169 research outputs found
Compositional boundary layers trigger liquid unmixing in a basaltic crystal mush
Abstract: The separation of immiscible liquids has significant implications for magma evolution and the formation of magmatic ore deposits. We combine high-resolution imaging and electron probe microanalysis with the first use of atom probe tomography on tholeiitic basaltic glass from Hawaii, the Snake River Plain, and Iceland, to investigate the onset of unmixing of basaltic liquids into Fe-rich and Si-rich conjugates. We examine the relationships between unmixing and crystal growth, and the evolution of a nanoemulsion in a crystal mush. We identify the previously unrecognised role played by compositional boundary layers in promoting unmixing around growing crystals at melt-crystal interfaces. Our findings have important implications for the formation of immiscible liquid in a crystal mush, the interpretations of compositional zoning in crystals, and the role of liquid immiscibility in controlling magma physical properties
Triplet Exciton Generation in Bulk-Heterojunction Solar Cells based on Endohedral Fullerenes
Organic bulk-heterojunctions (BHJ) and solar cells containing the trimetallic
nitride endohedral fullerene 1-[3-(2-ethyl)hexoxy
carbonyl]propyl-1-phenyl-Lu3N@C80 (Lu3N@C80-PCBEH) show an open circuit voltage
(VOC) 0.3 V higher than similar devices with [6,6]-phenyl-C[61]-butyric acid
methyl ester (PC61BM). To fully exploit the potential of this acceptor molecule
with respect to the power conversion efficiency (PCE) of solar cells, the short
circuit current (JSC) should be improved to become competitive with the state
of the art solar cells. Here, we address factors influencing the JSC in blends
containing the high voltage absorber Lu3N@C80-PCBEH in view of both
photogeneration but also transport and extraction of charge carriers. We apply
optical, charge carrier extraction, morphology, and spin-sensitive techniques.
In blends containing Lu3N@C80-PCBEH, we found 2 times weaker photoluminescence
quenching, remainders of interchain excitons, and, most remarkably, triplet
excitons formed on the polymer chain, which were absent in the reference
P3HT:PC61BM blends. We show that electron back transfer to the triplet state
along with the lower exciton dissociation yield due to intramolecular charge
transfer in Lu3N@C80-PCBEH are responsible for the reduced photocurrent
Atom probe tomography of nanoscale electronic materials
International audienceAs the characteristic length scale of electronic devices shrinks, so does the required scale for measurement techniques to provide useful feedback during development and fabrication. The current capabilities of atom probe tomography (APT), such as detecting a low number of dopant atoms in nanoscale devices or studying diffusion effects in a nanowire (NW), make this technique important for metrology on the nanoscale. Here we review recent APT investigations applied to transistors (including regions such as gate oxide, channel, source, drain, contacts, etc.), heterogeneous dopant incorporation in NWs, and Pt-based nanoparticles
Composition profiling of GaAs/AIGaAs quantum dots grown by droplet epitaxy
Droplet epitaxy (DE) is a growth method which can create III-V quantum dots (QDs) whose optoelectronic properties can be accurately controlled through the crystallisation conditions. In this
work, GaAs/AlGaAs DE-QDs have been analyzed with the complimentary techniques of crosssectional
scanning tunneling microscopy and atom probe tomography. Structural details and a quantitative chemical analysis of QDs of different sizes are obtained. Most QDs were found to be pure GaAs, while a small proportion exhibited high intermixing caused by a local etching process. Large QDs with a high aspect ratio were observed to have an Al-rich crown above the GaAs QD. This structure is attributed to differences in mobility of the cations during the capping phase of the DE growth
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