Magnetite nanoparticles exhibit magnetic properties that are size and organization dependent and, for applications that rely on their magnetic state, they usually have to be monodisperse. Forming such particles, however, has remained a challenge. Here, we synthesize 40 nm particles of magnetite in the presence of polyarginine and show that they are composed of 10 nm building blocks, yet diffract like single crystals. We use both bulk magnetic measurements and magnetic induction maps recorded from individual particles using off-axis electron holography to show that each 40 nm particle typically contains a single magnetic domain. The magnetic state is therefore determined primarily by the size of the superstructure and not by the sizes of the constituent sub-units. Our results fundamentally demonstrate the structure – property relationship in a magnetic mesoparticle.

The vertical Gallium Nitride-on-Silicon (GaN-on-Si) trench metal-oxide-semiconductor field effect transistor (MOSFET) is a promising architecture for the development of efficient GaN-based power transistors on foreign substrates for power conversion applications. This work presents an overview of recent case studies, to discuss the most relevant challenges related to the development of reliable vertical GaN-on-Si trench MOSFETs. The focus lies on strategies to identify and tackle the most relevant reliability issues. First, we describe leakage and doping considerations, which must be considered to design vertical GaN-on-Si stacks with high breakdown voltage. Next, we describe gate design techniques to improve breakdown performance, through variation of dielectric composition coupled with optimization of the trench structure. Finally, we describe how to identify and compare trapping effects with the help of pulsed techniques, combined with light-assisted de-trapping analyses, in order to assess the dynamic performance of the devices.

The present work deals with the development of Co₃O₄-based catalysts for potential application in catalytic gas sensors for methane (CH₄) detection. Among the transition-metal oxide catalysts, Co₃O₄ exhibits the highest activity in catalytic combustion. Doping Co₃O₄ with another metal can further improve its catalytic performance. Despite their promising properties, Co₃O₄ materials have rarely been tested for use in catalytic gas sensors. In our study, the influence of catalyst morphology and Ni doping on the catalytic activity and thermal stability of Co₃O₄-based catalysts was analyzed by differential calorimetry by measuring the thermal response to 1% CH₄. The morphology of two Co₃O₄ catalysts and two Ni_xCo_3−xO₄ with a Ni:Co molar ratio of 1:2 and 1:5 was studied using scanning transmission electron microscopy and energy dispersive X-ray analysis. The catalysts were synthesized by (co)precipitation with KOH solution. The investigations showed that Ni doping can improve the catalytic activity of Co₃O₄ catalysts. The thermal response of Ni-doped catalysts was increased by more than 20% at 400 °C and 450 °C compared to one of the studied Co₃O₄ oxides. However, the thermal response of the other Co₃O₄ was even higher than that of Ni_xCo_3−xO₄ catalysts (8% at 400 °C). Furthermore, the modification of Co₃O₄ with Ni simultaneously brings stability problems at higher operating temperatures (≥400 °C) due to the observed inhomogeneous Ni distribution in the structure of Ni_xCo_3−xO₄. In particular, the Ni_xCo_3−xO₄ with high Ni content (Ni:Co ratio 1:2) showed apparent NiO separation and thus a strong decrease in thermal response of 8% after 24 h of heat treatment at 400 °C. The reaction of the Co₃O₄ catalysts remained quite stable. Therefore, controlling the structure and morphology of Co₃O₄ achieved more promising results, demonstrating its applicability as a catalyst for gas sensing.

Developing high quality GaN/dielectric interfaces is a fundamental step for manufacturing GaN vertical power transistors. In this paper, we quantitatively investigate the effect of planar etching treatment and trench formation on the performance of GaN-based MOS (metal oxide semiconductor) stacks. The results demonstrate that (i) blanket etching the GaN surface does not degrade the robustness of the deposited dielectric layer; (ii) the addition of the trench etch, while improving reproducibility, results in a decrease in the breakdown performance compared to the planar structures. (iii) For trench structures, the voltage for a 10 year lifetime is still above 20 V, indicating a good robustness. (iv) To review the trapping performance across the metal-dielectric-GaN stack, forward-reverse capacitance–voltage measurements with and without stress and photo-assistance are performed. Overall, as-grown planar capacitors devoid of prior etching steps show the lowest trapping, while trench capacitors have higher interface trapping and bulk trapping comparable to the blanket etched capacitors. (v) The nanostructure of the GaN/dielectric interface was characterized by high resolution scanning transmission electron microscopy. An increased roughness of 2–3 monolayers at the GaN surface was observed after blanket etching, which was correlated with the higher density of interface traps. The results presented in this paper give fundamental insight on how the etch and trench processing affects the trapping and robustness of trench-gate GaN-metal-oxide-semiconductor field effect transistors and provide guidance for the optimization of device performance.

Magnetic induction mapping in the transmission electron microscope using phase contrast techniques such as off-axis electron holography and differential phase contrast imaging often requires the separation of the magnetic contribution to the recorded signal from the electrostatic contribution. When using off-axis electron holography, one of the experimental approaches that can be used to achieve this separation is to evaluate half of the difference between phase shift images that have been recorded before and after turning the sample over. Here, we introduce a cartridge-based sample mounting system, which is based on an existing on-axis tomography specimen holder and can be used to turn a sample over inside the electron microscope, thereby avoiding the need to remove the holder from the microscope to turn the sample over manually. We present three cartridge designs, which are compatible with all pole piece designs and can be used to support conventional 3-mm-diameter sample grids, Si3N4-based membrane chips and needle-shaped specimens. We make use of a wireless inclinometer that has a precision of 0.1° to monitor the sample holder tilt angle independently of the microscope goniometer readout. We also highlight the need to remove geometrical image distortions when aligning pairs of phase shift images that have been recorded before and after turning the sample over. The capabilities of the cartridge-based specimen holder and the turning approach are demonstrated by using off-axis electron holography to record magnetic induction maps of lithographically-patterned soft magnetic Co elements, a focused ion beam milled hard magnetic Nd-Fe-B lamella and an array of four Fe3O4 nanocrystals.