We describe monocrystalline graphitic films, which are a few atoms thick but are nonetheless stable under ambient conditions, metallic, and of remarkably high quality. The films are found to be a two-dimensional semimetal with a tiny overlap between valence and conductance bands, and they exhibit a strong ambipolar electric field effect such that electrons and holes in concentrations up to 10 13 per square centimeter and with room-temperature mobilities of ∼10,000 square centimeters per volt-second can be induced by applying gate voltage.

http://science.sciencemag.org/content/sci/306/5696/666.full.pdf

Electric Field Effect in Atomically Thin Carbon Films

Mechanical alloying (MA) is a solid-state powder processng technique involving repeated welding, fracturing, and rewelding of powder particles in a high-energy ball mill. Originally developed to produce oxide-dispersion strengthened (ODS) nickel- and iron-base superalloys for applications in the aerospace industry, MA has now been shown to be capable of synthesizing a variety of equilibrium and non-equilibrium alloy phases starting from blended elemental or prealloyed powders. The non-equilibrium phases synthesized include supersaturated solid solutions, metastable crystalline and quasicrystalline phases, nanostructures, and amorphous alloys. Recent advances in these areas and also on disordering of ordered intermetallics and mechanochemical synthesis of materials have been critically reviewed after discussing the process and process variables involved in MA. The often vexing problem of powder contamination has been analyzed and methods have been suggested to avoid/minimize it. The present understanding of the modeling of the MA process has also been discussed. The present and potential applications of MA are described. Wherever possible, comparisons have been made on the product phases obtained by MA with those of rapid solidification processing, another non-equilibrium processing technique.

Mechanical Alloying And Milling

The second edition of The Biomarker Guide is a fully updated and expanded version of this essential reference. Now in two volumes, it provides a comprehensive account of the role that biomarker technology plays both in petroleum exploration and in understanding Earth history and processes. Biomarkers and Isotopes in the Environment and Human History details the origins of biomarkers and introduces basic chemical principles relevant to their study. It discusses analytical techniques, and applications of biomarkers to environmental and archaeological problems. The Biomarker Guide is an invaluable resource for geologists, petroleum geochemists, biogeochemists, environmental scientists and archaeologists.

The Biomarker Guide

Gallium nitride (GaN) and its allied binaries InN and AIN as well as their ternary compounds have gained an unprecedented attention due to their wide-ranging applications encompassing green, blue, violet, and ultraviolet (UV) emitters and detectors (in photon ranges inaccessible by other semiconductors) and high-power amplifiers. However, even the best of the three binaries, GaN, contains many structural and point defects caused to a large extent by lattice and stacking mismatch with substrates. These defects notably affect the electrical and optical properties of the host material and can seriously degrade the performance and reliability of devices made based on these nitride semiconductors. Even though GaN broke the long-standing paradigm that high density of dislocations precludes acceptable device performance, point defects have taken the center stage as they exacerbate efforts to increase the efficiency of emitters, increase laser operation lifetime, and lead to anomalies in electronic devices. The p...

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Luminescence properties of defects in GaN

Recent research results pertaining to InN, GaN and AlN are reviewed, focusing on the different growth techniques of Group III-nitride crystals and epitaxial films, heterostructures and devices. The chemical and thermal stability of epitaxial nitride films is discussed in relation to the problems of deposition processes and the advantages for applications in high-power and high-temperature devices. The development of growth methods like metalorganic chemical vapour deposition and plasma-induced molecular beam epitaxy has resulted in remarkable improvements in the structural, optical and electrical properties. New developments in precursor chemistry, plasma-based nitrogen sources, substrates, the growth of nucleation layers and selective growth are covered. Deposition conditions and methods used to grow alloys for optical bandgap and lattice engineering are introduced. The review is concluded with a description of recent Group III-nitride semiconductor devices such as bright blue and white light-emitting diodes, the first blue-emitting laser, high-power transistors, and a discussion of further applications in surface acoustic wave devices and sensors.

https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/0022-3727/31/20/001/pdf

Growth and applications of Group III-nitrides

The convergent beam and bend extinction contour techniques of electron microscopy are capable of providing much more information than can be obtained from conventional diffraction patterns and it is the objective of this work to examine the symmetry properties of each of these patterns. The diffraction of fast electrons by a thin parallel-sided slab has been studied by group theory and by a graphical construction. We find that the pattern symmetries may be described by thirty-one diffraction groups and that each of these diffraction groups is isomorphic to one of the point groups of diperiodic plane figures and to one of the thirty-one Shubnikov groups of coloured plane figures. A graphical representation of each diffraction group is given, together with tables showing how the diffraction groups are related to the specimen point groups and under certain assumptions to the crystal point groups. These tables assume the symmetric Laue condition and ignore the presence of irreducible lattice translations normal to the slab. By using the tables, crystal point groups can be obtained from convergent beam or bend contour patterns. The method is demonstrated by experiments on several materials, but particularly on germanium and gallium-arsenide specimens since the similarity of these materials exemplifies the sensitivity of the technique.

http://www.electronicsandbooks.com/eab1/manual/Magazine/P/Philosophical%20Transactions%20of%20the%20Royal%20Society%20A%20UK/1976%20Volume%20281/i1301_171-194.pdf

The Symmetry of Electron Diffraction Zone Axis Patterns

The polarity of the lattice of bulk single GaN crystals and the polarity of homoepitaxial and heteroepitaxial‐on‐sapphire GaN thin films has been studied using convergent beam electron diffraction. Diffraction patterns obtained at 200 kV for the 〈1–100〉 projection of GaN were matched with calculated patterns. The lattice orientations of two commonly observed bulk single‐crystal facets were identified. It is shown that the smooth facets in single crystals correspond to the (0001), Ga‐terminated, lattice planes, whereas the rough facets correspond to the (0001), N‐terminated, planes. It is also shown that metalorganic chemical vapor deposition epitaxy retains the polarity of the substrate, i.e., no inversion boundaries were observed. Heteroepitaxy on sapphire is shown to grow in the (0001), Ga‐terminated orientation.

Determination of lattice polarity for growth of GaN bulk single crystals and epitaxial layers

A combination of transmission electron microscopy imaging and diffraction techniques is used to characterize crystal defects in homoepitaxial GaN thin films. The Burgers vectors of dislocations is established by combining large‐angle convergent beam electron diffraction and conventional diffraction contrast techniques. It is shown that dislocations with Burgers vectors c, a, and c+a are present. Evidence is presented that dislocation segments lying in the interfacial plane are dissociated on a fine scale. The significance of the observations for understanding homoepitaxial growth of GaN is discussed.

Characterization of dislocations in GaN by transmission electron diffraction and microscopy techniques

The two kinematic theorems of crystal dissolution by Frank are applied to surfaces undergoing ion-bombardment in order to determine the topographies evolved in any given time. The predicted shapes show good agreement with experimental observations.

John W Steeds

Papers

The Symmetry of Electron Diffraction Zone Axis Patterns

Determination of lattice polarity for growth of GaN bulk single crystals and epitaxial layers

Characterization of dislocations in GaN by transmission electron diffraction and microscopy techniques

Prediction of ion-bombarded surface topographies using Frank's kinematic theory of crystal dissolution

Microdiffraction as a tool for crystal structure identification and determination