Bishwajit Debnath

A charge-density-wave oscillator based on an integrated tantalum disulfide–boron nitride–graphene device operating at room temperature

The charge-density-wave (CDW) phase is a macroscopic quantum state consisting of a periodic modulation of the electronic charge density accompanied by a periodic distortion of the atomic lattice in quasi-1D or layered 2D metallic crystals. Several layered transition metal dichalcogenides, including 1T-TaSe2, 1T-TaS2 and 1T-TiSe2 exhibit unusually high transition temperatures to different CDW symmetry-reducing phases. These transitions can be affected by the environmental conditions, film thickness and applied electric bias. However, device applications of these intriguing systems at room temperature or their integration with other 2D materials have not been explored. Here, we demonstrate room-temperature current switching driven by a voltage-controlled phase transition between CDW states in films of 1T-TaS2 less than 10 nm thick. We exploit the transition between the nearly commensurate and the incommensurate CDW phases, which has a transition temperature of 350 K and gives an abrupt change in current accompanied by hysteresis. An integrated graphene transistor provides a voltage-tunable, matched, low-resistance load enabling precise voltage control of the circuit. The 1T-TaS2 film is capped with hexagonal boron nitride to provide protection from oxidation. The integration of these three disparate 2D materials in a way that exploits the unique properties of each yields a simple, miniaturized, voltage-controlled oscillator suitable for a variety of practical applications.

Acoustic phonon spectrum and thermal transport in nanoporous alumina arrays

We report results of a combined investigation of thermal conductivity and acoustic phonon spectra in nanoporous alumina membranes with the pore diameter decreasing from D = 180 nm to 25 nm. The samples with the hexagonally arranged pores were selected to have the same porosity ϕ ≈ 13%. The Brillouin-Mandelstam spectroscopy measurements revealed bulk-like phonon spectrum in the samples with D = 180-nm pores and spectral features, which were attributed to spatial confinement, in the samples with 25-nm and 40-nm pores. The velocity of the longitudinal acoustic phonons was reduced in the samples with smaller pores. Analysis of the experimental data and calculated phonon dispersion suggests that both phonon-boundary scattering and phonon spatial confinement affect heat conduction in membranes with the feature sizes D < 40 nm.

Direct observation of confined acoustic phonon polarization branches in free-standing semiconductor nanowires

Similar to electron waves, the phonon states in semiconductors can undergo changes induced by external boundaries. However, despite strong scientific and practical importance, conclusive experimental evidence of confined acoustic phonon polarization branches in individual free-standing nanostructures is lacking. Here we report results of Brillouin—Mandelstam light scattering spectroscopy, which reveal multiple (up to ten) confined acoustic phonon polarization branches in GaAs nanowires with a diameter as large as 128 nm, at a length scale that exceeds the grey phonon mean-free path in this material by almost an order-of-magnitude. The dispersion modification and energy scaling with diameter in individual nanowires are in excellent agreement with theory. The phonon confinement effects result in a decrease in the phonon group velocity along the nanowire axis and changes in the phonon density of states. The obtained results can lead to more efficient nanoscale control of acoustic phonons, with benefits for nanoelectronic, thermoelectric and spintronic devices.

Electrically driven deep ultraviolet MgZnO lasers at room temperature

Semiconductor lasers in the deep ultraviolet (UV) range have numerous potential applications ranging from water purification and medical diagnosis to high-density data storage and flexible displays. Nevertheless, very little success was achieved in the realization of electrically driven deep UV semiconductor lasers to date. In this paper, we report the fabrication and characterization of deep UV MgZnO semiconductor lasers. These lasers are operated with continuous current mode at room temperature and the shortest wavelength reaches 284 nm. The wide bandgap MgZnO thin films with various Mg mole fractions were grown on c-sapphire substrate using radio-frequency plasma assisted molecular beam epitaxy. Metal-semiconductor-metal (MSM) random laser devices were fabricated using lithography and metallization processes. Besides the demonstration of scalable emission wavelength, very low threshold current densities of 29~33 A/cm2 are achieved. Numerical modeling reveals that impact ionization process is responsible for the generation of hole carriers in the MgZnO MSM devices. The interaction of electrons and holes leads to radiative excitonic recombination and subsequent coherent random lasing.

Variable-temperature inelastic light scattering spectroscopy of nickel oxide: Disentangling phonons and magnons

We report the results of an investigation of the temperature dependence of the magnon and phonon frequencies in NiO. A combination of Brillouin-Mandelstam and Raman spectroscopies allowed us to elucidate the evolution of the phonon and magnon spectral signatures from the Brillouin zone center (GHz range) to the second-order peaks from the zone boundary (THz range). The temperature-dependent behavior of the magnon and phonon bands in the NiO spectrum indicates the presence of antiferromagnetic (AF) order fluctuation or a persistent AF state at temperatures substantially above the Neel temperature (TN=523 K). Tuning the intensity of the excitation laser provides a method for disentangling the features of magnons from acoustic phonons in AF materials without the application of a magnetic field. Our results are useful for the interpretation of the inelastic-light scattering spectrum of NiO and add to the knowledge of its magnon properties important for THz spintronic devices.We report results of an investigation of the temperature dependence of the magnon and phonon frequencies in NiO. A combination of Brillouin - Mandelstam and Raman spectroscopies allowed us to elucidate the evolution of the phonon and magnon spectral signatures from the Brillouin zone center (GHz range) to the second-order peaks from the zone boundary (THz range). The temperature-dependent behavior of the magnon and phonon bands in the NiO spectrum indicates the presence of antiferromagnetic (AF) order fluctuation or a persistent AF state at temperatures above the Neel temperature (T=523 K). Tuning the intensity of the excitation laser provides a method for disentangling the features of magnons from acoustic phonons without the application of a magnetic field. Our results are useful for interpretation of the inelastic-light scattering spectrum of NiO, and add to the knowledge of its magnon properties important for THz spintronic devices.

Exciton condensate in bilayer transition metal dichalcogenides: Strong coupling regime

Exciton condensation in an electron-hole bilayer system of monolayer transition metal dichalcogenides is analyzed at three different levels of theory to account for screening and quasiparticle renormalization. The large effective masses of the transition metal dichalcogenides place them in a strong coupling regime. In this regime, mean field (MF) theory with either an unscreened or screened interlayer interaction predicts a room temperature condensate. Interlayer and intralayer interactions renormalize the quasiparticle dispersion, and this effect is included in a GW approximation. The renormalization reverses the trends predicted from the unscreened or screened MF theories. In the strong coupling regime, intralayer interactions have a large impact on the magnitude of the order parameter and its functional dependencies on effective mass and carrier density.

Spin-phonon coupling in antiferromagnetic nickel oxide

We report the results of ultraviolet Raman spectroscopy of NiO, which allowed us to determine the spin-phonon coupling coefficients in this important antiferromagnetic material. The use of the second-order phonon scattering and ultraviolet laser excitation (λ = 325 nm) was essential for overcoming the problem of the optical selection rules and dominance of the two-magnon band in the visible Raman spectrum of NiO. We established that the spins of Ni atoms interact more strongly with the longitudinal than transverse optical phonons and produce opposite effects on the phonon energies. The peculiarities of the spin-phonon coupling are consistent with the trends given by density functional theory. The obtained results shed light on the nature of the spin-phonon coupling in antiferromagnetic insulators and can help in developing spintronic devices.

Threshold voltage sensitivity reduction of SOI four gate transistor

Threshold voltage of a SOI four gate transistor is studied to determine its dependency on different device parameters. A surface potential based analytical model is used for studying threshold voltage and an Atlas/Silvaco 3-D numerical model is also developed for the validation of the analytical model. The numerical model incorporates non-ideal effects like Shockley-Read-Hall recombination, concentration dependent mobility, Auger recombination and bandgap narrowing effect. Threshold voltage sensitivity on channel length variation is reduced by controlling device width (W) and silicon layer thickness (tsi). The idea is justified by both analytical model and numerical model.

Approximation of carrier generation rate in common solar cells and studies for optimization of n+p silicon solar cell for AM1.5G and AM1.5D

This paper determines the coefficients of an empirical expression of approximated carrier generation rate in Si, Ge, GaAs, InP and Al_0.3Ga_0.7As solar cells for AM1.5G and AM1.5D spectrum to simplify the analysis of a (n⁺p) solar cell properties and offers an optimization of different parameters for silicon based solar cell. Generation rate from this expression fit closely the result obtained from PC1D software. Using the proposed carrier generation rate, an analytical model of minority carrier profile can be developed. This developed model is applied for deriving the expression of current density in the solar cell device. The emitter collection efficiency, overall conversion efficiency and the minority carrier current densities are studied for a wide range of doping concentrations (N_s = 1×10¹⁸cm^-3 to 1×10²⁰cm^-3) and emitter thicknesses (W_e = 0.1μm to 10μm); with these careful studies, a theoretical optimization of the silicon solar cell device has been made which shows good agreement with numerical analysis and previous research works.

Chemical vapor deposition and phase stability of pyrite on SiO2

Semiconducting pyrite (cubic-FeS2) is of great interest for photovoltaics, energy-storage and catalysis applications due its remarkable optical, electrochemical and catalytic properties in combination with its high abundance, low raw material cost and environmental benignancy. In addition, recent theoretical studies indicate that it is possible to synthesize two-dimensional (2D) FeS2 with atomic thickness, and 2D FeS2 possesses highly tunable electronic and magnetic properties that do not exist in its bulk form, enabling its application in nanoelectronics. Herein, we report the first growth of single-phase FeS2 on SiO2 substrates at temperatures between 300 °C and 600 °C by atmospheric pressure chemical vapor deposition (CVD). The temperature-dependent growth studies suggest that air-stable FeS2 crystals with 2D morphologies grow at 450 °C and above while smaller irregular-shaped FeS2 with low crystallinity and poor stability form at lower temperatures. We also demonstrate the patterned growth of 2D hexagonal crystals on SiO2 substrates using graphene as a template at 600 °C. Raman spectroscopy measurements in conjunction with ab initio density functional theory (DFT) calculations confirm that the growth up to 600 °C does not include any other phase than FeS2. Moreover, we show that laser-induced local phase transformations from FeS2 (pyrite phase) and FeS (troilite phase) can be monitored in-situ by the changes in Raman spectra. Our method paves the way toward scalable synthesis of phase-pure FeS2 crystals on SiO2 substrates, which is fully compatible with semiconductor processing. This method can be also further developed and adopted for the synthesis of atomically thin 2D FeS2 layers and their heterostructures with graphene that may bring enhanced or novel properties.