Nanocrystalline fluorinated silicon films are studied by using Raman spectroscopy, electron paramagnetic resonance, Fourier-transformed infrared spectroscopy, atomic force microscopy, nonlinear laser spectroscopy, and photoluminescence. Electrical properties of nanocrystalline silicon and amorphous silicon films were compared. The field-assisted migration of point defects is dramatic for durabi...

Supported sulfated zirconia catalysts with zirconia contents of 10, 20 and 50 wt% were prepared by impregnation of SiO2 and γ-Al2O3 supports with H2SO4/Zr(SO4)2 solutions followed by calcination at 923 K. The catalysts were characterized by X-ray diffraction, extended X-ray absorption fine structure measurements, thermal analysis, UV–vis spectroscopy, and electron microscopy. Tetragonal zirconi...

Rare-earth-doped laser materials show strong prospects for quantum information storage and processing, as well as for biological imaging, due to their high-Q 4f↔4f optical transitions. However, the inability to optically detect single rare-earth dopants has prevented these materials from reaching their full potential. Here we detect a single photostable Pr(3+) ion in yttrium aluminium garnet na...

We investigated the effect of PbSe quantum dot size on the performance of Schottky solar cells made in an ITO/PEDOT/PbSe/aluminum structure, varying the PbSe nanoparticle diameter from 1 to 3 nm. In this highly confined regime, we find that the larger particle bandgap can lead to higher open-circuit voltages (∼0.6 V), and thus an increase in overall efficiency compared to previously reported de...

Magnesium alloys are attracting increasing research interests due to their low density, high specific strength, good machinability and availability as compared to other structural materials. However, the deformation and failure mechanisms of nanocrystalline (nc) Mg alloys have not been well understood. In this work, the deformation behaviour of nc Mg–5Al alloys was investigated using compressio...

A parallel approach for fabricating nanocrystal-based semiconductor–insulator–metal tunnel diodes is presented. The devices consisted of a Au electrode, a monolayer of 38 Å CdSe nanocrystals, an insulating bilayer of eicosanoic acid (C19H39CO2H), and an Al electrode. Each device was approximately 100 mm. Conductance measurements at 77 K reveal strong diode behavior and evidence of Coulomb block...

The role of isothermal aging on the localized corrosion behavior of Al90Fe5Gd5 and Al87Ni8.7Y4.3 alloys was characterized in 0.6 M NaCl solution. The pitting (Epit) and repassivation (Erp) potentials were both increased ~400 mV by the presence of transition and rare earth metal additions in supersaturated solid solution and amorphous structure. A statistical distribution in Epit observed on sma...

Unique bayberry-like MFI zeolites are synthesized through a quasi-solid-state crystallization approach. This hierarchical zeolite structure has a relatively thick shell, densely grown nanocrystals with an ordered packed channel, high mechanical stability, high surface area and a low Si/Al ratio. Its catalytic efficiency for methanol-to-aromatics is significantly higher than that of conventional...

In this paper, a scalable and fast process is developed and employed for the fabrication of the perovskite light harvesting layer in inverted planar heterojunction solar cell (FTO/PEDOT:PSS/CH3NH3PbI3-x Cl x /PCBM/Al). Perovskite precursor solutions are sprayed onto an ultrasonically vibrating substrate in two sequential steps via a process herein termed as the two-step sequential substrate vib...