Composition and phase engineering of metal chalcogenides and phosphorous chalcogenides.

Two-dimensional (2D) materials with multiphase, multielement crystals such as transition metal chalcogenides (TMCs) (based on V, Cr, Mn, Fe, Cd, Pt and Pd) and transition metal phosphorous chalcogenides (TMPCs) offer a unique platform to explore novel physical phenomena. However, the synthesis of a single-phase/single-composition crystal of these 2D materials via chemical vapour deposition is still challenging. Here we unravel a competitive-chemical-reaction-based growth mechanism to manipulate the nucleation and growth rate. Based on the growth mechanism, 67 types of TMCs and TMPCs with a defined phase, controllable structure and tunable component can be realized. The ferromagnetism and superconductivity in FeXy can be tuned by the y value, such as superconductivity observed in FeX and ferromagnetism in FeS2 monolayers, demonstrating the high quality of as-grown 2D materials. This work paves the way for the multidisciplinary exploration of 2D TMPCs and TMCs with unique properties.

A library of atomically thin metal chalcogenides.

Investigations of two-dimensional transition-metal chalcogenides (TMCs) have recently revealed interesting physical phenomena, including the quantum spin Hall effect1,2, valley polarization3,4 and two-dimensional superconductivity 5 , suggesting potential applications for functional devices6-10. However, of the numerous compounds available, only a handful, such as Mo- and W-based TMCs, have been synthesized, typically via sulfurization11-15, selenization16,17 and tellurization 18 of metals and metal compounds. Many TMCs are difficult to produce because of the high melting points of their metal and metal oxide precursors. Molten-salt-assisted methods have been used to produce ceramic powders at relatively low temperature 19 and this approach 20 was recently employed to facilitate the growth of monolayer WS2 and WSe2. Here we demonstrate that molten-salt-assisted chemical vapour deposition can be broadly applied for the synthesis of a wide variety of two-dimensional (atomically thin) TMCs. We synthesized 47 compounds, including 32 binary compounds (based on the transition metals Ti, Zr, Hf, V, Nb, Ta, Mo, W, Re, Pt, Pd and Fe), 13 alloys (including 11 ternary, one quaternary and one quinary), and two heterostructured compounds. We elaborate how the salt decreases the melting point of the reactants and facilitates the formation of intermediate products, increasing the overall reaction rate. Most of the synthesized materials in our library are useful, as supported by evidence of superconductivity in our monolayer NbSe2 and MoTe2 samples21,22 and of high mobilities in MoS2 and ReS2. Although the quality of some of the materials still requires development, our work opens up opportunities for studying the properties and potential application of a wide variety of two-dimensional TMCs.

High-Performance Sliding Ferroelectric Transistor Based on Schottky Barrier Tuning.

Sliding ferroelectricity associated with interlayer translation is an excellent candidate for ferroelectric device miniaturization. However, the weak polarization gives rise to the poor performance of sliding ferroelectric transistors with a low on/off ratio and a narrow memory window, which restricts its practical application. To address the issue, we propose a facile strategy by regulating the Schottky barrier in sliding ferroelectric semiconductor transistors based on γ-InSe, in which a high performance with a large on/off ratio (106) and a wide memory window (4.5 V) was ultimately acquired. Additionally, the memory window of the device can be further modulated by electrostatic doping or light excitation. These results open up new ways for designing novel ferroelectric devices based on emerging sliding ferroelectricity.

YOLOv5s-CA: A Modified YOLOv5s Network with Coordinate Attention for Underwater Target Detection.

Underwater target detection techniques have been extensively applied to underwater vehicles for marine surveillance, aquaculture, and rescue applications. However, due to complex underwater environments and insufficient training samples, the existing underwater target recognition algorithm accuracy is still unsatisfactory. A long-term effort is essential to improving underwater target detection accuracy. To achieve this goal, in this work, we propose a modified YOLOv5s network, called YOLOv5s-CA network, by embedding a Coordinate Attention (CA) module and a Squeeze-and-Excitation (SE) module, aiming to concentrate more computing power on the target to improve detection accuracy. Based on the existing YOLOv5s network, the number of bottlenecks in the first C3 module was increased from one to three to improve the performance of shallow feature extraction. The CA module was embedded into the C3 modules to improve the attention power focused on the target. The SE layer was added to the output of the C3 modules to strengthen model attention. Experiments on the data of the 2019 China Underwater Robot Competition were conducted, and the results demonstrate that the mean Average Precision (mAP) of the modified YOLOv5s network was increased by 2.4%.

Emerging Phases of Layered Metal Chalcogenides.

Layered metal chalcogenides, as a "rich" family of 2D materials, have attracted increasing research interest due to the abundant choices of materials with diverse structures and rich electronic characteristics. Although the common metal chalcogenide phases such as 2H and 1T have been intensively studied, many other unusual phases are rarely explored, and some of these show fascinating behaviors including superconductivity, ferroelectrics, ferromagnetism, etc. From this perspective, the unusual phases of metal chalcogenides and their characteristics, as well as potential applications are introduced. First, the unusual phases of metal chalcogenides from different classes, including transition metal dichalcogenides, magnetic element-based chalcogenides, and metal phosphorus chalcogenides, are discussed, respectively. Meanwhile, their excellent properties of different unusual phases are introduced. Then, the methods for producing the unusual phases are discussed, specifically, the stabilization strategies during the chemical vapor deposition process for the unusual phase growth are discussed, followed by an outlook and discussions on how to prepare the unusual phase metal dichalcogenides in terms of synthetic methodology and potential applications.

A Tandem 0D/2D/2D NbS2 Quantum Dot/Nb2 O5 Nanosheet/g-C3 N4 Flake System with Spatial Charge-Transfer Cascades for Boosting Photocatalytic Hydrogen Evolution.

The relatively high recombination rate of charges remains the most critical limiting factor for solar-driven water splitting for hydrogen generation. Herein, a tandem 0D/2D/2D NbS2 quantum dot/Nb2 O5 nanosheet/g-C3 N4 flake (NSNOCN) system is designed. Owing to the unique spatial-arrangement and elaborate morphology of 0D NbS2 , 2D Nb2 O5 , and 2D g-C3 N4 in the newly designed NSNOCN, plenty of spatial charge-transfer cascades from g-C3 N4 to NbS2 via Nb2 O5 are formed to accelerate separation and transfer of charges significantly, thus contributing to a high photocatalytic H2 generation rate of 13.99 mmol h-1 g-1 (an apparent quantum efficiency of 10.8% at 420 nm), up to 107.6 and 43.7 times by contrast with that of g-C3 N4 and Nb2 O5 , respectively. This work can provide a new platform in the design of artificial photocatalytic systems with high charge-transfer efficiency.

Self-gating in semiconductor electrocatalysis.

The semiconductor-electrolyte interface dominates the behaviours of semiconductor electrocatalysis, which has been modelled as a Schottky-analogue junction according to classical electron transfer theories. However, this model cannot be used to explain the extremely high carrier accumulations in ultrathin semiconductor catalysis observed in our work. Inspired by the recently developed ion-controlled electronics, we revisit the semiconductor-electrolyte interface and unravel a universal self-gating phenomenon through microcell-based in situ electronic/electrochemical measurements to clarify the electronic-conduction modulation of semiconductors during the electrocatalytic reaction. We then demonstrate that the type of semiconductor catalyst strongly correlates with their electrocatalysis; that is, n-type semiconductor catalysts favour cathodic reactions such as the hydrogen evolution reaction, p-type ones prefer anodic reactions such as the oxygen evolution reaction and bipolar ones tend to perform both anodic and cathodic reactions. Our study provides new insight into the electronic origin of the semiconductor-electrolyte interface during electrocatalysis, paving the way for designing high-performance semiconductor catalysts.

Discrete Sliding Mode Control Design for Bilateral Teleoperation System via Adaptive Extended State Observer.

The goal of this paper is to improve the synchronization control performance of nonlinear teleoperation systems with system uncertainties in the presence of time delays. In view of the nonlinear discrete states of the teleoperation system in packet-switched communication networks, a new discrete sliding mode control (DSMC) strategy is performed via a new reaching law in task space. The new reaching law is designed to reduce the chattering and improve control performance. Moreover, an adaptive extended state observer (AESO) is used to estimate the total system disturbances. The additional gain of AESO is adjusted in time to decrease the estimation errors of both system states and disturbances automatically and improve the estimation performances of the AESO. Finally, the validity of the designed control strategy is demonstrated by both simulation and experiments. Furthermore, the experimental comparison results indicate that the improvement is achievable with the proposed AESO and DSMC.

Active Disturbance Rejection Position Synchronous Control of Dual-Hydraulic Actuators with Unknown Dead-Zones.

In this paper, an integrated control strategy of position synchronization control for dual-electro-hydraulic actuators with unknown dead-zones is proposed. The unified control scheme consists of two parts: One is adaptive dead-zone inverse controllers of each hydraulic actuator to offset the unknown dead-zones. The other is the linear active disturbance rejection controller (LADRC) for position synchronization error. First, the model of the electro-hydraulic proportional position control system (EPPS) was identified by the forgetting factor recursive least square (FFRLS) algorithm. Next, the model reference dead-zone inverse adaptive controller (MRDIAC) was developed to compensate for the delay of actuator response caused by unknown proportional valve dead-zones. Meanwhile, the validity of the adaptive law was proven by the Lyapunov theory. Therefore, the position control accuracy of each hydraulic actuator is guaranteed. Besides, to improve the precision of position synchronization control of dual-hydraulic actuators, a simple and elegant synchronous error-based LADRC was adopted, which applies the total disturbances design concept to eliminate and compensate for motion coupling rather than cross-coupling technology. The performance of the proposed control solution was investigated through extensive comparative experiments based on a hydraulic test platform. The experimental results successfully demonstrate the effectiveness and practicality of the proposed method.

Anomalous Photothermoelectric Transport Due to Anisotropic Energy Dispersion in WTe2.

Band structures are vital in determining the electronic properties of materials. Recently, the two-dimensional (2D) semimetallic transition metal tellurides (WTe2 and MoTe2) have sparked broad research interest because of their elliptical or open Fermi surface, making distinct from the conventional 2D materials. In this study, we demonstrate a centrosymmetric photothermoelectric voltage distribution in WTe2 nanoflakes, which has not been observed in common 2D materials such as graphene and MoS2. Our theoretical model shows the anomalous photothermoelectric effect arises from an anisotropic energy dispersion and micrometer-scale hot carrier diffusion length of WTe2. Further, our results are more consistent with the anisotropic tilt direction of energy dispersion being aligned to the b-axis rather than the a-axis of the WTe2 crystal, which is consistent with the previous first-principle calculations as well as magneto-transport experiments. Our work shows the photothermoelectric current is strongly confined to the anisotropic direction of the energy dispersion in WTe2, which opens an avenue for interesting electro-optic applications such as electron beam collimation and electron lenses.

Ultrathin Ruddlesden-Popper Perovskite Heterojunction for Sensitive Photodetection.

Thanks to their unique optical and electric properties, 2D materials have attracted a lot of interest for optoelectronic applications. Here, the emerging 2D materials, organic-inorganic hybrid perovskites with van der Waals interlayer interaction (Ruddlesden-Popper perovskites), are synthesized and characterized. Photodetectors based on the few-layer Ruddlesden-Popper perovskite show good photoresponsivity as well as good detectivity. In order to further improve the photoresponse performance, 2D MoS2 is chosen to construct the perovskite-MoS2 heterojunction. The performance of the hybrid photodetector is largely improved with 6 and 2 orders of magnitude enhancement for photoresponsivity (104 A W-1 ) and detectivity (4 × 1010 Jones), respectively, which demonstrates the facile charge separation at the interface between perovskite and MoS2 . Furthermore, the contribution of back gate tuning is proved with a greatly reduced dark current. The results demonstrated here will open up a new field for the investigation of 2D perovskites for optoelectronic applications.

Giant Enhancement of Cathodoluminescence of Monolayer Transitional Metal Dichalcogenides Semiconductors.

Monolayer two-dimensional transitional metal dichalcogenides, such as MoS2, WS2, and WSe2, are direct band gap semiconductors with large exciton binding energy. They attract growing attentions for optoelectronic applications including solar cells, photodetectors, light-emitting diodes and phototransistors, capacitive energy storage, photodynamic cancer therapy, and sensing on flexible platforms. While light-induced luminescence has been widely studied, luminescence induced by injection of free electrons could promise another important applications of these new materials. However, cathodoluminescence is inefficient due to the low cross-section of the electron-hole creating process in the monolayers. Here for the first time we show that cathodoluminescence of monolayer chalcogenide semiconductors can be evidently observed in a van der Waals heterostructure when the monolayer semiconductor is sandwiched between layers of hexagonal boron nitride (hBN) with higher energy gap. The emission intensity shows a strong dependence on the thicknesses of surrounding layers and the enhancement factor is more than 500-fold. Strain-induced exciton peak shift in the suspended heterostructure is also investigated by the cathodoluminescence spectroscopy. Our results demonstrate that MoS2, WS2, and WSe2 could be promising cathodoluminescent materials for applications in single-photon emitters, high-energy particle detectors, transmission electron microscope displays, surface-conduction electron-emitter, and field emission display technologies.

MoS2 /Rubrene van der Waals Heterostructure: Toward Ambipolar Field-Effect Transistors and Inverter Circuits.

2D transition metal dichalcogenides are promising channel materials for the next-generation electronic device. Here, vertically 2D heterostructures, so called van der Waals solids, are constructed using inorganic molybdenum sulfide (MoS2 ) few layers and organic crystal - 5,6,11,12-tetraphenylnaphthacene (rubrene). In this work, ambipolar field-effect transistors are successfully achieved based on MoS2 and rubrene crystals with the well balanced electron and hole mobilities of 1.27 and 0.36 cm2 V-1 s-1 , respectively. The ambipolar behavior is explained based on the band alignment of MoS2 and rubrene. Furthermore, being a building block, the MoS2 /rubrene ambipolar transistors are used to fabricate CMOS (complementary metal oxide semiconductor) inverters that show good performance with a gain of 2.3 at a switching threshold voltage of -26 V. This work paves a way to the novel organic/inorganic ultrathin heterostructure based flexible electronics and optoelectronic devices.

Controlled Synthesis of High-Quality Monolayered α-In2Se3 via Physical Vapor Deposition.

In this work, we have demonstrated the synthesis of high-quality monolayered α-In2Se3 using physical vapor deposition method under atmospheric pressure. The quality of the In2Se3 atomic layers has been confirmed by complementary characterization technologies such as Raman/photoluminescence spectroscopies and atomic force microscope. The atomically resolved images have been obtained by the annular dark-field scanning transmission electron microscope. The field-effect transistors have been fabricated using the atomically layered In2Se3 and exhibit p-type semiconducting behaviors with the mobility up to 2.5 cm(2)/ Vs. The In2Se3 layers also show a good photoresponsivity of 340A/W, as well as 6 ms response time for the rise and 12 ms for the fall. These results make In2Se3 atomic layers a promising candidate for the optoelectronic and photosensitive device applications.

Chemical Vapor Deposition of High-Quality and Atomically Layered ReS2.

Recently, anisotropic 2D materials, such as black phosphorus and rhenium disulfides (ReS2 ), have attracted a lot attention because of their unique applications on electronics and optoelectronics. In this work, the direct growth of high-quality ReS2 atomic layers and nanoribbons has been demonstrated by using chemical vapor deposition (CVD) method. A possible growth mechanism is proposed according to the controlled experiments. The CVD ReS2-based filed-effect transistors (FETs) show n-type semiconducting behavior with a current on/off ratio of ≈10(6) and a charge carrier mobility of ≈9.3 cm(2) Vs(-1). These results suggested that the quality of CVD grown ReS2 is comparable to mechanically exfoliated ReS2, which is also further supported by atomic force microscopy imaging, high-resolution transmission electron microscopy imaging and thickness-dependent Raman spectra. The study here indicates that CVD grown ReS2 may pave the way for the large-scale fabrication of ReS2-based high-performance optoelectronic devices, such as anisotropic FETs and polarization detection.

Nonlinear extended state observer based control for the teleoperation of robotic systems with flexible joints.

The control of robot manipulator pose is significantly complicated by the uncertainties arising from flexible joints, presenting substantial challenges in incorporating practical operational constraints. These challenges are further exacerbated in teleoperation scenarios, where factors such as synchronization and external disturbances further amplify the difficulties. At the core of this research is the introduction of a pioneering teleoperation controller, ingeniously integrating a nonlinear extended state observer (ESO) with the barrier Lyapunov function (BLF) while effectively accommodating a steady time delay. The controller in our study demonstrates exceptional proficiency in accurately estimating uncertainties arising from both flexible joints and external disturbances using the nonlinear ESO. Refined estimates, in conjunction with operational constraints of the system, are integrated into our BLF-based controller. Consequently, a synchronized control mechanism for teleoperation is achieved, exhibiting promising performance. Importantly, our experimental findings provide substantial evidence that our proposed approach effectively reduces the tracking error of the teleoperation system to within 0.02 rad. This advancement highlights the potential of our controller in significantly enhancing the precision and reliability of teleoperated robot manipulators.

Membership-dependent polynomial fuzzy control of a positive discrete time system: A symbol transfer technique.

This work explores the polynomial fuzzy stabilization for positive systems. The traditional quadratic Lyapunov function and basic stability analysis may not be favourable for stability investigation due to the absence of the positivity property and membership functions. Therefore, a fuzzy co-positive polynomial Lyapunov-Krasovskii (FCPL) function which considers the positivity is proposed firstly through an imperfect premise matching (IPM) approach. Secondly, the symbol transfer technique which takes into account fuzzy membership knowledge relaxes the stability conditions. The number of symbols is reduced by two constraints: (1) the last and next moments of the membership functions of the FCPL function; (2) membership functions of the fuzzy model and the controller. Finally, the polynomial fuzzy controller with symbols is obtained. Two examples are implemented to verify the proposed methods.

The Integration of Two-Dimensional Materials and Ferroelectrics for Device Applications.

In recent years, there has been growing interest in functional devices based on two-dimensional (2D) materials, which possess exotic physical properties. With an ultrathin thickness, the optoelectrical and electrical properties of 2D materials can be effectively tuned by an external field, which has stimulated considerable scientific activities. Ferroelectric fields with a nonvolatile and electrically switchable feature have exhibited enormous potential in controlling the electronic and optoelectronic properties of 2D materials, leading to an extremely fertile area of research. Here, we review the 2D materials and relevant devices integrated with ferroelectricity. This review starts to introduce the background about the concerned themes, namely 2D materials and ferroelectrics, and then presents the fundamental mechanisms, tuning strategies, as well as recent progress of the ferroelectric effect on the optical and electrical properties of 2D materials. Subsequently, the latest developments of 2D material-based electronic and optoelectronic devices integrated with ferroelectricity are summarized. Finally, the future outlook and challenges of this exciting field are suggested.

Technology and Integration Roadmap for Optoelectronic Memristor.

Optoelectronic memristors (OMs) have emerged as a promising optoelectronic Neuromorphic computing paradigm, opening up new opportunities for neurosynaptic devices and optoelectronic systems. These OMs possess a range of desirable features including minimal crosstalk, high bandwidth, low power consumption, zero latency, and the ability to replicate crucial neurological functions such as vision and optical memory. By incorporating large-scale parallel synaptic structures, OMs are anticipated to greatly enhance high-performance and low-power in-memory computing, effectively overcoming the limitations of the von Neumann bottleneck. However, progress in this field necessitates a comprehensive understanding of suitable structures and techniques for integrating low-dimensional materials into optoelectronic integrated circuit platforms. This review aims to offer a comprehensive overview of the fundamental performance, mechanisms, design of structures, applications, and integration roadmap of optoelectronic synaptic memristors. By establishing connections between materials, multilayer optoelectronic memristor units, and monolithic optoelectronic integrated circuits, this review seeks to provide insights into emerging technologies and future prospects that are expected to drive innovation and widespread adoption in the near future.

Synergistically Modulating Conductive Filaments in Ion-Based Memristors for Enhanced Analog In-Memory Computing.

Memristors offer a promising solution to address the performance and energy challenges faced by conventional von Neumann computer systems. Yet, stochastic ion migration in conductive filament often leads to an undesired performance tradeoff between memory window, retention, and endurance. Herein, a robust memristor based on oxygen-rich SnO2 nanoflowers switching medium, enabled by seed-mediated wet chemistry, to overcome the ion migration issue for enhanced analog in-memory computing is reported. Notably, the interplay between the oxygen vacancy (Vo) and Ag ions (Ag+) in the Ag/SnO2/p++-Si memristor can efficiently modulate the formation and abruption of conductive filaments, thereby resulting in a high on/off ratio (>106), long memory retention (10-year extrapolation), and low switching variability (SV = 6.85%). Multiple synaptic functions, such as paired-pulse facilitation, long-term potentiation/depression, and spike-time dependent plasticity, are demonstrated. Finally, facilitated by the symmetric analog weight updating and multiple conductance states, a high image recognition accuracy of ≥ 91.39% is achieved, substantiating its feasibility for analog in-memory computing. This study highlights the significance of synergistically modulating conductive filaments in optimizing performance trade-offs, balancing memory window, retention, and endurance, which demonstrates techniques for regulating ion migration, rendering them a promising approach for enabling cutting-edge neuromorphic applications.