Hafnium dioxide that belongs to a class of metal oxides with a high dielectric constant or high-k dielectrics has been recently introduced as a gate dielectric in field effect transistors. We report a theoretical study of structural and electronic properties of hafnia surface, and the electronic structure and band alignment at hafnia interfaces with metals, oxides and semiconductors that are crucial in gate stack engineering.

Electrospinning is a very powerful method to create cellular scaffolds for regenerative medicine – especially for artificial vascular grafts. Commercially available thermoplastic polyurethane elastomers (TPUs), like Pellethane™ are FDA approved and have already shown excellent biomechanical properties as electrospun vascular grafts. In order to induce the growth of a neo artery and hence increase the long-term patency of the graft, the use of biodegradable TPUs is beneficial. Therefore we aim for the development of degradable TPUs. In preliminary studies the mechanical properties of segmented TPUs were examined. The tendencies of the properties of the compression-molded bulk materials were also found for the electrospun materials. It could also be shown that the substitution of the aromatic 4,4′-methylene diphenyl diisocyanate building blocks in Pellethane™ with the aliphatic hexamethylene diisocyanate – to avoid toxic aromatic amines as degradation products - only causes minor loss of strength. To obtain degradable TPUs, our concept is to incorporate cleavable ester bonds into the polymer chain. For this purpose, lactic- and terephthalic ester-based cleavable chain extenders were used. The expected degradation products showed no cytotoxicity in-vitro. Degradation tests of polymer samples in phosphate buffered saline at elevated temperatures confirmed the degradability of the new polymers.

c-plane (0001) AlN layers were grown on sapphire (11-20) and (0001) substrates by hydride vapor phase epitaxy (HVPE) and metal-organic vapor phase epitaxy (MOVPE), respectively. The growth temperatures were adjusted from 1430-1500 °C and the reactor pressure was kept constant at 30 Torr. Mirror and flat c-plane AlN were obtained grown on both a-plane and c-plane sapphire. Crystalline quality and surface roughness are improved with increasing growth temperature, detected by high resolution X-ray diffraction (HRXRD) and atomic force microscopy (AFM). The Full widths at half maximum (FWHM) values of (10-12) diffraction are 519 and 1219 arcsec for c-plane AlN grown on a-plane sapphire and c-plane sapphire, respectively. It indicates that a-plane sapphire substrate benefits to decrease dislocations density.

We fabricated nc-Si TFTs in order to investigate the effect of the active-layer thickness on the characteristic of the nc-Si TFT. Bottom gate nc-Si TFTs were fabricated at 350°C using ICP-CVD. The thicknesses of the nc-Si layer were remained to 700, 1200 and 1700 Å. As the active-layer thickness increases, the mobility and the on-current level were not altered. However, the off-current level increased considerably and on/off ratio decreased. It may be attributed to highly doped characteristic of thick nc-Si film. As the nc-Si film thicker, the conductivity increases considerably and the Fermi level approaches to the conduction band minimum, which indicates the increases of doping level. The oxygen concentration shows high level of unintentional doping. Also, columnar growth of nc-Si film makes that the crystallinity of top region is much higher than that of bottom region. So, the conductivity of thick nc-Si film becomes high compared to that of thin nc-Si film. The structure of the nc-Si TFT with thick nc-Si film can be similar to the serial connection of N+, N- and N+ resistance, so that it suffers difficulty to suppress the off current and to secure high on/off ratio. Therefore, the off current can be suppressed by thinning of the high conducting active nc-Si layer and nc-Si TFT with channel thickness of 700 Å shows good on/off characteristic. It is deduced that bottom gate nc-Si TFT is necessary to have intrinsic channel layer as well as thin channel layer to reduce the leakage current.

A PVA-assisted hydrothermal synthesis route was utilized to fabricate single-phase Bi25FeO40 crystallites.X-ray diffraction results indicated that sillenite Bi25FeO40 have been synthesized at the temperature of 200 ℃ using the KOH concentration of 7 M. Scanning electron microscopy showed the morphology of the as-prepared products were cubic shape with side length of 26μm. The band gap of Bi25FeO40 was determined to be 1.8 eV (688 nm) by using UV-vis diffuse reflectance spectroscopy. It was found that Bi25FeO40 exhibited a high photocatalytic activity for the degradation of methyl orange under UV-Vis irradiation, being a potential material for photocatalytic decomposition of organic contaminants.

Due to their excellent properties, single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWNTs) have been regarded as one of the most potential materials for future applications in nanoelectronic devices. However, there is a huge gulf between production and applications. To meet the needs for applications, SWNTs' chirality, metallic/semiconducting property and morphology should be controlled in the growth process. Together with our recent works, we present herein a brief review on the growth of SWNTs on surface with controlled structures, including 1) Cap engineering for SWNTs growth with controlled chirality; 2) Reaction activity diversity induced growth of semiconducting SWNTs; and 3) Combination of two growth modes for fabricating SWNTs on surface with controlled morphology.

In the context of a general survey on the thermoelectric potential of cationic clathrates, formation, crystal chemistry and physical properties were investigated for novel inverse clathrates deriving from Sn19.3Cu4.7P22I8. Substitution of Cu by Zn and Sn by Ni was attempted to bring down electrical resistivity and lower thermal conductivity. Materials were synthesized by mechanical alloying using a ball mill and hot pressing. Structural investigations for all specimens confirm isotypism with the cubic primitive clathrate type I structure (lattice parameters a = ˜1.1 nm and space group type Pm-3n). Studies of transport properties evidence holes as the majority charge carriers. Thermal expansion data, measured in a capacitance dilatometer from 4 to 300 K on Sn19.3Cu1.7Zn3P19.92.1I8, compare well with literature data available for Sn24P19.62.4Br8 and for an anionic type I clathrate Ba8Zn8Ge38. From the rather complex crystal structure including split atom sites and lattice defects thermal conductivity in inverse clathrates is generally low. Following Zintl rules rather closely inverse clathrates tend to be semiconductors with attractive Seebeck coefficients. Thus for thermoelectric applications the main activity will have to focus on achieving low electrical resistivity in a compromise with still sufficiently high Seebeck coefficients.

Hydrogenated amorphous silicon carbide alloys are being investigated as a possible top photoelectrode in photoelectrochemical cells used for hydrogen production through water splitting. In order to be used as such, it is important that the effects of carbon concentration on bonding, and thus on the electronic and optical properties, is well understood. Electron spin resonance experiments were performed under varying experimental conditions to study the defect concentrations. The dominant defects are silicon dangling bonds. At room temperature, the spin densities varied between 1016 and 1018 spins/cm3 depending on the carbon concentration. Photothermal deflection spectroscopy, which is an extremely sensitive measurement of low levels of absorption in thin films, was performed to investigate the slope of the Urbach tail. These slopes are 78 meV for films containing the lowest carbon concentration and 98 meV for those containing the highest carbon concentration.

Textile 100 % acrylic fabrics have been used in tapestry for a long time. One of the drawbacks of this type of fabrics is its great flammability. Textile fabrics are coated with flame retardant in order to reduce the flammability. We present some results concerning the use of commercial products (Flame-Out, Borax (Na2B4O5(OH)4•8H2O), and Hexametaphosphate of Sodium (Na16P14O43) as flame retardants for textile 100 % acrylic fabrics. The flame retardant capabilities, mechanical properties and structural characteristics of the textile fabrics before and after the use of these products were investigated throughout the special textile methods for inflammability and mechanical resistibility as well as infra-red spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction and scanning electronic microscopy. After the use of the flame retardants the mechanical properties of the fabrics were improved or at least remained the same as compared to fabrics without any treatment. The use of Borax / Hexametaphosphate from Sodium /Water results in the essential increase of combustion retardation time about 2 minutes as compared with 8 seconds for untreated fabrics.

Synthesis of Au, Ag monometallic, and Au-Ag bimetallic nanoparticles have been synthesized by successive reduction of metal salts with ascorbic acid on prefabricated seeds in the presence of cetyltrimethylammonium bromide (C16H33)N(CH3)3Br (CTAB), as a cationic surfactant, is presented in this paper. This coverage method for the prefabricated seeds is uniform, although in some cases deviations from a spherical shape are observed with the formation of nanorods or nanoprisms. Results using high-resolution STEM-XEDS elemental mapping suggest that the actual distribution of the two metals within the multilayer spheres may involve partial alloying of the metals.

The structural and electronic properties of AlMgB14 are investigated using ab initio methods. The impact of vacancies and electron doping on the crystal’s atomic and electronic structure is investigated. It is found that removing metal atoms does not influence the density of states, except for changes to the Fermi energy. The density of states of the off-stoichiometric Al0.75Mg0.75B14 crystal and the AlMgB14 crystal with five electrons removed are nearly identical. The removal of six electrons results in an 11% contraction in the crystal’s volume. This is associate with the removal of electrons from the B atoms’ 2p-states.

In this paper we explore theory, design, and fabrication of photonic crystal (PhC) based selective thermal emitters. In particular, we focus on tailoring spectral and spatial properties by means of resonant enhancement in PhC's. Firstly, we explore narrow-band resonant thermal emission in photonic crystals exhibiting strong spectral and directional selectivity. We demonstrate two interesting designs based on resonant Q-matching: a vertical cavity enhanced resonant thermal emitter and 2D silicon PhC slab Fano-resonance based thermal emitter. Secondly, we examine the design of 2D tungsten PhC as a broad-band selective emitter. Indeed, based on the resonant cavity coupled resonant modes we demonstrate a highly selective, highly-spectrally efficient thermal emitter. We show that an emitter with a photonic cut-off anywhere from 1.8 μm to 2.5 μm can be designed.

A compact and efficient hot filament chemical vapor deposition system has been designed for growing electronic-grade diamond and related materials. We report here the effect of substrate rotation on quality and uniformity of HFCVD diamond films on 2” wafers, using two to three filaments with power ranging from 500 to 600 Watt. Diamond films have been characterized using x-ray diffraction, Raman Spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy and atomic force microscopy. Our results indicate that substrate rotation not only yields uniform films across the wafer, but crystallites grow larger than without sample rotation. Well-faceted microcrystals are observed for wafers rotated at 10 rpm. We also find that the Raman spectrum taken from various locations indicate no compositional variation in the diamond film and no significant Raman shift associated with intrinsic stresses. Results are discussed in the context of growth uniformity of diamond film to improve deposition efficiency for wafer-based electronic applications.

Deep Ultra Violet (UV) emitters are of particular interest for applications including, but not limited to, biological detection and sterilization. Within the III-Nitride material system, Aluminum Gallium Nitride (AlxGa1-xN) alloys are the most promising for UV device fabrication due to the wide, direct band gap. The growth of high quality AlxGa1-xN alloys via Metal Organic Vapor Phase Epitaxy (MOVPE) is challenging due to large sticking coefficient of the Al species compared to that of Ga and also the high reactivity of Al precursors. As a result, films are often characterized by large dislocation densities, cracks, and poor conductivity. Digital alloy growth, or Short Period Superlattices (SPS), consisting of layers of binary or ternary alloys with a period thickness of a few monolayers has been shown to be a viable means of growing high quality ternary alloys via Metal Organic Vapor Phase Epitaxy (MOVPE). In certain materials, such as AlGaInP, the electronic properties of digitally grown alloys differ considerably from the equivalent random alloy. Specifically, the bandgap has been shown to differ significantly from the equivalent random alloy. As a result, digital alloy growth presents the potential to further engineer material properties. However, the influence of digital growth on the electronic properties of III-Nitride alloys has not been extensively characterized. This study focuses on Aluminum Gallium Nitride (AlxGa1-xN) alloys grown using a digital technique via MOVPE. The influence of the growth technique over a wide range of compositions is reported along with the electronic properties.

Ion channels reconstituted into lipid bilayer membranes can be used as a very sensitive and selective platform for high-throughput drug screening applications. In order to employ suspended lipid bilayer membranes for these experiments in form of a “lab-on-a-chip” configuration, a robust and affordable platform is required. In our study, we investigated the feasibility of hosting lipid bilayer membranes across micron-size apertures ranging from 5 μm – 50 μm in silicon. On these substrates, lipid bilayers were formed and characterized concerning their seal resistance, capacitance and breakdown voltage. Seal resistance values of up to 60 GΩ could be achieved repeatedly on these substrates.

Diffusion barrier characteristics of amorphous and polycrystalline electroless Co(W,P) layers (α-Co(W,P) and poly-Co(W,P)) to lead-free SnAgCu (SAC) solder were investigated via the liquid- and solid-state aging tests. In the sample containing α-Co(W,P) subjected to liquid-state aging at 250°C for 1 hr, the spallation of (Co,Cu)Sn3 intermetallic compound (IMC) into the solder and formation of a polycrystalline P-rich layer in between SAC and Co(W,P) were found. Further, the α-Co(W,P) transforms into polycrystalline structure embedded with tiny Co2P precipitates As to the sample containing α-Co(W,P) subjected to solid-state aging at 150°C up to 1000 hrs, a thick (Cu,Co)6Sn5 IMC resided in between SAC and Co(W,P) and the P-rich layer beneath IMCs was similarly seen. In the samples containing poly-Co(W,P) subjected to liquid-state aging, a mixture of (Co,Cu)Sn3 and (Co,Ag)Sn3 IMCs formed in between SAC and Co(W,P). An amorphous W-rich layer formed in between SAC and poly-Co(W,P). Similar interfacial morphology was observed in the samples subjected to the solid-state aging test. Analytical results indicated the electroless Co(W,P) is in essential a combined-type, i.e., sacrificial-type plus stuffed-type, diffusion barrier. However, the α-Co(W,P) is a better diffusion barrier for under bump metallurgy (UBM) applications in flip-chip (FC) bonding since it exhibits a lower Co consumption rate in comparison with poly-Co(W,P).

Secondary ion mass spectrometry has been applied to study the transportation of Na and Li in hydrothermally grown ZnO. A dose of 1015 cm-2 of Na+ was implanted into ZnO to act as a diffusion source. A clear trap limited diffusion is observed at temperatures above 550 °C. From these profiles, an activation energy for the transport of Na of ∼1.7 eV has been extracted. The prefactor for the diffusion constant and the solid solubility of Na cannot be deduced independently from the present data but their product estimated to be ∼3 × 1016 cm-1s-1. A dissociation energy of ∼2.4 eV is extracted for the trapped Na. The measured Na and Li profiles show that Li and Na compete for the same traps and interact in a way that Li is depleted from Na-rich regions. This is attributed to a lower formation energy of Na-on-zinc-site than that for Li-on-zinc-site defects and the zinc vacancy is considered as a major trap for migrating Na and Li atoms. Consequently, the diffusivity of Li is difficult to extract accurately from the present data, but in its interstitial configuration Li is indeed highly mobile having a diffusivity in excess of 10-11 cm2s-1 at 500 °C.

The purpose of this study was to histologically and mechanically appraise the in vivo bone-bonding abilities of K2TinO2n+1 coated and uncoated Ti-15Mo-3Nb (TMN) implants. According to GB/T16886.6－1997 biological evaluation of medical devices Part 6:Tests for local effects after implantation, the two types of implants were implanted into the proximal metaphyses of Chinese white rabbits’ femurs for 12, 26 and 52 weeks and investigated by pushing out test, scanning electron microscopy (SEM) attached to an energy-dispersive X-ray micro-analyzer (EDX) and light microscopy. The bone-bonding abilities of the K2TinO2n+1 biocoating /Ti-15Mo-3Nb (KBT) gradient biomaterial implants were higher than those of T implants at different periods of implantation. The K2TinO2n+1 biocoating (KB) could stimulate new bone rapid formation at the early stages of implantation. And the implants with the biocoating eventually bonded to bone directly, with no intervening soft tissue layer, that was an osseocoalescence. However, the type of bone-bonding between TMN titanium alloy implants and bone was a simple osseocoaptation. The more excellent bone-bonding ability of the KBT implants should be attributed to the superficial characteristics, the bioactivity of low potassium titanate and biostability of high potassium titanate.

We report on an integrated photoelectrochemical (PEC) device for hydrogen production using amorphous silicon carbide (a-SiC:H) material as the photoelectrode in conjunction with an amorphous silicon (a-Si:H) tandem photovoltaic device. With the use of a-Si:H tandem solar cell, the flat-band potential of the hybrid PEC structure shifts significantly below the H2O/O2 half-reaction potential and is in an appropriate position to facilitate water splitting. Under reverse bias, saturated photocurrent of the hybrid device ranges between 3 to 5 mA/cm2 under AM1.5 light intensity. In a two-electrode setup (with ruthenium oxide counter electrode), which is analogous to a real PEC configuration, the hybrid cell produces photocurrent of about 0.83 mA/cm2at zero bias and hydrogen production is observed. The hybrid device exhibits good durability in pH2 buffered electrolyte for up to 150 hours (so far tested).

With advances in nanotechnology, emerging plasmonic nano-optical applications, such as all-optical magnetic recording, require circularly-polarized electromagnetic radiation beyond the diffraction limit. In this study, a plasmonic cross-dipole nano-antenna is investigated to obtain a circularly polarized near-field optical spot with a size smaller than the diffraction limit of light. The performance of the nano-antenna is investigated through numerical simulations. In the first part of this study, the nano-antenna is illuminated with a diffraction-limited circularly-polarized radiation to obtain circularly polarized optical spots at nanoscale. In the second part, diffraction limited linearly polarized radiation is used. An optimal configuration for the nano-antenna and the polarization angle of the incident light is identified to obtain a circularly polarized optical spot beyond the diffraction limit from a linearly polarized diffraction limited radiation.