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Using both synchrotron-based photoemission electron microscopy/spectroscopy and scanning tunneling microscopy/spectroscopy, we obtain a complete picture of the surface composition, morphology, and electronic structure of InP nanowires. Characterization is done at all relevant length scales from micrometer to nanometer. We investigate nanowire surfaces with native oxide and molecular adsorbates resulting from exposure to ambient air. Atomic hydrogen exposure at elevated temperatures which leads to the removal of surface oxides while leaving the crystalline part of the wire intact was also studied. We show how surface chemical composition will seriously influence nanowire electronic properties. However, opposite to, for example, Ge nanowires, water or sulfur molecules adsorbed on the exterior oxidized surfaces are of less relevance. Instead, it is the final few atomic layers of the oxide which plays the most significant role by strongly negatively doping the surface. The InP nanowires in air are rather insensitive to their chemical surroundings in contrast to what is often assumed for nanowires. Our measurements allow us to draw a complete energy diagram depicting both band gap and differences in electron affinity across an axial nanowire p-n junction. Our findings thus give a robust set of quantitative values relating surface chemical composition to specific electronic properties highly relevant for simulating the performance of nanoscale devices.

Folding two-dimensional graphene around one-dimensional III–V nanowires yields a new class of hybrid nanomaterials combining their excellent complementary properties. However, important for high-quality electrical and optical performance, needed in many applications, are well-controlled oxide-free interfaces and a tight folding morphology. To improve the interface chemistry between the graphene and InAs, we annealed the samples in atomic hydrogen. Using surface-sensitive imaging, we found that the III–V native oxides in the interface can be reduced at temperatures that maintain the graphene and the III–V nanostructures. Transferring both single- and multilayer graphene flakes onto InAs NWs, we found that single layers fold tightly around the NWs, while the multilayers fold weakly with a decline of only a few degrees. Annealing in atomic hydrogen further tightens the folding. Together, this indicates that high-quality morphological and chemical control of this hybrid material system is possible, opening for future devices for quantum technologies and optoelectronics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract The interplay among spin, lattice, charge and orbit is of central importance for several rich and fascinating properties of oxides, and is the subject of intense research at present. Here, we present an approach to manipulate this interplay by Sn doping to effectively apply uniaxial strain on the TiO 2 lattice. The evolution of this interplay in pseudo-homoepitaxial Ti 1- x Sn x O 2 films is measured using a combination of X-ray absorption near edge spectroscopy at the O K and Ti L 3,2 -edges. Supported by various theoretical calculations, we find that the multiplet-type electronic correlations, long-range bonding and hybridization in the system can be controlled by independently modifying uniaxial strain, thereby allowing us to establish the correlations among these effects, doping concentration, and strain. This significantly widens the phase space for experimental exploration of predictive models and leads to new possibilities for manipulation over materials' functional properties. The methodology presented here can be applied in general to study the nature of the multiplet-type electronic correlations and bonding properties in octahedral-coordinated 3 d N transition metal oxides. Graphical abstract Image 1 [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]