S. K. Ray

Multifunctional Au-ZnO Plasmonic Nanostructures for Enhanced UV Photodetector and Room Temperature NO Sensing Devices

In this study we report the enhancement of UV photodetection and wavelength tunable light induced NO gas sensing at room temperature using Au-ZnO nanocomposites synthesized by a simple photochemical process. Plasmonic Au-ZnO nanostructures with a size less than the incident wavelength have been found to exhibit a localized surface plasmon resonance (LSPR) that leads to a strong absorption, scattering and local field enhancement. The photoresponse of Au-ZnO nanocomposite can be effectively enhanced by 80 times at 335 nm over control ZnO. We also demonstrated Au-ZnO nanocomposites application to wavelength tunable gas sensor operating at room temperature. The sensing response of Au-ZnO nancomposite is enhanced both in UV and visible region, as compared to control ZnO. The sensitivity is observed to be higher in the visible region due to the LSPR effect of Au NPs. The selectivity is found to be higher for NO gas over CO and some other volatile organic compounds (VOCs), with a minimum detection limit of 0.1 ppb for Au-ZnO sensor at 335 nm.

Strained silicon heterostructures : materials and devices

* Chapter 1: Introduction * Chapter 2: Strained Layer Epitaxy * Chapter 3: Electronic Properties of Alloy Layers * Chapter 4: Gate Dielectrics on Strained Layers * Chapter 5: SiGe Heterojunction Bipolar Transistors * Chapter 6: Heterostructure Field Effect Transistors * Chapter 7: BICFET, RTD and Other Devices * Chapter 8: MODFETs * Chapter 9: Contact Metallization on Strained Layers * Chapter 10: Si/SiGe Optoelectronics

CdS-Decorated ZnO Nanorod Heterostructures for Improved Hybrid Photovoltaic Devices

Cadmium sulfide (CdS)-decorated zinc oxide (ZnO) nanorod heterostructures have been grown by a combination of hydrothermal and pulsed laser deposition techniques. Hybrid photovoltaic devices have been fabricated with CdS modified and unmodified ZnO nanorods blended separately with regioregular poly(3-hexylthiophene) (P3HT) polymer as the active layer. The solar cell performance has been studied as a function of ZnO concentration and the casting solvent (chlorobenzene, chloroform, and toluene) in the unmodified ZnO:P3HT devices. The power conversion efficiency is found to be enhanced with the increase of ZnO concentration up to a certain limit, and decreases at a very high concentration. The surface modification of ZnO nanorods with CdS leads to an increase in the open circuit voltage and short-circuit current, with enhanced efficiency by 300% over the unmodified ZnO:P3HT device, because of the cascaded band structure favoring charge transfer to the external circuit.

Nanocrystals for silicon-based light-emitting and memory devices

Nanocrystals (NCs), representing a zero-dimensional system, are an ideal platform for exploring quantum phenomena on the nanoscale, and are expected to play a major role in future electronic and photonic devices. Here we review recent progress in the growth, characterization and utilization of some group-IV semiconductors (Si and Ge), metal and high-k NCs for silicon planar technology compatible light-emitting and floating gate memory devices. We first introduce the size-dependent electrical and optical properties of Si and Ge NCs. We outline some of the schemes to achieve light emission from indirect band gap Si and Ge NCs embedded in different high band gap oxide matrices. In particular, special emphasis is given on the review of the advances in Ge NCs because of some of their intriguing electronic and optical properties. We then describe the use of semiconductor and metal NCs as floating gates for non-volatile memory devices to achieve high data retention and faster program/erase speeds. The exploitation of high-k oxides with tunable and variable injection barriers for improved charge storage devices is discussed. Finally, the integration of single and multilayer metallic NCs and multilayer high-k oxides as floating gates is explored by the fabrication and testing of memory transistors.

Chemically Reduced Graphene Oxide for Ammonia Detection at Room Temperature

Chemically reduced graphene oxide (RGO) has recently attracted growing interest in the area of chemical sensors because of its high electrical conductivity and chemically active defect sites. This paper reports the synthesis of chemically reduced GO using NaBH4 and its performance for ammonia detection at room temperature. The sensing layer was synthesized on a ceramic substrate containing platinum electrodes. The effect of the reduction time of graphene oxide (GO) was explored to optimize the response, recovery, and response time. The RGO film was characterized electrically and also with atomic force microscopy and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. The sensor response was found to lie between 5.5% at 200 ppm (parts per million) and 23% at 2800 ppm of ammonia, and also resistance recovered quickly without any application of heat (for lower concentrations of ammonia). The sensor was exposed to different vapors and found to be selective toward ammonia. We believe such chemically reduced GO could potentially be used to manufacture a new generation of low-power portable ammonia sensors.

Terahertz electroluminescence from boron-doped silicon devices

Terahertz emission was observed from electrically pumped boron-doped p-type silicon structures at cryogenic temperatures. At a current of 1.5 A and temperature of 4.4 K, we achieved a pulsed peak power of 31 μW from a single mesa facet, integrated over three closely spaced spectral lines centered about 8.1 THz. The radiation was slightly transverse magnetically polarized with respect to the plane of the substrate and was still detectable at temperatures as high as 150 K. These findings suggest that moderate power THz sources can be fabricated without epitaxially grown quantum wells using techniques compatible with silicon integrated circuit technology.

Transparent and flexible resistive switching memory devices with a very high ON/OFF ratio using gold nanoparticles embedded in a silk protein matrix

The growing demand for biomaterials for electrical and optical devices is motivated by the need to make building blocks for the next generation of printable bio-electronic devices. In this study, transparent and flexible resistive memory devices with a very high ON/OFF ratio incorporating gold nanoparticles into the Bombyx mori silk protein fibroin biopolymer are demonstrated. The novel electronic memory effect is based on filamentary switching, which leads to the occurrence of bistable states with an ON=OFF ratio larger than six orders of magnitude. The mechanism of this process is attributed to the formation of conductive filaments through silk fibroin and gold nanoparticles in the nanocomposite. The proposed hybrid bio-inorganic devices show promise for use in future flexible and transparent nanoelectronic systems.

Nonvolatile and unipolar resistive switching characteristics of pulsed laser ablated NiO films

Unipolar nonvolatile resistive switching memory properties of pulse laser ablated nickel oxide films have been studied. Grazing incidence x-ray diffraction and electron diffraction spectra of the oxide films reveal polycrystalline nature of deposited NiO films. Cross-sectional transmission electron micrograph shows a fairly uniform oxide surface. The rms surface roughnesses of deposited oxides have been studied as a function of annealing temperature using atomic force microscopy. By applying a proper voltage bias and compliance, Pt/NiO/Pt structures exhibited unipolar resistive switching having a very low SET and RESET voltages. The OFF state resistance and SET voltage are found to increase with the increase in annealing temperature. The ratio between the two resistance states can be as high as 1000. The current conduction phenomena at two resistance states have been studied. The switching phenomena have been explained using the rupture and formation of conducting filaments. The effect of postdeposition a...

Enhanced broadband photoresponse of Ge/CdS nanowire radial heterostructures

CdS/Ge nanowire heterojunction has been grown by chemical deposition of CdS on Ge nanowire templates. Transmission electron micrographs show the growth of core-shell Ge/CdS nanowire radial heterostructures. Raman spectra reveal the confinement of phonons in nanocrystalline CdS shell grown on Ge nanowires. A diodelike behavior in I-V characteristics of Ge/CdS heterojunction is observed due to the formation of rectifying junction between CdS shells and Ge nanowire cores. An improved photocurrent spectrum of Ge/CdS heterojunction nanowires with broadband response from visible to near-IR region is demonstrated.

Hydrothermal growth of few layer 2H-MoS2 for heterojunction photodetector and visible light induced photocatalytic applications

The present low yielding growth techniques of semiconducting 2H phase molybdenum disulfide (MoS2) hamper its widespread applications. In this article, we report a novel hydrothermal chemical approach to synthesize micron sized few layer 2H-MoS2 on a large scale. Sodium molybdate and ammonium thiocyanate have been used as precursors to obtain template-free 2H-MoS2 in solution. Detailed microscopic and spectroscopic characterizations reveal that the bottom-up synthesized few layer MoS2 flakes are highly crystalline having the hexagonal 2H phase. Photodetector devices comprising a p-type silicon (p-Si)/n-MoS2 heterostructure have been fabricated for the first time using solution processed 2H-MoS2 synthesized by the bottom up approach. The heterojunction diode exhibits a high rectification ratio (>103) with broad band photoresponse over the visible range. Because of the visible light photoresponse, as-synthesized MoS2 along with reduced graphene oxide (MoS2–RGO hybrids) have been utilized to study the potential of this two dimensional (2D) heterostructure for visible light driven photocatalytic Rhodamine B dye degradation. This study demonstrates the potential of solution processed MoS2 for integration with silicon and growth of 2D heterostructures for visible light induced multifunctional applications.