No abstract

2D WS2/ZnO vdWs heterostructure becomes a good material for water-splitting applications after a strain is applied.

Polar and nonpolar ZnO thin films were deposited on MgO (001) substrates under different deposition parameters using oxygen plasma-assisted molecular beam epitaxy (MBE). The orientations of ZnO thin films were investigated by in situ reflection high-energy electron diffraction and ex situ X-ray diffraction (XRD). The film roughness measured by atomic force microscopy evolved as a function of substrate temperature and was correlated with the grain sizes determined by XRD. Synchrotron-based X-ray absorption spectroscopy (XAS) was performed to study the conduction band structures of the ZnO films. The fine structures of the XAS spectra, which were consistent with the results of density functional theory calculation, indicated that the polar and nonpolar ZnO films had different electronic structures. Our work suggests that it is possible to vary ZnO film structures from polar to nonpolar using the MBE growth technique and hence tailoring the electronic structures of the ZnO films.PACS: 81; 81.05.Dz; 81.15.Hi.

Specialized Research Fund for the Doctoral Program of Higher Education [20100121120026]; Natural Science Foundation of Fujian Province, China [2010J05138]; Program for New Century Excellent Talents in University (NCET) [NCET-09-0680]; U.S. Department of EWe report the growth of ZnO (001) wurtzite thin films with bulk-like opto-electronic properties on MgO (001) cubic substrates using plasma-assisted molecular beam epitaxy. In situ reflection high-energy electron diffraction patterns and ex situ high resolution transmission electron microscopy images indicate that the structure transition from the cubic MgO substrates to the hexagonal films involves 6 ZnO variants that have the same structure but different orientations. This work demonstrates the possibility of integrating wurtzite ZnO films and functional cubic substrates while maintaining their bulk-like properties. (C) 2011 American Institute of Physics. [doi: 10.1063/1.3647846

Identically sized Au clusters are grown on the Si(111)-(7×7) surface by room temperature deposition of Au atoms and subsequent annealing at low-temperature. The topographical images investigated by in situ scanning tunneling microscopy show a bias-dependent feature. The current-voltage properties measured by scanning tunneling spectroscopy indicate some semiconducting characteristics of the Au adsorbed surface, which is attributable to the saturation of Si dangling bonds. These experimental results, combined with the simulated scanning tunneling microscopy images and the first-principles adsorption energy calculations, show that the Au cluster is most likely to have a Au(6)Si(3) structure. In the Au(6)Si(3) cluster, three adsorbed Au atoms replace the three Si center adatoms, forming a hollow triangle, while the replaced Si atoms and other three Au atoms connect into a hexagon locating within the triangle. The formation mechanism of this atomic configuration is intimately associated with the complicated chemical valences of Au and the specific annealing conditions.