The combination of high strength and high radiation damage tolerance in nanolaminate composites can be achieved when the individual layers in these composites are only a few nanometers thick and therefore these materials contain a large volume fraction associated with interfaces. These interfaces act both as obstacles to slip, as well as sinks for radiation-induced defects. The morphological and phase stabilities of these nano-composites under ion irradiation are explored as a function of layer thickness, temperature and interface structure. Using results on model systems such as Cu-Nb, we highlight the critical role of the atomic structure of the incoherent interfaces that exhibit multiple states with nearly degenerate energies in acting as sinks for radiation-induced point defects. Reduced radiation damage also leads to a reduction in the irradiation hardening, particularly at layer thickness of approximately 5 nm and below. The strategies for design of radiation-tolerant structural materials based on the knowledge gained from this work will be discussed.

In Scanning Transmission Electron Microscopy (STEM) the High-Angle Annular Dark-Field (HAADF) signal increases with atomic number and sample thickness, while dynamic scattering effects and sample orientation have little influence on the contrast. The sensitivity of the HAADF detector for a FEI F30 transmission electron microscope has been calibrated. Additionally, a nearly linear relationship of the HAADF signal with the incident electron current is confirmed. Cross sections of multilayered samples for contrast calibration were obtained by focused ion-beam (FIB) preparation. These cross sections contained several layers with known composition. A database with several pure elements and compounds has been compiled, containing experimental data on the fraction of electrons scattered onto the HAADF detector for each nanometer of sample thickness. Contrast simulations are based on the multi-slice formalism and confirm the differences in HAADF-scattering contrast for the elements and compounds. TEM offers high lateral resolution, but contains little or no information on the thickness of samples. Thickness maps in energy-filtered transmission electron microscopy, convergent-beam electron diffraction and tilt series are so far the only methods to determine thicknesses of particles in a transmission electron microscope. We show that the calibrated HAADF contrast can be used to determine the thicknesses of individual nanoparticles deposited on carbon films. With this information the volumes of nanoparticles with known composition were determined.

Multifunctional materials such as the single phase compound Pb(Fe0.5Nb0.5)O3 (PFN), where ferroelectric and antiferromagnetic order coexist, are very promising and have great interest from the academic and technological points of view. In this work, coupling of the ferroelectric and magnetic ordering has been observed. For this study, a combination of the small signal response using the impedance spectroscopy technique and the electromechanical resonance method with the large signal response through standard ferroelectric measurement, has been used with and without an applied magnetic field. The measurements to determine the electrical properties of the ceramic were performed as functions of the bias and poling electric fields. A simultaneous analysis of the complex dielectric constant , impedance , electric modulus , and the electromechanical coupling factors is presented. The results are correlated with a previous study of structural, morphological, small signal dielectric frequency-temperature response, and the ferroelectric hysteretic, magnetic and magnetodielectric behaviors. The observed shifts of the resonance and antiresonance frequency values can be associated with change of the domain size favored by the readjustment of the oxygen octahedron when the magnetic field is applied.From P-E hysteresis loops obtained without and with an external applied magnetic field a maximum value of dc magnetoelectric coefficient αME = 4 kV/cm T (400 mV/cm Oe) was obtained.

The indentation creep test, especially the impression creep, exhibits a magic appealing in the determination of creep properties of small structures in industry for its simplicity, efficiency and non-destruction merits. Most of previous researches of indentation or impression creep neglect the effect of surface roughness of materials, which plays a crucial role in extracting creep properties of materials. The FE results showed that the surface roughness has no effect on the determination of creep exponent when the punching stress is larger than 150MPa. However, under a smaller punching stress the stress exponent is decreased due to the “Tuner” effect of asperities. The conclusions drawn in the present study provide an important guidance on experiment results amendment for impression creep technique.

Studies of gate dielectrics in organic field effect transistors (OFETs) have been attractive because the electric properties of OFETs are susceptibly affected by the choice of the gate dielectrics. Here, we demonstrate a tunable threshold voltage in an organic field effect transistor (OFET) using an ion-dispersed gate dielectrics. By applying external electric field (Vex) to the gate dielectrics, the dispersed ions in the gate dielectrics are separated by electrophoresis and form space charge polarization. The drain current of the OFET increased over 1.9 times and the threshold voltage (Vth) decreased 22 V (from -35.1 V to -13.1 V).

The shift direction of Vth was easily tuned by the polarity of the external voltage. The dielectric permittivity of the gate dielectrics and mobility of the active layer were unchanged after the polarization of the gate dielectrics. The UV-VIS differential absorption spectra of the OFETs indicate that there is no chemical doping in the active layer of the OFETs. These results indicated the shifts of threshold voltages were originated from the polarization of gate dielectrics.

This paper presents the development of a sensor to detect the oxidative and radiation induced degradation of polypropylene. Recently we have examined the use of crosslinked assemblies of nanoparticles as a chemiresistor-type sensor for the degradation products. We have developed a simple method that uses a siloxane matrix to fabricate a chemiresistor-type sensor that minimizes the swelling transduction mechanism while optimizing the change in dielectric response. These sensors were exposed with the use of a gas chromatography system to three previously identified polypropylene degradation products including 4-methyl-2-pentanone, acetone, and 2-pentanone. The limits of detection 210 ppb for 4-methy-2-pentanone, 575 ppb for 2-pentanone, and the LoD was unable to be determined for acetone due to incomplete separation from the carbon disulfide carrier.

The volunteer siting of disposal facilities for vitrified high-level radioactive waste (HLW) and TRU waste in Japan results in a particular need for flexibility to allow repositories to be tailored to specific sites. Instead of a single reference concept, a “catalogue” of designs for individual repository components is being developed, which can then be combined to form optimum solutions for particular site boundary conditions. As highlighted in a companion paper – Makino et al: Supporting Development of Practical Designs for a Japanese HLW Repository –, which puts the repository design process in the context of the Japanese HLW programme, the complexity of this work justifies use of advanced Knowledge Engineering approaches. In this paper three components are described – development of the knowledge base, assessing tacit system understanding and production of innovative solutions to resolve conflicts between requirements.

Channel strain in damascene gate pMOSFETs with compressive stress liner (c-SL) and embedded SiGe (eSiGe) were studied by micro-Raman spectroscopy with a quasi-line-shape UV excitation (λ=363.8nm). The channel strain profiles were obtained by the conventional mea-surement from the surface after dummy gate removal. The compressive strains at the channel edges were larger than that at the channel center for the relatively long gate length (Lgate). As the Lgate became smaller, although it became hard to recognize the strain profile, the compres-sive strain at the channel center increased by the superposition of the strain at the channel edges. However, channel strain disappeared in the measurement data for the channel length less than 160 nm. Thus, we extended the laser exposure time from 10 to 40 minutes to extract the channel strain component from obtained Raman spectra. The Raman peaks consisted of two or three peaks for the Lgate less than 160 nm. By multi peak fitting, we have succeeded in measuring the extremely large stress of - 2.4 GPa in the channel of Lgate = 30 nm pMOSFET. We also per-formed the cross-sectional measurements for the samples before and after metal-gate/high-k gate stack formation. Channel strain profiles were obtained similar to those by the conventional mea-surement. Extremely high device performance can be clearly explained by the compressive stress derived from the Raman measurements both in the Lgate dependence and eSiGe effect. We also demonstrated that Raman spectroscopy using cross-sectional measurement can evaluate the channel strain even in the MOSFETs after gate stack formation.

Scintillating nanoparticles with a SiO2 core and a Gd2O3 shell doped with Eu3+ were synthesized with a sol-gel process. Based on transmission electron microscopy (TEM) data, a ∼13 nm Gd2O3 shell was successfully coated onto ∼220 nm mono-dispersed SiO2 nanocores. Eu3+ ions at concentrations of nominally 5 at% exhibited photoluminescent (PL) emission from the SiO2/Gd2O3 nanoparticles after being calcined at 800 0C for 2 h. The SiO2 remained amorphous after calcining, while the Gd2O3 crystallized to a cubic structure. The PL emission was from the 5D0-7F2 transitions of Eu3+ at 609 and 622 nm. Photoluminescence excitation (PLE) data showed that emission from Eu3+ could result from direct excitation, but was dominated by the oxygen to europium charge-transfer band (CTB) between 250 and 280 nm for Eu3+ doped in Gd2O3. The quantum yield (QY) from thin films drop cast from a mixture of 20 mg of calcined nanoparticles in 500 μL of polymethylmethacrylate (PMMA) and excited in the CTB was 20% for SiO2/Gd2O3:Eu3+ core/shell scintillation nanoparticles. Finally, the above core/shell nanoparticles were passivated with a shell of SiO2 to create e.g. SiO2/Gd2O3:Eu3+/SiO2 nanoparticles. The QYs for this nanostructure were lower than unpassivated nanoparticles which was attributed to a weak CTB for the amorphous SiO2 shell and a higher density of interface quenching sites.

An ab initio study of several compounds candidates to behave as intermediate band materials is presented. The use of these materials as the active element in solar cells is a promising way to enhance the photovoltaic efficiency. Indeed from this point of view, most interesting compounds are those whose host semiconductor presents a band-gap close to the optimum value of 2 eV. Chalcogenide compounds substituted by light transition metals are solid candidates to this end. While they are being further characterized and experimentally synthesized, another approach is being examined. It consists of using Si as host semiconductor. Ti implantation at concentrations several orders of magnitude above equilibrium solubility has shown a probable intermediate band material behavior, the origin of the intermediate band being related to levels of interstitial Ti. Optoelectronic characterization of this material is completed. A novel possibility consists of combining chalcogen S implantation with boron. In this case preliminary results of electronic structure are shown.

Incorporating O2 in the closed space sublimation (CSS) of CdTe thin film has resulted in improved cell efficiencies. Many studies have been undertaken to understand this effect on cell efficiency. In this work we study the effect of oxygen on lateral uniformity of the deposited CdTe film. A finite element model has been developed to represent the mass and heat transfers involved in the CSS process. The model takes into consideration the effect of O2 by modeling its reaction with Cd vapors in the space between the source and the substrates and with the CdTe source. So a gradient of O2 from the edges to the center of the substrate can result in non-uniform oxidation of the source and subsequently a laterally non-uniform film. A steady state model solved at various temperatures, pressures, and separation distances. O2 concentration gradient was found to depend on the oxidation rate of Cd vapors and thus on temperature, total pressure, and oxygen partial pressure in the system.

We have demonstrated enhancement-mode n-channel gallium nitride (GaN) MOSFETs on Si (111) substrates with high-temperature operation up to 300 °C. The GaN MOSFETs have good normally-off operation with the threshold voltages of +2.7 V. The MOSFET exhibits good output characteristics from room temperature to 300 °C. The leakage current at 300°C is less than 100 pA/mm at the drain-to-source voltage of 0.1 V. The on-state resistance of MOSFET at 300°C is about 1.5 times as high as that at room temperature. These results indicate that GaN MOSFET is suitable for high-temperature operation compared with AlGaN/GaN HFET.

We investigated the HfO2:GaAs interface electronic structure and interface passivation by first principles calculations. The HfO2:GaAs interface of HfO2 terminated with four O atoms and GaAs terminated two Ga atoms is found to be the most energetically favorable. It is found that the interface states mainly arise from the interfacial charge mismatch, more specifically from the electron loss of interfacial As. Si or Ge as an interfacial passivating layer helps to maintain the charge of interfacial As and hence reduce the interface states.

Platinum nanoparticles were dispersed in mesopores of mesoporous silica using a sol-gel process with a composite template consisting of an amphiphilic triblock copolymer (Pluronic P123 or F127) and a Pt-organic complex, which was prepared with K2Pt(II)Cl4 as a Pt source and 1,10-phenanthroline as a chelating agent. The obtained Pt-1,10-phenanthroline complex did not dissolve in any of several solvents, e.g., hexane, benzene, toluene, THF, H2O, CH3OH, and C2H5OH. However, when the Pt-1,10-phenanthroline complex was reacted with ethylenediamine it dissolved in many solvents. Platinum nanoparticles dispersed in mesoporous silica were obtained using a sol-gel process with a complex template consisting of Pt-1,10-phenanthroline-ethylenediamine, and an amphiphilic triblock copolymer (Pluronic P123 or F127). A sample dried at 353 K was bright yellow. When it was subsequently heat-treated at 823 K, it turned light gray. This change indicates that Pt nanoparticles can be obtained by heat-treatment at high temperature, because, to generate Pt nanoparticles, the organics chelated to Pt ions must be removed. Measurements from small-angle x-ray scattering show that mesoporous silica obtained using a complex template has a much more highly ordered pore structure than that obtained using only an amphiphilic triblock copolymer. It has both large pores (above 8 nm) and a large surface area (about 290 m2/g). Furthermore, results of a TEM investigation showed that Pt nanoparticles were generated only in mesopores of mesoporous silica.

Nanocrystalline diamond films (NCD) are strong candidates for applications in a wide variety of fields. An important concern in all these applications is to understand the properties of variously prepared NCD surfaces. This contribution is focussed on the surface science study of hydrogen and oxygen containing NCD films using X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) as well as high resolution electron energy loss spectroscopy (HREELS). Previous studies have demonstrated that hydrogen, oxygen, and gases from the ambient environment as well as water can result in drastic surface changes affecting conductivity, wettability, tribological properties, etc. In this contribution we analyzed differently prepared NCD surfaces as a function of parameters such as the annealing temperature under ultrahigh vacuum conditions (UHV). We are able to identify the thermal stability of a number of species at the interface, which are related to different characteristics of C-H, C-OH, C=O, and C=C bonds. Furthermore, a formation of graphitic-like species appears at higher annealing temperatures. An atomic hydrogen treatment was also applied to the NCD surface to obtain further information about the surface composition.

GaN and InGaN layers were grown on annealed 20 and 50nm Al2O3/ZnO substrates by metalorganic chemical vapor deposition (MOCVD). GaN was only observed by high resolution x-ray diffraction (HRXRD) on 20 nm Al2O3/ZnO substrates. Room temperature photoluminescence (RT-PL) showed the red shift of the GaN near band-edge emission, which might be from oxygen incorporation forming a shallow donor-related level in GaN. HRXRD measurements revealed that (0002) InGaN layers were also successfully grown on 20nm Al2O3/ZnO substrates. In addition, thick InGaN layers (∼200-300nm) were successfully grown on Al2O3/ZnO and bare ZnO substrates. These results are significant as previous studies showed decomposition of the layer at InGaN thicknesses of 100nm or less.

Three-dimensional (3D) integration of ICs provides unique opportunities to improve bandwidth, latency, and power dissipation bottlenecks of interconnects (both on- and off-chip). However, while 3D IC integration improves signal interconnection, it also presents new challenges, especially in power delivery and cooling (“thermal interconnects”). The focus of this paper is on some of the key challenges and promising technologies to address power delivery, cooling, and signaling in a 3D stack of logic ICs.

This paper identifies some mechanisms that lead to problems in back Al contact formation. Major issues are related to a basic problem that the Al melt has a large surface tension and tries to ball up during the firing step. Other issues arise from dissolution of the Si-Al interface and entrapment of glass within the Si-Al alloy. Si diffusion into Al can be applied to control the melt, while cooling rate can help improve the structure of various regions of the back contact for a favorable series resistance. We also discuss a modified time-temperature profile that can lead to a deep and uniform back-surface field.

Interconnected TiO2 nanobelt networks were prepared to serve as anode materials. The aim is to enhance the electron transport through the anode of dye-sensitized solar cells. Using an alkaline hydrothermal procedure and by controlling the reaction time, two kinds of nanostructures were synthesized: TiO2 nanobelts and the mixture of TiO2 nanobelts/TiO2 nanoparticles. This investigation suggests that TiO2 nanobelts are the result of the rearrangement of the [Ti(OH)6]2- monomers formed during the erosion process of TiO2 nanoparticles. The nanostructures of as-synthesized nanobelts were woven and interconnected, resulting in networks after an annealing process. Raman analysis indicates that both kinds of nanostructures were pure anatase. Electrical characterization suggests that the conductivities of these TiO2 nanobelt networks were higher than those of the TiO2 nanoparticle films. Under simulated sunlight with an intensity of AM 1.5 G, the solar cells made of TiO2 nanobelt networks show exceptional photocurrent in comparison to those made of TiO2 nanoparticles.

Uniaxial μ-compression tests have been performed on single crystal Mg with a <11-20> compression direction, an orientation unfavorable for basal slip. Results show that the early stages of deformation proceed via both twinning and dislocation plasticity. Twinning leads to a reorientation of the crystal favorable for basal slip, typically with the <2-1-1-3> aligned with the compression direction. At a critical strain a large strain burst occurs, and is associated with both rapid propagation of the twin and the activation of basal slip within the twin. Such a mechanistic picture of the deformation behavior is revealed through SEM, EBSD and TEM characterization of the deformation structures.