Continuous-wave electrically pumped multi-quantum-well laser based on group-IV semiconductors.

Over the last 30 years, group-IV semiconductors have been intensely investigated in the quest for a fundamental direct bandgap semiconductor that could yield the last missing piece of the Si Photonics toolbox: a continuous-wave Si-based laser. Along this path, it has been demonstrated that the electronic band structure of the GeSn/SiGeSn heterostructures can be tuned into a direct bandgap quantum structure providing optical gain for lasing. In this paper, we present a versatile electrically pumped, continuous-wave laser emitting at a near-infrared wavelength of 2.

Nanoheteroepitaxy of Ge and SiGe on Si: role of composition and capping on quantum dot photoluminescence.

We investigate the nanoheteroepitaxy (NHE) of SiGe and Ge quantum dots (QDs) grown on nanotips (NTs) substrates realized in Si(001) wafers. Due to the lattice strain compliance, enabled by the nanometric size of the tip and the limited dot/substrate interface area, which helps to reduce dot/substrate interdiffusion, the strain and SiGe composition in the QDs could be decoupled. This demonstrates a key advantage of the NHE over the Stranski-Krastanow growth mechanism.

Full Picture of Lattice Deformation in a GeSn Micro-Disk by 5D X-ray Diffraction Microscopy.

Lattice strain in crystals can be exploited to effectively tune their physical properties. In microscopic structures, experimental access to the full strain tensor with spatial resolution at the (sub-)micrometer scale is at the same time very interesting and challenging. In this work, how scanning X-ray diffraction microscopy, an emerging model-free method based on synchrotron radiation, can shed light on the complex, anisotropic deformation landscape within three dimensional (3D) microstructures is shown.

Strain in Hybrid Organic-Inorganic Metal Halide Perovskites Microstructures by Numerical Simulations.

Hybrid organic-inorganic metal halide perovskites (HOIPs) are promising materials for optoelectronics applications. Their optical and electrical properties can be controlled by strain engineering, that results from application of local elastic deformation or deposition on pre-patterned substrates acquiring a conformal 3D shape. Most interesting, their mechanical properties depend on their crystal structure, composition and dimensionality.

Room Temperature Lattice Thermal Conductivity of GeSn Alloys.

CMOS-compatible materials for efficient energy harvesters at temperatures characteristic for on-chip operation and body temperature are the key ingredients for sustainable green computing and ultralow power Internet of Things applications. In this context, the lattice thermal conductivity (κ) of new group IV semiconductors, namely GeSn alloys, are investigated. Layers featuring Sn contents up to 14 at.

Selective Growth of GaP Crystals on CMOS-Compatible Si Nanotip Wafers by Gas Source Molecular Beam Epitaxy.

Gallium phosphide (GaP) is a III-V semiconductor with remarkable optoelectronic properties, and it has almost the same lattice constant as silicon (Si). However, to date, the monolithic and large-scale integration of GaP devices with silicon remains challenging. In this study, we present a nanoheteroepitaxy approach using gas-source molecular-beam epitaxy for selective growth of GaP islands on Si nanotips, which were fabricated using complementary metal-oxide semiconductor (CMOS) technology on a 200 mm n-type Si(001) wafer.

Strongly enhanced sensitivities of CMOS compatible plasmonic titanium nitride nanohole arrays for refractive index sensing under oblique incidence.

Titanium nitride (TiN) is a complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor (CMOS) compatible material with large potential for the fabrication of plasmonic structures suited for device integration. However, the comparatively large optical losses can be detrimental for application. This work reports a CMOS compatible TiN nanohole array (NHA) on top of a multilayer stack for potential use in integrated refractive index sensing with high sensitivities at wavelengths between 800 and 1500 nm.

Mixed Organic Cations Promote Ambient Light-Induced Formation of Metallic Lead in Lead Halide Perovskite Crystals.

One major concern toward the performance and stability of halide perovskite-based optoelectronic devices is the formation of metallic lead that promotes nonradiative recombination of charge carriers. The origin of metallic lead formation is being disputed whether it occurs during the perovskite synthesis or only after light, electron, or X-ray beam irradiation or thermal annealing. Here, we show that the quantity of metallic lead detected in perovskite crystals depends on the concentration and composition of the precursor solution.

Identification of a coherent twin relationship from high-resolution reciprocal-space maps.

Twinning is a common crystallographic phenomenon which is related to the formation and coexistence of several orientation variants of the same crystal structure. It may occur during symmetry-lowering phase transitions or during the crystal growth itself. Once formed, twin domains play an important role in defining physical properties: for example, they underpin the giant piezoelectric effect in ferroelectrics, superelasticity in ferroelastics and the shape-memory effect in martensitic alloys.

Tailoring Photoluminescence by Strain-Engineering in Layered Perovskite Flakes.

Strain is an effective strategy to modulate the optoelectronic properties of 2D materials, but it has been almost unexplored in layered hybrid organic-inorganic metal halide perovskites (HOIPs) due to their complex band structure and mechanical properties. Here, we investigate the temperature-dependent microphotoluminescence (PL) of 2D (CHCHCHNH)CsPbBr HOIP subject to biaxial strain induced by a SiO ring platform on which flakes are placed by viscoelastic stamping. At 80 K, we found that a strain of <1% can change the PL emission from a single peak (unstrained) to three well-resolved peaks.

Induced giant piezoelectricity in centrosymmetric oxides.

Piezoelectrics are materials that linearly deform in response to an applied electric field. As a fundamental prerequisite, piezoelectric materials must have a noncentrosymmetric crystal structure. For more than a century, this has remained a major obstacle for finding piezoelectric materials.

Vibrational Properties in Highly Strained Hexagonal Boron Nitride Bubbles.

Hexagonal boron nitride (hBN) is widely used as a protective layer for few-atom-thick crystals and heterostructures (HSs), and it hosts quantum emitters working up to room temperature. In both instances, strain is expected to play an important role, either as an unavoidable presence in the HS fabrication or as a tool to tune the quantum emitter electronic properties. Addressing the role of strain and exploiting its tuning potentiality require the development of efficient methods to control it and of reliable tools to quantify it.

Mixed Dimethylammonium/Methylammonium Lead Halide Perovskite Crystals for Improved Structural Stability and Enhanced Photodetection.

The solvent acidolysis crystallization technique is utilized to grow mixed dimethylammonium/methylammonium lead tribromide (DMA/MAPbBr ) crystals reaching the highest dimethylammonium incorporation of 44% while maintaining the 3D cubic perovskite phase. These mixed perovskite crystals show suppression of the orthorhombic phase and a lower tetragonal-to-cubic phase-transition temperature compared to MAPbBr . A distinct behavior is observed in the temperature-dependent photoluminescence properties of MAPbBr and mixed DMA/MAPbBr crystals due to the different organic cation dynamics governing the phase transition(s).

Metastable CdTe@HgTe Core@Shell Nanostructures Obtained by Partial Cation Exchange Evolve into Sintered CdTe Films Upon Annealing.

Partial Hg → Cd cation exchange (CE) reactions were exploited to transform colloidal CdTe nanocrystals (NCs, 4-6 nm in size) into CdTe@HgTe core@shell nanostructures. This was achieved by working under a slow CE rate, which limited the exchange to the surface of the CdTe NCs. In such nanostructures, when annealed at mild temperatures (as low as 200 °C), the HgTe shell sublimated or melted and the NCs sintered together, with the concomitant desorption of their surface ligands.

n-type Ge/Si antennas for THz sensing.

Ge-on-Si plasmonics holds the promise for compact and low-cost solutions in the manipulation of THz radiation. We discuss here the plasmonic properties of doped Ge bow-tie antennas made with a low-point cost CMOS mainstream technology. These antennas display resonances between 500 and 700 GHz, probed by THz time domain spectroscopy.

Mechanical switching of orientation-related photoluminescence in deep-blue 2D layered perovskite ensembles.

The synergy between the organic component of two-dimensional (2D) metal halide layered perovskites and flexible polymers offers an unexplored window to tune their optical properties at low mechanical stress. Thus, there is a significant interest in exploiting their PL anisotropy by controlling their orientation and elucidating their interactions. Here, we apply this principle to platelet structures of micrometre lateral size that are synthesized in situ into free-standing polymer films.

Phase Transitions in Low-Dimensional Layered Double Perovskites: The Role of the Organic Moieties.

Halide double perovskites are an interesting alternative to Pb-containing counterparts as active materials in optoelectronic devices. Low-dimensional double perovskites are fabricated by introducing large organic cations, resulting in organic/inorganic architectures with one or more inorganic octahedra layers separated by organic cations. Here, we synthesized layered double perovskites based on 3D CsAgBiBr, consisting of double (2L) or single (1L) inorganic octahedra layers, using ammonium cations of different sizes and chemical structures.

Author Correction: Graphene Plasmonic Fractal Metamaterials for Broadband Photodetectors.

An amendment to this paper has been published and can be accessed via a link at the top of the paper.

Nanocrystals of Lead Chalcohalides: A Series of Kinetically Trapped Metastable Nanostructures.

We report the colloidal synthesis of a series of surfactant-stabilized lead chalcohalide nanocrystals. Our work is mainly focused on PbSBr, a chalcohalide phase unknown to date that does not belong to the ambient-pressure PbS-PbBr phase diagram. The PbSBr nanocrystals herein feature a remarkably narrow size distribution (with a size dispersion as low as 5%), a good size tunability (from 7 to ∼30 nm), an indirect bandgap, photoconductivity (responsivity = 4 ± 1 mA/W), and stability for months in air.

Graphene Plasmonic Fractal Metamaterials for Broadband Photodetectors.

Metamaterials have recently established a new paradigm for enhanced light absorption in state-of-the-art photodetectors. Here, we demonstrate broadband, highly efficient, polarization-insensitive, and gate-tunable photodetection at room temperature in a novel metadevice based on gold/graphene Sierpinski carpet plasmonic fractals. We observed an unprecedented internal quantum efficiency up to 100% from the near-infrared to the visible range with an upper bound of optical detectivity of 10 Jones and a gain up to 10, which is a fingerprint of multiple hot carriers photogenerated in graphene.

Nano- and microscale apertures in metal films fabricated by colloidal lithography with perovskite nanocrystals.

We demonstrate patterning of metal surfaces based on lift-off of perovskite nanocrystals that enables the fabrication of nanometer-size features without the use of resist-based nanolithography. The perovskite nanocrystals act as templates for defining the shape of the apertures in metal layers, and we exploit the variety of sizes and shapes that can be controlled in the colloidal synthesis to demonstrate the fabrication of nanoholes, nanogaps and guides with size smaller than the wavelength of light in the visible spectrum. The process can be readily integrated with standard lithography and etching techniques for the creation of more complex structures.

Temperature-Driven Transformation of CsPbBr Nanoplatelets into Mosaic Nanotiles in Solution through Self-Assembly.

Two-dimensional colloidal halide perovskite nanocrystals are promising materials for light-emitting applications. Recent studies have focused on nanoplatelets that are able to self-assemble and transform on solid substrates. However, the mechanism behind the process and the atomic arrangement of their assemblies remain unclear.

Extending the Colloidal Transition Metal Dichalcogenide Library to ReS Nanosheets for Application in Gas Sensing and Electrocatalysis.

Among the large family of transition metal dichalcogenides, recently ReS has stood out due to its nearly layer-independent optoelectronic and physicochemical properties related to its 1T distorted octahedral structure. This structure leads to strong in-plane anisotropy, and the presence of active sites at its surface makes ReS interesting for gas sensing and catalysts applications. However, current fabrication methods use chemical or physical vapor deposition (CVD or PVD) processes that are costly, time-consuming and complex, therefore limiting its large-scale production and exploitation.

CsPbX/SiO (X = Cl, Br, I) monoliths prepared via a novel sol-gel route starting from CsPbX nanocrystals.

We developed a facile synthesis of nanocomposite powders of CsPbX nanocrystals (NCs) embedded in silica. The synthesis starts from colloidal CsPbX NCs that are mixed with tetraethyl orthosilicate in the presence of nitric acid, which triggers the sol-gel reaction yielding the formation of SiO and the conversion of starting NCs into CsPbX ones. The overall reaction delivers CsPbX NCs encased in a silica matrix.