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Abstract: Topological insulators (TIs) represent a new state of matter that possess a different band structure than regular insulators or conductors. They are characterized with a band gap in the bulk and conductive topological states on the surface, which are spin polarized and robust toward contamination or deformation of the surface. Since the intriguing properties of the TIs are localized at the surface, it is important to obtain knowledge of the possible phenomena happening at the interface between TIs and other materials. This is especially true in the case of metals, due to the fact that such interfaces will be present in the majority of foreseen TI applications. The presented study combines microscopy and spectroscopy techniques for characterization of morphology, stability and chemical interaction at the interface between TI and metals deposited by means of physical vapor deposition. Our research is based on the interface of Bi2Se3 topological insulator with Ag, Ti and Pt – metals that can be encountered in devices or applications predicted to utilize the special properties of topological insulators. STM and SEM imaging of Ag/Bi2Se3 interface showed that Ag atoms arrange on the surface in the form of islands, whereas significantly bigger agglomerates are found at the surface steps. The interface was found to be unstable in time and resulted in the absorption of the metal into the crystal at room temperature. Evidences of a chemical reaction at the Ag/Bi2Se3 interface are presented, showing that new phases (Ag2Se, AgBiSe2 and metallic Bi) are formed. Deposition of Ti on Bi2Se3 resulted in different morphologies depending on the film thickness. At a very low coverage (<1 Å) islands are formed. However, the islands growth is hindered before the completion of a full layer due to the occurrence of a chemical reaction. No surface features could be detected by SEM for Ti coverage up to 20 nm. In contrary, when Ti thickness reached 40 nm, compressive stress triggered buckling of the deposited film. XPS analysis revealed that a redox solid-state reaction occurs at the Ti/Bi2Se3 interface at room temperature forming titanium selenides and metallic Bi. The reaction has significant kinetics even at cryogenic temperature of 130 K. Pt forms a homogenous film over the whole substrate surface, which is stable in time at room temperature. Although the interface of Pt with Bi2Se3 was found to be i less reactive compared to Ag and Ti, an interfacial phase formed upon annealing to ∼90 °C was detected by TEM cross section experiment. A model for prediction of interfacial reactions between a metal and Bi2Se3 based on the standard reduction potential of the metals and Gibbs free energy for a model reaction is presented. Based on these two values the reaction can be expected to result in the formation of binary and/or ternary selenides and Bi. Presented work shows on the importance of metal/topological insulator interfaces characterization taking into account the possibility of a chemical reaction with all of its consequences. Results should be considered for future theoretical and applicative studies involving such interfaces as well as for the possible engineering of 2D TI heterostructures.
Keywords: topological insulators, topological surface states, Bi2Se3, thin films, Ag, Ti, Pt, morphology, interfaces, solid-state reaction, metal selenides, reactivity, stability, electron microscopy, dissertations
Published in RUNG: 09.06.2021; Views: 3879; Downloads: 175
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Published in RUNG: 29.05.2021; Views: 1781; Downloads: 0
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Keywords: Atmospheric aerosol, Sahara dust, WRF-Chem, Northern Adriatic
Published in RUNG: 28.05.2021; Views: 1995; Downloads: 0
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Abstract: The World Health Organization (WHO) identified air pollution as the world’s largest single environmental health risk causing seven million deaths per year, one in eight deaths globally. Of particular concern are heavily polluted and understudied urban centres: while thousands of scientific papers have been published on air quality of the cities such as London, UK and Los Angeles, USA, only 41 papers exist on the top 10 globally most polluted cities. Sarajevo, the capital of Bosnia and Herzegovina (B&H), is one of urban centres which often experiences low air quality due to the extensive use of non-renewable energy sources and geographical location. For example, in Sarajevo during 2010, an annual average concentration of particulate matter (PM) with a diameter smaller than 10 µm (PM10) was 50 µg/m3, a value 2.5x higer than the recommended WHO guidelines value of 20 µg/m3. Sarajevo Canton Winter Field Campaign 2017-2018 (SAFICA) took place in the Sarajevo Canton during the cold winter season of 2017 – 2018 (Dec 4, 2017 – Mar 15, 2018), the period historically characterized with the lowest air quality according to the available data. SAFICA project was lead by Federal hydrometeorological Institute of B&H, Institute of Public Health of the Sarajevo Canton, University of Sarajevo and University of Rijeka, and field measurements took place at three urban locations within the city of Sarajevo (Otoka, Pofalići i Bjelave) i one remote location (Ivan Sedlo mountain ridge). In this presentation, the basics of anthropogenic air pollution and its global influece on the air quality will be explained. Particular attention will be given to the atmospheric PM or aerosols, and aerosols formation mechanisms and the importance of their characteristics such as atmospheric concentration, size and chemical composition will be explained. Also, the reasons for the adverse effects of aerosols on human health and the correlation of atmospheric fine PM (PM2.5) concentrations and human mortality will be explained. Finally, preliminary results of SAFICA measurements campaign will be presented and compared with those from other global urban centers.
Keywords: atmospheric aerosol, Sarajevo, urban air pollution, SAFICA 2018
Published in RUNG: 26.05.2021; Views: 2393; Downloads: 0
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Abstract: Nowadays, urban centres in countries of the Western Balkan region (including Bosnia and Herzegovina (B&H)) are experiencing some of the poorest European and global air quality due to the extensive use of solid fuels (e.g., wood, coal) and old vehicle fleet. Western Balkan countries lack state-of-the-art atmospheric sciences research despite high levels of ambient pollution, which makes the efforts to understand the mechanisms of their air pollution imperative. The city of Sarajevo, the capital of B&H, is situated in a basin surrounded by mountains. Particularly during the winter months, topography and meteorology cause significant pollution episodes. The Sarajevo Canton Winter Field Campaign 2018 (SAFICA) took place from Dec 04, 2017 to Mar 15, 2018 with on-line aerosol measurements and collection of daily, continuous filter PM10 samples for off-line laboratory analyses. SAFICA aimed to give the first detailed characterization of the Western Balkans aerosol composition including organic aerosol (OA) to elucidate aerosol emission sources and atmospheric processing and to estimate the adverse health effects. PM10 samples (ntotal=180) were collected at four sites in the Sarajevo Canton: a) Bjelave and b) Pofalići (urban background); c) Otoka (urban); d) Ivan Sedlo (remote). The urban sites were distributed along the city basin to study the pollutants’ urban evolution and the remote site was chosen to compare urban to background air masses. SAFICA PM10 samples underwent different off-line laboratory chemical analyses: 1) Bulk chemical composition of the total filter-collected water-soluble inorganic and OA by a high-resolution Aerodyne Aerosol Mass Spectrometer (AMS). The measured AMS OA spectra were further analysed by Positive Matrix Factorization (PMF) using the graphical user interface SoFi (Source Finder) to separate OA into subtypes characteristic for OA sources and atmospheric processes. 2) Organic and elemental carbon (OC/EC), water-soluble organic carbon, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, levoglucosan, and 14C content of total carbon to evaluate OA chemical composition. 3) Major inorganic anions and cations to evaluate aerosol inorganic species. 4) Metal content in aerosol determined by two analytical techniques (AAS and ICP-MS). SAFICA on-line measurements of black carbon (Aethalometer) and the particle number concentration (Condensation Particle Counter and Optical Particle Sizer) enabled the insights into the daily evolution of primary pollutants and an assessment of aerosol size and number distribution. The combined SAFICA results for on- and off-line measurements will be presented. Our results show that the carbon-containing species make ~2/3 of PM10 mass and the majority are oxygenated, water-soluble OA species with an average OM/OC = 1.9 (Fig.1). Urban air pollution crises in the Western Balkan will be put in the context of local, regional and global air quality. Finally, we will present the scientific questions opened by SAFICA, including the advantages and limitations of SAFICA data set, and give the recommendations for future studies.
Keywords: Sarajevo, urban air pollution, PM10, PM2.5
Published in RUNG: 26.05.2021; Views: 2632; Downloads: 20
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