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DDC: 530 × Subject: electron transport ×

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Now showing 1 - 3 of 3
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    Charge transfer to ground-state ions produces free electrons
    ([London] : Nature Publishing Group UK, 2017) You, D.; Fukuzawa, H.; Sakakibara, Y.; Takanashi, T.; Ito, Y.; Maliyar, G G.; Motomura, K.; Nagaya, K.; Nishiyama, T.; Asa, K.; Sato, Y.; Saito, N.; Oura, M.; Schöffler, M.; Kastirke, G.; Hergenhahn, U.; Stumpf, V.; Gokhberg, K.; Kuleff, A.I.; Cederbaum, L.S.; Ueda, K
    Inner-shell ionization of an isolated atom typically leads to Auger decay. In an environment, for example, a liquid or a van der Waals bonded system, this process will be modified, and becomes part of a complex cascade of relaxation steps. Understanding these steps is important, as they determine the production of slow electrons and singly charged radicals, the most abundant products in radiation chemistry. In this communication, we present experimental evidence for a so-far unobserved, but potentially very important step in such relaxation cascades: Multiply charged ionic states after Auger decay may partially be neutralized by electron transfer, simultaneously evoking the creation of a low-energy free electron (electron transfer-mediated decay). This process is effective even after Auger decay into the dicationic ground state. In our experiment, we observe the decay of Ne2+ produced after Ne 1s photoionization in Ne-Kr mixed clusters.
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    Large thermoelectric power factor from crystal symmetry-protected non-bonding orbital in half-Heuslers
    (London : Nature Publishing Group, 2018) Zhou, J.; Zhu, H.; Liu, T.-H.; Song, Q.; He, R.; Mao, J.; Liu, Z.; Ren, W.; Liao, B.; Singh, D.J.; Ren, Z.; Chen, G.
    Modern society relies on high charge mobility for efficient energy production and fast information technologies. The power factor of a material-the combination of electrical conductivity and Seebeck coefficient-measures its ability to extract electrical power from temperature differences. Recent advancements in thermoelectric materials have achieved enhanced Seebeck coefficient by manipulating the electronic band structure. However, this approach generally applies at relatively low conductivities, preventing the realization of exceptionally high-power factors. In contrast, half-Heusler semiconductors have been shown to break through that barrier in a way that could not be explained. Here, we show that symmetry-protected orbital interactions can steer electron-acoustic phonon interactions towards high mobility. This high-mobility regime enables large power factors in half-Heuslers, well above the maximum measured values. We anticipate that our understanding will spark new routes to search for better thermoelectric materials, and to discover high electron mobility semiconductors for electronic and photonic applications.
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    Spectral dynamics of shift current in ferroelectric semiconductor SbSI
    (Washington : National Academy of Sciences, 2019) Sotome, M.; Nakamura, M.; Fujioka, J.; Ogino, M.; Kaneko, Y.; Morimoto, T.; Zhang, Y.; Kawasaki, M.; Nagaosa, N.; Tokura, Y.; Ogawa, N.
    Photoexcitation in solids brings about transitions of electrons/ holes between different electronic bands. If the solid lacks an inversion symmetry, these electronic transitions support spontaneous photocurrent due to the geometric phase of the constituting electronic bands: the Berry connection. This photocurrent, termed shift current, is expected to emerge on the timescale of primary photoexcitation process. We observe ultrafast evolution of the shift current in a prototypical ferroelectric semiconductor antimony sulfur iodide (SbSI) by detecting emitted terahertz electromagnetic waves. By sweeping the excitation photon energy across the bandgap, ultrafast electron dynamics as a source of terahertz emission abruptly changes its nature, reflecting a contribution of Berry connection on interband optical transition. The shift excitation carries a net charge flow and is followed by a swing over of the electron cloud on a subpicosecond timescale. Understanding these substantive characters of the shift current with the help of first-principles calculation will pave the way for its application to ultrafast sensors and solar cells.