arXiv subjects

Nabil Bassim

Publications and source records attributed to Nabil Bassim.

10 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2026

APTLAS: An Indexed APT Literature Repository

Atom probe tomography (APT) literature is broad, rapidly growing, and dispersed across a wide range of journals, which can make it difficult to identify prior work on a given material system, instrument, or analytical approach. Conventional search engines (e.g., Google Scholar) excel at general retrieval but do not preserve the domain-specific metadata that often determines the relevance of an APT publication (e.g., analysis mode, laser wavelength, or instrument configuration). Herein, APTLAS is presented, which is an indexed repository of published APT literature. At present, the database contains ~2,300 records, each accompanied by metadata extracted from the source publication. The accompanying web tool, available at https://aptlas.bavleyguerguis.com/, allows users to browse and filter by material system, instrument, application, publication type, or keyword search.

cs.DL↗

arXiv2025

Two-dimensional Indium Oxide at the Epitaxial Graphene/SiC Interface: Synthesis, Structure, Properties, and Devices

High-quality two-dimensional (2D) dielectrics are crucial for fabricating 2D/3D hybrid vertical electronic devices such as metal-oxide-semiconductor (MOS) based Schottky diodes and hot electron transistors, the production of which is constrained by the scarcity of bulk layered wide bandgap semiconductors. In this research, we present the synthesis of a new 2D dielectric, monolayer InO2, which differs in stoichiometry from its bulk form, over a large area (>300 um2) by intercalating at the epitaxial graphene (EG)/SiC interface. By adjusting the lateral size of graphene through optical lithography prior to the intercalation, we tune the thickness of InO2 where predominantly (~85%) monolayer InO2 is formed. The preference for monolayer formation of InO2 is explained using ReaxFF reactive molecular dynamics and density functional theory (DFT) calculations. Additionally, the band gap of InO2 is calculated to be 4.1 eV, differing from its bulk form (2.7 eV). Furthermore, MOS-based Schottky diode measurements on InO2 intercalated EG/n-SiC demonstrate that the EG/n-SiC junction transforms from ohmic to a Schottky junction upon intercalation, with a barrier height of 0.87 eV and a rectification ratio of ~10^5. These findings introduce a new addition to the 2D dielectric family, showing significant potential for monolayer InO2 to be used as a barrier in vertical electronic devices.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci↗

arXiv2025

Multi-Length-Scale Dopants Analysis of an Image Sensor via Focused Ion Beam-Secondary Ion Mass Spectrometry and Atom Probe Tomography

The following article presents a multi-length-scale characterization approach for investigating doping chemistry and spatial distributions within semiconductors, as demonstrated using a state-of-the-art CMOS image sensor. With an intricate structural layout and varying doping types/concentration levels, this device is representative of the current challenges faced in measuring dopants within confined volumes using conventional techniques. Focused ion beam-secondary ion mass spectrometry is applied to produce large-area compositional maps with a sub-20 nm resolution, while atom probe tomography is used to extract atomic-scale quantitative dopant profiles. Leveraging the complementary capabilities of the two methods, this workflow is shown to be an effective approach for resolving nano- and micro- scale dopant information, crucial for optimizing the performance and reliability of advanced semiconductor devices.

physics.app-ph↗

arXiv2024

Altermagnetic Polar Metallic phase in Ultra-Thin Epitaxially-Strained RuO2 Films

Altermagnetism refers to a wide class of magnetic orders featuring magnetic sublattices with opposite spins related by rotational symmetries, resulting in non-trivial spin splitting and magnetic multipoles. However, the direct observation of the altermagnetic order parameter remains elusive. Here, by combining theoretical analysis, electrical transport, X-ray and optical spectroscopies, we establish a phase diagram in hybrid molecular beam epitaxy-grown RuO2/TiO2 (110) films, mapping symmetries along with altermagnetic/electronic/structural phase transitions as functions of film thickness and temperature. This features a novel altermagnetic metallic polar phase in epitaxially-strained 2 nm films, extending the concept of multiferroicity to altermagnets. Such a clear signature of a magnetic phase transition at ~500 K is observed exclusively in ultrathin strained films, unlike in bulk RuO2 single crystals. These results demonstrate the potential of epitaxial heterostructure design to induce altermagnetism, paving the way for emergent novel phases with multifunctional properties.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci↗

arXiv2023

Elucidating the Mechanism of Large Phosphate Molecule Intercalation Through Graphene Heterointerfaces

Intercalation is a process of inserting chemical species into the heterointerfaces of two-dimensional (2D) layered materials. While much research has focused on intercalating metals and small gas molecules into graphene, the intercalation of larger molecules through the basal plane of graphene remains highly unexplored. In this work, we present a new mechanism for intercalating large molecules through monolayer graphene to form confined oxide materials at the graphene-substrate heterointerface. We investigate the intercalation of phosphorus pentoxide (P2O5) molecules directly from the vapor phase and confirm the formation of confined P2O5 at the graphene heterointerface using various techniques. Density functional theory (DFT) corroborate the experimental results and reveal the intercalation mechanism, whereby P2O5 dissociates into small fragments catalyzed by defects in the graphene that then permeates through lattice defects and reacts at the heterointerface to form P2O5. This process can also be used to form new confined metal phosphates (e.g., 2D InPO4). While the focus of this study is on P2O5 intercalation, the possibility of intercalation from pre-dissociated molecules catalyzed by defects in graphene may exist for other types of molecules as well. This study is a significant milestone in advancing our understanding of intercalation routes of large molecules via the basal plane of graphene, as well as heterointerface chemical reactions leading to the formation of distinctive confined complex oxide compounds.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci↗

arXiv2022

Large-Area Intercalated 2D-Pb/Graphene Heterostructure as a Platform for Generating Spin-Orbit Torque

A scalable platform to synthesize ultrathin heavy metals may enable high efficiency charge-to-spin conversion for next-generation spintronics. Here we report the synthesis of air-stable, epitaxially registered monolayer Pb underneath bilayer graphene on SiC (0001) by confinement heteroepitaxy (CHet). Diffraction, spectroscopy, and microscopy reveal CHet-based Pb intercalation predominantly exhibits a mottled hexagonal superstructure due to an ordered network of Frenkel-Kontorova-like domain walls. The system's air stability enables ex-situ spin torque ferromagnetic resonance (ST-FMR) measurements that demonstrate charge-to-spin conversion in graphene/Pb/ferromagnet heterostructures with a 1.5x increase in the effective field ratio compared to control samples.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci↗

arXiv2021

Tunable Two-Dimensional Group-III Metal Alloys

Chemically stable quantum-confined 2D metals are of interest in next-generation nanoscale quantum devices. Bottom-up design and synthesis of such metals could enable the creation of materials with tailored, on-demand, electronic and optical properties for applications that utilize tunable plasmonic coupling, optical non-linearity, epsilon-near-zero behavior, or wavelength-specific light trapping. In this work, we demonstrate that the electronic, superconducting and optical properties of air-stable two-dimensional metals can be controllably tuned by the formation of alloys. Environmentally robust large-area two-dimensional InxGa1-x alloys are synthesized by Confinement Heteroepitaxy (CHet). Near-complete solid solubility is achieved with no evidence of phase segregation, and the composition is tunable over the full range of x by changing the relative elemental composition of the precursor. The optical and electronic properties directly correlate with alloy composition, wherein the dielectric function, band structure, superconductivity, and charge transfer from the metal to graphene are all controlled by the indium/gallium ratio in the 2D metal layer.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci↗

arXiv2020

Unexpected Near-Infrared to Visible Non-linear Optical Properties from Two-Dimensional Polar Metals

Near-infrared-to-visible second harmonic generation from air-stable two-dimensional polar gallium and indium metals is described. The photonic properties of 2D metals - including the largest second-order susceptibilities reported for metals (approaching 10nm$^2$/V) - are determined by the atomic-level structure and bonding of two-to-three-atom-thick crystalline films. The bond character evolved from covalent to metallic over a few atomic layers, changing the out-of-plane metal-metal bond distances by approximately ten percent (0.2 $\unicode{x212B}$), resulting in symmetry breaking and an axial electrostatic dipole that mediated the large nonlinear response. Two different orientations of the crystalline metal atoms, corresponding to lateral displacements < 2 $\unicode{x212B}$, persisted in separate micron-scale terraces to generate distinct harmonic polarizations. This strong atomic-level structure-property interplay suggests metal photonic properties can be controlled with atomic precision.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci↗

arXiv2019

Removing Stripes, Scratches, and Curtaining with Non-Recoverable Compressed Sensing

Highly-directional image artifacts such as ion mill curtaining, mechanical scratches, or image striping from beam instability degrade the interpretability of micrographs. These unwanted, aperiodic features extend the image along a primary direction and occupy a small wedge of information in Fourier space. Deleting this wedge of data replaces stripes, scratches, or curtaining, with more complex streaking and blurring artifacts-known within the tomography community as missing wedge artifacts. Here, we overcome this problem by recovering the missing region using total variation minimization, which leverages image sparsity based reconstruction techniques-colloquially referred to as compressed sensing-to reliably restore images corrupted by stripe like features. Our approach removes beam instability, ion mill curtaining, mechanical scratches, or any stripe features and remains robust at low signal-to-noise. The success of this approach is achieved by exploiting compressed sensings inability to recover directional structures that are highly localized and missing in Fourier Space.

cs.CV↗

arXiv2015

Perfect interference-less absorption at infrared frequencies by a van der Waal's crystal

Traditionally, efforts to achieve perfect absorption have required the use of complicated metamaterial-based structures as well as relying on destructive interference to eliminate back reflections. Here, we have demonstrated both theoretically and experimentally that such perfect absorption can be achieved using a naturally occurring material, hexagonal boron nitride (hBN) due to its high optical anisotropy without the requirement of interference effects to absorb the incident field. This effect was observed for p-polarized light within the mid-infrared spectral range, and we provide the full theory describing the origin of the perfect absorption as well as the methodology for achieving this effect with other materials. Furthermore, while this is reported for the uniaxial crystal hBN, this is equally applicable to biaxial crystals and more complicated crystal structures. Interference-less absorption is of fundamental interest to the field of optics; moreover, such materials may provide additional layers of flexibility in the design of frequency selective surfaces, absorbing coatings and sensing devices operating in the infrared.

physics.optics↗