Indium Antimonide Nanowires: Synthesis and Properties

This article summarizes some of the critical features of pure indium antimonide nanowires (InSb NWs) growth and their potential applications in the industry. In the first section, historical studies on the growth of InSb NWs have been presented, while in the second part, a comprehensive overview of the various synthesis techniques is demonstrated briefly. The major emphasis of current review is vapor phase deposition of NWs by manifold techniques. In addition, author review various protocols and methodologies employed to generate NWs from diverse material systems via self-organized fabrication procedures comprising chemical vapor deposition, annealing in reactive atmosphere, evaporation of InSb, molecular/chemical beam epitaxy, solution-based techniques, and top-down fabrication method. The benefits and ill effects of the gold and self-catalyzed materials for the growth of NWs are explained at length. Afterward, in the next part, four thermodynamic characteristics of NW growth criterion concerning the expansion of NWs, growth velocity, Gibbs-Thomson effect, and growth model were expounded and discussed concisely. Recent progress in device fabrications is explained in the third part, in which the electrical and optical properties of InSb NWs were reviewed by considering the effects of conductivity which are diameter dependent and the applications of NWs in the fabrications of field-effect transistors, quantum devices, thermoelectrics, and detectors

Nanoscale Footprints of Self-Running Gallium Droplets on GaAs Surface

In this work, the nanoscale footprints of self-driven liquid gallium droplet movement on a GaAs (001) surface will be presented and analyzed. The nanoscale footprints of a primary droplet trail and ordered secondary droplets along primary droplet trails are observed on the GaAs surface. A well ordered nanoterrace from the trail is left behind by a running droplet. In addition, collision events between two running droplets are investigated. The exposed fresh surface after a collision demonstrates a superior evaporation property. Based on the observation of droplet evolution at different stages as well as nanoscale footprints, a schematic diagram of droplet evolution is outlined in an attempt to understand the phenomenon of stick-slip droplet motion on the GaAs surface. The present study adds another piece of work to obtain the physical picture of a stick-slip self-driven mechanism in nanoscale, bridging nano and micro systems

Synergistic tailoring of band structure and charge carrier extraction in "green" core/shell quantum dots for highly efficient solar energy conversion

Environment-friendly colloidal core/shell quantum dots (QDs) with controllable optoelectronic characteristics are promising building blocks for future commercial solar technologies. Herein, we synergistically tailor the electronic band structure and charge carrier extraction of eco-friendly AgInS2 (AIS)/ZnS core/shell QDs via Mn-alloying and Cu-doping in the core and shell, respectively. It is demonstrated that the Mn-alloying in AIS core can broaden the band gap to facilitate delocalization of photogenerated electrons into the shell and further incor-poration of Cu in the ZnS shell enables the creation of Cu-related states that capture the photogenerated holes from core, thus leading to charge carrier recombination and accelerated transfer of photogenerated electrons in the core/shell QDs. As-prepared Mn-AIS/ZnS@Cu QDs were assembled as light harvesters in a photo-electrochemical (PEC) device for light-driven hydrogen evolution, delivering a maximum photocurrent density of ~ 6.4 mA cm-2 with superior device stability under standard one sun irradiation (AM 1.5G, 100 mW cm(-2)). Our findings highlight that simultaneously engineering the band alignment and charge carrier dynamics of "green " core/shell QDs endow the feasibility to design future high-efficiency and durable solar hydrogen pro-duction systems

Plant Canopy May Promote Seed Dispersal by Wind

Seed dispersal has received much research attention. The plant canopy can intercept diaspores, but the effect of the plant canopy (the aboveground portion of a plant consisting of branches and leaves) on dispersal distance has not been explored empirically. To determine the effect of plant canopy on seed dispersal distance, a comparison of diaspores falling through open air and through plant canopy was made in a wind tunnel using three wind speeds and diaspores with various traits. Compared with diaspores falling through open air, the dispersal distance of diaspores falling through plant canopy was decreased or increased, depending on wind speed and diaspore traits. When falling through a plant canopy, dispersal distance of diaspores with thorns or those without appendages was promoted at low wind speed (2 m s−1), while that of diaspores with low wing loading (0.5 mg mm−2) and terminal velocity (2.5 m s−1) was promoted by relatively high (6 m s−1) wind speed. A plant canopy could increase seed dispersal distance, which may be due to the complicated updraft generated by canopy. The effect of maternal plants on seed dispersal regulates the distribution pattern and the species composition of the community

Indium Antimonide Nanowires:Synthesis and Properties

This article summarizes some of the critical features of pure indium antimonide nanowires (InSb NWs) growth and their potential applications in the industry. In the first section, historical studies on the growth of InSb NWs have been presented, while in the second part, a comprehensive overview of the various synthesis techniques is demonstrated briefly. The major emphasis of current review is vapor phase deposition of NWs by manifold techniques. In addition, author review various protocols and methodologies employed to generate NWs from diverse material systems via self-organized fabrication procedures comprising chemical vapor deposition, annealing in reactive atmosphere, evaporation of InSb, molecular/chemical beam epitaxy, solution-based techniques, and top-down fabrication method. The benefits and ill effects of the gold and self-catalyzed materials for the growth of NWs are explained at length. Afterward, in the next part, four thermodynamic characteristics of NW growth criterion concerning the expansion of NWs, growth velocity, Gibbs-Thomson effect, and growth model were expounded and discussed concisely. Recent progress in device fabrications is explained in the third part, in which the electrical and optical properties of InSb NWs were reviewed by considering the effects of conductivity which are diameter dependent and the applications of NWs in the fabrications of field-effect transistors, quantum devices, thermoelectrics, and detectors

Epitaxial deposition of silver ultra-fine nano-clusters on defect-free surfaces of HOPG-derived few-layer graphene in a UHV multi-chamber by in situ STM, ex situ XPS, and ab initio calculations

The growth of three-dimensional ultra-fine spherical nano-particles of silver on few layers of graphene derived from highly oriented pyrolytic graphite in ultra-high vacuum were characterized using in situ scanning tunneling microscopy (STM) in conjunction with X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. The energetics of the Ag clusters was determined by DFT simulations. The Ag clusters appeared spherical with size distribution averaging approximately 2 nm in diameter. STM revealed the preferred site for the position of the Ag atom in the C-benzene ring of graphene. Of the three sites, the C-C bridge, the C-hexagon hollow, and the direct top of the C atom, Ag prefers to stay on top of the C atom, contrary to expectation of the hexagon-close packing. Ab initio calculations confirm the lowest potential energy between Ag and the graphene structure to be at the exact site determined from STM imaging

Long-lived charge separation following pump-wavelength-dependent ultrafast charge transfer in graphene/WS2 heterostructures

Van der Waals heterostructures consisting of graphene and transition metal dichalcogenides have shown great promise for optoelectronic applications. However, an in-depth understanding of the critical processes for device operation, namely, interfacial charge transfer (CT) and recombination, has so far remained elusive. Here, we investigate these processes in graphene-WS2 heterostructures by complementarily probing the ultrafast terahertz photoconductivity in graphene and the transient absorption dynamics in WS2 following photoexcitation. We observe that separated charges in the heterostructure following CT live extremely long: beyond 1 ns, in contrast to ~1 ps charge separation reported in previous studies. This leads to efficient photogating of graphene. Furthermore, for the CT process across graphene-WS2 interfaces, we find that it occurs via photo- thermionic emission for sub-A-exciton excitations and direct hole transfer from WS2 to the valence band of graphene for above-A-exciton excitations. These findings provide insights to further optimize the perform ance of optoelectronic devices, in particular photodetection

Long-Lived Charge Separation Following Pump-Energy Dependent Ultrafast Charge Transfer in Graphene/WS2_2 Heterostructures

Van der Waals heterostructures consisting of graphene and transition metal dichalcogenides (TMDCs) have recently shown great promise for high-performance optoelectronic applications. However, an in-depth understanding of the critical processes for device operation, namely interfacial charge transfer (CT) and recombination, has so far remained elusive. Here, we investigate these processes in graphene-WS$_2$ heterostructures, by complementarily probing the ultrafast terahertz photoconductivity in graphene and the transient absorption dynamics in WS$_2$ following photoexcitation. We find that CT across graphene-WS$_2$ interfaces occurs via photo-thermionic emission for sub-A-exciton excitation, and direct hole transfer from WS$_2$ to the valence band of graphene for above-A-exciton excitation. Remarkably, we observe that separated charges in the heterostructure following CT live extremely long: beyond 1 ns, in contrast to ~1 ps charge separation reported in previous studies. This leads to efficient photogating of graphene. These findings provide relevant insights to optimize further the performance of optoelectronic devices, in particular photodetection

Self-organization of quantum-dot pairs by high-temperature droplet epitaxy

The spontaneously formation of epitaxial GaAs quantum-dot pairs was demonstrated on an AlGaAs surface using Ga droplets as a Ga nano-source. The dot pair formation was attributed to the anisotropy of surface diffusion during high-temperature droplet epitaxy