ray diffraction data suggest an abrupt transition from the coexistence of pyrochlore and defect fluorite phases to a single defect fluorite phase with increasing Tb content. However neutron diffraction data, obtained at λ ≈ 0.497 Å for all Gd-containing samples to minimize absorption, not only provide evidence for independent ordering of the anion and cation sublattices but also suggest that the disorder transition across the pyrochlore–defect fluorite boundary of Ln₂Zr₂O₇ is rather gradual. Such disorder was also evident in X-ray absorption measurements at the Zr L₃-edge, which showed a gradual increase in the effective coordination number of the Zr from near 6-coordinate in the pyrochlore rich samples to near 7-coordinate in the Tb rich defect fluorites. These results indicate the presence of ordered domains throughout the defect fluorite region, and demonstrate the gradual nature of the order–disorder transition across the Gd_2–<i>x</i>Tb_<i>x</i>Zr₂O₇ series

Probing Long- and Short-Range Disorder in Y₂Ti_2–<i>x</i>Hf_<i>x</i>O₇ by Diffraction and Spectroscopy Techniques

We studied the long-range average and short-range local structures in Y₂Ti_2–<i>x</i>Hf<i>_x</i>O₇ (<i>x</i> = 0–2.0) using diffraction and spectroscopy techniques, respectively. Both neutron and synchrotron X-ray powder diffraction data show a clear phase transition of the average structure from ordered pyrochlore to disordered defect-fluorite at <i>x</i> ≈ 1.6; the long-range anion disorder appears to develop gradually throughout the entire pyrochlore region in contrast to the rapid loss of cation ordering from <i>x</i> = 1.4 to 1.6. The commonly observed two-phase region around the pyrochlore/defect-fluorite phase boundary is absent in this system, demonstrating high sample quality. X-ray absorption near-edge structure (XANES) results at the Y L₂-, Ti K- and L_3,2-, Hf L₃-, and O K-edges indicate a gradual local structural evolution across the whole compositional range; the Y coordination number (CN) decreases and the CN around Ti and Hf increases with increasing Hf content (<i>x</i>). The spectroscopic results suggest that the local disorder occurs long before the pyrochlore to defect-fluorite phase boundary as determined by diffraction, and this disorder evolves continuously from short- to medium- and eventually to long-range detectable by diffraction. This study highlights the complex disordering process in pyrochlore oxides and the importance of a multitechnique approach to tackle disorder over different length scales and in the anion and cation sublattices, respectively. The results are important in the context of potential applications of these oxides such as ionic conductors and radiation-resistant nuclear waste forms

Gate-Tunable Renormalization of Spin-Correlated Flat-Band States and Bandgap in a 2D Magnetic Insulator

Emergent quantum phenomena in two-dimensional van der Waal (vdW) magnets are largely governed by the interplay between exchange and Coulomb interactions. The ability to precisely tune the Coulomb interaction enables the control of spin-correlated flat-band states, band gap, and unconventional magnetism in such strongly correlated materials. Here, we demonstrate a gate-tunable renormalization of spin-correlated flat-band states and bandgap in magnetic chromium tribromide (CrBr3) monolayers grown on graphene. Our gate-dependent scanning tunneling spectroscopy (STS) studies reveal that the interflat-band spacing and bandgap of CrBr3 can be continuously tuned by 120 and 240 meV, respectively, via electrostatic injection of carriers into the hybrid CrBr3/graphene system. This can be attributed to the self-screening of CrBr3 arising from the gate-induced carriers injected into CrBr3, which dominates over the weakened remote screening of the graphene substrate due to the decreased carrier density in graphene. Precise tuning of the spin-correlated flat-band states and bandgap in 2D magnets via electrostatic modulation of Coulomb interactions not only provides effective strategies for optimizing the spin transport channels but also may exert a crucial influence on the exchange energy and spin-wave gap, which could raise the critical temperature for magnetic order

Control over molecular orbital gating and Marcus inverted charge transport in molecular junctions with conjugated molecular wires

Recently it is discovered that molecular junctions can be pushed into the Marcus Inverted region of charge transport, but it is unclear which factors are important. This paper shows that the mechanism of charge transport across molecular wires can be switched between the normal and Marcus Inverted regions by fine-tuning the molecule–electrode coupling strength and the tunneling distance across oligophenylene ethynylene (OPE) wire terminated with ferrocene (Fc) abbreviated as S-OPEnFc (n = 1–3). Coherent tunneling dominates the mechanism of charge transport in junctions with short molecules (n = 1), but for n = 2 or 3 redox reactions become important. By weakening the molecule—electrode interaction by interrupted conjugation, S-CH2-OPEnFc, intramolecular orbital gating can occur pushing the junctions completely into the Marcus Inverted region. These results indicated that weak molecule—electrode coupling is important to push junctions into the Marcus Inverted Region.</p

Crossover from 2D Ferromagnetic Insulator to Wide Band Gap Quantum Anomalous Hall Insulator in Ultrathin MnBi₂Te₄

Intrinsic magnetic topological insulators offer low disorder and large magnetic band gaps for robust magnetic topological phases operating at higher temperatures. By controlling the layer thickness, emergent phenomena such as the quantum anomalous Hall (QAH) effect and axion insulator phases have been realized. These observations occur at temperatures significantly lower than the Néel temperature of bulk MnBi2Te4, and measurement of the magnetic energy gap at the Dirac point in ultrathin MnBi2Te4 has yet to be achieved. Critical to achieving the promise of this system is a direct measurement of the layer-dependent energy gap and verification of a temperature-dependent topological phase transition from a large band gap QAH insulator to a gapless TI paramagnetic phase. Here we utilize temperature-dependent angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy to study epitaxial ultrathin MnBi2Te4. We directly observe a layer-dependent crossover from a 2D ferromagnetic insulator with a band gap greater than 780 meV in one septuple layer (1 SL) to a QAH insulator with a large energy gap (>70 meV) at 8 K in 3 and 5 SL MnBi2Te4. The QAH gap is confirmed to be magnetic in origin, as it becomes gapless with increasing temperature above 8 K

Role of Order in the Mechanism of Charge Transport across Single-Stranded and Double-Stranded DNA Monolayers in Tunnel Junctions

Deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) has been hypothesized to act as a molecular wire due to the presence of an extended π-stack between base pairs, but the factors that are detrimental in the mechanism of charge transport (CT) across tunnel junctions with DNA are still unclear. Here we systematically investigate CT across dense DNA monolayers in large-area biomolecular tunnel junctions to determine when intrachain or interchain CT dominates and under which conditions the mechanism of CT becomes thermally activated. In our junctions, double-stranded DNA (dsDNA) is 30-fold more conductive than single-stranded DNA (ssDNA). The main reason for this large change in conductivity is that dsDNA forms ordered monolayers where intrachain tunneling dominates, resulting in high CT rates. By varying the temperature T and the length of the DNA fragments in the junctions, which determines the tunneling distance, we reveal a complex interplay between T, the length of DNA, and structural order on the mechanism of charge transport. Both the increase in the tunneling distance and the decrease in structural order result in a change in the mechanism of CT from coherent tunneling to incoherent tunneling (hopping). Our results highlight the importance of the interplay between structural order, tunneling distance, and temperature on the CT mechanism across DNA in molecular junctions