Jiangtao Qu

Methodology exploration of specimen preparation for atom probe tomography from nanowires

Semiconductor nanowires have been intensively explored for applications in electronics, photonics, energy conversion and storage. A fundamental and quantitative understanding of growth-structure-property relationships is central to applications where nanowires exhibit clear advantages. Atom Probe Tomography (APT) is able to provide 3 dimensional quantitative elemental distributions at atomic-resolution and is therefore unique in understanding the growth-structure-property relationships. However, the specimen preparation with nanowires is extremely challenging. In this paper, two ion beam free specimen preparation methods for APT are presented which are efficient for various nanowires.

3D Atomic-Scale Insights into Anisotropic Core–Shell-Structured InGaAs Nanowires Grown by Metal–Organic Chemical Vapor Deposition

III-V ternary InGaAs nanowires have great potential for electronic and optoelectronic device applications; however, the 3D structure and chemistry at the atomic-scale inside the nanowires remain unclear, which hinders tailoring the nanowires for specific applications. Here, atom probe tomography is used in conjunction with a first-principles simulation to investigate the 3D structure and chemistry of InGaAs nanowires, and reveals i) the nanowires form a spontaneous core-shell structure with a Ga-enriched core and an In-enriched shell, due to different growth mechanisms in the axial and lateral directions; ii) the shape of the core evolves from hexagon into Reuleaux triangle and grows larger, which results from In outward and Ga inward interdiffusion occurring at the core-shell interface; and iii) the irregular hexagonal shell manifests an anisotropic growth rate on {112}A and {112}B facets. Accordingly, a model in terms of the core-shell shape and chemistry evolution is proposed, which provides fresh insights into the growth of these nanowires.

Full Electric Control of Exchange Bias at Room Temperature by Resistive Switching

Electric control of exchange bias (EB) is of vital importance in energy-efficient spintronics. Although many attempts have been made during the past decade, each has its own limitations for operation and thus falls short of full direct and reversible electrical control of EB at room temperature. Here, a novel approach is proposed by virtue of unipolar resistive switching to accomplish this task in a Si/SiO2 /Pt/Co/NiO/Pt device. By applying certain voltages, the device displays obvious EB in the high-resistance-state while negligible EB in the low-resistance state. Conductive filaments forming in the NiO layer and rupturing near the Co-NiO interface are considered to play dominant roles in determining the combined resistive switching and EB phenomena. This work paves a new way for designing multifunctional and nonvolatile magnetoelectric random access memory devices.

Grain size quantification by optical microscopy, electron backscatter diffraction, and magnetic force microscopy

Quantification of microstructure, especially grain size, in polycrystalline materials is a vital aspect to understand the structure-property relationships in these materials. In this paper, representative characterization techniques for determining the grain size, including optical microscopy (OM), electron backscatter diffraction (EBSD) in the scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and atomic force microscopy/magnetic force microscopy (AFM/MFM), are thoroughly evaluated in comparison, illustrated by rare-earth sintered Nd-Fe-B permanent magnets. Potential applications and additional information achieved by using aforementioned characterization techniques have been discussed and summarized.

Insights into the Silver Reflection Layer of a Vertical LED for Light Emission Optimization

In this work, Ag as a highly reflective mirror layer of gallium nitride (GaN)-based blue vertical light-emitting diodes (VLEDs) has been systematically investigated by correlating scanning electron microscopy/energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy/transmission Kikuchi diffraction/electron backscatter diffraction, aberration-corrected scanning transmission electron microscopy, and atomic force microscopy techniques. In the context of high-efficiency lighting, three critical aspects have been scrutinized on the nanoscale: (1) chemical diffusion, (2) grain morphology, and (3) surface topography of the Ag layer. We found that nanoscale inhomogeneous distribution of In in InGaN/GaN quantum wells (QWs), interfacial diffusion (In/Ga out-diffusion into the Ag layer and diffusion of Ag into p-GaN and QWs), and Ag agglomeration deteriorate the light reflectivity, which account for the decreased luminous efficiency in VLEDs. Meanwhile, the surface morphology and topographical analyses revealed the nanomorphology of the Ag layer, where a nanograin size of ∼300 nm with special nanotwinned boundaries and an extremely smooth surface of ∼3-4 nm are strongly desired for better reflectivity. Further, on the basis of these microscopy results, suggestions on light extraction optimization are given to improve the performance of GaN-based blue VLEDs. Our findings enable fresh and deep understanding of performance-microstructure correlation of LEDs on the nanoscale, providing guidance to the design and manufacture of high-performance LED devices.

Non-destructive analysis on nano-textured surface of the vertical LED for light enhancement

In this work, the nano-textured surface of a GaN-based vertical light emitting diode (VLED) is characterized using a unified framework of non-destructive techniques (NDT) incorporating scanning electron microscopy (SEM), atomic force microscopy (AFM), Raman spectroscopy, Photoluminescence (PL), and X-ray diffraction (XRD) to optimize the light output efficiency. The surface roughness of ∼300 nm is revealed by AFM. Compressive stress-state of 0.667 GPa in the GaN surface is indicated by the E2(high) and A1(LO) phonon peak values at 569 cm-1 and 736 cm-1, respectively, in Raman spectrum and the wavelength at 442 nm rather 450 nm in PL spectrum. Without damaging the LED, surface analysis by NDT helps to advance the understanding of the optimized angular light redistribution subject to the high-roughness surface and the negative impacts of the stress induced at the top GaN layer, which leads to the optical efficiency degradation of the VLED. Furthermore, the impact of texturing on underneath n-GaN and MQWs layers is investigated via SEM-based transmission Kikuchi diffraction (TKD) and aberration-corrected scanning transmission electron microscopy (AC-STEM) and revealed a smooth surface morphology and good crystalline quality, indicating that the etch-induced damage by texture engineering does not impair the active region of the VLED. Accordingly, prospective optimizations are suggested in the context of surface engineering for light enhancement in VLEDs.