Electron Spectroscopies Applied To Low Dimensional Structures

The effect of reduced dimensionality, inherent at the crystallographic level, on the electronic properties of low dimensional materials can be dramatic, leading to structural and electronic instabilities—including supercond- tivity at high temperatures, charge density waves, and localisation—which continue to attract widespread interest. The layered transition metal dichalcogenides have engaged attention for many years, partly arising from the charge density wave effects which some show and the controlled way in which their properties can be modified by intercalation, while the development of epitaxial growth techniques has opened up promising areas based on dichalcogenide heterostructures and quantum wells. The discovery of high-temperature superconducting oxides, and the realisation that polymeric materials too can be exploited in a controlled way for various opto-electronic applications, have further sti- lated interest in the effects of structural dimensionality. It seems timely therefore to draw together some strands of recent research involving a range of disparate materials which share some common char- teristics of low dimensionality. This resulting volume is aimed at researchers with specialist interests in the particular materials discussed but who may also wish to examine the related phenomena observed in different systems, and at a more general solid state audience with broad interests in electronic properties and low dimensional phenomena. Space limitations have required us to be selective as regards particular materials, though we have managed to include those as dissimilar as polymeric semiconductors, superconducting oxides, bronzes and layered chalcogenides.

This volume, aimed at researchers in condensed matter physics and materials science, reviews recent developments in the application of electron spectroscopies to a range of low-dimensional materials. In adopting as a common theme the techniques rather than specific materials, the volume amply demonstrates the effectiveness of electron spectroscopies extracting information on solids by their application to a range of phenomena in materials as disparate as high-temperature superconductors, polymeric materials, and charge density wave systems. In doing so, some similarities in the behaviour of these markedly different materials are also addressed.

Presenting the latest advances in artificial structures, this volume discusses in-depth the structure and electron transport mechanisms of quantum wells, superlattices, quantum wires, and quantum dots. It will serve as an invaluable reference and review for researchers and graduate students in solid-state physics, materials science, and electrical and electronic engineering.

There are only a few discoveries and new technologies in materials science that have the potential to dramatically alter and revolutionize our material world. Discovery of two-dimensional (2D) materials, the thinnest form of materials to ever occur in nature, is one of them. After isolation of graphene from graphite in 2004, a whole other class of atomically thin materials, dominated by surface effects and showing completely unexpected and extraordinary properties, has been created. This book provides a comprehensive view and state-of-the-art knowledge about 2D materials such as graphene, hexagonal boron nitride (h-BN), transition metal dichalcogenides (TMD) and so on. It consists of 11 chapters contributed by a team of experts in this exciting field and provides latest synthesis techniques of 2D materials, characterization and their potential applications in energy conservation, electronics, optoelectronics and biotechnology.

Here is a discussion of the state of the art of spin resonance in low dimensional structures, such as two-dimensional electron systems, quantum wires, and quantum dots. Leading scientists report on recent advances and discuss open issues and perspectives.

Recent advances in electrochemistry and materials science have opened the way to the evolution of entirely new types of energy storage systems: rechargeable lithium-ion batteries, electrochroms, hydrogen containers, etc., all of which have greatly improved electrical performance and other desirable characteristics. This book encompasses all the disciplines linked in the progress from fundamentals to applications, from description and modelling of different materials to technological use, from general diagnostics to methods related to technological control and operation of intercalation compounds. Designing devices with higher specific energy and power will require a more profound understanding of material properties and performance. This book covers the status of materials and advanced activities based on the development of new substances for energy storage.

Defects in Advanced Electronic Materials and Novel Low Dimensional Structures provides a comprehensive review on the recent progress in solving defect issues and deliberate defect engineering in novel material systems. It begins with an overview of point defects in ZnO and group-III nitrides, including irradiation-induced defects, and then look at defects in one and two-dimensional materials, including carbon nanotubes and graphene. Next, it examines the ways that defects can expand the potential applications of semiconductors, such as energy upconversion and quantum processing. The book concludes with a look at the latest advances in theory. While defect physics is extensively reviewed for conventional bulk semiconductors, the same is far from being true for novel material systems, such as low-dimensional 1D and 0D nanostructures and 2D monolayers. This book fills that necessary gap. Presents an in-depth overview of both conventional bulk semiconductors and low-dimensional, novel material systems, such as 1D structures and 2D monolayers Addresses a range of defects in a variety of systems, providing a comparative approach Includes sections on advances in theory that provide insights on where this body of research might lead