Anisotropic Optical Properties of 2D Silicon Telluride

MRS Advances ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 5 (35-36) ◽  
pp. 1881-1889 ◽  
Author(s):  
Romakanta Bhattarai ◽  
Jiyang Chen ◽  
Thang B. Hoang ◽  
Jingbiao Cui ◽  
Xiao Shen

ABSTRACTSilicon telluride (Si2Te3) is a silicon-based 2D chalcogenide with potential applications in optoelectronics. It has a unique crystal structure where Si atoms form Si-Si dimers to occupy the “metal” sites. In this paper, we report an ab initio computational study of its optical dielectric properties using the GW approximation and the Bethe-Salpeter equation (BSE). Strong in-plane optical anisotropy is discovered. The imaginary part of the dielectric constant in the direction parallel to the Si-Si dimers is found to be much lower than that perpendicular to the dimers. The optical measurement of the absorption spectra of 2D Si2Te3 nanoplates shows modulation of the absorption coefficient under 90-degree rotation, confirming the computational results. We show the optical anisotropy originates from the particular compositions of the wavefunctions in the valence and conduction bands. Because it is associated with the Si dimer orientation, the in-plane optical anisotropy can potentially be dynamically controlled by electrical field and strain, which may be useful for new device design. In addition, BSE calculations reduce GW quasiparticle band gap by 0.3 eV in bulk and 0.6 eV in monolayer, indicating a large excitonic effect in Si2Te3. Furthermore, including electron-hole interaction in bulk calculations significantly reduces the imaginary part of the dielectric constant in the out-of-plane direction, suggesting strong interlayer exciton effect in Si2Te3 multilayers.

2003 ◽  
Vol 762 ◽  
Author(s):  
Claudio J. Oton ◽  
Zeno Gaburro ◽  
Mher Ghulinyan ◽  
Nicola Daldosso ◽  
Lucio Pancheri ◽  
...  

AbstractWe report the observation of strongly anisotropic scattering of laser light at oblique incidence on (100)-oriented porous silicon layers. We performed angle-resolved light scattering measurements and three concentric rings were observed. Modeling porous silicon by means of nanometric columnar air pores and an effective anisotropic uniaxial dielectric constant explains the observed phenomenon, and besides, the observation of the angle aperture of these rings allows a direct measurement of relative birefringence. We finally study the changes of optical anisotropy after different modifications of the structure.


Polymers ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (10) ◽  
pp. 1566
Author(s):  
Oliver J. Pemble ◽  
Maria Bardosova ◽  
Ian M. Povey ◽  
Martyn E. Pemble

Chitosan-based films have a diverse range of potential applications but are currently limited in terms of commercial use due to a lack of methods specifically designed to produce thin films in high volumes. To address this limitation directly, hydrogels prepared from chitosan, chitosan-tetraethoxy silane, also known as tetraethyl orthosilicate (TEOS) and chitosan-glutaraldehyde have been used to prepare continuous thin films using a slot-die technique which is described in detail. By way of preliminary analysis of the resulting films for comparison purposes with films made by other methods, the mechanical strength of the films produced was assessed. It was found that as expected, the hybrid films made with TEOS and glutaraldehyde both show a higher yield strength than the films made with chitosan alone. In all cases, the mechanical properties of the films were found to compare very favorably with similar measurements reported in the literature. In order to assess the possible influence of the direction in which the hydrogel passes through the slot-die on the mechanical properties of the films, testing was performed on plain chitosan samples cut in a direction parallel to the direction of travel and perpendicular to this direction. It was found that there was no evidence of any mechanical anisotropy induced by the slot die process. The examples presented here serve to illustrate how the slot-die approach may be used to create high-volume, high-area chitosan-based films cheaply and rapidly. It is suggested that an approach of the type described here may facilitate the use of chitosan-based films for a wide range of important applications.


2021 ◽  
Vol 0 (0) ◽  
Author(s):  
Aleksey E. Kuznetsov

Abstract The first comparative DFT (B3LYP/6-31G*) study of the Zn-porphyrin and its two derivatives, ZnP(P)4 and ZnP(As)4, is reported. For all three species studied, ZnP, ZnP(P)4 and ZnP(As)4, the singlet was calculated to be the lowest-energy structure and singlet-triplet gap was found to decrease from ca. 41—42 kcal/mol for N to ca. 17—18 kcal/mol for P and to ca. 10 kcal/mol for As. Both ZnP(P)4 and ZnP(As)4 were calculated to attain very pronounced bowl-like shapes. The frontier molecular orbitals (MOs) of the core-modified porphyrins are quite similar to the ZnP frontier MOs. For the HOMO-2 of the core-modified porphyrins due to the ZnP(P)4/ZnP(As)4 bowl-like shapes we might suppose the existence of “internal” electron delocalization inside the ZnP(P)4/ZnP(As)4 “bowls”. Noticeable reduction of the HOMO/LUMO gaps was calculated for ZnP(P)4 and ZnP(As)4, by ca. 1.10 and 1.47 eV, respectively, compared to ZnP. The core-modification of porphyrins by P and especially by As was found to result in significant decrease of the charge on Zn-centers, by ca. 0.61—0.67e for P and by ca. 0.69—0.76e for As. Charges on P- and As-centers were computed to have large positive values, ca. 0.41—0.45e and ca. 0.43—0.47e, for P and As, respectively, compared to significant negative values, ca. −0.65 to −0.66e for N. The porphyrin core-modification by heavier N congeners, P and As, can noticeably modify the structures, electronic, and optical properties of porphyrins, thus affecting their reactivity and potential applications.


Molecules ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 26 (3) ◽  
pp. 532
Author(s):  
Emily E. Pocock ◽  
Richard J. Mandle ◽  
John W. Goodby

Liquid crystalline dimers and dimesogens have attracted significant attention due to their tendency to exhibit twist-bend modulated nematic (NTB) phases. While the features that give rise to NTB phase formation are now somewhat understood, a comparable structure–property relationship governing the formation of layered (smectic) phases from the NTB phase is absent. In this present work, we find that by selecting mesogenic units with differing polarities and aspect ratios and selecting an appropriately bent central spacer we obtain a material that exhibits both NTB and intercalated smectic phases. The higher temperature smectic phase is assigned as SmCA based on its optical textures and X-ray scattering patterns. A detailed study of the lower temperature smectic ‘’X’’ phase by optical microscopy and SAXS/WAXS demonstrates this phase to be smectic, with an in-plane orthorhombic or monoclinic packing and long (>100 nm) out of plane correlation lengths. This phase, which has been observed in a handful of materials to date, is a soft-crystal phase with an anticlinic layer organisation. We suggest that mismatching the polarities, conjugation and aspect ratios of mesogenic units is a useful method for generating smectic forming dimesogens.


Author(s):  
Brandon Bethers ◽  
Yang Yang

Abstract Cuttlebone, the internal shell structure of a cuttlefish, presents a unique labyrinthian wall-septa design that promotes high energy absorption, porosity, and damage tolerance. This structure offers us an inspiration for the design of lightweight and strong structures for potential applications in mechanical, aerospace and biomedical engineering. However, the complexity of the cuttlebones structural design makes its fabrication by traditional manufacturing techniques not feasible. The advances in additive manufacturing (3D printing) make highly complex structures like cuttlebone possible to manufacture. In this work, the authors sought to establish comparative data between cuttlebone structures and some common support structures used in additive manufacturing. The structures compared to cuttlebone in this work include the cubic, honeycomb and triangular support structures. This was accomplished by using CAD modeling and simulation software. This study found that the cuttlefish structures had higher average stress values than the others but similar average strain values. This leads to a higher modulus of elasticity for the cuttlebone structures. The data suggests that further research into cuttlebone structures could produce future designs that improve upon the current well-established additive manufacturing support structures. Further study will be performed for the 3D printing of cuttlebone inspired structures by using various types of materials, such as soft and rigid polymers, functional ceramics, composites, and metals.


2012 ◽  
Vol 512-515 ◽  
pp. 1235-1239 ◽  
Author(s):  
Xiao Lin Liu ◽  
Xiao Liang Dou ◽  
Huan Ying Xie ◽  
Jian Feng Chen

Bismuth ferrite (BFO), one of very few multiferroics with simultaneous coexistence of ferroelectric and magnetic ordering, has attracted much attention due to its potential applications for new memory devices. In this work, 30~90 nm BFO powders with single rhombohedral phase were prepared by chemical coprecipitation method and after calcining of 500oC. Photocatalytic properties of the powders and dielectric properties of BFO ceramic were characterized, respectively. Cut-off wavelength of the powders at 590 nm exhibited efficient ultraviolet photocatalytic activity, which has been demonstrated by a photocatalytic result. 0.3g BFO powders can make 10 ppm RhB aqueous solution (100 ml) to decolorize and RhB decomposition rate reached to 95% during 3 hr UV irradiation. BFO ceramic can be obtained by sintering the green disc compacted with BFO powders at 800oC for 1h. Its dielectric constant is t about 250, and its dielectric loss is 0.03 at below 100 oC in the frequency range of 102 ~ 104 Hz and up to 1200 at 200 oC under 1 kHz, respectively. Reduced polarization is found due to higher loss and lower dielectric constant of the ceramic when the measuing frequency is more than 104 Hz. Magnetic hysteresis loop of BFO ceramic also shows weaker magnetic property, which may be attributed to size confinement effect of the nanostructures.


2017 ◽  
Vol 6 (4) ◽  
pp. 77
Author(s):  
N A M Shahin ◽  
S Abd El Mongy ◽  
R Kamal ◽  
A B El- Bially ◽  
A A Shabaka ◽  
...  

Polyaniline (PANI) - Polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) nanocomposite were prepared using laser irradiation method. X-ray diffraction results showed that, (PANI/PVA) nanocomposite exhibited amorphous nature of polymer. The electronic transition will be studied using Ultraviolet-Visible spectrometer (UV-Vis). The real part of dielectric constant (έ) and imaginary part (ε") were studied. Also, the relaxation time was calculated.


2019 ◽  
Vol 9 (5) ◽  
pp. 881 ◽  
Author(s):  
Zhicong Miao ◽  
Juntao Shi ◽  
Tianjiao Liu ◽  
Peng Li ◽  
Zhiqiang Su ◽  
...  

The conjugation of graphene and polymers has attracted great attention for the fabrication of functional hybrid nanomaterials. Here, we demonstrate the modification of graphene oxide (GO) with adamantane (AMT) through the diimide-activated amidation reaction. The modification of GO with AMT improves the dispersion and decreases the interfacial polarization of GO, causing a lower dielectric constant for the fabricated GO/AMT hybrid materials. The structures of GO/AMT were studied by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy and Raman spectroscopy. Furthermore, the mechanical properties, thermal stability, and dielectric constant of GO/AMT composites were measured at a low cured temperature using various techniques, such as differential scanning calorimetry, thermogravimetric analysis, and dynamic mechanical thermal analysis. It was found that the synthesized GO/AMT materials with different contents were blended into cyanate ester (CE) resins, resulting in a lower cure temperature, smaller dielectric constant, higher thermal stability, and stronger water resistance. It is expected that this novel GO/AMT-CE material will have potential applications for replacing traditional thermosetting resins.


Author(s):  
Michal M. Mielnik ◽  
Lars R. Sætran

A novel seeding method, permitting high out-of-plane resolution and instantaneous (time-resolved) velocity field measurements using a standard Microscale Particle Image Velocimetry (micro-PIV) setup, is presented. The method relies on selective seeding of a thin fluid layer within an otherwise particle-free flow. The generated particle sheet defines the depth and position of the measurement plane, independently of the details of the optical setup. Therefore, for low magnification objectives in particular, considerable improvement in the measurement depth is possible. Selectively seeded micro-PIV (SeS-PIV) is applied to a microchannel flow, and the measured instantaneous velocity fields are in excellent agreement with the theoretical solution for the flowfield. The currently presented measurements have a depth-wise resolution 20% below the estimated optical measurement depth of the micro-PIV system. In principle, a measurement depth corresponding to the diameter of the tracer particles may be achieved.


Science ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 360 (6395) ◽  
pp. 1339-1342 ◽  
Author(s):  
L. Fumagalli ◽  
A. Esfandiar ◽  
R. Fabregas ◽  
S. Hu ◽  
P. Ares ◽  
...  

The dielectric constant ε of interfacial water has been predicted to be smaller than that of bulk water (ε ≈ 80) because the rotational freedom of water dipoles is expected to decrease near surfaces, yet experimental evidence is lacking. We report local capacitance measurements for water confined between two atomically flat walls separated by various distances down to 1 nanometer. Our experiments reveal the presence of an interfacial layer with vanishingly small polarization such that its out-of-plane ε is only ~2. The electrically dead layer is found to be two to three molecules thick. These results provide much-needed feedback for theories describing water-mediated surface interactions and the behavior of interfacial water, and show a way to investigate the dielectric properties of other fluids and solids under extreme confinement.


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