Abstract: Atomically thin nanoribbons (NRs) have been at the forefront of materials science and nanoelectronics in recent years. State-of-the-art research on nanoscale materials has revealed that electronic, magnetic, phononic, and optical properties may differ dramatically when their one-dimensional forms are synthesized. The present article aims to review the recent advances in synthesis techniques and theoretical studies on NRs. The structure of the review is organized as follows: After a brief introduction to low dimensional materials, we review different experimental techniques for the synthesis of graphene nanoribbons (GNRs) with their advantages and disadvantages. In addition, theoretical investigations on width and edge-shape-dependent electronic and magnetic properties, functionalization effects, and quantum transport properties of GNRs are reviewed. We then devote time to the NRs of the transition metal dichalcogenides (TMDs) family. First, various synthesis techniques, E-field-tunable electronic and magnetic properties, and edge-dependent thermoelectric performance of NRs of MoS2 and WS2 are discussed. Then, strongly anisotropic properties, growth-dependent morphology, and the weakly width-dependent bandgap of ReS2 NRs are summarized. Next we discuss TMDs having a T-phase morphology such as TiSe2 and stable single layer NRs of mono-chalcogenides. Strong edge-type dependence on characteristics of GaS NRs, width-dependent Seebeck coefficient of SnSe NRs, and experimental analysis on the stability of ZnSe NRs are reviewed. We then focus on the most recently emerging NRs belonging to the class of transition metal trichalcogenides which provide ultra-high electron mobility and highly anisotropic quasi-1D properties. In addition, width-, edge-shape-, and functionalization-dependent electronic and mechanical properties of blackphosphorus, a monoatomic anisotropic material, and studies on NRs of group IV elements (silicene, germanene, and stanene) are reviewed. Observation of substrate-independent quantum well states, edge and width dependent properties, the topological phase of silicene NRs are reviewed. In addition, H-2 concentration-dependent transport properties and anisotropic dielectric function of GeNRs and electric field and strain sensitive I-V characteristics of SnNRs are reviewed. We review both experimental and theoretical studies on the NRs of group III-V compounds. While defect and N-termination dependent conductance are highlighted for boron nitride NRs, aluminum nitride NRs are of importance due to their dangling bond, electric field, and strain dependent electronic and magnetic properties. Finally, superlattice structure of NRs of GaN/AlN, Si/Ge, G/BN, and MoS2/WS2 is reviewed. Published by AIP Publishing.

Abstract: Scheelite related compounds (A',A '') [(B',B '')O-4], with B', B '' = W and/or Mo are promising new light-emitting materials for photonic applications, including phosphor converted LEDs (light-emitting diodes). In this paper, the creation and ordering of A-cation vacancies and the effect of cation substitutions in the scheelite-type framework are investigated as a factor for controlling the scheelite-type structure and luminescent properties. CaGd2(1-x)Eu2x(MoO4)(4(1-y))(WO4)(4y) (0 <= x <= 1, 0 <= y <= 1) solid solutions with scheelite-type structure were synthesized by a solid state method, and their structures were investigated using a combination of transmission electron microscopy techniques and powder X-ray diffraction. Within this series all complex molybdenum oxides have (3 + 2)D incommensurately modulated structures with superspace group I4(1)/a(alpha,beta,0)00(-beta,alpha,0)00, while the structures of all tungstates are (3 + 1)D incommensurately modulated with superspace group I2/b(alpha beta 0)00. In both cases the modulation arises because of cation-vacancy ordering at the A site. The prominent structural motif is formed by columns of A-site vacancies running along the c-axis. These vacant columns occur in rows of two or three aligned along the [110] direction of the scheelite subcell. The replacement of the smaller Gd3+ by the larger Eu3+ at the A-sublattice does not affect the nature of the incommensurate modulation, but an increasing replacement of Mo6+ by W6+ switches the modulation from (3 + 2)D to (3 + 1)D regime. Thus, these solid solutions can be considered as a model system where the incommensurate modulation can be monitored as a function of cation nature while the number of cation vacancies at the A sites remain constant upon the isovalent cation replacement. All compounds' luminescent properties were measured, and the optical properties were related to the structural properties of the materials. CaGd2(1-x)(MoO4)(4(1-y))(WO4)(4y) phosphors emit intense red light dominated by the D-5(0)-F-7(2) transition at 612 nm, along with other transitions from the D-5(1) and D-5(0) excited states. The intensity of the 5D0-7F2 transition reaches a maximum at x = 0.5 for y = 0 and 1.

Abstract: In this work, the simultaneous iterative reconstruction technique (SIRT), the total variation minimization (TVM) reconstruction technique and the discrete algebraic reconstruction technique (DART) for electron tomography are compared and the advantages and disadvantages are discussed. Furthermore, we describe how the result of a three dimensional (3D) reconstruction based on TVM can provide objective information that is needed as the input for a DART reconstruction. This approach results in a tomographic reconstruction of which the segmentation is carried out in an objective manner.

Abstract: Transition metal oxide-based resistor random access memory (RRAM) takes advantage of oxygen-related defects in its principle of operation. Since the change in resistivity of the material is controlled by the oxygen deficiency level, it is of major importance to quantify the kinetics of the oxygen diffusion, key factor for oxide stoichiometry. Ab initio accelerated molecular dynamics techniques are employed to investigate the oxygen diffusivity in amorphous hafnia (HfOx, x = 1.97, 1.0, 0.5). The computed kinetics is in agreement with experimental measurements. (C) 2012 American Institute of Physics. [http://dx.doi.org/10.1063/1.3697690]