Electron-Beam-Induced Elastic–Plastic Transition in Si Nanowires

It is generally accepted that silicon nanowires (Si NWs) exhibit linear elastic behavior until fracture without any appreciable plastic deformation. However, the plasticity of Si NWs can be triggered under low strain rate inside the transmission electron microscope (TEM). In this report, two in situ TEM experiments were conducted to investigate the electron-beam (e-beam) effect on the plasticity of Si NWs. An e-beam illuminating with a low current intensity would result in the bond re-forming processes, achieving the plastic deformation with a bent strain over 40% in Si NWs near the room temperature. In addition, an effective method was proposed to shape the Si NWs, where an e-beam-induced elastic–plastic (E–P) transition took place

Electron-Beam-Induced Elastic–Plastic Transition in Si Nanowires

It is generally accepted that silicon nanowires (Si NWs) exhibit linear elastic behavior until fracture without any appreciable plastic deformation. However, the plasticity of Si NWs can be triggered under low strain rate inside the transmission electron microscope (TEM). In this report, two in situ TEM experiments were conducted to investigate the electron-beam (e-beam) effect on the plasticity of Si NWs. An e-beam illuminating with a low current intensity would result in the bond re-forming processes, achieving the plastic deformation with a bent strain over 40% in Si NWs near the room temperature. In addition, an effective method was proposed to shape the Si NWs, where an e-beam-induced elastic–plastic (E–P) transition took place

Electron-Beam-Induced Elastic–Plastic Transition in Si Nanowires

It is generally accepted that silicon nanowires (Si NWs) exhibit linear elastic behavior until fracture without any appreciable plastic deformation. However, the plasticity of Si NWs can be triggered under low strain rate inside the transmission electron microscope (TEM). In this report, two in situ TEM experiments were conducted to investigate the electron-beam (e-beam) effect on the plasticity of Si NWs. An e-beam illuminating with a low current intensity would result in the bond re-forming processes, achieving the plastic deformation with a bent strain over 40% in Si NWs near the room temperature. In addition, an effective method was proposed to shape the Si NWs, where an e-beam-induced elastic–plastic (E–P) transition took place

Hyperdislocations in van der Waals Layered Materials

Dislocations are one-dimensional line defects in three-dimensional crystals or periodic structures. It is common that the dislocation networks made of interactive dislocations be generated during plastic deformation. In van der Waals layered materials, the highly anisotropic nature facilitates the formation of such dislocation networks, which is critical for the friction or exfoliation behavior for these materials. By transmission electron microscopy analysis, we found the topological defects in such dislocation networks can be perfectly rationalized in the framework of traditional dislocation theory, which we applied the name “hyperdislocations”. Due to the strong pinning effect of hyperdislocations, the state of exfoliation can be easily triggered by 1° twisting between two layers, which also explains the origin of disregistry and frictionlessness for all of the superlubricants that are widely used for friction reduction and wear protection

Elastic Properties of GaN Nanowires: Revealing the Influence of Planar Defects on Young’s Modulus at Nanoscale

The elastic properties of gallium nitride (GaN) nanowires with different structures were investigated by in situ electron microscopy in this work. The electric-field-induced resonance method was utilized to reveal that the single crystalline GaN nanowires, along [120] direction, had the similar Young’s modulus as the bulk value at the diameter ranging 92–110 nm. Meanwhile, the elastic behavior of the obtuse-angle twin (OT) GaN nanowires was disclosed both by the in situ SEM resonance technique and in situ transmission electron microscopy tensile test for the first time. Our results showed that the average Young’s modulus of these OT nanowires was greatly decreased to about 66 GPa and indicated no size dependence at the diameter ranging 98–171 nm. A quantitative explanation for this phenomenon is proposed based on the rules of mixtures in classical mechanics. It is revealed that the elastic modulus of one-dimensional nanomaterials is dependent on the relative orientations and the volume fractions of the planar defects

Elastic Properties of GaN Nanowires: Revealing the Influence of Planar Defects on Young’s Modulus at Nanoscale

The elastic properties of gallium nitride (GaN) nanowires with different structures were investigated by in situ electron microscopy in this work. The electric-field-induced resonance method was utilized to reveal that the single crystalline GaN nanowires, along [120] direction, had the similar Young’s modulus as the bulk value at the diameter ranging 92–110 nm. Meanwhile, the elastic behavior of the obtuse-angle twin (OT) GaN nanowires was disclosed both by the in situ SEM resonance technique and in situ transmission electron microscopy tensile test for the first time. Our results showed that the average Young’s modulus of these OT nanowires was greatly decreased to about 66 GPa and indicated no size dependence at the diameter ranging 98–171 nm. A quantitative explanation for this phenomenon is proposed based on the rules of mixtures in classical mechanics. It is revealed that the elastic modulus of one-dimensional nanomaterials is dependent on the relative orientations and the volume fractions of the planar defects

Impact of Polar Edge Terminations of the Transition Metal Dichalcogenide Monolayers during Vapor Growth

The polar edges of two-dimensional monolayer transition metal dichalcogenides (TMD) and their alloys are examined by combined theoretical (density functional theory) and experimental approaches. For these polar edges, the growth reaction energies between different edge terminations are considered instead of the surface free energies. Due to different energy evolutions during growth on the zigzag edges between MoS₂ and WS₂, the S-ZZ edges in the WS₂ monolayer flakes more easily decompose into sawtooth-like edges in M-ZZ type as compared to the MoS₂ monolayer; thus, the hexagonal morphology can be seen more often in WS₂. Moreover, the observed anisotropic short-range order in the MoS₂/WS₂ alloys is originated from the freezed edge configurations during growth, explainable by the growth kinetics and thermodynamics of the Mo-ZZ-edges. The determination of the growing edge terminations is of great importance for the controllable synthesis of the emergent two-dimensional TMD materials

Charge Transport in MoS₂/WSe₂ van der Waals Heterostructure with Tunable Inversion Layer

Despite numerous studies on two-dimensional van der Waals heterostructures, a full understanding of the charge transport and photoinduced current mechanisms in these structures, in particular, associated with charge depletion/inversion layers at the interface remains elusive. Here, we investigate transport properties of a prototype multilayer MoS₂/WSe₂ heterojunction <i>via</i> a tunable charge inversion/depletion layer. A charge inversion layer was constructed at the surface of WSe₂ due to its relatively low doping concentration compared to that of MoS₂, which can be tuned by the back-gate bias. The depletion region was limited within a few nanometers in the MoS₂ side, while charges are fully depleted on the whole WSe₂ side, which are determined by Raman spectroscopy and transport measurements. Charge transport through the heterojunction was influenced by the presence of the inversion layer and involves two regimes of tunneling and recombination. Furthermore, photocurrent measurements clearly revealed recombination and space-charge-limited behaviors, similar to those of the heterostructures built from organic semiconductors. This contributes to research of various other types of heterostructures and can be further applied for electronic and optoelectronic devices

Novel Selective Estrogen Receptor Downregulators (SERDs) Developed against Treatment-Resistant Breast Cancer

Resistance to the selective estrogen receptor modulator tamoxifen and to aromatase inhibitors that lower circulating estradiol occurs in up to 50% of patients, generally leading to an endocrine-independent ER+ phenotype. Selective ER downregulators (SERDs) are able to ablate ER and thus, theoretically, to prevent survival of both endocrine-dependent and -independent ER+ tumors. The clinical SERD fulvestrant is hampered by intramuscular administration and undesirable pharmacokinetics. Novel SERDs were designed using the 6-OH-benzothiophene (BT) scaffold common to arzoxifene and raloxifene. Treatment-resistant (TR) ER+ cell lines (MCF-7:5C and MCF-7:TAM1) were used for optimization, followed by validation in the parent endocrine-dependent cell line (MCF-7:WS8), in 2D and 3D cultures, using ERα in-cell westerns, ERE-luciferase, and cell viability assays, with <b>2</b> (GDC-0810/ARN-810) used for comparison. Two BT SERDs with superior in vitro activity to <b>2</b> were studied for bioavailability and shown to cause regression of a TR, endocrine-independent ER+ xenograft superior to that with <b>2</b>

<i>In Situ</i> Observations of Free-Standing Graphene-like Mono- and Bilayer ZnO Membranes

ZnO in its many forms, such as bulk, thin films, nanorods, nanobelts, and quantum dots, attracts significant attention because of its exciting optical, electronic, and magnetic properties. For very thin ZnO films, predictions were made that the bulk wurtzite ZnO structure would transit to a layered graphene-like structure. Graphene-like ZnO layers were later confirmed when supported over a metal substrate. However, the existence of free-standing graphene-like ZnO has, to the best of our knowledge, not been demonstrated. In this work, we show experimental evidence for the <i>in situ</i> formation of free-standing graphene-like ZnO mono- and bilayer ZnO membranes suspended in graphene pores. Local electron energy loss spectroscopy confirms the membranes comprise only Zn and O. Image simulations and supporting analysis confirm that the membranes are graphene-like ZnO. Graphene-like ZnO layers are predicted to have a wide band gap and different and exciting properties as compared to other ZnO structures