Role of alkali metal promoter in enhancing lateral growth of monolayer transition metal dichalcogenides.

Synthesis of monolayer transition metal dichalcogenides (TMDs) via chemical vapor deposition relies on several factors such as precursor, promoter, substrate, and surface treatment of substrate. Among them, the use of promoter is crucial for obtaining uniform and large-area monolayer TMDs. Although promoters have been speculated to enhance adhesion of precursors to the substrate, their precise role in the growth mechanism has rarely been discussed.

Superconductivity in room-temperature stable electride and high-pressure phases of alkali metals.

S-band metals such as alkali and alkaline earth metals do not undergo a superconducting transition (SCT) at ambient pressure, but their high-pressure phases do. By contrast, room-temperature stable electride [Ca(24)Al(28)O(64)](4+)⋅4e(-) (C12A7:e(-)) in which anionic electrons in the crystallographic sub-nanometer-size cages have high s-character exhibits SCT at 0.2-0.

Hierarchical dielectric orders in layered ferroelectrics Bi2SiO5.

Electric dipole engineering is now an emerging technology for high electron-mobility transistors, ferroelectric random access memory and multiferroic devices etc. Although various studies to provide insight into dipole moment behaviour, such as phase transition, order and disorder states, have been reported, macroscopic spontaneous polarization has been mainly discussed so far. Here, visualization of the electric dipole arrangement in layered ferroelectrics Bi2SiO5 by means of combined analysis of maximum entropy charge density and electrostatic potential distribution analysis based on synchrotron radiation X-ray powder diffraction data is reported.

Ammonia synthesis using a stable electride as an electron donor and reversible hydrogen store.

Industrially, the artificial fixation of atmospheric nitrogen to ammonia is carried out using the Haber-Bosch process, but this process requires high temperatures and pressures, and consumes more than 1% of the world's power production. Therefore the search is on for a more environmentally benign process that occurs under milder conditions. Here, we report that a Ru-loaded electride [Ca(24)Al(28)O(64)](4+)(e(-))(4) (Ru/C12A7:e(-)), which has high electron-donating power and chemical stability, works as an efficient catalyst for ammonia synthesis.

Field-induced water electrolysis switches an oxide semiconductor from an insulator to a metal.

Water is composed of two strong electrochemically active agents, H(+) and OH(-) ions, but has not been used as an active electronic material in oxide semiconductors. In this study, we demonstrate that water-infiltrated nanoporous glass electrically switches an oxide semiconductor from insulator to metal. We fabricated a field-effect transistor structure on an oxide semiconductor, SrTiO(3), using water-infiltrated nanoporous glass-amorphous 12CaO·7Al(2)O(3)-as the gate insulator.

Giant thermoelectric Seebeck coefficient of a two-dimensional electron gas in SrTiO3.

Enhancement of the Seebeck coefficient (S ) without reducing the electrical conductivity (sigma) is essential to realize practical thermoelectric materials exhibiting a dimensionless figure of merit (ZT=S2 x sigma x T x kappa-1) exceeding 2, where T is the absolute temperature and kappa is the thermal conductivity. Here, we demonstrate that a high-density two-dimensional electron gas (2DEG) confined within a unit cell layer thickness in SrTiO(3) yields unusually large |S|, approximately five times larger than that of SrTiO(3) bulks, while maintaining a high sigma2DEG. In the best case, we observe |S|=850 microV K-1 and sigma2DEG=1.

Simple and efficient fabrication of room temperature stable electride: melt-solidification and glass ceramics.

Electrides are ionic compounds in which electrons act as anions. These compounds are expected to have interesting properties arising from their exotic structure. The fatal drawbacks of the thermal and chemical instability of organic electrides were resolved by the synthesis of a room temperature (RT) stable electride using single crystalline 12CaO.