adsorption of nh3 and h2o molecules on pristine and b–doped al12n12 nano–cage was investigated using density functional theory, by means of b3lyp and x3lyp functionals. both nh3 and h2o molecules were found to bind to an al atom of al12n12 via chemisorption, releasing energies ranging from –1.48 to –1.53 and –1.16 to –1.22 ev, respectively. the binding energies of x3lyp functional are somewhat ...

The gas-phase reaction between the silicon nitride radical (SiN) and the prototypical olefin--ethylene--is investigated experimentally and theoretically for the first time. Silicon nitride (SiN) and the cyano radical (CN) are isoelectronic; however, their chemical reactivities and structures are drastically different from each other. Through the use of the cross molecular beam technique, we wer...

We report the formation and characterization of boron nitride atomic chains. The chains were made from hexagonal boron nitride sheets using the electron beam inside a transmission electron microscope. We find that the stability and lifetime of the chains are significantly improved when they are supported by another boron nitride layer. With the help of first-principles calculations, we prove th...

Silicon-on-nitride ridge waveguides are demonstrated and characterized at midand near-infrared optical wavelengths. Silicon-on-nitride thin films were achieved by bonding a silicon handling die to a silicon-on-insulator die coated with a low-stress silicon nitride layer. Subsequent removal of the silicon-on-insulator substrate results in a thin film of silicon on a nitride bottom cladding, read...

We investigate band gap tuning of bilayer graphene between hexagonal boron nitride sheets, by external electric fields. Using density functional theory, we show that the gap is continuously tunable from 0 to 0.2 eV and is robust to stacking disorder. Moreover, boron nitride sheets do not alter the fundamental response from that of free-standing bilayer graphene, apart from additional screening....

Electron transport in silicon nanopillars has been studied for pillars with zero, one, or two silicon nitride barrier layers of 2 nm thickness. Evidence of Coulomb blockade is presented and the role of the silicon nitride layers is discussed. Wide zero current regions are observed for some devices with two silicon nitride tunnel barriers and these are attributed to the formation of fully deplet...

Nitride semiconductors are attractive because they can be environmentally benign, comprised of abundant elements and possess favourable electronic properties. However, those currently commercialized are mostly limited to gallium nitride and its alloys, despite the rich composition space of nitrides. Here we report the screening of ternary zinc nitride semiconductors using first-principles calcu...

The goals of this work were to synthesize stoichiometric silicon carbon nitride (Si1.5C1.5N4) films using the RF-PECVD method and to characterize the deposited material. Gas mixtures, as opposed to an organic monomer, were chosen for reactants. Gas mixtures allow for varying the concentration of the elements needed for silicon carbon nitride synthesis and thereby optimizing the composition of t...

Boron nitride nanotubes were functionalized with microperoxidase-11 in aqueous media, showing improved catalytic performance due to a strong electron coupling between the active centre of microperoxidase-11 and boron nitride nanotubes.