Dan-Feng Pan

Solvothermal Synthesis of Lateral Heterojunction Sb2Te3/Bi2Te3 Nanoplates

A lateral heterojunction of topological insulator Sb2Te3/Bi2Te3 was successfully synthesized using a two-step solvothermal method. The two crystalline components were separated well by a sharp lattice-matched interface when the optimized procedure was used. Inspecting the heterojunction using high-resolution transmission electron microscopy showed that epitaxial growth occurred along the horizontal plane. The semiconducting temperature-resistance curve and crossjunction rectification were observed, which reveal a staggered-gap lateral heterojunction with a small junction voltage. Quantum correction from the weak antilocalization reveals the well-maintained transport of the topological surface state. This is appealing for a platform for spin filters and one-dimensional topological interface states.

Polarization-dependent interfacial coupling modulation of ferroelectric photovoltaic effect in PZT-ZnO heterostructures

Recently, ferroelectric perovskite oxides have drawn much attention due to potential applications in the field of solar energy conversion. However, the power conversion efficiency of ferroelectric photovoltaic effect currently reported is far below the expectable value. One of the crucial problems lies in the two back-to-back Schottky barriers, which are formed at the ferroelectric-electrode interfaces and blocking most of photo-generated carriers to reach the outside circuit. Herein, we develop a new approach to enhance the ferroelectric photovoltaic effect by introducing the polarization-dependent interfacial coupling effect. Through inserting a semiconductor ZnO layer with spontaneous polarization into the ferroelectric ITO/PZT/Au film, a p-n junction with strong polarization-dependent interfacial coupling effect is formed. The power conversion efficiency of the heterostructure is improved by nearly two orders of magnitude and the polarization modulation ratio is increased about four times. It is demonstrated that the polarization-dependent interfacial coupling effect can give rise to a great change in band structure of the heterostructure, not only producing an aligned internal electric field but also tuning both depletion layer width and potential barrier height at PZT-ZnO interface. This work provides an efficient way in developing highly efficient ferroelectric-based solar cells and novel optoelectronic memory devices.

Magnetization switching in the BiFe0.9Mn0.1O3 thin films modulated by resistive switching process

Polycrystalline BiFe0.9Mn0.1O3 thin films have been prepared on Pt/Ti/SiO2/Si wafers by a sol-gel process. The film exhibits typical resistive switching (RS) effect. Moreover, accompanied with the RS process, remarkable magnetization switching (MS) behaviors happen, i.e., at low resistance state the film shows high saturation magnetization, while showing low saturation magnetization at high resistance state. We revealed that such a MS effect mainly originates from the conversion of Fe ion valence state between Fe2+ and Fe3+ during the RS process, which was confirmed by the x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy measurements. The further first-principle calculations showed that the doping of Mn into the BiFeO3 could induce an impurity energy level which makes it facile to achieve the conversion of Fe ion valence state. Based on the conductive filament model, a possible mechanism of tuning the MS effect by RS process is proposed, which is closely related to the conversion of Fe ion valence state along with the fo...

Great surface-enhanced Raman scattering in hybrids consisting of graphene and silver nanoparticles with large particle sizes

We have prepared graphene-veiled-nanoparticle hybrids by depositing a bilayer graphene film on silver nanoparticles with large particle sizes, ∼200 nm. The hybrids possess good thermal stability and exhibit great surface-enhanced Raman scattering with enhancement factors of 49- and 21-fold for the G and 2D peaks, respectively. The electrical and optical absorption measurements revealed the occurrence of charge transfer and strong interactions between the silver nanoparticles and graphene. Accordingly, a possible mechanism of Raman enhancement is proposed for the present hybrids. This work demonstrates a well-designed way to improve surface-enhanced Raman scattering in graphene-based materials.

Controllable Photovoltaic Effect of Microarray Derived from Epitaxial Tetragonal BiFeO3 Films

Recently, the ferroelectric photovoltaic (FePV) effect has attracted great interest due to its potential in developing optoelectronic devices such as solar cell and electric-optical sensors. It is important for actual applications to realize a controllable photovoltaic process in ferroelectric-based materials. In this work, we prepared well-ordered microarrays based on epitaxially tetragonal BiFeO3 (T-BFO) films by the pulsed laser deposition technique. The polarization-dependent photocurrent image was directly observed by a conductive atomic force microscope under ultraviolet illumination. By choosing a suitable buffer electrode layer and controlling the ferroelectric polarization in the T-BFO layer, we realized the manipulation of the photovoltaic process. Moreover, based on the analysis of the band structure, we revealed the mechanism of manipulating the photovoltaic process and attributed it to the competition between two key factors, i.e., the internal electric field caused by energy band alignments at interfaces and the depolarization field induced by the ferroelectric polarization in T-BFO. This work is very meaningful for deeply understanding the photovoltaic process of BiFeO3-based devices at the microscale and provides us a feasible avenue for developing data storage or logic switching microdevices based on the FePV effect.

Tuning the photovoltaic effect of multiferroic CoFe2O4/Pb(Zr, Ti)O3 composite films by magnetic fields

The 0–3 type CoFe2O4-Pb(Zr,Ti)O3 (CFO-PZT) multiferroic composite films have been prepared by a sol-gel process and spin-coating technique. A confirmable photovoltaic effect is observed under ultraviolet light irradiation. Moreover, this photovoltaic effect can be tuned by external magnetic fields. The maximum magnetic modulation ratios of short-circuit current density and open-circuit voltage can reach as high as 13.7% and 12.8% upon the application of 6 kOe DC magnetic field. Through remnant polarization measurements under various magnetic fields and detailed analysis of the energy band structures, we elucidate the mechanism of tuning photovoltaic effect by magnetic fields and attribute it to the combination of two factors. One is the decreased ferroelectric-polarization-induced depolarization electric field and another is the band structure reconstruction at CFO-PZT interfaces, both of which are dominated by the magnetoelectric coupling via interfacial stress transferring at nanoscale. This work makes ...

Manipulating the exchange bias effect of Pb(Zr0.52Ti0.48)O3/CoFe2O4/NiO heterostructural films by electric fields

The Pb(Zr0.52Ti0.48)O3/CoFe2O4/NiO heterostructural films with exchange bias (EB) effect have been prepared on Pt/Ti/SiO2/Si wafers using a sol-gel process, and reversible manipulation of EB effect by electric fields has been realized. Compared with the exchange bias field (Heb = −75 Oe) at as-grown state, the modulation gain of Heb by electric fields can reach 83% (Heb = −12.5 Oe) in the case of +5.0 V and 283% (Heb = −287.5 Oe) in the case of −5.0 V, respectively. Moreover, such electrically tunable EB effect is repeatable and has good endurance and retention. Through analyzing the energy band structures in different electric treatment states, we discuss the mechanism of such electric-field-tunable EB effect. Two factors, i.e., the filling (or releasing) of electrons into (or from) the defect levels produced by oxygen vacancies at positive (or negative) electric voltages, and the redistribution of electrons due to the ferroelectric polarization, both of which give rise to the variation of the strength of exchange interaction in the CFO layer, have been revealed to be responsible for the electric modulation of EB effect. This work provides a promising avenue for electrically manipulating the EB effect and developing high-performance memory and storage devices with low power consumption.