Publications related to Berry-phase theory of polar discontinuities at oxide-oxide interfaces

Measuring electrical properties in semiconductor devices by pixelated STEM and off-axis electron holography (or convergent beams vs. plane waves)

We demonstrate the use of both pixelated differential phase contrast (DPC) scanning transmission electron microscopy (STEM) and off-axis electron holography (EH) for the measurement of electric fields and assess the advantages and limitations of each techn ...

Pergamon-Elsevier Science Ltd2024

Automated all-functionals infrared and Raman spectra

Nicola Marzari, Lorenzo Bastonero

Infrared and Raman spectroscopies are ubiquitous techniques employed in many experimental laboratories, thanks to their fast and non-destructive nature able to capture materials' features as spectroscopic fingerprints. Nevertheless, these measurements freq ...

Nature Portfolio2024

Polarization-enhanced GaN Schottky barrier diodes: Ultra-thin InGaN for high breakdown voltage and low Ron

Elison de Nazareth Matioli, Zheng Hao, Alessandro Floriduz

In this work, we present a concept that leverages the strong piezoelectric polarization field in InGaN, which counteracts the external electric field at reverse bias. We show that despite the smaller InGaN band-gap and lower critical electric field, its st ...

2024

Pyroresistive response of percolating conductive polymer composites

Claudio Grimaldi

The pyroresistive response of conductive polymer composites (CPCs) has attracted much interest because of its potential applications in many electronic devices requiring a significant responsiveness to changes in external physical parameters such as temper ...

Amer Physical Soc2024

Hydrogen-induced tunable remanent polarization in a perovskite nickelate

Michele Kotiuga

Materials with field-tunable polarization are of broad interest to condensed matter sciences and solid-state device technologies. Here, using hydrogen (H) donor doping, we modify the room temperature metallic phase of a perovskite nickelate NdNiO3 into an ...

Nature Portfolio2024

Alignment of ND3 molecules in dc-electric fields

Andreas Osterwalder, Viet Le Duc, Junwen Zou

The control of movement and orientation of gas-phase molecules has become the focus of many research areas in molecular physics. Here, ND3 molecules are polarized in a segmented, curved electrostatic guide and adiabatically aligned inside a rotatable mass ...

Aip Publishing2024

Direct observations of X-rays produced by upward positive lightning

Marcos Rubinstein, Antonio Sunjerga, Farhad Rachidi-Haeri, Thomas Chaumont

X-rays have been observed in natural downward cloud-to-ground lightning for over 20 years and in rocket-triggered lightning for slightly less. In both cases, this energetic radiation has been detected during the stepped and dart leader phases of downward n ...

Nature Publishing Group2024

Photoinduced Second-Order Nonlinearities in Centrosymmetric Media

Ozan Yakar

The interaction of light and matter enables nonlinear frequency conversion and the creation of coherent currents. The optical control of electric currents is of fundamental relevance and prominent research focus in the last decades. These photocurrents ena ...

EPFL2024

Experimental Investigation on Size-Effect of Rubble Stone Masonry Walls Under In-Plane Horizontal Loading: Overview and Preliminary Results

Katrin Beyer, Savvas Saloustros

Rubble stone masonry is a common construction typology of historical city centres and vernacular architecture. While past earthquakes have shown that it is one of the most vulnerable masonry construction typologies, there are few experimental campaigns giv ...

2024

Characterization of low-temperature plasmas generated by dielectric barrier discharges for bacterial inactivation

Lorenzo Ibba

Low-temperature plasmas (LTPs) at atmospheric pressure hold great promise for disinfection and sterilization applications. When compared to traditional sterilization technologies like autoclaving, LTPs may offer several benefits, including reduced energy c ...

EPFL2024