Previous fiber-shaped solar cells are based on polymeric materials or dye-sensitized wide band-gap oxides. Here, we show that efficient fiber solar cells can be made from semiconducting nanostructures (e.g. CdSe) with smaller band-gap as the light absorption material. We directly grow a vertical array of CdSe nanowires uniformly around a core metal wire and make the device by covering the top o...

We numerically study the possibility of using atomically thin transition metal dichalcogenides (TMDs) for applications requiring broadband absorption in the visible range of the electromagnetic spectrum. We demonstrate that when monolayer TMDs are positioned into a finite-period of multilayer Bragg stack geometry, they make broadband, wide-angle, almost polarization-independent absorbers. In ou...

Touch (or tactile) sensors are gaining renewed interest as the level of sophistication in the application of minimum invasive surgery and humanoid robots increases. The spatial resolution of current large-area (greater than 1 cm(2)) tactile sensor lags by more than an order of magnitude compared with the human finger. By using metal and semiconducting nanoparticles, a approximately 100-nm-thick...

Chemical doping in p-conjugated organic semiconductors, which involves a redox reaction between a host p-conjugated material and a dopant, is achieved by either co-evaporation, co-dissolved solution, or exposure to a dopant gas. Here, we demonstrate a new route for molecular doping; a thiophene-based semiconducting polymer film can be doped with dopants dispersed in an orthogonal solvent. An in...

Soft, conformable electrical contacts provide efficient, noninvasive probes for the transport properties of chemically and mechanically fragile, ultrathin organic semiconducting films. When combined with high-resolution printing and lamination techniques, these soft contacts also form the basis of a powerful technique for fabricating flexible plastic circuits. In this approach, a thin elastomer...

Oxidation of graphite produces graphite oxide, which is dispersible in water as individual platelets. After deposition onto Si/SiO2 substrates, chemical reduction produces graphene sheets. Electrical conductivity measurements indicate a 10000-fold increase in conductivity after chemical reduction to graphene. Tapping mode atomic force microscopy measurements show one to two layer graphene steps...

The use of surface-initiated ring-opening metathesis polymerization (SI-ROMP) for producing polymer dielectric layers is reported. Surface tethering of the catalyst to Au or Si/SiO2 surfaces is accomplished via self-assembled monolayers of thiols or silanes containing reactive olefins. Subsequent SI-ROMP of norbornene can be conducted under mild conditions. Pentacene semiconducting layers and g...

The electrical properties of graphite oxide (GO) can be tuned consecutively by treating samples with ammonia and hydrogen plasma. When altering ammonia plasma time from 10 to 4.5 min, large area (greater than 100×100 μm²), n-type, ambipolar and p-type semiconducting reduced graphite oxide (RGO) sheets could be obtained. The highest mobilities of the electron and hole are 5.41 and 2.10 cm² V⁻¹ s...

We report r t visible i i l light li t emission i i from f Shottky tt diodes i made from f semiconducting se i cting polymers, l ers, confirming i ing the t discovery i by the t Cambridge idge group [Nature [ ature 347,, 539 (1990)]. Our r results lt ( 19 0>3. demonstrate trate that t t light-emitting li t-e itting diodes i can be fabricated f i te by casting ti the t polymer film fil from f so...