Abstract: The ability of different materials to display self-limiting growth has recently attracted an enormous amount of attention because of the importance of nanoscale materials in applications for catalysis, energy conversion, (opto)-electronics, and so forth. Here, we show that the electrochemical deposition of palladium (Pd) between graphene oxide (GO) sheets result in the self-limiting growth of 5-nm-thick Pd nanosheets. The self-limiting growth is found to be a consequence of the strong interaction of Pd with the confining GO sheets, which results in the bulk growth of Pd being energetically unfavorable for larger thicknesses. Furthermore, we have successfully carried out liquid exfoliation of the resulting Pd-GO laminates to isolate Pd nanosheets and have demonstrated their high efficiency in continuous flow catalysis and electrocatalysis.

Abstract: Most of the studied two-dimensional (2D) materials have been obtained by exfoliation of van der Waals crystals. Recently, there has been growing interest in fabricating synthetic 2D crystals which have no layered bulk analogues. These efforts have been focused mainly on the surface growth of molecules in high vacuum. Here, we report an approach to making 2D crystals of covalent solids by chemical conversion of van der Waals layers. As an example, we used 2D indium selenide (InSe) obtained by exfoliation and converted it by direct fluorination into indium fluoride (InF3), which has a nonlayered, rhombohedral structure and therefore cannot possibly be obtained by exfoliation. The conversion of InSe into InF3 is found to be feasible for thicknesses down to three layers of InSe, and the obtained stable InF3 layers are doped with selenium. We study this new 2D material by optical, electron transport, and Raman measurements and show that it is a semiconductor with a direct bandgap of 2.2 eV, exhibiting high optical transparency across the visible and infrared spectral ranges. We also demonstrate the scalability of our approach by chemical conversion of large-area, thin InSe laminates obtained by liquid exfoliation, into InF3 films. The concept of chemical conversion of cleavable thin van der Waals crystals into covalently bonded noncleavable ones opens exciting prospects for synthesizing a wide variety of novel atomically thin covalent crystals.

Abstract: The current voltage (IV) characteristics of short [with length L less than or similar to xi(T)] and long [L >> xi(T)] microbridges are theoretically investigated near the critical temperature of the superconductor. Calculations are made in the nonlocal (local) limit when the inelastic relaxation length due to electron-phonon interactions L(in) = (D tau(in))(1/2) is larger (smaller) than the temperature-dependent coherence length xi(T) (D is the diffusion coefficient, tau(in) is the inelastic relaxation time of the quasiparticle distribution function). We find that, in both limits, the origin of the hysteresis in the IV characteristics is mainly connected with the large time scale over which the magnitude of the order parameter varies in comparison with the time-scale variation of the superconducting phase difference across the microbridge in the resistive state. In the nonlocal limit, the time-averaged heating and cooling of quasiparticles are found in different areas of the microbridge, which are driven, respectively, by oscillations of the order parameter and the electric field. We show that, by introducing an additional term in the time-dependent Ginzburg-Landau equation, it is possible to take into account the cooling effect in the local limit too.

Abstract: We propose a type of edges arising due to the anisotropy inherent in the puckered structure of a honeycomb system such as in phosphorene. Skewed-zigzag and skewed-armchair nanoribbons are semiconducting and metallic, respectively, in contrast to their normal edge counterparts. Their band structures are tunable, and a metal-insulator transition is induced by an electric field. We predict a field-effect transistor based on the edge states in skewed-armchair nanoribbons, where the edge state is gapped by applying arbitrary small electric field E-z. A topological argument is presented, revealing the condition for the emergence of such edge states.

Abstract: van der Waals (vdW) forces play an important role in the adsorption of molecules on the surface of solids. However, the choice of the most suitable vdW functional for different systems is an essential problem which must be addressed for different systems. The lack of a systematic study on the performance of the vdW functionals in the bulk and adsorption properties of metal-oxides motivated us to examine different vdW approaches and compute the bulk and molecular adsorption properties of alpha-Cr2O3, alpha-Fe2O3, and alpha-Al2O3. For the bulk properties, we compared our results for the heat of formation, cohesive energy, lattice parameters and bond distances between the different vdW functionals and available experimental data. Next we studied the adsorption of benzene and CH3 molecules on top of different oxide surfaces. We employed different approximations to exchange and correlation within DFT, namely, the Perdew-Burke-Ernzerhof (PBE) GGA, (PBE)+U, and vdW density functionals [ DFT(vdW-DF/DF2/optPBE/optB86b/optB88)+U] as well as DFT-D2/D3(+U) methods of Grimme for the bulk calculations and optB86b-vdW(+U) and DFT-D2(+U) for the adsorption energy calculations. Our results highlight the importance of vdW interactions not only in the adsorption of molecules, but importantly also for the bulk properties. Although the vdW contribution in the adsorption of CH3 (as a chemisorption interaction) is less important compared to the adsorption of benzene (as a physisorption interaction), this contribution is not negligible. Also adsorption of benzene on ferryl/chromyl terminated surfaces shows an important chemisorption contribution in which the vdW interactions become less significant.

Abstract: We report the direct measurement of the topological skyrmion energy barrier through a hysteresis of the skyrmion lattice in the chiral magnet MnSi. Measurements were made using small-angle neutron scattering with a custom-built resistive coil to allow for high-precision minor hysteresis loops. The experimental data were analyzed using an adapted Preisach model to quantify the energy barrier for skyrmion formation and corroborated by the minimum-energy path analysis based on atomistic spin simulations. We reveal that the skyrmion lattice in MnSi forms from the conical phase progressively in small domains, each of which consisting of hundreds of skyrmions, and with an activation barrier of several eV.

Abstract: <script type='text/javascript'>document.write(unpmarked('The motion of Abrikosov vortices in type-II superconductors results in a finite resistance in the presence of an applied electric current. Elimination or reduction of the resistance via immobilization of vortices is the \u0022holy grail\u0022 of superconductivity research. Common wisdom dictates that an increase in the magnetic field escalates the loss of energy since the number of vortices increases. Here we show that this is no longer true if the magnetic field and the current are applied parallel to each other. Our experimental studies on the resistive behavior of a superconducting Mo0.79Ge0.21 nanostrip reveal the emergence of a dissipative state with increasing magnetic field, followed by a pronounced resistance drop, signifying a reentrance to the superconducting state. Large-scale simulations of the 3D time-dependent Ginzburg-Landau model indicate that the intermediate resistive state is due to an unwinding of twisted vortices. When the magnetic field increases, this instability is suppressed due to a better accommodation of the vortex lattice to the pinning configuration. Our findings show that magnetic field and geometrical confinement can suppress the dissipation induced by vortex motion and thus radically improve the performance of superconducting materials.'));

Abstract: <script type='text/javascript'>document.write(unpmarked('Two-dimensional materials are known to harbour properties very different from those of their bulk counterparts. Recent years have seen the rise of atomically thin superconductors, with a caveat that superconductivity is strongly depleted unless enhanced by specific substrates, intercalants or adatoms. Surprisingly, the role in superconductivity of electronic states originating from simple free surfaces of two-dimensional materials has remained elusive to date. Here, based on first-principles calculations, anisotropic Eliashberg theory, and angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy (ARPES), we show that surface states in few-monolayer MgB2 make a major contribution to the superconducting gap spectrum and density of states, clearly distinct from the widely known, bulk-like sigma-and pi-gaps. As a proof of principle, we predict and measure the gap opening on the magnesium-based surface band up to a critical temperature as high as similar to 30 K for merely six monolayers thick MgB2. These findings establish free surfaces as an unavoidable ingredient in understanding and further tailoring of superconductivity in atomically thin materials.'));

Abstract: Starting from first principles, we show the formation and evolution of superconducting gaps in MgB2 at its ultrathin limit. Atomically thin MgB2 is distinctly different from bulk MgB2 in that surface states become comparable in electronic density to the bulklike sigma and pi bands. Combining the ab initio electron-phonon coupling with the anisotropic Eliashberg equations, we showthat monolayer MgB2 develops three distinct superconducting gaps, on completely separate parts of the Fermi surface due to the emergent surface contribution. These gaps hybridize nontrivially with every extra monolayer added to the film owing to the opening of additional coupling channels. Furthermore, we reveal that the three-gap superconductivity in monolayer MgB2 is robust over the entire temperature range that stretches up to a considerably high critical temperature of 20 K. The latter can be boosted to >50K under biaxial tensile strain of similar to 4%, which is an enhancement that is stronger than in any other graphene-related superconductor known to date.

Abstract: We have investigated the effect of two different self-assembled monolayers (SAMs) on electrical characteristics of bilayer graphene (BLG)/n-Si Schottky diodes. Novel 4“bis(diphenylamino)-1, 1':3”-terpheny1-5' carboxylic acids (TPA) and 4,4-di-9H-carbazol-9-y1-1,1':3'1'-terpheny1-5' carboxylic acid (CAR) aromatic SAMs have been used to modify n-Si surfaces. Cyclic voltammetry (CV) and Kelvin probe force microscopy (KPFM) results have been evaluated to verify the modification of n-Si surface. The current-voltage (I-V) characteristics of bare and SAMs modified devices show rectification behaviour verifying a Schottky junction at the interface. The ideality factors (n) from ln(I)-V dependences were determined as 2.13,1.96 and 2.07 for BLG/n-Si, BLG/TPA/n-Si and BLG/CAR/n-Si Schottky diodes, respectively. In addition, Schottky barrier height (SBH) and series resistance (Rs) of SAMs modified diodes were decreased compared to bare diode due to the formation of a compatible interface between graphene and Si as well as n-n interaction between aromatic SAMs and graphene. The CAR-based device exhibits better diode characteristic compared to the TPA-based device. Computational simulations show that the BLG/CAR system exhibits smaller energy-level-differences than the BLG/TPA, which supports the experimental findings of a lower Schottky barrier and series resistance in BLG/CAR diode. (C) 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Abstract: We analyze the phenomenon of back hopping in spin-torque induced switching of the magnetization in perpendicularly magnetized tunnel junctions. The analysis is based on single-shot time-resolved conductance measurements of the pulse-induced back hopping. Studying several material variants reveals that the back hopping is a feature of the nominally fixed system of the tunnel junction. The back hopping is found to proceed by two sequential switching events that lead to a final state P' of conductance close to-but distinct from-that of the conventional parallel state. The P' state does not exist at remanence. It generally relaxes to the conventional antiparallel state if the current is removed. The P' state involves a switching of the sole spin-polarizing part of the fixed layers. The analysis of literature indicates that back hopping occurs only when the spin-polarizing layer is too weakly coupled to the rest of the fixed system, which justifies a posteriori the mitigation strategies of back hopping that were implemented empirically in spin-transfer-torque magnetic random access memories.

Abstract: We utilize an exact variational numerical procedure to calculate the ground-state properties of a polaron in the presence of Rashba and linear Dresselhaus spin-orbit coupling. We find that when the linear Dresselhaus spin-orbit coupling approaches the Rashba spin-orbit coupling, the Van Hove singularity in the density of states will be shifted away from the bottom of the band and finally disappear when the two spin-orbit couplings are tuned to be equal. The effective mass will be suppressed; the trend will become more significant for low phonon frequency. The presence of two dominant spin-orbit couplings will make it possible to tune the effective mass with more varied observables.

Abstract: We theoretically investigate the intrinsic optical anisotropy or polarization induced by the microscopic interface asymmetry (MIA) in no-common-atom (NCA) InAs/GaSb superlattices (SLs) grown along the [001] direction. The eight-band K⋅P model is used to calculate the electronic band structures and incorporates the MIA effect. A Boltzmann equation approach is employed to calculate the optical properties. We found that in NCA InAs/GaSb SLs, the MIA effect causes a large in-plane optical anisotropy for linearly polarized light and the largest anisotropy occurs for light polarized along the [110] and [11̅ 0] directions. The relative difference between the optical-absorption coefficient for [110]-polarized light and that for [11̅ 0]-polarized light is found to be larger than 50%. The dependence of the in-plane optical anisotropy on temperature, photoexcited carrier density, and layer width is examined in detail. This study is important for optical devices which require the polarization control and selectivity.

Abstract: We study magnetic flux interacting with arrays of pinning sites (APSs) placed on vertices of hyperbolic tesselations (HTs). We show that, due to the gradient in the density of pinning sites, HT APSs are capable of trapping vortices for a broad range of applied magnetic fluxes. Thus, the penetration of magnetic field in HT APSs is essentially different from the usual scenario predicted by the Bean model. We demonstrate that, due to the enhanced asymmetry of the surface barrier for vortex entry and exit, this HT APS could be used as a “capacitor” to store magnetic flux.

Abstract: We describe an efficient numerical approach to calculate the longitudinal and transverse Kubo conductivities of large systems using Bastin's formulation. We expand the Green's functions in terms of Chebyshev polynomials and compute the conductivity tensor for any temperature and chemical potential in a single step. To illustrate the power and generality of the approach, we calculate the conductivity tensor for the quantum Hall effect in disordered graphene and analyze the effect of the disorder in a Chern insulator in Haldane's model on a honeycomb lattice.