A high-mobility (9000 cm 2 /V‚s) semiconducting single-walled nanotube transistor is used to construct a nonvolatile charge-storage memory element operating at room temperature. Charges are stored by application of a few volts across the silicon dioxide dielectric between nanotube and silicon substrate, and detected by threshold shift of the nanotube field-effect transistor. The high mobility of the nanotube transistor allows the observation of discrete configurations of charge corresponding to rearrangement of a single or few electrons. These states may be reversibly written, read, and erased at temperatures up to 100 K.Decreasing the power required to write and erase memory devices requires either a reduction of the write voltage or a reduction in the number of electrons representing one bit. The former is fundamentally limited by the thermal energy at room temperature, and efforts have focused on the latter. The ultimate reduction, i.e., the storage of a single electronic charge, offers advantages over storing quasi-continuous quantities of charge: 1 the Coulomb energy associated with adding additional charges to the storage node can be used to guarantee a discrete charge state, 2 and the quantized nature of the charge stored makes the device characteristics less sensitive to the details of the device structure. However, the operation of a single-electron memory at useful temperatures presents two major challenges: the capacitance of the storage node must be small enough that its Coulomb charging energy is significantly larger than the thermal energy at the operating temperature, and the readout device must be sufficiently sensitive to detect a single nearby electronic charge. Efforts to date have focused on floating-gate charge storage nodes either patterned lithographically 3-5 or formed serendipitously in a polycrystalline channel. 1 Detection of single charges at elevated temperatures has been demonstrated with singleelectron transistors 5 or very narrow silicon-or polysiliconon-insulator field-effect transistors (FETs). 1,3,4 However, single-electron transistors that can operate at room temperature remain extremely difficult to fabricate, and the fieldeffect transistors demonstrated so far have modest mobilities.Here we report on a charge-storage memory using a single semiconducting nanotube FET as the readout. Charge is reversibly injected and removed from the dielectric by applying a moderate voltage (<10 V) across the dielectric between nanotube and substrate. The nanotube FET is ideal as a charge detecting device; it has extremely high mobility (e.g. 9000 cm 2 /V‚s for the device described here), large geometrical capacitance, and its one-dimensional nature guarantees that local changes in charge density affect the global conductance. In the device reported here, discrete charge states corresponding to differences of a single or at most a few stored electrons are observed and can be written, read, and erased at temperatures up to 100 K, with changes in current of more than 50 nA. This rather ...

Abstract:Recently, significant interest has emerged in fabricated systems that mimic the behavior of geometrically-frustrated materials. We present the full realization of such an artificial spin ice system on a two-dimensional kagome lattice and demonstrate rigid adherence to the local ice rule by directly counting individual pseudo-spins. The resulting spin configurations show not only local ice rules and long-range disorder, but also correlations consistent with spin ice Monte Carlo calculations. Our results suggest that dipolar corrections are significant in this system, as in pyrochlore spin ice, and they open a door to further studies of frustration in general. 75.75.+a, 75.50.Lk

Activities of Cu nanoparticles supported on carbon black (VC), single-wall carbon nanotubes (SWNTs), and Ketjen Black (KB) toward CO2 electroreduction to hydrocarbons (CH4, C2H2, C2H4, and C2H6) are evaluated using a sealed rotating disk electrode (RDE) setup coupled to a gas chromatograph (GC). Thin films of supported Cu catalysts are deposited on RDE tips following a procedure well-established in the fuel cell community. Lead (Pb) underpotential deposition (UPD) is used to determine the electrochemical surface area (ECSA) of thin films of 40 wt % Cu/VC, 20 wt % Cu/SWNT, 50 wt % Cu/KB, and commercial 20 wt % Cu/VC catalysts on glassy carbon electrodes. Faradaic efficiencies of four carbon-supported Cu catalysts toward CO2 electroreduction to hydrocarbons are compared to that of electrodeposited smooth Cu films. For all the catalysts studied, the only hydrocarbons detected by GC are CH4 and C2H4. The Cu nanoparticles are found to be more active toward C2H4 generation versus electrodeposited smooth copper films. For the supported Cu nanocatalysts, the ratio of C2H4/CH4 Faradaic efficiencies is believed to be a function of particle size, as higher ratios are observed for smaller Cu nanoparticles. This is likely due to an increase in the fraction of under-coordinated sites, such as corners, edges, and defects, as the nanoparticles become smaller.

We report on preparation dependent properties observed in monolayer WS2 samples synthesized via chemical vapor deposition (CVD) on a variety of common substrates (Si/SiO2, sapphire, fused silica) as well as samples that were transferred from the growth substrate onto a new substrate. The as-grown CVD materials (as-WS2) exhibit distinctly different optical properties than transferred WS2 (x-WS2). In the case of CVD growth on Si/SiO2, following transfer to fresh Si/SiO2 there is a ~50 meV shift of the ground state exciton to higher emission energy in both photoluminescence emission and optical reflection. This shift is indicative of a reduction in tensile strain by ~0.25%. Additionally, the excitonic state in x-WS2 is easily modulated between neutral and charged exciton by exposure to moderate laser power, while such optical control is absent in as-WS2 for all growth substrates investigated. Finally, we observe dramatically different laser power-dependent behavior for as-grown and transferred WS2. These results demonstrate a strong sensitivity to sample preparation that is important for both a fundamental understanding of these novel materials as well as reliable reproduction of device properties.

We demonstrate plasmonic enhancement of visible-light-driven splitting of water at three-dimensionally (3D) networked gold-titania (Au-TiO2) aerogels. The sol-gel-derived ultraporous composite nanoarchitecture, which contains 1 to 8.5 wt% Au nanoparticles and titania in the anatase form, retains the high surface area and mesoporosity of unmodified TiO2 aerogels and maintains stable dispersion of the ~5 nm Au guests. A broad surface plasmon resonance (SPR) feature centered at ~550 nm is present for the Au-TiO2 aerogels, but not Au-free TiO2 aerogels, and spans a wide range of the visible spectrum. Gold-derived SPR in Au-TiO2 aerogels cast as films on transparent electrodes drives photoelectrochemical oxidation of aqueous hydroxide and extends the photocatalytic activity of TiO2 from the ultraviolet region to visible wavelengths exceeding 700 nm. Films of Au-TiO2 aerogels in which Au nanoparticles are deposited on pre-formed TiO2 aerogels by a deposition-precipitation method (DP Au/TiO2) also photoelectrochemically oxidize aqueous hydroxide, but less efficiently than 3D Au-TiO2, despite having an essentially identical Au nanoparticle weight fraction and size distribution. For example, 3D Au-TiO2 containing 1 wt% Au is as active as DP Au/TiO2 with 4 wt% Au. The higher photocatalytic activity of 3D Au-TiO2 derives only in part from its ability to retain the surface area and porosity of unmodified TiO2 aerogel. The magnitude of improvement indicates that in the 3D arrangement either a more accessible photoelectrochemical reaction interphase (three-phase boundary) exists or more efficient conversion of excited surface plasmons into charge carriers occurs, thereby amplifying reactivity over DP Au/TiO2. The difference in photocatalytic efficiency between the two forms of Au-TiO2 demonstrates the importance of defining the structure of Au[parallel]TiO2 interfaces within catalytic Au-TiO2 nanoarchitectures.

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We demonstrate the use of field-emission scanning electron microscopy for rapid imaging of small-diameter carbon nanotubes on insulating SiO 2 substrates. The image contrast stems from local potential differences between the nanotube and substrate and is insensitive to surface roughness and defects. This technique may also be used as a probe of the electrical connectivity of small structures without external leads.

We report direct observation of controlled and reversible switching of magnetic domains using static (dc) electric fields applied in situ during Lorentz microscopy. The switching is realized through electromechanical coupling in thin film Fe(0.7)Ga(0.3)/BaTiO(3) bilayer structures mechanically released from the growth substrate. The domain wall motion is observed dynamically, allowing the direct association of local magnetic ordering throughout a range of applied electric fields. During application of approximately 7-11 MV/m electric fields to the piezoelectric BaTiO(3) film, local magnetic domains rearrange in the ferromagnetic Fe(0.7)Ga(0.3) layer due to the transfer of strain from the BaTiO(3) film. A simulation based on micromagnetic modeling shows a magnetostrictive anisotropy of 25 kPa induced in the Fe(0.7)Ga(0.3) due to the strain. This electric-field-dependent uniaxial anisotropy is proposed as a possible mechanism to control the coercive field during operation of an integrated magnetoelectric memory node.