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Compared with traditional plasmonic-based surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) substrates, plasmon-free SERS substrates, as new frontiers, have attracted tremendous attention for their abundant sources, excellent chemical stability, superior biocompatibility, good signal uniformity, and unique selectivity to target molecules. Recently, researchers have made great progress in fabricating novel plasmon-free SERS substrates and exploring new enhancement strategies to improve [Detail] ...
Download cover Download table of contentsExplosive astrophysical transients at cosmological distances can be used to place precision tests of the basic assumptions of relativity theory, such as Lorentz invariance, the photon zero-mass hypothesis, and the weak equivalence principle (WEP). Signatures of Lorentz invariance violations (LIV) include vacuum dispersion and vacuum birefringence. Sensitive searches for LIV using astrophysical sources such as gamma-ray bursts, active galactic nuclei, and pulsars are discussed. The most direct consequence of a nonzero photon rest mass is a frequency dependence in the velocity of light propagating in vacuum. A detailed representation of how to obtain a combined severe limit on the photon mass using fast radio bursts at different redshifts through the dispersion method is presented. The accuracy of the WEP has been well tested based on the Shapiro time delay of astrophysical messengers traveling through a gravitational field. Some caveats of Shapiro delay tests are discussed. In this article, we review and update the status of astrophysical tests of fundamental physics.
Due to the noticeable structural similarity and being neighborhood in periodic table of group-IV and-V elemental monolayers, whether the combination of group-IV and-V elements could have stable nanosheet structures with optimistic properties has attracted great research interest. In this work, we performed first-principles simulations to investigate the elastic, vibrational and electronic properties of the carbon nitride (CN) nanosheet in the puckered honeycomb structure with covalent interlayer bonding. It has been demonstrated that the structural stability of CN nanosheet is essentially maintained by the strong interlayer σ bonding between adjacent carbon atoms in the opposite atomic layers. A negative Poisson’s ratio in the out-of-plane direction under biaxial deformation, and the extreme in-plane stiffness of CN nanosheet, only slightly inferior to the monolayer graphene, are revealed. Moreover, the highly anisotropic mechanical and electronic response of CN nanosheet to tensile strain have been explored.
In this work, we demonstrate surface plasmon resonance properties and field confinement under a strong interaction between a waveguide and graphene nanoribbons (GNRs), obtained by coupling with a nanocavity. The optical transmission of a waveguide–cavity–graphene structure is investigated by finite-difference time-domain simulations and coupled-mode theory. The resonant frequency and intensity of the GNR resonant modes can be precisely controlled by tuning the Fermi energy and carrier mobility of the graphene, respectively. Moreover, the refractive index of the cavity core, the susceptibility χ(3) and the intensity of incident light have little effect on the GNR resonant modes, but have good tunability to the cavity resonant mode. The cavity length also has good tunability to the resonant mode of cavity. A strong interaction between the GNR resonant modes and the cavity resonant mode appears at a cavity length of L1 = 350 nm. We also demonstrate the slow-light effect of this waveguide–cavity–graphene structure and an optical bistability effect in the plasmonic cavity mode by changing the intensity of the incident light. This waveguide–cavity–graphene structure can potentially be utilised to enhance optical confinement in graphene nano-integrated circuits for optical processing applications.
We employ the Lippmann–Schwinger formalism to derive the analytical solutions of the transmission and reflection coefficients through a one-dimensional open quantum system, in which particle loss or gain on one lattice site located at x = 0, or particle loss and gain on the lattice sites located at
We study theoretically the single impurity effect on graphene-based superconductors. Four different pairing symmetries are discussed. Sharp in-gap resonant peaks are found near the impurity site for the d+id pairing symmetry and the p+ip pairing symmetry when the chemical potential is large. As the chemical potential decreases, the in-gap states are robust for the d + id pairing symmetry while they disappear for the p + ip pairing symmetry. Such in-gap peaks are absent for the fully gapped extended s-wave pairing symmetry and the nodal f-wave pairing symmetry. The existence of the ingap resonant peaks can be explained well based on the sign-reversal of the superconducting gap along different Fermi pockets and by analyzing the denominator of the T-matrix. All of the features may be checked by the experiments, providing a useful probe for the pairing symmetry of graphene-based superconductors.
The magnetic and electronic properties of strontium titanate with different carbon dopant configurations are explored using first-principles calculations with a generalized gradient approximation (GGA) and the GGA+U approach. Our results show that the structural stability, electronic properties and magnetic properties of C-doped SrTiO3 strongly depend on the distance between carbon dopants. In both GGA and GGA+U calculations, the doping structure is mostly stable with a nonmagnetic feature when the carbon dopants are nearest neighbors, which can be ascribed to the formation of a C–C dimer pair accompanied by stronger C–C and weaker C–Ti hybridizations as the C–C distance becomes smaller. As the C–C distance increases, C-doped SrTiO3 changes from an n-type nonmagnetic metal to ferromagnetic/antiferromagnetic half-metal and to an antiferromagnetic/ferromagnetic semiconductor in GGA calculations, while it changes from a nonmagnetic semiconductor to ferromagnetic half-metal and to an antiferromagnetic semiconductor using the GGA+U method. Our work demonstrates the possibility of tailoring the magnetic and electronic properties of C-doped SrTiO3, which might provide some guidance to extend the applications of strontium titanate as a magnetic or optoelectronic material.
Ferromagnetism and superconductivity are generally considered to be antagonistic phenomena in condensed matter physics. Here, we theoretically study the interplay between the ferromagnetic and superconducting orders in a recent discovered monolayered CoSb superconductor with an orthorhombic symmetry and net magnetization, and demonstrate the pairing symmetry of CoSb as a candidate of non-unitary superconductor with time-reversal symmetry breaking. By performing the group theory analysis and the first-principles calculations, the superconducting order parameter is suggested to be a triplet pairing with the irreducible representation of 3B2u, which displays intriguing nodal points and non-zero periodic modulation of Cooper pair spin polarization on the Fermi surface topologies. These findings not only provide a significant theoretical insight into the coexistence of superconductivity and ferromagnetism, but also reveal the exotic spin polarized Cooper pairing driven by ferromagnetic spin fluctuations in a triplet superconductor.
The tunable bandgap from 0.3 eV to 2 eV of black phosphorus (BP) makes it to fill the gap in graphene. When studying the properties of BP more comprehensive, scientists have discovered that many twodimensional materials, such as tellurene, antimonene, bismuthene, indium selenide and tin sulfide, have similar structures and properties to black phosphorus thus called black phosphorus analogs. In this review, we briefly introduce preparation methods of black phosphorus and its analogs, with emphasis on the method of mechanical exfoliation (ME), liquid phase exfoliation (LPE) and chemical vapor deposition (CVD). And their characterization and properties according to their classification of singleelement materials and multi-element materials are described. We focus on the performance of passively mode-locked fiber lasers using BP and its analogs as saturable absorbers (SA) and demonstrated this part through classification of working wavelength. Finally, we introduce the application of BP and its analogs, and discuss their future research prospects.
Plasmon-free surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) substrates have attracted tremendous attention for their abundant sources, excellent chemical stability, superior biocompatibility, good signal uniformity, and unique selectivity to target molecules. Recently, researchers have made great progress in fabricating novel plasmon-free SERS substrates and exploring new enhancement strategies to improve their sensitivity. This review summarizes the recent developments of plasmon-free SERS substrates and specially focuses on the enhancement mechanisms and strategies. Furthermore, the promising applications of plasmon-free SERS substrates in biomedical diagnosis, metal ions and organic pollutants sensing, chemical and biochemical reactions monitoring, and photoelectric characterization are introduced. Finally, current challenges and future research opportunities in plasmon-free SERS substrates are briefly discussed.
Two-dimensional (2D) materials, due to its excellent mechanical, unique electrical and optical properties, have become hot materials in the field of photocatalysis. Especially, 2D heterostructures can well inhibit the recombination of photogenerated electrons and holes in photocatalysis because of its special energy band structures and carrier transport characteristics, which are conducive to enhancing photoenergy conversion capacity and improving oxidation and reduction ability, so as to purify pollutants and store energy. In this minireview, we summarize recent theoretical progress in direct Z-scheme photocatalysis of 2D heterostructures, focusing on physical mechanism and improving catalytic efficiency. Current challenges and prospects for 2D direct Z-scheme photocatalysts are discussed as well.
Organic phototransistors (OPTs), compared to traditional inorganic counterparts, have attracted a great deal of interest because of their inherent flexibility, light-weight, easy and low-cost fabrication, and are considered as potential candidates for next-generation wearable electronics. Currently, significant advances have been made in OPTs with the development of new organic semiconductors and optimization of device fabrication protocols. Among various types of OPTs, small molecule organic single crystal phototransistors (OSCPTs) standout because of their exciting features, such as long exciton diffusion length and high charge carrier mobility relative to organic thinfilm phototransistors. In this review, a brief introduction to device architectures, working mechanisms and figure of merits for OPTs is presented. We then overview recent approaches employed and achievements made for the development of OSCPTs. Finally, we spotlight potential future directions to tackle the existing challenges in this field and accelerate the advancement of OSCPTs towards practical applications.
With the rapidly increasing integration density and power density in nanoscale electronic devices, the thermal management concerning heat generation and energy harvesting becomes quite crucial. Since phonon is the major heat carrier in semiconductors, thermal transport due to phonons in mesoscopic systems has attracted much attention. In quantum transport studies, the nonequilibrium Green’s function (NEGF) method is a versatile and powerful tool that has been developed for several decades. In this review, we will discuss theoretical investigations of thermal transport using the NEGF approach from two aspects. For the aspect of phonon transport, the phonon NEGF method is briefly introduced and its applications on thermal transport in mesoscopic systems including one-dimensional atomic chains, multi-terminal systems, and transient phonon transport are discussed. For the aspect of thermoelectric transport, the caloritronic effects in which the charge, spin, and valley degrees of freedom are manipulated by the temperature gradient are discussed. The time-dependent thermoelectric behavior is also presented in the transient regime within the partitioned scheme based on the NEGF method.
Traditional simulation methods have made prominent progress in aiding experiments for understanding thermal transport properties of materials, and in predicting thermal conductivity of novel materials. However, huge challenges are also encountered when exploring complex material systems, such as formidable computational costs. As a rising computational method, machine learning has a lot to offer in this regard, not only in speeding up the searching and optimization process, but also in providing novel perspectives. In this work, we review the state-of-the-art studies on material’s thermal properties based on machine learning technique. First, the basic principles of machine learning method are introduced. We then review applications of machine learning technique in the prediction and optimization of material’s thermal properties, including thermal conductivity and interfacial thermal resistance. Finally, an outlook is provided for the future studies.
In the past two decades, the revolutionary technologies of creating cold and ultracold molecules have provided cutting-edge experiments for studying the fundamental phenomena of collision physics. To a large degree, the recent explosion of interest in the molecular collisions has been sparked by dramatic progress of experimental capabilities and theoretical methods, which permit molecular collisions to be explored deep in the quantum mechanical limit. Tremendous experimental advances in the field have already been achieved, and the authors, from an experimental perspective, provide a review of these studies for exploring the nature of molecular collisions occurring at temperatures ranging from the Kelvin to the nanoKelvin regime, as well as for applications of producing ultracold molecules.
Remote state preparation (RSP) provides a useful way of transferring quantum information between two distant nodes based on the previously shared entanglement. In this paper, we study RSP of an arbitrary single-photon state in two degrees of freedom (DoFs). Using hyper-entanglement as a shared resource, our first goal is to remotely prepare the single-photon state in polarization and frequency DoFs and the second one is to reconstruct the single-photon state in polarization and time-bin DoFs. In the RSP process, the sender will rotate the quantum state in each DoF of the photon according to the knowledge of the state to be communicated. By performing a projective measurement on the polarization of the sender’s photon, the original single-photon state in two DoFs can be remotely reconstructed at the receiver’s quantum systems. This work demonstrates a novel capability for longdistance quantum communication.