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High-performance non-volatile resistive random access memories (ReRAM) and their small stimuli control are of immense interest for high-speed computation and big-data processing in the emergent Internet of Things (IOT) arena. Here, we examine the resistive switching (RS) behavior in growth controlled HfO2/La0.67Sr0.33MnO3 heterostructures and their tunability under low magnetic field. It is demonstrated that oxygen-deficient HfO2 films show bipolar switching with high on/off ratio, stable retention, as well as good endurance owing to the orthorhombic-rich phase constitution and charge (de)-trapping-enabled Schottky-type conduction. Most importantly, we have demonstrated that, the RS can be tuned by a very low externally applied magnetic field (0-30 mT). Remarkably, application of a magnetic field of 30 mT causes the RS to be fully quenched and frozen in the high resistance state (HRS) even after the removal of magnetic field. However, the quenched state could be resurrected by applying higher bias voltage than the one for initial switching. This is argued to be a consequence of the electronically and ionically active nature of the HfO2-x/LSMO interface on both sides, and its susceptibility to the electric and low magnetic field effects. This result could pave the way for new designs of interface engineered high-performance oxitronic ReRAM devices., Comment: 45 pages, 5 main figures

We report a comprehensive study on the electrochemical performance of four different Transition Metal Oxides encapsulated inside carbon nanotubes (CNT). Irrespective of the type of oxide-encapsulate, all these samples exhibit superior cyclic stability as compared to the bare-oxide. Innovative use of camphor during sample synthesis enables precise control over the morphology of these self-organized carbon nanotube structures, which in turn appears to play a crucial role in the magnitude of the specific capacity. A comparative evaluation of the electrochemical data on different samples bring forward interesting inferences pertaining to the morphology, filling fraction of the oxide-encapsulate, and the presence of oxide nano-particles adhering outside the filled CNT. Our results provides useful pointers towards the optimization of critical parameters, thus paving the way for using these synthetically encapsulated and self-organized carbon nanotube structures as anode materials for Li-ion batteries, and possibly other electrochemical applications.

Recently, nanolaminated ternary carbides have attracted immense interest due to the concomitant presence of both ceramic and metallic properties. Here, we grow nanolaminate Ti3AlC2 thin films by pulsed laser deposition on c-axis-oriented sapphire substrates and, surprisingly, the films are found to be highly oriented along the (103) axis normal to the film plane, rather than the (000l) orientation. Multiple characterization techniques are employed to explore the structural and chemical quality of these films, the electrical and optical properties, and the device functionalities. The 80-nm thick Ti3AlC2 film is highly conducting at room temperature (resistivity of 50 micro ohm-cm), and a very-low-temperature coefficient of resistivity. The ultrathin (2 nm) Ti3AlC2 film has fairly good optical transparency and high conductivity at room temperature (sheet resistance of 735 ohm). Scanning tunneling microscopy reveals the metallic characteristics (with finite density of states at the Fermi level) at room temperature. The metal-semiconductor junction of the p-type Ti3AlC2 film and n-Si show the expected rectification (diode) characteristics, in contrast to the ohmic contact behavior in the case of Ti3AlC2 on p-Si. A triboelectric-nanogenerator-based touch-sensing device, comprising of the Ti3AlC2 film, shows a very impressive peak-to-peak open-circuit output voltage of 80 V. These observations reveal that pulsed laser deposited Ti3AlC2 thin films have excellent potential for applications in multiple domains, such as bottom electrodes, resistors for high-precision measurements, Schottky diodes, ohmic contacts, fairly transparent ultrathin conductors, and next-generation biomechanical touch sensors for energy harvesting., 41 pages, 8 main figures, Published in Physical Review Applied

In view of their immensely intriguing properties, two dimensional materials are being intensely researched in search of novel phenomena and diverse application interests, however, studies on the realization of nanocomposites in the application-worthy thin-film platform are rare. Here we have grown MoS2-hBN composite thin films on different substrates by the pulsed laser deposition technique and made comparative studies with the pristine MoS2 and hBN films. The Raman, XPS and HRTEM confirm the concomitant presence of both the 1T (conducting) and 2H (semiconducting) polymorphs of MoS2 in the composite film. Interestingly, a peculiar reentrant semiconductor-metal-insulator transition is seen in the composite film which is absent in the MoS2 film, and it correlates well with the signatures of phonon softening seen in temperature-dependent Raman spectroscopy. Furthermore, electrostatic force microscopy reveals the presence of three distinct regions (metallic, semiconducting, and insulating) in the composite film with differing contact potentials and enhanced propensity for charge transfer with respect to pristine MoS2. A triboelectric nanogenerator device containing biphasic composite film as an electron acceptor exhibits more than twofold (sixfold) enhancement in peak-to-peak output voltage as compared to the pristine MoS2 (hBN) film. These observations bring out the potential of nanocomposite thin films for unfolding emergent phenomena and technological applications., Comment: 9 Figures, Published in Physical Review Materials

We have observed enhancement and shift in the spin reorientation transition temperature as a consequence of coexistence of orthorhombic and hexagonal phases and higher aspect ratio in nanoscale LuFeO3. Nanoparticles and nanofibers of LuFeO3 are considered for this work. Nanoparticles have 75 % orthorhombic phase and 25 % hexagonal phase, while nanofibers have 23% orthorhombic phase and 77%-hexagonal phase. Larger aspect ratio in case of nanofibers is seen to help strain-stabilize the hexagonal phase in the material. Magnetic measurements show significant difference in the magnetic behavior and spin reorientation temperature; 183K for the nanoparticle case and 150K for the case of nanofibers. Moreover, the ferromagnetic moment is two order of magnitude higher for nanofibers than that of nanoparticles, In hexagonal phase, frustration of triangular lattice, works against the long range ordering while magnetic anisotropy works in favor of the long range ordering, which contributes towards the enhanced and anomalous magnetic behavior in case of fibers. X -ray absorption near edge spectroscopy (XANES) at the Fe K-edge has been used to probe the symmetry driven dynamics of Fe 3d- 4p orbitals. It established that due to noncentrocymmetry of the Fe atom, the nanofibers have decreased 3d-4p orbital mixing and reduced crystal field splitting energy, which are also contributing factor for the enhanced magnetic behaviour.

We have grown Au/Ag modulated nanostructured thin films by pulsed laser deposition using metallic targets. The growths performed at room temperature involved deposition of alternate layers of the two metals with larger thickness of Au and much lower thickness of Ag (two cases) on crystalline silicon (100) and quartz substrates. However, the characterization revealed that nanostructured configuration is realized in the film. We characterized the films by x-ray diffraction (XRD), Field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM) with energy dispersive analysis of x-rays (EDAX), magnetization (M-T) and resistivity (Rho-T) measurements. The magnetization and resistivity measurements confirm that there is no signature of superconducting transition within the temperature range of 5K to 300K studied in these films., 7 pages, 4 figures

2D/2D interface heterostructures of g-C3N4 and NiAl-LDH are synthesized utilizing strong electrostatic interactions between positively charged 2D NiAl-LDH sheets and negatively charged 2D g-C3N4 nanosheets. This new 2D/2D interface heterojunction showed remarkable performance for photocatalytic CO2 reduction to produce renewable fuels such as CO and H2 under visible-light irradiation, far superior to that of either single phase g-C3N4 or NiAl-LDH nanosheets. The enhancement of photocatalytic activity could be attributed mainly to the excellent interfacial contact at the heterojunction of g-C3N4/NiAl-LDH, which subsequently results in suppressed recombination, and improved transfer and separation of photogenerated charge carriers. In addition, the optimal g-C3N4/NiAl-LDH nanocomposite possessed high photostability after successive experimental runs with no obvious change in the production of CO from CO2 reduction. Our findings regarding the design, fabrication and photophysical properties of 2D/2D heterostructure systems may find use in other photocatalytic applications including H2 production and water purification.

Boron carbonitride (BxCyNz) represents an interesting family of materials containing all light elements and two dimensional graphene like hybrid layers. Although rich literature exists on this peculiar material in chemically processed form, there are relatively fewer reports on device application-worthy thin film form. This form also offers a natural platform for basic studies on important aspects such as magnetism and transport, which have attracted attention in the context of ferromagnetism in doped and defect carbon systems. Thus, in this work we have grown thin films of this compound using Pulsed Laser Deposition (PLD) method, and investigated their magnetic and transport properties in their entirety along with the detailed electronic structure using various spectroscopic techniques like X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), Valence Band Spectroscopy (VBS) and X-ray absorption near edge spectroscopy (XANES). In depth analysis of the typical role of dopants and defects, especially the prevalent nitrogen defects, is elucidated using Density Functional Theory (DFT) calculations to understand the experimental observations. A dramatic crossover in the transport mechanism of charge carriers is observed in this system with the change in doping level of specific nitrogen defects. A robust and high saturation magnetization is achieved in BCN films which is higher by almost hundred times as compared to that in similarly grown undoped carbon film. An anomalous transition and increase in coercive field is also observed at low temperature. A careful analysis brings out the intriguing role of specific nitrogen defects in defining the peculiar nature and concentration dependence of the physical properties of this system.

A 2D/1D/2D dual-interface nano-composite configuration in the form of CdS nanorods sandwiched between g-C3N4 and rGO sheets with intimate interfacial contact is synthesized by a facile wet-chemical method and is shown to exhibit excellent photocatalytic H2 generation under visible-light irradiation. In particular, the optimal g-C3N4/CdS/rGO dual-interface nano-composite shows H2 production rate of ∼4800 μmol h-1 g-1, which is almost 44, 11 and 2.5 times higher than that shown by pure g-C3N4 nanosheets, and the g-C3N4/rGO and g-C3N4/CdS single interface heterostructures, respectively. It is shown that the synergic effects involving the band structure match and close interfacial contact, which can accelerate the separation and transfer of photoinduced charge carriers, and the enhanced visible-light absorption together contribute to the impressive photocatalytic performance and photostability of the g-C3N4/CdS/rGO ternary nano-composite system. Specific advantages of a dual-interface triple-composite system over a single interface case(s) are also brought out.

Three new D-A-π-A metal-free organic dyes based on phenothiazine as a donor (D) and non-conjugated π-spacer were designed and synthesized. The incorporation of different 'internal acceptors' (electron traps) such as benzothiadiazole (BTD), benzotriazole (BTA), and pyridine were shown to allow systematic tuning of the energy levels and the photophysical properties. The AI-1 dye showed lower electronic disorder compared with the other two dyes. The efficiencies achieved with AI-1, AI-2, and AI-3 dyes were 8.5 % (Jsc =15.42 mA cm-2 , Voc =0.78 V, FF=68 %), 7 % (Jsc =12.8 mA cm-2 , Voc =0.78 V, FF=68 %) and 6.7 % (Jsc =11.57 mA cm-2 , Voc =0.82 V, FF=68.26 %), respectively. The incorporation of non-conjugated phenothiazine as a π-spacer in D-A-π-A dyes showed remarkable enhancement in the photovoltaic performance of dye-sensitized solar cell (DSSC) devices. The sealed DSSC devices with iodide/tri-iodide (I- /I3 - )-based liquid electrolyte showed promising stability under ambient conditions.