Confined states and spin polarization on a topological insulator thin film modulated by an electric potential

We study the electronic structure and spin polarization of the surface states of a three-dimensional topological insulator thin film modulated by an electrical potential well. By routinely solving the low-energy surface Dirac equation for the system, we demonstrate that confined surface states exist, in which the electron density is almost localized inside the well and exponentially decayed outside in real space, and that their subband dispersions are quasilinear with respect to the propagating wavevector. Interestingly, the top and bottom surface confined states with the same density distribution have opposite spin polarizations due to the hybridization between the two surfaces. Along with the mathematical analysis, we provide an intuitive, topological understanding of the effect.

Thermoelectric Transport by Surface States in Bi2Se3-Based Topological Insulator Thin Films

We develop a tractable theoretical model to investigate the thermoelectric （TE） transport properties of surface states in topological insulator thin films （TITFs） of Bi2Sea at room temperature. The hybridization between top and bottom surface states in the TITF plays a significant role. With the increasing hybridization-induced surface gap, the electrical conductivity and electron thermal conductivity decrease while the Seebeck coefficient increases. This is due to the metal-semiconductor transition induced by the surface-state hybridization. Based on these TE transport coefficients, the TE figure-of-merit ZT is evaluated. It is shown that ZT can be greatly improved by the surface-state hybridization. Our theoretical results are pertinent to the exploration of the TE transport properties of surface states in TITFs and to the potential application of Bi2Sea-based TITFs as high-performance TE materials and devices.

Modification of the Hybridization Gap by Twisted Stacking of Quintuple Layers in a Three-Dimensional Topological Insulator Thin Film

Twisting the stacking of layered materials leads to rich new physics. A three-dimensional topological insulator film hosts two-dimensional gapless Dirac electrons on top and bottom surfaces, which, when the film is below some critical thickness, will hybridize and open a gap in the surface state structure. The hybridization gap can be tuned by various parameters such as film thickness and inversion symmetry, according to the literature. The three-dimensional strong topological insulator Bi(Sb)Se(Te) family has layered structures composed of quintuple layers(QLs) stacked together by van der Waals interaction. Here we successfully grow twistedly stacked Sb_2Te_3 QLs and investigate the effect of twist angels on the hybridization gaps below the thickness limit. It is found that the hybridization gap can be tuned for films of three QLs, which may lead to quantum spin Hall states.Signatures of gap-closing are found in 3-QL films. The successful in situ application of this approach opens a new route to search for exotic physics in topological insulators.

Infrared Nano-Imaging of Electronic Phase across the Metal–Insulator Transition of NdNiO_(3) Films

NdNiO_(3) is a typical correlated material with temperature-driven metal–insulator transition. Resolving the local electronic phase is crucial in understanding the driving mechanism behind the phase transition. Here we present a nano-infrared study of the metal–insulator transition in NdNiO_(3) films by a cryogenic scanning near-field optical microscope. The NdNiO_(3) films undergo a continuous transition without phase coexistence. The nano-infrared signal shows significant temperature dependence and a hysteresis loop. Stripe-like modulation of the optical conductivity is formed in the films and can be attributed to the epitaxial strain. These results provide valuable evidence to understand the coupled electronic and structural transformations in NdNiO_(3) films at the nano-scale.

Low-Frequency Noise in Amorphous Indium Zinc Oxide Thin Film Transistors with Aluminum Oxide Gate Insulator

Low-frequency noise（LFN） in all operation regions of amorphous indium zinc oxide（a-IZO） thin film transistors（TFTs） with an aluminum oxide gate insulator is investigated. Based on the LFN measured results, we extract the distribution of localized states in the band gap and the spatial distribution of border traps in the gate dielectric,and study the dependence of measured noise on the characteristic temperature of localized states for a-IZO TFTs with Al2 O3 gate dielectric. Further study on the LFN measured results shows that the gate voltage dependent noise data closely obey the mobility fluctuation model, and the average Hooge＇s parameter is about 1.18×10^-3.Considering the relationship between the free carrier number and the field effect mobility, we simulate the LFN using the △N-△μ model, and the total trap density near the IZO/oxide interface is about 1.23×10^18 cm^-3eV^-1.

Test research on IR radiation characteristics control of space target using cryogenic vacuum multilayer insulation film structure

In order to achieve the objective of controlling IR radiation characteristics of space target,we design multilayer insulation film structure to cover the target.In space environment the structure comes to cryogenic vacuum multilayer insulation film structure.It can quickly lower the surface temperature of space target,approaching to the ultra-low temperature of the space environment.A vacuum simulation verification test was designed and performed.Through the analysis of test results,we can see that the surface temperature of space target covered by the structure changes with the ambient temperature,having no direct relationship with internal temperature of the target.Therefore,the designed cryogenic vacuum multilayer insulation film structure has excellent IR radiation control performance.It can reduce the target’s IR radiation intensity so as to reduce the probability of detection by IR detectors.

Analytical base collector depletion capacitance in vertical SiGe heterojunction bipolar transistors fabricated on CMOS-compatible silicon on insulator

The base-collector depletion capacitance for vertical SiGe npn heterojunction bipolar transistors （HBTs） on silicon on insulator （SOI） is split into vertical and lateral parts. This paper proposes a novel analytical depletion capacitance model of this structure for the first time. A large discrepancy is predicted when the present model is compared with the conventional depletion model, and it is shown that the capacitance decreases with the increase of the reverse collector- base bias-and shows a kink as the reverse collector-base bias reaches the effective vertical punch-through voltage while the voltage differs with the collector doping concentrations, which is consistent with measurement results. The model can be employed for a fast evaluation of the depletion capacitance of an SOI SiGe HBT and has useful applications on the design and simulation of high performance SiGe circuits and devices.