Octahedral Symmetry Modification Induced Orbital Occupancy Variation in VO2.

Octahedral symmetry is one of the parameters to tune the functional properties of complex oxides. VO2, a complex oxide with a 3d1 electronic system, exhibits an insulator-metal transition (IMT) near room temperature (∼68 °C), accompanying a change in the octahedral structure from asymmetrical to symmetrical. However, the role of octahedral symmetry in VO2 on the IMT characteristics is unclear. Crystal and electronic structure analyses combined with density-functional-theory calculations showed the bandwidth-controlled IMT characteristics of monoclinic VO2 with high octahedral symmetry. The expanded apical V-O length for a high octahedral symmetry of a VO2 film increased the bandwidth of the conduction band by depressing V 3d-O 2p hybridization. As a result, the interdimer hopping energy increased and thereby decreased the IMT temperature, although the short V-V chain enhanced electron correlation. These findings suggest that octahedral symmetry can control the IMT characteristics of VO2 by changing the orbital occupancy.

Influence of metallization process on solution-processed InGaZnO thin film transistors.

Low-temperature solution-processed InGaZnO (IGZO) thin film transistors (TFTs) have recently attracted significant attention as the next-generation flexible display TFTs, owing to their high transparency, high electrical performance, low-cost fabrication, and large-area scalability. However, solution-processed amorphous IGZO TFTs have several drawbacks, such as poor film quality or low stability, and have been studied with view to improving the device performance. One of the critical components determining device characteristics is the metallization process, which we systematically studied using aluminum (Al) source and drain electrodes. The electrical properties were measured for different channel lengths and evaluated using the threshold voltage (Vth) and subthreshold swing (SS). Al electrodes directly affect the channel region, enhancing the electron density because of the doping effect from Al and oxygen vacancy-related oxidation of Al and causing an abnormal negative shift ofVth, which is confirmed by the component analysis via various spectroscopies. To understand and improve the TFT characteristics, we conducted a low-temperature post-annealing process and polymer passivation and succeeded in movingVthfrom over 150 V to near 0 V and remarkably improved SS. This study discovered that the influence of source-drain metallization on the channel region determines the device characteristics through the close relation between metal oxidation and the number of oxygen vacancies.

Quantum Hall Effect across Graphene Grain Boundary.

Charge carrier scattering at grain boundaries (GBs) in a chemical vapor deposition (CVD) graphene reduces the carrier mobility and degrades the performance of the graphene device, which is expected to affect the quantum Hall effect (QHE). This study investigated the influence of individual GBs on the QH state at different stitching angles of the GB in a monolayer CVD graphene. The measured voltage probes of the equipotential line in the QH state showed that the longitudinal resistance (Rxx) was affected by the scattering of the GB only in the low carrier concentration region, and the standard QHE of a monolayer graphene was observed regardless of the stitching angle of the GB. In addition, a controlled device with an added metal bar placed in the middle of the Hall bar configuration was introduced. Despite the fact that the equipotential lines in the controlled device were broken by the additional metal bar, only the Rxx was affected by nonzero resistance, whereas the Hall resistance (Rxy) revealed the well-quantized plateaus in the QH state. Thus, our study clarifies the effect of individual GBs on the QH states of graphenes.

Understanding the Phase Transition Evolution Mechanism of Partially M2 Phased VO2 Film by Hydrogen Incorporation.

Studies on the hydrogen incorporated M1 phase of VO2 film have been widely reported. However, there are few works on an M2 phase of VO2. Recently, the M2 phase in VO2 has received considerable attention due to the possibility of realizing a Mott transition field-effect transistor. By varying the postannealing environment, systematic variations of the M2 phase in (020)-oriented VO2 films grown on Al2O3(0001) were observed. The M2 phase converted to the metallic M1 phase at first and then to the metallic rutile phase after hydrogen annealing (i.e., for H2/N2 mixture and H2 environments). From the diffraction and spectroscopy measurements, the transition is attributed to suppressed electron interactions, not structural modification caused by hydrogen incorporation. Our results suggest the understanding of the phase transition process of the M2 phase by hydrogen incorporation and the possibility of realization of the M2 phased-based Mott transition field-effect transistor.

Influence of flexible substrate in low temperature polycrystalline silicon thin-film transistors: temperature dependent characteristics and low frequency noise analysis.

The carrier transport of p-type low temperature polycrystalline silicon (LTPS) thin-film transistors (TFTs) on flexible substrate has been intensively studied and compared to that on glass substrate in order to improve device performance. To investigate the origin of carrier transport on different substrates, temperature dependent characterizations are carried out for electrical device parameters such as threshold voltage (V TH ), subthreshold swing (SS), on-current (I on ) and effective carrier mobility (µeff ). The poly-Si grain size L grain and the barrier height E B between grain boundaries are well known to be the main parameters to determine transport in polycrystalline silicon and can be extracted based on the polycrystalline mobility model. However, our systemic studies show that it is not grain size but E B that has more influence on the degradation of LTPS TFT on flexible substrates. The E B of flexible substrate is roughly 18 times higher than glass substrate whereas grain size is similar for both devices on different substrates. Compared to the LTPS TFT on glass substrate, higher E B degrades approximately 24 % of Ion , 30 % of SS and 21 % of µ eff on the flexible substrate at room temperature. From low frequency noise (LFN) analysis, it is observed that the total trap density (N t) for flexible substrate is up to four times higher than that of glass substrate, which also supports the high value of EB in the device fabricated on the flexible substrate.

Anomalous Negative Resistance Phenomena in Twisted Superconducting Nanowire Yarns.

We report unusual absolute negative resistance phenomena in twisted superconducting yarns consisting of niobium-nitride (NbN) nanowires formed on a template of aligned carbon nanotube (CNT) sheets. In the vicinity of the superconducting critical temperature and critical current, the electrical resistance with a standard four-probe configuration exhibits negative values for many wire-shaped twisted yarns. This anomalous behavior at the superconducting transition stage is analyzed using a simplified circuit model, where the charge conduction is determined by the combination between the intra- and internanofiber transports inside the yarn. The superconducting transition of intrafibrillar transport along CNT-templated NbN nanowires was distinguished from that of an interfibrillar one, where the latter exhibits the ensemble property of superconducting weak links among adjacent NbN nanowires. Furthermore, the topological similarity between the sheet of an aligned array of nanowires and the yarn of twisted nanofibrils enables the occurrence of this anomaly. This study indicates that the quantitative network-based approach is effective for the analysis of anomalous charge conduction through nanowire-based anisotropic materials.

Quantum Conductance Probing of Oxygen Vacancies in SrTiO3 Epitaxial Thin Film using Graphene.

Quantum Hall conductance in monolayer graphene on an epitaxial SrTiO3 (STO) thin film is studied to understand the role of oxygen vacancies in determining the dielectric properties of STO. As the gate-voltage sweep range is gradually increased in the device, systematic generation and annihilation of oxygen vacancies, evidenced from the hysteretic conductance behavior in the graphene, are observed. Furthermore, based on the experimentally observed linear scaling relation between the effective capacitance and the voltage sweep range, a simple model is constructed to manifest the relationship among the dielectric properties of STO with oxygen vacancies. The inherent quantum Hall conductance in graphene can be considered as a sensitive, robust, and noninvasive probe for understanding the electronic and ionic phenomena in complex transition-metal oxides without impairing the oxide layer underneath.

Voltage Scaling of Graphene Device on SrTiO3 Epitaxial Thin Film.

Electrical transport in monolayer graphene on SrTiO3 (STO) thin film is examined in order to promote gate-voltage scaling using a high-k dielectric material. The atomically flat surface of thin STO layer epitaxially grown on Nb-doped STO single-crystal substrate offers good adhesion between the high-k film and graphene, resulting in nonhysteretic conductance as a function of gate voltage at all temperatures down to 2 K. The two-terminal conductance quantization under magnetic fields corresponding to quantum Hall states survives up to 200 K at a magnetic field of 14 T. In addition, the substantial shift of charge neutrality point in graphene seems to correlate with the temperature-dependent dielectric constant of the STO thin film, and its effective dielectric properties could be deduced from the universality of quantum phenomena in graphene. Our experimental data prove that the operating voltage reduction can be successfully realized due to the underlying high-k STO thin film, without any noticeable degradation of graphene device performance.

Ferroelectric Single-Crystal Gated Graphene/Hexagonal-BN/Ferroelectric Field-Effect Transistor.

The effect of a ferroelectric polarization field on the charge transport in a two-dimensional (2D) material was examined using a graphene monolayer on a hexagonal boron nitride (hBN) field-effect transistor (FET) fabricated using a ferroelectric single-crystal substrate, (1-x)[Pb(Mg1/3Nb2/3)O3]-x[PbTiO3] (PMN-PT). In this configuration, the intrinsic properties of graphene were preserved with the use of an hBN flake, and the influence of the polarization field from PMN-PT could be distinguished. During a wide-range gate-voltage (VG) sweep, a sharp inversion of the spontaneous polarization affected the graphene channel conductance asymmetrically as well as an antihysteretic behavior. Additionally, a transition from antihysteresis to normal ferroelectric hysteresis occurred, depending on the V(G) sweep range relative to the ferroelectric coercive field. We developed a model to interpret the complex coupling among antihysteresis, current saturation, and sudden conductance variation in relation with the ferroelectric switching and the polarization-assisted charge trapping, which can be generalized to explain the combination of 2D structured materials with ferroelectrics.

Quantum Hall conductance of graphene combined with charge-trap memory operation.

The combination of quantum Hall conductance and charge-trap memory operation was qualitatively examined using a graphene field-effect transistor. The characteristics of two terminal quantum Hall conductance appeared clearly on the background of a huge conductance hysteresis during a gate-voltage sweep for a device using monolayer graphene as a channel,hexagonal boron-nitride flakes as a tunneling dielectric and defective silicon oxide as the charge storage node. Even though there was a giant shift of the charge neutrality point, the deviation of quantized resistance value at the state of filling factor 2 was less than 1.6% from half of the von Klitzing constant. At high Landau level indices, the behaviors of quantum conductance oscillation between the increasing and the decreasing electron densities were identical in spite ofa huge memory window exceeding 100 V. Our results indicate that the two physical phenomena, two-terminal quantum Hall conductance and charge-trap memory operation, can be integrated into one device without affecting each other.

Influence of electrical contacts on the 1/f noise in individual multi-walled carbon nanotubes.

Low-frequency noise of individual MWNTs was investigated with different metal electrodes. Irrespective of the ohmic or non-ohmic voltage-current characteristics, a strong dependence of the noise on the metal contacts was observed. The good electrical contacts with Pd or Pt electrodes enable a quasi-ballistic transport with a bigger exponent in the relation of S1 alpha R4.8, similar to 2D metallic film or graphene. On the other hand, the noise in the case of Cr or Ti electrodes is almost linear with the resistance of the nanotubes, which may be an index of the influence of the contacts in the CNTs.

Highly conductive coaxial SnO(2)-In(2)O(3) heterostructured nanowires for Li ion battery electrodes.

Novel SnO(2)-In(2)O(3) heterostructured nanowires were produced via a thermal evaporation method, and their possible nucleation/growth mechanism is proposed. We found that the electronic conductivity of the individual SnO(2)-In(2)O(3) nanowires was 2 orders of magnitude better than that of the pure SnO(2) nanowires, due to the formation of Sn-doped In(2)O(3) caused by the incorporation of Sn into the In(2)O(3) lattice during the nucleation and growth of the In(2)O(3) shell nanostructures. This provides the SnO(2)-In(2)O(3) nanowires with an outstanding lithium storage capacity, making them suitable for promising Li ion battery electrodes.

Interlayer magnetoresistance of quasi-one-dimensional layered organic conductors.

We studied the interlayer magnetoresistance of the representative quasi-one-dimensional (Q1D) layered organic conductor, (TMTSF)2PF6, over the full range of magnetic field orientations in three dimensions, and constructed a stereographic conductivity plot. Our results show that the previously reported angular-dependent magnetoresistance phenomena in Q1D conductors are closely related to one another in intermediate field orientations. Based on a comparison with theories, we can conclude that the Lebed resonance is the only fundamental effect and that other effects result from the modulation of the Lebed resonance amplitude. Most of the observed phenomena can be explained within the framework of the conventional Fermi liquid; however, the anomalous enhancement of the interlayer conductivity under a field parallel to the conducting planes suggests the existence of a new electron state.

New 1:3 type nickel-bis(dithiolene) salt (FcCHCHPymCH3)[Ni(dmit)2]3 (dmit: 2-thioxo-1,3-dithiole-4,5-dithiolate): its electrocrystallization, crystal structure, electrical properties, and electronic band structure analysis.

Black single crystals of Ni(dmit)(2) complex (dmit: 2-thioxo-1,3-dithiole-4,5-dithiolate) with trans-4-[2-(1-ferrocenyl)vinyl]-1-methylpyridinium chromophore as a countercation, (FcCHCHPymCH(3))[Ni(dmit)(2)](3), were prepared by the electrocrystallization technique. In the triclinic structure of the complex (P, a = 11.430(5) A, b = 13.349(2) A, c = 19.355(6) A, alpha = 75.15(2) degrees , beta = 79.19(3) degrees , gamma = 82.12(2) degrees , Z = 2), Ni(dmit)(2) anion layers are separated by the cations with a relatively rare 1:3 cation-to-anion ratio. Detailed crystal and electronic structure analysis revealed that the anions are stacked in the layers to form alternating dimers and monomers rather than trimers. The measured electrical conductivity indicates a semiconducting property of the compound with an estimated energy gap of 0.06 eV. The calculated LUMO bands are very narrow, and the semiconducting behavior is more likely due to the electron localization mainly on the dimers, consistent with the observed longer Ni-S bond distances in the dimers.