Laboratoire de Physique des Interfaces et des Couches Minces
CNRS - École polytechnique - Institut Polytechnique de Paris
Contributors: Ileana Florea (LPICM), Mariam Ezzedine (LPICM), Mihai-Robert Zamfir (LPICM), Loan Truong (LPICM), Eleonor Caristan (LPICM) and Costel – Sorin Cojocaru (LPICM) The present study is focused on the realization of in situ TEM observations of Fe catalyst film dewetting and catalytic nanoparticles (NPs) formation under molecular and/or radical/ activated hydrogen environments. The formed NPs […]
We have a long-standing history in the development of an angle-resolved Mueller matrix polarimeter which can image all 16 elements of the Mueller matrix in either real or Fourier space. The system operates with ferroelectric crystals and optics able to work anywhere in the spectral range from 450 to 700 nm. An example of the […]
The goal of the project is to study the influence of the electric fields on the growth of free-standing carbon nanotubes(CNTs) by chemical vapor deposition (CVD) used in field emission (FE) applications. The growths are performed in an environmental transmission electron microscope (ETEM) with the ETEM growths observed in real-time under C2H2 environment at 700° […]
New Project: Infrared Polarimetric Microscope with Synchrotron Light The new instrumental project is about the development of a non-conventional Infrared Imaging Polarimeter that will be installed at Synchrotron SOLEIL and will we operative at the end of 2021. The optical design of the new microscope will be optimize to fully exploit the brightness of the […]
Metallic nanowires (NWs) may be of interest in many nano-electronics or plasmonics applications. Nanowires based on silicon are of particular interest as they are naturally compatible with Si technology. Among the latter, nickel silicide NWs are very conductive and could replace copper connections or transparent conductive oxides.1 Regarding fundamental materials science, their growth occurs in […]
Polytypism is the fact of changing the stacking order of the densest atomic planes in a crystal. It leads to different metastable phases of that crystal, which are in perfect epitaxial relationships, but which have different electronic properties. In semiconductors in general and in silicon in particular, the piling up of those structures opens up […]
In plasma-enhanced chemical vapour deposition (PECVD), reactive species generated by the plasma have the effect, among others, of changing the surface energies of the growing materials, which allows one to prepare objects that would not stabilize otherwise. Here, we use this property to stabilize Sn droplets used as catalysts in the growth of Si nanowires […]
Vertical nanowire arrays exhibit excellent light absorption due to their unique structure combining individual optical properties with the collective behavior of the arrays. At LPICM, we are working on the optimization of the light absorption inside nanowire arrays. By combining individual nanowire properties with the closely packed periodic arrangement, we have designed double-diameter nanowire arrays […]
Silicon-based anode fabrication with nano-scale structuration improves the energy density and life cycle of Li-ion batteries. As-synthesized silicon (Si) nanowires (NWs) or nanoparticles (NPs) directly on the current collector represent a credible alternative to conventional graphite anode. However, the operating potentials of these electrodes are below the electrochemical stability window of all electrolytes used in […]
Improving the performance of solar cells requires, among other things, the development of efficient surface passivation techniques. Passivation consists in neutralizing the defects present on the surface of the semiconductor which act as recombination centers of photo-generated charge carriers. This passivation, which can be ensured by a chemical effect (saturation of the pendant bonds […]