Remarkably enhanced photovoltaic effects and first-principles calculations in neodymium doped BiFeO.

Remarkably enhanced photovoltaic effects have been observed in the heterostructures of p-type A-site Nd-doped BiFeO (BiNd)FeO (or BFONd) polycrystalline ceramics and the n-type ITO thin film. The maximum power conversion is ~0.82%, which is larger than 0.

Unusual ferromagnetism in CoSi nanowires from internal and interfacial defects.

The diamagnetic semimetal CoSi presents unanticipated ferromagnetism as CoSi/SiO2 nanowires (NWs). Using first-principles calculations, we offer physical insights into the origins of this unusual magnetism. Due to the distorted and dangling bonds near the NW surface with different bond lengths, the transition metal (Co) d-orbital electron spin up and spin down populations become asymmetric from the exchange interactions, providing the mechanism for some of the measured magnetization.