Hongyi Mi

High-performance green flexible electronics based on biodegradable cellulose nanofibril paper

Todays consumer electronics, such as cell phones, tablets and other portable electronic devices, are typically made of non-renewable, non-biodegradable, and sometimes potentially toxic (for example, gallium arsenide) materials. These consumer electronics are frequently upgraded or discarded, leading to serious environmental contamination. Thus, electronic systems consisting of renewable and biodegradable materials and minimal amount of potentially toxic materials are desirable. Here we report high-performance flexible microwave and digital electronics that consume the smallest amount of potentially toxic materials on biobased, biodegradable and flexible cellulose nanofibril papers. Furthermore, we demonstrate gallium arsenide microwave devices, the consumer wireless workhorse, in a transferrable thin-film form. Successful fabrication of key electrical components on the flexible cellulose nanofibril paper with comparable performance to their rigid counterparts and clear demonstration of fungal biodegradation of the cellulose-nanofibril-based electronics suggest that it is feasible to fabricate high-performance flexible electronics using ecofriendly materials.

An aqueous solution-based doping strategy for large-scale synthesis of Sb-doped ZnO nanowires

An aqueous solution-based doping strategy was developed for controlled doping impurity atoms into a ZnO nanowire (NW) lattice. Through this approach, antimony-doped ZnO NWs were successfully synthesized in an aqueous solution containing zinc nitrate and hexamethylenetetramine with antimony acetate as the dopant source. By introducing glycolate ions into the solution, a soluble antimony precursor (antimony glycolate) was formed and a good NW morphology with a controlled antimony doping concentration was successfully achieved. A doping concentration study suggested an antimony glycolate absorption doping mechanism. By fabricating and characterizing NW-based field effect transistors (FETs), stable p-type conductivity was observed. A field effect mobility of 1.2 cm(2) V(-1) s(-1) and a carrier concentration of 6 × 10(17) cm(-3) were achieved. Electrostatic force microscopy (EFM) characterization on doped and undoped ZnO NWs further illustrated the shift of the metal-semiconductor barrier due to Sb doping. This work provided an effective large-scale synthesis strategy for doping ZnO NWs in aqueous solution.

Graphene/Phase Change Material Nanocomposites: Light-Driven, Reversible Electrical Resistivity Regulation via Form-Stable Phase Transitions

Innovative photoresponsive materials are needed to address the complexity of optical control systems. Here, we report a new type of photoresponsive nanomaterial composed of graphene and a form-stable phase change material (PCM) that exhibited a 3 orders of magnitude change in electrical resistivity upon light illumination while retaining its overall original solid form at the macroscopic level. This dramatic change in electrical resistivity also occurred reversibly through the on/off control of light illumination. This was attributed to the reversible phase transition (i.e., melting/recrystallization) behavior of the microscopic crystalline domains present in the form-stable PCM. The reversible phase transition observed in the graphene/PCM nanocomposite was induced by a reversible temperature change through the on/off control of light illumination because graphene can effectively absorb light energy and convert it to thermal energy. In addition, this graphene/PCM nanocomposite also possessed excellent mechanical properties. Such photoresponsive materials have many potential applications, including flexible electronics.

Origami silicon optoelectronics for hemispherical electronic eye systems

Digital image sensors in hemispherical geometries offer unique imaging advantages over their planar counterparts, such as wide field of view and low aberrations. Deforming miniature semiconductor-based sensors with high-spatial resolution into such format is challenging. Here we report a simple origami approach for fabricating single-crystalline silicon-based focal plane arrays and artificial compound eyes that have hemisphere-like structures. Convex isogonal polyhedral concepts allow certain combinations of polygons to fold into spherical formats. Using each polygon block as a sensor pixel, the silicon-based devices are shaped into maps of truncated icosahedron and fabricated on flexible sheets and further folded either into a concave or convex hemisphere. These two electronic eye prototypes represent simple and low-cost methods as well as flexible optimization parameters in terms of pixel density and design. Results demonstrated in this work combined with miniature size and simplicity of the design establish practical technology for integration with conventional electronic devices.Hemispherical format has been adopted in camera systems to better mimic human eyes, yet the current designs rely on complicated fabrications. Here, Zhang et al. show an origami-inspired approach that enables planar silicon-based photodetector arrays to reshape into concave or convex geometries.

Highly stretchable and sensitive piezoresistive carbon nanotube/elastomeric triisocyanate-crosslinked polytetrahydrofuran nanocomposites

Piezoresistive polymer nanocomposites are highly desirable for flexible mechanical sensing applications. In this study, a family of multi-walled carbon nanotube (CNT)/elastomeric triisocyanate-crosslinked polytetrahydrofuran (ETC-PTHF) nanocomposites that are highly stretchable and highly sensitive to mechanical stimuli were designed, synthesized, and characterized. The CNTs in the CNT/ETC-PTHF nanocomposites were initially dispersed in the ETC-PTHF matrix uniformly, leading to a relatively high electrical conductivity. Upon stretching, both the degree of CNT alignment along the stretching direction and the degree of PTHF crystallinity increased consistently with the tensile strain. The strain-induced microstructure change adversely affected the CNT conducting pathways, thereby reducing the electrical conductivity of the nanocomposites. For instance, the electrical conductivity of the 15 wt% CNT/ETC-PTHF nanocomposites decreased by approximately 7.3%, 29.2%, and 19.76, 169.2 and 1291 times when the tensile strain was 1%, 5%, 50%, 250%, and 500%, respectively. The nanocomposite film was able to detect a mechanical stimulus (poking) weaker than the landing force of a mosquito. Furthermore, the nanocomposite film demonstrated rapid and highly sensitive responses to continuous finger motion. These new piezoresistive CNT/ETC-PTHF nanocomposites possess a number of desirable characteristics including ease of fabrication, low cost, and high sensitivity, thereby making them very promising candidates for applications in electronic skins, electronic textiles, and biomedical detectors.

Flexible Infrared Responsive Multi-Walled Carbon Nanotube/Form-Stable Phase Change Material Nanocomposites

Flexible infrared (IR)-responsive materials, such as polymer nanocomposites, that exhibit high levels of IR responses and short response times are highly desirable for various IR sensing applications. However, the IR-induced photoresponses of carbon nanotube (CNT)/polymer nanocomposites are typically limited to 25%. Herein, we report on a family of unique nanocomposite films consisting of multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) uniformly distributed in a form-stable phase change material (PCM) that exhibited rapid, dramatic, reversible, and cyclic IR-regulated responses in air. The 3 wt % MWCNT/PCM nanocomposite films demonstrated cyclic, IR-regulated on/off electrical conductivity ratios of 11.6 ± 0.6 and 570.0 ± 70.5 times at IR powers of 7.3 and 23.6 mW/mm(2), respectively. The excellent performances exhibited by the MWCNT/PCM nanocomposite films were largely attributed to the IR-regulated cyclic and reversible form-stable phase transitions occurring in the PCM matrix due to MWCNTs excellent photoabsorption and thermal conversion capabilities, which subsequently affected the thickness of the interfacial PCM between adjacent conductive MWCNTs and thus the electron tunneling efficiency between the MWCNTs. Our findings suggest that these unique MWCNT/PCM nanocomposites offer promising new options for high-performance and flexible optoelectronic devices, including thermal imaging, IR sensing, and optical communication.

Single-crystalline germanium nanomembrane photodetectors on foreign nanocavities

High-yield, high throughput method creates nanomembrane photodetectors with unique optoelectronic properties. Miniaturization of optoelectronic devices offers tremendous performance gain. As the volume of photoactive material decreases, optoelectronic performance improves, including the operation speed, the signal-to-noise ratio, and the internal quantum efficiency. Over the past decades, researchers have managed to reduce the volume of photoactive materials in solar cells and photodetectors by orders of magnitude. However, two issues arise when one continues to thin down the photoactive layers to the nanometer scale (for example, <50 nm). First, light-matter interaction becomes weak, resulting in incomplete photon absorption and low quantum efficiency. Second, it is difficult to obtain ultrathin materials with single-crystalline quality. We introduce a method to overcome these two challenges simultaneously. It uses conventional bulk semiconductor wafers, such as Si, Ge, and GaAs, to realize single-crystalline films on foreign substrates that are designed for enhanced light-matter interaction. We use a high-yield and high-throughput method to demonstrate nanometer-thin photodetectors with significantly enhanced light absorption based on nanocavity interference mechanism. These single-crystalline nanomembrane photodetectors also exhibit unique optoelectronic properties, such as the strong field effect and spectral selectivity.

Creating periodic local strain in monolayer graphene with nanopillars patterned by self-assembled block copolymer

A simple and viable method was developed to produce biaxial strain in monolayer graphene on an array of SiO2 nanopillars. The array of SiO2 nanopillars (1 cm2 in area, 80 nm in height, and 40 nm in pitch) was fabricated by employing self-assembled block copolymer through simple dry etching and deposition processes. According to high resolution micro-Raman spectroscopy and atomic force microscopy analyses, 0.9% of maximum biaxial tensile strain and 0.17% of averaged biaxial tensile strain in graphene were created. This technique provides a simple and viable method to form biaxial tensile strain in graphene and offers a practical platform for future studies in graphene strain engineering.

Ultra-thin distributed Bragg reflectors via stacked single-crystal silicon nanomembranes

In this paper, we report ultra-thin distributed Bragg reflectors (DBRs) via stacked single-crystal silicon (Si) nanomembranes (NMs). Mesh hole-free single-crystal Si NMs were released from a Si-on-insulator substrate and transferred to quartz and Si substrates. Thermal oxidation was applied to the transferred Si NM to form high-quality SiO2 and thus a Si/SiO2 pair with uniform and precisely controlled thicknesses. The Si/SiO2 layers, as smooth as epitaxial grown layers, minimize scattering loss at the interface and in between the layers. As a result, a reflection of 99.8% at the wavelength range from 1350 nm to 1650 nm can be measured from a 2.5-pair DBR on a quartz substrate and 3-pair DBR on a Si substrate with thickness of 0.87 μm and 1.14 μm, respectively. The high reflection, ultra-thin DBRs developed here, which can be applied to almost any devices and materials, holds potential for application in high performance optoelectronic devices and photonics applications.

Thermal diffusion boron doping of single-crystal natural diamond

With the best overall electronic and thermal properties, single crystal diamond (SCD) is the extreme wide bandgap material that is expected to revolutionize power electronics and radio-frequency electronics in the future. However, turning SCD into useful semiconductors requires overcoming doping challenges, as conventional substitutional doping techniques, such as thermal diffusion and ion implantation, are not easily applicable to SCD. Here we report a simple and easily accessible doping strategy demonstrating that electrically activated, substitutional doping in SCD without inducing graphitization transition or lattice damage can be readily realized with thermal diffusion at relatively low temperatures by using heavily doped Si nanomembranes as a unique dopant carrying medium. Atomistic simulations elucidate a vacancy exchange boron doping mechanism that occurs at the bonded interface between Si and diamond. We further demonstrate selectively doped high voltage diodes and half-wave rectifier circuits using such doped SCD. Our new doping strategy has established a reachable path toward using SCDs for future high voltage power conversion systems and for other novel diamond based electronic devices. The novel doping mechanism may find its critical use in other wide bandgap semiconductors.