The thermal properties of epoxy‐based binary composites comprised of graphene and copper nanoparticles are reported. It is found that the “synergistic” filler effect, revealed as a strong enhancement of the thermal conductivity of composites with the size‐dissimilar fillers, has a well‐defined filler loading threshold. The thermal conductivity of composites with a moderate graphene concentration of fg = 15 wt% exhibits an abrupt increase as the loading of copper nanoparticles approaches fCu ≈ 40 wt%, followed by saturation. The effect is attributed to intercalation of spherical copper nanoparticles between the large graphene flakes, resulting in formation of the highly thermally conductive percolation network. In contrast, in composites with a high graphene concentration, fg = 40 wt%, the thermal conductivity increases linearly with addition of copper nanoparticles. A thermal conductivity of 13.5 ± 1.6 Wm−1K−1 is achieved in composites with binary fillers of fg = 40 wt% and fCu = 35 wt%. It has also been demonstrated that the thermal percolation can occur prior to electrical percolation even in composites with electrically conductive fillers. The obtained results shed light on the interaction between graphene fillers and copper nanoparticles in the composites and demonstrate potential of such hybrid epoxy composites for practical applications in thermal interface materials and adhesives.

We report on switching among three charge-density-wave phases -commensurate, nearly commensurate, incommensurate -and the high-temperature normal metallic phase in thin-film 1T-TaS2 devices induced by application of an in-plane electric field. The electric switching among all phases has been achieved over a wide temperature range, from 77 K to 400 K. The low-frequency electronic noise spectroscopy has been used as an effective tool for monitoring the transitions, particularly the switching from the incommensurate charge-density-wave phase to the normal metal phase. The noise spectral density exhibits sharp increases at the phase transition points, which correspond to the step-like changes in resistivity. Assignment of the phases is consistent with low-field resistivity measurements over the temperature range from 77 K to 600 K. Analysis of the experimental data and calculations of heat dissipation suggest that Joule heating plays a dominant role in the electric-field induced transitions in the tested 1T-TaS2 devices on Si/SiO2 substrates. The possibility of electrical switching among four different phases of 1T-TaS2 is a promising step toward nanoscale device applications. The results also demonstrate the potential of noise spectroscopy for investigating and identifying phase transitions in materials. Keywords: charge-density-wave effects; van der Waals materials; resistive switching, lowfrequency noise, 1T-TaS2; normal metallic phase Electric Switching of the Charge-Density-Wave and Normal Metallic Phases in 1T-TaS2 Thin-Film Devices -UC Riverside 2019 3 | P a g eSwitching between various material phases at room temperature by the application of electric field has the potential of becoming a new device paradigm for future electronic and optoelectronic technologies 1-4 . Among the promising material candidates, which must exhibit phase changes characterized by abrupt resistivity changes and hysteresis, is the 1T polymorph of tantalum disulfide (TaS2). The quasi-two-dimensional (2D) van der Waals layered crystalline 1T-TaS2 exhibits charge-density-wave (CDW) effects, i.e. periodic modulation of the charge density and the underlying lattice resulting from the interplay between the electron-electron and electronphonon interactions [5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13]14 . The CDW state becomes fully commensurate with the lattice below ~200 K 15-17 . The commensurate CDW (C-CDW) consists of a √13 × √13 reconstruction within the basal plane that forms a star-of-David pattern in which each star contains 13 Ta atoms. The Fermi surface, composed of 1 d-electron per star, is unstable, so that the lattice reconstruction is accompanied by a Mott-Hubbard transition that fully gaps the Fermi surface and increases the resistance 15,18-21 . As the temperature increases above 180 K, the C-CDW phase breaks up into a nearly commensurate CDW (NC-CDW) phase that consists of ordered C-CDW regions separated by domain walls 22 . This C-CDW to NC-CDW transition is revealed as an abrupt change in the resistance with a large hysteresis window i...

Micron-scale single-crystal nanowires of metallic TaSe3, a material that forms -Ta-Se3-Ta-Se3-stacks separated from one another by a tubular van der Waals (vdW) gap, have been synthesized using chemical vapor deposition (CVD) on a SiO2/Si substrate, in a process compatible with semiconductor industry requirements. Their electrical resistivity was found unaffected by downscaling from the bulk to as little as 7 nm in width and height, in striking contrast to the resistivity of copper for the same dimensions. While the bulk resistivity of TaSe3 is substantially higher than that of bulk copper, at the nanometer scale the TaSe3 wires become competitive to similar-sized copper ones. Moreover, we find that the vdW TaSe3 nanowires sustain current densities in excess of 10 8 A/cm 2 and feature an electromigration energy barrier twice that of copper. The results highlight the promise of quasi-onedimensional transition metal trichalcogenides for electronic interconnect applications and the potential of van der Waals materials for downscaled electronics.

No abstract

We report results regarding the electron transport in vertical quasi-2D layered 1T-TaS2 chargedensity-wave devices. The low-frequency noise spectroscopy was used as a tool to study changes in the cross-plane electrical characteristics of the quasi-2D material below room temperature. The noise spectral density revealed strong peaks -changing by more than an order-of-magnitude -at the temperatures closely matching the electrical resistance steps. Some of the noise peaks appeared below the temperature of the commensurate to nearlycommensurate charge-density-wave transition, possibly indicating the presence of the debated "hidden" phase transitions. These results confirm the potential of the noise spectroscopy for investigations of electron transport and phase transitions in novel materials. / R. Salgado et al., Low-Frequency Noise Spectroscopy of CDW Phase Transitions in Vertical Quasi-2D Devices / UCR 2 | P a g eThe charge-density-wave (CDW) phase is a macroscopic quantum state consisting of a periodic modulation of the electronic charge density accompanied by a periodic distortion of the atomic lattice in metallic crystals [1][2][3]. Recently, the field of CDW materials and devices experienced a true renaissance [4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16]. The renewed interest has been driven by layer-control of CDW materials, such as quasi-two-dimensional (2D) crystals of 1T-TaS2 and other transition metal dichalcogenides (TMDs). Unlike classical bulk CDW materials with the quasi-1D crystalline