Visible and Infra-red Light Emission in Boron-Doped Wurtzite Silicon Nanowires

Silicon, the mainstay semiconductor in microelectronic circuitry, is considered unsuitable for optoelectronic applications owing to its indirect electronic band gap, which limits its efficiency as a light emitter. Here we show the light emission properties of boron-doped wurtzite silicon nanowires measured by cathodoluminescence spectroscopy at room temperature. A visible emission, peaked above 1.5 eV, and a near infra-red emission at 0.8 eV correlate respectively to the direct transition at the Γ point and to the indirect band-gap of wurtzite silicon. We find additional intense emissions due to boron intra-gap states in the short wavelength infra-red range. We present the evolution of the light emission properties as function of the boron doping concentration and the growth temperature

Single-Pixel Imaging in Space and Time with Optically-Modulated Free Electrons

Single-pixel imaging, originally developed in light optics, facilitates fast three-dimensional sample reconstruction, as well as probing with light wavelengths undetectable by conventional multi-pixel detectors. However, the spatial resolution of optics-based single-pixel microscopy is limited by diffraction to hundreds of nanometers. Here, we propose an implementation of single-pixel imaging relying on attainable modifications of currently available ultrafast electron microscopes in which optically-modulated electrons are used instead of photons to achieve sub-nanometer spatially- and temporally-resolved single-pixel imaging. We simulate electron beam profiles generated by interaction with the optical field produced by an externally programable spatial light modulator and demonstrate the feasibility of the method by showing that the sample image and its temporal evolution can be reconstructed using realistic imperfect illumination patterns. Electron single-pixel imaging holds strong potential for application in low-dose probing of beam-sensitive biological and molecular samples, including rapid screening during in-situ experiments.Comment: 25 pages, 4 figures, 3 supplementary figure

Single-step Au-catalysed synthesis and microstructural characterization of core-shell Ge/In-Te nanowires by MOCVD

We report on the self-assembly of core-shell Ge/In-Te nanowires (NWs) on single crystal Si substrates by Metalorganic Chemical Vapour Deposition (MOCVD), coupled to the Vapour-Liquid-Solid (VLS) mechanism, catalysed by Au nanoparticles (NPs). The NWs are formed by a crystalline Ge core and an InTe (II) shell, have diameters down to 15 nm and show <110> oriented growth direction. The role of the MOCVD process parameters and of the NPs size in determining the NWs core-shell microstructure and their alignment was investigated by high-resolution TEM, EDX, XRD and Raman spectroscopy

Tunability of exchange bias in Ni@NiO core-shell nanoparticles obtained by sequential layer deposition

Films of magnetic Ni@NiO core-shell nanoparticles (NPs, core diameter d\ua0 45\ua012 nm, nominal shell thickness variable between 0 and 6.5 nm) obtained with sequential layer deposition were investigated, to gain insight into the relationships between shell thickness/morphology, core-shell interface, and magnetic properties. Different values of NiO shell thickness ts could be obtained while keeping the Ni core size fixed, at variance with conventional oxidation procedures where the oxide shell is grown at the expense of the core. Chemical composition, morphology of the as-produced samples and structural features of the Ni/NiO interface were investigated with x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy and microscopy (scanning electron microscopy, transmission electron microscopy) techniques, and related with results from magnetic measurements obtained with a superconducting quantum interference device. The effect of the shell thickness on the magnetic properties could be studied. The exchange bias (EB) field Hbias is small and almost constant for ts up to 1.6 nm; then it rapidly grows, with no sign of saturation. This behavior is clearly related to the morphology of the top NiO layer, and is mostly due to the thickness dependence of the NiO anisotropy constant. The ability to tune the EB effect by varying the thickness of the last NiO layer represents a step towards the rational design and synthesis of core-shell NPs with desired magnetic properties