Abstract: In this paper, we report on the electronic transport properties of mesoscopic, ultrathin graphite flakes with a thickness corresponding to a stack of 150 graphene layers. The graphite flakes show an unexpectedly strong positive magnetoresistance (PMR) already at room temperature, which scales in good approximation with the square of the magnetic field. Furthermore, we show that the resistivity is unaffected by magnetic fields oriented in plane with the graphene layers. Hall effect measurements indicate that the charge carriers are p-type and their concentration increases with increasing temperature while the mobility is decreasing. The Hall voltage is non-linear in higher magnetic fields. Possible origins of the observed effects are discussed. Ball and stick model of the two topmost carbon layers of the hexagonal graphite structure.

Abstract: Ru catalysts are part of a set of late transition metal nanocatalysts that have garnered much interest for catalytic applications such as ammonia synthesis and fuel cell production. Their performance varies greatly depending on their morphology and size, these catalysts are widely studied using electron microscopy. Using recent developments in Annular Dark Field (ADF) Scanning Transmission Electron Microscopy (STEM) quantification techniques, a rapid atom counting procedure was utilized to document the evolution of a heterogeneous Ru catalyst supported on carbon black. Areas of the catalyst were imaged for approximately 15 minutes using ADF STEM. When the Ru clusters were exposed to the electron beam, the clusters changed phase from amorphous to crystalline. To quantify the thickness of the crystalline clusters, two techniques were applied (simulation and statistical decomposition) and compared. These techniques show that stable face centredcubic crystal structures in the form of rafts, between 2 and 8 atoms thick, were formed after the initial wetting of the carbon support.

Abstract: Structural symmetry breaking in two-dimensional materials can lead to superior physical properties and introduce an additional degree of piezoelectricity. In the present paper, we propose three structural phases (1H, 1T, and 1T') of Janus WXO (X = S, Se, and Te) monolayers and investigate their vibrational, thermal, elastic, piezoelectric, and electronic properties by using first-principles methods. Phonon spectra analysis reveals that while the 1H phase is dynamically stable, the 1T phase exhibits imaginary frequencies and transforms to the distorted 1T' phase. Ab initio molecular dynamics simulations confirm that 1H- and 1T'-WXO monolayers are thermally stable even at high temperatures without any significant structural deformations. Different from binary systems, additional Raman active modes appear upon the formation of Janus monolayers. Although the mechanical properties of 1H-WXO are found to be isotropic, they are orientation dependent for 1T'-WXO. It is also shown that 1H-WXO monolayers are indirect band-gap semiconductors and the band gap narrows down the chalcogen group. Except 1T'-WSO, 1T'-WXO monolayers have a narrow band gap correlated with the Peierls distortion. The effect of spin-orbit coupling on the band structure is also examined for both phases and the alteration in the band gap is estimated. The versatile mechanical and electronic properties of Janus WXO monolayers together with their large piezoelectric response imply that these systems are interesting for several nanoelectronic applications.

Abstract: A highly reproducible photoresponse is observed in nanocrystalline SnO2 thick films sensitized with CdSe quantum dots. The effect of the SnO2 matrix microstructure on the photoconductivity kinetics and photoresponse amplitude is demonstrated. The photoresponse of the sensitized SnO2 thick films reaches more than two orders of magnitude under illumination with the wavelength of the excitonic transition of the quantum dots. Long-term photoconductivity kinetics and photoresponse dependence on illumination intensity reveal power-law behavior inherent to the disordered nature of SnO2. The photoconductivity of the samples rises with the coarsening of the granular structure of the SnO2 matrix. At the saturation region, the photoresponse amplitude remains stable under 10(4) pulses of illumination switching, demonstrating a remarkably high stability.

Abstract: Ballistic electron transport through a finite chain of quantum circular rings is studied in the presence of the Rashba coupling, of strength a, and of a perpendicular magnetic field B. The transmission and reflection coefficients for a single ring, obtained analytically, help obtain the conductance through a chain of rings as a function of the strength a, the field B, and of the wave vector k of the incident electron. Due to destructive spin interferences caused by the Rashba coupling the chain can be totally opaque for certain ranges of k the width of which depends on values of a and B. Outside these ranges the conductance oscillates with high values between e(2)/h and 2e(2)/h. The effect of a periodic modulation of a or B on the conductance gaps is investigated. A periodic, square-wave conductance pattern, pertinent to the development of the spin transistor, results within wide stripes in the parameter space spanned by k, a, and B. Finite temperatures smoothen the square-wave profile of the conductance but do not alter its periodic character.

Abstract: Transport properties of the 2DEG are studied in the presence of a normal magnetic field B and of a weak, two-dimensional periodic potential modulation. A tight-binding treatment has shown that each Landau level splits into several subbands with exponentially small gaps between them. Assuming the latter are closed due to disorder gives analytical wave functions and simplifies the evaluation of the magnetoresistance tensor p(muv) The relative phase of the oscillations in p(xx) and p(yy) depends on the modulation strengths and periods. For short periods less than or equal to 100 nm, in addition to the Weiss oscillations, the collisional contribution to the conductivity and the corresponding resistivity contribution show prominent peaks when one flux quantum h/e passes through an integral number of unit cells in good agreement with experiments. For periods 300-400 nm long used in early experiments, these peaks occur at fields 10-25 times smaller than those of the Weiss oscillations and are not resolved. (C) 2003 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Abstract: The performance of SnO2 ceramic anodes doped with copper and antimony oxides was examined in cryolite alumina melts under anodic polarization at different cryolite ratios, temperatures, times, and current densities. The corroded part consists of a narrow strong corrosion zone at the anode surface with damage of the intergrain contacts and a large increase in porosity, a wider moderate corrosion zone with a smaller porosity increase, and a Cu depletion zone, where the ceramic retains its initial microstructure and a slight porosity increase occurs due to the removal of the Cu-rich inclusions. Mechanical destruction of the anode was never observed in the 10100 h tests. A microstructural model of the ceramic was suggested, consisting of grains with an Sb-doped SnO2 grain core surrounded by an ~200 to 500 nm grain shell where SnO2 was simultaneously doped with Sb and Mn+ (M=Cu2+,Fe3+,Al3+). The grains were separated by a few nanometers thick Cu-enriched grain boundaries. Different secondary charge carrier (holes) concentrations and electric conductivities in the grain core and grain shell result in a higher current density at the intergrain regions that leads to their profound degradation, especially in the low temperature acidic melt.

Abstract: In this work synchrotron radiation X-ray diffraction technique was successfully applied for the analysis of pigments found in excavation at Carriqueo rock shelter, Neuquen, Argentina. The pigment samples of orange, red, and brown shades were collected from different levels of this archaeological site and compared with a suspected source of provenance (La Oficina creek). X-ray diffraction patterns of several yellowish, reddish, and red pigments showed the presence of haematite, goethite, kaolinite, and quartz. The majority of Carriqueo collected samples belonged to the same group of the suspected source, having haematite and quartz as main crystalline phases. The results indicate that the raw material from La Oficina is the source of most of the pigments found at Carriqueo. The present work helps us to understand the strategy of supplying raw materials by human groups in the North Patagonia region. (C) 2010 International Centre for Diffraction Data. [DOI: 10.1154/1.3478884]

Abstract: STEM imaging is typically performed by raster scanning a focused electron probe over a sample. Here we investigate and compare three different scan patterns, making use of a programmable scan engine that allows to arbitrarily set the sequence of probe positions that are consecutively visited on the sample. We compare the typical raster scan with a so-called ‘snake’ pattern where the scan direction is reversed after each row and a novel Hilbert scan pattern that changes scan direction rapidly and provides an homogeneous treatment of both scan directions. We experimentally evaluate the imaging performance on a single crystal test sample by varying dwell time and evaluating behaviour with respect to sample drift. We demonstrate the ability of the Hilbert scan pattern to more faithfully represent the high frequency content of the image in the presence of sample drift. It is also shown that Hilbert scanning provides reduced bias when measuring lattice parameters from the obtained scanned images while maintaining similar precision in both scan directions which is especially important when e.g. performing strain analysis. Compared to raster scanning with flyback correction, both snake and Hilbert scanning benefit from dose reduction as only small probe movement steps occur.

Abstract: In this study, the aging behavior of microscale zerovalent iron (mZVI) particles was investigated by quantifying the hydrogen gas generated by anaerobic mZVI corrosion in batch degradation experiments. Granular iron and nanoscale zerovalent iron (nZVI) particles were included in this study as controls. Firstly, experiments in liquid medium (without aquifer material) were performed and revealed that mZV1 particles have approximately a 10-30 times lower corrosion rate than nZVI particles. A good correlation was found between surface area normalized corrosion rate (R-SA) and reaction rate constants (K-SA) of PCE, TCE, cDCE and 1,1,1-TCA. Generally, particles with higher degradation rates also have faster corrosion rates, but exceptions do exists. In a second phase, the hydrogen evolution was also monitored during batch tests in the presence of aquifer material and real groundwater. A 4-9 times higher corrosion rate of mZV1 particles was observed under the natural environment in comparison with the aquifer free artificial condition, which can be attributed to the low pH of the aquifer and its buffer capacity. A corrosion model was calibrated on the batch experiments to take into account the inhibitory effects of the corrosion products (dissolved iron, hydrogen and OH-) on the iron corrosion rate. (C) 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Abstract: Electron-energy-loss spectroscopy (EELS) is used to investigate single layers of LaAlO3 grown on SrTiO3 having an n-type interface as well as multilayers of LaAlO3 and SrTiO3 in which both n- and p-type interfaces occur. Only minor changes in Ti valence at the n-type interface are observed. This finding seems to contradict earlier experiments for other SrTiO3/LaAlO3 systems where large deviations in Ti valency were assumed to be responsible for the conductivity of these interfaces. Ab initio calculations have been carried out in order to interpret our EELS results. Using the concept of Bader charges, it is demonstrated that the so-called polar discontinuity is mainly resolved by lattice distortions and to a far lesser extent by changes in valency for both single layer and multilayer geometries.

Abstract: An epitaxially grown heterostructure consisting of alternating layers of LaMnO3 (8 unit cells) and SrMnO3 (4 unit cells) on a SrTiO3 substrate has been studied by a combination of electron energy-loss spectroscopy (EELS) and high-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM) on an atomic scale. Excitation edges of all elements are captured with subnanometer spatial accuracy, and parametrized to obtain chemical profiles. The fine-edge structure of O K and Mn L-2,L-3 edges are interpreted as signatures of the local electronic structure and show a spatial modulation of the concentration of holes with O 2p character. The chemical concentration is found to be different for the bottom and top interface of a SrMnO3 layer. HRTEM complements the EELS results and confirms the asymmetry of the interfaces. (C) 2001 American Institute of Physics.

Abstract: We present a tight-binding investigation of strained bilayer graphene within linear elasticity theory, focusing on the different environments experienced by the A and B carbon atoms of the different sublattices. We find that the inequivalence of the A and B atoms is enhanced by the application of perpendicular strain epsilon(zz), which provides a physical mechanism for opening a band gap, most effectively obtained when pulling the two graphene layers apart. In addition, perpendicular strain introduces electron-hole asymmetry and can result in linear electronic dispersion near the K point. Our findings suggest experimental means for strain-engineered band gaps in bilayer graphene.