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Synthetic two-dimensional (2D) mono-elemental crystals, namely X-enes, have recently emerged as a new frontier for atomically thin nanomaterials with on-demand properties. Among X-enes, antimonene, the \b{eta}-phase allotrope of antimony, is formed by atoms arranged in buckled hexagonal rings bearing a comparatively higher environmental stability with respect to other players of this kind. However, the exploitation of monolayer or few-layer antimonene and other 2D materials in novel opto-electronic devices is still hurdled by the lack of scalable processes. Here, we demonstrated the viability of a bottom-up process for the epitaxial growth of antimonene-like nanocrystals (ANCs), based on a Metal-Organic Chemical Vapor Deposition (MOCVD) process, assisted by gold nanoparticles (Au NPs) on commensurate (111)-terminated Ge surfaces. The growth mechanism was investigated by large- and local-area microstructural analysis, revealing that the etching of germanium, catalyzed by the Au NPs, led to the ANCs growth on the exposed Ge (111) planes. As a supportive picture, ab-initio calculations rationalized this epitaxial relationship in terms of compressively strained \b{eta}-phase ANCs. Our process could pave the way to the realization of large-area antimonene layers by a deposition process compatible with the current semiconductor manufacturing technology.

In this study we explore, both from theoretical and experimental side, the effect of Fe doping in ZrO2 (ZrO2:Fe). By means of first principles simulation we study the magnetization density and the magnetic interaction between Fe atoms. We also consider how this is affected by the presence of oxygen vacancies and compare our findings with models based on impurity band and carrier mediated magnetic interaction. Experimentally thin films (~ 20 nm) of ZrO2:Fe at high doping concentration are grown by atomic layer deposition. We provide experimental evidence that Fe is uniformly distributed in the ZrO2 by transmission electron microscopy and energy dispersive X-ray mapping, while X-ray diffraction evidences the presence of the fluorite crystal structure. Alternating gradient force magnetometer measurements show magnetic signal at room temperature, however with low magnetic moment per atom. Results from experimental measures and theoretical simulations are compared., Comment: 8 pages, 9 figures. JEMS 2012

We report on a systematic temperature dependent X-band electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) study of nano-sized graphite particles prepared by ball-milling. In as-prepared samples a very intense and sharp EPR resonance at $g=2.0035$ has been measured. The EPR linewidth shows a Korringa-like linear temperature dependence arising due to the coexistence and strong exchange coupling of itinerant and localized edge states. With a prolonged aging in inert atmosphere changes in the EPR signal suggest gradual structural reconstruction where the localized edge-states dominate the EPR signal. In this case the EPR spin susceptibility shows a maximum at $\approx 23\, {\rm K}$ indicating the development of antiferromagnetic correlations as expected for the graphene lattice with a bipartite symmetry., Comment: 6 pages, 5 figures; accepted in Phys. Rev. B as regular article