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Enhanced energy storage in relaxor (1-x)Bi0.5Na0.5TiO3-xBaZryTi1-yO3 thin films by morphotropic phase boundary engineering

Perovskites at the crossover between ferroelectric and relaxor are often used to realize dielectric capacitors with high energy and power density and simultaneously good efficiency. Lead-free Bi0.5Na0.5TiO3 is gaining importance in showing an alternative to lead-based devices. Here we show that (1-x)Bi0.5Na0.5TiO3xBaZryTi1-yO3 (best: 0.94Bi0.5Na0.5TiO3 -0.06BaZr0.4Ti0.6O3) shows an increase of recoverable energy density and electric breakdown upon chemical substitution. In thin films derived from Chemical Solution Deposition, we observed that polarization peaks at the morphotropic phase boundary at x = 0.06. While Zr substitution results in reduced polarization, it enhances both efficiency and electric breakdown strength, ultimately doubling the recoverable energy density and the metallization interface by lowering surface roughness. Our dielectric capacitor shows <3% deviation of energy properties over 106 cycles. A virtual device model of a multilayer thin film capacitor (7.25 mJ recoverable energy) was used to compare its performance to already in use multilayer ceramic capacitors.

Bottom-up fabrication of 2D Rydberg exciton arrays in cuprous oxide

Solid-state platforms provide exceptional opportunities for advancing on-chip quantum technologies by enhancing interaction strengths through coupling, scalability, and robustness. Cuprous oxide (Cu2O) has recently emerged as a promising medium for scalable quantum technology due to its high-lying Rydberg excitonic states, akin to those in hydrogen atoms. To harness these nonlinearities for quantum applications, the confinement dimensions must match the Rydberg blockade size, which can reach several microns in Cu2O. Using a CMOS-compatible growth technique, this study demonstrates the bottom-up fabrication of site-selective arrays of Cu2O microparticles. We observed Rydberg excitons up to the principal quantum number n = 5 within these Cu2O arrays on a quartz substrate and analyzed the spatial variation of their spectrum across the array, showing robustness and reproducibility on a large chip. These results lay the groundwork for the deterministic growth of Cu2O around photonic structures, enabling substantial light-matter interaction on integrated photonic platforms and paving the way for scalable, on-chip quantum devices.

Harnessing exceptional points for ultrahigh sensitive acoustic wave sensing

Exceptional point (EP) is referred to degeneracies in a non-Hermitian system where two or more eigenvalues and their corresponding eigenvectors coalesce. Recently there have been significantly increased interests in harnessing EPs to enhance responsivities and achieve ultrasensitive detections in optics, electronics and acoustics, although there are few similar studies focused on using surface acoustic wave (SAW) sensing technologies, probably due to its great technical challenges. Herein, we proposed a scheme for accessing EPs in an on-chip architecture consisted of coupled-SAW-resonators system, forming a passive parity-time (PT) symmetric system. We demonstrated that by tuning additional losses in one of resonators and regulating the system in the proximity of the EP, the sensor exhibited significantly enhanced responses. As an example, we present an EP-based SAW gas sensor, which showed a much-improved sensitivity compared to that of a conventional delay-line SAW sensor. The fundamental mechanisms behind this excellent sensing performance have been elucidated.

Surface-hydroxylated single-atom catalyst with an isolated Co-O-Zn configuration achieves high selectivity in regulating active species

Single-atom catalysts (SACs) are emerging as potent tools for the selective regulation of active species, offering substantial promise for green and sustainable Fenton catalysis. However, current SACs face limitations due to the specificity of their supports, which only allow selective regulation within certain oxidant systems. This constraint makes targeted regulation across different systems challenging. In response, this study designs a SAC, termed CoSAs-ZnO, featuring surface hydroxylation and an isolated asymmetric Co-O-Zn configuration. This SAC can realize a nearly 100% selective generation of sulfate radicals (SO4•−) and singlet oxygen (1O2) in peroxymonosulfate (PMS) and peracetic acid (PAA) systems, respectively. Moreover, the PMS-activated system can efficiently treat electron-deficient-dominated and refractory benzoic acid wastewater, achieving 100.0% removal in multiple consecutive pilot-scale experiments. The PAA-activated system facilitates the rapid conversion of benzyl alcohol to benzaldehyde, with a high selectivity of 89.0%. Detailed DFT calculations reveal that the surface hydroxyl groups on ZnO play a critical role in modulating the adsorption configurations of the oxidants, thus enabling the selective generation of specific active species in each system. This study provides insights into the design of SACs for multifunctional applications and paves the way for their deployment in wastewater treatment and high-value chemical conversion.

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