Infrared induced visible emission from porous silicon: the mechanism of anodic oxidatio

The visible luminescence caused by anodic oxidation of p-type porous silicon has been studied. It is shown that similar luminescence can be observed in n-type material by illumination with near-infrared light. Addition of a suitable reducing agent to the electrolyte solution can both suppress the oxidation of the porous layer and quench its luminescence. These results confirm a previously suggested mechanism, in which the capture of a valence band hole in a surface bond of the porous semiconductor gives rise to a surface state intermediate capable of thermally injecting an electron into the conduction band.\ud \u

Reduction of Peroxodisulfate at Porous and Crystalline Silicon Electrodes: An Anomaly\ud

Electroluminescence from n-type porous silicon can be generated in solution by reduction of peroxodisulfate. It has been assumed that the SO4•- radical ion, formed in the first reduction step, injects a hole into the valence band of the porous semiconductor. The hole should subsequently undergo radiative recombination with a conduction band electron. Using two techniques, viz., photocurrent quantum efficiency measurements with p-type porous and crystalline silicon electrodes and minority carrier injection studies with the “transistor technique”, we found that the reduction of peroxodisulfate is, however, not always accompanied by hole injection. The silicon results are compared with results obtained on GaAs electrodes. \u

Photoselective Metal Deposition on Amorphous Silicon p-i-n Solar Cells\ud

A novel method is described for the patternwise metallization of amorphous silicon solar cells, based on photocathodic deposition. The electric field of the p-i-n structure is used for the separation of photogenerated charge carriers. The electrons are driven to the interface of the n+-layer with the solution where they reduce metal ions to metal. The large difference between the conductivity of dark and illuminated areas and the high sheet resistance of the n-type layer makes it possible to define a metal pattern by selective illumination. It is shown that both nickel and gold patterns can be deposited using this method. After annealing, an ohmic nickel contact is formed and the cell exhibits good photovoltaic characteristics

Analysis of rotational coupling in collisions of Li+ with Ne leading to double excitation of Ne \ud

Electron angular distributions due to autoionization of Ne, doubly excited to the (2p43s2)1D state in collisions with Li+ in the energy range 1.2-2.2 keV, are measured in coincidence with Li+ scattered into a well defined direction ( Phi =0 degrees , Theta cm=10.8 degrees ). The experimental findings are analysed with the help of a collision model proposed earlier. In this model the initial excitation occurs by radial diabatic coupling to a molecular Sigma -state at small distances, followed by rotational coupling to Pi - and Delta -states at intermediate distances in the second half of the collision. The energy splitting between the Sigma -, Pi - and Delta -states is described by a model function. By adapting two parameters of this model function, the experimental findings can be reproduced within the experimental error in numerical calculations involving the relevant set of coupled differential equations. \u

Effect of quantum confinement on the dielectric function of PbSe

Monolayers of lead selenide nanocrystals of a few nanometers in height have been made by electrodeposition on a Au(111) substrate. These layers show a thickness-dependent dielectric function, which was determined using spectroscopic ellipsometry. The experimental results are compared with electronic structure calculations of the imaginary part of the dielectric function of PbSe nanocrystals. We demonstrate that the size-dependent variation of the dielectric function is affected by quantum confinement at well-identifiable points in the Brillouin zone, different from the position of the band-gap transition

Hydrophobic surfaces with tunable dynamic wetting properties via colloidal assembly of silica microspheres and gold nanoparticles

Hierarchically structured surfaces have been fabricated using a simple colloidal bottom-up approach. The substrates exhibit a wide range of wettability properties, expressed by water contact angles ranging from 110 ∘ to 166 ∘ . The liquid–solid adhesive characteristics vary from very sticky to non-sticky, exhibited by very large and negligible sliding angles, respectively. Silica spheres with diameters in the range 130–850 nm comprise the larger length scale entities in the hierarchical superstructures, while gold nanoparticles with diameters 13–45 nm are included as the smaller length scale features. Surfaces are derivatized with suitable chemical agents to render them (super)hydrophobic. Dynamic wetting properties in terms of contact angle hysteresis and sliding angles are discussed in relation to the surface morphology

Tuning the oriented deposition of gold nanorods on patterned substrates

The controlled patterning of anisotropic gold nanoparticles is of crucial importance for many applications related to their optical properties. In this paper, we report that gold nanorods prepared by a seed-mediated synthesis protocol (without any further functionalization) can be selectively deposited on hydrophilic parts of hydrophobic–hydrophilic contrast patterned substrates. We have seen that, when nanorods with lengths much smaller than the width of the hydrophilic stripe are used, they disperse on these stripes with random orientation and tunable uniform particle separation. However, for nanorods having lengths comparable to the width of the hydrophilic stripes, confinement-induced alignment occurs. We observe that different interactions governing the assembly forces can be modulated by controlling the concentration of assembling nanorods and the width of the hydrophilic stripes, leading to markedly different degrees of alignment. Our strategy can be replicated for other anisotropic nanoparticles to produce well-controlled patterning of these nanoentities on surfaces

Charge Induced Dynamics of Water in a Graphene-Mica Slit Pore

We use atomic force microscopy to in situ investigate the dynamic behavior of confined water at the interface between graphene and mica. The graphene is either uncharged, negatively charged, or positively charged. At high humidity, a third water layer will intercalate between graphene and mica. When graphene is negatively charged, the interface fills faster with a complete three layer water film, compared to uncharged graphene. As charged positively, the third water layer dewets the interface, either by evaporation into the ambient or by the formation of three-dimensional droplets under the graphene, on top of the bilayer. Our experimental findings reveal novel phenomena of water at the nanoscale, which are interesting from a fundamental point of view and demonstrate the direct control over the wetting properties of the graphene/water interface

Closed-loop conductance scanning tunneling spectroscopy: demonstrating the equivalence to the open-loop alternative

We demonstrate the validity of using closed-loop z(V) conductance scanning tunneling spectroscopy (STS) measurements for the determination of the effective tunneling barrier by comparing them to more conventional open-loop I(z) measurements. Through the development of a numerical model, the individual contributions to the effective tunneling barrier present in these experiments, such as the work function and the presence of an image charge, are determined quantitatively. This opens up the possibility of determining tunneling barriers of both vacuum and molecular systems in an alternative and more detailed manne