890 research outputs found
Nanostructured electrodes for thermionic and thermo-tunneling devices
Recently, new quantum features have been studied in the area of ridged
quantum wells (RQW). Periodic ridges on the surface of the quantum well layer
impose additional boundary conditions on the electron wave function and reduce
the quantum state density. Electrons, rejected from forbidden quantum states,
have to occupy the states with higher energy. As a result, Fermi energy in RQW
increases and work function (WF) decreases. We investigate low WF electrode,
com-posed from a metal RQW layer and a base substrate. The substrate material
was selected so that electrons were confined to the RQW. The WF value depends
on ridge geometry and electron confinement. We calculate WF in the metal RQW
films grown both on a semiconductor and metal substrates. In the case of
semiconductor substrate, wide band gap materials are preferable as they allow
more reduction in RQW work function. In the case of metal substrate, low Fermi
energy materials are preferable. For most material pairs, the WF was reduced
dramatically. Such structures, can serve as electrodes for room temperature
thermionic and thermotunnel energy converters and coolers.Comment: 8 pages, 5 figures, 2 table
Work functions, ionization potentials, and in-between: Scaling relations based on the image charge model
We revisit a model in which the ionization energy of a metal particle is
associated with the work done by the image charge force in moving the electron
from infinity to a small cut-off distance just outside the surface. We show
that this model can be compactly, and productively, employed to study the size
dependence of electron removal energies over the range encompassing bulk
surfaces, finite clusters, and individual atoms. It accounts in a
straightforward manner for the empirically known correlation between the atomic
ionization potential (IP) and the metal work function (WF), IP/WF2. We
formulate simple expressions for the model parameters, requiring only a single
property (the atomic polarizability or the nearest neighbor distance) as input.
Without any additional adjustable parameters, the model yields both the IP and
the WF within 10% for all metallic elements, as well as matches the size
evolution of the ionization potentials of finite metal clusters for a large
fraction of the experimental data. The parametrization takes advantage of a
remarkably constant numerical correlation between the nearest-neighbor distance
in a crystal, the cube root of the atomic polarizability, and the image force
cutoff length. The paper also includes an analytical derivation of the relation
of the outer radius of a cluster of close-packed spheres to its geometric
structure.Comment: Original submission: 8 pages with 7 figures incorporated in the text.
Revised submission (added one more paragraph about alloy work functions): 18
double spaced pages + 8 separate figures. Accepted for publication in PR
Simultaneous Effect of Ultraviolet Radiation and Surface Modification on the Work Function and Hole Injection Properties of ZnO Thin Films
The combined effect of ultraviolet (UV) light soaking and self-assembled monolayer deposition on the work function (WF) of thin ZnO layers and on the efficiency of hole injection into the prototypical conjugated polymer poly(3-hexylthiophen-2,5-diyl) (P3HT) is systematically investigated. It is shown that the WF and injection efficiency depend strongly on the history of UV light exposure. Proper treatment of the ZnO layer enables ohmic hole injection into P3HT, demonstrating ZnO as a potential anode material for organic optoelectronic devices. The results also suggest that valid conclusions on the energy-level alignment at the ZnO/organic interfaces may only be drawn if the illumination history is precisely known and controlled. This is inherently problematic when comparing electronic data from ultraviolet photoelectron spectroscopy (UPS) measurements carried out under different or ill-defined illumination conditions.Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft
http://dx.doi.org/10.13039/501100001659Peer Reviewe
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Simultaneous Effect of Ultraviolet Radiation and Surface Modification on the Work Function and Hole Injection Properties of ZnO Thin Films
The combined effect of ultraviolet (UV) light soaking and self-assembled monolayer deposition on the work function (WF) of thin ZnO layers and on the efficiency of hole injection into the prototypical conjugated polymer poly(3-hexylthiophen-2,5-diyl) (P3HT) is systematically investigated. It is shown that the WF and injection efficiency depend strongly on the history of UV light exposure. Proper treatment of the ZnO layer enables ohmic hole injection into P3HT, demonstrating ZnO as a potential anode material for organic optoelectronic devices. The results also suggest that valid conclusions on the energy-level alignment at the ZnO/organic interfaces may only be drawn if the illumination history is precisely known and controlled. This is inherently problematic when comparing electronic data from ultraviolet photoelectron spectroscopy (UPS) measurements carried out under different or ill-defined illumination conditions. © 2020 The Authors. Published by WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinhei
Thin NaCl films on silver (001): island growth and work function
The surface work function (WF) and substrate temperature dependence of the NaCl thin-film growth on Ag(001) have been studied by noncontact atomic force microscopy and Kelvin probe force microscopy. In the sub-monolayer range, the NaCl film is composed of large crystalline islands, which decrease in density and increase in size with increasing temperature during deposition. Each island is composed of a large base island 2 monolayers (ML) thick (for T > 343 K), which collects impinging NaCl molecules that form ad-islands on top. Kelvin probe force microscopy (KPFM) measurements show a reduction of the silver WF by with no dependence on the film thickness (1â6 ML), in agreement with recent theoretical calculations. The previously observed nanometer-sized moirĂ© pattern on islands that are 45° rotated with respect to the silver lattice could be observed in the scanning tunneling microscopy mode. However, no contrast could be obtained in KPFM images
Antibacterial activity of ultrathin platinum islands on flat gold against Escherichia coli
Nanoporous Au exhibits high antibacterial activity (AA) without releasing reactive oxygen species or metal ions, instead its AA depends on the work function (WF) because cell walls are affected by peculiar electronic states at the surface. Based on this mechanism, a flat surface without nanostructure should show high AA if the WF of the surface is suitably tuned. To verify this, ultrathin Pt islands with high WF was fabricated on flat Au by underpotential deposition (UPD) of copper and subsequent redox replacement with Pt, and the AA of the Pt/Au substrate on Escherichia coli was evaluated. The Pt/Au substrate showed higher AA than Pt and Au surfaces, and a positive relationship between AA and WF was demonstrated. In addition, first principles calculations were performed to investigate the mechanism for the high WF of the Pt/Au substrate. The findings suggest that the high WF of the Pt/Au substrate is at least partly due to charge transfer from Au to Pt
Strain Effects on the Work Function of an Organic Semiconductor
Establishing fundamental relationships between strain and work function (WF) in organic semiconductors is important not only for understanding electrical properties of organic thin films, which are subject to both intrinsic and extrinsic strains, but also for developing flexible electronic devices. Here we investigate tensile and compressive strain effects on the WF of rubrene single crystals. Mechanical strain induced by thermal expansion mismatch between the substrate and rubrene is quantified by X-ray diffraction. The corresponding WF change is measured by scanning Kelvin probe microscopy. The WF of rubrene increases (decreases) significantly with in-plane tensile (compressive) strain, which agrees qualitatively with density functional theory calculations. An elastic-to-plastic transition, characterized by a steep rise of the WF, occurs at âŒ0.05% tensile strain along the rubrene Ï-stacking direction. The results provide the first concrete link between mechanical strain and WF of an organic semiconductor and have important implications for understanding the connection between structural and electronic disorder in soft organic electronic materials
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