Strain engineering has transformed applications in the semiconductor electronics industry, but has not been widely explored as a tool for electrochemical applications. Here we study the role of strain on the electrochemistry of metal oxide coatings deposited using atomic layer deposition onto super-elastic NiTi alloy surfaces. Specifically, we focus on vanadium pentoxide (V₂O₅) due to its well-known capability to function as a cathode for the intercalation of lithium ions. Exploiting the capability of NiTi to “lock-in” strain in the elastic regime, which extends up to ~ 15% strain, we study the correlation between strain transferred to the V₂O₅ active material and the electrochemical performance during lithium intercalation. Overall, our results indicate that pre-straining the material changes both the kinetics and energetics for intercalation properties. Furthermore, the diffusion coefficient of lithium ions in the V₂O₅ lattice can be effectively doubled through the application of elastic strains as low as ~0.25%. These results provide a route to controllably engineer bulk materials using principles of mechanics to improve battery or other electrochemical application performance.

Although most commercial rechargeable batteries are prepared by bulk and powder processing methods, vapor deposition of materials has led to important advances for fundamental research, modification of battery materials and interfaces, and also for commercialization of thin film batteries. Each of these areas will be illustrated with our studies of thin film materials for electrolyte, anode, and cathode components of rechargeable lithium and lithium-ion batteries with both planar and 3-dimensional architectures.

Acknowledgement: This work was supported by the U. S. Department of Energy, Office of Science, Basic Energy Sciences, Materials Science and Engineering Division.

We report on silicon (Si) compatible energy-storage supercapacitors (SCs) that incorporate pseudocapacitive nickel hydroxide [Ni(OH)₂] coupled with an electric double layer capacitance (EDLC) contributed by constituent Ni(OH)₂ and carbon layers. SCs can charge and discharge their energy much more rapidly than conventional batteries (within a few seconds to minutes), while possessing a higher energy storage capability than traditional capacitors (specific capacitances can reach thousands of F/g). Although SCs have made a commercial impact in regenerative breaking, there remains untapped potential for this technology in on-chip energy storage that could lead to reduced size and weight of microelectronic devices. However, advancements in Si-based on-chip energy storage has been hindered due to the rapid corrosion of Si by most electrolytes necessary for energy storage. Recently, it has been shown that conformal carbonization of high surface area porous silicon (PSi) electrodes protects the Si matrix from corrosion while also contributing to energy-storage EDLC behavior. Here, we show that functionalization of carbonized PSi with pseudocapacitive Ni(OH)₂ leads to significantly improved energy-storage capabilities of the SC electrode from a few to over 100F/g (with respect to the mass of the entire electrode), and up to 1400 F/g (with respect to the mass of only the Ni(OH)₂ - corrected for EDL contribution of the carbon). The electrodes were fabricated by electrochemical etching of PSi, followed by carbonization using chemical vapor deposition, and finally inclusion of Ni(OH)₂ into the matrix via a sol-gel process or electrochemical deposition. Cyclic voltammetry (CV) and charge/discharge experiments were carried out to investigate the energy storage capabilities of composite pseudocapacitive electrodes prepared with varying sol-gel concentrations and different electrochemical deposition parameters. Scan rates of 1-50 mV/s were used. Clear oxidation and reduction peaks were evident in the CV curves along with the EDLC contribution. We observed a tradeoff between specific surface area and Ni(OH)₂ quantity: the higher the Ni(OH)₂ coverage in the PSi matrix, the lower the accessible surface area. The highest specific capacitance of 1400 F/g was measured on an electrode with a modest concentration of Ni(OH)₂ (5 mg/mL nickel acetate tetrahydrate:2-methoxyethanol) at 50 mV/s. The results of these studies suggest that PSi is an excellent high surface area host template for Ni(OH)₂ that enables high specific capacitance to be achieved on a Si-compatible platform that could be directly integrated into microelectronic devices.

This work was supported by the Semiconductor Research Corporation under Contract 2012-KJ-2359

[1] T. V. Rakhimova et al, J. Phys. D: Appl. Phys. 47 (2014) 025102

Positron emission tomography (PET) is a valuable medical imaging method that relies on radioactive tracers that target specific sites in the body. Development of these tracers is currently hindered by the enormous infrastructure requirements to perform the necessary radioisotope production and subsequent reactions. To overcome this hurdle and facilitate PET tracer development, we are designing simple, modular microfluidic systems that support on-chip radiosynthesis reactions with small volumes of reagents. In this work, [¹⁸F]fluoride (a positron emitter widely used in PET imaging due to its convenient half-life of 110 minutes) is concentrated with a miniaturized anion exchange column located in a microfluidic device fabricated in polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS). By employing a microfluidic device, we aim to achieve more controlled diffusion and reactive kinetics. Instead of relying on complicated flow control elements (e.g. valves), in this microfluidic system, a channel containing pillars with a spacing less than the average diameter of the anion exchange beads is used to trap relatively monodispersed, rigid polystyrene/divinyl benzene beads. We characterized the ability of this miniaturized on-chip exchange column to capture and release quantities of [¹⁸F]fluoride appropriate for human imaging (a typical dose is 10 mCi).

Our device is composed of a main chamber with larger microchannels (9 mm long) connected to an inlet and outlet. A laser writer (Heidelberg µPG 101) was used to create patterns on a silicon wafer using a 60 µm thick layerof mr-DWL resist; this template was subsequently used to pattern a microfluidic structure in PDMS. The desired quantity (2.9 mL) of anion exchange beads was trapped by a double row of square pillars near the outlet of the chamber, and the beads subsequently activated with 1.0 M of KHCO₃. Diluted [¹⁸F]fluoride (100 mCi/mL) sourced from a nearby cyclotron was introduced into the system using a syringe pump, flowing at 0.05 mL/min for 10 minutes.

By quantifying the radioactivity of the [¹⁸F]fluoride introduced, the radioactivity of the chip, and the radioactivity of the outflow, we could determine trapping and release efficiency. We observed near complete capture of [¹⁸F]fluoride (50 mCi)on our chips in a relatively short time. Moreover, elution with a small volume (less than 200 mL) of Kryptofix (K₂₂₂)/K₂CO₃ was able to release nearly all the [¹⁸F]fluoride (49 mCi). Thus, this device is capable of simply and efficiently trapping [¹⁸F]fluoride and controllably releasing the concentrated radiolabel in small volumes for downstream reaction with desired molecules.

Electron beam evaporation under high vacuum is very widely used for contact deposition in electronic device fabrication. Ti has a low work function and is commonly deposited as a contact or adhesion layer for other metals in silicon-based devices and more recently in 2D semiconductors. Previous work on Ti/MoS₂ contacts suggests that electron beam evaporation of Ti under high vacuum results in the formation of TiO₂ at the interface while UHV deposition results in unintentional reactions between metallic Ti and the MoS₂ substrate (McDonnell et al., 10.1021/acsami.6b00275). Since the majority of reports using Ti as a contact metal utilize HV rather than UHV e-beam processes, understanding the role of process conditions on the properties of this contact/semiconductor interface is of the utmost importance. To avoid the large variability observed in metal/MoS₂ contacts, we focus on Si as a case study to investigate the thermal and electronic properties of the Ti/semiconductor interface. The present study examines the effect of deposition rate on the properties of the Ti/Si interface. Electron beam evaporation of Ti onto both hydrogen-terminated and native oxide (001) Si surfaces is performed at varied deposition rates ranging from 0.1 to 5 A/s at pressures of ~10^-6 Torr. Prior to ex-situ characterization, the samples are capped with Au in the evaporator to prevent further oxidation in air. Photoelectron spectroscopy measurements reveal that oxide composition is inversely proportional to the deposition rate. X-ray diffraction data shows no evidence of metallic Ti at slower deposition rates. Due to an appreciable partial pressure of O₂ at high vacuum, the composition of the deposited material is sensitive to the impingement rate of Ti on the surface. It follows that higher deposition rates should result in a smaller fraction of oxide phases. Electron and phonon transport across the interface will be studied as a function of deposition rate.

Materials of reduced dimensionality appear in many contemporary fields of research and technology, because they encompass a wide variety of interesting electronic phenomena. For instance carbon can be prepared in 3D (diamond), quasi-2D (graphite), 2D (graphene) or 1D (carbon nanotubes). All of these structures have distinct electronics. Diamond is an insulator. Graphene is semimetal. However, when the dimensionality is increased by putting several graphene layers together (eventually making graphite), the resulting band structure moves to that of a more trivial metal. Another example is high temperature superconductors being quasi-2D materials as well.

The role of dimensionality in f-electron systems has been mainly discussed in the context of quantum phase transitions and related phenomena. The series Ce_nT_mIn_{3n+2m (}n = 1, 2; m = 0, 1, 2; T = transition metal) of layered compounds has been extensively investigated. CeIn₃ is cubic (3D) and orders antiferromagnetically (AFM) at T_N = 10.2 K. Under hydrostatic pressure superconductivity appears with highest T_c = 0.3 K at p = 2.5 GPa. In CeRhIn₅, the anisotropic crystal structure leads to a quasi-2D electronic and magnetic structure. The AFM order is reduced (T_N = 3.8 K) while superconductivity is supported, T_c increases to 1.9 K at p = 1.77 GPa.

We report on the properties of the novel U₂RhIn₈ compound studied the single crystal form in the context of parent URhIn₅ and UIn₃ systems [1]. The compounds were prepared by In self-flux method. U₂RhIn₈ adopts the Ho₂CoGa₈-type structure with lattice parameters a = 4.6056(6) Å and c = 11.9911(15) Å. The behavior of U₂RhIn₈ strongly resembles features of related URhIn₅ and UIn₃ with respect to magnetization, specific heat, and resistivity, except for magnetocrystalline anisotropy developing with lowering dimensionality in the series UIn₃ vs. U₂RhIn₈ and URhIn₅. U₂RhIn₈ orders AFM below T_N = 117 K and exhibits slightly enhanced Sommerfeld coefficient γ = 47 mJ.mol^-1.K^-2. Magnetic field leaves the value of Néel temperature for both URhIn₅ and U₂RhIn₈ unaffected up to 9 T. On the other hand, T_N increases with applying hydrostatic pressure up to 3.2 GPa. Results of thermal expansion measurement will be discussed in the framework of Ehrenfest relations. The character of uranium 5f electron states of U₂RhIn₈ was studied by first principles calculations based on the density functional theory combined with the Hubbard model. The overall phase diagram of U₂RhIn₈ is discussed in the context of magnetism in related UTX₅ and UX₃ (T = transition metal, X = In, Ga) compounds.