Abstract: The use of microfluidic devices in the field of plasma-liquid interaction can unlock unique possibilities to investigate the effects of plasma-generated reactive species for environmental and biomedical applications. So far, very little simulation work has been performed on microfluidic devices in contact with a plasma source. We report on the modelling and computational simulation of physical and chemical processes taking place in a novel plasma-microfluidic platform. The main production and transport pathways of reactive species both in plasma and liquid are modelled by a novel modelling approach that combines 0D chemical kinetics and 2D transport mechanisms. This combined approach, applicable to systems where the transport of chemical species occurs in unidirectional flows at high Péclet numbers, decreases calculation times considerably compared to regular 2D simulations. It takes advantage of the low computational time of the 0D reaction models while providing spatial information through multiple plug-flow simulations to yield a quasi-2D model. The gas and liquid flow profiles are simulated entirely in 2D, together with the chemical reactions and transport of key chemical species. The model correctly predicts increased transport of hydrogen peroxide into the liquid when the microfluidic opening is placed inside the plasma effluent region, as opposed to inside the plasma region itself. Furthermore, the modelled hydrogen peroxide production and transport in the microfluidic liquid differs by less than 50% compared with experimental results. To explain this discrepancy, the limits of the 0D–2D combined approach are discussed.

Abstract: Groundwater fluxes in tidal marshes largely control key ecosystem functions and services, such as vegetation growth, soil carbon sequestration, and nutrient cycling. In tidal marshes restored on formerly embanked agricultural land, groundwater fluxes are often limited as compared to nearby natural marshes, as a result of historical agricultural soil compaction. To improve the functioning of restored tidal marshes, knowledge is needed on how much certain design options can optimize soil-groundwater interactions in future restoration projects. Based on measured data on soil properties and tidally induced groundwater dynamics, we calibrated and evaluated a 2D vertical model of a creek-marsh cross-section, accounting for both saturated and unsaturated groundwater flow and solute transport in a variably saturated groundwater flow model. We found that model simulations of common restoration practices such as soil amendments (increasing the depth of porous soil on top of the compact layer) and creek excavation (increasing the creek density) increase the soil aeration depth and time, the drainage depth and the solute flux, and decrease the residence time of solutes in the porewater. Our simulations indicate that increasing the depth to the compact layer from 20 cm to 40 cm, or increasing the creek density from 1 creek to 2 creeks along a 50 m marsh transect (while maintaining the total creek cross-sectional area), in both cases more than doubles the volume of water processed by the marsh soil. We discuss that this may stimulate nutrient cycling. As such, our study demonstrates that groundwater modelling can support the design of marsh restoration measures aiming to optimize groundwater fluxes and related ecosystem services.

Abstract: We investigate discharge contraction in a microwave plasma at sub-atmospheric pressure, operating in CO2 and CO2/CH4 mixtures. The rise of the electron number density with plasma contraction intensifies the gas heating in the core of the plasma. This, in turn, initiates fast core-periphery transport and defines the rate of thermal chemistry over plasma chemistry. In this context, power concentration describes the overall mechanism including plasma contraction and chemical kinetics. In a complex chemistry such as dry reforming of methane, transport of reactive species is essential to define the performance of the reactor and achieve the desired outputs. Thus, we couple experimental observations and thermodynamic calculations for model validation and understanding of reactor performance. Adding CH4 alters the thermodynamic properties of the mixture, especially the reactive component of the heat conductivity. The increase in reactive heat conductivity increases the pressure at which plasma contraction occurs, because higher rates of gas heating are required to reach the same temperature. In addition, we suggest that the predominance of heat conduction over convection is a key condition to observe the effect of heat conductivity on gas temperature.

Abstract: Since the onset of pattern transfer technologies for chip manufacturing, various strategies have been developed to circumvent or overcome aspect ratio dependent etching (ARDE). These methods have, however, their own limitations in terms of etch non-idealities, throughput or costs. Moreover, they have mainly been optimized for individual in-device features and die-scale patterns, while occasionally ending up with poor patterning of metrology marks, affecting the alignment and overlay in lithography. Obtaining a better understanding of the underlying mechanisms of ARDE and how to mitigate them therefore remains a relevant challenge to date, for both marks and advanced nodes. In this work, we accordingly assessed the neutral transport mechanisms in ARDE by means of experiments and multiscale modeling for SiO₂etching with CHF₃/Ar and CF₄/Ar plasmas. The experiments revealed a local maximum in the etch rate for an aspect ratio around unity, i.e. the simultaneous occurrence of regular and inverse reactive ion etching lag for a given etch condition. We were able to reproduce this ARDE trend in the simulations without taking into account charging effects and the polymer layer thickness, suggesting shadowing and diffuse reflection of neutrals as the primary underlying mechanisms. Subsequently, we explored four methods with the simulations to regulate ARDE, by varying the incident plasma species fluxes, the amount of polymer deposition, the ion energy and angular distribution and the initial hardmask sidewall angle, for which the latter was found to be promising in particular. Although our study focusses on feature dimensions characteristic to metrology marks and back-end-of-the-line integration, the obtained insights have a broader relevance, e.g. to the patterning of advanced nodes. Additionally, this work supports the insight that physisorption may be more important in plasma etching at room temperature than originally thought, in line with other recent studies, a topic on which we recommend further research.

Abstract: We have developed a comprehensive kinetic model to study the O atom kinetics in an O₂plasma and its afterglow. By adopting a pseudo-1D plug-flow formalism within the kinetic model, our aim is to assess how far the O atoms travel in the plasma afterglow, evaluating its potential as a source of O atoms for post-plasma gas conversion applications. Since we could not find experimental data for pure O₂plasma at atmospheric pressure, we first validated our model at low pressure (1–10 Torr) where very good experimental data are available. Good agreement between our model and experiments was achieved for the reduced electric field, gas temperature and the densities of the dominant neutral species, i.e. O₂(a), O₂(b) and O. Subsequently, we confirmed that the chemistry set is consistent with thermodynamic equilibrium calculations at atmospheric pressure. Finally, we investigated the O atom densities in the O₂plasma and its afterglow, for which we considered a microwave O₂plasma torch, operating at a pressure between 0.1 and 1 atm, for a flow rate of 20 slm and an specific energy input of 1656 kJ mol⁻¹. Our results show that for both pressure conditions, a high dissociation degree of ca. 92% is reached within the discharge. However, the O atoms travel much further in the plasma afterglow for<italic>p</italic>= 0.1 atm (9.7 cm) than for<italic>p</italic>= 1 atm (1.4 cm), attributed to the longer lifetime (3.8 ms at 0.1 atm vs 1.8 ms at 1 atm) resulting from slower three-body recombination kinetics, as well as a higher volumetric flow rate.

Abstract: End-group-functionalized hyperbranched polymers were synthesized to act as a carbon nanotube (CNT) surfactant in aqueous solutions. Variation of the percentage of triphenylmethyl (trityl) functionalization and of the molar mass of the hyperbranched polyglycerol (PG) core resulted in the highest measured surfactant efficiency for a 5000 g/mol PG with 5.6% of the available hydroxyl end-groups replaced by trityl functions, as shown by UV-vis measurements. Semiempirical model calculations suggest an even higher efficiency for PG5000 with 2.5% functionalization and maximal molecule specific efficiency in general at low degrees of functionalization. Addition of trityl groups increases the surfactant-nanotube interactions in comparison to unfunctionalized PG because of pi-pi stacking interactions. However, at higher functionalization degrees mutual interactions between trityl groups come into play, decreasing the surfactant efficiency, while lack of water solubility becomes an issue at very high functionalization degrees. Low molar mass surfactants are less efficient compared to higher molar mass species most likely because the higher bulkiness of the latter allows for a better CNT separation and stabilization. The most efficient surfactant studied allowed dispersing 2.85 mg of CNT in 20 mL with as little as 1 mg of surfactant. These dispersions, remaining stable for at least 2 months, were mainly composed of individual CNTs as revealed by electron microscopy.

Abstract: We report on the fabrication of CuxOTiO2 (x = 1, 2) nanomaterials by an unprecedented vapor-phase approach. The adopted strategy involves the growth of porous CuxO matrices by means of chemical vapor deposition (CVD), followed by the controlled dispersion of TiO2 nanoparticles. The syntheses are performed on Si(100) substrates at temperatures of 400550 °C under wet oxygen atmospheres, adopting Cu(hfa)2·TMEDA (hfa =1,1,1,5,5,5-hexafluoro-2,4-pentanedionate; TMEDA = N,N,N′,N′-tetramethylethylenediamine) and Ti(O-iPr)2(dpm)2 (O-iPr = isopropoxy; dpm = 2,2,6,6-tetramethyl-3,5-heptanedionate) as copper and titanium precursors, respectively. Subsequently, finely dispersed gold nanoparticles are introduced in the as-prepared systems via radio frequency (RF)-sputtering under mild conditions. The synthesis process results in the formation of systems with chemical composition and nano-organization strongly dependent on the nature of the initial CuxO matrix and on the deposited TiO2 amount. The decoration with low-size gold clusters paves the way to the engineering of hierarchically organized nanomaterials.

Abstract: We have studied the temperature and field dependencies of the critical current I(C) in the Nb-Fe(0.1)Si(0.9)-Nb Josephson junction with a tunneling barrier formed by a paramagnetic insulator. We demonstrate that in these junctions coexistence of both the 0 and the pi states within one tunnel junction occurs, and leads to the appearance of a sharp cusp in the temperature dependence I(C)(T), similar to the I(C)(T) cusp found for the 0-pi transition in metallic pi junctions. This cusp is not related to the 0-pi temperature-induced transition itself, but is caused by the different temperature dependencies of the opposing 0 and pi supercurrents through the barrier.

Abstract: We address the nature of the disordered state that results from the adsorption of adatoms in graphene. For adatoms that sit at the center of the honeycomb plaquette, as in the case of most transition metals, we show that the ones that form a zero-energy resonant state lead to Anderson localization in the vicinity of the Dirac point. Among those, we show that there is a symmetry class of adatoms where Anderson localization is suppressed, leading to an exotic metallic state with large and rare charge droplets, that localizes only at the Dirac point. We identify the experimental conditions for the observation of the Anderson transition for adatoms in graphene.

Abstract: The adsorption characteristics of alkali, alkaline-earth, and transition metal adatoms on silicene, a graphene-like monolayer structure of silicon are analyzed by means of first-principles calculations. In contrast to graphene, interaction between the metal atoms and the silicene surface is quite strong due to its highly reactive buckled hexagonal structure. In addition to structural properties, we also calculate the electronic band dispersion, net magnetic moment, charge transfer, work function, and dipole moment of the metal adsorbed silicene sheets. Alkali metals, Li, Na, and K, adsorb to hollow sites without any lattice distortion. As a consequence of the significant charge transfer from alkalis to silicene, metalization of silicene takes place. Trends directly related to atomic size, adsorption height, work function, and dipole moment of the silicene/alkali adatom system are also revealed. We found that the adsorption of alkaline-earth metals on silicene is entirely different from their adsorption on graphene. The adsorption of Be, Mg, and Ca turns silicene into a narrow gap semiconductor. Adsorption characteristics of eight transition metals Ti, V, Cr, Mn, Fe, Co, Mo, and W are also investigated. As a result of their partially occupied d orbital, transition metals show diverse structural, electronic, and magnetic properties. Upon the adsorption of transition metals, depending on the adatom type and atomic radius, the system can exhibit metal, half-metal, and semiconducting behavior. For all metal adsorbates, the direction of the charge transfer is from adsorbate to silicene, because of its high surface reactivity. Our results indicate that the reactive crystal structure of silicene provides a rich playground for functionalization at nanoscale. DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevB.87.085423

Abstract: The split diffuse maxima around the {110} and {100} positions in the diffraction pattern of short-range-ordered Cu1-xPdx alloys (x=0.10...0.60) are attributed to small atomic clusters, being part of the underlying fee lattice. By analyzing the reciprocal space geometry, our cluster method identifies two prominent cluster types: the tetrahedron of nearest neighbors and a linear three-points cluster along the [110] directions. Since both cluster types contain different information on the same nearest-neighbor correlations, local anisotropy has to be assumed. It is shown that the three interatomic pair interactions within these basic clusters are sufficient to generate the spot splitting in the diffraction pattern. A ground-state analysis with these interactions reproduces the results of the anisotropic next-nearest-neighbor Ising model.

Abstract: Typical Raman spectra of transition-metal dichalcogenides (TMDs) display two prominent peaks, E-2g and A(1g), that are well separated from each other. We find that these modes are degenerate in bulk WSe2 yielding one single Raman peak in contrast to other TMDs. As the dimensionality is lowered, the observed peak splits in two. In contrast, our ab initio calculations predict that the degeneracy is retained even for WSe2 monolayers. Interestingly, for minuscule biaxial strain, the degeneracy is preserved, but once the crystal symmetry is broken by a small uniaxial strain, the degeneracy is lifted. Our calculated phonon dispersion for uniaxially strained WSe2 shows a good match to the measured Raman spectrum, which suggests that uniaxial strain exists in WSe2 flakes, possibly induced during the sample preparation and/or as a result of the interaction between WSe2 and the substrate. Furthermore, we find that WSe2 undergoes an indirect-to-direct band-gap transition from bulk to monolayers, which is ubiquitous for semiconducting TMDs. These results not only allow us to understand the vibrational and electronic properties of WSe2, but also point to effects of the interaction between the monolayer TMDs and the substrate on the vibrational and electronic properties. DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevB.87.165409

Abstract: Themean-field Hubbard model is used to investigate the formation of the antiferromagnetic phase in hexagonal graphene rings with inner zigzag edges. The outer edge of the ring was taken to be either zigzag or armchair, and we found that both types of structures can have a larger antiferromagnetic interaction as compared with hexagonal dots. This difference could be partially ascribed to the larger number of zigzag edges per unit area in rings than in dots. Furthermore, edge states localized on the inner ring edge are found to hybridize differently than the edge states of dots, which results in important differences in the magnetism of graphene rings and dots. The largest staggered magnetization is found when the outer edge has a zigzag shape. However, narrow rings with armchair outer edge are found to have larger staggered magnetization than zigzag hexagons. The edge defects are shown to have the least effect on magnetization when the outer ring edge is armchair shaped. DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevB.87.085434