Semiconductors articles within Nature Communications

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  • Article
    | Open Access

    Vertical integration of two-dimensional materials can open unprecedented possibilities towards design of efficient optoelectronic devices. Here, the authors investigate the photoresponse properties of a graphene/MoS2/graphene heterostructure, revealing promising quantum efficiency performances.

    • Woo Jong Yu
    • , Quoc An Vu
    •  & Xiangfeng Duan

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The interplay between dark and bright excitons has a significant impact on the optical properties of semiconducting transition metal dichalcogenides. Here, the authors perform computational and experimental studies which unveil the microscopic origin of the excitonic coherence lifetime in WS2 and MoSe2.

    • Malte Selig
    • , Gunnar Berghäuser
    •  & Andreas Knorr

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Probing individual impurities will become increasingly important as devices shrink towards the nanoscale. Here Rashidi et al., introduce a method based on time-resolved scanning tunnelling spectroscopy of surface dangling bonds to investigate the dynamics of individual dopants in silicon.

    • Mohammad Rashidi
    • , Jacob A. J. Burgess
    •  & Robert A. Wolkow

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The wurtzite crystal structure of nitride semiconductors results in strong piezoelectricity. Here, the authors also achieve electric-field control of the magnetization of gallium manganese nitride, thus showing that piezoelectric and magnetoelectric effects can be combined in the same material.

    • D. Sztenkiel
    • , M. Foltyn
    •  & T. Dietl

  • Article
    | Open Access

    High performance CdTe thin film solar cells typically require a chloride activation treatment. Here, Majoret al. show that the main effect of the most effective chloride-based treatments is chloride accumulation at grain boundaries and that it results in improved open circuit voltages.

    • J. D. Major
    • , M. Al Turkestani
    •  & K. Durose

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Direct measurement of electron-phonon interactions at the single-mode level has been a challenge. Here, Liaoet al. use a three-pulse photoacoustic spectroscopy technique to investigate the damping of a single sub-terahertz coherent phonon mode by photo-excited free charge carriers in silicon at room temperature.

    • Bolin Liao
    • , A. A. Maznev
    •  & Gang Chen

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Multiple exciton generation could help limit thermalization losses in solar cells, but the efficiency of the process is still limited. Here, the authors show by atomistic calculations that type-II interfaces in nanostructures along with a change in exciton cooling rate favour multiple exciton generation.

    • Hagai Eshet
    • , Roi Baer
    •  & Eran Rabani

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The length of time a qubit can store information is linked to its coherence time. Here, the authors demonstrate that industrially important crystals comprising more than one species can host qubits with unexpectedly long coherence times.

    • Hosung Seo
    • , Abram L. Falk
    •  & David D. Awschalom

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Spins confined to quantum dots are a possible qubit, but the mechanism that limits their coherence is unclear. Here, the authors use an all-optical Hahn-echo technique to determine the intrinsic coherence time of such spins set by its interaction with the inhomogeneously strained nuclear bath.

    • R. Stockill
    • , C. Le Gall
    •  & M. Atatüre

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Nanostructured materials offer a route to tuning the bandgap of a semiconductor. Here, the authors use single particle absorption spectroscopy to investigate bandgap evolution between cadmium selenide nanowires and quantum dots and identify the length at which a nanorod becomes zero-dimensional.

    • Matthew P. McDonald
    • , Rusha Chatterjee
    •  & Masaru Kuno

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Strong electronic correlations are expected to generate novel behaviour in materials possessing exotic massless electrons with a relativistic nature. Here, the authors demonstrate the reshaping of tilted Dirac cones and ferrimagnetism associated with Coulombic interactions in a layered organic compound.

    • Michihiro Hirata
    • , Kyohei Ishikawa
    •  & Kazushi Kanoda

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Manipulating nitrogen vacancies in nitrogen-doped diamond is important for quantum information processing. Here the authors use a two-colour excitation to redistribute the localized trapping charges in type-1b diamonds.

    • Harishankar Jayakumar
    • , Jacob Henshaw
    •  & Carlos A. Meriles

  • Article
    | Open Access

    In organic solar cells, the photogeneration of free charge carriers is limited by the dissociation of interfacial charge transfer states. Here, the authors study the impact of charge carrier mobilities in operational devices and show that the slowest charge carriers limit the dissociation of charge transfer states.

    • Martin Stolterfoht
    • , Ardalan Armin
    •  & Paul Meredith

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The coupling of nitrogen-vacancy centres with plasmonic and photonic nanostructures is usually studied by top-down preparation. Here, Gong et al. use a bottom-up approach to grow metallic and semiconducting nanoparticles on nanodiamonds, controlling the nanoparticle coverage, size and composition.

    • Jianxiao Gong
    • , Nat Steinsultz
    •  & Min Ouyang

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Observation of quantum phenomena in correlated electron systems is challenging due to low mobility and high concentration of carriers. Here, Matsubara et al. report a two-dimensional electron system with high mobility-low carrier density in δ-doped SrTiO3, demonstrating quantum Hall effect in d-electron systems.

    • Y. Matsubara
    • , K. S. Takahashi
    •  & M. Kawasaki

  • Article
    | Open Access

    In semiconductors containing heavy elements, the Rashba spin-orbit interaction can couple the momentum and spin of electrons, yielding spintronic functionality. Here, the authors image band- and orbital-dependent spin-textures in the layered polar semiconductor BiTeI, demonstrating behaviour beyond the standard Rashba model.

    • Henriette Maaß
    • , Hendrik Bentmann
    •  & Friedrich Reinert

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Electron spins in semiconductors form a potential basis for quantum information technology however they are strongly affected by interactions with nuclear spins. Here, the authors show how quadrupolar interactions, although suppressing nuclear dynamics, can result in an anisotropic enhancement of electronic decoherence.

    • Tim Botzem
    • , Robert P. G. McNeil
    •  & Hendrik Bluhm

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Coupling between quantum structures and mechanical resonators remains a challenge. Here, the authors couple a quantum dot and a piezoelectric microresonator and show that gate-induced single electron transport in the quantum dot enables control of the amplitude of the mechanical response.

    • Yuma Okazaki
    • , Imran Mahboob
    •  & Hiroshi Yamaguchi

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The mobility of organic semiconductors can be tuned by modifying their chemical composition or crystalline properties. Here, the authors show that bending organic single crystals increases their field effect transistor mobility due to restrained molecular vibrations and subsequently reduced dynamic disorder.

    • Takayoshi Kubo
    • , Roger Häusermann
    •  & Jun Takeya

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Ferromagnetism and superconductivity possess inherently incompatible electronic spin ordering, and their coexistence requires elaborate engineering of material components. Here, the authors induce ferromagnetism in a two-dimensional superconducting crystal by the adsorption of hydrazine molecules.

    • Xiaojiao Zhu
    • , Yuqiao Guo
    •  & Yi Xie

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Growth of high-quality semiconducting single-wall carbon nanotubes is crucial for high-performance devices. Here, the authors report a partially carbon-coated cobalt nanoparticle catalyst which catalyzes growth of predominantly semiconducting single-wall carbon nanotubes with a narrow band-gap distribution.

    • Feng Zhang
    • , Peng-Xiang Hou
    •  & Hui-Ming Cheng

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Weyl semimetals exhibit exotic properties owing to the presence of Weyl fermions. Here, Xu et al. show that tantalum phosphide is an ideal platform for studying the transport properties of these particles because its low-energy properties are dominated by a single type of Weyl fermion.

    • N. Xu
    • , H. M. Weng
    •  & M. Shi

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Spin-orbit effects in non-magnetic semiconductors allow for the manipulation of electronic spins in the absence of an applied magnetic field. Here, the authors exploit a persistent spin helix state in single quantum wells to enhance the coherence length of electronic drift transport.

    • Y. Kunihashi
    • , H. Sanada
    •  & T. Sogawa

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Thermometry using scanning probe techniques allows for the thermal imaging and characterization of devices with nanoscale resolution, however can be hindered by contact-related artefacts. Here, the authors demonstrate a thermal scanning probe approach which eliminates contact-resistance effects.

    • Fabian Menges
    • , Philipp Mensch
    •  & Bernd Gotsmann

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Photo-induced charge separation in organic semiconductors usually occurs at interfaces between electron donors and acceptors. Here, the authors show using photoluminescence measurements that charge separation is intrinsic and directional in organic crystalline nanowires made of stacked monomers.

    • J. A. Labastide
    • , H. B. Thompson
    •  & M. D. Barnes

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Excitons—bound electron-hole pairs—in two-dimensional transition-metal dichalcogenides can exhibit a rich spectrum of excited states. Here, the authors use ultrafast mid-infrared spectroscopy to explore the dynamics of these so-called 1s-intraexcitonic transitions in monolayer molybdenum disulphide.

    • Soonyoung Cha
    • , Ji Ho Sung
    •  & Hyunyong Choi

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Semiconductor nanocrystals are potential nanoelectronic materials but often display nonuniform electric properties due to their anisotropic growths. Here, the authors report cross-sectional cathodoluminescence imaging of a single-crystalline ZnO nanowire to resolve its growth sectors with different carrier concentrations.

    • Kentaro Watanabe
    • , Takahiro Nagata
    •  & Yoshiaki Nakamura

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Control of conductivity and optical properties via atomic structure changes is of technological importance in information storage. Here, Li et al.show that electrostatic gating has the potential to drive structural semiconductor-to-semimetal phase transitions in some monolayer transition metal dichalcogenides.

    • Yao Li
    • , Karel-Alexander N. Duerloo
    •  & Evan J. Reed

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The spin and valley degrees of freedom are coupled in two-dimensional transition-metal dichalcogenides. Here, the authors use high magnetic fields to optically measure the valley Zeeman effect and diamagnetic exciton shift in tungsten disulphide and molybdenum disulphide, and determine the exciton binding energies.

    • Andreas V. Stier
    • , Kathleen M. McCreary
    •  & Scott A. Crooker

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The understanding of strain effect on electronic properties of organic semiconductors is crucial for the designs of flexible electronics. Here, Wu et al.characterize the tensile and compressive strain effects on the work function of rubrene single crystals as a benchmark system.

    • Yanfei Wu
    • , Annabel R. Chew
    •  & C. Daniel Frisbie

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Iron Fe2+ions embedded in semiconductor matrix usually have zero magnetic moment in the ground state. Here, the authors show theoretically and experimentally that a nearly doubly degenerate magnetic ground state is produced when iron ions are subjected to strain in epitaxial quantum dots, suggesting they could be used in spintronics and solotronics.

    • T. Smoleński
    • , T. Kazimierczuk
    •  & W. Pacuski

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Growth of high-quality III–V semiconductors for electronics and optoelectronics usually requires an atomic-lattice matched substrate. Here, the authors use templated liquid-phase crystal growth to create single-crystalline III–V material up to ten micrometres across on an amorphous substrate.

    • Kevin Chen
    • , Rehan Kapadia
    •  & Ali Javey

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Quantum dots can produce entangled photons, but careful control over photon wavelength is required for real-life applications. Here, the authors use three-directional strain engineering to overcome this problem and to interface entangled photons from quantum dots with a cloud of natural atoms.

    • Rinaldo Trotta
    • , Javier Martín-Sánchez
    •  & Armando Rastelli

  • Article
    | Open Access

    In semiconductor spintronic devices, Hanle precession allows for electrical detection of spin accumulation however it is inhibited at room temperature in GaAs by magnetic-field effects. Here, the authors present an alternative method for detecting spin accumulation based on ferromagnetic resonance.

    • Changjiang Liu
    • , Sahil J. Patel
    •  & Paul A. Crowell

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Good thermoelectric materials are often complex compounds. Here, the authors reveal that elemental tellurium has a high thermoelectric figure of merit between 300 and 700 K when doped with As, with the potential advantages of easy preparation and relative isotropy.

    • Siqi Lin
    • , Wen Li
    •  & Yanzhong Pei

  • Article
    | Open Access

    BioLEDs is an emerging group of light-emitting diodes that use duplex-strand DNA to enhance luminescence intensity. Here, Back et al.show that only the specific binding between a pair of single-strand DNA can trigger the enhancement, which potentially makes BioLEDs an easy platform for DNA recognition.

    • Seung Hyuk Back
    • , Jin Hyuk Park
    •  & Dong June Ahn

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Polymerization on surfaces is an emerging approach for producing graphene nanoribbons with a tunable bandgap, a promising material for carbon-based electronics. Here, Vasseur et al.show quasi-one-dimensional band structure of a model semiconducting polymer synthesized directly on a supporting surface.

    • Guillaume Vasseur
    • , Yannick Fagot-Revurat
    •  & Dmitrii F. Perepichka

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Organic semiconductors with high mobility and strong fluorescence are necessary for optoelectronic devices. Here, Liu et al. show an organic semiconductor, 2,6-diphenylanthracene, satisfying both requirements with mobility of 34 cm2 V−1 s−1 and emission of 6,627 cd m−2at a turn-on voltage of 2.8 V.

    • Jie Liu
    • , Hantang Zhang
    •  & Alan J. Heeger

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