Hyungwoo Lee

Ambipolar Memory Devices Based on Reduced Graphene Oxide and Nanoparticles

[*] Prof. S. Hong, S. Myung, H. Lee Department of Physics and Astronomy, Seoul National University Seoul 151-747 (Korea) Department of Biophysics and Chemical Biology, Seoul National University Seoul 151-747 (Korea) E-mail: shong@phya.snu.ac.kr Prof. K. S. Kim, J. Park Center for Superfunctional Materials, Department of Chemistry Pohang University of Science and Technology Pohang 790-784 (Korea) E-mail: kim@postech.ac.kr

Oxygen environmental and passivation effects on molybdenum disulfide field effect transistors

We investigated the effects of passivation on the electrical characteristics of molybdenum disulfide (MoS(2)) field effect transistors (FETs) under nitrogen, vacuum, and oxygen environments. When the MoS(2) FETs were exposed to oxygen, the on-current decreased and the threshold voltage shifted in the positive gate bias direction as a result of electrons being trapped by the adsorbed oxygen at the MoS(2) surface. In contrast, the electrical properties of the MoS(2) FETs changed only slightly in the different environments when a passivation layer was created using polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA). Specifically, the carrier concentration of unpassivated devices was reduced to 6.5 × 10(15) cm(-2) in oxygen from 16.3 × 10(15) cm(-2) in nitrogen environment. However, in PMMA-passivated devices, the carrier concentration remained nearly unchanged in the range of 1-3 × 10(15) cm(-2) regardless of the environment. Our study suggests that surface passivation is important for MoS(2)-based electronic devices.

Aligned networks of cadmium sulfide nanowires for highly flexible photodetectors with improved photoconductive responses

We developed a simple but efficient method to mass-produce highly flexible and high-performance photodetectors based on aligned cadmium sulfide (CdS) nanowire (NW) networks. In this method, the CdS NWs were selectively aligned along the molecular patterns on flexible substrates via a direct assembly method, and the aligned CdS NW patterns were utilized as the channels of flexible photodetectors. The photodetectors based on the aligned CdS NWs exhibited ∼10 times higher photosensitivity and ∼100 times faster photoresponse than those based on randomly oriented NW networks. In addition, the flexible photodetectors exhibited stable photoconductive characteristics even when these were bent down to the radius of curvature of 0.2 mm. This research may pave the way for the large-scale fabrication of low-cost and high performance flexible photodetectors based on the aligned NW networks.

Electron pairing without superconductivity

Strontium titanate (SrTiO3) is the first and best known superconducting semiconductor. It exhibits an extremely low carrier density threshold for superconductivity, and possesses a phase diagram similar to that of high-temperature superconductors—two factors that suggest an unconventional pairing mechanism. Despite sustained interest for 50 years, direct experimental insight into the nature of electron pairing in SrTiO3 has remained elusive. Here we perform transport experiments with nanowire-based single-electron transistors at the interface between SrTiO3 and a thin layer of lanthanum aluminate, LaAlO3. Electrostatic gating reveals a series of two-electron conductance resonances—paired electron states—that bifurcate above a critical pairing field Bp of about 1–4 tesla, an order of magnitude larger than the superconducting critical magnetic field. For magnetic fields below Bp, these resonances are insensitive to the applied magnetic field; for fields in excess of Bp, the resonances exhibit a linear Zeeman-like energy splitting. Electron pairing is stable at temperatures as high as 900 millikelvin, well above the superconducting transition temperature (about 300 millikelvin). These experiments demonstrate the existence of a robust electronic phase in which electrons pair without forming a superconducting state. Key experimental signatures are captured by a model involving an attractive Hubbard interaction that describes real-space electron pairing as a precursor to superconductivity.

Room-temperature electronically-controlled ferromagnetism at the LaAlO3/SrTiO3 interface

Reports of emergent conductivity, superconductivity and magnetism have helped to fuel intense interest in the rich physics and technological potential of complex-oxide interfaces. Here we employ magnetic force microscopy to search for room-temperature magnetism in the well-studied LaAlO3/SrTiO3 system. Using electrical top gating to control the electron density at the oxide interface, we directly observe the emergence of an in-plane ferromagnetic phase as electrons are depleted from the interface. Itinerant electrons that are reintroduced into the interface align antiferromagnetically with the magnetization at first screening and then destabilizing it as the conductive regime is approached. Repeated cycling of the gate voltage results in new, uncorrelated magnetic patterns. This newfound control over emergent magnetism at the interface between two non-magnetic oxides portends a number of important technological applications.

Ferroelectric tunnel junctions with graphene electrodes

Polarization-driven resistive switching in ferroelectric tunnel junctions (FTJs)--structures composed of two electrodes separated by an ultrathin ferroelectric barrier--offers new physics and materials functionalities, as well as exciting opportunities for the next generation of non-volatile memories and logic devices. Performance of FTJs is highly sensitive to the electrical boundary conditions, which can be controlled by electrode material and/or interface engineering. Here, we demonstrate the use of graphene as electrodes in FTJs that allows control of interface properties for significant enhancement of device performance. Ferroelectric polarization stability and resistive switching are strongly affected by a molecular layer at the graphene/BaTiO3 interface. For the FTJ with the interfacial ammonia layer we find an enhanced tunnelling electroresistance (TER) effect of 6 × 10(5)%. The obtained results demonstrate a new approach based on using graphene electrodes for interface-facilitated polarization stability and enhancement of the TER effect, which can be exploited in the FTJ-based devices.

Giant conductivity switching of LaAlO3/SrTiO3 heterointerfaces governed by surface protonation.

Complex-oxide interfaces host a diversity of phenomena not present in traditional semiconductor heterostructures. Despite intense interest, many basic questions remain about the mechanisms that give rise to interfacial conductivity and the role of surface chemistry in dictating these properties. Here we demonstrate a fully reversible >4 order of magnitude conductance change at LaAlO3/SrTiO3 (LAO/STO) interfaces, regulated by LAO surface protonation. Nominally conductive interfaces are rendered insulating by solvent immersion, which deprotonates the hydroxylated LAO surface; interface conductivity is restored by exposure to light, which induces reprotonation via photocatalytic oxidation of adsorbed water. The proposed mechanisms are supported by a coordinated series of electrical measurements, optical/solvent exposures, and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. This intimate connection between LAO surface chemistry and LAO/STO interface physics bears far-reaching implications for reconfigurable oxide nanoelectronics and raises the possibility of novel applications in which electronic properties of these materials can be locally tuned using synthetic chemistry.

Graphene-nanowire hybrid structures for high-performance photoconductive devices†

Graphene–CdS nanowire (NW) hybrid structures with high-speed photoconductivity were developed. The hybrid structure was comprised of CdS NWs which were selectively grown in specific regions on a single-layer graphene sheet. The photoconductive channels based on graphene–CdS NW hybrid structures exhibited much larger photocurrents than graphene-based channels and much faster recovery speed than CdS NW network-based ones. Our graphene–CdS NW structures can be useful because they were much faster than commercial CdS film-based photodetectors and had photocurrents large enough for practical applications.

100 nm scale low-noise sensors based on aligned carbon nanotube networks: Overcoming the fundamental limitation of network-based sensors

Nanoscale sensors based on single-walled carbon nanotube (SWNT) networks have been considered impractical due to several fundamental limitations such as a poor sensitivity and small signal-to-noise ratio. Herein, we present a strategy to overcome these fundamental problems and build highly-sensitive low-noise nanoscale sensors simply by controlling the structure of the SWNT networks. In this strategy, we prepared nanoscale width channels based on aligned SWNT networks using a directed assembly strategy. Significantly, the aligned network-based sensors with narrower channels exhibited even better signal-to-noise ratio than those with wider channels, which is opposite to conventional random network-based sensors. As a proof of concept, we demonstrated 100 nm scale low-noise sensors to detect mercury ions with the detection limit of approximately 1 pM, which is superior to any state-of-the-art portable detection system and is below the allowable limit of mercury ions in drinking water set by most government environmental protection agencies. This is the first demonstration of 100 nm scale low-noise sensors based on SWNT networks. Considering the increased interests in high-density sensor arrays for healthcare and environmental protection, our strategy should have a significant impact on various industrial applications.

Scanning noise microscopy on graphene devices.

We developed a scanning noise microscopy (SNM) method and demonstrated the nanoscale noise analysis of a graphene strip-based device. Here, a Pt tip made a direct contact on the surface of a nanodevice to measure the current noise spectrum through it. Then, the measured noise spectrum was analyzed by an empirical model to extract the noise characteristics only from the device channel. As a proof of concept, we demonstrated the scaling behavior analysis of the noise in graphene strips. Furthermore, we performed the nanoscale noise mapping on a graphene channel, allowing us to study the effect of structural defects on the noise of the graphene channel. The SNM method is a powerful tool for nanoscale noise analysis and should play a significant role in basic research on nanoscale devices.