Size Effects in Nanoscale Structural Phenomena
Abstract
The creation of nanostructures offers the opportunity to modify and tune properties in ways inaccessible in bulk materials. A key component in this development is the introduction of size effects which reduce the physical size, dimensionality, and increase the contribution of surface effects. The size effects strongly modify the structural dynamics in nanoscale systems and leads to changes in the vibrational, electrical, and optical properties. An increased level of understanding and control of nanoscale structural dynamics will enable more precise control over nanomaterial transport properties.
My work has shown that 1-D spatial confinement through the creation of semiconducting nanomembranes modifies the phonon population and dispersion. X-ray thermal diffuse scattering distributions show an excess in intensity for nanomembranes less than 100 nm in thickness, for phonon modes with wavevectors spanning the entire Brillouin zone. This excess intensity indicates the development of new low-energy phonon modes or the softening of elastic constants. Furthermore, an additional anisotropy in the phonon dispersion is observed with a symmetry matching the direction of spatial confinement. This work has also extended x-ray thermal diffuse scattering for use in studying nanomaterials.
In electro- and photoactive monolayers a structural reconfiguration can be produced by external optical stimuli. I have developed an electro- and photoactive molecular monolayers on oxide surfaces. Using x-ray reflectivity, I have evaluated the organization and reconfiguration of molecular monolayers deposited by Langmuir-Blodgett technique. I have designed and probed the reconfiguration of optically reconfigurable monolayers of azobenzene donor molecules on semiconducting surfaces. These monolayers reconfigure through a cooperative switching process leading to the development of large isomeric domains. This work represents an advancement in the interpretation of x-ray reflectivity from molecular monolayers and inhomogeneous surfaces.
The growth of 2D materials depends on the interactions between the substrate and the 2D material. I have studied the competition between kinetics and surface energetics which lead to a faceted Ge surface during the growth of Graphene nanoribbons. As part of this work, I have developed new methodologies for interpreting x-ray reflectivity patterns from surfaces with multiple reflections. A systematic analysis of the temperature dependence of the faceting process indicates that the process is thermodynamically dominated at high temperatures.
Subject
x-ray structure
nanoscale
materials science