Qinxi Qiu , Lin Jiang , Tuntan Wu , Yongzhen Li , Qiangguo Zhou , Wangchen Mao , Zhiming Huang
{"title":"PN junction for room temperature terahertz detection","authors":"Qinxi Qiu , Lin Jiang , Tuntan Wu , Yongzhen Li , Qiangguo Zhou , Wangchen Mao , Zhiming Huang","doi":"10.1016/j.mtelec.2025.100179","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.mtelec.2025.100179","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>PN junction plays a crucial role in modern semiconductor technology but is disappeared in room-temperature terahertz detectors due to a few milli–electron volts of low terahertz photon energy and dominated intrinsic thermal excitation in narrow bandgap materials. Herein, we report a room-temperature terahertz PN junction mechanism to realize terahertz detection by injecting electrons into the junction through the electromagnetic-induced well (EIW) effect, while facilitating electron transport via the junction's built-in electric field. Based on the proposed detection mechanism, heterojunction is constructed with two materials, PdSe<sub>2</sub> and MoTe<sub>2</sub>, and it realizes zero-bias detection at room temperature in the terahertz band, effectively addressing the challenges of terahertz detectors. The NEP of the detector is superior to the reported terahertz zero-bias detectors by more than one order of magnitude. Our results break through the response spectral range of PN junction detectors at room temperature and realize high performance of zero-bias terahertz detection.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":100893,"journal":{"name":"Materials Today Electronics","volume":"14 ","pages":"Article 100179"},"PeriodicalIF":7.4,"publicationDate":"2025-12-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145325157","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"A data-driven framework for efficient and physically interpretable prediction of RPA-level adsorption energies","authors":"Guolin Cao, Shiyu He, Yirong Zhang, Sha Yang, Shuang Li, Yusheng Li, Ji-Chang Ren","doi":"10.1016/j.mtelec.2025.100184","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.mtelec.2025.100184","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Accurately predicting the adsorption energies of reaction intermediates is crucial for the rational design of heterogeneous catalysts. However, high-accuracy methods such as the random phase approximation (RPA) are computationally expensive, hindering rapid catalytic materials discovery. Although machine learning models have been proposed to address this, they are often trained on less accurate data or lack physical interpretability. In this work, we introduce a comprehensive framework that integrates three key components: (1) feature importance analysis to identify critical descriptors, (2) a multi-fidelity approach that correlates expensive RPA data with cheap low-fidelity calculations, and (3) symbolic regression to derive transparent, analytic models. Notably, the model not only achieves high predictive accuracy (with an R<sup>2</sup> value of 0.96) using just 9 % of the RPA data, but also offers fundamental insight by explicitly linking surface energy to an electronic descriptor. Our work thus establishes a rapid and interpretable pathway for catalytic materials discovery.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":100893,"journal":{"name":"Materials Today Electronics","volume":"14 ","pages":"Article 100184"},"PeriodicalIF":7.4,"publicationDate":"2025-12-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145693524","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Sneha Singh , Rudra Sankar Dhar , Harith Ahmad , Mousa I. Hussein
{"title":"Exploration and analysis of high-K wrapped underlap based GaN SOI FinFET for enriched performance towards RF applications","authors":"Sneha Singh , Rudra Sankar Dhar , Harith Ahmad , Mousa I. Hussein","doi":"10.1016/j.mtelec.2025.100170","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.mtelec.2025.100170","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>GaN Semiconductor on Insulator (SOI) FinFET with high-k wrapped underlaps and TiO<sub>2</sub> gate oxide is initially developed, explored and analysed for enhanced performances suitable for RF applications. The impact of employing SOI substrate layer and high-k wrapped underlaps on various electrical parameters, such as I<sub>on</sub>, I<sub>off</sub>, electric field, potential, I<sub>on</sub>/I<sub>off</sub> (switching ratio), SS, energy band in conduction and valence band regions are extensively investigated and compared with existing devices. An analytical threshold voltage (V<sub>th</sub>) model for the GaN SOI FinFET is derived that delivers a good match with the acquired value, while an excellent experimental calibration is also presented. The device demonstrates significant improvement in electrical and RF/analog performances on incorporation of SOI substrate and high-k wrapped underlaps that minimize parasitic capacitance and fringing field effects resulting in ∼14 % increase in cut-off frequency and 167 % enhancement in transconductance leading to enhanced AC performances. The proposed device also observed to exhibit superior switching characteristics with ∼11 % reduction in subthreshold swing and an increase in I<sub>on</sub>/I<sub>off</sub> ratio of 154 % compared to existing FinFETs, while other SCEs (Short Channel Effects) are well controlled making it suitable for low-power and high-performance CMOS circuits. Additionally, linearity metrics such as VIP2, VIP3, and IIP3 show enrichment with the device achieving lower harmonic distortions (IMD3 and THD) thereby ensuing suitability for RF and analog circuit designs. These results underscore the potential of GaN SOI FinFETs with high-k underlap designs for high-speed, low-power applications in IOT and 5G/6 G technologies, contributing to the development of green and sustainable electronics.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":100893,"journal":{"name":"Materials Today Electronics","volume":"14 ","pages":"Article 100170"},"PeriodicalIF":7.4,"publicationDate":"2025-12-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145027752","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Liyan Li , Dongjie Zhou , Jinguo Zhang , Lei Zhou , Junhao Chu , Qiong He , Jiaming Hao
{"title":"Angle-insensitive multilayer metacoating with dual-band selective emission for infrared camouflage and radiative cooling","authors":"Liyan Li , Dongjie Zhou , Jinguo Zhang , Lei Zhou , Junhao Chu , Qiong He , Jiaming Hao","doi":"10.1016/j.mtelec.2025.100177","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.mtelec.2025.100177","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>The mid-infrared (MIR) spectral region, covering the atmospheric transmission windows (ATWs) of 3–5 μm (mid-wavelength infrared, MWIR) and 8–13 μm (long-wavelength infrared, LWIR), is critical for applications such as infrared camouflage and radiative cooling due to its low atmospheric absorption. Here, we present a high-efficiency, deep-subwavelength multilayer metacoating (MMC) designed for dual-band emission in the MWIR and LWIR ATWs. Through selective impedance matching, the quad-layer MMC achieves average emissivities of 0.79 in the MWIR and 0.83 in the LWIR ATWs, while suppressing emissivity to 0.33 in the non-ATW range of 5–8 μm. Experimental results confirm these findings, which arise from electromagnetic localization within the multilayer architecture and dissipation in lossy materials (Ti and Cr). Notably, the emitter exhibits angle-insensitive performance, maintaining emissivities of 0.65 (MWIR) and 0.72 (LWIR) at incidence angles up to 70°, and demonstrates effective LWIR camouflage against high-emissivity backgrounds. Theoretical analysis further reveals its potential for nighttime radiative cooling. This work advances scalable, low-cost metacoatings for dual-functional infrared technologies, addressing key challenges in military signature management, thermal regulation, and energy-efficient aerospace systems.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":100893,"journal":{"name":"Materials Today Electronics","volume":"14 ","pages":"Article 100177"},"PeriodicalIF":7.4,"publicationDate":"2025-12-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145109502","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Jinjie Lu , Qiyuan Zhang , Niangjuan Yao , Siyuan Lei , Yingjian Ren , Chengyu Leng , Yanqing Gao , Wei Zhou , Lin Jiang , Zhiming Huang , Junhao Chu
{"title":"Wideband photoelectric detector based on SnSb2Te4 single crystal at room temperature","authors":"Jinjie Lu , Qiyuan Zhang , Niangjuan Yao , Siyuan Lei , Yingjian Ren , Chengyu Leng , Yanqing Gao , Wei Zhou , Lin Jiang , Zhiming Huang , Junhao Chu","doi":"10.1016/j.mtelec.2025.100158","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.mtelec.2025.100158","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Terahertz (THz) wave, as the transition region between microwave and infrared light in the electromagnetic spectrum, shows unique technical advantages in the fields such as high-speed communication, biomedical imaging, astronomical spectral analysis, and non-destructive security inspection. However, THz detection faces key technological bottlenecks due to the factors of unmatched material bandgap, serious dark current, and low absorption. In this study, high quality of SnSb<sub>2</sub>Te<sub>4</sub> single crystal was prepared by chemical vapor transport (CVT) and wide-spectrum photo detectors were fabricated from visible light to THz wave at room temperature with high responsivities of 16,162, 8077, and 3434 A W<sup>-1</sup> at characteristic frequencies of 0.0249 THz, 0.346 THz, and 0.509 THz, respectively, as well as ultra-low noise equivalent power of 7.33 fW Hz<sup>-1/2</sup> and fast response time of 12 μs. Our results demonstrate that SnSb<sub>2</sub>Te<sub>4</sub>-based photoelectric detectors have significant application prospects in the next generation of wide-spectrum optoelectronic devices.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":100893,"journal":{"name":"Materials Today Electronics","volume":"13 ","pages":"Article 100158"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2025-09-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144313016","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Danial Ebrahimzadeh, Sarah S. Sharif, Yaser M. Banad
{"title":"Accelerated discovery of vanadium oxide compositions: A WGAN-VAE framework for materials design","authors":"Danial Ebrahimzadeh, Sarah S. Sharif, Yaser M. Banad","doi":"10.1016/j.mtelec.2025.100155","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.mtelec.2025.100155","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>The discovery of novel materials with tailored electronic properties is crucial for modern device technologies, but time-consuming empirical methods hamper progress. We present an inverse design framework combining an enhanced Wasserstein Generative Adversarial Network (WGAN) with a specialized Variational Autoencoder (VAE) to accelerate the discovery of stable vanadium oxide (V–O) compositions. Our approach features (1) a WGAN with integrated stability constraints and formation energy predictions, enabling direct generation of thermodynamically feasible structures, and (2) a refined VAE capturing atomic positions and lattice parameters while maintaining chemical validity. Applying this framework, we generated 451 unique V–O compositions, with 91 stable and 44 metastable under rigorous thermodynamic criteria. Notably, we uncovered several novel V<span><math><msub><mrow></mrow><mrow><mn>2</mn></mrow></msub></math></span>O<span><math><msub><mrow></mrow><mrow><mn>3</mn></mrow></msub></math></span> configurations with formation energies below the Materials Project convex hull, revealing previously unknown stable phases. Detailed spin-polarized DFT+U calculations showed distinct electronic behaviors, including promising half-metallic characteristics. Our approach outperforms existing methods in both quality and stability, demonstrating about 20<span><math><mtext>%</mtext></math></span> stability rate under strict criteria compared to earlier benchmarks. Additionally, phonon calculations performed on selected compositions confirm dynamic stability: minor imaginary modes at 0 K likely stem from finite-size effects or known phase transitions, suggesting that these materials remain stable or metastable in practical conditions. These findings establish our framework as a powerful tool for accelerated materials discovery and highlight promising V–O candidates for next-generation electronic devices.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":100893,"journal":{"name":"Materials Today Electronics","volume":"13 ","pages":"Article 100155"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2025-09-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144472186","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Huge anisotropic magneto-thermal switching in high-purity polycrystalline compensated metals","authors":"Poonam Rani , Yuto Watanabe , Takuma Shiga , Yuya Sakuraba , Hikaru Takeda , Minoru Yamashita , Ken-ichi Uchida , Aichi Yamashita , Yoshikazu Mizuguchi","doi":"10.1016/j.mtelec.2025.100165","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.mtelec.2025.100165","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Magneto-thermal transport is a promising physical property for thermal management applications. Magneto-thermal switching enables active control of heat flows, and a high switching ratio is desirable for improving performance. Here, we report on the observation of a huge magneto-thermal switching (MTS) effect in high-purity (5 N) Pb polycrystalline wires, where magnetic fields perpendicular to the heat current direction are applied at low temperatures. At <em>T</em> = 3 K and <em>B</em> = 0.1 T, the measured thermal conductivity (<em>κ</em>) of the Pb wire is about 2500 W m<sup>-1</sup> K<sup>-1</sup> but is reduced to ∼150 and ∼5 W m<sup>-1</sup> K<sup>-1</sup> at <em>B</em> = 1 and 9 T, respectively. This strong suppression is attributed to magnetoresistance in compensated metals. Although the huge magnetoresistance has been studied in single crystals with field along the selected orbitals, our results demonstrate that a huge MTS can similarly be realized even in flexible polycrystalline wires. This finding highlights the practical potential of magneto-thermal control in low-temperature thermal management, including applications in space environments where temperatures are around 3 K.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":100893,"journal":{"name":"Materials Today Electronics","volume":"13 ","pages":"Article 100165"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2025-09-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144605359","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Warda Al Saidi , Selma Amara , Myo T. Zar Myint , Salim Al Harthi , Gianluca Setti , Rachid Sbiaa
{"title":"Stabilized biskyrmion states in annealed CoFeB bilayer with different interfaces","authors":"Warda Al Saidi , Selma Amara , Myo T. Zar Myint , Salim Al Harthi , Gianluca Setti , Rachid Sbiaa","doi":"10.1016/j.mtelec.2025.100166","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.mtelec.2025.100166","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>This study investigates the stability of skyrmions and biskyrmions in perpendicular magnetic tunneling junctions with a thick CoFeB/Ta/CoFeB free layer. The samples showed a magnetoresistance of ∼ 41 % when annealed at 230 °C. Magnetic force microscopy revealed the existence of skyrmions and biskyrmions at room temperature in the as-deposited state and under an external magnetic field. Annealing at 330 °C enhanced interfacial Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya interaction (DMI) and crystallinity, enabling the spontaneous coexistence of these topological structures. Micromagnetic simulations explored the interplay between DMI strength, sign, and skyrmion chirality. Skyrmions exhibited repulsive interactions while biskyrmions displayed attractive interactions due to the difference in helicities. The study highlights the influence of multilayer structure and varying Ta layer thicknesses on the DMI chirality, which modulates the formation of complex spin textures. These results provide an understanding of skyrmion and biskyrmion dynamics and their potential for spintronic applications, including racetrack memory and data storage technologies.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":100893,"journal":{"name":"Materials Today Electronics","volume":"13 ","pages":"Article 100166"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2025-09-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144666048","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Fei Wang , Fuying Liang , Qi Chen , Jingcheng Huang , Xi Wang , Wei Cheng , Jizhai Cui , Fan Xu , Yongfeng Mei , Xiaojun Wu , Enming Song
{"title":"MXene-enhanced hydrogel cardiac patch with high electrical conductivity, mechanical strength, and excellent biocompatibility","authors":"Fei Wang , Fuying Liang , Qi Chen , Jingcheng Huang , Xi Wang , Wei Cheng , Jizhai Cui , Fan Xu , Yongfeng Mei , Xiaojun Wu , Enming Song","doi":"10.1016/j.mtelec.2025.100163","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.mtelec.2025.100163","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Myocardial infarction (MI), a leading cause of death worldwide, triggers cardiomyocyte death and scar tissue formation, disrupting electrical conduction and impairing cardiac function, which may ultimately progress to heart failure. In this study, we develop a high-conductivity and high-toughness hydrogel cardiac patch by incorporating MXene nanosheets into a PVA/PAM hydrogel. This cardiac patch shows superior mechanical properties, with a tensile strength of 190 kPa and elongation over 1250%, while MXene enhances the electrical conductivity of hydrogel, benefiting the restoration of conduction in infarcted areas. Additionally, strong adhesion to muscle and skin tissues has been proved, with the maximum adhesion strength reaching 15 kPa. Biocompatibility tests also reveal high cell viability. These findings provide additional options for cardiac functional repair and MI treatment.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":100893,"journal":{"name":"Materials Today Electronics","volume":"13 ","pages":"Article 100163"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2025-09-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144524072","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Youming Xu , Shuchen Li , Shucheng Guo , Jianshi Zhou , Li Shi , Xi Chen
{"title":"Glass-like thermal conductivity in higher manganese silicides with grain boundary nanostructures","authors":"Youming Xu , Shuchen Li , Shucheng Guo , Jianshi Zhou , Li Shi , Xi Chen","doi":"10.1016/j.mtelec.2025.100169","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.mtelec.2025.100169","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Higher manganese silicides (HMSs) have emerged as promising candidates for environmentally friendly thermoelectric (TE) materials due to their earth-abundant and non-toxic composition. We report grain boundary engineering in ruthenium-doped HMSs via a melt-quenching followed by annealing method. This approach promotes the formation of MnSi nanoprecipitates and nanopores, preferentially near grain boundaries. The presence of these nanostructures results in a weak temperature-dependent thermal conductivity, resembling glass-like thermal transport behavior. A two-channel model incorporating propagons and diffusons describes this glass-like thermal conductivity, with diffusons contributing about 60 % of the lattice thermal conductivity at 300 K. Furthermore, the quench-annealing process enhances electrical conductivity while preserving a large Seebeck coefficient, which is attributed to a high density-of-states effective mass. As a result of improved power factor and reduced thermal conductivity, the figure of merit <em>zT</em> value increases by 33 % at 300 K compared to undoped HMS synthesized via solid-state reaction. These findings present a promising strategy for manipulating phonon dynamics in functional materials and designing efficient TE systems.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":100893,"journal":{"name":"Materials Today Electronics","volume":"13 ","pages":"Article 100169"},"PeriodicalIF":7.4,"publicationDate":"2025-09-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144826586","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}