Sharif Digital Repository

The temperature and voltage dependence of spin transport is theoretically investigated in a new type of magnetic tunnel junction, which consists of two ferromagnetic outer electrodes separated by a ferromagnetic barrier and a nonmagnetic (NM) metallic spacer. The effect of spin fluctuation in magnetic barrier, which plays an important role at finite temperature, is included by taking the mean-field approximation. It is found that, the tunnel magnetoresistance (TMR) and the electron-spin polarization depend strongly on the temperature and the applied voltage. The TMR and spin polarization at different temperatures show an oscillatory behavior as a function of the NM spacer thickness. Also,... 

The effect of spin dependent recombination on the transport properties of magnetic semiconductors is investigated theoretically. In particular, for p -type direct band gap semiconductors, a theory based on classic Shockley equations is formulated. In this theory the density of spin and charge has been evaluated analytically by solving the diffusive transport equation and it is shown that the difference between recombination rates affect the lifetimes of spin and charge significantly. It is also demonstrated that a considerable spin charge coupling occur. Application of this theory to pure band to band recombination process is discussed. © 2009 American Institute of Physics  

Fast transfer of photoinduced electrons and subsequent slow electron-hole recombination in semiconductor heterostructures give rise to long-lived charge separation which is highly desirable for photocatalysis and photovoltaic applications. As a type II heterostructure, CdS/TiO2 nanocomposites extend the absorption edge of the light spectrum to the visible range and demonstrate effective charge separation, resulting in more efficient conversion of solar energy to chemical energy. This improvement in performance is partly explained by the fact that CdS/TiO2 is a type II semiconductor heterostructure and CdS has a smaller energy band gap than UV-active TiO2. Ultrafast transient absorption... 

Electrochemical activity of TiO2 nanotube arrays (NTAs) is restricted by a wide band gap of TiO2. To overcome this restriction, we considered systematic research on two effective methods of doping of TiO2 NTAs such as the N-doping and electrochemical reductive doping and predicting the proper application of them. Band gap narrowing was occurred from 3.16 eV for undoped TiO2 NTAs to 2.9 and 2.7 eV at N-doped and self-doped TiO2 ones respectively. The electrochemical responses of the TiO2 NTAs before and after doping were examined by cyclic Voltammetry (CV) curve. To understand the electrochemical behavior of the undoped and doped TiO2 NTAs, electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) was... 

Abstract: Photocatalysis using semiconductors has emerged as a promising wastewater treatment process to overcome the major challenges faced by conventional technologies. The advantages of ZnO nanomaterials over other semiconductors, and their structure-dependent properties, make them important building blocks in nanotechnology as multifunctional materials. Moreover, it has been confirmed that ZnO nanomaterials can exhibit high performance in photodegradation of organic dyes for treatment of industrial effluent. The wurtzite structure of ZnO contains polar and nonpolar planes; the low surface energy and thermodynamic stability of the nonpolar planes enable formation of one-dimensional (1D)... 

Anti-reflection and self-cleaning coatings on the glass substrate are used to improve the performance of solar systems. TiO2 are one of the most used semiconductors for this application. In this research meso-porous TiO2 coatings (that synthesized by the sol-gel process) with the various extent of porosity (using different concentrations of Pluronic F127, as pore-forming agent) have been investigated. The coating's thickness and porosity and anti-reflective properties were studied by FE-SEM and UV/VIS spectrometer (transmission spectra test), respectively. It was found that the use of F127 leads to the formation of pores smaller than 30 nm and increases the surface roughness from 1.5 (for... 

The micromorphology and semiconductor properties of TiO2 thin films growth using different ion beam energies have been finely analyzed using atomic force microscopy (AFM), ultra-violet visible (UV–visible) spectroscopy and stereometric analysis. The AFM measurements and surface stereometric analysis are essential for the accurate characterization of the 3-D surface topographic features and allow the determination of the 3-D surface texture parameters that influence the optical properties of the material. The samples were divided into four groups to discuss the obtained results, according to the ion beam energy applied in the sample preparation. The results obtained from experimental... 

Semiconductor-based photocatalysis is an efficient approach for degradation of organic pollutants. In this context, ZnO/g-C3N4 composite nanofibers containing carbonaceous species with different concentrations of g-C3N4 nanosheets (x = 0.25, 0.5, 1, 2, 10 wt%) noted as ZnO/carbon/(x wt%) g-C3N4 are prepared by electrospinning technique. For preparation of the composite nanofibers, bulk g-C3N4 is exfoliated to nanosheets, and then it is mixed with polyvinyl alcohol and appropriate zinc acetate content followed by electrospinning process. Thermal annealing of the as spun zinc acetate/poly(vinyl alcohol)/g-C3N4 nanosheets sample under N2 atmosphere leads to the formation of carbonaceous species... 

A novel method of oxide semiconductor nanoparticle synthesis is proposed based on high-voltage, high-current electrical switching discharge (HVHC-ESD). Through a subsecond discharge in the HVHC-ESD method, we successfully synthesized zinc oxide (ZnO) nanorods. Crystallography and optical and electrical analyses approve the high crystal-quality and outstanding optoelectronic characteristics of our synthesized ZnO. The HVHC-ESD method enables the synthesis of ZnO nanorods with ultraviolet (UV) and visible emissions. To demonstrate the effectiveness of our prepared materials, we also fabricated two UV photodetectors based on the ZnO nanorods synthesized using the subsecond HVHC-ESD method. The... 

In this study, an attempt has been made using different concentrations of rare-earth (RE) elements Yb, Gd in Ni–Zn spinel ferrite to examine the magneto-optical and electrical conductivity analysis of the prepared samples. RE doped Ni–Zn ferrite with composition Ni0.5Zn0.5YbxGdxFe2-xO4 (where, x = 0.00, 0.20, 0.40, 0. 60, 0.80 and 1.00) were prepared by one step sol-gel self-ignition approach. XRD and FESEM were used to examine the formation of a single-phase and variations in the grain size with the increasing contents of RE elements in Ni–Zn ferrite NPs. FTIR confirmed the vibrational studies of the RE doped spinel ferrite. The saturation magnetization, remanence, and coercivity elucidated... 

In this study, an attempt has been made using different concentrations of rare-earth (RE) elements Yb, Gd in Ni–Zn spinel ferrite to examine the magneto-optical and electrical conductivity analysis of the prepared samples. RE doped Ni–Zn ferrite with composition Ni0.5Zn0.5YbxGdxFe2-xO4 (where, x = 0.00, 0.20, 0.40, 0. 60, 0.80 and 1.00) were prepared by one step sol-gel self-ignition approach. XRD and FESEM were used to examine the formation of a single-phase and variations in the grain size with the increasing contents of RE elements in Ni–Zn ferrite NPs. FTIR confirmed the vibrational studies of the RE doped spinel ferrite. The saturation magnetization, remanence, and coercivity elucidated... 

The fabrication of supported noble metal nanocrystals (NCs) with well-controlled morphologies have been attracted considerable interests due to their merits in a wide variety of applications. Photodeposition is a facile and effective method to load metals over semiconductors in a simple slurry reactor under irradiation. By optimizing the photodeposition process, the size, chemical states, and the geometrical distribution of metal NCs have been successfully tuned. However, metal NCs with well-controlled shapes through the photodeposition process have not been reported until now. Here, we report our important advances in the controlled photodeposition process to load regular noble metal NCs.... 

Alterations in the structure of a magnetron, e.g., the A6 relativistic magnetron, are proposed, which considerably increase the device's build-up speed. We cover the magnetron vane surfaces with semiconductor layers of nonzero electric conductivity, with an exact geometrical design. Semiconductor layers with considerable mechanical strength also provide excellent shielding for the vanes against the high-energy relativistic electrons' bombardment. The novel structure introduces several new free parameters to the magnetron design procedure and considerably increases the design flexibility. A multistage exact optimization procedure, performed by extensive computer simulations, shows that... 

The synergistic effect of plasmonic Au-Ag nanoparticles (NPs) on the increase of absorption band of nano-sized TiO2 and magnetic property of Fe3O4 NPs on the separation-ability of this semiconductor was applied for preparation of eight magneto-plasmonic photocatalysts for degradation of rhodamine-6G (Rh6G) in textile wastewater. The size, structure, morphology, crystallinity and optical and magnetic properties of prepared photocatalysts have been evaluated by various characterization techniques. Their photocatalytic activities were assessed under irradiation of an intense linear 405-nm laser and a continuous solar-simulated xenon lamp. The results were demonstrated that in comparison to the... 

Application of corrosion resistant coatings is one of the most widely used means of protecting steel. Zinc coated (galvanize) steel, is well known for galvanic protection of steel substrates and nowadays, particular attention has been paid to the coupling of graphene oxide (GO) with metallic materials, in order to lessen corrosion rate. In this research, an isopropanol supercritical reducing environment prepared to make zinc ions bond directly with graphene oxides, to form a button shape hybrids of ZnO-Graphene (ZnOG). The hybridized bonding between zinc and graphene oxide is confirmed by Fourier Transform Infra-Red analysis. And the morphology revealed, using a Field Emission Scanning...