Electronic transport in metallic and semimetallic nanostructures

After 50 years of continued efforts in downscaling basic electronic components which comprise integrated circuits (ICs), research into new device designs is critical as fundamental physical limits are being reached preventing further miniaturisation of designs traditionally employed by the semiconductor industry. With feature sizes in commercial ICs approaching 10 nm, new components designs must take into account the atomistic nature of the materials and interfaces which constitute its lower level components. In this work we explore the electronic structure and electronic transport properties of nanostructures based on metals and semimetals for applications in next generation ICs. We study the non-linear resistivity increase observed in copper nanostructures associated with quantum-size and surface effects in order to assess their suitability for sub-10-nm interconnect networks; for applications in logic gates, we present an alternative design to planar CMOS technology based on exploitation of surface and size effects in semimetallic nanostructures

Electronic structure tuning via surface modification in semimetallic nanowires

Electronic structure properties of nanowires (NWs) with diameters of 1.5 and 3 nm based on semimetallic α − Sn are investigated by employing density functional theory and perturbative GW methods. We explore the dependence of electron affinity, band structure, and band-gap values with crystallographic orientation, NW crosssectional size, and surface passivants of varying electronegativity. We consider four chemical terminations in our study: methyl (CH3), hydrogen (H), hydroxyl (OH), and fluorine (F). Results suggest a high degree of elasticity of Sn-Sn bonds within the Sn NWs’ cores with no significant structural variations for nanowires with different surface passivants. Direct band gaps at Brillouin-zone centers are found for most studied structures with quasiparticle corrected band-gap magnitudes ranging from 0.25 to 3.54 eV in 1.5-nm-diameter structures, indicating an exceptional range of properties for semimetal NWs below the semimetal-to-semiconductor transition. Band-gap variations induced by changes in surface passivants indicate the possibility of realizing semimetal-semiconductor interfaces in NWs with constant cross-section and crystallographic orientation, allowing the design of novel dopant-free NW-based electronic devices

Electron transport properties of sub-3-nm diameter copper nanowires

Density functional theory and density functional tight-binding are applied to model electron transport in copper nanowires of approximately 1 nm and 3 nm diameters with varying crystal orientation and surface termination. The copper nanowires studied are found to be metallic irrespective of diameter, crystal orientation and/or surface termination. Electron transmission is highly dependent on crystal orientation and surface termination. Nanowires oriented along the [110] crystallographic axis consistently exhibit the highest electron transmission while surface oxidized nanowires show significantly reduced electron transmission compared to unterminated nanowires. Transmission per unit area is calculated in each case, for a given crystal orientation we find that this value decreases with diameter for unterminated nanowires but is largely unaffected by diameter in surface oxidized nanowires for the size regime considered. Transmission pathway plots show that transmission is larger at the surface of unterminated nanowires than inside the nanowire and that transmission at the nanowire surface is significantly reduced by surface oxidation. Finally, we present a simple model which explains the transport per unit area dependence on diameter based on transmission pathways results

Impact of stoichiometry and strain on Ge1−x Sn x alloys from first principles calculations

We calculate the electronic structure of germanium-tin (Ge1-x Sn x ) binary alloys for 0 ≤ x ≤ 1 using density functional theory (DFT). Relaxed alloys with semiconducting or semimetallic behaviour as a function of Sn composition x are identified, and the impact of epitaxial strain is investigated by constraining supercell lattice constants perpendicular to the [001] growth direction to the lattice constants of Ge, zinc telluride, or cadmium telluride substrates. It is found that application of 1% tensile strain reduces the Sn composition required to bring the (positive) direct band gap to zero by approximately 5% compared to a relaxed Ge1-x Sn x alloy having the same gap at Γ. On the other hand, compressive strain has comparatively less impact on the alloy band gap at Γ. Using DFT calculated alloy lattice and elastic constants, the critical thickness for Ge1-x Sn x thin films as a function of x and substrate lattice constant is estimated, and validated against supercell DFT calculations and experiment. The analysis correctly predicts the Sn composition range at which it becomes energetically favourable for Ge1-x Sn x /Ge to become amorphous. The influence of stoichiometry and strain is examined in relation to reducing the magnitude of the inverted ('negative') Γ7-Γ8+ band gap, which is characteristic of semimetallic alloy electronic structure. Based on our findings, strategies for engineering the semimetal-to-semiconductor transition via strain and quantum confinement in Ge1-x Sn x nanostructures are proposed. © 2021 IOP Publishing Ltd

The Expanded mtDNA Phylogeny of the Franco-Cantabrian Region Upholds the Pre-Neolithic Genetic Substrate of Basques

The European genetic landscape has been shaped by several human migrations occurred since Paleolithic times. The accumulation of archaeological records and the concordance of different lines of genetic evidence during the last two decades have triggered an interesting debate concerning the role of ancient settlers from the Franco-Cantabrian region in the postglacial resettlement of Europe. Among the Franco-Cantabrian populations, Basques are regarded as one of the oldest and more intriguing human groups of Europe. Recent data on complete mitochondrial DNA genomes focused on macrohaplogroup R0 revealed that Basques harbor some autochthonous lineages, suggesting a genetic continuity since pre-Neolithic times. However, excluding haplogroup H, the most representative lineage of macrohaplogroup R0, the majority of maternal lineages of this area remains virtually unexplored, so that further refinement of the mtDNA phylogeny based on analyses at the highest level of resolution is crucial for a better understanding of the European prehistory. We thus explored the maternal ancestry of 548 autochthonous individuals from various Franco-Cantabrian populations and sequenced 76 mitogenomes of the most representative lineages. Interestingly, we identified three mtDNA haplogroups, U5b1f, J1c5c1 and V22, that proved to be representative of Franco-Cantabria, notably of the Basque population. The seclusion and diversity of these female genetic lineages support a local origin in the Franco-Cantabrian area during the Mesolithic of southwestern Europe, ∼10,000 years before present (YBP), with signals of expansions at ∼3,500 YBP. These findings provide robust evidence of a partial genetic continuity between contemporary autochthonous populations from the Franco-Cantabrian region, specifically the Basques, and Paleolithic/Mesolithic hunter-gatherer groups. Furthermore, our results raise the current proportion (≈15%) of the Franco-Cantabrian maternal gene pool with a putative pre-Neolithic origin to ≈35%, further supporting the notion of a predominant Paleolithic genetic substrate in extant European populations

Observation of an Excited Bc+ State

Using pp collision data corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 8.5 fb-1 recorded by the LHCb experiment at center-of-mass energies of s=7, 8, and 13 TeV, the observation of an excited Bc+ state in the Bc+π+π- invariant-mass spectrum is reported. The observed peak has a mass of 6841.2±0.6(stat)±0.1(syst)±0.8(Bc+) MeV/c2, where the last uncertainty is due to the limited knowledge of the Bc+ mass. It is consistent with expectations of the Bc∗(2S31)+ state reconstructed without the low-energy photon from the Bc∗(1S31)+→Bc+γ decay following Bc∗(2S31)+→Bc∗(1S31)+π+π-. A second state is seen with a global (local) statistical significance of 2.2σ (3.2σ) and a mass of 6872.1±1.3(stat)±0.1(syst)±0.8(Bc+) MeV/c2, and is consistent with the Bc(2S10)+ state. These mass measurements are the most precise to date

Bose-Einstein correlations of same-sign charged pions in the forward region in pp collisions at √s=7 TeV

Bose-Einstein correlations of same-sign charged pions, produced in protonproton collisions at a 7 TeV centre-of-mass energy, are studied using a data sample collected by the LHCb experiment. The signature for Bose-Einstein correlations is observed in the form of an enhancement of pairs of like-sign charged pions with small four-momentum difference squared. The charged-particle multiplicity dependence of the Bose-Einstein correlation parameters describing the correlation strength and the size of the emitting source is investigated, determining both the correlation radius and the chaoticity parameter. The measured correlation radius is found to increase as a function of increasing charged-particle multiplicity, while the chaoticity parameter is seen to decreas

Measurement of the inelastic pp cross-section at a centre-of-mass energy of 13TeV

The cross-section for inelastic proton-proton collisions at a centre-of-mass energy of 13TeV is measured with the LHCb detector. The fiducial cross-section for inelastic interactions producing at least one prompt long-lived charged particle with momentum p > 2 GeV/c in the pseudorapidity range 2 < η < 5 is determined to be ϭ acc = 62:2 ± 0:2 ± 2:5mb. The first uncertainty is the intrinsic systematic uncertainty of the measurement, the second is due to the uncertainty on the integrated luminosity. The statistical uncertainty is negligible. Extrapolation to full phase space yields the total inelastic proton-proton cross-section ϭ inel = 75:4 ± 3:0 ± 4:5mb, where the first uncertainty is experimental and the second due to the extrapolation. An updated value of the inelastic cross-section at a centre-of-mass energy of 7TeV is also reported