Asymmetric doping in silicon nanostructures: the impact of surface dangling bonds

A theoretical study of gas adsorption on silicene nanoribbons and its application in a highly sensitive molecule sensor

Silicene nanoribbon is a promising material to detect individual gas molecules with high sensitivity.

Surface dangling bonds are a cause of B-type blinking in Si nanoparticles

Exponential blinking statistics was reported in oxidized Si nanoparticles and the switching mechanism was attributed to the activation and deactivation of unidentified nonradiative recombination centers. Using ab initio calculations we predicted that Si dangling bonds at the surface of oxidized nanoparticles introduce defect states which, depending on their charge and local stress conditions, may give rise to ON and OFF states responsible for exponential blinking statistics. Our results are based on first principles calculations of charge transition levels, single particle energies, and radiative and nonradiative lifetimes of dangling bond defects at the surface of oxidized silicon nanoparticles under stress.

Atomistic study on dopant-distributions in realistically sized, highly P-doped Si nanowires

The dependency of dopant-distributions on channel diameters in realistically sized, highly phosphorus-doped silicon nanowires is investigated with an atomistic tight-binding approach coupled to self-consistent Schrödinger-Poisson simulations. By overcoming the limit in channel sizes and doping densities of previous studies, this work examines electronic structures and electrostatics of free-standing circular silicon nanowires that are phosphorus-doped with a high density of ∼ 2 × 10(19) cm(-3) and have 12 nm-28 nm cross-sections. Results of analysis on the channel energy indicate that the uniformly distributed dopant profile would be hardly obtained when the nanowire cross-section is smaller than 20 nm. Insufficient room to screen donor ions and shallower impurity bands are the primary reasons of the nonuniform dopant-distributions in smaller nanowires. Being firmly connected to the recent experimental study (Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 2009, 106, 15254-15258), this work establishes the first theoretical framework for understanding dopant-distributions in over-10 nm highly doped silicon nanowires.

Retarded dopant diffusion by moderated dopant–dopant interactions in Si nanowires

The mechanical softening and quantum confinement found in nanostructures are the physical origin of the suppressed dopant diffusion.

A Pathway to Type-I Band Alignment in Ge/Si Core-Shell Nanowires

We investigate the electronic band structures of Ge/Si core-shell nanowires (CSNWs) and devise a way to realize the electron quantum well at Ge core atoms with first-principles calculations. We reveal that the electronic band engineering by the quantum confinement and the lattice strain can induce the type-I/II band alignment transition, and the resulting type-I band alignment generates the electron quantum well in Ge/Si CSNWs. We also find that the type-I/II transition in Ge/Si CSNWs is highly related to the direct to indirect band gap transition through the analysis of charge density and band structures. In terms of the quantum confinement, for [100] and [111] directional Ge/Si CSNWs, the type-I/II transition can be obtained by decreasing the diameters, whereas a [110] directional CSNW preserves the type-II band alignment even at diameters as small as 1 nm. By applying a compressive strain on [110] CSNWs, the type-I band alignment can be formed. Our results suggest that Ge/Si CSNWs can have the type-I band alignment characteristics by the band structure engineering, which enables both n-type and p-type quantum-well transistors to be fabricated using Ge/Si CSNWs for high-speed logic applications.

Surface ferromagnetic p-type ZnO nanowires through charge transfer doping

We report first-principles theoretical investigation of p-type charge transfer doping of zinc oxide (ZnO) nanowires by molecular adsorption. We find that spontaneous dissociative adsorption of fluorine molecules introduces half-emptying of otherwise fully filled oxygen-derived surface states. The resulting surface Fermi level is so close to the valence band maximum of the ZnO nanowire that the nanowire undergoes significant p-type charge transfer doping. Those half-filled surface states are fully spin-polarized and lead to surface ferromagnetism that is stable at room temperature. We also analyze the kinetic control regime of the surface transfer doping and find that it may result in nonequilibrium steady states. The present results suggest that postgrowth engineering of surface states has high potential in manipulating ZnO nanostructures useful for both electronics and spintronics.

Dominance of broken bonds and nonbonding electrons at the nanoscale

Although they exist ubiquitously in human bodies and our surroundings, the impact of nonbonding lone electrons and lone electron pairs has long been underestimated. Recent progress demonstrates that: (i) in addition to the shorter and stronger bonds between under-coordinated atoms that initiate the size trends of the otherwise constant bulk properties when a substance turns into the nanoscale, the presence of lone electrons near to broken bonds generates fascinating phenomena that bulk materials do not demonstrate; (ii) the lone electron pairs and the lone pair-induced dipoles associated with C, N, O, and F tetrahedral coordination bonding form functional groups in biological, organic, and inorganic specimens. By taking examples of surface vacancy, atomic chain end and terrace edge states, catalytic enhancement, conducting-insulating transitions of metal clusters, defect magnetism, Coulomb repulsion at nanoscale contacts, Cu(3)C(2)H(2) and Cu(3)O(2) surface dipole formation, lone pair neutralized interface stress, etc, this article will focus on the development and applications of theory regarding the energetics and dynamics of nonbonding electrons, aiming to raise the awareness of their revolutionary impact to the society. Discussion will also extend to the prospective impacts of nonbonding electrons on mysteries such as catalytic enhancement and catalysts design, the density anomalies of ice and negative thermal expansion, high critical temperature superconductivity induced by B, C, N, O, and F, the molecular structures and functionalities of CF(4) in anti-coagulation of synthetic blood, NO signaling, and enzyme telomeres, etc. Meanwhile, an emphasis is placed on the necessity and effectiveness of understanding the properties of substances from the perspective of bond and nonbond formation, dissociation, relaxation and vibration, and the associated energetics and dynamics of charge repopulation, polarization, densification, and localization. Finding and grasping the factors controlling the nonbonding states and making them of use in functional materials design and identifying their limitations will form, in the near future, a subject area of "nonbonding electronics and energetics", which could be even more challenging, fascinating, promising, and rewarding than dealing with core or valence electrons alone.