Nanostructured regular patterns on silicon surface are made by using femtosecond laser irradiations. This is a novel method that can modify the surface morphology of any large material in an easy, fast, and low-cost way. We irradiate a solid surface with a 400-nm double frequency beam from an 800-nm femtosecond laser, while the solid surface is submerged in a liquid or exposed in air. From the study of multiple-pulses and single-pulse irradiations on silicon, we find the morphologies of nanospikes and capillary waves to follow the same distribution and periodicity. Thermal transport near the solid surface plays an important role in the formation of patterns; a simulation was done to fully understand the mechanism of the pattern formation in single pulse irradiation. The theoretical models include a femtosecond laser pulse function, a two-temperature model (2-T model), and an estimation of interface thermal coupling. The evolution of lattice temperature over time will be calculated first without liquid cooling and then with liquid cooling, which has not been well considered in previous theoretical papers. The lifetime of the capillary wave is found to be longer than the solidification time of the molten silicon only when water cooling is introduced. This allows the capillary wave to be frozen and leaves interesting concentric rings on the silicon surface. The regular nanospikes generated on the silicon surface result from the overlapping capillary waves.

The effect of vacancies on electronic properties of a zigzag graphene nanoribbon is studied. Vacancies are created by removing carbon atoms on the edge and in the bulk. A tight-binding Huckel model and Green's function methodology are employed to calculate conductance, total density of states, and local density of states (LDOS). The results show interesting behaviors that are notably different from the perfect ribbon, including transmission zeros and modulation in conductance, and changes in the LDOS of neighboring atoms, indicating the formation of localized states. A drop in the highest conductance step by a unit of 2 e²/h is observed for all cases, suggesting the loss of a transmission mode with creation of a vacancy. Interestingly, large increases in LDOS of individual atoms are found at the same energy as transmission zeros or dips in conductance near the Fermi energy. These changes can be shown to be localized near the vacancy, suggesting the formation of localized states that may be causing the conductance dips because of destructive interference between channels.

Conversion of carbon dioxide (CO₂) and water (H₂O) to methanol (CH₃OH) is achieved through an artificial photosynthesis procedure utilizing cobalt (Co) micro-particle based photocatalyst and solar energy in a simple, closed reactor. The photocatalyst is fabricated by exposing the surfaces of cobalt microparticles to femtosecond laser irradiation in a gold chloride (AuCl) solution. The morphology and composite of the photocatalyst surfaces were observed and detected to be a layer of cobalt dioxide (CoO) nano-flakes on which some gold (Au) nanoparticles were deposited. The Au nanoparticles harvest the Sunlight energy through a plasmonic effect. The energy absorbed by Au nanoparticles creates electrons and holes which excite the H₂O and CO₂ molecules adsorbed on CoO nanostructure surfaces to form excited hydrogen (H₂)* and excited carbon monoxide (CO)* on the CoO surface. The excited molecules combine to form CH₃OH on the CoO surface. The Au/CoO/Co nanostructured surfaces are useful for developing a low-cost method to convert solar energy to chemical energy in the form of methanol.

We explore a model of armchair graphene nanoribbons tuned by functionalizing the edge states. Edge modifications are modeled by changing the electronic energy of the edge states in specific periodic patterns. The model can be considered to mimic a controlled doping process with different elements. The band structure, density of states, conductance, and local density of states are calculated, using the tight binding approach, Green’s function methodology, and the Landauer formula. The results show interesting behaviors, which are considerably different from the properties of the perfect nanoribbons. The hybridization of conducting bands with non-conducting bands, which appear perfectly flat in the perfect ribbon, opens up and modifies gaps in conductance near the Fermi level. One particular pattern of edge functionalization causes a strong, symmetric, and systematic band gap change about the Fermi level, modifying the electronic characteristics in the energy dispersion, density of states, local density of states, and conductance.

In this study, we electroplated Co and Cu on nano-spiked silicon substrates that were treated with femtosecond laser irradiations. With energy-dispersive X-ray (EDX) analysis by a scanning electron microscope (SEM), it was found that both Co and Cu are primarily coated on the spike surfaces without changing the morphology of the nanospikes. We also found that nanoscale bridges were formed, connecting the Co-coated silicon spikes. The formation of these bridges was studied and optimized through a series of time-controlled electroplating and oxidizing processes. The bridges are related to the oxidation of Co in the air. When it is irradiated with visible light, this special structure has shown a capability of interactions with carbon monoxide and carbon dioxide molecules. The electroplated cobalt may be used for gas sensors.