Lanthanide-doped upconversion nanoparticles (UCNPs) have attracted a lot of interest due to their benefits in biological applications: They are not suffering from intermittence and provide nearly background-free luminescence. The progress in synthesis nowadays enables access to complex core-shell particles of controlled size and composition. Nevertheless, the frequently used doping ratio dates back to where mostly core-only particles of relatively large size have been studied. Especially at low power excitation as needed in biology, a decrease in particle size leads to a drastic decrease in the upconversion efficiency. An enhancement strategy based on an increased absorption rate of near-infrared light provided by an increase of the sensitizer content, together with the simultaneous blocking of the energy migration pathways to the particle surface, is presented. NaYbF 4 (20%Er) particles of 8.5 nm diameter equipped with an about 2 nm thick NaYF 4 shell show significantly enhanced upconversion luminescence in the red (660 nm) compared to the most commonly used particles with only 20% Yb 3+ and 2% Er 3+ . The impact of size, composition, and core-shell architecture on photophysical properties are studied. The findings demonstrate that an increase in doping rates enables the design of small, bright UCNPs useful for biological applications.
In arrays of multi-domain nanowires static antimony doping in combination with mobile doping stemming from oxygen vacancies is utilized to achieve bipolar memristive properties resulting from oxygen vacancy injection in an undoped tin oxide domain.
<div><div><div><p>One of the fascinating properties of metal-semiconductor Schottky-barriers, which has been observed for some material combinations, is memristive behavior. Memristors are smart, since they can reversibly switch between a low resistance state and a high resistance state. The devices offer a great potential for advanced computing and data storage, including neuromorphic networks and resistive random-access memory. However, as for many other cases, the presence of a real interface (metal - metal oxide) has numerous disadvantages. The realization of interface-free, respectively Schottky-barrier free memristors is highly desirable. The aim of the current paper is the generation of nanowire arrays with each nanorod possessing the same crystal phase (Rutile) and segments only differing in composition. The electric conductivity is realized by segments made of highly-doped antimony tin oxide (ATO) transitioning into pure tin oxide (TO). Complex nanoarchitectures are presented, which include ATO-TO, ATO-TO-ATO nanowires either with a stepwise distribution of antimony or as a graded functional material. The electrical characterization of the materials reveals that the introduction of memristive properties in such structures is possible. The special features observed in voltage-current (IV) curves are correlated to the behavior of mobile oxygen vacancies (VO..) at different values of applied electrical potential.</p></div></div></div>
<div><div><div><p>One of the fascinating properties of metal-semiconductor Schottky-barriers, which has been observed for some material combinations, is memristive behavior. Memristors are smart, since they can reversibly switch between a low resistance state and a high resistance state. The devices offer a great potential for advanced computing and data storage, including neuromorphic networks and resistive random-access memory. However, as for many other cases, the presence of a real interface (metal - metal oxide) has numerous disadvantages. The realization of interface-free, respectively Schottky-barrier free memristors is highly desirable. The aim of the current paper is the generation of nanowire arrays with each nanorod possessing the same crystal phase (Rutile) and segments only differing in composition. The electric conductivity is realized by segments made of highly-doped antimony tin oxide (ATO) transitioning into pure tin oxide (TO). Complex nanoarchitectures are presented, which include ATO-TO, ATO-TO-ATO nanowires either with a stepwise distribution of antimony or as a graded functional material. The electrical characterization of the materials reveals that the introduction of memristive properties in such structures is possible. The special features observed in voltage-current (IV) curves are correlated to the behavior of mobile oxygen vacancies (VO..) at different values of applied electrical potential.</p></div></div></div>
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