Giant anisotropic piezoresponse of layered ZrSe.

We investigated the effect of uniaxial strain on the electrical properties of few-layer ZrSe devices under compressive and tensile strains applied up to ±0.62% along different crystal directions. We observed that the piezoresponse, the change in resistance upon application of strain, of ZrSe strongly depends on both the direction in which electrical transport occurs and the direction in which uniaxial strain is applied.

Large Biaxial Compressive Strain Tuning of Neutral and Charged Excitons in Single-Layer Transition Metal Dichalcogenides.

The absorption and emission of light in single-layer transition metal dichalcogenides are governed by the formation of excitonic quasiparticles. Strain provides a powerful technique to tune the optoelectronic properties of two-dimensional materials and thus to adjust their exciton energies. The effects of large compressive strain in the optical spectrum of two-dimensional (2D) semiconductors remain rather unexplored compared to those of tensile strain, mainly due to experimental constraints.

Making copper, silver and gold fullerene cages breathe.

We show that optical properties change when the fullerene structures of Au, Cuand Aginflate and deflate. We first observe significant differences in the extinction spectra employing a classical approach based on the Green's dyadic method. By means of real-time time-dependent density functional theory.

Exploring AuRh Nanoalloys: A Computational Perspective on the Formation and Physical Properties.

We studied the formation of AuRh nanoalloys (between 20-150 atoms) in the gas phase by means of Molecular Dynamics (MD) calculations, exploring three possible formation processes: one-by-one growth, coalescence, and nanodroplets annealing. As a general trend, we recover a predominance of Rh@Au core-shell ordering over other chemical configurations. We identify new structural motifs with enhanced thermal stabilities.

Strongly Anisotropic Strain-Tunability of Excitons in Exfoliated ZrSe.

The effect of uniaxial strain on the band structure of ZrSe , a semiconducting material with a marked in-plane structural anisotropy, is studied. By using a modified three-point bending test apparatus, thin ZrSe flakes are subjected to uniaxial strain along different crystalline orientations monitoring the effect of strain on their optical properties through micro-reflectance spectroscopy. The obtained spectra show excitonic features that blueshift upon uniaxial tension.