Enhanced Photocharacteristics by Fermi Level Modulating in Sb2 Te3 /Bi2 Se3 Topological Insulator p-n Junction.

Topological insulators have recently received attention in optoelectronic devices because of their high mobility and broadband absorption resulting from their topological surface states. In particular, theoretical and experimental studies have emerged that can improve the spin generation efficiency in a topological insulator-based p-n junction structure called a TPNJ, drawing attention in optospintronics. Recently, research on implementing the TPNJ structure is conducted; however, studies on the device characteristics of the TPNJ structure are still insufficient. In this study, the TPNJ structure is effectively implemented without intermixing by controlling the annealing temperature, and the photocharacteristics appearing in the TPNJ structure are investigated using a cross-pattern that can compare the characteristics in a single device. Enhanced photo characteristics are observed for the TPNJ structure. An optical pump Terahertz probe and a physical property measurement system are used to confirm the cause of improved photoresponsivity. Consequently, the photocharacteristics are improved owing to the change in the absorption mechanism and surface transport channel caused by the Fermi level shift in the TPNJ structure.

Enhanced Spin-to-Charge Conversion Efficiency in Ultrathin Bi2Se3 Observed by Spintronic Terahertz Spectroscopy.

Owing to their remarkable spin-charge conversion (SCC) efficiency, topological insulators (TIs) are the most attractive candidates for spin-orbit torque generators. The simple method of enhancing SCC efficiency is to reduce the thickness of TI films to minimize the trivial bulk contribution. However, when the thickness reaches the ultrathin regime, the SCC efficiency decreases owing to intersurface hybridization. To overcome these contrary effects, we induced dehybridization of the ultrathin TI film by breaking the inversion symmetry between surfaces. For the TI film grown on an oxygen-deficient transition-metal oxide, the unbonded transition-metal d-orbitals affected only the bottom surface, resulting in asymmetric surface band structures. Spintronic terahertz emission spectroscopy, an emerging tool for investigating the SCC characteristics, revealed that the resulting SCC efficiency in symmetry-broken ultrathin Bi2Se3 was enhanced by up to ∼2.4 times.

Enhanced Photoinduced Carrier Generation Efficiency through Surface Band Bending in Topological Insulator Bi2Se3 Thin Films by the Oxidized Layer.

Topological insulators (TIs) have become popular in the field of optoelectronic devices because of their broadband and high-sensitivity properties, which are attributed to the narrow band gap of the bulk state and high mobility of the Dirac surface state. Although perfectly grown TIs are known to exhibit strong stability against oxidation, in most cases, the existence of vacancy defects in TIs reacts to air and the characteristics of TIs is affected by oxidation. Therefore, changes in the band structure and electrical characteristics by oxidation should be considered. A significant change occurs because of the oxidation; however, the dependence of the photoresponse of TIs on oxidation has not been studied in detail. In this study, the photoresponsivity of oxidized Bi2Se3 films is enhanced, rather than degraded, after oxidation in air for 24 h, resulting in a maximum responsivity of 140 mA W-1. This responsivity is substantially higher than previously reported values for Bi2Se3. Furthermore, a change in the photoresponse time of Bi2Se3 due to air exposure is systematically observed. Based on variations in the Fermi level and work function, using photoelectron spectroscopy, it is confirmed that the responsivity is improved from the junction effect of the Bi-based surface oxidized layer.

Comparison of Oral Sulfate Solution and Polyethylene Glycol Plus Ascorbic Acid on the Efficacy of Bowel Preparation.

BACKGROUND/AIMS: The quality of bowel preparation is one of the quality indicators for colonoscopy. The aim of this study was to compare the efficacy of oral sulfate solution (OSS) and polyethylene glycol plus ascorbic acid (PEG-AA) for bowel preparation. METHODS: The study involved 167 patients who underwent diagnostic colonoscopies. Inadequate bowel preparation was defined as any score of ≤1 in each colon section based on the Boston Bowel Preparation Scale. Multivariate logistic regression was used to compare the efficacy of OSS and PEG-AA. Subgroup analyses were performed based on patient characteristics. RESULTS: Overall, 106 (63.5%) patients received OSS, and 61 (36.5%) patients received PEG-AA. The rate of inadequate bowel preparation was 12.3% in patients receiving OSS and 32.8% in patients receiving PEG-AA (p=0.001). OSS (odds ratio [OR] = 0.26; p=0.003) and morning examination (OR=0.11; p=0.038) were significantly associated with efficient bowel preparation. The efficacy of OSS compared with PEG-AA was only significant in patients ≥50 years of age vs. <50 years of age (OR=0.13; p=0.001 vs. OR=0.96; p=0.959) and female vs. male patients (OR=0.06; p=0.002 vs. OR=0.58; p=0.339). CONCLUSION: OSS was significantly more efficient for bowel preparation than PEG-AA, especially in patients ≥50 years of age and female patients. Morning examination led to a good quality of bowel preparation, irrespective of the preparation regimen.

Topological Phase Control of Surface States in Bi2Se3 via Spin-Orbit Coupling Modulation through Interface Engineering between HfO2-X.

The direct control of topological surface states in topological insulators is an important prerequisite for the application of these materials. Conventional attempts to utilize magnetic doping, mechanical tuning, structural engineering, external bias, and external magnetic fields suffer from a lack of reversible switching and have limited tunability. We demonstrate the direct control of topological phases in a bismuth selenide (Bi2Se3) topological insulator in 3 nm molecular beam epitaxy-grown films through the hybridization of the topological surface states with the hafnium (Hf) d-orbitals in the topmost layer of an underlying oxygen-deficient hafnium oxide (HfO2) substrate. The higher angular momentum of the d-orbitals of Hf is hybridized strongly by topological insulators, thereby enhancing the spin-orbit coupling and perturbing the topological surface states asymmetry in Bi2Se3. As the oxygen defect is cured or generated reversibly by external electric fields, our research facilitates the complete electrical control of the topological phases of topological insulators by controlling the defect density in the adjacent transition metal oxide. In addition, this mechanism can be applied in other related topological materials such as Weyl and Dirac semimetals in future endeavors to facilitate practical applications in unit-element devices for quantum computing and quantum communication.

Closing the Surface Bandgap in Thin Bi2Se3/Graphene Heterostructures.

Topological insulator (TI), a band insulator with topologically protected edge states, is one of the most interesting materials in the field of condensed matter. Bismuth selenide (Bi2Se3) is the most spotlighted three-dimensional TI material; it has a Dirac cone at each top and bottom surface and a relatively wide bandgap. For application, suppression of the bulk effect is crucial, but in ultrathin TI materials, with thicknesses less than 3 QL, the finite size effect works on the linear dispersion of the surface states, so that the surface band has a finite bandgap because of the hybridization between the top and bottom surface states and Rashba splitting, resulting from the structure inversion asymmetry. Here, we studied the gapless top surface Dirac state of strained 3 QL Bi2Se3/graphene heterostructures. A strain caused by the graphene layer reduces the bandgap of surface states, and the band bending resulting from the charge transfer at the Bi2Se3-graphene interface induces localization of surface states to each top and bottom layer to suppress the overlap of the two surface states. In addition, we verified the independent transport channel of the top surface Dirac state in Bi2Se3/graphene heterostructures by measuring the magneto-conductance. Our findings suggest that the strain and the proximity effect in TI/non-TI heterostructures may be feasible ways to engineer the topological surface states beyond the physical and topological thickness limit.

P-N Junction Diode Using Plasma Boron-Doped Black Phosphorus for High-Performance Photovoltaic Devices.

This study used a spatially controlled boron-doping technique that enables a p-n junction diode to be realized within a single 2D black phosphorus (BP) nanosheet for high-performance photovoltaic application. The reliability of the BP surface and state-of-the-art 2D p-n heterostructure's gated junctions was obtained using the controllable pulsed-plasma process technique. Chemical and structural analyses of the boron-doped BP were performed using X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, transmission electron microscopy, and first-principles density functional theory (DFT) calculations, and the electrical characteristics of a field-effect transistor based on the p-n heterostructure were determined. The incorporated boron generated high electron density at the BP surface. The electron mobility of BP was significantly enhanced to ∼265 cm2/V·s for the top gating mode, indicating greatly improved electron transport behavior. Ultraviolet photoelectron spectroscopy and DFT characterizations revealed the occurrence of significant surface charge transfer in the BP. Moreover, the pulsed-plasma boron-doped BP p-n junction devices exhibited high-efficiency photodetection behavior (rise time: 1.2 ms and responsivity: 11.3 mA/W at Vg = 0 V). This study's findings on the tunable nature of the surface-transfer doping scheme reveal that BP is a promising candidate for optoelectronic devices and advanced complementary logic electronics.

Interface engineering for a stable chemical structure of oxidized-black phosphorus via self-reduction in AlOx atomic layer deposition.

We evaluated the change in the chemical structure between dielectrics (AlOx and HfOx) grown by atomic layer deposition (ALD) and oxidized black phosphorus (BP), as a function of air exposure time. Chemical and structural analyses of the oxidized phosphorus species (PxOy) were performed using atomic force microscopy, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy, transmission electron microscopy, first-principles density functional theory calculations, and the electrical characteristics of field-effect transistors (FETs). Based on the combined experiments and theoretical investigations, we clearly show that oxidized phosphorus species (PxOy, until exposed for 24 h) are significantly decreased (self-reduction) during the ALD of AlOx. In particular, the field effect characteristics of a FET device based on Al2O3/AlOx/oxidized BP improved significantly with enhanced electrical properties, a mobility of ∼253 cm2 V-1 s-1 and an on-off ratio of ∼105, compared to those of HfO2/HfOx/oxidized BP with a mobility of ∼97 cm2 V-1 s-1 and an on-off ratio of ∼103-104. These distinct differences result from a significantly decreased interface trap density (Dit ∼ 1011 cm-2 eV-1) and subthreshold gate swing (SS ∼ 270 mV dec-1) in the BP device caused by the formation of stable energy states at the AlOx/oxidized BP interface, even with BP oxidized by air exposure.