Highly Transparent Gatable Superconducting Shadow Junctions.

Gate-tunable junctions are key elements in quantum devices based on hybrid semiconductor-superconductor materials. They serve multiple purposes ranging from tunnel spectroscopy probes to voltage-controlled qubit operations in gatemon and topological qubits. Common to all is that junction transparency plays a critical role.

Folding 2D Structures into 3D Configurations at the Micro/Nanoscale: Principles, Techniques, and Applications.

Compared to their 2D counterparts, 3D micro/nanostructures show larger degrees of freedom and richer functionalities; thus, they have attracted increasing attention in the past decades. Moreover, extensive applications of 3D micro/nanostructures are demonstrated in the fields of mechanics, biomedicine, optics, etc., with great advantages.

High-Quality-Factor Mid-Infrared Toroidal Excitation in Folded 3D Metamaterials.

With unusual electromagnetic radiation properties and great application potentials, optical toroidal moments have received increasing interest in recent years. 3D metamaterials composed of split ring resonators with specific orientations in micro-/nanoscale are a perfect choice for toroidal moment realization in optical frequency considering the excellent magnetic confinement and quality factor, which, unfortunately, are currently beyond the reach of existing micro-/nanofabrication techniques. Here, a 3D toroidal metamaterial operating in mid-infrared region constructed by metal patterns and dielectric frameworks is designed, by which high-quality-factor toroidal resonance is observed experimentally.

Mass Production of Nanogap Electrodes toward Robust Resistive Random Access Memory.

Nanogap electrodes arrays are fabricated by combining atomic layer deposition, adhesive tape, and chemical etching. A unipolar nonvolatile resistive-switching behavior is identified in the nanogap electrodes, showing stable, robust performance and the multibit storage ability, demonstrating great potential in ultrahigh-density storage. The formation and dissolution of Si conductive filaments and migration of Au atoms is the mechanism behind the resistive switching.

Spatially oriented plasmonic 'nanograter' structures.

One of the key motivations in producing 3D structures has always been the realization of metamaterials with effective constituent properties that can be tuned in all propagation directions at various frequencies. Here, we report the investigation of spatially oriented "Nanograter" structures with orientation-dependent responses over a wide spectrum by focused-ion-beam based patterning and folding of thin film nanostructures. Au nano units of different shapes, standing along specifically designated orientations, were fabricated.

A General Method for Growing Two-Dimensional Crystals of Organic Semiconductors by "Solution Epitaxy".

Two-dimensional (2D) crystals of organic semiconductors (2DCOS) have attracted attention for large-area and low-cost flexible optoelectronics. However, growing large 2DCOS in controllable ways and transferring them onto technologically important substrates, remain key challenges. Herein we report a facile, general, and effective method to grow 2DCOS up to centimeter size which can be transferred to any substrate efficiently.

Nanogap Electrodes towards Solid State Single-Molecule Transistors.

With the establishment of complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor (CMOS)-based integrated circuit technology, it has become more difficult to follow Moore's law to further downscale the size of electronic components. Devices based on various nanostructures were constructed to continue the trend in the minimization of electronics, and molecular devices are among the most promising candidates. Compared with other candidates, molecular devices show unique superiorities, and intensive studies on molecular devices have been carried out both experimentally and theoretically at the present time.

Sub-Nanometer Controllable Fabrication of Freestanding Hetero-Structures Through Plasma-Matter Interaction During Ion Irradiation.

Freestanding three-dimensional nanostructures have attracted intense attention for their potential application in novel electronic, optical, magnetic, biological and mechanical devices. However, controlled fabrication of highly-ordered, well-shaped and freestanding core-shell hetero-structures in large scale cost-effectively is still a challenge. Here we present the constructing of freestanding hetero-structures by taking advantages of lateral re-deposition, a phenomenon that occurred during plasma-matter interaction and usually to be minimized/avoided in conventional device fabrication.

Single grain boundary break junction for suspended nanogap electrodes with gapwidth down to 1-2 nm by focused ion beam milling.

Single grain boundary junctions are used for the fabrication of suspended nanogap electrodes with a gapwidth down to 1-2 nm through the break of such junctions by focused ion beam (FIB) milling. With advantages of stability and no debris, such nanogap electrodes are suitable for single molecular electronic device construction.

Metal-organic frameworks reactivate deceased diatoms to be efficient CO(2) absorbents.

Diatomite combined with certain metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) is shown to be an effective CO2 absorbent, although diatomite alone is regarded as inert with respect to CO2 absorption. This finding opens the prospect of reactivating millions of tons of diatomite for CO2 absorption. It also shows for the first time that diatom frustules can act as CO2 buffers, an important link in a successive biological CO2 concentration mechanism chain that impacts on global warming.

Thermally induced shape modification of free-standing nanostructures for advanced functionalities.

Shape manipulation of nanowires is highly desirable in the construction of nanostructures, in producing free-standing interconnect bridges and as a building block of more complex functional structures. By introducing asymmetry in growth parameters, which may result in compositional or microstructural non-uniformity in the nanowires, thermal annealing can be used to induce shape modification of free-standing nanowires. We demonstrate that such manipulation is readily achieved using vertically grown Pt-Ga-C composite nanowires fabricated by focused-ion-beam induced chemical vapor deposition.

Fabrication of sub-20 nm width ferromagnetic nanocontact structures by shadow evaporation.

The movement of the magnetic domain wall could result in the changing of the contact resistance. Such a resistance change is named as the domain wall Magnetoresistance (DWMR), which can be used as a basic signal of nanodevices. For application, a large DWMR is necessary to improve the device performance.

A training effect on electrical properties in nanoscale BiFeO3.

We report our observation of the training effect on dc electrical properties in a nanochain of BiFeO3 as a result of large scale migration of defects under the combined influence of electric field and Joule heating. We show that an optimum number of cycles of electric field within the range zero to ~1.0 MV cm(-1) across a temperature range 80-300 K helps in reaching the stable state via a glass-transition-like process in the defect structure.

Felling of individual freestanding nanoobjects using focused-ion-beam milling for investigations of structural and transport properties.

We report that, to enable studies of their compositional, structural and electrical properties, freestanding individual nanoobjects can be selectively felled in a controllable way by the technique of low-current focused-ion-beam (FIB) milling with the ion beam at a chosen angle of incidence to the nanoobject. To demonstrate the suitability of the technique, we report results for zigzag/straight tungsten nanowires grown vertically on support substrates and then felled for characterization. We also describe a systematic investigation of the effect of the experimental geometry and parameters on the felling process and on the induced wire-bending phenomenon.

Transport comparison of multiwall carbon nanotubes by contacting outer shell and all shells.

Carbon nanotubes, particularly multiwall carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) can serve as interconnects in nanoelectronic devices and integrated circuits because of their extremely large current-carrying capacity. Many experimental results about the transport properties of individual MWCNTs by contacting outer shell or all shells have been reported. In this work, a compatible method with integrated circuit manufacturing process was presented to compare the transport property of an individual multiwall carbon nanotube (MWCNT) by contacting outer shell only and all shells successively.