Keonwook Kang

Nanoindentation study of cementite size and temperature effects in nanocomposite pearlite: A molecular dynamics simulation

We carry out molecular dynamics simulations of nanoindentation to investigate the effect of cementite size and temperature on the deformation behavior of nanocomposite pearlite composed of alternating ferrite and cementite layers. We find that, instead of the coherent transmission, dislocation propagates by forming a widespread plastic deformation in cementite layer. We also show that increasing temperature enhances the distribution of plastic strain in the ferrite layer, which reduces the stress acting on the cementite layer. Hence, thickening cementite layer or increasing temperature reduces the likelihood of dislocation propagation through the cementite layer. Our finding sheds a light on the mechanism of dislocation blocking by cementite layer in the pearlite.

Polarization characteristics of semipolar (112̄2) InGaN/GaN quantum well structures grown on relaxed InGaN buffer layers and comparison with experiment

Partial strain relaxation effects on polarization ratio of semipolar (112̄2) InxGa1−xN/GaN quantum well (QW) structures grown on relaxed InGaN buffers were investigated using the multiband effective-mass theory. The absolute value of the polarization ratio gradually decreases with increasing In composition in InGaN buffer layer when the strain relaxation ratio (ε0y′y′−εy′y′)/ε0y′y′ along y′-axis is assumed to be linearly proportional to the difference of lattice constants between the well and the buffer layer. Also, it changes its sign for the QW structure grown on InGaN buffer layer with a relatively larger In composition (x > 0.07). These results are in good agreement with the experiment. This can be explained by the fact that, with increasing In composition in the InGaN subsrate, the spontaneous emission rate for the y′-polarization gradually increases while that for x′-polarization decreases due to the decrease in a matrix element at the band-edge (k‖ = 0).

Contact effect of ReS2/metal interface

Rhenium disulfide (ReS2) has attracted immense interest as a promising two-dimensional material for optoelectronic devices owing to its outstanding photonic response based on its energy band gaps insensitivity to the layer thickness. Here, we theoretically calculated the electrical band structure of mono-, bi-, and trilayer ReS2 and experimentally found the work function to be 4.8 eV, which was shown to be independent of the layer thickness. We also evaluated the contact resistance of a ReS2 field-effect transistor using a Y-function method with various metal electrodes, including graphene. The ReS2 channel is a strong n-type semiconductor, thus a lower work function than that of metals tends to lead to a lower contact resistance. Moreover, the graphene electrodes, which were not chemically or physically bonded to ReS2, showed the lowest contact resistance, regardless of the work function, suggesting a significant Fermi-level pinning effect at the ReS2/metal interface. In addition, an asymmetric Schottky diode device was demonstrated using Ti or graphene for ohmic contacts and Pt or Pd for Schottky contacts. The ReS2-based transistor used in this study on the work function of ReS2 achieved the possibility of designing the next-generation nanologic devices.

Carrier Transport Properties of MoS 2 Asymmetric Gas Sensor Under Charge Transfer-Based Barrier Modulation

Over the past few years, two-dimensional materials have gained immense attention for next-generation electric sensing devices because of their unique properties. Here, we report the carrier transport properties of MoS2 Schottky diodes under ambient as well as gas exposure conditions. MoS2 field-effect transistors (FETs) were fabricated using Pt and Al electrodes. The work function of Pt is higher than that of MoS2, while that of Al is lower than that of MoS2. The MoS2 device with Al contacts showed much higher current than that with Pt contacts because of its lower Schottky barrier height (SBH). The electrical characteristics and gas responses of the MoS2 Schottky diodes with Al and Pt contacts were measured electrically and were simulated by density functional theory calculations. The theoretically calculated SBH of the diode (under gas absorption) showed that NOx molecules had strong interaction with the diode and induced a negative charge transfer. However, an opposite trend was observed in the case of NH3 molecules. We also investigated the effect of metal contacts on the gas sensing performance of MoS2 FETs both experimentally and theoretically.