One-dimensional hexagonal boron nitride conducting channel

Hexagonal boron nitride (hBN) is an insulating two-dimensional (2D) material with a large bandgap. Although known for its interfacing with other 2D materials and structural similarities to graphene, the potential use of hBN in 2D electronics is limited by its insulating nature. Here, we report atomically sharp twin boundaries at AA???/AB stacking boundaries in chemical vapor deposition???synthesized few-layer hBN. We find that the twin boundary is composed of a 6???6??? configuration, showing conducting feature with a zero bandgap. Furthermore, the formation mechanism of the atomically sharp twin boundaries is suggested by an analogy with stacking combinations of AA???/AB based on the observations of extended Klein edges at the layer boundaries of ABstacked hBN. The atomically sharp AA???/AB stacking boundary is promising as an ultimate 1D electron channel embedded in insulating pristine hBN. This study will provide insights into the fabrication of single-hBN electronic devices

Carbon nanotube bumps for the flip chip packaging system

Carbon nanotube [CNT] interconnection bump joining methodology has been successfully demonstrated using flip chip test structures with bump pitches smaller than 150 μm. In this study, plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition approach is used to grow the CNT bumps onto the Au metallization lines. The CNT bumps on the die substrate are then 'inserted' into the CNT bumps on the carrier substrate to form the electrical connections (interconnection bumps) between each other. The mechanical strength and the concept of reworkable capabilities of the CNT interconnection bumps are investigated. Preliminary electrical characteristics show a linear relationship between current and voltage, suggesting that ohmic contacts are attained

Growth of Carbon Nanotubes on Carbon/Cobalt Films with Different sp 2

The need of barrier layer such as SiO2 for carbon nanotubes (CNTs) growth limits their performance in electronic applications. In this study, conductive carbon/metal (carbon/cobalt—C:Co) composite films with the same metal content, but different sp2/sp3 ratios, were deposited using dual-source filtered cathodic vacuum arc (FCVA) technique. Three different C:Co composite films were deposited at different temperatures; visible Raman spectroscopy indicates that the sp2-rich C:Co composite film forms at high temperature (500°C), and high-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM) shows the formation of conducting graphitic-like sp2 clusters and with Co nanoclusters embedded within them. Electrical measurement shows a significant decrease in film resistivity as sp2/sp3 ratio increases. CNTs were successfully grown on the composite films by plasma-enhanced vapor deposition (PECVD) approach. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) shows minor effect on the density of CNTs by varying the sp2/sp3 ratio. The dependence of defect level of the as-grown CNTs is found to reduce as sp2/sp3 ratio increases

Phonon Polaritons in Monolayers of Hexagonal Boron Nitride.

Phonon polaritons in van der Waals materials reveal significant confinement accompanied with long propagation length: important virtues for tasks pertaining to the control of light and energy flow at the nanoscale. While previous studies of phonon polaritons have relied on relatively thick samples, here reported is the first observation of surface phonon polaritons in single atomic layers and bilayers of hexagonal boron nitride (hBN). Using antenna-based near-field microscopy, propagating surface phonon polaritons in mono- and bilayer hBN microcrystals are imaged. Phonon polaritons in monolayer hBN are confined in a volume about one million times smaller than the free-space photons. Both the polariton dispersion and their wavelength-thickness scaling law are altered compared to those of hBN bulk counterparts. These changes are attributed to phonon hardening in monolayer-thick crystals. The data reported here have bearing on applications of polaritons in metasurfaces and ultrathin optical elements

Advanced carbon hybrid materials

This thesis reports on the fabrication and evaluation of carbon composites whose constituents are based solely on carbon materials. In particular, three types of carbon composites term multilayer amorphous carbon (a-C) films, gradient a-C films and carbon nanomattress (CNM) are discussed.DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY (EEE

Electromechanical actuators for haptic feedback with fingertip contact

Haptic technology that provides tactile sensation feedback by utilizing actuators to achieve the purpose of human–computer interaction is obtaining increasing applications in electronic devices. This review covers four kinds of electromechanical actuators useful for achieving haptic feedback: electromagnetic, electrostatic, piezoelectric, and electrostrictive actuators. The driving principles, working conditions, applicable scopes, and characteristics of the different actuators are fully compared. The designs and values of piezoelectric actuators to achieve sophisticated and high-definition haptic effect sensations are particularly highlighted. The current status and directions for future development of the different types of haptic actuators are discussed.Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR)Published versionThe author from IMRE acknowledges partial supports by A*STAR, Singapore, RIE2020 Advanced Manufacturing and Engineering (AME) Programmatic Fund, (Grant No. A20G9b0135)

Thickness dependency of field emission in amorphous and nanostructured carbon thin films

Thickness dependency of the field emission of amorphous and nanostructured carbon thin films has been studied. It is found that in amorphous and carbon films with nanometer-sized sp2 clusters, the emission does not depend on the film thickness. This further proves that the emission happens from the surface sp2 sites due to large enhancement of electric field on these sites. However, in the case of carbon films with nanocrystals of preferred orientation, the emission strongly depends on the film thickness. sp2-bonded nanocrystals have higher aspect ratio in thicker films which in turn results in higher field enhancement and hence easier electron emission.Published versio

Thermal rectification reversal in carbon nanotubes

In principle, rectifying phonon and electron flows appear similar, whereby more energy is transported in one direction than the opposite one. However, their physical mechanisms are inherently different. By using molecular dynamics simulations, this study reports on a few interesting aspects of thermal rectification in carbon nanotubes: (1) The dependence of the rectification ratio on the structural symmetry (represented by the position of vacancy clusters) of the nanotube and more importantly (2) a reversal in the rectifying direction as the normalized temperature difference of the heat baths is increased. The flux-mediated diffuse mismatch model is extended to explain the reversal phenomenon—initially with a simplifying assumption that the transmission coefficients at the vacancy/scatterer are identical in bidirectional phonon transport, and then with a moderating factor to distinguish between both coefficients. It is noted that in both cases, the conditions for thermal rectification reversal are attainable and thus explain the results of the simulations.Published versio

Phononic and structural response to strain in wurtzite-gallium nitride nanowires

Gallium nitride (GaN) nanowires exist in a myriad of cross-sectional shapes. In this study, a series of classical molecular dynamics simulations is performed to investigate the strain-phononics-structure relationship in rectangular and triangular wurtzite-GaN nanowires. The thermal conductivity of the nanowires is linearly dependent on the uniaxial strain in both compressive and tensile regimes, and shows no significant dissimilitude for the same amount of strain exerted on the two types of nanowire. This is coherent with an analytical approach using the Boltzmann transport theory. However, the thermomechanical behaviour at the vertex regions shows palpable differences between the two subfamilies, relative to the non-vertex faceted regions, as the structural morphology is most disparate at the vertices. Furthermore, the degree of strain asymmetry is a strong determinant of the vibrational response and consequently thermal conductance.Published versio