Facet-dependent activity of shape-controlled TiO2 supported Au nanoparticles for water-gas shift reaction†

The bifunctional role of noble metal/oxide interface in the activation of reactants is of vital importance in heterogeneous catalysis of water-gas shift (WGS) reaction. Herein, three types of shape-controlled TiO2...

Electric-field control of field-free spin-orbit torque switching via laterally modulated Rashba effect in Pt/Co/AlOx structures

Spin-orbit coupling effect in structures with broken inversion symmetry, known as the Rashba effect, facilitates spin-orbit torques (SOTs) in heavy metal/ferromagnet/oxide structures, along with the spin Hall effect. Electric-field control of the Rashba effect is established for semiconductor interfaces, but it is challenging in structures involving metals owing to the screening effect. Here, we report that the Rashba effect in Pt/Co/AlOx structures is laterally modulated by electric voltages, generating out-of-plane SOTs. This enables field-free switching of the perpendicular magnetization and electrical control of the switching polarity. Changing the gate oxide reverses the sign of out-of-plane SOT while maintaining the same sign of voltage-controlled magnetic anisotropy, which confirms the Rashba effect at the Co/oxide interface is a key ingredient of the electric-field modulation. The electrical control of SOT switching polarity in a reversible and non-volatile manner can be utilized for programmable logic operations in spintronic logic-in-memory devices.

Investigating stability and tunability of quantum dot transport in silicon MOSFETs via the application of electrical stress

In this work, we experimentally investigate the impact of electrical stress on the tunability of single hole transport properties within a p-type silicon MOSFET at a temperature of T = 2 K. This is achieved by monitoring Coulomb-blockade from three disorder based quantum dots at the channel-oxide interface, which are known to lack tunability as a result of their stochastic origin. Our findings indicate that when applying gate biases between -4 V to -4.6 V, nearby charge trapping enhances Coulomb-blockade leading to a stronger quantum dot confinement that can be reversed to the initial device condition after performing a thermal cycle reset. Re-applying stress then gives rise to a predictable response from reproducible changes in the quantum dot charging characteristics with consistent charging energy increases of up to ≈ 50% being observed. We reach a threshold above gate biases of -4.6 V, where the performance and stability become reduced due to device degradation occurring as a product of large-scale trap generation. The results not only suggest stress as an effective technique to enhance and reset charging properties but also offer insight on how standard industrial silicon devices can be harnessed for single charge transport applications.

Electron penetration triggering interface activity of Pt-graphene for CO oxidation at room temperature

Achieving CO oxidation at room temperature is significant for gas purification but still challenging nowadays. Pt promoted by 3d transition metals (TMs) is a promising candidate for this reaction, but TMs are prone to be deeply oxidized in an oxygen-rich atmosphere, leading to low activity. Herein we report a unique structure design of graphene-isolated Pt from CoNi nanoparticles (PtǀCoNi) for efficiently catalytic CO oxidation in an oxygen-rich atmosphere. CoNi alloy is protected by ultrathin graphene shell from oxidation and therefore modulates the electronic property of Pt-graphene interface via electron penetration effect. This catalyst can achieve near 100% CO conversion at room temperature, while there are limited conversions over Pt/C and Pt/CoNiOx catalysts. Experiments and theoretical calculations indicate that CO will saturate Pt sites, but O2 can adsorb at the Pt-graphene interface without competing with CO, which facilitate the O2 activation and the subsequent surface reaction. This graphene-isolated system is distinct from the classical metal-metal oxide interface for catalysis, and it provides a new thought for the design of heterogeneous catalysts.

Grafting nanometer metal/oxide interface towards enhanced low-temperature acetylene semi-hydrogenation

Metal/oxide interface is of fundamental significance to heterogeneous catalysis because the seemingly “inert” oxide support can modulate the morphology, atomic and electronic structures of the metal catalyst through the interface. The interfacial effects are well studied over a bulk oxide support but remain elusive for nanometer-sized systems like clusters, arising from the challenges associated with chemical synthesis and structural elucidation of such hybrid clusters. We hereby demonstrate the essential catalytic roles of a nanometer metal/oxide interface constructed by a hybrid Pd/Bi2O3 cluster ensemble, which is fabricated by a facile stepwise photochemical method. The Pd/Bi2O3 cluster, of which the hybrid structure is elucidated by combined electron microscopy and microanalysis, features a small Pd-Pd coordination number and more importantly a Pd-Bi spatial correlation ascribed to the heterografting between Pd and Bi terminated Bi2O3 clusters. The intra-cluster electron transfer towards Pd across the as-formed nanometer metal/oxide interface significantly weakens the ethylene adsorption without compromising the hydrogen activation. As a result, a 91% selectivity of ethylene and 90% conversion of acetylene can be achieved in a front-end hydrogenation process with a temperature as low as 44 °C.

Effects of gamma radiation on the layered structure of lithium silicon – niobate.

In this work, it is shown that when an ionizing radiation pulse acts on surfactant-type devices in which a silicon single crystal is deposited with a gap on a piezoelectric substrate made of lithium niobate, the output signal is distorted. It was found that, depending on the type of conductivity of the material deposited on the lithium niobate, a different character of recovery of the device parameters was observed. The effect of ionizing radiation on air-gap devices operating as a memory correlator showed that the previously recorded signals were erased at a dose rate of ≥ 106 rad. To explain these dependencies, a model is used based on the fact that photo carriers excited by ionizing radiation in the depleted layer are captured by traps at the silicon-air interface for devices with an air gap and at the silicon-silicon oxide interface for monolithic structures The presented model, which takes into account traps not at the interface, explains most of the effects that cause a change in the output high frequency (RF) signal.