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Now showing 1 - 5 of 5
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    Voltage control of magnetic order in RKKY coupled multilayers
    (Washington, DC [u.a.] : Assoc., 2023) Kossak, Alexander E.; Huang, Mantao; Reddy, Pooja; Wolf, Daniel; Beach, Geoffrey S. D.
    In the field of antiferromagnetic (AFM) spintronics, there is a substantial effort present to make AFMs viable active components for efficient and fast devices. Typically, this is done by manipulating the AFM Néel vector. Here, we establish a method of enabling AFM active components by directly controlling the magnetic order. We show that magneto-ionic gating of hydrogen enables dynamic control of the Ruderman-Kittel-Kasuya-Yosida (RKKY) interaction in solid-state synthetic AFM multilayer devices. Using a gate voltage, we tune the RKKY interaction to drive continuous transitions from AFM to FM and vice versa. The switching is submillisecond at room temperature and fully reversible. We validate the utility of this method by demonstrating that magneto-ionic gating of the RKKY interaction allows for 180° field-free deterministic switching. This dynamic method of controlling a fundamental exchange interaction can engender the manipulation of a broader array of spin textures, e.g., chiral domain walls and skyrmions.
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    Atomic Sn–enabled high-utilization, large-capacity, and long-life Na anode
    (Washington, DC [u.a.] : Assoc., 2022) Xu, Fei; Qu, Changzhen; Lu, Qiongqiong; Meng, Jiashen; Zhang, Xiuhai; Xu, Xiaosa; Qiu, Yuqian; Ding, Baichuan; Yang, Jiaying; Cao, Fengren; Yang, Penghui; Jiang, Guangshen; Kaskel, Stefan; Ma, Jingyuan; Li, Liang; Zhang, Xingcai; Wang, Hongqiang
    Constructing robust nucleation sites with an ultrafine size in a confined environment is essential toward simultaneously achieving superior utilization, high capacity, and long-term durability in Na metal-based energy storage, yet remains largely unexplored. Here, we report a previously unexplored design of spatially confined atomic Sn in hollow carbon spheres for homogeneous nucleation and dendrite-free growth. The designed architecture maximizes Sn utilization, prevents agglomeration, mitigates volume variation, and allows complete alloying-dealloying with high-affinity Sn as persistent nucleation sites, contrary to conventional spatially exposed large-size ones without dealloying. Thus, conformal deposition is achieved, rendering an exceptional capacity of 16 mAh cm−2 in half-cells and long cycling over 7000 hours in symmetric cells. Moreover, the well-known paradox is surmounted, delivering record-high Na utilization (e.g., 85%) and large capacity (e.g., 8 mAh cm−2) while maintaining extraordinary durability over 5000 hours, representing an important breakthrough for stabilizing Na anode.
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    Highly efficient modulation doping: A path toward superior organic thermoelectric devices
    (Washington, DC [u.a.] : Assoc., 2022) Wang, Shu-Jen; Panhans, Michel; Lashkov, Ilia; Kleemann, Hans; Caglieris, Federico; Becker-Koch, David; Vahland, Jörn; Guo, Erjuan; Huang, Shiyu; Krupskaya, Yulia; Vaynzof, Yana; Büchner, Bernd; Ortmann, Frank; Leo, Karl
    We investigate the charge and thermoelectric transport in modulation-doped large-area rubrene thin-film crystals with different crystal phases. We show that modulation doping allows achieving superior doping efficiencies even for high doping densities, when conventional bulk doping runs into the reserve regime. Modulation-doped orthorhombic rubrene achieves much improved thermoelectric power factors, exceeding 20 μW m−1 K−2 at 80°C. Theoretical studies give insight into the energy landscape of the heterostructures and its influence on qualitative trends of the Seebeck coefficient. Our results show that modulation doping together with high-mobility crystalline organic semiconductor films is a previosly unexplored strategy for achieving high-performance organic thermoelectrics.
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    Intermolecular charge transfer enhances the performance of molecular rectifiers
    (Washington, DC [u.a.] : Assoc., 2022) Sullivan, Ryan P.; Morningstar, John T.; Castellanos-Trejo, Eduardo; Bradford, Robert W.; Hofstetter, Yvonne J.; Vaynzof, Yana; Welker, Mark E.; Jurchescu, Oana D.
    Molecular-scale diodes made from self-assembled monolayers (SAMs) could complement silicon-based technologies with smaller, cheaper, and more versatile devices. However, advancement of this emerging technology is limited by insufficient electronic performance exhibited by the molecular current rectifiers. We overcome this barrier by exploiting the charge-transfer state that results from co-assembling SAMs of molecules with strong electron donor and acceptor termini. We obtain a substantial enhancement in current rectification, which correlates with the degree of charge transfer, as confirmed by several complementary techniques. These findings provide a previously enexplored method for manipulating the properties of molecular electronic devices by exploiting donor/acceptor interactions. They also serve as a model test platform for the study of doping mechanisms in organic systems. Our devices have the potential for fast widespread adoption due to their low-cost processing and self-assembly onto silicon substrates, which could allow seamless integration with current technologies.
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    Single “Swiss-roll” microelectrode elucidates the critical role of iron substitution in conversion-type oxides
    (Washington, DC [u.a.] : Assoc., 2022) Liu, Lixiang; Huang, Shaozhuan; Shi, Wujun; Sun, Xiaolei; Pang, Jinbo; Lu, Qiongqiong; Yang, Ye; Xi, Lixia; Deng, Liang; Oswald, Steffen; Yin, Yin; Liu, Lifeng; Ma, Libo; Schmidt, Oliver G.; Shi, Yumeng; Zhang, Lin
    Advancing the lithium-ion battery technology requires the understanding of electrochemical processes in electrode materials with high resolution, accuracy, and sensitivity. However, most techniques today are limited by their inability to separate the complex signals from slurry-coated composite electrodes. Here, we use a three-dimensional “Swiss-roll” microtubular electrode that is incorporated into a micrometer-sized lithium battery. This on-chip platform combines various in situ characterization techniques and precisely probes the intrinsic electrochemical properties of each active material due to the removal of unnecessary binders and additives. As an example, it helps elucidate the critical role of Fe substitution in a conversion-type NiO electrode by monitoring the evolution of Fe2O3 and solid electrolyte interphase layer. The markedly enhanced electrode performances are therefore explained. Our approach exposes a hitherto unexplored route to tracking the phase, morphology, and electrochemical evolution of electrodes in real time, allowing us to reveal information that is not accessible with bulk-level characterization techniques.