Mourad Abid

Nanopatterning and Electrical Tuning of MoS2 Layers with a Subnanometer Helium Ion Beam

We report subnanometer modification enabled by an ultrafine helium ion beam. By adjusting ion dose and the beam profile, structural defects were controllably introduced in a few-layer molybdenum disulfide (MoS2) sample and its stoichiometry was modified by preferential sputtering of sulfur at a few-nanometer scale. Localized tuning of the resistivity of MoS2 was demonstrated and semiconducting, metallic-like, or insulating material was obtained by irradiation with different doses of He(+). Amorphous MoSx with metallic behavior has been demonstrated for the first time. Fabrication of MoS2 nanostructures with 7 nm dimensions and pristine crystal structure was also achieved. The damage at the edges of these nanostructures was typically confined to within 1 nm. Nanoribbons with widths as small as 1 nm were reproducibly fabricated. This nanoscale modification technique is a generalized approach that can be applied to various two-dimensional (2D) materials to produce a new range of 2D metamaterials.

The effect of deposition power on the electrical properties of Al-doped zinc oxide thin films

We investigated the effect on the electronic properties of aluminum (Al)-zinc oxide (ZnO) films by modulating the radio frequency sputtering power. Our experimental results show that increasing the sputtering power increases the Al doping concentration, decreases the resistivity, and also shifts the Zn 2p and O 1s to higher binding energy states. Our local-density approximation (LDA) and LDA+U calculations show that the shift in higher binding energy and resistivity decrease are due to an enhancement of the O 2p-Zn 3d coupling and the modification of the Zn 4s-O 2p interaction in ZnO induced by Al doping

Spin-dependent transport properties of Fe3O4/MoS2/Fe3O4 junctions.

Magnetite is a half-metal with a high Curie temperature of 858 K, making it a promising candidate for magnetic tunnel junctions (MTJs). Yet, initial efforts to exploit its half metallic nature in Fe3O4/MgO/Fe3O4 MTJ structures have been far from promising. Finding suitable barrier layer materials, which keep the half metallic nature of Fe3O4 at the interface between Fe3O4 layers and barrier layer, is one of main challenges in this field. Two-dimensional (2D) materials may be good candidates for this purpose. Molybdenum disulfide (MoS2) is a transition metal dichalcogenide (TMD) semiconductor with distinctive electronic, optical, and catalytic properties. Here, we show based on the first principle calculations that Fe3O4 keeps a nearly fully spin polarized electron band at the interface between MoS2 and Fe3O4. We also present the first attempt to fabricate the Fe3O4/MoS2/Fe3O4 MTJs. A clear tunneling magnetoresistance (TMR) signal was observed below 200 K. Thus, our experimental and theoretical studies indicate that MoS2 can be a good barrier material for Fe3O4 based MTJs. Our calculations also indicate that junctions incorporating monolayer or bilayer MoS2 are metallic.

Synthesis of three-dimensional WO3 octahedra: characterization, optical and efficient photocatalytic properties

Three dimensional (3D) novel tungsten trioxide (WO3) octahedra have been prepared by a simple surfactant/catalyst-free hydrothermal method. The phase and morphological structure of the as-synthesized material were analysed by X-ray diffraction (XRD), field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM), energy-dispersive X-ray (EDX) spectroscopy and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). FESEM results showed that the as-prepared WO3 octahedron structure was in the range of 1–5 μm. Furthermore, the optical properties like the UV-VIS absorption spectrum, photoluminescence (PL) spectrum and Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectra of the product were also studied. The {120} side facet of the exposed surface of the resulting product with a large surface area (15.26 m2 g−1), effective crystallinity and increased number of surface active sites exhibited excellent photocatalytic efficiency with a higher rate constant (0.03254 min−1) for the degradation of methylene blue (MB) under visible light irradiation. The photocatalytic performance of as-synthesized WO3 octahedra was about 5.33 times greater than that of the bulk sample. The apparent excellent photocatalytic efficiency of the prepared sample can be attributed to large surface area and a highly reactive {120} facet of the exposed surface of the WO3 octahedra.

Magnetic and transport properties of epitaxial thin film MgFe2O4 grown on MgO (100) by molecular beam epitaxy

Magnesium ferrite is a very important magnetic material due to its interesting magnetic and electrical properties and its chemical and thermal stability. Here we report on the magnetic and transport properties of epitaxial MgFe2O4 thin films grown on MgO (001) by molecular beam epitaxy. The structural properties and chemical composition of the MgFe2O4 films were characterized by X-Ray diffraction and X-Ray photoelectron spectroscopy, respectively. The nonsaturation of the magnetization in high magnetic fields observed for M (H) measurements and the linear negative magnetoresistance (MR) curves indicate the presence of anti-phase boundaries (APBs) in MgFe2O4. The presence of APBs was confirmed by transmission electron microscopy. Moreover, post annealing decreases the resistance and enhances the MR of the film, suggesting migration of the APBs. Our results may be valuable for the application of MgFe2O4 in spintronics.

Enhanced Shubnikov–De Haas Oscillation in Nitrogen-Doped Graphene

N-doped graphene displays many interesting properties compared with pristine graphene, which makes it a potential candidate in many applications. Here, we report that the Shubnikov-de Haas (SdH) oscillation effect in graphene can be enhanced by N-doping. We show that the amplitude of the SdH oscillation increases with N-doping and reaches around 5k Ω under a field of 14 T at 10 K for highly N-doped graphene, which is over 1 order of magnitude larger than the value found for pristine graphene devices with the same geometry. Moreover, in contrast to the well-established standard Lifshitz-Kosevich theory, the amplitude of the SdH oscillation decreases linearly with increasing temperature and persists up to a temperature of 150 K. Our results also show that the magnetoresistance (MR) in N-doped graphene increases with increasing temperature. Our results may be useful for the application of N-doped graphene in magnetic devices.

Transport Gap Opening and High On–Off Current Ratio in Trilayer Graphene with Self-Aligned Nanodomain Boundaries

Trilayer graphene exhibits exceptional electronic properties that are of interest both for fundamental science and for technological applications. The ability to achieve a high on-off current ratio is the central question in this field. Here, we propose a simple method to achieve a current on-off ratio of 10(4) by opening a transport gap in Bernal-stacked trilayer graphene. We synthesized Bernal-stacked trilayer graphene with self-aligned periodic nanodomain boundaries (NBs) on the technologically relevant vicinal cubic-SiC(001) substrate and performed electrical measurements. Our low-temperature transport measurements clearly demonstrate that the self-aligned periodic NBs can induce a charge transport gap greater than 1.3 eV. More remarkably, the transport gap of ∼0.4 eV persists even at 100 K. Our results show the feasibility of creating new electronic nanostructures with high on-off current ratios using graphene on cubic-SiC.

Magnetic and transport properties of epitaxial stepped Fe3O4(100) thin films

We investigate the magnetic and transport properties of epitaxial stepped Fe3O4 thin films grown with different thicknesses. Magnetization measurements suggest that the steps induce additional anisotropy, which has an easy axis perpendicular to steps and the hard axis along the steps. Separate local transport measurements, with nano-gap contacts along a single step and perpendicular to a single step, suggest the formation of a high density of anti-phase boundaries (APBs) at the step edges are responsible for the step induced anisotropy. Our local transport measurements also indicate that APBs distort the long range charge-ordering of magnetite.

Large positive in-plane magnetoresistance induced by localized states at nanodomain boundaries in graphene

Graphene supports long spin lifetimes and long diffusion lengths at room temperature, making it highly promising for spintronics. However, making graphene magnetic remains a principal challenge despite the many proposed solutions. Among these, graphene with zig-zag edges and ripples are the most promising candidates, as zig-zag edges are predicted to host spin-polarized electronic states, and spin–orbit coupling can be induced by ripples. Here we investigate the magnetoresistance of graphene grown on technologically relevant SiC/Si(001) wafers, where inherent nanodomain boundaries sandwich zig-zag structures between adjacent ripples of large curvature. Localized states at the nanodomain boundaries result in an unprecedented positive in-plane magnetoresistance with a strong temperature dependence. Our work may offer a tantalizing way to add the spin degree of freedom to graphene.

Surface enhanced Raman scattering of monolayer MX 2 with metallic nano particles

Monolayer transition metal dichalcogenides MX2 (M = Mo, W; X = S) exhibit remarkable electronic and optical properties, making them candidates for application within flexible nano-optoelectronics. The ability to achieve a high optical signal, while quantitatively monitoring strain in real-time is the key requirement for applications in flexible sensing and photonics devices. Surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) allows us to achieve both simultaneously. However, the SERS depends crucially on the size and shape of the metallic nanoparticles (NPs), which have a large impact on its detection sensitivity. Here, we investigated the SERS of monolayer MX2, with particular attention paid to the effect of the distribution of the metallic NPs. We show that the SERS depends crucially on the distribution of the metallic NPs and also the phonon mode of the MX2. Moreover, strong coupling between MX2 and metallic NPs, through surface plasmon excitation, results in splitting of the and modes and an additional peak becomes apparent. For a WS2-Ag system the intensity of the additional peak increases exponentially with local strain, which opens another interesting window to quantitatively measure the local strain using SERS. Our experimental study may be useful for the application of monolayer MX2 in flexible nano-optoelectronics.