The solidification microstructures of six Laves-based (Zr,Ti)(TM,Ni)2 alloys (TM= V,Cr, Mn,Co) intended for use as novel negative electrodes in Ni-metal hydride batteries were studied here; these alloys often have their best electrochemical properties when in the cast state. Solidification occurs by dendritic growth of a hexagonal C14 Laves phase followed by peritectic solidification of a cubic C15 Laves phase and formation of a cubic B2 phase in interdendritic regions. The observed sequence of Laves phase C14/C15 upon solidification agrees with predictions using effective compositions and thermodynamic assessments of the ternary systems, Ni-Cr-Zr and Cr-Ti-Zr. The paper also examines the complex internal structure of the interdendritic grains formed by solid-state transformation, which plays an important role in the electrochemical charge/discharge characteristics. By studying one alloy it is shown that the interdendritic grains solidify as a B2 (Ti,Zr)44(Ni,TM)56 phase, and then undergo transformation to Zr7Ni10-type, Zr9Ni11-type and martensitic phases. The transformations obey orientation relationships between the high-temperature B2 phase and the low-temperature Zr-Ni-type intermetallics, and consequently lead to a multivariant structure. Binary Ni-Zr and ternary Ti-Ni-Zr phase diagrams were used to rationalize the formation of the observed domain structure.

Novel strategies of transduction may help to improve the biosensorperformance by enhancing its sensitivity or linearity or by allowing abetter integration with the electronics, which in turn favors theminiaturization of the sensing devices. In this work, a combination of aconductometric element containing the bioreceptor with a MOSFET is proposedas a transduction strategy. Simulations of the gate voltage and draincurrent versus conductance curves are used to confirm the feasibility of theproposed strategy. One of the advantages of the presented device is that thesensing element can be deposited by back-end processes compatible withcurrent IC technology.

We have demonstrated that gas phase explosive combustion can lead to nanoparticle aerosols with sufficiently large volume fraction to cause a volume spanning gel to form on the order of ten’s of seconds. The term “aerosol gel” was coined to name these materials. So far we have made aerosol gels of carbon and silica. These aerosol gels are similar to well-known, liquid-phase, sol-gel synthesized aerogels.

Thin nano- to microcrystalline diamond (N/MCD) films were deposited on silicon substrates using plasma enhanced microwave chemical vapor deposition. Selected layers were covered with a thin metal layer of Cr to enhance their optical absorption characteristics for photothermal and photoacoustic experiments. A heterodyne diffraction method was used to investigate the thermoelastic signatures of the N/MCD layers. While the dispersion of surface acoustic waves turned out to be difficult to determine due to high optical scattering from the diamond crystallites, it was found that a diamond film of ~ 2 μm thick is enhancing the thermal diffusion along the surface.

Modulated surface-textured substrates for thin-film silicon solar cells exhibiting high haze in a broad range of wavelengths were fabricated. Glass substrates coated with different thicknesses of a sacrificial layer were wet-etched allowing the manipulation of the surface morphology with surface roughness ranging from 200 nm up to 1000 nm. Subsequently, zinc-oxide layers were sputtered and then wet-etched constituting the final modulated textures. The morphological analysis of the substrates demonstrated the surface modulation, and the optical analysis revealed broad angle intensity distributions and high hazes. A small anti-reflective effect with respect to untreated glass was found for etched glass samples. The performance of solar cells on high-haze substrates was evaluated. The solar cells outperformed the reference cell fabricated on a randomly-textured zinc-oxide-coated flat glass. The trend in the efficiency resembled the increased surface roughness and the anti-reflective effect was confirmed also in solar cell devices.

Suitable in situ techniques capable of sensing for the presence of a biofilm on metallic surfaces are becoming increasingly necessary, especially in order to maintain seawater pipe system performance.This study has investigated the detection of aerobic marine bacterial biofilms using electrochemical impedance spectroscopy by monitoring the interfacial response of Pseudoalteromonas sp. NCIMB 2021 attachment and growth in order to identify characteristic events on a 0.2 mm diameter gold electrode surface.Uniquely, the applicability of surface charge density has been proven to be valuable in determining biofilm attachment and cell enumeration over 72 h duration on a gold surface within a modified continuous culture flow cel(lsa controlled low laminar flow regime with a Reynolds number ≈ 1).In addition, the potential for biofilm disruption has been evaluated using 500 nM of the nitric oxide (NO) donor sodium nitroprusside (NO is important for the regulation of a number of diverse biological processes). Ex situ confocal microscopy studies were performed to confirm biofilm coverage and morphology, plus the determination and quantification of the NO biofilm dispersal effects.Overall, the capability of the sensor to electrochemically detect the presence of initial bacterial biofilm formation and extent has been established and shown to have potential for real-time biofilm monitoring.

While zinc oxide is a promising material for blue and UV solid-state lighting devices, the lack of p-type doping has prevented ZnO from becoming a dominant material for optoelectronic applications. Over the past decade, numerous reports have claimed that nitrogen is a viable p-type dopant in ZnO. However, recent calculations by Lyons, Janotti, and Van de Walle [Appl. Phys. Lett. 95, 252105 (2009)] suggest that nitrogen is a deep acceptor. In our work, we performed photoluminescence (PL) measurements on bulk, single crystal ZnO grown by chemical vapor transport. Nitrogen doping was achieved by growing in ammonia. In prior work at room temperature, we observed a broad PL band at ∼1.7 eV, with an excitation threshold of ∼2.2 eV, consistent with the calculated configuration-coordinate diagram. In the present work, at liquid-helium temperatures, the PL emission increases in intensity and red-shifts by ∼0.2 eV. A peak is observed at 3.267 eV, which we tentatively attribute to an exciton bound to a nitrogen acceptor. Our experimental results indicate that nitrogen is indeed a deep acceptor and cannot be used to produce p-type ZnO.

There are only very few reports on the effects of concentration in thin film silicon-based solar cells. Due to the presence of midgap states, a fast decline in fill factor was observed in earlier work. However, with the advent of more stable and lower defect density protocrystalline silicon materials as well as high quality micro-/nanocrystalline silicon materials, it is worth revisiting the performance of cells with these absorber layers under moderately concentrated sunlight. We determined the behavior of the external J-V parameters of pre-stabilized substrate-type (n-i-p) amorphous and microcrystalline solar cells under moderate concentrations, between 1 sun and 21 suns, while maintaining the cell temperature at 25oC. It was found that the cell efficiency of both the amorphous and the microcrystalline cells increased with moderate concentration, showing an optimum at approximately 2 suns. Furthermore, the enhancement in efficiency for the microcrystalline cells was larger than for the amorphous cells. We show that the V oc’s up to 0.63 V can be reached in microcrystalline cells while FF’s only decrease by 9%. The effects have also been computed using the device simulator ASA, showing qualitative agreement.

We conduct first-principles total-energy density functional calculations to study the interaction of H2 on ZnO surfaces. Four surface models of Zn-terminated (0001)-, O-terminated (0001)-, , and oriented ZnO planes in the presence of H2 are evaluated. The relative stability of four different surface models is examined as a function of the chemical potentials of oxygen and hydrogen. We find that only surfaces of O-terminated (0001)-oriented ZnO models exhibit active sites for the dissociation of H2, which in turn enables the formation of water from dissociative chemisorption of 2H on the O-terminated ZnO(0001) surface. The surface energy of O-terminated ZnO(0001) surface in the presence of water was found to be negative under the O-rich and H-rich condition. The findings agree with the experimental observations that ZnO epitaxial layers are easily etched by hydrogen at typical growth temperatures.

Chalcopyrite solar cells based on CuInSe2 and associated alloys have demonstrated high efficiencies, with current annual shipments in the hundreds of megawatts (MW) range and increasing. Largely due to concern over possible indium (In) scarcity, a related set of materials, the kesterites, which comprise Cu2ZnSnS4 and associated alloys, has received increasing attention. Similarities and differences between kesterites and chalcopyrites are discussed as drawn from theory, depositions, and materials characterization. In particular, we discuss predictions from density functional theory, results from vacuum co-evaporation, and characterization via x-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy, electron beam-induced current, quantum efficiency, secondary ion mass spectroscopy, and luminescence.

Here we report on the design, fabrication, and characterization of fiber containing an internal crystalline non-centrosymmetric phase enabling piezoelectric functionality over extended fiber lengths [1]. A ferroelectric polymer layer of 30 μm thickness is spatially confined and electrically contacted by internal viscous electrodes and encapsulated in an insulating polymer cladding hundreds of microns in diameter. The structure is thermally drawn in its entirety from a macroscopic preform, yielding tens of meters of piezoelectric fiber. Electric fields in excess of 50V/μm are applied through the internal electrodes to the ferroelectric layer leading to effective poling of the structure. To unequivocally establish that the internal copolymer layer is macroscopically poled we adopt a two-step approach. First, we show that the internal piezoelectric modulation indeed translates to a motion of the fiber’s surface using a heterodyne optical vibrometer at kHz frequencies. Second, we proceed to an acoustic wave measurement at MHz frequencies: a water-immersion ultrasonic transducer is coupled to a fiber sample across a water tank, and frequency-domain characterizations are carried out using the fiber successively as an acoustic sensor and actuator. These measurements establish the broadband piezoelectric response and acoustic transduction capability of the fiber. The potential to modulate sophisticated optical devices is illustrated by constructing a single-fiber electricallydriven device containing a high-quality-factor Fabry-Perot optical resonator and a piezoelectric transducer.

We studied the electronic transport properties of monolayer and bilayer graphene in top-gated geometries. Monolayer and bilayer graphene were epitaxially grown by thermal decomposition of SiC. The half-integer quantum Hall effect under the gated environment was observed in monolayer graphene devices. The mobility of the monolayer and bilayer graphene devices showed distinct characteristics as a function of carrier density, which reflect their electronic structures. Strong temperature dependence at the charge neutrality point was observed in bilayer graphene devices, suggesting band gap opening.

We report results of the study of the low-frequency noise in thin films of bismuth selenide topological insulators, which were mechanically exfoliated from bulk crystals via “graphene-like” procedures. From the resistance dependence on the film thickness, it was established that the surface conduction contributions to electron transport were dominant. It was found that the current fluctuations have the noise spectral density S I ∞ 1/f (where f is the frequency) for the frequency range up to 10 kHz. The obtained noise data are important for transport experiments with topological insulators and for any proposed device applications of these materials.

Nanofluidic behavior has been an active area of research for the past decade. In addition to modifying nanopore size and surface properties, another important way to adjust system performance is to control the liquid composition. In the current study, we investigate the influence of electrolyte concentration on the infiltration behavior, as well as its dependence on temperature. A hydrophilic zeolite Y can be soaked in pure water, while with the addition of an electrolyte it can’t be soaked spontaneously. It is noticed that the effective solid–liquid interfacial tension in nanopores is highly sensitive to the electrolyte concentration, which may be related to the unique confinement environment in nanoporous material. As a result, with the electrolyte concentration varying, the effective interfacial tension changes rapidly. This phenomenon can be attributed to the amplification effect of nanopore surfaces on the solid–liquid interaction. It provides a scientific basis for developing smart liquids for various temperature and pressure ranges.

It is commonly believed that the parent compounds of high-T c cupratres are, universally, charge transfer insulators and triggered by Mott physics. In our experiments using metal-organic decomposition (MOD), however, accumulating evidences show that the parent compounds of “electron-doped” superconductors, RE 2-x Cex CuO4 [RE = rare earth ion] with x = 0, are not Mott insulators but superconductors [1-5]. They have a T c of 30 K and crystallize in the Nd2CuO4 (T’) structure. Most likely, the sharp contradiction between our results and commonly achieved data originates from the complicated oxygen chemistry in these materials. The as-synthesized specimens contain a fair amount of impurity interstitial oxygen. Throughout the reduction process it is required to remove exclusively impurity oxygen while preserving regular oxygen site occupied in order to obtain superconductivity. With decreasing x the constraints of the reduction process are getting more tight. In this study, we systematically investigated the post-annealing process using MBE-grown T’-Pr2CuO4 films. The MBE films were reduced ex-situ in a tubular furnace following a specially designed 2-step process, as in the case of MOD films. The films were annealed at T a = 700 - 850°C in a reducing atmosphere (P O2 = 2 x 10−5 − 2 x 10−3 atm) and finally reduced at a lower temperature T red = 450 – 700°C under vacuum (< 10−4 Torr). The film properties systematically changed with T a, P O2, and T red. The optimized T red varies from 475°C to 650°C mainly depending on T a, since the microstructure and grain size of the films are determined by T a. Optimal superconducting properties are T c of 26 K, while ρ(300 K) = 250 μΩcm, and RRR ~ 10. We believe the combination of thin-film synthesis and specially designed post-reduction process enabled us to obtain nearly intact CuO2 planes. Samples prepared by above-mentioned method unveiled the intrinsic properties of the parent compounds, which are not triggered by Mott physics. This result also agrees with the recent calculation result indicating the parent compounds with T’ structure are not charge transfer insulators [6-8].

The Cu-based film catalysts with various additive metals have been successfully prepared by the electroless plating on ZnO nanorods/stainless steel substrates. The microstructure features of the Cu-based films are highly porous and composed of plate-type grains. The addition of zirconium, aluminum, and iron into Cu-based film catalyst can improve the activity and the stability of the film catalysts. The catalytic durability of the Cu-based film catalysts has also been improved by addition of Zr, Al, and Fe into Cu-based films. This is attributed to the formation of the stable ZrO2, Al2O3, and Fe2O3 nanoparticles with good dispersion in the films.

We have prepared a CrO2 thin film by chemical vapor deposition from a Cr8O21 precursor and studied the bulk and surface physical properties. The CrO2 thin film is grown on TiO2(100) substrate by heating precursor and TiO2 (100) substrate together in a sealed quartz tube. The prepared film is found from x-ray diffraction analysis to be an (100)-oriented single phase. The magnetization and resistivity measurements indicate that the film is a ferromagnetic metal with a Curie temperature of about 400 K. Cr 3s core-level and valence band photoelectron spectroscopy spectra reveal the presence of a metallic CrO2 in the surface region of the film. Our work indicates that preparation from a Cr8O21 precursor in a closed system is promising for obtaining a CrO2 thin film with the metallic surface.