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Hydrogen spillover mechanism of metal-supported covalent-organic frameworks COF-105 is investigated by means of the density functional theory, and the effects of metal catalysts M4 (Pt4, Pd4, and Ni4) on the whole spillover process are systematically analyzed. These three metal catalysts exhibit several similar phenomena: (i) they prefer to deposit on the tetra (4-dihydroxyborylphenyl) silane (TBPS) cluster with surface-contacted configuration; (ii) only the H atoms at the bridge site can migrate to 2,3,6,7,10,11-hexahydroxy triphenylene (HHTP) and TBPS surfaces, and the migration process is an endothermic reaction and not stable; (iii) the introduction of M4 catalyst can greatly reduce the diffusion energy barrier of H atoms, which makes it easier for the H atoms to diffuse on the substrate surface. Differently, all of the H2 molecules spontaneously dissociate into H atoms onto Pt4 and Pd4 clusters. However, the adsorbed H2 molecules on Ni4 cluster show two types of adsorption states: one activated state with stretched H–H bond length of 0.88 Å via the Kubas interaction and five dissociated states with separated hydrogen atoms. Among all the M4 catalysts, the orders of the binding energy of M4 deposited on the substrate and average chemisorption energy per H2 molecule are Pt4>Ni4>Pd4. On the contrary, the orders of the migration and diffusion barriers of H atoms are Pt4

Ce13−xFe81+xB6 (x  =  0, 0.5, 1, 1.5, and 2) amorphous magnets were prepared by melt-spinning method. These magnets are magnetically soft at low temperature, and undergo a second-order phase transition from ferromagnetic to paramagnetic state near room temperature with a broad temperature span. The phase-transition temperature is tunable by the variation of the Ce/Fe atomic ratio, which is mainly due to the change of the coordination number of Fe atoms in these ternary Ce–Fe–B amorphous magnets. Though the entropy change is low, the refrigeration capacities are in the ranges of 116–150 J kg−1 and 319–420 J kg−1, respectively, for the magnetic field changes of 0–2 T and 0–5 T, which is comparable with those of conventional magnetic materials for room-temperature refrigeration. Given the low cost of Fe and Ce, Ce–Fe–B amorphous magnets are attractive magnetic refrigerant candidates. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We demonstrate a fiber Fabry–Pérot cavity in the ultraviolet range, which covers the florescence wavelength for the 2P1/2 to 2S1/2 transition of Yb+ and is designed in the bad cavity limit for florescence collection. Benefiting from both the small cavity mode volume and the large atom dipole, a cavity with moderate finesse and high transmission still supports a good cooperativity, which is made and tested in experiment. Based on the measured experimental parameters, simulation performed on the cavity and ion shows a Purcell factor better than 2.5 and a single-mode fiber collection efficiency over 10%. This technology can support ultra-bright single photon sources based on trapped ions and can provide the possibility to link remote atoms as a quantum network. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The epitaxial-Si (epi-Si) growth on the crystalline Si (c-Si) wafer could be tailored by the working pressure in plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition (PECVD). It has been systematically confirmed that the epitaxial growth at the hydrogenated amorphous silicon (a-Si:H)/c-Si interface is suppressed at high pressure (hp) and occurs at low pressure (lp). The hp a-Si:H, as a purely amorphous layer, is incorporated in the lp-epi-Si/c-Si interface. We find that: (i) the epitaxial growth can also occur at a-Si:H coated c-Si wafer as long as this amorphous layer is thin enough; (ii) with the increase of the inserted hp layer thickness, lp epi-Si at the interface is suppressed, and the fraction of a-Si:H in the thin films increases and that of c-Si decreases, corresponding to the increasing minority carrier lifetime of the sample. Not only the epitaxial results, but also the quality of the thin films at hp also surpasses that at lp, leading to the longer minority carrier lifetime of the hp sample than the lp one although they have the same amorphous phase. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Strained-Si0.73Ge0.27 channels are successfully integrated with high-κ/metal gates in p-type metal-oxide- semiconductor field effect transistors (pMOSFETs) using the replacement post-gate process. A silicon cap and oxide inter layers are inserted between Si0.73Ge0.27 and high-κ dielectric to improve the interface. The fabricated Si0.73Ge0.27 pMOSFETs with gate length of 30 nm exhibit good performance with high drive current (∼428 μA/μm at VDD = 1 V) and suppressed short-channel effects (DIBL∼77 mV/V and SS∼90 mV/decade). It is found that the enhancement of effective hole mobility is up to 200% in long-gate-length Si0.73Ge0.27-channel pMOSFETs compared with the corresponding silicon transistors. The improvement of device performance is reduced due to strain relaxation as the gate length decreases, while 26% increase of the drive current is still obtained for 30-nm-gate-length Si0.73Ge0.27 devices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The test-QD in-situ annealing method could surmount the critical nucleation condition of InAs/GaAs single quantum dots (SQDs) to raise the growth repeatability. Here, through many growth tests on rotating substrates, we develop a proper In deposition amount (θ) for SQD growth, according to the measured critical θ for test QD nucleation (θc). The proper ratio θ/θc, with a large tolerance of the variation of the real substrate temperature (Tsub), is 0.964−0.971 at the edge and > 0.989 but < 0.996 in the center of a 1/4-piece semi-insulating wafer, and around 0.9709 but < 0.9714 in the center of a 1/4-piece N+ wafer as shown in the evolution of QD size and density as θ/θc varies. Bright SQDs with spectral lines at 905 nm–935 nm nucleate at the edge and correlate with individual 7 nm–8 nm-height QDs in atomic force microscopy, among dense 1 nm–5 nm-height small QDs with a strong spectral profile around 860 nm–880 nm. The higher Tsub in the center forms diluter, taller and uniform QDs, and very dilute SQDs for a proper θ/θc: only one 7-nm-height SQD in 25 μm2. On a 2-inch (1 inch = 2.54 cm) semi-insulating wafer, by using θ/θc = 0.961, SQDs nucleate in a circle in 22% of the whole area. More SQDs will form in the broad high-Tsub region in the center by using a proper θ/θc. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

High-k metal gate stacks are being used to suppress the gate leakage due to tunneling for sub-45 nm technology nodes. The reliability of thin dielectric films becomes a limitation to device manufacturing, especially to the breakdown characteristic. In this work, a breakdown simulator based on a percolation model and the kinetic Monte Carlo method is set up, and the intrinsic relation between time to breakdown and trap generation rate R is studied by TDDB simulation. It is found that all degradation factors, such as trap generation rate time exponent m, Weibull slope β and percolation factor s, each could be expressed as a function of trap density time exponent α. Based on the percolation relation and power law lifetime projection, a temperature related trap generation model is proposed. The validity of this model is confirmed by comparing with experiment results. For other device and material conditions, the percolation relation provides a new way to study the relationship between trap generation and lifetime projection. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The thickness effect of the TiN capping layer on the time dependent dielectric breakdown (TDDB) characteristic of ultra-thin EOT high-k metal gate NMOSFET is investigated in this paper. Based on experimental results, it is found that the device with a thicker TiN layer has a more promising reliability characteristic than that with a thinner TiN layer. From the charge pumping measurement and secondary ion mass spectroscopy (SIMS) analysis, it is indicated that the sample with the thicker TiN layer introduces more Cl passivation at the IL/Si interface and exhibits a lower interface trap density. In addition, the influences of interface and bulk trap density ratio Nit/Not are studied by TDDB simulations through combining percolation theory and the kinetic Monte Carlo (kMC) method. The lifetime reduction and Weibull slope lowering are explained by interface trap effects for TiN capping layers with different thicknesses. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Bismuth (Bi) has attracted a great deal of attention for its strongest spin–orbit coupling (SOC) strength among main group elements. Although quantum anomalous Hall (QAH) state is predicted in half-hydrogenated Bi honeycomb monolayers Bi2H, the experimental results are still missing. Halogen atoms (X = F, Cl and Br) were also frequently used as modifications, but Bi2X films show a frustrating metallic character that masks the QAH effects. Here, first-principle calculations are performed to predict the full-cyanided bismuthene (Bi2(CN)2) as 2D topological insulator supporting quantum spin Hall state with a record large gap up to 1.10 eV, and more importantly, half-cyanogen saturated bismuthene (Bi2(CN)) as a Chern insulator supporting a valley-polarized QAH state, with a Curie temperature to be 164 K, as well as a large gap reaching 0.348 eV which could be further tuned by bi-axial strain and SOC strength. Our findings provide an appropriate and flexible material family candidate for spintronic and valleytronic devices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Full quantum state tomography (FQST) plays a unique role in the estimation of the state of a quantum system without a priori knowledge or assumptions. Unfortunately, since FQST requires informationally (over)complete measurements, both the number of measurement bases and the computational complexity of data processing suffer an exponential growth with the size of the quantum system. A 14-qubit entangled state has already been experimentally prepared in an ion trap, and the data processing capability for FQST of a 14-qubit state seems to be far away from practical applications. In this paper, the computational capability of FQST is pushed forward to reconstruct a 14-qubit state with a run time of only 3.35 hours using the linear regression estimation (LRE) algorithm, even when informationally overcomplete Pauli measurements are employed. The computational complexity of the LRE algorithm is first reduced from ∼1019 to ∼1015 for a 14-qubit state, by dropping all the zero elements, and its computational efficiency is further sped up by fully exploiting the parallelism of the LRE algorithm with parallel Graphic Processing Unit (GPU) programming. Our result demonstrates the effectiveness of using parallel computation to speed up the postprocessing for FQST, and can play an important role in quantum information technologies with large quantum systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

High-density Cu2ZnSnS4 (CZTS) materials are prepared via the mechanical alloying and high pressure sintering method using Cu2S, ZnS and SnS2 as the raw materials. The morphological, structural, compositional and electrical properties of the materials are investigated by using x-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy, and energy dispersive x-ray spectroscopy, as well as by the Raman scattering and the Hall Effect measurements. The CZTS synthesized under 5 GPa and 800°C shows a p-type conductivity, with a resistivity of 9.69 × 10−2 Ω·cm and a carrier concentration of 1.45 × 1020 cm−3. It is contributed to by the large grains in the materials reducing the grain boundaries, thus effectively reducing the recombination of the charge carriers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Resource-saving (PrNdCe)2Fe14B sintered magnets with nominal composition (PrNd)15−xCexFe77B8 (x = 0−10) were prepared using a dual alloy method by mixing (PrNd)5Ce10Fe77B8 with (PrNd)15Fe77B8 powders. For Ce atomic percent of 1% and 2%, coercivity decreases dramatically. With further increase of Ce atomic percent, the coercivity increases, peaks at 6.38 kOe in (PrNd)11Ce4Fe77B8, and then declines gradually. The abnormal dependence of coercivity is likely related to the inhomogeneity of rare earth chemical composition in the intergranular phase, where PrNd concentration is strongly dependent on the additive amount of (PrNd)5Ce10Fe77B8 powders. In addition, for Ce atomic percent of 8%, 7%, and 6% the coercivity is higher than that of magnets prepared by the conventional method, which shows the advantage of the dual alloy method in preparing high abundant rare earth magnets. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The application of wavy structures in stretchable electrochemical energy storage devices is reviewed. First, the mechanical analysis of wavy structures, specific to flexible electronics, is introduced. Second, stretchable electrochemical energy storage devices with wavy structures are discussed. Finally, the present problems and challenges are reviewed, and possible directions for future research are outlined. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we first synthesized a novel disulfide-coupled bis-(cyclic carbonate) (TDCSS) monomer. After ring-opening co-polymerization (ROP) of TDCSS and trimethylene carbonate (TMC) initiated by mono-methoxyl poly(ethylene glycol), the crosslinked reduction-sensitive copolymer PEG-P(TMC-co-TDCSS) was obtained via a facile one-step procedure for efficient delivery of doxorubicin (DOX) into cancer cells. To serve as controls, PEG-P(TMC-co-TDCCC), which has an analogous structure without disulfide bond, and a linear polymer PEG-PTMC were also prepared. The copolymers could self-assemble to form nano-sized micelles in an aqueous solution. As compared to PEG-PTMC, crosslinked PEG-P(TMC-co-TDCSS) and PEG-P(TMC-co-TDCCC) showed lower CMC values and thus induced a much better micelle-forming ability. In vitro release studies revealed that the drug release behavior of DOX-loaded PEG-P(TMC-co-TDCSS) micelles, which could be accelerated in the presence of 10 mM dithiothreitol (DTT), showed a similar trend in the absence of DTT compared to DOX-loaded PEG-P(TMC-co-TDCCC) micelles. Furthermore, confocal laser scanning microscopy (CLSM) indicated that DOX-loaded PEG-P(TMC-co-TDCSS) micelles were efficiently internalized into HeLa cells, releasing DOX into the cytoplasm after which the drug finally entered the nuclei, while MTT assays also demonstrated potent cytotoxic activity against HeLa cells. DOX was mainly located in the cytoplasm for reduction-insensitive PEG-P(TMC-co-TDCCC) and PEG-PTMC controls. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Quantum spin Hall (QSH) effect is promising for achieving dissipationless transport devices which can be achieved only at extremely low temperature presently. The research for new large-gap QSH insulators is critical for their realistic applications at room temperature. Based on first-principles calculations, we propose a QSH insulator with a sizable bulk gap as large as ∼0.22 eV in stanene film functionalized with the organic molecule ethynyl (SnC2H), whose topological electronic properties are highly tunable by the external strain. This large-gap is mainly due to the result of the strong spin–orbit coupling related to the pxy orbitals at the Γ point of the honeycomb lattice, significantly different from that consisting of the pz orbital as in free-standing group IV ones. The topological characteristic of SnC2H film is confirmed by the Z2 topological order and an explicit demonstration of the topological helical Dirac type edge states. The SnC2H film on BN substrate is observed to support a nontrivial large-gap QSH, which harbors a Dirac cone lying within the band gap. Owing to their high structural stability, this two-dimensional large-gap QSH insulator is promising platforms for topological phenomena and new quantum devices operating at room temperature in spintronics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we propose an integratable spectral quantization scheme for all-optical analog-to-digital conversion (AOADC) by slicing the supercontinuum, which is generated in a chalcogenide (As2S3) horizontal slot waveguide. The numerical simulation results show that a 4-bit quantization resolution is successfully achieved along with a signal-to-noise ratio of 23.96 dB and an effective number of bit (ENOB) of 3.98 bit. The required As2S3 waveguide length and input peak power are only 1.5 cm and 900 mW, respectively, owing to the high nonlinear coefficient of 115.8 W−1/m. It is believed that this proposed scheme can find important applications in the photonic integratable AOADC with low power consumption. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We investigate the decoherence patterns of topological qubits in contact with the environment using a novel way of deriving the open system dynamics, rather than using the Feynman–Vernon approach. Each topological qubit is made up of two Majorana modes of a 1D Kitaev chain. These two Majorana modes interact with the environment in an incoherent way which yields peculiar decoherence patterns of the topological qubit. More specifically, we consider the open system dynamics of topological qubits which are weakly coupled to fermionic/bosonic Ohmic-like environments. We find atypical patterns of quantum decoherence. In contrast to the case for non-topological qubits—which always decohere completely in all Ohmic-like environments—topological qubits decohere completely in Ohmic and sub-Ohmic environments but not in super-Ohmic ones. Moreover, we find that the fermion parities of the topological qubits, though they cannot prevent the qubit states from exhibiting decoherence in sub-Ohmic environments, can prevent thermalization turning the state into a Gibbs state. We also study the cases in which each Majorana mode can couple to different Ohmic-like environments, and the time dependence of concurrence for two topological qubits. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we present a variety of well-observed dynamic behaviors for the flaring and peripheral magnetic loops of the M6.6 class extreme limb flare that occurred on 2011 February 24 (SOL2011-02-24T07:20) from EUV observations by the Atmospheric Imaging Assembly on the Solar Dynamics Observatory and X-ray observations by RHESSI. The flaring loop motion confirms the earlier contraction-expansion picture. We find that the U-shaped trajectory delineated by the X-ray corona source of the flare roughly follows the direction of a filament eruption associated with the flare. Different temperature structures of the coronal source during the contraction and expansion phases strongly suggest different kinds of magnetic reconnection processes. For some peripheral loops, we discover that their dynamics are closely correlated with the filament eruption. During the slow rising to abrupt, fast rising of the filament, overlying peripheral magnetic loops display different responses. Two magnetic loops on the elbow of the active region had a slow descending motion followed by an abrupt successive fast contraction, while magnetic loops on the top of the filament were pushed outward, slowly being inflated for a while and then erupting as a moving front. We show that the filament activation and eruption play a dominant role in determining the dynamics of the overlying peripheral coronal magnetic loops. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A critical issue for current liposomal carriers in clinical applications is their leakage of the encapsulated drugs that are cytotoxic to non-target tissues. We have developed partially polymerized liposomes composed of polydiacetylene lipids and saturated lipids. Cross-linking of the diacetylene lipids prevents the drug leakage even at 40 degC for days. These inactivated drug carriers are non-cytotoxic. Significantly, more than 70% of the encapsulated drug can be instantaneously released by a laser that matches the plasmon resonance of the tethered gold nanoparticles on the liposomes, and the therapeutic effect was observed in cancer cells. The remote activation feature of this novel drug delivery system allows for precise temporal and spatial control of drug release. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ab initio calculations demonstrated that the energy gap modulation of a chiral carbon nanotube with mono-vacancy defect can be achieved by applying a transverse electric field. The bandstructure of this defective carbon nanotube varying due to the external electric field is distinctly different from those of the perfect nanotube and defective zigzag nanotube. This variation in bandstructure strongly depends on not only the chirality of the nanotube and also the applied direction of the transverse electric field. A mechanism is proposed to explain the response of the local energy gap between the valence band maximum state and the local gap state under external electric field. Several potential applications of these phenomena are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of this study was to develop nanoparticles made of cholesterol-conjugated carboxymethyl curdlan (CCMC) entrapping epirubicin (EPB) and establish their in vitro and in vivo potential. CCMC was synthesized and characterized by Fourier transform infrared spectra (FT-IR) and proton nuclear magnetic resonance spectra (1H NMR). The degrees of substitution (DS) of the cholesterol moiety were 2.3, 3.5 and 6.4, respectively. EPB-loaded CCMC-3.5 nanoparticles were prepared by the remote loading method. The physicochemical characteristics, drug loading efficiency and drug release kinetics of EPB-loaded CCMC-3.5 nanoparticles were characterized. The in vitro release profiles revealed that EPB release was sensitive to the pH as well as the drug loading contents. The cellular cytotoxicity and cellular uptake were accessed by using human cervical carcinoma (HeLa) cells. The EPB-loaded CCMC-3.5 nanoparticles were found to be more cytotoxic and have a broader distribution within the cells than the free EPB. The in vivo pharmacokinetics and biodistribution were investigated after intravenous injection in rats. Promisingly, a 4.0-fold increase in the mean residence time (MRT), a 4.31-fold increase in the half-life time and a 6.69-fold increase in the area under the curve (\mathrm {AUC}_{0 \to \infty }) of EPB were achieved for the EPB-loaded CCMC-3.5 self-assembled nanoparticles compared with the free EPB. The drug level was significantly increased in liver at 24 and 72 h; however, it decreased in heart at 8 and 24 h compared with the free EPB. The in vivo anti-tumor study indicated that the EPB-loaded CCMC-3.5 self-assembled nanoparticles showed greater anti-tumor efficacy than the free EPB. Taken together, the novel CCMC self-assembled nanoparticles might have potential application as anti-cancer drug carriers in a drug delivery system due to good results in vitro and in vivo. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Nanostructured amorphous and anatase TiO2 are both considered as high rate Li-insertion/extraction electrode materials. To clarify which phase is more desirable for lithium ion batteries with both high power and high density, we compare the electrochemical properties of anatase and amorphous TiO2 by using anodic TiO2 nanotube arrays (ATNTAs) as electrodes. With the same morphological features, the rate capacity of nanostructured amorphous TiO2 is higher than that of nanostructured anatase TiO2 due to the higher Li-diffusion coefficient of amorphous TiO2 as proved by the electrochemical impedance spectra of an amorphous and an anatase ATNTA electrode. The electrochemical impedance spectra also prove that the electronic conductivity of amorphous TiO2 is lower than that of anatase TiO2. These results are helpful in the structural and componential design of all TiO2 mesoporous structures as anode material in lithium ion batteries. Moreover, all the advantages of the amorphous ATNTA electrode including high rate capacity, desirable cycling performance and the simplicity of its fabrication process indicate that amorphous ATNTA is potentially useful as the anode for lithium ion batteries with both high power and high energy density. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Absorption spectra (0.2-1.8 THz) of the mixtures of explosive 2,4-DNT and polyethylene(PE) at different ratios are obtained using reflection terahertz time domain spectroscopy (THz-TDS). The pronounced absorption peak of 2,4-DNT at 1.08 THz is always observed for the mixtures with 2,4-DNT ratios above 20%. Experimental results demonstrate that more applicable and realistic THz-TDS in reflection geometry can be used to distinguish explosive mixed with other material having no THz fingerprints, and has a high potential in the detection of explosives. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The controllable growth of highly aligned and ordered semiconductor nanowire arrays is crucial for their potential applications in nanodevices. In the present study, both the growth orientation and the microstructure of hexagonal CdS nanowire arrays electrodeposited in a porous alumina template with 40 nm diameter pores have been controlled by simply tuning the deposition current density. An extremely low current density of 0.05 mA cm[?]2 is favorable for the growth of single-crystal CdS nanowires along the normal direction of the intrinsic low-surface-energy (103) face. This can be understood well by a modified critical dimension model given in the present work. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Square-shaped single-crystalline SnO2 nanowires and their sphere-like hierarchical structures were synthesized successfully with a template-free hydrothermal approach. It was found that an intermediate phase--Na2Sn(OH)6--is first produced because it is slow to dissolve in ethanol/water media. The intermediate phase gradually decomposes and converts into SnO2 at temperatures higher than 200 °C. The reaction temperature also affects the microstructure of SnO2 nanomaterials. Uniform square-shaped SnO2 nanowires, which form sphere-like hierarchical structures in 100% structure yield, can be produced at 285 °C on a large scale. The diameter of the nanowires shows a decrease accompanying the increase of the reaction temperature. The temperature effect could be a result of the faster and oriented growth of SnO2 nanowires along their \langle 001\rangle direction at higher temperature. Chemical sensors constructed with square-shaped SnO2 nanowires exhibit excellent stability, good sensitivity and selectivity, as well as a quick response and short recovery times under exposure to acetone gas in practical applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Polarization switching (PS) dynamics and synchronization performances of two mutually coupled vertical-cavity surface-emitting lasers (VCSELs) are studied theoretically in this paper. A group of dimensionless rate equations is derived to describe our model. While analysing the PS characteristics, we focus on the effects of coupling rate and frequency detuning regarding different mutual injection types. The results indicate that the x-mode injection defers the occurrence of PS, while the y-mode injection leads the PS to occur at a lower current. Strong enough polarization-selective injection can suppress the PS. Moreover, if frequency detuning is considered, the effects of polarization-selective mutual injection will be weakened. To evaluate the synchronization performance, the correlation coefficients and output dynamics of VCSELs with both pure mode and mixed mode polarizations are given. It is found that performance of complete synchronization is sensitive to the frequency mismatch but it is little affected by mixed mode polarizations, which is opposite to the case of injection-locking synchronization. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]