Norio Shinya

Graphene and carbon nanotube composite electrodes for supercapacitors with ultra-high energy density

We describe a graphene and single-walled carbon nanotube (SWCNT) composite film prepared by a blending process for use as electrodes in high energy density supercapacitors. Specific capacitances of 290.6 F g(-1) and 201.0 F g(-1) have been obtained for a single electrode in aqueous and organic electrolytes, respectively, using a more practical two-electrode testing system. In the organic electrolyte the energy density reached 62.8 Wh kg(-1) and the power density reached 58.5 kW kg(-1). The addition of single-walled carbon nanotubes raised the energy density by 23% and power density by 31% more than the graphene electrodes. The graphene/CNT electrodes exhibited an ultra-high energy density of 155.6 Wh kg(-1) in ionic liquid at room temperature. In addition, the specific capacitance increased by 29% after 1000 cycles in ionic liquid, indicating their excellent cyclicity. The SWCNTs acted as a conductive additive, spacer, and binder in the graphene/CNT supercapacitors. This work suggests that our graphene/CNT supercapacitors can be comparable to NiMH batteries in performance and are promising for applications in hybrid vehicles and electric vehicles.

Microcreep deformation measurements by a moire method using electron beam lithography and electron beam scan

Microcreep deformations in pure copper specimens are studied by a new moire method. In this method, a fine micrograting prepared by electron beam lithography is used as a model grating, and a scanning exposure ofthe primary electron beam in a scanning electron microscope (SEM) as a master grating. The scanning exposure of the electron beam on the specimen with the model grating produces moire fringes of bright and dark lines formed in response to the different amounts of the emitted secondary electrons for each primary electron. This new method makes it possible to obtain a clear and fine moire fringe without an image-processing system and to observe the moire fringe pattern and the SEM image at the same time. By this method, the inhomogeneous microcreep deformations such as grain boundary sliding, coarse slip, and localized strain are measured with high accuracy. It is confirmed that the creep strain is nonuniform even in the same grain and the strain distribution is caused mainly by the grain boundary sliding.

In-plane deformation measurement using the atomic force microscope moiré method

In this paper, a new scanning moire method is developed to measure the in-plane deformation of mica using an atomic force microscope (AFM). Moire patterns are formed by the scanning line of the CRT in the AFM system, and the atomic lattice of the mica or high-orientated pyrolytic graphite (HOPG). The measurement principle and the techniques employed for grating preparation are described in detail. This new method is used to measure the residual deformation of a mica plate after irradiation by a Nd-YAG laser, and to determine the residual strain of HOPG under a tensile load. Some interesting results are obtained. The successful results verify the feasibility of this method for measuring deformation in the nanometre range using the lattice of the material as the model grid.

Nanostructured LaB6 Field Emitter with Lowest Apical Work Function

LaB(6) nanowires are ideal for applications as an electrical field-induced ion and electron point source due to their miniature dimensions, low work function, as well as excellent electrical, thermal, and mechanical properties. We present here a reliable method to fabricate and assemble single LaB(6) nanowire-based field emitters of different crystal orientations. The atomic arrangement, emission brightness from each crystal plane, and field emission stability have been characterized using field ion microscopy (FIM) and field emission microscopy (FEM). It is found that the 001 oriented LaB(6) nanowire emitter has the highest field emission symmetry while the 012 oriented LaB(6) nanowire has the lowest apical work function. The field emission stability from the single LaB(6) nanowire emitter is significantly better than either the LaB(6) needle-type emitter or W cold field emitters.

Synthesis and characterization of graphene hollow spheres for application in supercapacitors

We have successfully assembled graphene nanosheets into spherical shells using polystyrene spheres as templates. Compared with stacked planar graphene, the as-prepared graphene spherical shells have more free space in between the spheres, which results in a larger accessible surface area for adsorption of electrolyte ions in supercapacitors. Electrochemical tests show that the graphene hollow spheres exhibit a high specific capacitance of 273 F g−1 and excellent electrochemical stability.

Three-dimensional photonic crystals for optical wavelengths assembled by micromanipulation

We have established a profitable fabrication technique for three-dimensional (3D) photonic crystals for optical wavelengths. In our method, two-dimensional photonic plates, which serve as unit parts for 3D structures, are prepared by the semiconductor nanofabrication technique. Then, these plates are assembled into 3D structures by micromanipulation. Accurate lamination of the plates is assured by linking fiducial holes of neighboring plates with matching microspheres. With this technique, we have succeeded in fabricating 3D photonic crystals with one to four layers of woodpile structures. From scanning electron microscope observation of the crystals, the periodic error was determined to be within 50 nm. The optical properties of the crystals indicate existence of the photonic band gap at the expected wavelength of 3–4 μm.

Adhesion of micrometer-sized polymer particles under a scanning electron microscope

Techniques for manipulating micrometer-sized objects and assembling them into a microstructure in a scanning electron microscope (SEM) are important for research related to microscale physics. It has been demonstrated that micro-objects ranging from sub-μm to several 10 μm can be freely manipulated by adhering them to the tip of a probe. However, the present micromanipulation technique in a SEM is still inefficient, because little is known about the adhesion mechanisms of micro-objects in a SEM environment. In this study, the adhesion forces of micrometer-sized polymer particles deposited on a substrate during SEM observation have been directly measured. The adhesion forces between a polyvinyltoluene sphere of 1 μm radius deposited on a Au substrate, and a glass probe with a hemispherical tip with a typical radius of 0.75 μm coated with Au, were found to show various complicated behaviors. An irreversible increase in the adhesion forces initiated by the electron-beam (EB) irradiation, and the dependence o...

Isotropic photonic band gap and anisotropic structures in transmission spectra of two-dimensional fivefold and eightfold symmetric quasiperiodic photonic crystals

We measured and calculated the transmission spectra of two-dimensional quasiperiodic photonic crystals (PCs) based on a fivefold (Penrose) or eightfold (octagonal) symmetric quasiperiodic pattern. The photonic crystal consisted of dielectric cylindrical rods in air placed normal to the basal plane on vertices of tiles composing the quasiperiodic pattern. An isotropic photonic band gap (PBG) appeared in the TM mode, where electric fields were parallel to the rods, even when the real part of a dielectric constant of the rod was as small as 2.4. An isotropic PBG-like dip was seen in tiny Penrose and octagonal PCs with only six and nine rods, respectively. These results indicate that local multiple light scattering within the tiny PC plays an important role in the PBG formation. Besides the isotropic PBG, we found dips depending on the incident angle of the light. In this study, anisotropic structures were clearly observed in transmission spectra of quasiperiodic PCs. Based on rod-number and rod-arrangement dependence, it is thought that the shapes and positions of the anisotropic dips are determined by global multiple light scattering covering the whole system. In contrast to the isotropic PBG due to local light scattering, we could not find any PBGs due to global light scattering even though we studied transmission spectra of a huge Penrose PC with 466 rods.

Photonic material for designing arbitrarily shaped waveguides in two dimensions

We investigate numerically optical properties of novel two-dimensional photonic materials where parallel dielectric rods are randomly placed with the restriction that the distance between rods is larger than a certain value. A large complete photonic gap (PG) is found when rods have sufficient density and dielectric contrast. Our result shows that neither long-range nor short-range order is an essential prerequisite to the formation of PGs in the novel photonic material. A universal principle is proposed for designing arbitrarily shaped waveguides, where waveguides are fenced with side walls of periodic rods and surrounded by the novel photonic materials. We observe highly efficient transmission of light for various waveguides. Due to structural uniformity, the novel photonic materials are well suited for filling up the outer region of waveguides of arbitrary shape and dimension comparable with the wavelength.

An ultrabright and monochromatic electron point source made of a LaB6 nanowire.

Electron sources in the form of one-dimensional nanotubes and nanowires are an essential tool for investigations in a variety of fields, such as X-ray computed tomography, flexible displays, chemical sensors and electron optics applications. However, field emission instability and the need to work under high-vacuum or high-temperature conditions have imposed stringent requirements that are currently limiting the range of application of electron sources. Here we report the fabrication of a LaB6 nanowire with only a few La atoms bonded on the tip that emits collimated electrons from a single point with high monochromaticity. The nanostructured tip has a low work function of 2.07 eV (lower than that of Cs) while remaining chemically inert, two properties usually regarded as mutually exclusive. Installed in a scanning electron microscope (SEM) field emission gun, our tip shows a current density gain that is about 1,000 times greater than that achievable with W(310) tips, and no emission decay for tens of hours of operation. Using this new SEM, we acquired very low-noise, high-resolution images together with rapid chemical compositional mapping using a tip operated at room temperature and at 10-times higher residual gas pressure than that required for W tips.