Abstract: It is well known that the formation of discrete electron levels strongly influences the pairing in metallic nanograins. Here, we focus on another effect of quantum confinement in superconducting grains that was not studied previously, i.e., spatially nonuniform pairing. This effect is very significant when single-electron levels form bunches and/or a kind of shell structure. We find that, in highly symmetric grains, the order parameter can exhibit variations with position by an order of magnitude. Nonuniform pairing is closely related to a quantum-confinement-induced modification of the pairing-interaction matrix elements and size-dependent pinning of the chemical potential to groups of degenerate or nearly degenerate levels. For illustrative purposes, we consider spherical metallic nanograins and also rectangular shapes. We show that the relevant matrix elements are, as a rule, enhanced in the presence of quantum confinement, which favors spatial variations of the order parameter, compensating the corresponding energy cost. The size-dependent pinning of the chemical potential further increases the spatial variation of the pair condensate. The role of nonuniform pairing is smaller in less symmetric confining geometries and/or in the presence of disorder. However, it always remains of importance when the energy spacing between discrete electron levels δ is approaching the scale of the bulk gap ΔB, i.e., δ>0.10.2 ΔB.

Abstract: The structure and interface characteristics of (LaVO3)6m(SrVO3)m superlattices deposited on a (100)-SrTiO3 substrate were studied using transmission electron microscopy (TEM). Cross-section TEM studies revealed that both LaVO3 (LVO) and SrVO3 (SVO) layers are good single-crystal quality and epitaxially grown with respect to the substrate. It is evidenced that LVO layers are made of two orientational variants of a distorted perovskite compatible with bulk LaVO3, while SVO layers suffers from a tetragonal distortion due to the substrate-induced stain. Electron energy loss spectroscopy investigations indicate changes in the fine structure of the V L23 edge, related to a valence change between the LaVO3 and the SrVO3 layers.

Abstract: (Sr1-xCax)(33)Bi-24,partial derivative Al48O141+3 partial derivative/2 fullerenoid solid solutions have been synthesized and the effect of partial substitution of Sr by Ca has been characterized by (scanning) transmission electron microscopy, applying different imaging methods. Most of the defects commonly observed in face centered cubic compounds, have also been observed in (Sr1-xCax)(33)Bi24-partial derivative Al48O141+3 partial derivative/2. Based on purely geometrical and topological models, structural presentations for the coherent twin boundaries and stacking faults have been constructed on the basis of complex spherical “Al84O210” units. The results are compared to defects observed in the crystallite fullerite C-60.

Abstract: In this paper, a new implementation of the Metropolis Monte Carlo (MMC) algorithm is presented. When combining the MMC model with a molecular dynamics (MD) code, crystal growth by plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition can be simulated. As the MD part simulates impacts of growth species onto the surface on a time scale of picoseconds, the MMC algorithm simulates the slower adatom surface processes. The implementation includes a criterion for the selection of atoms that are allowed to be displaced during the simulation, and a criterion of after how many MMC cycles the simulation is stopped. We performed combined MD-MMC simulations for hydrocarbon species that are important for the growth of ultrananocrystalline diamond (UNCD) films at partially hydrogenated diamond surfaces, since this implementation is part of a study of the growth mechanisms of (ultra)nanocrystalline diamond films. Exemplary for adatom arrangements during the growth of UNCD, the adatom surface behavior of C and C2H2 at diamond (111)1 × 1, C and C4H2 at diamond (111)1 × 1 and C3 at diamond (100)2 × 1 has been investigated. For all cases, the diamond crystal structure is pursued under the influence of MMC simulation. Additional longer time-scale MD simulations put forward very similar structures, verifying the MMC algorithm. Nevertheless, the MMC simulation time is typically one order of magnitude shorter than the MD simulation time.

Abstract: We present here some of our modeling efforts for PECVD growth of nanostructured carbon materials with focus on amorphous hydrogenated carbon. Experimental data from an expanding thermal plasma setup were used as input for the simulations. Attention was focused both on the film growth mechanism, as well as on the hydrocarbon reaction mechanisms during growth of the films. It is found that the reaction mechanisms and sticking coefficients are dependent on the specific surface sites, and the structural properties of the growth radicals. The film growth results are in correspondence with the experiment. Furthermore, it is found that thin a-C:H films can be densified using an additional H-flux towards the substrate.

Abstract: Semiconducting transition metal dichalcogenides consist of monolayers held together by weak forces where the layers are electronically and vibrationally coupled. Isolated monolayers show changes in electronic structure and lattice vibration energies, including a transition from indirect to direct bandgap. Here we present a new member of the family, rhenium disulphide (ReS2), where such variation is absent and bulk behaves as electronically and vibrationally decoupled monolayers stacked together. From bulk to monolayers, ReS2 remains direct bandgap and its Raman spectrum shows no dependence on the number of layers. Interlayer decoupling is further demonstrated by the insensitivity of the optical absorption and Raman spectrum to interlayer distance modulated by hydrostatic pressure. Theoretical calculations attribute the decoupling to Peierls distortion of the 1T structure of ReS2, which prevents ordered stacking and minimizes the interlayer overlap of wavefunctions. Such vanishing interlayer coupling enables probing of two-dimensional-like systems without the need for monolayers.

Abstract: In this article, we report on the synthesis of thin, epitaxial films of the transparent conductive oxide Al:ZnO on (0001)-oriented synthetic sapphire substrates by DC sputtering from targets with a nominal 1 at.% Al substitution. The deposition was carried out at an unusually low substrate temperature of only 250 °C in argonoxygen mixtures as well as in pure argon. The impact of the processgas composition on the morphology was analysed by transmission electron microscopy, revealing epitaxial growth in all the cases with a minor impact of the process parameters on the resulting grain sizes. The transport properties resistivity, Hall effect and magnetoresistance were studied in the range from 10 to 300 K in DC and pulsed magnetic fields up to 45 T. While the carrier density and mobility are widely temperature independent, we identified a low fieldlow temperature regime in which the magnetoresistance shows an anomalous, negative behaviour. At higher fields and temperatures, the magnetoresistance exhibits a more conventional, positive curvature with increasing field strength. As a possible explanation, we propose carrier scattering at localised magnetic trace impurities and magnetic correlations.

Abstract: In recent decades multifractal analysis has been successfully applied to characterize the complex temporal and spatial organization of such diverse natural phenomena as heartbeat dynamics, the dendritic shape of neurons, retinal vessels, rock fractures, and intricately shaped volcanic ash particles. The characterization of multifractal properties of closed contours has remained elusive because applying traditional methods to their quasi-one-dimensional nature yields ambiguous answers. Here we show that multifractal analysis can reveal meaningful and sometimes unexpected information about natural structures with a perimeter well-defined by a closed contour. To this end, we demonstrate how to apply multifractal detrended fluctuation analysis, originally developed for the analysis of time series, to an arbitrary shape of a given study object. In particular, we show the application of the method to fish otoliths, calcareous concretions located in fish's inner ear. Frequently referred to as the fish's “black box”, they contain a wealth of information about the fish's life history and thus have recently attracted increasing attention. As an illustrative example, we show that a multifractal approach can uncover unexpected relationships between otolith contours and size and age of fish at maturity.

Abstract: An experimental and theoretical investigation was made of flux jumps and irreversible magnetization curves of mesoscopic Al superconducting rings. In the small magnetic-field region the change of vorticity with magnetic field can be larger than unity. This behavior is connected with the existence of several metastable states of different vorticities. The intentional introduction of a defect in the ring has a large effect on the size of the flux jumps. Calculations based on the time-dependent Ginzburg-Landau model allows us to explain the experimental results semiquantitatively.

Abstract: New polymorphs of NaMnO2 have been observed using transmission electron microscopy and synchrotron X-ray powder diffraction. Coherent twin planes confined to the (NaMnO2) layers, parallel to the (10 (1) over bar) crystallographic planes of the monoclinic layered rock-salt-type alpha-NaMnO2 (O3) structure, form quasi-periodic modulated sequences, with the known alpha-and beta-NaMnO2 polymorphs as the two limiting cases. The energy difference between the polymorphic forms, estimated using a DFT-based structure relaxation, is on the scale of the typical thermal energies that results in a high degree of stacking disorder in these compounds. The results unveil the remarkable effect of the twin planes on both the magnetic and electrochemical properties. The polymorphism drives the magnetic ground state from a quasi-1D spin system for the geometrically frustrated alpha-polymorph through a two-leg spin ladder for the intermediate stacking sequence toward a quasi-2D magnet for the beta-polymorph. A substantial increase of the equilibrium potential for Na deintercalation upon increasing the concentration of the twin planes is calculated, providing a possibility to tune the electrochemical potential of the layered rock-salt ABO(2) cathodes by engineering the materials with a controlled concentration of twins.

Abstract: Nanoindentation of bilayer graphene is studied using molecular-dynamics simulations. We compared our simulation results with those from elasticity theory as based on the nonlinear Föppl-Hencky equations with rigid boundary condition. The force-deflection values of bilayer graphene are compared to those of monolayer graphene. Youngs modulus of bilayer graphene is estimated to be 0.8 TPa which is close to the value for graphite. Moreover, an almost flat bilayer membrane at low temperature under central load has a 14% smaller Youngs modulus as compared to the one at room temperature.

Abstract: Near-edge X-ray absorption spectroscopy (NEXAFS)1 is an essential analytical tool in material science. Combining NEXAFS with scanning transmission X-ray microscopy (STXM) adds spatial resolution and the possibility to study individual nanostructures2, 3. Here, we describe a full-field transmission X-ray microscope (TXM) that generates high-resolution, large-area NEXAFS data with a collection rate two orders of magnitude faster than is possible with STXM. The TXM optical design combines a spectral resolution of E/ΔE = 1 × 104 with a spatial resolution of 25 nm in a field of view of 1520 µm and a data acquisition time of ~1 s. As an example, we present image stacks and polarization-dependent NEXAFS spectra from individual anisotropic sodium and protonated titanate nanoribbons. Our NEXAFS-TXM technique has the advantage that one image stack visualizes a large number of nanostructures and therefore already contains statistical information. This new high-resolution NEXAFS-TXM technique opens the way to advanced nanoscale science studies.