Resonance and antiresonance in Raman scattering in GaSe and InSe crystals.

The temperature effect on the Raman scattering efficiency is investigated in [Formula: see text]-GaSe and [Formula: see text]-InSe crystals. We found that varying the temperature over a broad range from 5 to 350 K permits to achieve both the resonant conditions and the antiresonance behaviour in Raman scattering of the studied materials. The resonant conditions of Raman scattering are observed at about 270 K under the 1.96 eV excitation for GaSe due to the energy proximity of the optical band gap. In the case of InSe, the resonant Raman spectra are apparent at about 50 and 270 K under correspondingly the 2.41 eV and 2.54 eV excitations as a result of the energy proximity of the so-called B transition. Interestingly, the observed resonances for both materials are followed by an antiresonance behaviour noticeable at higher temperatures than the detected resonances. The significant variations of phonon-modes intensities can be explained in terms of electron-phonon coupling and quantum interference of contributions from different points of the Brillouin zone.

Giant Quantum Hall Plateau in Graphene Coupled to an InSe van der Waals Crystal.

We report on a "giant" quantum Hall effect plateau in a graphene-based field-effect transistor where graphene is capped by a layer of the van der Waals crystal InSe. The giant quantum Hall effect plateau arises from the close alignment of the conduction band edge of InSe with the Dirac point of graphene. This feature enables the magnetic-field- and electric-field-effect-induced transfer of charge carriers between InSe and the degenerate Landau level states of the adjacent graphene layer, which is coupled by a van der Waals heterointerface to the InSe.

The direct-to-indirect band gap crossover in two-dimensional van der Waals Indium Selenide crystals.

The electronic band structure of van der Waals (vdW) layered crystals has properties that depend on the composition, thickness and stacking of the component layers. Here we use density functional theory and high field magneto-optics to investigate the metal chalcogenide InSe, a recent addition to the family of vdW layered crystals, which transforms from a direct to an indirect band gap semiconductor as the number of layers is reduced. We investigate this direct-to-indirect bandgap crossover, demonstrate a highly tuneable optical response from the near infrared to the visible spectrum with decreasing layer thickness down to 2 layers, and report quantum dot-like optical emissions distributed over a wide range of energy. Our analysis also indicates that electron and exciton effective masses are weakly dependent on the layer thickness and are significantly smaller than in other vdW crystals. These properties are unprecedented within the large family of vdW crystals and demonstrate the potential of InSe for electronic and photonic technologies.

Fabrication and characterization of PbSe nanostructures on van der Waals surfaces of GaSe layered semiconductor crystals.

The growth morphology, composition and structure of PbSe nanostructures grown on the atomically smooth, clean, nanoporous and oxidized van der Waals (0001) surfaces of GaSe layered crystals were studied by means of atomic force microscopy, x-ray diffractometry,photoelectron spectroscopy and Raman spectroscopy. Semiconductor heterostructures were grown by the hot-wall technique in vacuum. Nanoporous GaSe substrates were fabricated by the thermal annealing of layered crystals in a molecular hydrogen atmosphere. The irradiation of the GaSe(0001) surface by UV radiation was used to fabricate thin Ga(2)O(3) layers with thickness < 2 nm. It was found that the narrow gap semiconductor PbSe shows a tendency to form clusters with a square or rectangular symmetry on the cleanlow-energy (0001) GaSe surface, and (001)-oriented growth of PbSe thin films takes place on this surface. Using this growth technique it is possible to grow PbSe nanostructures with different morphologies:continuous epitaxial layers with thickness < 10 nm on the uncontaminated p-GaSe(0001)surfaces, homogeneous arrays of quantum dots with a high lateral density (more than 1011 cm(−2))on the oxidized van der Waals (0001) surfaces and faceted square pillar-like nanostructures with a low lateral density (∼10(8) cm(−2)) on the nanoporous GaSe substrates. We exploit the 'vapor­liquid­solid' growth with low-melting metal (Ga) catalyst of PbSe crystalline branched nanostructures via a surface-defect-assisted mechanism.

Biexciton formation and exciton coherent coupling in layered GaSe.

Nonlinear two-dimensional Fourier transform (2DFT) and linear absorption spectroscopy are used to study the electronic structure and optical properties of excitons in the layered semiconductor GaSe. At the 1s exciton resonance, two peaks are identified in the absorption spectra, which are assigned to splitting of the exciton ground state into the triplet and singlet states. 2DFT spectra acquired for co-linear polarization of the excitation pulses feature an additional peak originating from coherent energy transfer between the singlet and triplet. At cross-linear polarization of the excitation pulses, the 2DFT spectra expose a new peak likely originating from bound biexcitons. The polarization dependent 2DFT spectra are well reproduced by simulations using the optical Bloch equations for a four level system, where many-body effects are included phenomenologically. Although biexciton effects are thought to be strong in this material, only moderate contributions from bound biexciton creation can be observed. The biexciton binding energy of ∼2 meV was estimated from the separation of the peaks in the 2DFT spectra. Temperature dependent absorption and 2DFT measurements, combined with "ab initio" theoretical calculations of the phonon spectra, indicate strong interaction with the A1 (') phonon mode. Excitation density dependent 2DFT measurements reveal excitation induced dephasing and provide a lower limit for the homogeneous linewidth of the excitons in the present GaSe crystal.

2D nanocomposite photoconductive sensors fully dry drawn on regular paper.

We proposed a new type of low-cost and environmentally friendly photoconductive sensor, based on GaSe/graphite nanocomposite fully dry drawn on paper. The proposed fully-drawn nanocomposite sensors successfully utilize the unique combination of structural and electrical properties of a layered semiconductor and graphite. In spite of the relatively pure photosensitivity of the proposed photodetectors, we believe that this work is the first step for the further development and enhancement of extremely simple and low-cost paper-based dry drawn layered semiconductor/graphite nanocomposite sensors.

Diffraction properties of the nanostructured surface.

The photosensitive In2O3-p-InSe heterostructures in which the In2O3 frontal layer has a nanostructured surface were investigated. The photoresponse spectra of such heterostructures are found to be essentially dependent on surface topology of the oxide. The obtained results indicate that the In2O3 oxide is not only the active component of the structure but also acts as a diffraction cellular element. The oxide surface topology was investigated by means of the atomic-force microscope technique. It was established that the surface topology is caused by the technological conditions of growing In2O3 oxides. Under different conditions of oxidation the sample surfaces had contained nanoformations preferably in the form of nanoneedles. Their location has both a disordered and ordered character. The sizes, form and density of the nanoneedles are different, too. A dimensional optical effect in the oxide was found to be due to the anisotropic light absorption in InSe. The higher deviation of incident light from its normal direction due to a nanostructured surface is the higher variation in the generation of carriers in the semiconductor is. These changes consist in the energy broadening of the heterostructure photoresponse spectrum as well in peculiarities of the excitonic line. The higher density and ordering of the nanoneedles on the oxide surface is the higher long-wave shift and more intensive excitonic peak in spectrum takes place.

An innovative and viable route for the realization of ultra-thin supercapacitors electrodes assembled with carbon nanotubes.

Electrochemical Double Layer Capacitors (EDLC), also known as supercapacitors, have been fabricated using Single Walled Carbon Nanotubes (SWCNTs) as active material for electrode assembling. In particular a new way of fabrication of ultra-thin electrodes (< or = 25 microm) directly formed on the separator has been proposed, and a prototype of EDLC has been realized and tested. For such devices the specific capacitance is in the range 40-45 F/g and the internal resistances in the range 6-8 omega x cm2, at current density of 2 mA x cm-2.