Optical tuning of exciton and trion emissions in monolayer phosphorene

Monolayer phosphorene provides a unique two-dimensional (2D) platform to investigate the fundamental dynamics of excitons and trions (charged excitons) in reduced dimensions. However, owing to its high instability, unambiguous identification of monolayer phosphorene has been elusive. Consequently, many important fundamental properties, such as exciton dynamics, remain underexplored. We report a rapid, noninvasive, and highly accurate approach based on optical interferometry to determine the layer number of phosphorene, and confirm the results with reliable photoluminescence measurements. Furthermore, we successfully probed the dynamics of excitons and trions in monolayer phosphorene by controlling the photo-carrier injection in a relatively low excitation power range. Based on our measured optical gap and the previously measured electronic energy gap, we determined the exciton binding energy to be ~0.3 eV for the monolayer phosphorene on SiO2/Si substrate, which agrees well with theoretical predictions. A huge trion binding energy of ~100 meV was first observed in monolayer phosphorene, which is around five times higher than that in transition metal dichalcogenide (TMD) monolayer semiconductor, such as MoS2. The carrier lifetime of exciton emission in monolayer phosphorene was measured to be ~220 ps, which is comparable to those in other 2D TMD semiconductors. Our results open new avenues for exploring fundamental phenomena and novel optoelectronic applications using monolayer phosphorene

Simultaneously tuning structural defects and crystal phase in accordion-like TixO2x−1 derived from Ti3C2Tx MXene for enhanced electromagnetic attenuation

Single Ti3C2Tx MXene (MTO) materials are not suitable for electromagnetic (EM) wave absorption due to their high conductivity and impedance mismatch. To address this issue, we ingeniously took advantage of easily oxidized characteristics of Ti3C2Tx MXene to establish structural defects and multiphase engineering in accordion-like TixO2x−1 derived from Ti3C2Tx MXene by a high-temperature hydrogen reduction process for the first time. Phase evolution sequences are revealed to be Ti3C2Tx MXene/anatase TiO2 → Ti3C2Tx MXene/rutile TiO2 → TixO2x−1 (1 ≤ x ≤ 4) during a hydrogen reduction reaction. Benefiting from conductance loss caused by hole motion under the action of an external electric field and heterointerfaces caused by interfacial polarization, the impedance match and EM attenuation capability of accordion-like TixO2x−1 absorbers derived from Ti3C2Tx MXene are superior to that of pristine Ti3C2Tx MXene/TiO2 materials. Additionally, simulated whole radar cross section (RCS) plots in different incident angular of the Ti3C2Tx MXene/rutile TiO2 product are lower than −20 dBm2, and the minimum RCS value can reach −43 dBm2, implying a great potential for practical applications in the EM wave absorption. Moreover, the relationship among charges, defects, interfaces, and EM performances in the accordion-like TixO2x−1 materials is systematically clarified by the energy band theory, which is suitable for the research of other MXene-derived semiconductor absorbing composites

2D materials for nanophotonic devices

Two-dimensional (2D) materials have become very important building blocks for electronic, photonic, and phononic devices. The 2D material family has four key members, including the metallic graphene, transition metal dichalcogenide (TMD) layered semiconductors, semiconducting black phosphorous, and the insulating h-BN. Owing to the strong quantum confinements and defect-free surfaces, these atomically thin layers have offered us perfect platforms to investigate the interactions among photons, electrons and phonons. The unique interactions in these 2D materials are very important for both scientific research and application engineering. In this talk, I would like to briefly summarize and highlight the key findings, opportunities and challenges in this field. Next, I will introduce/highlight our recent achievements. We demonstrated atomically thin micro-lens and gratings using 2D MoS2, which is the thinnest optical component around the world. These devices are based on our discovery that the elastic light-matter interactions in highindex 2D materials is very strong. Also, I would like to introduce a new two-dimensional material phosphorene. Phosphorene has strongly anisotropic optical response, which creates 1D excitons in a 2D system. The strong confinement in phosphorene also enables the ultra-high trion (charged exciton) binding energies, which have been successfully measured in our experiments. Finally, I will briefly talk about the potential applications of 2D materials in energy harvestin

Vat photopolymerization-based 3D printing of complex-shaped and high-performance Al2O3 ceramic tool with chip-breaking grooves: Cutting performance and wear mechanism

ABSTRACTDue to the processing of alumina ceramic cutting tools with complex shapes using traditional methods is difficult and time-consuming, vat-photopolymerization-based 3D printing was adopted to fabricate Al2O3 ceramic cutting tools with grooves for the first time. Subsequently, cutting performance evaluation and wear mechanism analysis were conducted. The relative density, Vickers hardness, and bending strength of the alumina cutting tools were determined. The effects of the cutting speed, feed rate, and cutting depth on the cutting performance and wear mechanism of the cutting tools were systematically investigated. In addition, two commercial cutting tools, namely cemented carbide and ceramic tools without grooves, were used for comparison. The cutting speed has the highest influence on the cutting performance, whereas the cutting depth has the least influence. The cutting performance of the prepared alumina cutting inserts with chip breaker grooves superior to that those without chip-breaking grooves and that of the cemented carbide tools. The wear mechanisms of the prepared alumina cutting tools and commercial tools were determined to be abrasive and adhesive wear, and those of the cemented carbide tools were adhesive wear and breakage. This work opens a new avenue for the future preparation of high-performance and complex-shaped ceramic cutting tools

Mechanisms and Applications of Steady-State Photoluminescence Spectroscopy in Two-Dimensional Transition-Metal Dichalcogenides

Two-dimensional (2D) transition-metal dichalcogenide (TMD) semiconductors exhibit many important structural and optoelectronic properties, such as strong light–matter interactions, direct bandgaps tunable from visible to near-infrared regions, flexibility and atomic thickness, quantum-confinement effects, valley polarization possibilities, and so on. Therefore, they are regarded as a very promising class of materials for next-generation state-of-the-art nano/micro optoelectronic devices. To explore different applications and device structures based on 2D TMDs, intrinsic material properties, their relationships, and evolutions with fabrication parameters need to be deeply understood, very often through a combination of various characterization techniques. Among them, steady-state photoluminescence (PL) spectroscopy has been extensively employed. This class of techniques is fast, contactless, and nondestructive and can provide very high spatial resolution. Therefore, it can be used to obtain optoelectronic properties from samples of various sizes (from microns to centimeters) during the fabrication process without complex sample preparation. In this article, the mechanism and applications of steady-state PL spectroscopy in 2D TMDs are reviewed. The first part of this review details the physics of PL phenomena in semiconductors and common techniques to acquire and analyze PL spectra. The second part introduces various applications of PL spectroscopy in 2D TMDs. Finally, a broader perspective is discussed to highlight some limitations and untapped opportunities of PL spectroscopy in characterizing 2D TMDs

Effects of cigarette smoking on older chinese men treated with clopidogrel monotherapy or aspirin monotherapy: a prospective study

We investigated the comparative effects of smoking status on outcomes in older Chinese men receiving aspirin or clopidogrel monotherapy. This was a prospective observational study of outcomes in 668 men aged ≥ 60 years undergoing annual health examination in the Chinese People’s Liberation Army General Hospital from March–April 2017. All patients received regular treatment with aspirin or clopidogrel. Platelet aggregation and phenotyping for rs762551 were measured in all patients. We recorded all major adverse cardiovascular and cerebrovascular events; namely, all-cause death, myocardial infarction, stroke, transient ischemic attack, and unstable angina. In the clopidogrel subgroup, homozygous carriers (AA) of the CYP1A2*1F gene (rs762551, 163C>A) appeared more frequently in smokers than in nonsmokers (45.6% vs 32.7%, p = .035). Adenosine diphosphate-induced platelet aggregation using light transmittance aggregometry was lower in smokers compared with nonsmokers (44.97 ± 20.05% vs 51.98 ± 19.38%, respectively; p = .0018). Smokers (n = 103) had a decreased risk of major adverse cardiovascular and cerebrovascular events, compared with nonsmokers [n = 159; hazard ratio, 0.466; 95% confidence interval: 0.262–0.829, p = .008]. In the aspirin subgroup, AA-induced platelet aggregation showed no significant difference regarding smoking vs nonsmoking status (30.90 ± 32.21 vs 29.78 ± 31.47, respectively; p = .771). However, we saw a significant increase in adverse clinical events in the smoking group (n = 148) compared with the nonsmoking group (n = 258; hazard ratio = 1.907, 95% confidence interval: 1.128–3.225; p = .016). In older Chinese men, active smokers benefitted from clopidogrel therapy compared with aspirin. Long-term cigarette smoking may contribute to increased variations in CYP1A2*1F, but the variations do not fully explain the smoking paradox

Performance degradation and mitigation strategies of silver nanowire networks: a review

In view of the drawbacks of high-cost and inherent brittleness of indium tin oxide (ITO) based transparent electrodes, silver nanowires (AgNW) networks have been considered as promising alternatives owing to their excellent optical transparency, mechanical flexibility, and compatibility with large scale printing process. AgNWs have been applied as transparent electrodes in many electronic devices, however, in many cases, they inevitably interact with the surrounding media (e.g., temperature, electric field, UV light irradiation, etc.) which will cause performance degradation. For instance, AgNWs show a typical Rayleigh instability phenomenon when the external temperature is higher than a critical point. Moreover, a specific range of UV light or/and intensive current density can accelerate the partial breakage of AgNW networks. To develop highly stable AgNW based transparent electrodes for flexible electronic devices, intensive research works have been conducted to mitigate the degeneration issues. In this review, the degradation mechanisms of AgNW based transparent electrodes have been systematically studied. Furthermore, the mainstream strategies for mitigating the deterioration of AgNW based transparent electrodes have been analyzed. Finally, the present challenges in current materials processing, and future research directions have been discussed.</p