The effect of water plasticization on the molecular mobility and crystallization tendency of amorphous disaccharides.

PubMed

Heljo, Ville Petteri; Nordberg, Antti; Tenho, Mikko; Virtanen, Tommi; Jouppila, Kirsi; Salonen, Jarno; Maunu, Sirkka Liisa; Juppo, Anne Mari

2012-10-01

To study how water plasticization affects the molecular mobility and crystallization tendency of freeze-dried trehalose, sucrose, melibiose and cellobiose. Freeze-dried disaccharides were subjected to different relative humidity atmospheres and their physical stabilities were evaluated. Lyophilizate water sorption tendencies and glass transition temperatures were modeled using Brunauer-Emmett-Teller (BET) and Gordon-Taylor (GT) equations, respectively. Sucrose and cellobiose crystallization tendencies were compared by using the concept of reduced crystallization temperature (RCT), and the molecular mobilities of trehalose and melibiose were compared by measuring their T(1)H relaxation time constants. Based on the BET and GT models, water sorption tendency and the resulting plasticizing effect were different in sucrose when compared to the other disaccharides. Trehalose and melibiose exhibited generally slower crystallization rates when compared to sucrose and cellobiose. Amorphous melibiose was shown to be particularly stable within the studied water content range, which may have partly been caused by its relatively slow molecular mobility. Slow amorphous-to-crystalline transition rate is known to be important for lyoprotecting excipients when formulating a robust drug product. The physical stabilities of amorphous trehalose and melibiose even with relatively high water contents might make their use advantageous in this respect compared to sucrose and cellobiose.

Codoping of zinc and tungsten for practical high-performance amorphous indium-based oxide thin film transistors

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Kizu, Takio, E-mail: KIZU.Takio@nims.go.jp, E-mail: TSUKAGOSHI.Kazuhito@nims.go.jp; Mitoma, Nobuhiko; Tsukagoshi, Kazuhito, E-mail: KIZU.Takio@nims.go.jp, E-mail: TSUKAGOSHI.Kazuhito@nims.go.jp

2015-09-28

Using practical high-density sputtering targets, we investigated the effect of Zn and W codoping on the thermal stability of the amorphous film and the electrical characteristics in thin film transistors. zinc oxide is a potentially conductive component while W oxide is an oxygen vacancy suppressor in oxide films. The oxygen vacancy from In-O and Zn-O was suppressed by the W additive because of the high oxygen bond dissociation energy. With controlled codoping of W and Zn, we demonstrated a high mobility with a maximum mobility of 40 cm{sup 2}/V s with good stability under a negative bias stress in InWZnO thinmore » film transistors.« less

OP-AMPS on Flexible Substrates with Printable Materials

DTIC Science & Technology

2011-08-10

Zinc Tin Oxide Thin - Film - Transistor Enhancement...II196, 2010. [3] D. Geng, D. H. Kang, and J. Jang, "High-Performance Amorphous Indium-Gallium- Zinc - Oxide Thin - Film Transistor With a Self-Aligned...B., Dodabalapur, A., “Band transport and mobility edge in amorphous solution-processed zinc tin oxide thin - film transistors ”, Applied

Electrical and structural characterization of IZO (indium oxide-zinc oxide) thin films for device applications

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yaglioglu, Burag

Materials for oxide-based transparent electronics have been recently reported in the literature. These materials include various amorphous and crystalline compounds based on multi-component oxides and many of them offer useful combinations of transparency, controllable carrier concentrations, and reasonable n-carrier mobility. In this thesis, the properties of amorphous and crystalline In2O3-10wt%ZnO, IZO, thin films were investigated for their potential use in oxide electronics. The room temperature deposition of this material using DC magnetron sputtering results in the formation of amorphous films. Annealing amorphous IZO films at 500°C in air produces a previously unknown crystalline compound. Using electron diffraction experiments, it is reported that the crystal structure of this compound is based on the high-pressure rhombohedral phase of In2O3. Electrical properties of different phases of IZO were explored and it was concluded that amorphous films offer most promising characteristics for device applications. Therefore, thin film transistors (TFT) were fabricated based on amorphous IZO films where both the channel and metallization layers were deposited from the same target. The carrier densities in the channel and source-drain layers were adjusted by changing the oxygen content in the sputter chamber during deposition. The resulting transistors operate as depletion mode n-channel field effect devices with high saturation mobilities.

Method to quantify the delocalization of electronic states in amorphous semiconductors and its application to assessing charge carrier mobility of p -type amorphous oxide semiconductors

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

de Jamblinne de Meux, A.; Pourtois, G.; Genoe, J.; Heremans, P.

2018-01-01

Amorphous semiconductors are usually characterized by a low charge carrier mobility, essentially related to their lack of long-range order. The development of such material with higher charge carrier mobility is hence challenging. Part of the issue comes from the difficulty encountered by first-principles simulations to evaluate concepts such as the electron effective mass for disordered systems since the absence of periodicity induced by the disorder precludes the use of common concepts derived from condensed matter physics. In this paper, we propose a methodology based on first-principles simulations that partially solves this problem, by quantifying the degree of delocalization of a wave function and of the connectivity between the atomic sites within this electronic state. We validate the robustness of the proposed formalism on crystalline and molecular systems and extend the insights gained to disordered/amorphous InGaZnO4 and Si. We also explore the properties of p -type oxide semiconductor candidates recently reported to have a low effective mass in their crystalline phases [G. Hautier et al., Nat. Commun. 4, 2292 (2013), 10.1038/ncomms3292]. Although in their amorphous phase none of the candidates present a valence band with delocalization properties matching those found in the conduction band of amorphous InGaZnO4, three of the seven analyzed materials show some potential. The most promising candidate, K2Sn2O3 , is expected to possess in its amorphous phase a slightly higher hole mobility than the electron mobility in amorphous silicon.

Design rules for charge-transport efficient host materials for phosphorescent organic light-emitting diodes.

PubMed

May, Falk; Al-Helwi, Mustapha; Baumeier, Björn; Kowalsky, Wolfgang; Fuchs, Evelyn; Lennartz, Christian; Andrienko, Denis

2012-08-22

The use of blue phosphorescent emitters in organic light-emitting diodes (OLEDs) imposes demanding requirements on a host material. Among these are large triplet energies, the alignment of levels with respect to the emitter, the ability to form and sustain amorphous order, material processability, and an adequate charge carrier mobility. A possible design strategy is to choose a π-conjugated core with a high triplet level and to fulfill the other requirements by using suitable substituents. Bulky substituents, however, induce large spatial separations between conjugated cores, can substantially reduce intermolecular electronic couplings, and decrease the charge mobility of the host. In this work we analyze charge transport in amorphous 2,8-bis(triphenylsilyl)dibenzofuran, an electron-transporting material synthesized to serve as a host in deep-blue OLEDs. We show that mesomeric effects delocalize the frontier orbitals over the substituents recovering strong electronic couplings and lowering reorganization energies, especially for electrons, while keeping energetic disorder small. Admittance spectroscopy measurements reveal that the material has indeed a high electron mobility and a small Poole-Frenkel slope, supporting our conclusions. By linking electronic structure, molecular packing, and mobility, we provide a pathway to the rational design of hosts with high charge mobilities.

Comprehensive review on the development of high mobility in oxide thin film transistors

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Choi, Jun Young; Lee, Sang Yeol

2017-11-01

Oxide materials are one of the most advanced key technology in the thin film transistors (TFTs) for the high-end of device applications. Amorphous oxide semiconductors (AOSs) have leading technique for flat panel display (FPD), active matrix organic light emitting display (AMOLED) and active matrix liquid crystal display (AMLCD) due to their excellent electrical characteristics, such as field effect mobility ( μ FE ), subthreshold swing (S.S) and threshold voltage ( V th ). Covalent semiconductor like amorphous silicon (a-Si) is attributed to the anti-bonding and bonding states of Si hybridized orbitals. However, AOSs have not grain boundary and excellent performances originated from the unique characteristics of AOS which is the direct orbital overlap between s orbitals of neighboring metal cations. High mobility oxide TFTs have gained attractive attention during the last few years and today in display industries. It is progressively developed to increase the mobility either by exploring various oxide semiconductors or by adopting new TFT structures. Mobility of oxide thin film transistor has been rapidly increased from single digit to higher than 100 cm2/V·s in a decade. In this review, we discuss on the comprehensive review on the mobility of oxide TFTs in a decade and propose bandgap engineering and novel structure to enhance the electrical characteristics of oxide TFTs.

Low-temperature high-mobility amorphous IZO for silicon heterojunction solar cells

DOE PAGES

Morales-Masis, Monica; Martin De Nicolas, Silvia; Holovsky, Jakub; ...

2015-07-13

Parasitic absorption in the transparent conductive oxide (TCO) front electrode is one of the limitations of silicon heterojunction (SHJ) solar cells efficiency. To avoid such absorption while retaining high conductivity, TCOs with high electron mobility are preferred over those with high carrier density. Here, we demonstrate improved SHJ solar cell efficiencies by applying high-mobility amorphous indium zinc oxide (a-IZO) as the front TCO. We sputtered a-IZO at low substrate temperature and low power density and investigated the optical and electrical properties, as well as subband tail formation-quantified by the Urbach energy (E U)-as a function of the sputtering oxygen partialmore » pressure. We obtain an E U as low as 128 meV for films with the highest Hall mobility of 60 cm 2/Vs. When comparing the performance of a-IZO films with indium tin oxide (ITO) and hydrogenated indium oxide (IO:H), we find that IO:H (115 cm 2/Vs) exhibits a similar E U of 130 meV, while ITO (25 cm 2/Vs) presents a much larger E U of up to 270 meV. The high film quality, indicated by the low E U, the high mobility, and low free carrier absorption of the developed a-IZO electrodes, result in a significant current improvement, achieving conversion efficiencies over 21.5%, outperforming those with standard ITO.« less

Origin of the apparent delocalization of the conduction band in a high-mobility amorphous semiconductor

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

de Jamblinne de Meux, A.; Pourtois, G.; Genoe, J.; Heremans, P.

2017-06-01

In this paper, we show that the apparent delocalization of the conduction band reported from first-principles simulations for the high-mobility amorphous oxide semiconductor \\text{InGaZn}{{\\text{O}}4} (a-IGZO) is an artifact induced by the periodic conditions imposed to the model. Given a sufficiently large unit-cell dimension (over 40 Å), the conduction band becomes localized. Such a model size is up to four times the size of commonly used models for the study of a-IGZO. This finding challenges the analyses done so far on the nature of the defects and on the interpretation of numerous electrical measurements. In particular, we re-interpret the meaning of the computed effective mass reported so far in literature. Our finding also applies to materials such as SiZnSnO, ZnSnO, InZnSnO, In2O3 or InAlZnO4 whose models have been reported to display a fully delocalized conduction band in the amorphous phase.

Carbohydrate-Assisted Combustion Synthesis To Realize High-Performance Oxide Transistors.

PubMed

Wang, Binghao; Zeng, Li; Huang, Wei; Melkonyan, Ferdinand S; Sheets, William C; Chi, Lifeng; Bedzyk, Michael J; Marks, Tobin J; Facchetti, Antonio

2016-06-08

Owing to high carrier mobilities, good environmental/thermal stability, excellent optical transparency, and compatibility with solution processing, thin-film transistors (TFTs) based on amorphous metal oxide semiconductors (AOSs) are promising alternatives to those based on amorphous silicon (a-Si:H) and low-temperature (<600 °C) poly-silicon (LTPS). However, solution-processed display-relevant indium-gallium-tin-oxide (IGZO) TFTs suffer from low carrier mobilities and/or inferior bias-stress stability versus their sputtered counterparts. Here we report that three types of environmentally benign carbohydrates (sorbitol, sucrose, and glucose) serve as especially efficient fuels for IGZO film combustion synthesis to yield high-performance TFTs. The results indicate that these carbohydrates assist the combustion process by lowering the ignition threshold temperature and, for optimal stoichiometries, enhancing the reaction enthalpy. IGZO TFT mobilities are increased to >8 cm(2) V(-1) s(-1) on SiO2/Si gate dielectrics with significantly improved bias-stress stability. The first correlations between precursor combustion enthalpy and a-MO densification/charge transport are established.

High mobility, dual layer, c-axis aligned crystalline/amorphous IGZO thin film transistor

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chung, Chen-Yang; Zhu, Bin; Greene, Raymond G.; Thompson, Michael O.; Ast, Dieter G.

2015-11-01

We demonstrate a dual layer IGZO thin film transistor (TFT) consisting of a 310 °C deposited c-axis aligned crystal (CAAC) 20 nm thick channel layer capped by a second, 30 nm thick, 260 °C deposited amorphous IGZO layer. The TFT exhibits a saturation field-effect mobility of ˜20 cm2/V s, exceeding the mobility of 50 nm thick single layer reference TFTs fabricated with either material. The deposition temperature of the second layer influences the mobility of the underlying transport layer. When the cap layer is deposited at room temperature (RT), the mobility in the 310 °C deposited CAAC layer is initially low (6.7 cm2/V s), but rises continuously with time over 58 days to 20.5 cm2/V s, i.e., to the same value as when the second layer is deposited at 260 °C. This observation indicates that the two layers equilibrate at RT with a time constant on the order of 5 × 106 s. An analysis based on diffusive transport indicates that the room temperature diffusivity must be of the order of 1 × 10-18 cm2 s-1 with an activation enthalpy EA < 0.2 eV for the mobility limiting species. The findings are consistent with a hypothesis that the amorphous layer deposited on top of the CAAC has a higher solubility for impurities and/or structural defects than the underlying nanocrystalline transport layer, and that the equilibration of the mobility limiting species is rate limited by hydrogen diffusion, whose known diffusivity fits these estimates.

Novel Iron-based ternary amorphous oxide semiconductor with very high transparency, electronic conductivity, and mobility

DOE PAGES

Malasi, A.; Taz, H.; Farah, A.; ...

2015-12-16

We report that ternary metal oxides of type (Me) 2O 3 with the primary metal (Me) constituent being Fe (66 atomic (at.) %) along with the two Lanthanide elements Tb (10 at.%) and Dy (24 at.%) can show excellent semiconducting transport properties. Thin films prepared by pulsed laser deposition at room temperature followed by ambient oxidation showed very high electronic conductivity (>5 × 10 4 S/m) and Hall mobility (>30 cm 2/V-s). These films had an amorphous microstructure which was stable to at least 500 °C and large optical transparency with a direct band gap of 2.85 ± 0.14 eV.more » This material shows emergent semiconducting behavior with significantly higher conductivity and mobility than the constituent insulating oxides. In conclusion, since these results demonstrate a new way to modify the behaviors of transition metal oxides made from unfilled d- and/or f-subshells, a new class of functional transparent conducting oxide materials could be envisioned.« less

Density Functional Theory Calculations of the Role of Defects in Amorphous Silicon Solar Cells

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Johlin, Eric; Wagner, Lucas; Buonassisi, Tonio; Grossman, Jeffrey C.

2010-03-01

Amorphous silicon holds promise as a cheap and efficient material for thin-film photovoltaic devices. However, current device efficiencies are severely limited by the low mobility of holes in the bulk amorphous silicon material, the cause of which is not yet fully understood. This work employs a statistical analysis of density functional theory calculations to uncover the implications of a range of defects (including internal strain and substitution impurities) on the trapping and mobility of holes, and thereby also on the total conversion efficiency. We investigate the root causes of this low mobility and attempt to provide suggestions for simple methods of improving this property.

Revealing the 1 nm/s extensibility of nanoscale amorphous carbon in a scanning electron microscope.

PubMed

Zhang, Wei

2013-01-01

In an ultra-high vacuum scanning electron microscope, the edged branches of amorphous carbon film (∼10 nm thickness) can be continuously extended with an eye-identifying speed (on the order of ∼1 nm/s) under electron beam. Such unusual mobility of amorphous carbon may be associated with deformation promoted by the electric field, which resulted from an inner secondary electron potential difference from the main trunk of carbon film to the tip end of branches under electron beam. This result demonstrates importance of applying electrical effects to modify properties of carbon materials. It may have positive implications to explore some amorphous carbon as electron field emission device. © Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

High Mobility Thin Film Transistors Based on Amorphous Indium Zinc Tin Oxide

PubMed Central

Noviyana, Imas; Lestari, Annisa Dwi; Putri, Maryane; Won, Mi-Sook; Bae, Jong-Seong; Heo, Young-Woo; Lee, Hee Young

2017-01-01

Top-contact bottom-gate thin film transistors (TFTs) with zinc-rich indium zinc tin oxide (IZTO) active layer were prepared at room temperature by radio frequency magnetron sputtering. Sintered ceramic target was prepared and used for deposition from oxide powder mixture having the molar ratio of In2O3:ZnO:SnO2 = 2:5:1. Annealing treatment was carried out for as-deposited films at various temperatures to investigate its effect on TFT performances. It was found that annealing treatment at 350 °C for 30 min in air atmosphere yielded the best result, with the high field effect mobility value of 34 cm2/Vs and the minimum subthreshold swing value of 0.12 V/dec. All IZTO thin films were amorphous, even after annealing treatment of up to 350 °C. PMID:28773058

Numerical simulation of offset-drain amorphous oxide-based thin-film transistors

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Jeong, Jaewook

2016-11-01

In this study, we analyzed the electrical characteristics of amorphous indium-gallium-zinc-oxide (a-IGZO) thin-film transistors (TFTs) with an offset-drain structure by technology computer aided design (TCAD) simulation. When operating in a linear region, an enhancement-type TFT shows poor field-effect mobility because most conduction electrons are trapped in acceptor-like defects in an offset region when the offset length (L off) exceeds 0.5 µm, whereas a depletion-type TFT shows superior field-effect mobility owing to the high free electron density in the offset region compared with the trapped electron density. When operating in the saturation region, both types of TFTs show good field-effect mobility comparable to that of a reference TFT with a large gate overlap. The underlying physics of the depletion and enhancement types of offset-drain TFTs are systematically analyzed.

Achieving high field-effect mobility in amorphous indium-gallium-zinc oxide by capping a strong reduction layer.

PubMed

Zan, Hsiao-Wen; Yeh, Chun-Cheng; Meng, Hsin-Fei; Tsai, Chuang-Chuang; Chen, Liang-Hao

2012-07-10

An effective approach to reduce defects and increase electron mobility in a-IGZO thin-film transistors (a-IGZO TFTs) is introduced. A strong reduction layer, calcium, is capped onto the back interface of a-IGZO TFT. After calcium capping, the effective electron mobility of a-IGZO TFT increases from 12 cm(2) V(-1) s(-1) to 160 cm(2) V(-1) s(-1). This high mobility is a new record, which implies that the proposed defect reduction effect is key to improve electron transport in oxide semiconductor materials. Copyright © 2012 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

Tunneling Characteristics Depending on Schottky Barriers and Diffusion Current in SiOC.

PubMed

Oh, Teresa; Kim, Chy Hyung

2016-02-01

To obtain a diffusion current in SiOC, the aluminum doped zinc oxide films were deposited on SiOC/Si wafer by a RF magnetron sputtering. All the X-ray patterns of the SiOC films showed amorphous phases. The level of binding energy of Si atoms will lead to an additional potential modulation by long range Coulombic and covalent interactions with oxygen ions. The growth of the AZO film was affected by the characteristics of SiOC, resulting in similar trends in XPS spectra and a shift to higher AZO lattice d values than the original AZO d values in XRD analyses. The charges trapped by the defects at the interlayer between AZO and SiOC films induced the decreased mobility of carriers. In the absence of trap charges, AZO grown on SiOC film such as the sample prepared at O2 = 25 or 30 sccm, which has low charge carrier concentration and high mobility, showed high mobility in an ambipolar characteristic of oxide semiconductor due to the tunneling effect and diffusion current. The structural matching of an interface between AZO and amorphous SiOC enhanced the height of Schottky Barrier (SB), and then the mobility was increased by the tunneling effect from band to band through the high SB.

Channel scaling and field-effect mobility extraction in amorphous InZnO thin film transistors

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lee, Sunghwan; Song, Yang; Park, Hongsik; Zaslavsky, A.; Paine, D. C.

2017-09-01

Amorphous oxide semiconductors (AOSs) based on indium oxides are of great interest for next generation ultra-high definition displays that require much smaller pixel driving elements. We describe the scaling behavior in amorphous InZnO thin film transistors (TFTs) with a significant decrease in the extracted field-effect mobility μFE with channel length L (from 39.3 to 9.9 cm2/V·s as L is reduced from 50 to 5 μm). Transmission line model measurements reveal that channel scaling leads to a significant μFE underestimation due to contact resistance (RC) at the metallization/channel interface. Therefore, we suggest a method of extracting correct μFE when the TFT performance is significantly affected by RC. The corrected μFE values are higher (45.4 cm2/V·s) and nearly independent of L. The results show the critical effect of contact resistance on μFE measurements and suggest strategies to determine accurate μFE when a TFT channel is scaled.

Self-aligned top-gate amorphous indium zinc oxide thin-film transistors exceeding low-temperature poly-Si transistor performance.

PubMed

Park, Jae Chul; Lee, Ho-Nyeon; Im, Seongil

2013-08-14

Thin-film transistor (TFT) is a key component of active-matrix flat-panel displays (AMFPDs). These days, the low-temperature poly silicon (LTPS) TFTs are to match with advanced AMFPDs such as the active matrix organic light-emitting diode (AMOLED) display, because of their high mobility for fast pixel switching. However, the manufacturing process of LTPS TFT is quite complicated, costly, and scale-limited. Amorphous oxide semiconductor (AOS) TFT technology is another candidate, which is as simple as that of conventioanl amorphous (a)-Si TFTs in fabrication but provides much superior device performances to those of a-Si TFTs. Hence, various AOSs have been compared with LTPS for active channel layer of the advanced TFTs, but have always been found to be relatively inferior to LTPS. In the present work, we clear the persistent inferiority, innovating the device performaces of a-IZO TFT by adopting a self-aligned coplanar top-gate structure and modifying the surface of a-IZO material. Herein, we demonstrate a high-performance simple-processed a-IZO TFT with mobility of ∼157 cm(2) V(-1) s(-1), SS of ∼190 mV dec(-1), and good bias/photostabilities, which overall surpass the performances of high-cost LTPS TFTs.

Physical stability of the amorphous anticholesterol agent (ezetimibe): the role of molecular mobility.

PubMed

Knapik, J; Wojnarowska, Z; Grzybowska, K; Hawelek, L; Sawicki, W; Wlodarski, K; Markowski, J; Paluch, M

2014-11-03

The purpose of this paper is to examine the role of molecular mobility in the recrystallization process from the amorphous state of the anticholesterol drug ezetimibe. Both the molecular dynamics and crystallization kinetics have been studied using various experimental techniques, such as broadband dielectric spectroscopy (BDS), differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), and X-ray diffraction (XRD). Our investigations have shown that ezetimibe easily recrystallizes from the disordered state, both below and above its glass transition temperature (Tg = 336 K). Moreover, we found that an only slightly elevated pressure (5 MPa) significantly accelerates the recrystallization process at T > Tg. We predict that the structural relaxation time of amorphous ezetimibe at 293 K (storage temperature) and ambient pressure is only 22 days. This result corresponds to the characteristic time, determined from XRD measurements, for amorphous ezetimibe to recrystallize during storage at Troom = 298 K. It leads to the conclusion that the molecular mobility reflected in structural relaxation of ezetimibe is mainly responsible for devitrification of this drug. Finally, we determined a relatively easy way to improve the physical stability of the drug by preparing a binary amorphous ezetimibe-Soluplus mixture. Ezetimibe in an amorphous mixture with 20 wt % Soluplus has a much better (over six times) solubility than the pure crystalline material.

Atomistic simulation on charge mobility of amorphous tris(8-hydroxyquinoline) aluminum (Alq3): origin of Poole-Frenkel-type behavior.

PubMed

Nagata, Yuki; Lennartz, Christian

2008-07-21

The atomistic simulation of charge transfer process for an amorphous Alq(3) system is reported. By employing electrostatic potential charges, we calculate site energies and find that the standard deviation of site energy distribution is about twice as large as predicted in previous research. The charge mobility is calculated via the Miller-Abrahams formalism and the master equation approach. We find that the wide site energy distribution governs Poole-Frenkel-type behavior of charge mobility against electric field, while the spatially correlated site energy is not a dominant mechanism of Poole-Frenkel behavior in the range from 2x10(5) to 1.4x10(6) V/cm. Also we reveal that randomly meshed connectivities are, in principle, required to account for the Poole-Frenkel mechanism. Charge carriers find a zigzag pathway at low electric field, while they find a straight pathway along electric field when a high electric field is applied. In the space-charge-limited current scheme, the charge-carrier density increases with electric field strength so that the nonlinear behavior of charge mobility is enhanced through the strong charge-carrier density dependence of charge mobility.

Inhibiting surface crystallization of amorphous indomethacin by nanocoating.

PubMed

Wu, Tian; Sun, Ye; Li, Ning; de Villiers, Melgardt M; Yu, Lian

2007-04-24

An amorphous solid (glass) may crystallize faster at the surface than through the bulk, making surface crystallization a mechanism of failure for amorphous pharmaceuticals and other materials. An ultrathin coating of gold or polyelectrolytes inhibited the surface crystallization of amorphous indomethacin (IMC), an anti-inflammatory drug and model organic glass. The gold coating (10 nm) was deposited by sputtering, and the polyelectrolyte coating (3-20 nm) was deposited by an electrostatic layer-by-layer assembly of cationic poly(dimethyldiallyl ammonium chloride) (PDDA) and anionic sodium poly(styrenesulfonate) (PSS) in aqueous solution. The coating also inhibited the growth of existing crystals. The inhibition was strong even with one layer of PDDA. The polyelectrolyte coating still permitted fast dissolution of amorphous IMC and improved its wetting and flow. The finding supports the view that the surface crystallization of amorphous IMC is enabled by the mobility of a thin layer of surface molecules, and this mobility can be suppressed by a coating of only a few nanometers. This technique may be used to stabilize amorphous drugs prone to surface crystallization, with the aqueous coating process especially suitable for drugs of low aqueous solubility.

Electron Transporting Semiconductor Dielectric Intramolecular

DTIC Science & Technology

2012-04-27

gate dielectric, and the capacitance times mobility was 80 nS/V (10x typical pentacene /oxide), stable to heating to 70 °C in air. Remarkably...oxide/ Pentacene Bilayer Transistors: High Mobility n-Channel, Ambipolar and Nonvolatile Devices” Adv. Funct. Mater. 18, 1832-1839 (2008) Sun, J...case of layered OSC OFETs. This proposal is somewhat different from a model by deLeeuw for amorphous OFETs13 in which carriers would be locally

Carrier transport in amorphous silicon utilizing picosecond photoconductivity

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Johnson, A. M.

1981-08-01

The development of a high-speed electronic measurement capability permitted the direct observation of the transient photoresponse of amorphous silicon (a-Si) with a time resolution of approximately 10ps. This technique was used to measure the initial mobility of photogenerated (2.1eV) free carriers in three types of a-Si having widely different densities of structural defects (i.e., as prepared by: (1) RF glow discharge (a-Si:H); (2) chemical vapor deposition; and (3) evaporation in ultra-high vacuum). In all three types of a-Si, the same initial mobility of approximately 1 cu cm/Vs at room temperature was found. This result tends to confirm the often-made suggestion that the free carrier mobility is determined by the influence of shallow states associated with the disorder in the random atomic network, and is an intrinsic property of a-Si which is unaffected by the method of preparation. The rate of decay of the photocurrent correlates with the density of structural defects and varies from 4ps to 200ps for the three types of a-Si investigated. The initial mobility of a-Si:H was found to be thermally activated. The possible application of extended state transport controlled by multiple trapping and small polaron formation is discussed.

Top-down Fabrication and Enhanced Active Area Electronic Characteristics of Amorphous Oxide Nanoribbons for Flexible Electronics.

PubMed

Jang, Hyun-June; Joong Lee, Ki; Jo, Kwang-Won; Katz, Howard E; Cho, Won-Ju; Shin, Yong-Beom

2017-07-18

Inorganic amorphous oxide semiconductor (AOS) materials such as amorphous InGaZnO (a-IGZO) possess mechanical flexibility and outstanding electrical properties, and have generated great interest for use in flexible and transparent electronic devices. In the past, however, AOS devices required higher activation energies, and hence higher processing temperatures, than organic ones to neutralize defects. It is well known that one-dimensional nanowires tend to have better carrier mobility and mechanical strength along with fewer defects than the corresponding two-dimensional films, but until now it has been difficult, costly, and impractical to fabricate such nanowires in proper alignments by either "bottom-up" growth techniques or by "top-down" e-beam lithography. Here we show a top-down, cost-effective, and scalable approach for the fabrication of parallel, laterally oriented AOS nanoribbons based on lift-off and nano-imprinting. High mobility (132 cm 2 /Vs), electrical stability, and transparency are obtained in a-IGZO nanoribbons, compared to the planar films of the same a-IGZO semiconductor.

Transparent megahertz circuits from solution-processed composite thin films.

PubMed

Liu, Xingqiang; Wan, Da; Wu, Yun; Xiao, Xiangheng; Guo, Shishang; Jiang, Changzhong; Li, Jinchai; Chen, Tangsheng; Duan, Xiangfeng; Fan, Zhiyong; Liao, Lei

2016-04-21

Solution-processed amorphous oxide semiconductors have attracted considerable interest in large-area transparent electronics. However, due to its relative low carrier mobility (∼10 cm(2) V(-1) s(-1)), the demonstrated circuit performance has been limited to 800 kHz or less. Herein, we report solution-processed high-speed thin-film transistors (TFTs) and integrated circuits with an operation frequency beyond the megahertz region on 4 inch glass. The TFTs can be fabricated from an amorphous indium gallium zinc oxide/single-walled carbon nanotube (a-IGZO/SWNT) composite thin film with high yield and high carrier mobility of >70 cm(2) V(-1) s(-1). On-chip microwave measurements demonstrate that these TFTs can deliver an unprecedented operation frequency in solution-processed semiconductors, including an extrinsic cut-off frequency (f(T) = 102 MHz) and a maximum oscillation frequency (f(max) = 122 MHz). Ring oscillators further demonstrated an oscillation frequency of 4.13 MHz, for the first time, realizing megahertz circuit operation from solution-processed semiconductors. Our studies represent an important step toward high-speed solution-processed thin film electronics.

Molecular Mobility of an Amorphous Chiral Pharmaceutical Compound: Impact of Chirality and Chemical Purity.

PubMed

Viel, Quentin; Delbreilh, Laurent; Coquerel, Gérard; Petit, Samuel; Dargent, Eric

2017-08-17

A dielectric relaxation spectroscopy (DRS) study was performed to investigate the molecular mobility of amorphous chiral diprophylline (DPL). For this purpose, both racemic DPL and a single enantiomer of DPL were considered. After fast cooling from the melt at very low temperature (-140 °C), progressive heating below and above the glass transition (T g ≈ 37 °C) induces two secondary relaxations (γ- and δ-) and primary relaxations (α-) for both enantiomeric compositions. After chemical purification of our samples by means of cooling recrystallization, no γ-process could be detected by DRS. Hence, it was highlighted that the molecular mobility in the glassy state is influenced by the presence of theophylline (TPH), the main impurity in DPL samples. We also proved that the dynamic behavior of a single enantiomer and the racemic mixture of the same purified compound are quasi-identical. This study demonstrates that the relative stability and the molecular mobility of chiral amorphous drugs are strongly sensitive to chemical purity.

Obstacles using amorphous materials for volume applications

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kiessling, Albert; Reininger, Thomas

2012-10-01

This contribution is especially focussed on the attempt to use amorphous or nanocrystalline metals in position sensor applications and to describe the difficulties and obstacles encountered in coherence with the development of appropriate industrial high volume series products in conjunction with the related quality requirements. The main motivation to do these investigations was to beat the generally known sensors especially silicon based Hall-sensors as well as AMR- and GMR-sensors - well known from mobile phones and electronic storage devices like hard discs and others - in terms of cost-effectiveness and functionality.

Improved Mobility and Bias Stability of Thin Film Transistors Using the Double-Layer a-InGaZnO/a-InGaZnO:N Channel.

PubMed

Yu, H; Zhang, L; Li, X H; Xu, H Y; Liu, Y C

2016-04-01

The amorphous indium-gallium-zinc oxide (a-IGZO) thin film transistors (TFTs) were demonstrated based on a double-layer channel structure, where the channel is composed of an ultrathin nitro-genated a-IGZO (a-IGZO:N) layer and an undoped a-IGZO layer. The double-layer channel device showed higher saturation mobility and lower threshold-voltage shift (5.74 cm2/Vs, 2.6 V) compared to its single-layer counterpart (0.17 cm2/Vs, 7.23 V). The improvement can be attributed to three aspects: (1) improved carrier transport properties of the channel by the a-IGZO:N layer with high carrier mobility and the a-IGZO layer with high carrier concentration, (2) reduced interfacial trap density between the active channel and the gate insulator, and (3) higher surface flatness of the double-layer channel. Our study reveals key insights into double-layer channel, involving selecting more suitable electrical property for back-channel layer and more suitable interface modification for active layer. Meanwhile, room temperature fabrication amorphous TFTs offer certain advantages on better flexibility and higher uniformity over a large area.

Tellurium n-type doping of highly mismatched amorphous GaN 1-xAs x alloys in plasma-assisted molecular beam epitaxy

DOE PAGES

Novikov, S. V.; Ting, M.; Yu, K. M.; ...

2014-10-01

In this paper we report our study on n-type Te doping of amorphous GaN 1-xAs x layers grown by plasma-assisted molecular beam epitaxy. We have used a low temperature PbTe source as a source of tellurium. Reproducible and uniform tellurium incorporation in amorphous GaN 1-xAs x layers has been successfully achieved with a maximum Te concentration of 9×10²⁰ cm⁻³. Tellurium incorporation resulted in n-doping of GaN 1-xAs x layers with Hall carrier concentrations up to 3×10¹⁹ cm⁻³ and mobilities of ~1 cm²/V s. The optimal growth temperature window for efficient Te doping of the amorphous GaN 1-xAs x layers hasmore » been determined.« less

Amorphous Rover

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Curtis, Steven A.

2010-01-01

A proposed mobile robot, denoted the amorphous rover, would vary its own size and shape in order to traverse terrain by means of rolling and/or slithering action. The amorphous rover was conceived as a robust, lightweight alternative to the wheeled rover-class robotic vehicle heretofore used in exploration of Mars. Unlike a wheeled rover, the amorphous rover would not have a predefined front, back, top, bottom, or sides. Hence, maneuvering of the amorphous rover would be more robust: the amorphous rover would not be vulnerable to overturning, could move backward or sideways as well as forward, and could even narrow itself to squeeze through small openings.

Temperature Dependence of Field-Effect Mobility in Organic Thin-Film Transistors: Similarity to Inorganic Transistors.

PubMed

Okada, Jun; Nagase, Takashi; Kobayashi, Takashi; Naito, Hiroyoshi

2016-04-01

Carrier transport in solution-processed organic thin-film transistors (OTFTs) based on dioctylbenzothienobenzothiophene (C8-BTBT) has been investigated in a wide temperature range from 296 to 10 K. The field-effect mobility shows thermally activated behavior whose activation energy becomes smaller with decreasing temperature. The temperature dependence of field-effect mobility found in C8-BTBT is similar to that of others materials: organic semiconducting polymers, amorphous oxide semiconductors and hydrogenated amorphous silicon. These results indicate that hopping transport between isoenergetic localized states becomes dominated in a low temperature regime in these materials.

Plasticizers effect on native biodegradable package materials

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Cozar, Onuc; Cioica, Nicolae; Coţa, Constantin; Nagy, Elena Mihaela; Fechete, Radu

2017-01-01

Changes in intensity of some IR and Raman bands suggest the plasticizing - antiplasticizing effects of water and glycerol contents and a small increase of amorphous/crystalline ratio, too. The nuclear magnetic relaxation data show that the amorphous/crystalline ratio depends on amylose/amylopectin mobility and also by the place of their polymer chain segments. Thus the distributions of spin-spin (T2) relaxation times and the shift toward higher values of some T2 characteristic peaks show that the increasing of water and glycerol content in the starch package materials lead to the more mobile amylose and amylopectin polymer chain segments and the prevalence of amorphous regions in the prepared native corn starch samples.

The Mobility Enhancement of Indium Gallium Zinc Oxide Transistors via Low-temperature Crystallization using a Tantalum Catalytic Layer.

PubMed

Shin, Yeonwoo; Kim, Sang Tae; Kim, Kuntae; Kim, Mi Young; Oh, Saeroonter; Jeong, Jae Kyeong

2017-09-07

High-mobility indium gallium zinc oxide (IGZO) thin-film transistors (TFTs) are achieved through low-temperature crystallization enabled via a reaction with a transition metal catalytic layer. For conventional amorphous IGZO TFTs, the active layer crystallizes at thermal annealing temperatures of 600 °C or higher, which is not suitable for displays using a glass substrate. The crystallization temperature is reduced when in contact with a Ta layer, where partial crystallization at the IGZO back-channel occurs with annealing at 300 °C, while complete crystallization of the active layer occurs at 400 °C. The field-effect mobility is significantly boosted to 54.0 cm 2 /V·s for the IGZO device with a metal-induced polycrystalline channel formed at 300 °C compared to 18.1 cm 2 /V·s for an amorphous IGZO TFT without a catalytic layer. This work proposes a facile and effective route to enhance device performance by crystallizing the IGZO layer with standard annealing temperatures, without the introduction of expensive laser irradiation processes.

Control of arsenic mobilization in paddy soils by manganese and iron oxides.

PubMed

Xu, Xiaowei; Chen, Chuan; Wang, Peng; Kretzschmar, Ruben; Zhao, Fang-Jie

2017-12-01

Reductive mobilization of arsenic (As) in paddy soils under flooded conditions is an important reason for the relatively high accumulation of As in rice, posing a risk to food safety and human health. The extent of As mobilization varies widely among paddy soils, but the reasons are not well understood. In this study, we investigated As mobilization in six As-contaminated paddy soils (total As ranging from 73 to 122 mg kg -1 ) in flooded incubation and pot experiments. Arsenic speciation in the solution and solid phases were determined. The magnitude of As mobilization into the porewater varied by > 100 times among the six soils. Porewater As concentration correlated closely with the concentration of oxalate-extractable As, suggesting that As associated with amorphous iron (oxyhydr)oxides represents the potentially mobilizable pool of As under flooded conditions. Soil containing a high level of manganese oxides showed the lowest As mobilization, likely because Mn oxides retard As mobilization by slowing down the drop of redox potential upon soil flooding and maintaining a higher arsenate to arsenite ratio in the solid and solution phases. Additions of a synthetic Mn oxide (hausmannite) to two paddy soils increased arsenite oxidation, decreased As mobilization into the porewater and decreased As concentrations in rice grain and straw. Consistent with previous studies using simplified model systems or pure mineral phases, the present study shows that Mn oxides and amorphous Fe (oxyhydr)oxides are important factors controlling reductive As mobilization in As-contaminated paddy soils. In addition, this study also suggests a potential mitigation strategy using exogenous Mn oxides to decrease As uptake by rice in paddy soils containing low levels of indigenous Mn oxides, although further work is needed to verify its efficacy and possible secondary effects under field conditions. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Tomai, S.; Graduate School of Material Science, Nara Institute of Science and Technology, 8916-5, Takayama-cho, Ikoma, Nara 6300192; Terai, K.

We have developed a high-mobility and high-uniform oxide semiconductor using poly-crystalline semiconductor material composed of indium and zinc (p-IZO). A typical conduction mechanism of p-IZO film was demonstrated by the grain boundary scattering model as in polycrystalline silicon. The grain boundary potential of the 2-h-annealed IZO film was calculated to be 100 meV, which was comparable to that of the polycrystalline silicon. However, the p-IZO thin film transistor (TFT) measurement shows rather uniform characteristics. It denotes that the mobility deterioration around the grain boundaries is lower than the case for low-temperature polycrystalline silicon. This assertion was made based on the differencemore » of the mobility between the polycrystalline and amorphous IZO film being much smaller than is the case for silicon transistors. Therefore, we conclude that the p-IZO is a promising material for a TFT channel, which realizes high drift mobility and uniformity simultaneously.« less

Molecular Dynamics, Recrystallization Behavior, and Water Solubility of the Amorphous Anticancer Agent Bicalutamide and Its Polyvinylpyrrolidone Mixtures.

PubMed

Szczurek, Justyna; Rams-Baron, Marzena; Knapik-Kowalczuk, Justyna; Antosik, Agata; Szafraniec, Joanna; Jamróz, Witold; Dulski, Mateusz; Jachowicz, Renata; Paluch, Marian

2017-04-03

In this paper, we investigated the molecular mobility and physical stability of amorphous bicalutamide, a poorly water-soluble drug widely used in prostate cancer treatment. Our broadband dielectric spectroscopy measurements and differential scanning calorimetry studies revealed that amorphous BIC is a moderately fragile material with a strong tendency to recrystallize from the amorphous state. However, mixing the drug with polymer polyvinylpyrrolidone results in a substantial improvement of physical stability attributed to the antiplasticizing effect governed by the polymer additive. Furthermore, IR study demonstrated the existence of specific interactions between the drug and excipient. We found out that preparation of bicalutamide-polyvinylpyrrolidone mixture in a 2-1 weight ratio completely hinder material recrystallization. Moreover, we determined the time-scale of structural relaxation in the glassy state for investigated materials. Because molecular mobility is considered an important factor governing crystallization behavior, such information was used to approximate the long-term physical stability of an amorphous drug and drug-polymer systems upon their storage at room temperature. Moreover, we found that such systems have distinctly higher water solubility and dissolution rate in comparison to the pure amorphous form, indicating the genuine formulation potential of the proposed approach.

Nucleation-controlled low-temperature solid-phase crystallization for Sn-doped polycrystalline-Ge film on insulator with high carrier mobility (˜550 cm2/V s)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Xu, Chang; Gao, Hongmiao; Sugino, Takayuki; Miyao, Masanobu; Sadoh, Taizoh

2018-06-01

High-speed thin-film transistors (TFTs) are required to develop the next generation of electronics, such as three-dimensional large-scale integrated circuits and advanced system-in-displays. For this purpose, high-carrier-mobility semiconductor films on insulator structures should be fabricated with low-temperature processing conditions (≤500 °C). To achieve this, we investigate solid-phase crystallization of amorphous-GeSn (a-GeSn) films (Sn concentration: 2% and thickness: 50-200 nm) on insulating substrates, where thin a-Si under-layers (thickness: 0-20 nm) are introduced between a-GeSn films and insulating substrates. The GeSn films are polycrystallized by annealing (450 °C, 20 h) for all samples irrespective of a-GeSn and a-Si thickness conditions, while the Si films remain amorphous. Analysis of crystal structures of GeSn films (thickness: 50 nm) reveals that grain sizes decrease from ˜10 μm to 2-3 μm by the introduction of a-Si under-layers (thickness: 3-20 nm). This phenomenon is attributed to the change in dominant nucleation sites from the interface to the bulk, which significantly decreases grain-boundary scattering of carriers through a decrease in the barrier heights at grain boundaries. Bulk-nucleation further becomes dominant by increasing the GeSn film thickness. As a result, a high carrier mobility of ˜550 cm2/V s is realized for GeSn films (thickness: 100 nm) grown with a-Si under-layers. This mobility is the largest among ever reported data for Ge and GeSn grown on an insulator. This technique will facilitate realization of high-speed TFTs for use in the next generation of electronics.

Barrier coated drug layered particles for enhanced performance of amorphous solid dispersion dosage form.

PubMed

Puri, Vibha; Dantuluri, Ajay K; Bansal, Arvind K

2012-01-01

Amorphous solid dispersions (ASDs) may entail tailor-made dosage form design to exploit their solubility advantage. Surface phenomena dominated the performance of amorphous celecoxib solid dispersion (ACSD) comprising of amorphous celecoxib (A-CLB), polyvinylpyrrolidone, and meglumine (7:2:1, w/w). ACSD cohesive interfacial interactions hindered its capsule dosage form dissolution (Puri V, Dhantuluri AK, Bansal AK 2011. J Pharm Sci 100:2460-2468). Furthermore, ACSD underwent significant devitrification under environmental stress. In the present study, enthalpy relaxation studies revealed its free surface to contribute to molecular mobility. Based on all these observations, barrier coated amorphous CLB solid dispersion layered particles (ADLP) were developed by Wurster process, using microcrystalline cellulose as substrate and polyvinyl alcohol (PVA), inulin, and polyvinyl acetate phthalate (PVAP) as coating excipients. Capsule formulations of barrier coated-ADLP could achieve rapid dispersibility and high drug release. Evaluation under varying temperature and RH conditions suggested the crystallization inhibitory efficiency in order of inulin < PVA ≈ PVAP; however, under only temperature treatment, crystallization inhibition increased with increase in T(g) of the coating material. Simulated studies using DSC evidenced drug-polymer mixing at the interface as a potential mechanism for surface stabilization. In conclusion, surface modification yielded a fast dispersing robust high drug load ASD based dosage form. Copyright © 2011 Wiley-Liss, Inc.

Ionic Liquid Activation of Amorphous Metal-Oxide Semiconductors for Flexible Transparent Electronic Devices

DOE PAGES

Pudasaini, Pushpa Raj; Noh, Joo Hyon; Wong, Anthony T.; ...

2016-02-09

To begin this abstract, amorphous metal-oxide semiconductors offer the high carrier mobilities and excellent large-area uniformity required for high performance, transparent, flexible electronic devices; however, a critical bottleneck to their widespread implementation is the need to activate these materials at high temperatures which are not compatible with flexible polymer substrates. The highly controllable activation of amorphous indium gallium zinc oxide semiconductor channels using ionic liquid gating at room temperature is reported. Activation is controlled by electric field-induced oxygen migration across the ionic liquid-semiconductor interface. In addition to activation of unannealed devices, it is shown that threshold voltages of a transistormore » can be linearly tuned between the enhancement and depletion modes. Finally, the first ever example of transparent flexible thin film metal oxide transistor on a polyamide substrate created using this simple technique is demonstrated. Finally, this study demonstrates the potential of field-induced activation as a promising alternative to traditional postdeposition thermal annealing which opens the door to wide scale implementation into flexible electronic applications.« less

Highly stretchable polymer semiconductor films through the nanoconfinement effect

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Xu, Jie; Wang, Sihong; Wang, Ging-Ji Nathan; Zhu, Chenxin; Luo, Shaochuan; Jin, Lihua; Gu, Xiaodan; Chen, Shucheng; Feig, Vivian R.; To, John W. F.; Rondeau-Gagné, Simon; Park, Joonsuk; Schroeder, Bob C.; Lu, Chien; Oh, Jin Young; Wang, Yanming; Kim, Yun-Hi; Yan, He; Sinclair, Robert; Zhou, Dongshan; Xue, Gi; Murmann, Boris; Linder, Christian; Cai, Wei; Tok, Jeffery B.-H.; Chung, Jong Won; Bao, Zhenan

2017-01-01

Soft and conformable wearable electronics require stretchable semiconductors, but existing ones typically sacrifice charge transport mobility to achieve stretchability. We explore a concept based on the nanoconfinement of polymers to substantially improve the stretchability of polymer semiconductors, without affecting charge transport mobility. The increased polymer chain dynamics under nanoconfinement significantly reduces the modulus of the conjugated polymer and largely delays the onset of crack formation under strain. As a result, our fabricated semiconducting film can be stretched up to 100% strain without affecting mobility, retaining values comparable to that of amorphous silicon. The fully stretchable transistors exhibit high biaxial stretchability with minimal change in on current even when poked with a sharp object. We demonstrate a skinlike finger-wearable driver for a light-emitting diode.

High mobility and high stability glassy metal-oxynitride materials and devices

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lee, Eunha; Kim, Taeho; Benayad, Anass; Hur, Jihyun; Park, Gyeong-Su; Jeon, Sanghun

2016-04-01

In thin film technology, future semiconductor and display products with high performance, high density, large area, and ultra high definition with three-dimensional functionalities require high performance thin film transistors (TFTs) with high stability. Zinc oxynitride, a composite of zinc oxide and zinc nitride, has been conceded as a strong substitute to conventional semiconductor film such as silicon and indium gallium zinc oxide due to high mobility value. However, zinc oxynitride has been suffered from poor reproducibility due to relatively low binding energy of nitrogen with zinc, resulting in the instability of composition and its device performance. Here we performed post argon plasma process on zinc oxynitride film, forming nano-crystalline structure in stable amorphous matrix which hampers the reaction of oxygen with zinc. Therefore, material properties and device performance of zinc oxynitride are greatly enhanced, exhibiting robust compositional stability even exposure to air, uniform phase, high electron mobility, negligible fast transient charging and low noise characteristics. Furthermore, We expect high mobility and high stability zinc oxynitride customized by plasma process to be applicable to a broad range of semiconductor and display devices.

Bimolecular crystals with an intercalated structure improve poly(p-phenylenevinylene)-based organic photovoltaic cells.

PubMed

Lim, Kyung-Geun; Park, Jun-Mo; Mangold, Hannah; Laquai, Frédéric; Choi, Tae-Lim; Lee, Tae-Woo

2015-01-01

The exciton dissociation, recombination, and charge transport of bulk heterojunction organic photovoltaic cells (OPVs) is influenced strongly by the nanomorphology of the blend, such as the grain size and the molecular packing. Although it is well known that polymers based on amorphous poly(p-phenylenevinylene) (PPV) have a fundamental limit to their efficiency because of low carrier mobility, which leads to increased recombination and unbalanced charge extraction, herein, we demonstrate that the issue can be overcome by forming bimolecular crystals of an amorphous PPV-based polymer:phenyl-C61 -butyric acid methyl ester (PCBM) intercalated structure. We used amorphous poly(2,5-dioctyloxy-p-phenylene vinylene-alt-2',5'-thienylene vinylene) (PPVTV), which has a simple chemical structure. A reasonably high power conversion efficiency (∼3.5 %) was obtained, although the material has an intrinsically amorphous structure and a relatively large band gap (2.0 eV). We demonstrate a correlation between a well-ordered bimolecular crystal of PPVTV:PCBM and an improved hole mobility of a PPVTV:PCBM film compared to a pristine PPVTV film by using 2 D grazing incidence XRD and space-charge-limited current measurements. Furthermore, we show that the bimolecular crystal structure in high-performance OPVs is related to an optimum molecular packing, which is influenced by the PPVTV:PCBM blending ratio, side-chain length, and molecular weight of the PPVTV polymer. Improved charge transport in PPVTV:PCBM bimolecular crystals leads to a fast sweep out of charges and thus suppression of nongeminate recombination under the operating conditions. © 2015 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

Semiconductor to metallic transition in bulk accumulated amorphous indium-gallium-zinc-oxide dual gate thin-film transistor

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Chun, Minkyu; Chowdhury, Md Delwar Hossain; Jang, Jin, E-mail: jjang@khu.ac.kr

We investigated the effects of top gate voltage (V{sub TG}) and temperature (in the range of 25 to 70 {sup o}C) on dual-gate (DG) back-channel-etched (BCE) amorphous-indium-gallium-zinc-oxide (a-IGZO) thin film transistors (TFTs) characteristics. The increment of V{sub TG} from -20V to +20V, decreases the threshold voltage (V{sub TH}) from 19.6V to 3.8V and increases the electron density to 8.8 x 10{sup 18}cm{sup −3}. Temperature dependent field-effect mobility in saturation regime, extracted from bottom gate sweep, show a critical dependency on V{sub TG}. At V{sub TG} of 20V, the mobility decreases from 19.1 to 15.4 cm{sup 2}/V ⋅ s with increasingmore » temperature, showing a metallic conduction. On the other hand, at V{sub TG} of - 20V, the mobility increases from 6.4 to 7.5cm{sup 2}/V ⋅ s with increasing temperature. Since the top gate bias controls the position of Fermi level, the temperature dependent mobility shows metallic conduction when the Fermi level is above the conduction band edge, by applying high positive bias to the top gate.« less

A load-lock compatible system for in situ electrical resistivity measurements during thin film growth.

PubMed

Colin, J J; Diot, Y; Guerin, Ph; Lamongie, B; Berneau, F; Michel, A; Jaouen, C; Abadias, G

2016-02-01

An experimental setup designed for in situ electrical resistance measurement during thin film growth is described. The custom-built sample holder with a four-point probe arrangement can be loaded into a high-vacuum magnetron sputter-deposition chamber through a load-lock transfer system, allowing measurements on series of samples without venting the main chamber. Electrical contact is ensured with circular copper tracks inserted in a Teflon plate on a mounting holder station inside the deposition chamber. This configuration creates the possibility to measure thickness-dependent electrical resistance changes with sub-monolayer resolution and is compatible with use of sample rotation during growth. Examples are presented for metallic films with high adatom mobility growing in a Volmer-Weber mode (Ag and Pd) as well as for refractory metal (Mo) with low adatom mobility. Evidence for an amorphous-to-crystalline phase transition at a film thickness of 2.6 nm is reported during growth of Mo on an amorphous Si underlayer, supporting previous findings based on in situ wafer curvature measurements.

Direct observation of small cluster mobility and ripening. [during annealing of metal films on amorphous substrates

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Heinemann, K.; Poppa, H.

1975-01-01

Direct evidence is reported for the simultaneous occurrence of Ostwald ripening and short-distance cluster mobility during annealing of discontinuous metal films on clean amorphous substrates. The annealing characteristics of very thin particulate deposits of silver on amorphized clean surfaces of single crystalline thin graphite substrates were studied by in-situ transmission electron microscopy (TEM) under controlled environmental conditions (residual gas pressure of 10 to the minus 9th power torr) in the temperature range from 25 to 450 C. Sputter cleaning of the substrate surface, metal deposition, and annealing were monitored by TEM observation. Pseudostereographic presentation of micrographs in different annealing stages, the observation of the annealing behavior at cast shadow edges, and measurements with an electronic image analyzing system were employed to aid the visual perception and the analysis of changes in deposit structure recorded during annealing. Slow Ostwald ripening was found to occur in the entire temperature range, but the overriding surface transport mechanism was short-distance cluster mobility.

An amorphous silicon photodiode with 2 THz gain-bandwidth product based on cycling excitation process

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yan, Lujiang; Yu, Yugang; Zhang, Alex Ce; Hall, David; Niaz, Iftikhar Ahmad; Raihan Miah, Mohammad Abu; Liu, Yu-Hsin; Lo, Yu-Hwa

2017-09-01

Since impact ionization was observed in semiconductors over half a century ago, avalanche photodiodes (APDs) using impact ionization in a fashion of chain reaction have been the most sensitive semiconductor photodetectors. However, APDs have relatively high excess noise, a limited gain-bandwidth product, and high operation voltage, presenting a need for alternative signal amplification mechanisms of superior properties. As an amplification mechanism, the cycling excitation process (CEP) was recently reported in a silicon p-n junction with subtle control and balance of the impurity levels and profiles. Realizing that CEP effect depends on Auger excitation involving localized states, we made the counter intuitive hypothesis that disordered materials, such as amorphous silicon, with their abundant localized states, can produce strong CEP effects with high gain and speed at low noise, despite their extremely low mobility and large number of defects. Here, we demonstrate an amorphous silicon low noise photodiode with gain-bandwidth product of over 2 THz, based on a very simple structure. This work will impact a wide range of applications involving optical detection because amorphous silicon, as the primary gain medium, is a low-cost, easy-to-process material that can be formed on many kinds of rigid or flexible substrates.

Crystallization kinetics and molecular mobility of an amorphous active pharmaceutical ingredient: A case study with Biclotymol.

PubMed

Schammé, Benjamin; Couvrat, Nicolas; Malpeli, Pascal; Delbreilh, Laurent; Dupray, Valérie; Dargent, Éric; Coquerel, Gérard

2015-07-25

The present case study focuses on the crystallization kinetics and molecular mobility of an amorphous mouth and throat drug namely Biclotymol, through differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), temperature resolved X-ray powder diffraction (TR-XRPD) and hot stage microscopy (HSM). Kinetics of crystallization above the glass transition through isothermal and non-isothermal cold crystallization were considered. Avrami model was used for isothermal crystallization process. Non-isothermal cold crystallization was investigated through Augis and Bennett model. Differences between crystallization processes have been ascribed to a site-saturated nucleation mechanism of the metastable form, confirmed by optical microscopy images. Regarding molecular mobility, a feature of molecular dynamics in glass-forming liquids as thermodynamic fragility index m was determined through calorimetric measurements. It turned out to be around m=100, describing Biclotymol as a fragile glass-former for Angell's classification. Relatively long-term stability of amorphous Biclotymol above Tg was analyzed indirectly by calorimetric monitoring to evaluate thermodynamic parameters and crystallization behavior of glassy Biclotymol. Within eight months of storage above Tg (T=Tg+2°C), amorphous Biclotymol does not show a strong inclination to crystallize and forms a relatively stable glass. This case study, involving a multidisciplinary approach, points out the importance of continuing looking for stability predictors. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Model for determination of mid-gap states in amorphous metal oxides from thin film transistors

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bubel, S.; Chabinyc, M. L.

2013-06-01

The electronic density of states in metal oxide semiconductors like amorphous zinc oxide (a-ZnO) and its ternary and quaternary oxide alloys with indium, gallium, tin, or aluminum are different from amorphous silicon, or disordered materials such as pentacene, or P3HT. Many ZnO based semiconductors exhibit a steep decaying density of acceptor tail states (trap DOS) and a Fermi level (EF) close to the conduction band energy (EC). Considering thin film transistor (TFT) operation in accumulation mode, the quasi Fermi level for electrons (Eq) moves even closer to EC. Classic analytic TFT simulations use the simplification EC-EF> `several'kT and cannot reproduce exponential tail states with a characteristic energy smaller than 1/2 kT. We demonstrate an analytic model for tail and deep acceptor states, valid for all amorphous metal oxides and include the effect of trap assisted hopping instead of simpler percolation or mobility edge models, to account for the observed field dependent mobility.

Material Design of p-Type Transparent Amorphous Semiconductor, Cu-Sn-I.

PubMed

Jun, Taehwan; Kim, Junghwan; Sasase, Masato; Hosono, Hideo

2018-03-01

Transparent amorphous semiconductors (TAS) that can be fabricated at low temperature are key materials in the practical application of transparent flexible electronics. Although various n-type TAS materials with excellent performance, such as amorphous In-Ga-Zn-O (a-IGZO), are already known, no complementary p-type TAS has been realized to date. Here, a material design concept for p-type TAS materials is proposed utilizing the pseudo s-orbital nature of spatially spreading iodine 5p orbitals and amorphous Sn-containing CuI (a-CuSnI) thin film is reported as an example. The resulting a-CuSnI thin films fabricated by spin coating at low temperature (140 °C) have a smooth surface. The Hall mobility increases with the hole concentration and the largest mobility of ≈9 cm 2 V -1 s -1 is obtained, which is comparable with that of conventional n-type TAS. © 2018 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

Effect of Post Treatment For Cu-Cr Source/Drain Electrodes on a-IGZO TFTs.

PubMed

Hu, Shiben; Fang, Zhiqiang; Ning, Honglong; Tao, Ruiqiang; Liu, Xianzhe; Zeng, Yong; Yao, Rihui; Huang, Fuxiang; Li, Zhengcao; Xu, Miao; Wang, Lei; Lan, Linfeng; Peng, Junbiao

2016-07-27

We report a high-performance amorphous Indium-Gallium-Zinc-Oxide (a-IGZO) thin-film transistor (TFT) with new copper-chromium (Cu-Cr) alloy source/drain electrodes. The TFT shows a high mobility of 39.4 cm 2 ·V - 1 ·s - 1 a turn-on voltage of -0.8 V and a low subthreshold swing of 0.47 V/decade. Cu diffusion is suppressed because pre-annealing can protect a-IGZO from damage during the electrode sputtering and reduce the copper diffusion paths by making film denser. Due to the interaction of Cr with a-IGZO, the carrier concentration of a-IGZO, which is responsible for high mobility, rises.

Effect of Post Treatment For Cu-Cr Source/Drain Electrodes on a-IGZO TFTs

PubMed Central

Hu, Shiben; Fang, Zhiqiang; Ning, Honglong; Tao, Ruiqiang; Liu, Xianzhe; Zeng, Yong; Yao, Rihui; Huang, Fuxiang; Li, Zhengcao; Xu, Miao; Wang, Lei; Lan, Linfeng; Peng, Junbiao

2016-01-01

We report a high-performance amorphous Indium-Gallium-Zinc-Oxide (a-IGZO) thin-film transistor (TFT) with new copper-chromium (Cu-Cr) alloy source/drain electrodes. The TFT shows a high mobility of 39.4 cm2·V−1·s−1 a turn-on voltage of −0.8 V and a low subthreshold swing of 0.47 V/decade. Cu diffusion is suppressed because pre-annealing can protect a-IGZO from damage during the electrode sputtering and reduce the copper diffusion paths by making film denser. Due to the interaction of Cr with a-IGZO, the carrier concentration of a-IGZO, which is responsible for high mobility, rises. PMID:28773743

Organization and mobility of water in amorphous and crystalline trehalose

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kilburn, Duncan; Townrow, Sam; Meunier, Vincent; Richardson, Robert; Alam, Ashraf; Ubbink, Job

2006-08-01

The disaccharide trehalose is accumulated by microorganisms, such as yeasts, and multicellular organisms, such as tardigrades, when conditions of extreme drought occur. In this way these organisms can withstand dehydration through the formation of an intracellular carbohydrate glass, which, with its high viscosity and hydrogen-bonding interactions, stabilizes and protects the integrity of complex biological structures and molecules. This property of trehalose can also be harnessed in the stabilization of liposomes, proteins and in the preservation of red blood cells, but the underlying mechanism of bioprotection is not yet fully understood. Here we use positron annihilation lifetime spectroscopy to probe the free volume of trehalose matrices; specifically, we develop a molecular picture of the organization and mobility of water in both amorphous and crystalline states. Whereas in amorphous matrices, water increases the average intermolecular hole size, in the crystalline dihydrate it is organized as a confined one-dimensional fluid in channels of fixed diameter that allow activated diffusion of water in and out of the crystallites. We present direct real-time evidence of water molecules unloading reversibly from these channels, thereby acting as both a sink and a source of water in low-moisture systems. We postulate that this behaviour may provide the overall stability required to keep organisms viable through dehydration conditions.

Highly Mobile Two-Dimensional Electron Gases with a Strong Gating Effect at the Amorphous LaAlO3/KTaO3 Interface.

PubMed

Zhang, Hui; Zhang, Hongrui; Yan, Xi; Zhang, Xuejing; Zhang, Qinghua; Zhang, Jing; Han, Furong; Gu, Lin; Liu, Banggui; Chen, Yuansha; Shen, Baogen; Sun, Jirong

2017-10-18

Two-dimensional electron gas (2DEG) at the perovskite oxide interface exhibits a lot of exotic properties, presenting a promising platform for the exploration of emergent phenomena. While most of the previous works focused on SrTiO 3 -based 2DEG, here we report on the fabrication of high-quality 2DEGs by growing an amorphous LaAlO 3 layer on a (001)-orientated KTaO 3 substrate, which is a 5d metal oxide with a polar surface, at a high temperature that is usually adopted for crystalline LaAlO 3 . Metallic 2DEGs with a Hall mobility as high as ∼2150 cm 2 /(V s) and a sheet carrier density as low as 2 × 10 12 cm -2 are obtained. For the first time, the gating effect on the transport process is studied, and its influence on spin relaxation and inelastic and elastic scattering is determined. Remarkably, the spin relaxation time can be strongly tuned by a back gate. It is reduced by a factor of ∼69 while the gate voltage is swept from -25 to +100 V. The mechanism that dominates the spin relaxation is elucidated.

25th Anniversary Article: Organic Field-Effect Transistors: The Path Beyond Amorphous Silicon

PubMed Central

Sirringhaus, Henning

2014-01-01

Over the past 25 years, organic field-effect transistors (OFETs) have witnessed impressive improvements in materials performance by 3–4 orders of magnitude, and many of the key materials discoveries have been published in Advanced Materials. This includes some of the most recent demonstrations of organic field-effect transistors with performance that clearly exceeds that of benchmark amorphous silicon-based devices. In this article, state-of-the-art in OFETs are reviewed in light of requirements for demanding future applications, in particular active-matrix addressing for flexible organic light-emitting diode (OLED) displays. An overview is provided over both small molecule and conjugated polymer materials for which field-effect mobilities exceeding > 1 cm2 V–1 s–1 have been reported. Current understanding is also reviewed of their charge transport physics that allows reaching such unexpectedly high mobilities in these weakly van der Waals bonded and structurally comparatively disordered materials with a view towards understanding the potential for further improvement in performance in the future. PMID:24443057

First-principle simulations of electronic structure in semicrystalline polyethylene

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Moyassari, A.; Unge, M.; Hedenqvist, M. S.; Gedde, U. W.; Nilsson, F.

2017-05-01

In order to increase our fundamental knowledge about high-voltage cable insulation materials, realistic polyethylene (PE) structures, generated with a novel molecular modeling strategy, have been analyzed using first principle electronic structure simulations. The PE structures were constructed by first generating atomistic PE configurations with an off-lattice Monte Carlo method and then equilibrating the structures at the desired temperature and pressure using molecular dynamics simulations. Semicrystalline, fully crystalline and fully amorphous PE, in some cases including crosslinks and short-chain branches, were analyzed. The modeled PE had a structure in agreement with established experimental data. Linear-scaling density functional theory (LS-DFT) was used to examine the electronic structure (e.g., spatial distribution of molecular orbitals, bandgaps and mobility edges) on all the materials, whereas conventional DFT was used to validate the LS-DFT results on small systems. When hybrid functionals were used, the simulated bandgaps were close to the experimental values. The localization of valence and conduction band states was demonstrated. The localized states in the conduction band were primarily found in the free volume (result of gauche conformations) present in the amorphous regions. For branched and crosslinked structures, the localized electronic states closest to the valence band edge were positioned at branches and crosslinks, respectively. At 0 K, the activation energy for transport was lower for holes than for electrons. However, at room temperature, the effective activation energy was very low (˜0.1 eV) for both holes and electrons, which indicates that the mobility will be relatively high even below the mobility edges and suggests that charge carriers can be hot carriers above the mobility edges in the presence of a high electrical field.

Microwave annealing effect for highly reliable biosensor: dual-gate ion-sensitive field-effect transistor using amorphous InGaZnO thin-film transistor.

PubMed

Lee, In-Kyu; Lee, Kwan Hyi; Lee, Seok; Cho, Won-Ju

2014-12-24

We used a microwave annealing process to fabricate a highly reliable biosensor using amorphous-InGaZnO (a-IGZO) thin-film transistors (TFTs), which usually experience threshold voltage instability. Compared with furnace-annealed a-IGZO TFTs, the microwave-annealed devices showed superior threshold voltage stability and performance, including a high field-effect mobility of 9.51 cm(2)/V·s, a low threshold voltage of 0.99 V, a good subthreshold slope of 135 mV/dec, and an outstanding on/off current ratio of 1.18 × 10(8). In conclusion, by using the microwave-annealed a-IGZO TFT as the transducer in an extended-gate ion-sensitive field-effect transistor biosensor, we developed a high-performance biosensor with excellent sensing properties in terms of pH sensitivity, reliability, and chemical stability.

Thin film transistor performance of amorphous indium–zinc oxide semiconductor thin film prepared by ultraviolet photoassisted sol–gel processing

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kodzasa, Takehito; Nobeshima, Taiki; Kuribara, Kazunori; Yoshida, Manabu

2018-05-01

We have fabricated an amorphous indium–zinc oxide (IZO, In/Zn = 3/1) semiconductor thin-film transistor (AOS-TFT) by the sol–gel technique using ultraviolet (UV) photoirradiation and post-treatment in high-pressure O2 at 200 °C. The obtained TFT showed a hole carrier mobility of 0.02 cm2 V‑1 s‑1 and an on/off current ratio of 106. UV photoirradiation leads to the decomposition of the organic agents and hydroxide group in the IZO gel film. Furthermore, the post-treatment annealing at a high O2 pressure of more than 0.6 MPa leads to the filling of the oxygen vacancies in a poor metal–oxygen network in the IZO film.

Printed indium gallium zinc oxide transistors. Self-assembled nanodielectric effects on low-temperature combustion growth and carrier mobility.

PubMed

Everaerts, Ken; Zeng, Li; Hennek, Jonathan W; Camacho, Diana I; Jariwala, Deep; Bedzyk, Michael J; Hersam, Mark C; Marks, Tobin J

2013-11-27

Solution-processed amorphous oxide semiconductors (AOSs) are emerging as important electronic materials for displays and transparent electronics. We report here on the fabrication, microstructure, and performance characteristics of inkjet-printed, low-temperature combustion-processed, amorphous indium gallium zinc oxide (a-IGZO) thin-film transistors (TFTs) grown on solution-processed hafnia self-assembled nanodielectrics (Hf-SANDs). TFT performance for devices processed below 300 °C includes >4× enhancement in electron mobility (μFE) on Hf-SAND versus SiO2 or ALD-HfO2 gate dielectrics, while other metrics such as subthreshold swing (SS), current on:off ratio (ION:IOFF), threshold voltage (Vth), and gate leakage current (Ig) are unchanged or enhanced. Thus, low voltage IGZO/SAND TFT operation (<2 V) is possible with ION:IOFF = 10(7), SS = 125 mV/dec, near-zero Vth, and large electron mobility, μFE(avg) = 20.6 ± 4.3 cm(2) V(-1) s(-1), μFE(max) = 50 cm(2) V(-1) s(-1). Furthermore, X-ray diffraction analysis indicates that the 300 °C IGZO combustion processing leaves the underlying Hf-SAND microstructure and capacitance intact. This work establishes the compatibility and advantages of all-solution, low-temperature fabrication of inkjet-printed, combustion-derived high-mobility IGZO TFTs integrated with self-assembled hybrid organic-inorganic nanodielectrics.

Direct /TEM/ observation of the catalytic oxidation of amorphous carbon by Pd particles

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Moorhead, R. D.; Poppa, H.; Heinemann, K.

1980-01-01

The catalytic oxidation of amorphous carbon substrates by Pd particles is observed by in situ transmission electron microscopy. Various modes of selective attack of the carbon substrate in the immediate neighborhood of Pd particles are observed, which can be correlated with different degrees of particle mobility. Using amorphous substrates we have been able to demonstrate that the particle-substrate interaction is influenced by the structure of the particle. This has not previously been noted.

Final Report: Hot Carrier Collection in Thin Film Silicon with Tailored Nanocrystalline/Amorphous Structure

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Collins, Reuben T.

This project developed, characterized, and perfected a new type of highly tunable nanocrystalline silicon (nc-Si:H) incorporating quantum confined silicon nanoparticles (SiNPs). A dual zone deposition process and system were developed and demonstrated. The depositions of SiNPs, the amorphous phase, and co-deposited material were characterized and optimized. Material design and interpretation of results were guided by new theoretical tools that examined both the electronic structure and carrier dynamics of this hybrid material. Heterojunction and p-i-n solar cells were demonstrated and characterized. Photo-thin-film-transistors allowed mobility to be studied as a function SiNP density in the films. Rapid (hot) transfer of carriers frommore » the amorphous matrix to the quantum confined SiNPs was observed and connected to reduced photo-degradation. The results carry quantum confined Si dots from a novelty to materials that can be harnessed for PV and optoelectronic applications. The growth process is broadly extendable with alternative amorphous matrices, novel layered structures, and alternative NPs easily accessible. The hot carrier effects hold the potential for third generation photovoltaics.« less

Role of order and disorder on the electronic performances of oxide semiconductor thin film transistors

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Martins, R.; Barquinha, P.; Ferreira, I.; Pereira, L.; Gonçalves, G.; Fortunato, E.

2007-02-01

The role of order and disorder on the electronic performances of n-type ionic oxides such as zinc oxide, gallium zinc oxide, and indium zinc oxide used as active (channel) or passive (drain/source) layers in thin film transistors (TFTs) processed at room temperature are discussed, taking as reference the known behavior observed in conventional covalent semiconductors such as silicon. The work performed shows that while in the oxide semiconductors the Fermi level can be pinned up within the conduction band, independent of the state of order, the same does not happen with silicon. Besides, in the oxide semiconductors the carrier mobility is not bandtail limited and so disorder does not affect so strongly the mobility as it happens in covalent semiconductors. The electrical properties of the oxide films (resistivity, carrier concentration, and mobility) are highly dependent on the oxygen vacancies (source of free carriers), which can be controlled by changing the oxygen partial pressure during the deposition process and/or by adding other metal ions to the matrix. In this case, we make the oxide matrix less sensitive to the presence of oxygen, widening the range of oxygen partial pressures that can be used and thus improving the process control of the film resistivity. The results obtained in fully transparent TFT using polycrystalline ZnO or amorphous indium zinc oxide (IZO) as channel layers and highly conductive poly/nanocrystalline ZGO films or amorphous IZO as drain/source layers show that both devices work in the enhancement mode, but the TFT with the highest electronic saturation mobility and on/off ratio 49.9cm2/Vs and 4.3×108, respectively, are the ones in which the active and passive layers are amorphous. The ZnO TFT whose channel is based on polycrystalline ZnO, the mobility and on/off ratio are, respectively, 26cm2/Vs and 3×106. This behavior is attributed to the fact that the electronic transport is governed by the s-like metal cation conduction bands, not significantly affected by any type of angular disorder promoted by the 2p O states related to the valence band, or small amounts of incorporated metal impurities that lead to a better control of vacancies and of the TFT off current.

Molecular origin of differences in hole and electron mobility in amorphous Alq3--a multiscale simulation study.

PubMed

Fuchs, Andreas; Steinbrecher, Thomas; Mommer, Mario S; Nagata, Yuki; Elstner, Marcus; Lennartz, Christian

2012-03-28

In order to determine the molecular origin of the difference in electron and hole mobilities of amorphous thin films of Alq(3) (meridional Alq(3) (tris(8-hydroxyquinoline) aluminium)) we performed multiscale simulations covering quantum mechanics, molecular mechanics and lattice models. The study includes realistic disordered morphologies, polarized site energies to describe diagonal disorder, quantum chemically calculated transfer integrals for the off-diagonal disorder, inner sphere reorganization energies and an approximative scheme for outer sphere reorganization energies. Intermolecular transfer rates were calculated via Marcus-theory and mobilities were simulated via kinetic Monte Carlo simulations and by a Master Equation approach. The difference in electron and hole mobility originates from the different localization of charge density in the radical anion (more delocalized) compared to the radical cation (more confined). This results in higher diagonal disorder for holes and less favourable overlap properties for the hole transfer integrals leading to an overall higher electron mobility.

Very low temperature materials and self-alignment technology for amorphous hydrated silicon thin film transistors fabricated on transparent large area plastic substrates

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yang, Chien-Sheng

The purpose of this research has been to (1) explore materials prepared using plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition (PECVD) at 110sp°C for amorphous silicon thin film transistors (TFT's) fabricated on low temperature compatible, large area flexible polyethylene terephthalate (PET) substrates, and (2) develop full self-alignment technology using selective area n+ PECVD for source/drain contacts of amorphous silicon TFT's. For item (1), silicon nitride films, as gate dielectrics of TFT's, were deposited using SiHsb4+NHsb3, SiHsb4+NHsb3+Nsb2, SiHsb4+NHsb3+He, or SiHsb4+NHsb3+Hsb2 gases. Good quality silicon nitride films can be deposited using a SiHsb4+NHsb3 gas with high NHsb3/SiHsb4 ratios, or using a SiHsb4+NHsb3+Nsb2 gas with moderate NHsb3/SiHsb4 ratios. A chemical model was proposed to explain the Nsb2 dilution effect. This model includes calculations of (a) the electron energy distribution function in a plasma, (b) rate constants of electron impact dissociation, and (3) the (NHsbx) / (SiHsby) ratio in a plasma. The Nsb2 dilution was shown to have a effect of shifting the electron energy distribution into high energy, thus enhancing the (NHsbx) / (SiHsbyrbrack ratio in a plasma and promoting the deposition of N-rich silicon nitride films, which leads to decreased trap state density and a shift in trap state density to deeper in the gap. Amorphous silicon were formed successfully at 110sp°C on large area glass and plastic(PET) substrates. Linear mobilities are 0.33 and 0.12 cmsp2/Vs for TFT's on glass and plastic substrates, respectively. ON/OFF current ratios exceed 10sp7 for TFT's on glass and 10sp6 for TFT's on PET. For item (2), a novel full self-alignment process was developed for amorphous silicon TFT's. This process includes (1) back-exposure using the bottom gate metal as the mask, and (2) selective area n+ micro-crystalline silicon PECVD for source/drain contacts of amorphous silicon TFT's. TFT's fabricated using the full self-alignment process showed linear mobilities ranging from 0.5 to 1.0 cmsp2/Vs.

Highly tunable electronic properties in plasma-synthesized B-doped microcrystalline-to-amorphous silicon nanostructure for solar cell applications

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lim, J. W. M.; Ong, J. G. D.; Guo, Y.; Bazaka, K.; Levchenko, I.; Xu, S.

2017-10-01

Highly controllable electronic properties (carrier mobility and conductivity) were obtained in the sophisticatedly devised, structure-controlled, boron-doped microcrystalline silicon structure. Variation of plasma parameters enabled fabrication of films with the structure ranging from a highly crystalline (89.8%) to semi-amorphous (45.4%) phase. Application of the innovative process based on custom-designed, optimized, remote inductively coupled plasma implied all advantages of the plasma-driven technique and simultaneously avoided plasma-intrinsic disadvantages associated with ion bombardment and overheating. The high degree of SiH4, H2 and B2H6 precursor dissociation ensured very high boron incorporation into the structure, thus causing intense carrier scattering. Moreover, the microcrystalline-to-amorphous phase transition triggered by the heavy incorporation of the boron dopant with increasing B2H6 flow was revealed, thus demonstrating a very high level of the structural control intrinsic to the process. Control over the electronic properties through variation of impurity incorporation enabled tailoring the carrier concentrations over two orders of magnitude (1018-1020 cm-3). These results could contribute to boosting the properties of solar cells by paving the way to a cheap and efficient industry-oriented technique, guaranteeing a new application niche for this new generation of nanomaterials.

Ferroelectric switching of poly(vinylidene difluoride-trifluoroethylene) in metal-ferroelectric-semiconductor non-volatile memories with an amorphous oxide semiconductor

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gelinck, G. H.; van Breemen, A. J. J. M.; Cobb, B.

2015-03-01

Ferroelectric polarization switching of poly(vinylidene difluoride-trifluoroethylene) is investigated in different thin-film device structures, ranging from simple capacitors to dual-gate thin-film transistors (TFT). Indium gallium zinc oxide, a high mobility amorphous oxide material, is used as semiconductor. We find that the ferroelectric can be polarized in both directions in the metal-ferroelectric-semiconductor (MFS) structure and in the dual-gate TFT under certain biasing conditions, but not in the single-gate thin-film transistors. These results disprove the common belief that MFS structures serve as a good model system for ferroelectric polarization switching in thin-film transistors.

Structure and Properties of Amorphous Transparent Conducting Oxides

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Medvedeva, Julia

Driven by technological appeal, the research area of amorphous oxide semiconductors has grown tremendously since the first demonstration of the unique properties of amorphous indium oxide more than a decade ago. Today, amorphous oxides, such as a-ITO, a-IZO, a-IGZO, or a-ZITO, exhibit the optical, electrical, thermal, and mechanical properties that are comparable or even superior to those possessed by their crystalline counterparts, pushing the latter out of the market. Large-area uniformity, low-cost low-temperature deposition, high carrier mobility, optical transparency, and mechanical flexibility make these materials appealing for next-generation thin-film electronics. Yet, the structural variations associated with crystalline-to-amorphous transition as well as their role in carrier generation and transport properties of these oxides are far from being understood. Although amorphous oxides lack grain boundaries, factors like (i) size and distribution of nanocrystalline inclusions; (ii) spatial distribution and clustering of incorporated cations in multicomponent oxides; (iii) formation of trap defects; and (iv) piezoelectric effects associated with internal strains, will contribute to electron scattering. In this work, ab-initio molecular dynamics (MD) and accurate density-functional approaches are employed to understand how the properties of amorphous ternary and quaternary oxides depend on quench rates, cation compositions, and oxygen stoichiometries. The MD results, combined with thorough experimental characterization, reveal that interplay between the local and long-range structural preferences of the constituent oxides gives rise to a complex composition-dependent structural behavior in the amorphous oxides. The proposed network models of metal-oxygen polyhedra help explain the observed intriguing electrical and optical properties in In-based oxides and suggest ways to broaden the phase space of amorphous oxide semiconductors with tunable properties. The work is supported by NSF-MRSEC program.

Investigation of crystalline morphology in poly (ether ether ketone) using dielectric relaxation spectroscopy

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Kalika, D.S.; Krishnaswamy, R.K.

1993-12-31

The relaxation behavior of poly (ether ether ketone) [PEEK] has been investigated using dielectric relaxation spectroscopy; the glass-rubber ({alpha}) relaxation and a sub-glass ({beta}) relaxation were examined for the amorphous material and both cold-crystallized and melt-crystallized specimens. Analysis of the data using the Cole-Cole modification of the Debye equation allowed determination of the dielectric relaxation strength and relaxation broadening parameter for both transitions as a function of material crystallization history. The crystallized specimens displayed a positive offset in isochronal loss temperature for both the {alpha} and {beta} relaxations, with the {alpha} relaxation broadened significantly. The measured dipolar response was interpretedmore » using a three-phase morphological model encompassing a crystalline phase, a mobile amorphous phase, and a rigid amorphous phase. Determination of phase fractions based on dipolar mobilization across the glass-rubber relaxation revealed a finite rigid amorphous phase fraction for both the cold-crystallized specimens which was relatively insensitive to thermal history and degree of crystallinity (W{sub RAP}40.20).« less

Interplay between hopping and band transport in high-mobility disordered semiconductors at large carrier concentrations: The case of the amorphous oxide InGaZnO

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Fishchuk, I. I.; Kadashchuk, A.; Bhoolokam, A.; de Jamblinne de Meux, A.; Pourtois, G.; Gavrilyuk, M. M.; Köhler, A.; Bässler, H.; Heremans, P.; Genoe, J.

2016-05-01

We suggest an analytic theory based on the effective medium approximation (EMA) which is able to describe charge-carrier transport in a disordered semiconductor with a significant degree of degeneration realized at high carrier concentrations, especially relevant in some thin-film transistors (TFTs), when the Fermi level is very close to the conduction-band edge. The EMA model is based on special averaging of the Fermi-Dirac carrier distributions using a suitably normalized cumulative density-of-state distribution that includes both delocalized states and the localized states. The principal advantage of the present model is its ability to describe universally effective drift and Hall mobility in heterogeneous materials as a function of disorder, temperature, and carrier concentration within the same theoretical formalism. It also bridges a gap between hopping and bandlike transport in an energetically heterogeneous system. The key assumption of the model is that the charge carriers move through delocalized states and that, in addition to the tail of the localized states, the disorder can give rise to spatial energy variation of the transport-band edge being described by a Gaussian distribution. It can explain a puzzling observation of activated and carrier-concentration-dependent Hall mobility in a disordered system featuring an ideal Hall effect. The present model has been successfully applied to describe experimental results on the charge transport measured in an amorphous oxide semiconductor, In-Ga-Zn-O (a-IGZO). In particular, the model reproduces well both the conventional Meyer-Neldel (MN) compensation behavior for the charge-carrier mobility and inverse-MN effect for the conductivity observed in the same a-IGZO TFT. The model was further supported by ab initio calculations revealing that the amorphization of IGZO gives rise to variation of the conduction-band edge rather than to the creation of localized states. The obtained changes agree with the one we used to describe the charge transport. We found that the band-edge variation dominates the charge transport in high-quality a-IGZO TFTs in the above-threshold voltage region, whereas the localized states need not to be invoked to account for the experimental results in this material.

Cu(In,Ga)Se2 Solar Cells with Amorphous In2O3-Based Front Contact Layers.

PubMed

Koida, Takashi; Ueno, Yuko; Nishinaga, Jiro; Higuchi, Hirohumi; Takahashi, Hideki; Iioka, Masayuki; Shibata, Hajime; Niki, Shigeru

2017-09-06

Amorphous (a-) In 2 O 3 -based front contact layers composed of transparent conducting oxide (TCO) and transparent oxide semiconductor (TOS) layers were proved to be effective in enhancing the short-circuit current density (J sc ) of Cu(In,Ga)Se 2 (CIGS) solar cells with a glass/Mo/CIGS/CdS/TOS/TCO structure, while maintaining high fill factor (FF) and open-circuit voltage (V oc ). An n-type a-In-Ga-Zn-O layer was introduced between the CdS and TCO layers. Unlike unintentionally doped ZnO broadly used as TOS layers in CIGS solar cells, the grain-boundary(GB)-free amorphous structure of the a-In-Ga-Zn-O layers allowed high electron mobility with superior control over the carrier density (N). High FF and V oc values were achieved in solar cells containing a-In-Ga-Zn-O layers with N values broadly ranging from 2 × 10 15 to 3 × 10 18 cm -3 . The decrease in FF and V oc produced by the electronic inhomogeneity of solar cells was mitigated by controlling the series resistance within the TOS layer of CIGS solar cells. In addition, a-In 2 O 3 :H and a-In-Zn-O layers exhibited higher electron mobilities than the ZnO:Al layers conventionally used as TCO layers in CIGS solar cells. The In 2 O 3 -based layers exhibited lower free carrier absorption while maintaining similar sheet resistance than ZnO:Al. The TCO and TOS materials and their combinations did not significantly change the V oc of the CIGS solar cells and the mini-modules.

Low-temperature sol-gel oxide TFT with a fluoropolymer dielectric to enhance the effective mobility at low operation voltage

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yu, Shang-Yu; Wang, Kuan-Hsun; Zan, Hsiao-Wen; Soppera, Olivier

2017-06-01

In this article, we propose a solution-processed high-performance amorphous indium-zinc oxide (a-IZO) thin-film transistor (TFT) gated with a fluoropolymer dielectric. Compared with a conventional IZO TFT with a silicon nitride dielectric, a fluoropolymer dielectric effectively reduces the operation voltage to less than 3 V and greatly increases the effective mobility 40-fold. We suggest that the dipole layer formed at the dielectric surface facilitates electron accumulation and induces the electric double-layer effect. The dipole-induced hysteresis effect is also investigated.

In situ observation of defect annihilation in Kr ion-irradiated bulk Fe/amorphous-Fe 2 Zr nanocomposite alloy

DOE PAGES

Yu, K. Y.; Fan, Z.; Chen, Y.; ...

2014-08-26

Enhanced irradiation tolerance in crystalline multilayers has received significant attention lately. However, little is known on the irradiation response of crystal/amorphous nanolayers. We report on in situ Kr ion irradiation studies of a bulk Fe 96Zr 4 nanocomposite alloy. Irradiation resulted in amorphization of Fe 2Zr and formed crystal/amorphous nanolayers. α-Fe layers exhibited drastically lower defect density and size than those in large α-Fe grains. In situ video revealed that mobile dislocation loops in α-Fe layers were confined by the crystal/amorphous interfaces and kept migrating to annihilate other defects. This study provides new insights on the design of irradiation-tolerant crystal/amorphousmore » nanocomposites.« less

Lifetime of excitons localized in Si nanocrystals in amorphous silicon

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Gusev, O. B.; Belolipetskiy, A. V., E-mail: alexey.belolipetskiy@mail.ioffe.ru; Yassievich, I. N.

2016-05-15

The introduction of nanocrystals plays an important role in improving the stability of the amorphous silicon films and increasing the carrier mobility. Here we report results of the study on the photoluminescence and its dynamics in the films of amorphous hydrogenated silicon containing less than 10% of silicon nanocrystals. The comparing of the obtained experimental results with the calculated probability of the resonant tunneling of the excitons localized in silicon nanocrystals is presented. Thus, it has been estimated that the short lifetime of excitons localized in Si nanocrystal is controlled by the resonant tunneling to the nearest tail state ofmore » the amorphous matrix.« less

Stable organic thin-film transistors

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Jia, Xiaojia; Fuentes-Hernandez, Canek; Wang, Cheng-Yin

Organic thin-film transistors (OTFTs) can be fabricated at moderate temperatures and through cost-effective solution-based processes on a wide range of low-cost flexible and deformable substrates. Although the charge mobility of state-of-the-art OTFTs is superior to that of amorphous silicon and approaches that of amorphous oxide thin-film transistors (TFTs), their operational stability generally remains inferior and a point of concern for their commercial deployment. We report on an exhaustive characterization of OTFTs with an ultrathin bilayer gate dielectric comprising the amorphous fluoropolymer CYTOP and an Al2O3:HfO2 nanolaminate. Threshold voltage shifts measured at room temperatureovertimeperiods upto5.9×105 s do not vary monotonically andmore » remain below 0.2 V in microcrystalline OTFTs (mc-OTFTs) with field-effect carrier mobility values up to 1.6 cm2 V-1 s-1. Modeling of these shifts as a function of time with a double stretched-exponential (DSE) function suggests that two compensating aging mechanisms are at play and responsible for this high stability. The measured threshold voltage shifts at temperatures up to 75°C represent at least a one-order-of-magnitude improvement in the operational stability over previous reports, bringing OTFT technologies to a performance level comparable to that reported in the scientific literature for other commercial TFTs technologies.« less

Stable organic thin-film transistors

DOE PAGES

Jia, Xiaojia; Fuentes-Hernandez, Canek; Wang, Cheng-Yin; ...

2018-01-12

Organic thin-film transistors (OTFTs) can be fabricated at moderate temperatures and through cost-effective solution-based processes on a wide range of low-cost flexible and deformable substrates. Although the charge mobility of state-of-the-art OTFTs is superior to that of amorphous silicon and approaches that of amorphous oxide thin-film transistors (TFTs), their operational stability generally remains inferior and a point of concern for their commercial deployment. We report on an exhaustive characterization of OTFTs with an ultrathin bilayer gate dielectric comprising the amorphous fluoropolymer CYTOP and an Al2O3:HfO2 nanolaminate. Threshold voltage shifts measured at room temperatureovertimeperiods upto5.9×105 s do not vary monotonically andmore » remain below 0.2 V in microcrystalline OTFTs (mc-OTFTs) with field-effect carrier mobility values up to 1.6 cm2 V-1 s-1. Modeling of these shifts as a function of time with a double stretched-exponential (DSE) function suggests that two compensating aging mechanisms are at play and responsible for this high stability. The measured threshold voltage shifts at temperatures up to 75°C represent at least a one-order-of-magnitude improvement in the operational stability over previous reports, bringing OTFT technologies to a performance level comparable to that reported in the scientific literature for other commercial TFTs technologies.« less

Stable organic thin-film transistors

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Jia, Xiaojia; Fuentes-Hernandez, Canek; Wang, Cheng-Yin

2018-01-01

Organic thin-film transistors (OTFTs) can be fabricated at moderate temperatures and through cost-effective solution-based processes on a wide range of low-cost flexible and deformable substrates. Although the charge mobility of state-of-the-art OTFTs is superior to that of amorphous silicon and approaches that of amorphous oxide thin-film transistors (TFTs), their operational stability generally remains inferior and a point of concern for their commercial deployment. We report on an exhaustive characterization of OTFTs with an ultrathin bilayer gate dielectric comprising the amorphous fluoropolymer CYTOP and an Al2O3:HfO2 nanolaminate. Threshold voltage shifts measured at room temperatureovertimeperiods upto5.9×105 s do not vary monotonically andmore » remain below 0.2 V in microcrystalline OTFTs (mc-OTFTs) with field-effect carrier mobility values up to 1.6 cm2 V−1 s−1. Modeling of these shifts as a function of time with a double stretched-exponential (DSE) function suggests that two compensating aging mechanisms are at play and responsible for this high stability. The measured threshold voltage shifts at temperatures up to 75°C represent at least a one-order-of-magnitude improvement in the operational stability over previous reports, bringing OTFT technologies to a performance level comparable to that reported in the scientific literature for other commercial TFTs technologies.« less

Stable organic thin-film transistors

PubMed Central

Jia, Xiaojia; Fuentes-Hernandez, Canek; Wang, Cheng-Yin; Park, Youngrak; Kippelen, Bernard

2018-01-01

Organic thin-film transistors (OTFTs) can be fabricated at moderate temperatures and through cost-effective solution-based processes on a wide range of low-cost flexible and deformable substrates. Although the charge mobility of state-of-the-art OTFTs is superior to that of amorphous silicon and approaches that of amorphous oxide thin-film transistors (TFTs), their operational stability generally remains inferior and a point of concern for their commercial deployment. We report on an exhaustive characterization of OTFTs with an ultrathin bilayer gate dielectric comprising the amorphous fluoropolymer CYTOP and an Al2O3:HfO2 nanolaminate. Threshold voltage shifts measured at room temperature over time periods up to 5.9 × 105 s do not vary monotonically and remain below 0.2 V in microcrystalline OTFTs (μc-OTFTs) with field-effect carrier mobility values up to 1.6 cm2 V−1 s−1. Modeling of these shifts as a function of time with a double stretched-exponential (DSE) function suggests that two compensating aging mechanisms are at play and responsible for this high stability. The measured threshold voltage shifts at temperatures up to 75°C represent at least a one-order-of-magnitude improvement in the operational stability over previous reports, bringing OTFT technologies to a performance level comparable to that reported in the scientific literature for other commercial TFTs technologies. PMID:29340301

Research on High-Bandgap Materials and Amorphous Silicon-Based Solar Cells, Final Technical Report, 15 May 1994-15 January 1998

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Schiff, E. A.; Gu, Q.; Jiang, L.

1998-12-28

This report describes work performed by Syracuse University under this subcontract. Researchers developed a technique based on electroabsorption measurements for obtaining quantitative estimates of the built-in potential Vbi in a-Si:H-based heterostructure solar cells incorporating microcrystalline or a-SiC:H p layers. Using this new electroabsorption technique, researchers confirmed previous estimates of Vbi {yields} 1.0 V in a-Si:H solar cells with ''conventional'' intrinsic layers and either microcrystalline or a-SiC:H p layers. Researchers also explored the recent claim that light-soaking of a-Si:H substantially changes the polarized electroabsorption associated with interband optical transitions (and hence, not defect transitions). Researchers confirmed measurements of improved (5') holemore » drift mobilities in some specially prepared a-Si:H samples. Disturbingly, solar cells made with such materials did not show improved efficiencies. Researchers significantly clarified the relationship of ambipolar diffusion-length measurements to hole drift mobilities in a-Si:H, and have shown that the photocapacitance measurements can be interpreted in terms of hole drift mobilities in amorphous silicon. They also completed a survey of thin BP:H and BPC:H films prepared by plasma deposition using phosphine, diborane, trimethylboron, and hydrogen as precursor gases.« less

Anion control as a strategy to achieve high-mobility and high-stability oxide thin-film transistors.

PubMed

Kim, Hyun-Suk; Jeon, Sang Ho; Park, Joon Seok; Kim, Tae Sang; Son, Kyoung Seok; Seon, Jong-Baek; Seo, Seok-Jun; Kim, Sun-Jae; Lee, Eunha; Chung, Jae Gwan; Lee, Hyungik; Han, Seungwu; Ryu, Myungkwan; Lee, Sang Yoon; Kim, Kinam

2013-01-01

Ultra-definition, large-area displays with three-dimensional visual effects represent megatrend in the current/future display industry. On the hardware level, such a "dream" display requires faster pixel switching and higher driving current, which in turn necessitate thin-film transistors (TFTs) with high mobility. Amorphous oxide semiconductors (AOS) such as In-Ga-Zn-O are poised to enable such TFTs, but the trade-off between device performance and stability under illumination critically limits their usability, which is related to the hampered electron-hole recombination caused by the oxygen vacancies. Here we have improved the illumination stability by substituting oxygen with nitrogen in ZnO, which may deactivate oxygen vacancies by raising valence bands above the defect levels. Indeed, the stability under illumination and electrical bias is superior to that of previous AOS-based TFTs. By achieving both mobility and stability, it is highly expected that the present ZnON TFTs will be extensively deployed in next-generation flat-panel displays.

Anion control as a strategy to achieve high-mobility and high-stability oxide thin-film transistors

PubMed Central

Kim, Hyun-Suk; Jeon, Sang Ho; Park, Joon Seok; Kim, Tae Sang; Son, Kyoung Seok; Seon, Jong-Baek; Seo, Seok-Jun; Kim, Sun-Jae; Lee, Eunha; Chung, Jae Gwan; Lee, Hyungik; Han, Seungwu; Ryu, Myungkwan; Lee, Sang Yoon; Kim, Kinam

2013-01-01

Ultra-definition, large-area displays with three-dimensional visual effects represent megatrend in the current/future display industry. On the hardware level, such a “dream” display requires faster pixel switching and higher driving current, which in turn necessitate thin-film transistors (TFTs) with high mobility. Amorphous oxide semiconductors (AOS) such as In-Ga-Zn-O are poised to enable such TFTs, but the trade-off between device performance and stability under illumination critically limits their usability, which is related to the hampered electron-hole recombination caused by the oxygen vacancies. Here we have improved the illumination stability by substituting oxygen with nitrogen in ZnO, which may deactivate oxygen vacancies by raising valence bands above the defect levels. Indeed, the stability under illumination and electrical bias is superior to that of previous AOS-based TFTs. By achieving both mobility and stability, it is highly expected that the present ZnON TFTs will be extensively deployed in next-generation flat-panel displays. PMID:23492854

New Material Transistor with Record-High Field-Effect Mobility among Wide-Band-Gap Semiconductors.

PubMed

Shih, Cheng Wei; Chin, Albert

2016-08-03

At an ultrathin 5 nm, we report a new high-mobility tin oxide (SnO2) metal-oxide-semiconductor field-effect transistor (MOSFET) exhibiting extremely high field-effect mobility values of 279 and 255 cm(2)/V-s at 145 and 205 °C, respectively. These values are the highest reported mobility values among all wide-band-gap semiconductors of GaN, SiC, and metal-oxide MOSFETs, and they also exceed those of silicon devices at the aforementioned elevated temperatures. For the first time among existing semiconductor transistors, a new device physical phenomenon of a higher mobility value was measured at 45-205 °C than at 25 °C, which is due to the lower optical phonon scattering by the large SnO2 phonon energy. Moreover, the high on-current/off-current of 4 × 10(6) and the positive threshold voltage of 0.14 V at 25 °C are significantly better than those of a graphene transistor. This wide-band-gap SnO2 MOSFET exhibits high mobility in a 25-205 °C temperature range, a wide operating voltage of 1.5-20 V, and the ability to form on an amorphous substrate, rendering it an ideal candidate for multifunctional low-power integrated circuit (IC), display, and brain-mimicking three-dimensional IC applications.

Polycrystalline silicon thin-film transistors with location-controlled crystal grains fabricated by excimer laser crystallization

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tsai, Chun-Chien; Lee, Yao-Jen; Chiang, Ko-Yu; Wang, Jyh-Liang; Lee, I.-Che; Chen, Hsu-Hsin; Wei, Kai-Fang; Chang, Ting-Kuo; Chen, Bo-Ting; Cheng, Huang-Chung

2007-11-01

In this paper, location-controlled silicon crystal grains are fabricated by the excimer laser crystallization method which employs amorphous silicon spacer structure and prepatterned thin films. The amorphous silicon spacer in nanometer-sized width formed using spacer technology is served as seed crystal to artificially control superlateral growth phenomenon during excimer laser irradiation. An array of 1.8-μm-sized disklike silicon grains is formed, and the n-channel thin-film transistors whose channels located inside the artificially-controlled crystal grains exhibit higher performance of field-effect-mobility reaching 308cm2/Vs as compared with the conventional ones. This position-manipulated silicon grains are essential to high-performance and good uniformity devices.

25th anniversary article: organic field-effect transistors: the path beyond amorphous silicon.

PubMed

Sirringhaus, Henning

2014-03-05

Over the past 25 years, organic field-effect transistors (OFETs) have witnessed impressive improvements in materials performance by 3-4 orders of magnitude, and many of the key materials discoveries have been published in Advanced Materials. This includes some of the most recent demonstrations of organic field-effect transistors with performance that clearly exceeds that of benchmark amorphous silicon-based devices. In this article, state-of-the-art in OFETs are reviewed in light of requirements for demanding future applications, in particular active-matrix addressing for flexible organic light-emitting diode (OLED) displays. An overview is provided over both small molecule and conjugated polymer materials for which field-effect mobilities exceeding > 1 cm(2) V(-1) s(-1) have been reported. Current understanding is also reviewed of their charge transport physics that allows reaching such unexpectedly high mobilities in these weakly van der Waals bonded and structurally comparatively disordered materials with a view towards understanding the potential for further improvement in performance in the future. © 2014 The Authors. Published by WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

Direct observation of small cluster mobility and ripening

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Heinemann, K.; Poppa, H.

1976-01-01

Direct evidence is reported for the simultaneous occurrence of Ostwald ripening and short-distance cluster mobility during annealing of discontinuous metal films on clean amorphous substrates. The annealing characteristics of very thin particulate deposits of silver on amorphized clean surfaces of single-crystalline thin graphite substrates have been studied by in situ transmission electron microscopy (TEM) under controlled environmental conditions in the temperature range from 25 to 450 C. It was possible to monitor all stages of the experiments by TEM observation of the same specimen area. Slow Ostwald ripening was found to occur over the entire temperature range, but the overriding surface transport mechanism was short-distance cluster mobility. This was concluded from in situ observations of individual particles during annealing and from measurements of cluster size distributions, cluster number densities, area coverages, and mean cluster diameters.

Crystallization behavior of amorphous indium-gallium-zinc-oxide films and its effects on thin-film transistor performance

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Suko, Ayaka; Jia, JunJun; Nakamura, Shin-ichi; Kawashima, Emi; Utsuno, Futoshi; Yano, Koki; Shigesato, Yuzo

2016-03-01

Amorphous indium-gallium-zinc oxide (a-IGZO) films were deposited by DC magnetron sputtering and post-annealed in air at 300-1000 °C for 1 h to investigate the crystallization behavior in detail. X-ray diffraction, electron beam diffraction, and high-resolution electron microscopy revealed that the IGZO films showed an amorphous structure after post-annealing at 300 °C. At 600 °C, the films started to crystallize from the surface with c-axis preferred orientation. At 700-1000 °C, the films totally crystallized into polycrystalline structures, wherein the grains showed c-axis preferred orientation close to the surface and random orientation inside the films. The current-gate voltage (Id-Vg) characteristics of the IGZO thin-film transistor (TFT) showed that the threshold voltage (Vth) and subthreshold swing decreased markedly after the post-annealing at 300 °C. The TFT using the totally crystallized films also showed the decrease in Vth, whereas the field-effect mobility decreased considerably.

Hydrogen diffusion and electronic structure in crystalline and amorphous Ti/sub y/CuH/sub x/

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Bowman, R. C., Jr.; Rhim, W. K.; Maeland, A. J.; Lynch, J. F.

1982-01-01

Hydrogen diffusion behavior and electronic properties of crystalline TiCuHo94, Ti2CuH1.90, and Ti2CuH2.63 and amorphous a-TiCuH1.4 were studied using proton relaxation times, proton Knight shifts, and magnetic susceptibilities. Crystal structure and hydrogen site occupancy have major roles in hydrogen mobility. The density of electron states at E sub F is reduced in amorphous a-TiCuH1.4 compared to the crystalline hydrides.

The effect of processing on the surface physical stability of amorphous solid dispersions.

PubMed

Yang, Ziyi; Nollenberger, Kathrin; Albers, Jessica; Moffat, Jonathan; Craig, Duncan; Qi, Sheng

2014-11-01

The focus of this study was to investigate the effect of processing on the surface crystallization of amorphous molecular dispersions and gain insight into the mechanisms underpinning this effect. The model systems, amorphous molecular dispersions of felodipine-EUDRAGIT® E PO, were processed both using spin coating (an ultra-fast solvent evaporation based method) and hot melt extrusion (HME) (a melting based method). Amorphous solid dispersions with drug loadings of 10-90% (w/w) were obtained by both processing methods. Samples were stored under 75% RH/room temperatures for up to 10months. Surface crystallization was observed shortly after preparation for the HME samples with high drug loadings (50-90%). Surface crystallization was characterized by powder X-ray diffraction (PXRD), ATR-FTIR spectroscopy and imaging techniques (SEM, AFM and localized thermal analysis). Spin coated molecular dispersions showed significantly higher surface physical stability than hot melt extruded samples. For both systems, the progress of the surface crystal growth followed zero order kinetics on aging. Drug enrichment at the surfaces of HME samples on aging was observed, which may contribute to surface crystallization of amorphous molecular dispersions. In conclusion it was found the amorphous molecular dispersions prepared by spin coating had a significantly higher surface physical stability than the corresponding HME samples, which may be attributed to the increased process-related apparent drug-polymer solubility and reduced molecular mobility due to the quenching effect caused by the rapid solvent evaporation in spin coating. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Enhanced performance of amorphous In-Ga-Zn-O thin-film transistors using different metals for source/drain electrodes

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Pyo, Ju-Young; Cho, Won-Ju

2017-09-01

In this paper, we propose an amorphous indium gallium zinc oxide (a-IGZO) thin-film transistor (TFT) with off-planed source/drain electrodes. We applied different metals for the source/drain electrodes with Ni and Ti to control the work function as high and low. When we measured the configuration of Ni to drain and source to Ti, the a-IGZO TFT showed increased driving current, decreased leakage current, a high on/off current ratio, low subthreshold swing, and high mobility. In addition, we conducted a reliability test with a gate bias stress test at various temperatures. The results of the reliability test showed the Ni drain and Ti drain had an equivalent effective energy barrier height. Thus, we confirmed that the proposed off-planed structure improved the electrical characteristics of the fabricated devices without any degradation of characteristics. Through the a-IGZO TFT with different source/drain electrode metal engineering, we realized high-performance TFTs for next-generation display devices.

Using thermally stimulated current (TSC) to investigate disorder in micronized drug substance produced at different milling energies.

PubMed

Forcino, Rachel; Brum, Jeffrey; Galop, Marc; Sun, Yan

2010-10-01

To investigate the use of thermally stimulated current (TSC) to characterize disorder resulting from micronization of a crystalline drug substance. Samples processed at different milling energies are characterized, and annealing studied. Molecular mobility in micronized drug substance was studied using TSC and compared to results from differential scanning calorimetry (DSC). The micronized drug substance TSC spectra are compared to crystalline and amorphous references. TSC shows distinct relaxation modes for micronized material in comparison to a single weak exotherm observed with DSC. Molecular mobility modes are unique for micronized material compared to the amorphous reference indicating physically distinct disorder compared to phase-separated amorphous material. Signals are ascribed as arising from crystal defects. TSC differentiates material processed at different milling energies showing reasonable correlation between the AUC of the α-relaxation and micronization energy. The annealing process of crystal defects in micronized drug appears to proceed differently for α and β relaxations. TSC proves sensitive to the crystal defects in the micronized drug substance studied here. The technique is able to differentiate distinct types of disorder and can be used to characterize noncrystalline regions arising from milling processes which are physically distinct from amorphous material.

Stabilization of the Amorphous Ezetimibe Drug by Confining Its Dimension.

PubMed

Knapik, J; Wojnarowska, Z; Grzybowska, K; Jurkiewicz, K; Stankiewicz, A; Paluch, M

2016-04-04

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the influence of nanoconfinement on the molecular mobility, as well as on the physical stability, of amorphous ezetimibe drug. Two guest/host systems, ezetimibe-Aeroperl 300 and ezetimibe-Neusilin US2, were prepared and studied using various experimental techniques, such as X-ray diffraction (XRD), differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), and broadband dielectric spectroscopy (BDS). Our investigation has shown that the molecular mobility of the examined anticholesterol agent incorporated into nanopore matrices strongly depends on the pore size of the host system. Moreover, it was found that the amorphous ezetimibe confined in 30 nm pores of Aeroperl 300 has a tendency to recrystallize, while the drug incorporated into the smaller--5 nm--pores of Neusilin US2 is not able to crystallize. It has been shown that this significant stabilization of ezetimibe drug can be achieved by an interplay of three factors: changes in molecular dynamics of the confined amorphous drug, the immobilization effect of pore walls on a part of ezetimibe molecules, and the use of host materials with pores that are smaller than the critical size of the drug crystal nuclei.

Investigation of the Atypical Glass Transition and Recrystallization Behavior of Amorphous Prazosin Salts

PubMed Central

Kumar, Lokesh; Popat, Dharmesh; Bansal, Arvind K.

2011-01-01

This manuscript studied the effect of counterion on the glass transition and recrystallization behavior of amorphous salts of prazosin. Three amorphous salts of prazosin, namely, prazosin hydrochloride, prazosin mesylate and prazosin tosylate were prepared by spray drying, and characterized by optical-polarized microscopy, differential scanning calorimetry and powder X-ray diffraction. Modulated differential scanning calorimetry was used to determine the glass transition and recrystallization temperature of amorphous salts. Glass transition of amorphous salts followed the order: prazosin mesylate > prazosin tosylate ∼ prazosin hydrochloride. Amorphous prazosin mesylate and prazosin tosylate showed glass transition, followed by recrystallization. In contrast, amorphous prazosin hydrochloride showed glass transition and recrystallization simultaneously. Density Functional Theory, however, suggested the expected order of glass transition as prazosin hydrochloride > prazosin mesylate > prazosin tosylate. The counterintuitive observation of amorphous prazosin hydrochloride having lower glass transition was explained in terms of its lower activation energy (206.1 kJ/mol) for molecular mobility at Tg, compared to that for amorphous prazosin mesylate (448.5 kJ/mol) and prazosin tosylate (490.7 kJ/mol), and was further correlated to a difference in hydrogen bonding strength of the amorphous and the corresponding recrystallized salts. This study has implications in selection of an optimal amorphous salt form for pharmaceutical development. PMID:24310595

Investigation of the atypical glass transition and recrystallization behavior of amorphous prazosin salts.

PubMed

Kumar, Lokesh; Popat, Dharmesh; Bansal, Arvind K

2011-08-25

This manuscript studied the effect of counterion on the glass transition and recrystallization behavior of amorphous salts of prazosin. Three amorphous salts of prazosin, namely, prazosin hydrochloride, prazosin mesylate and prazosin tosylate were prepared by spray drying, and characterized by optical-polarized microscopy, differential scanning calorimetry and powder X-ray diffraction. Modulated differential scanning calorimetry was used to determine the glass transition and recrystallization temperature of amorphous salts. Glass transition of amorphous salts followed the order: prazosin mesylate > prazosin tosylate ~ prazosin hydrochloride. Amorphous prazosin mesylate and prazosin tosylate showed glass transition, followed by recrystallization. In contrast, amorphous prazosin hydrochloride showed glass transition and recrystallization simultaneously. Density Functional Theory, however, suggested the expected order of glass transition as prazosin hydrochloride > prazosin mesylate > prazosin tosylate. The counterintuitive observation of amorphous prazosin hydrochloride having lower glass transition was explained in terms of its lower activation energy (206.1 kJ/mol) for molecular mobility at Tg, compared to that for amorphous prazosin mesylate (448.5 kJ/mol) and prazosin tosylate (490.7 kJ/mol), and was further correlated to a difference in hydrogen bonding strength of the amorphous and the corresponding recrystallized salts. This study has implications in selection of an optimal amorphous salt form for pharmaceutical development.

Top-gate pentacene-based organic field-effect transistor with amorphous rubrene gate insulator

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hiroki, Mizuha; Maeda, Yasutaka; Ohmi, Shun-ichiro

2018-02-01

The scaling of organic field-effect transistors (OFETs) is necessary for high-density integration and for this, OFETs with a top-gate configuration are required. There have been several reports of damageless lithography processes for organic semiconductor or insulator layers. However, it is still difficult to fabricate scaled OFETs with a top-gate configuration. In this study, the lift-off process and the device characteristics of the OFETs with a top-gate configuration utilizing an amorphous (α) rubrene gate insulator were investigated. We have confirmed that α-rubrene shows an insulating property, and its extracted linear mobility was 2.5 × 10-2 cm2/(V·s). The gate length and width were 10 and 60 µm, respectively. From these results, the OFET with a top-gate configuration utilizing an α-rubrene gate insulator is promising for the high-density integration of scaled OFETs.

Predict the glass transition temperature and plasticization of β-cyclodextrin/water binary system by molecular dynamics simulation.

PubMed

Zhou, Guohui; Zhao, Tianhai; Wan, Jie; Liu, Chengmei; Liu, Wei; Wang, Risi

2015-01-12

The glass transition temperature, diffusion behavior and plasticization of β-cyclodextrin (β-CD), and three amorphous β-CD/water mixtures (3%, 5% and 10% [w/w] water, respectively) were investigated by molecular dynamics simulation, which were performed using Condensed-phase Optimized Molecular Potentials for Atomistic Simulation Studies (COMPASS) force field and isothermal-isobaric ensembles. The specific volumes of four amorphous cells were obtained as a function of temperature. The glass transition temperatures (T(g)) were estimated to be 334.25 K, 325.12 K, 317.32 K, and 305.41 K for amorphous β-CD containing 0%, 3%, 5% and 10% w/w water, respectively, which compares well with the values observed in published literature. The radial distribution function was computed to elucidate the intermolecular interactions between amorphous β-CD and water, which acts as a plasticizer. These results indicate that the hydrogen bond interactions of oxygen in hydroxyl ions was higher than oxygen in acetal groups in β-CD amorphous mixtures with that in water, due to less accessibility of ring oxygens to the surrounding water molecules. The mobility of water molecules was investigated over various temperature ranges, including the rubbery and glassy phases of the β-CD/water mixtures, by calculating the diffusion coefficients and the fractional free volume. In β-CD amorphous models, the higher mobility of water molecules was observed at temperatures above Tg, and almost no change was observed at temperatures below T(g). Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Degradation studies on highly oriented poly(glycolic acid) fibres with different lamellar structures.

PubMed

de Oca, Horacio Montes; Farrar, David F; Ward, Ian M

2011-04-01

Highly oriented poly(glycolic acid) (PGA) fibres with an initial tensile strength of 1.1 GPa and different lamellar morphologies were prepared and studied during degradation in aqueous media at 37°C. A combination of small- and wide-angle X-ray scattering was used to study the structural changes during degradation and to generate two structural models of highly oriented PGA fibres with different lamellar morphologies. It is shown that as a result of crystallisation during degradation PGA crystals grow preferentially along the (110) and (020) directions of the crystal lattice or perpendicular to the orientation direction of the fibres. (1)H nuclear magnetic resonance measurements revealed three phases within the fibres with different relaxation times: (1) a mobile amorphous phase with a short relaxation time; (2) a semi-rigid phase with an intermediate relaxation time; (3) a rigid crystalline phase with a longer relaxation time. It is shown that the mobile amorphous phase degrades very rapidly and that it plays only a small role in the tensile mechanical behaviour of the fibres during degradation. It is shown that semi-rigid chains connecting crystalline domains are responsible for transferring the stress between crystalline domains and carrying the tensile deformation. It is proposed that once these tie molecules degrade considerably the oriented fibres very rapidly lose their strength retention. Copyright © 2010 Acta Materialia Inc. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Flexible and High-Performance Amorphous Indium Zinc Oxide Thin-Film Transistor Using Low-Temperature Atomic Layer Deposition.

PubMed

Sheng, Jiazhen; Lee, Hwan-Jae; Oh, Saeroonter; Park, Jin-Seong

2016-12-14

Amorphous indium zinc oxide (IZO) thin films were deposited at different temperatures, by atomic layer deposition (ALD) using [1,1,1-trimethyl-N-(trimethylsilyl)silanaminato]indium (INCA-1) as the indium precursor, diethlzinc (DEZ) as the zinc precursor, and hydrogen peroxide (H 2 O 2 ) as the reactant. The ALD process of IZO deposition was carried by repeated supercycles, including one cycle of indium oxide (In 2 O 3 ) and one cycle of zinc oxide (ZnO). The IZO growth rate deviates from the sum of the respective In 2 O 3 and ZnO growth rates at ALD growth temperatures of 150, 175, and 200 °C. We propose growth temperature-dependent surface reactions during the In 2 O 3 cycle that correspond with the growth-rate results. Thin-film transistors (TFTs) were fabricated with the ALD-grown IZO thin films as the active layer. The amorphous IZO TFTs exhibited high mobility of 42.1 cm 2 V -1 s -1 and good positive bias temperature stress stability. Finally, flexible IZO TFT was successfully fabricated on a polyimide substrate without performance degradation, showing the great potential of ALD-grown TFTs for flexible display applications.

A drain current model for amorphous InGaZnO thin film transistors considering temperature effects

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Cai, M. X.; Yao, R. H.

2018-03-01

Temperature dependent electrical characteristics of amorphous InGaZnO (a-IGZO) thin film transistors (TFTs) are investigated considering the percolation and multiple trapping and release (MTR) conduction mechanisms. Carrier-density and temperature dependent carrier mobility in a-IGZO is derived with the Boltzmann transport equation, which is affected by potential barriers above the conduction band edge with Gaussian-like distributions. The free and trapped charge densities in the channel are calculated with Fermi-Dirac statistics, and the field effective mobility of a-IGZO TFTs is then deduced based on the MTR theory. Temperature dependent drain current model for a-IGZO TFTs is finally derived with the obtained low field mobility and free charge density, which is applicable to both non-degenerate and degenerate conductions. This physical-based model is verified by available experiment results at various temperatures.

Plasticization effect of triacetin on structure and properties of starch ester film.

PubMed

Zhu, Jie; Li, Xiaoxi; Huang, Chen; Chen, Ling; Li, Lin

2013-05-15

The aim of this work was to evaluate the plasticizing effect of triacetin on the structure and properties of starch ester film and further establish the structure-property relationships. The presence of triacetin resulted in multiple structure changes of the film. The mobility of macromolecular chain was increased to form scattered crystallite during the film formation process. The amorphous region was enlarged to contain more triacetin squeezed from crystalline region. The plasticization of triacetin and restriction of crystallite oppositely influenced the mobility of macromolecular chains in different regions. The thermal stability of triacetin changed along with its fluctuant interaction with macromolecules. Comparatively, the enhanced ether bond and the restriction from crystalline regions on the mobility of the amorphous chain consequently improved the thermal stability of the film matrix. The interaction between triacetin and starch ester was essential to film forming but unexpectedly lowered the triacetin stability. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Amorphous nickel incorporated tin oxide thin film transistors

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yang, Jianwen; Ren, Jinhua; Lin, Dong; Han, Yanbing; Qu, Mingyue; Pi, Shubin; Fu, Ruofan; Zhang, Qun

2017-09-01

Nickel as a dopant has been proposed to suppress excess carrier concentration in n-type tin oxide based thin film transistors (TFTs). The influences of Ni content on nickel doped tin oxide (TNO) thin films and their corresponding TFTs were investigated with experimental results showing that the TNO thin films are amorphous. Through the comparison of the transfer characteristic curves of the TNO TFTs with different Ni contents, it was observed that Ni doping is useful to improve the performance of SnO2-based TFTs by suppressing the off-state current and shifting the threshold voltage to 0 V. The amorphous TNO TFT with 3.3 at.% Ni content shows optimum performance, with field effect mobility of 8.4 cm2 V-1 s-1, saturation mobility of 6.8 cm2 V-1 s-1, subthreshold swing value of 0.8 V/decade, and an on-off current ratio of 2.1  ×  107. Nevertheless, the bias stress stability of SnO2-based TFTs deteriorate.

Sputtered boron indium oxide thin-film transistors

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Stewart, Kevin A.; Gouliouk, Vasily; Keszler, Douglas A.; Wager, John F.

2017-11-01

Boron indium oxide (BIO) is studied for thin-film transistor (TFT) channel layer applications. Sputtered BIO thin films exhibit an amorphous phase over a wide range of B2O3/In2O3 ratios and remain amorphous up to 500 °C. The band gap decreases linearly with decreasing boron content, whereas device performance generally improves with decreasing boron content. The best amorphous BIO TFT exhibits a field-effect mobility of 10 cm2 V-1 s-1, turn-on voltage of 2.5 V, and sub-threshold swing of 0.72 V/dec. Decreasing the boron content to 12.5% leads to a polycrystalline phase, but further increases the mobility up to 20-40 cm2 V-1 s-1. TCAD simulation results suggest that the reason for higher performance after increasing the anneal temperature from 200 to 400 °C is due to a lower defect density in the sub-bandgap region of the BIO channel layer.

QM/QM approach to model energy disorder in amorphous organic semiconductors.

PubMed

Friederich, Pascal; Meded, Velimir; Symalla, Franz; Elstner, Marcus; Wenzel, Wolfgang

2015-02-10

It is an outstanding challenge to model the electronic properties of organic amorphous materials utilized in organic electronics. Computation of the charge carrier mobility is a challenging problem as it requires integration of morphological and electronic degrees of freedom in a coherent methodology and depends strongly on the distribution of polaron energies in the system. Here we represent a QM/QM model to compute the polaron energies combining density functional methods for molecules in the vicinity of the polaron with computationally efficient density functional based tight binding methods in the rest of the environment. For seven widely used amorphous organic semiconductor materials, we show that the calculations are accelerated up to 1 order of magnitude without any loss in accuracy. Considering that the quantum chemical step is the efficiency bottleneck of a workflow to model the carrier mobility, these results are an important step toward accurate and efficient disordered organic semiconductors simulations, a prerequisite for accelerated materials screening and consequent component optimization in the organic electronics industry.

Dielectric properties of glassy disaccharides for electromagnetic interference shielding application

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wlodarczyk, P.; Hawelek, L.; Paluch, M.; Wlodarczyk, A.; Wojnarowska, Z.; Kolano-Burian, A.

2015-11-01

Three amorphous disaccharides (sucrose, trehalose, and lactulose) and their mixtures were studied in order to evaluate their ability to absorb a high frequency (>1 MHz) electromagnetic wave. The materials were characterized by a dielectric loss tangent. It was found out that the highest tan(δ) value is observed in pure amorphous sucrose (tan(δ) = 0.17 at f = 1 MHz at T = 293 K). Moreover, the best Tg/tan(δ) ratio is observed in binary mixtures of sucrose and trehalose. A high glass transition temperature is advantageous as it increases operational temperatures of the material. The high tangent delta in microwave frequencies of sugars is connected with the mobility of sugar groups (possibly -CH2OH). The energy of the electromagnetic wave is converted into rotational movements of side groups and in consequence it is dissipated in the form of heat. It was proven that the polar low molecular glasses such as sugars may form dielectric components of composite microwave absorbers.

Liquid crystalline ordering and charge transport in semiconducting materials.

PubMed

Pisula, Wojciech; Zorn, Matthias; Chang, Ji Young; Müllen, Klaus; Zentel, Rudolf

2009-07-16

Organic semiconducting materials offer the advantage of solution processability into flexible films. In most cases, their drawback is based on their low charge carrier mobility, which is directly related to the packing of the molecules both on local (amorphous versus crystalline) and on macroscopic (grain boundaries) length scales. Liquid crystalline ordering offers the possibility of circumventing this problem. An advanced concept comprises: i) the application of materials with different liquid crystalline phases, ii) the orientation of a low viscosity high temperature phase, and, iii) the transfer of the macroscopic orientation during cooling to a highly ordered (at best, crystalline-like) phase at room temperature. At the same time, the desired orientation for the application (OLED or field-effect transistor) can be obtained. This review presents the use of molecules with discotic, calamitic and sanidic phases and discusses the sensitivity of the phases with regard to defects depending on the dimensionality of the ordered structure (columns: 1D, smectic layers and sanidic phases: 2D). It presents ways to systematically improve charge carrier mobility by proper variation of the electronic and steric (packing) structure of the constituting molecules and to reach charge carrier mobilities that are close to and comparable to amorphous silicon, with values of 0.1 to 0.7 cm(2)  · V(-1)  · s(-1) . In this context, the significance of cross-linking to stabilize the orientation and liquid crystalline behavior of inorganic/organic hybrids is also discussed. Copyright © 2009 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

Impacts of Thermal Atomic Layer-Deposited AlN Passivation Layer on GaN-on-Si High Electron Mobility Transistors.

PubMed

Zhao, Sheng-Xun; Liu, Xiao-Yong; Zhang, Lin-Qing; Huang, Hong-Fan; Shi, Jin-Shan; Wang, Peng-Fei

2016-12-01

Thermal atomic layer deposition (ALD)-grown AlN passivation layer is applied on AlGaN/GaN-on-Si HEMT, and the impacts on drive current and leakage current are investigated. The thermal ALD-grown 30-nm amorphous AlN results in a suppressed off-state leakage; however, its drive current is unchanged. It was also observed by nano-beam diffraction method that thermal ALD-amorphous AlN layer barely enhanced the polarization. On the other hand, the plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition (PECVD)-deposited SiN layer enhanced the polarization and resulted in an improved drive current. The capacitance-voltage (C-V) measurement also indicates that thermal ALD passivation results in a better interface quality compared with the SiN passivation.

Method for producing silicon thin-film transistors with enhanced forward current drive

DOEpatents

Weiner, K.H.

1998-06-30

A method is disclosed for fabricating amorphous silicon thin film transistors (TFTs) with a polycrystalline silicon surface channel region for enhanced forward current drive. The method is particularly adapted for producing top-gate silicon TFTs which have the advantages of both amorphous and polycrystalline silicon TFTs, but without problem of leakage current of polycrystalline silicon TFTs. This is accomplished by selectively crystallizing a selected region of the amorphous silicon, using a pulsed excimer laser, to create a thin polycrystalline silicon layer at the silicon/gate-insulator surface. The thus created polysilicon layer has an increased mobility compared to the amorphous silicon during forward device operation so that increased drive currents are achieved. In reverse operation the polysilicon layer is relatively thin compared to the amorphous silicon, so that the transistor exhibits the low leakage currents inherent to amorphous silicon. A device made by this method can be used, for example, as a pixel switch in an active-matrix liquid crystal display to improve display refresh rates. 1 fig.

Method for producing silicon thin-film transistors with enhanced forward current drive

DOEpatents

Weiner, Kurt H.

1998-01-01

A method for fabricating amorphous silicon thin film transistors (TFTs) with a polycrystalline silicon surface channel region for enhanced forward current drive. The method is particularly adapted for producing top-gate silicon TFTs which have the advantages of both amorphous and polycrystalline silicon TFTs, but without problem of leakage current of polycrystalline silicon TFTs. This is accomplished by selectively crystallizing a selected region of the amorphous silicon, using a pulsed excimer laser, to create a thin polycrystalline silicon layer at the silicon/gate-insulator surface. The thus created polysilicon layer has an increased mobility compared to the amorphous silicon during forward device operation so that increased drive currents are achieved. In reverse operation the polysilicon layer is relatively thin compared to the amorphous silicon, so that the transistor exhibits the low leakage currents inherent to amorphous silicon. A device made by this method can be used, for example, as a pixel switch in an active-matrix liquid crystal display to improve display refresh rates.

Glass-Transition Temperature of the β-Relaxation as the Major Predictive Parameter for Recrystallization of Neat Amorphous Drugs.

PubMed

Kissi, Eric Ofosu; Grohganz, Holger; Löbmann, Korbinian; Ruggiero, Michael T; Zeitler, J Axel; Rades, Thomas

2018-03-15

Recrystallization of amorphous drugs is currently limiting the simple approach to improve solubility and bioavailability of poorly water-soluble drugs by amorphization of a crystalline form of the drug. In view of this, molecular mobility, α-relaxation and β-relaxation processes with the associated transition temperatures T gα and T gβ , was investigated using dynamic mechanical analysis (DMA). The correlation between the transition temperatures and the onset of recrystallization for nine amorphous drugs, stored under dry conditions at a temperature of 296 K, was determined. From the results obtained, T gα does not correlate with the onset of recrystallization under the experimental storage conditions. However, a clear correlation between T gβ and the onset of recrystallization was observed. It is shown that at storage temperature below T gβ , amorphous nifedipine retains its amorphous form. On the basis of the correlation, an empirical correlation is proposed for predicting the onset of recrystallization for drugs stored at 0% RH and 296 K.

Glass transitions and physical aging of cassava starch - corn oil blends.

PubMed

Pérez, Adriana; Sandoval, Aleida J; Cova, Aura; Müller, Alejandro J

2014-05-25

Glass transition temperatures and physical aging of amorphous cassava starch and their blends with corn oil were assessed by differential scanning calorimetry (DSC). Two enthalpic relaxation endotherms, well separated in temperature values, were exhibited by neat amorphous cassava starch with 10.6% moisture content, evidencing two amorphous regions within the starch with different degrees of mobility. The phase segregation of these two amorphous regions was favored by added corn oil at low moisture contents during storage. The presence of amylose-lipid complexes in this matrix, may also affect the molecular dynamics of these two amorphous regions at low moisture contents. Increasing moisture content, leads to a homogeneous amorphous phase, with an aging process characterized by a single enthalpic relaxation peak. In all cases, after deleting the thermal history of the samples only one glass transition temperature was detected (during DSC second heating runs) indicating that a single homogeneous amorphous phase was attained after erasing the effects of physical aging. Trends of the enthalpic relaxation parameters were also different at the two moisture contents considered in this work. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Low-voltage organic transistors on plastic comprising high-dielectric constant gate insulators

PubMed

Dimitrakopoulos; Purushothaman; Kymissis; Callegari; Shaw

1999-02-05

The gate bias dependence of the field-effect mobility in pentacene-based insulated gate field-effect transistors (IGFETs) was interpreted on the basis of the interaction of charge carriers with localized trap levels in the band gap. This understanding was used to design and fabricate IGFETs with mobility of more than 0.3 square centimeter per volt per second and current modulation of 10(5), with the use of amorphous metal oxide gate insulators. These values were obtained at operating voltage ranges as low as 5 volts, which are much smaller than previously reported results. An all-room-temperature fabrication process sequence was used, which enabled the demonstration of high-performance organic IGFETs on transparent plastic substrates, at low operating voltages for organic devices.

Energetic fluctuations in amorphous semiconducting polymers: Impact on charge-carrier mobility

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gali, Sai Manoj; D'Avino, Gabriele; Aurel, Philippe; Han, Guangchao; Yi, Yuanping; Papadopoulos, Theodoros A.; Coropceanu, Veaceslav; Brédas, Jean-Luc; Hadziioannou, Georges; Zannoni, Claudio; Muccioli, Luca

2017-10-01

We present a computational approach to model hole transport in an amorphous semiconducting fluorene-triphenylamine copolymer (TFB), which is based on the combination of molecular dynamics to predict the morphology of the oligomeric system and Kinetic Monte Carlo (KMC), parameterized with quantum chemistry calculations, to simulate hole transport. Carrying out a systematic comparison with available experimental results, we discuss the role that different transport parameters play in the KMC simulation and in particular the dynamic nature of positional and energetic disorder on the temperature and electric field dependence of charge mobility. It emerges that a semi-quantitative agreement with experiments is found only when the dynamic nature of the disorder is taken into account. This study establishes a clear link between microscopic quantities and macroscopic hole mobility for TFB and provides substantial evidence of the importance of incorporating fluctuations, at the molecular level, to obtain results that are in good agreement with temperature and electric field-dependent experimental mobilities. Our work makes a step forward towards the application of nanoscale theoretical schemes as a tool for predictive material screening.

Low resolution 1H NMR assignment of proton populations in pound cake and its polymeric ingredients.

PubMed

Luyts, A; Wilderjans, E; Waterschoot, J; Van Haesendonck, I; Brijs, K; Courtin, C M; Hills, B; Delcour, J A

2013-08-15

Based on a model system approach, five different proton populations were distinguished in pound cake crumb using one dimensional low resolution (1)H NMR spectroscopy. In free induction decay (FID) measurements, proton populations were assigned to (i) non-exchanging CH protons of crystalline starch, proteins and crystalline fat and (ii) non-exchanging CH protons of amorphous starch and gluten, which are in little contact with water. In Carr-Purcell-Meiboom-Gill (CPMG) measurements, three proton populations were distinguished. The CPMG population with the lowest mobility and the FID population with the highest mobility represent the same proton population. The two CPMG proton populations with the highest mobility were assigned to exchanging protons (i.e., protons of water, starch, gluten, egg proteins and sugar) and protons of lipids (i.e., protons of egg yolk lipids and amorphous lipid fraction of margarine) respectively. Based on their spin-lattice relaxation times (T1), two dimensional (1)H NMR spectroscopy further resolved the two proton populations with the highest mobility into three and two proton populations, respectively. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Generation of hydrate forms of paroxetine HCl from the amorphous state: an evaluation of thermodynamic and experimental predictive approaches.

PubMed

Pina, M Fátima; Pinto, João F; Sousa, João J; Craig, Duncan Q M; Zhao, Min

2015-03-15

In this study, we evaluate the use of theoretical thermodynamic analysis of amorphous paroxetine hydrochloride (HCl) as well as experimental assessment in order to identify the most promising approach to stability and dissolution behaviour prediction, particularly in relation to stoichiometric and nonstoichiometric hydrate formation. Differential scanning calorimetry, thermogravimetric analysis, Fourier transform infrared and X-ray diffraction techniques were used. Parameters including heat capacity, configurational thermodynamic quantities, fragility and relaxation time classified amorphous paroxetine HCl as a moderate fragile glass with a considerable degree of molecular mobility. Solubility studies indicated little advantage of the amorphous form over the crystalline due to conversion to the hydrate Form I during equilibration, while the dissolution rate was higher for the amorphous form under sink conditions. A marked difference in the physical stability of amorphous paroxetine HCl was observed between dry and low humidity storage, with the system recrystallizing to the hydrate form. We conclude that, in this particular case (amorphous conversion to the hydrate), water may be playing a dual role in both plasticizing the amorphous form and driving the equilibrium towards the hydrate form, hence prediction of recrystallization behaviour from amorphous characteristics may be confounded by the additional process of hydrate generation. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

A Step toward High-Energy Silicon-Based Thin Film Lithium Ion Batteries.

PubMed

Reyes Jiménez, Antonia; Klöpsch, Richard; Wagner, Ralf; Rodehorst, Uta C; Kolek, Martin; Nölle, Roman; Winter, Martin; Placke, Tobias

2017-05-23

The next generation of lithium ion batteries (LIBs) with increased energy density for large-scale applications, such as electric mobility, and also for small electronic devices, such as microbatteries and on-chip batteries, requires advanced electrode active materials with enhanced specific and volumetric capacities. In this regard, silicon as anode material has attracted much attention due to its high specific capacity. However, the enormous volume changes during lithiation/delithiation are still a main obstacle avoiding the broad commercial use of Si-based electrodes. In this work, Si-based thin film electrodes, prepared by magnetron sputtering, are studied. Herein, we present a sophisticated surface design and electrode structure modification by amorphous carbon layers to increase the mechanical integrity and, thus, the electrochemical performance. Therefore, the influence of amorphous C thin film layers, either deposited on top (C/Si) or incorporated between the amorphous Si thin film layers (Si/C/Si), was characterized according to their physical and electrochemical properties. The thin film electrodes were thoroughly studied by means of electrochemical impedance spectroscopy, Raman spectroscopy, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, and atomic force microscopy. We can show that the silicon thin film electrodes with an amorphous C layer showed a remarkably improved electrochemical performance in terms of capacity retention and Coulombic efficiency. The C layer is able to mitigate the mechanical stress during lithiation of the Si thin film by buffering the volume changes and to reduce the loss of active lithium during solid electrolyte interphase formation and cycling.

Synthesis of ZnO nanowires for thin film network transistors

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Dalal, S. H.; Unalan, H. E.; Zhang, Y.; Hiralal, Pritesh; Gangloff, L.; Flewitt, Andrew J.; Amaratunga, Gehan A. J.; Milne, William I.

2008-08-01

Zinc oxide nanowire networks are attractive as alternatives to organic and amorphous semiconductors due to their wide bandgap, flexibility and transparency. We demonstrate the fabrication of thin film transistors (TFT)s which utilize ZnO nanowires as the semiconducting channel. These thin film transistors can be transparent and flexible and processed at low temperatures on to a variety of substrates. The nanowire networks are created using a simple contact transfer method that is easily scalable. Apparent nanowire network mobility values can be as high as 3.8 cm2/Vs (effective thin film mobility: 0.03 cm2/Vs) in devices with 20μm channel lengths and ON/OFF ratios of up to 104.

Achieving high carrier mobility exceeding 70 cm2/Vs in amorphous zinc tin oxide thin-film transistors

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kim, Sang Tae; Shin, Yeonwoo; Yun, Pil Sang; Bae, Jong Uk; Chung, In Jae; Jeong, Jae Kyeong

2017-09-01

This paper proposes a new defect engineering concept for low-cost In- and Ga-free zinc tin oxide (ZTO) thin-film transistors (TFTs). This concept is comprised of capping ZTO films with tantalum (Ta) and a subsequent modest thermal annealing treatment at 200 °C. The Ta-capped ZTO TFTs exhibited a remarkably high carrier mobility of 70.8 cm2/Vs, low subthreshold gate swing of 0.18 V/decade, threshold voltage of -1.3 V, and excellent ION/OFF ratio of 2 × 108. The improvement (> two-fold) in the carrier mobility compared to the uncapped ZTO TFT can be attributed to the effective reduction of the number of adverse tailing trap states, such as hydroxyl groups or oxygen interstitial defects, which stems from the scavenging effect of the Ta capping layer on the ZTO channel layer. Furthermore, the Ta-capped ZTO TFTs showed excellent positive and negative gate bias stress stabilities. [Figure not available: see fulltext.

A flexible amorphous Bi(5)Nb(3)O(15) film for the gate insulator of the low-voltage operating pentacene thin-film transistor fabricated at room temperature.

PubMed

Cho, Kyung-Hoon; Seong, Tae-Geun; Choi, Joo-Young; Kim, Jin-Seong; Kwon, Jae-Hong; Shin, Sang-Il; Chung, Myung-Ho; Ju, Byeong-Kwon; Nahm, Sahn

2009-10-20

The amorphous Bi(5)Nb(3)O(15) film grown at room temperature under an oxygen-plasma sputtering ambient (BNRT-O(2) film) has a hydrophobic surface with a surface energy of 35.6 mJ m(-2), which is close to that of the orthorhombic pentacene (38 mJ m(-2)), resulting in the formation of a good pentacene layer without the introduction of an additional polymer layer. This film was very flexible, maintaining a high capacitance of 145 nF cm(-2) during and after 10(5) bending cycles with a small curvature radius of 7.5 mm. This film was optically transparent. Furthermore, the flexible, pentacene-based, organic thin-film transistors (OTFTs) fabricated on the poly(ether sulfone) substrate at room temperature using a BNRT-O(2) film as a gate insulator exhibited a promising device performance with a high field effect mobility of 0.5 cm(2) V(-1) s(-1), an on/off current modulation of 10(5), and a small subthreshold slope of 0.2 V decade(-1) under a low operating voltage of -5 V. This device also maintained a high carrier mobility of 0.45 cm(2) V(-1 )s(-1) during the bending with a small curvature radius of 9 mm. Therefore, the BNRT-O(2) film is considered a promising material for the gate insulator of the flexible, pentacene-based OTFT.

Charge transport model in solid-state avalanche amorphous selenium and defect suppression design

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Scheuermann, James R.; Miranda, Yesenia; Liu, Hongyu; Zhao, Wei

2016-01-01

Avalanche amorphous selenium (a-Se) in a layer of High Gain Avalanche Rushing Photoconductor (HARP) is being investigated for its use in large area medical imagers. Avalanche multiplication of photogenerated charge requires electric fields greater than 70 V μm-1. For a-Se to withstand this high electric field, blocking layers are used to prevent the injection of charge carriers from the electrodes. Blocking layers must have a high injection barrier and deep trapping states to reduce the electric field at the interface. In the presence of a defect in the blocking layer, a distributed resistive layer (DRL) must be included into the structure to build up space charge and reduce the electric field in a-Se and the defect. A numerical charge transport model has been developed to optimize the properties of blocking layers used in various HARP structures. The model shows the incorporation of a DRL functionality into the p-layer can reduce dark current at a point defect by two orders of magnitude by reducing the field in a-Se to the avalanche threshold. Hole mobility in a DRL of ˜10-8 cm2 V-1 s-1 at 100 V μm-1 as demonstrated by the model can be achieved experimentally by varying the hole mobility of p-type organic or inorganic semiconductors through doping, e.g., using Poly(9-vinylcarbozole) doped with 1%-3% (by weight) of poly(3-hexylthiopene).

Selective metallization of amorphous-indium-gallium-zinc-oxide thin-film transistor by using helium plasma treatment

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Jang, Hun; Lee, Su Jeong; Porte, Yoann; Myoung, Jae-Min

2018-03-01

In this study, the effects of helium (He) plasma treatment on amorphous-indium-gallium-zinc-oxide (a-IGZO) thin-film transistors (TFTs) have been investigated. The He plasma treatment induced a dramatic decrease of the resistivity in a-IGZO thin films from 1.25 × 106 to 5.93 mΩ cm. After 5 min He plasma treatment, the a-IGZO films showed an increase in carrier concentration to 6.70 × 1019 cm-3 combined with a high hall mobility of 15.7 cm2 V-1 s-1. The conductivity improvement was linked to the formation of oxygen vacancies during the He plasma treatment, which was observed by x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy analysis. The a-IGZO films did not appear to be damaged on the surface following the plasma treatment and showed a high transmittance of about 88.3% at a wavelength of 550 nm. The He plasma-treated a-IGZO films were used as source/drain (S/D) electrodes in a-IGZO TFTs. The devices demonstrated promising characteristics, on pair with TFTs using Al electrodes, with a threshold voltage (V T) of -1.97 V, sub-threshold slope (SS) of 0.52 V/decade, saturation mobility (μ sat) of 8.75 cm2 V-1 s-1, and on/off current ratio (I on/I off) of 2.66 × 108.

Amorphous indium gallium zinc oxide thin film grown by pulse laser deposition technique

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Mistry, Bhaumik V., E-mail: bhaumik-phy@yahoo.co.in; Joshi, U. S.

Highly electrically conducting and transparent in visible light IGZO thin film were grown on glass substrate at substrate temperature of 400 C by a pulse laser deposition techniques. Structural, surface, electrical, and optical properties of IGZO thin films were investigated at room temperature. Smooth surface morphology and amorphous nature of the film has been confirmed from the AFM and GIXRD analysis. A resistivity down to 7.7×10{sup −3} V cm was reproducibly obtained while maintaining optical transmission exceeding 70% at wavelengths from 340 to 780 nm. The carrier densities of the film was obtain to the value 1.9×10{sup 18} cm{sup 3},more » while the Hall mobility of the IGZO thin film was 16 cm{sup 2} V{sup −1}S{sup −1}.« less

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Rajachidambaram, Jaana Saranya; Sanghavi, Shail P.; Nachimuthu, Ponnusamy

Amorphous zinc tin oxide (ZTO) was investigated to determine the effect of deposition and post annealing conditions on film structure, composition, surface contamination, and thin film transistor (TFT) device performance. X-ray diffraction results indicated that the ZTO films remain amorphous even after annealing to 600 °C. We found that the bulk Zn:Sn ratio of the sputter deposited films were slightly tin rich compared to the composition of the ceramic sputter target, and there was a significant depletion of zinc at the surface. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy also indicated that residual surface contamination depended strongly on the sample post-annealing conditions where water,more » carbonate and hydroxyl species were absorbed to the surface. Electrical characterization of ZTO films, using TFT test structures, indicated that mobilities as high as 17 cm2/Vs could be obtained for depletion mode devices.« less

Color-selective photodetection from intermediate colloidal quantum dots buried in amorphous-oxide semiconductors.

PubMed

Cho, Kyung-Sang; Heo, Keun; Baik, Chan-Wook; Choi, Jun Young; Jeong, Heejeong; Hwang, Sungwoo; Lee, Sang Yeol

2017-10-10

We report color-selective photodetection from intermediate, monolayered, quantum dots buried in between amorphous-oxide semiconductors. The proposed active channel in phototransistors is a hybrid configuration of oxide-quantum dot-oxide layers, where the gate-tunable electrical property of silicon-doped, indium-zinc-oxide layers is incorporated with the color-selective properties of quantum dots. A remarkably high detectivity (8.1 × 10 13 Jones) is obtained, along with three major findings: fast charge separation in monolayered quantum dots; efficient charge transport through high-mobility oxide layers (20 cm 2  V -1  s -1 ); and gate-tunable drain-current modulation. Particularly, the fast charge separation rate of 3.3 ns -1 measured with time-resolved photoluminescence is attributed to the intermediate quantum dots buried in oxide layers. These results facilitate the realization of efficient color-selective detection exhibiting a photoconductive gain of 10 7 , obtained using a room-temperature deposition of oxide layers and a solution process of quantum dots. This work offers promising opportunities in emerging applications for color detection with sensitivity, transparency, and flexibility.The development of highly sensitive photodetectors is important for image sensing and optical communication applications. Cho et al., report ultra-sensitive photodetectors based on monolayered quantum dots buried in between amorphous-oxide semiconductors and demonstrate color-detecting logic gates.

Accelerated Physical Stability Testing of Amorphous Dispersions.

PubMed

Mehta, Mehak; Suryanarayanan, Raj

2016-08-01

The goal was to develop an accelerated physical stability testing method of amorphous dispersions. Water sorption is known to cause plasticization and may accelerate drug crystallization. In an earlier investigation, it was observed that both the increase in mobility and decrease in stability in amorphous dispersions was explained by the "plasticization" effect of water (Mehta et al. Mol. Pharmaceutics 2016, 13 (4), 1339-1346). In this work, the influence of water concentration (up to 1.8% w/w) on the correlation between mobility and crystallization in felodipine dispersions was investigated. With an increase in water content, the α-relaxation time as well as the time for 1% w/w felodipine crystallization decreased. The relaxation times of the systems, obtained with different water concentration, overlapped when the temperature was scaled (Tg/T). The temperature dependencies of the α-relaxation time as well as the crystallization time were unaffected by the water concentration. Thus, the value of the coupling coefficient, up to a water concentration of 1.8% w/w, was approximately constant. Based on these findings, the use of "water sorption" is proposed to build predictive models for crystallization in slow crystallizing dispersions.

Activation like behaviour on the temperature dependence of the carrier density in In2O3-ZnO films

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

K, Makise; B, Shinozaki; T, Asano; K, Yano; H, Nakamura

2012-12-01

We study the effect of annealing in high vacuum on the transport properties for In2O3-ZnO films. We prepared indium zinc oxide films by the DC-magnetron sputtering method using an In2O3-ZnO target (89.3 wt % In2O3 and 10.7 wt % ZnO). The annealing temperature is from 373 to 773K. From the XRD analysis, we find that all as deposited films are amorphous. In addition we find that amorphous films are crystallized by annealing at a temperature above 773 K over 2 hours. The temperature dependence of resistivity ρ of all amorphous films shows metallic behaviour. On the other hand, ρ(T) of poly In2O3-ZnO films shows semi-conducting behaviour. We carry out a detailed analysis of the temperature dependence of Hall mobility. The activation energy Ed has been obtained from the slope of the carrier concentration Ne vs. the inverse temperature plot at high temperatures. We found that the Ed takes values between 0.43 and 0.19 meV. Meanwhile, temperature dependence of Ne for poly-In2O3-ZnO films did not show activation-like behaviour. This behaviour is thought to be causally related to impurity conduction band.

Size distributions of coastal ocean suspended particulate inorganic matter: Amorphous silica and clay minerals and their dynamics

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhang, Xiaodong; Stavn, Robert H.; Falster, Alexander U.; Rick, Johannes J.; Gray, Deric; Gould, Richard W.

2017-04-01

Particulate inorganic matter (PIM) is a key component in estuarine and coastal systems and plays a critical role in trace metal cycling. Better understanding of coastal dynamics and biogeochemistry requires improved quantification of PIM in terms of its concentration, size distribution, and mineral species composition. The angular pattern of light scattering contains detailed information about the size and composition of particles. These volume scattering functions (VSFs) were measured in Mobile Bay, Alabama, USA, a dynamic, PIM dominated coastal environment. From measured VSFs, we determined through inversion the particle size distributions (PSDs) of major components of PIM, amorphous silica and clay minerals. An innovation here is the extension of our reported PSDs significantly into the submicron range. The PSDs of autochthonous amorphous silica exhibit two unique features: a peak centered at about 0.8 μm between 0.2 and 4 μm and a very broad shoulder essentially extending from 4 μm to >100 μm. With an active and steady particle source from blooming diatoms, the shapes of amorphous silica PSDs for sizes <10 μm varied little across the study area, but showed more particles of sizes >10 μm inside the bay, likely due to wind-induced resuspension of larger frustules that have settled. Compared to autochthonous amorphous silica, the allochthonous clay minerals are denser and exhibit relatively narrower PSDs with peaks located between 1 and 4 μm. Preferential settling of larger mineral particles as well as the smaller but denser illite component further narrowed the size distributions of clay minerals as they were being transported outside the bay. The derived PSDs also indicated a very dynamic situation in Mobile Bay when a cold weather front passed through during the experiment. With northerly winds of speeds up to 15 m s-1, both amorphous silica and clay minerals showed a dramatic increase in concentration and broadening in size distribution outside the exit of the barrier islands, indicative of wind-induced resuspension and subsequent advection of particles out of Mobile Bay. While collectively recognized as the PIM, amorphous silica and clay minerals, as shown in this study, possess very different size distributions. Considering how differences in PSDs and the associated particle areas will effect differences in sorption/desorption properties of these components, the results also demonstrate the potential of applying VSF-inversion in studying biogeochemistry in the estuarine-coastal ocean system.

The influence of nitrogen implantation on the electrical properties of amorphous IGZO

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhan, S. L.; Zhao, M.; Zhuang, D. M.; Fu, E. G.; Cao, M. J.; Guo, L.; Ouyang, L. Q.

2017-09-01

In this study, nitrogen (N) implantation was adopted to regulate the carrier concentration and the Hall mobility of amorphous Indium Gallium Zinc Oxide (a-IGZO) films. The Hall Effect measurement demonstrates that the increase of implantation fluence can decrease the carrier concentration of a-IGZO by three orders to 1016 cm-3, which attributes to the reduction of oxygen defects. The addition of nitrogen atoms can result in the increase of Hall mobility to 9.93 cm2/V s with the subsequent decrease to 6.49 cm2/V s, which reflects the reduction of the average potential barrier height (φ0) to be 22.0 meV with subsequent increase to 74.8 meV in the modified percolation model. The results indicate that nitrogen can serve as an effective p-type dopants and oxygen defect suppressors. N-implantation with an appropriate fluence can effectively improve the Hall mobility and reduce the carrier concentration simultaneously.

Molecular weight dependence of carrier mobility and recombination rate in neat P3HT films

DOE PAGES

Dixon, Alex G.; Visvanathan, Rayshan; Clark, Noel A.; ...

2017-11-02

The microstructure dependence of carrier mobility and recombination rates of neat films of poly 3-hexylthyophene (P3HT) were determined for a range of materials of weight-average molecular weights, Mw, ranging from 14 to 331 kDa. This variation has previously been shown to modify the polymer microstructure, with low molecular weights forming a one-phase, paraffinic-like structure comprised of chain-extended crystallites, and higher molecular weights forming a semicrystalline structure with crystalline domains being embedded in an amorphous matrix. Using Charge Extraction by Linearly Increasing Voltage (CELIV), we show here that the carrier mobility in P3HT devices peaks for materials of Mw = 48more » kDa, and that the recombination rate decreases monotonically with increasing molecular weight. This trend is likely due to the development of a semicrystalline, two-phase structure with increasing Mw, which allows for the spatial separation of holes and electrons into the amorphous and crystalline regions, respectively. This separation leads to decreased recombination.« less

Molecular weight dependence of carrier mobility and recombination rate in neat P3HT films

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Dixon, Alex G.; Visvanathan, Rayshan; Clark, Noel A.

The microstructure dependence of carrier mobility and recombination rates of neat films of poly 3-hexylthyophene (P3HT) were determined for a range of materials of weight-average molecular weights, Mw, ranging from 14 to 331 kDa. This variation has previously been shown to modify the polymer microstructure, with low molecular weights forming a one-phase, paraffinic-like structure comprised of chain-extended crystallites, and higher molecular weights forming a semicrystalline structure with crystalline domains being embedded in an amorphous matrix. Using Charge Extraction by Linearly Increasing Voltage (CELIV), we show here that the carrier mobility in P3HT devices peaks for materials of Mw = 48more » kDa, and that the recombination rate decreases monotonically with increasing molecular weight. This trend is likely due to the development of a semicrystalline, two-phase structure with increasing Mw, which allows for the spatial separation of holes and electrons into the amorphous and crystalline regions, respectively. This separation leads to decreased recombination.« less

Nanohole Structuring for Improved Performance of Hydrogenated Amorphous Silicon Photovoltaics.

PubMed

Johlin, Eric; Al-Obeidi, Ahmed; Nogay, Gizem; Stuckelberger, Michael; Buonassisi, Tonio; Grossman, Jeffrey C

2016-06-22

While low hole mobilities limit the current collection and efficiency of hydrogenated amorphous silicon (a-Si:H) photovoltaic devices, attempts to improve mobility of the material directly have stagnated. Herein, we explore a method of utilizing nanostructuring of a-Si:H devices to allow for improved hole collection in thick absorber layers. This is achieved by etching an array of 150 nm diameter holes into intrinsic a-Si:H and then coating the structured material with p-type a-Si:H and a conformal zinc oxide transparent conducting layer. The inclusion of these nanoholes yields relative power conversion efficiency (PCE) increases of ∼45%, from 7.2 to 10.4% PCE for small area devices. Comparisons of optical properties, time-of-flight mobility measurements, and internal quantum efficiency spectra indicate this efficiency is indeed likely occurring from an improved collection pathway provided by the nanostructuring of the devices. Finally, we estimate that through modest optimizations of the design and fabrication, PCEs of beyond 13% should be obtainable for similar devices.

Reduced contact resistance of a-IGZO thin film transistors with inkjet-printed silver electrodes

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chen, Jianqiu; Ning, Honglong; Fang, Zhiqiang; Tao, Ruiqiang; Yang, Caigui; Zhou, Yicong; Yao, Rihui; Xu, Miao; Wang, Lei; Peng, Junbiao

2018-04-01

In this study, high performance amorphous In–Ga–Zn–O (a-IGZO) TFTs were successfully fabricated with inkjet-printed silver source-drain electrodes. The results showed that increased channel thickness has an improving trend in the properties of TFTs due to the decreased contact resistance. Compared with sputtered silver TFTs, devices with printed silver electrodes were more sensitive to the thickness of active layer. Furthermore, the devices with optimized active layer showed high performances with a maximum saturation mobility of 8.73 cm2 · V‑1 · S‑1 and an average saturation mobility of 6.97 cm2 · V‑1 · S‑1, I on/I off ratio more than 107 and subthreshold swing of 0.28 V/decade, which were comparable with the analogous devices with sputtered electrodes.

Composition-dependent structural and transport properties of amorphous transparent conducting oxides

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Khanal, Rabi; Buchholz, D. Bruce; Chang, Robert P. H.; Medvedeva, Julia E.

2015-05-01

Structural properties of amorphous In-based oxides, In -X -O with X =Zn , Ga, Sn, or Ge, are investigated using ab initio molecular dynamics liquid-quench simulations. The results reveal that indium retains its average coordination of 5.0 upon 20% X fractional substitution for In, whereas X cations satisfy their natural coordination with oxygen atoms. This finding suggests that the carrier generation is primarily governed by In atoms, in accord with the observed carrier concentration in amorphous In-O and In -X -O . At the same time, the presence of X affects the number of six-coordinated In atoms as well as the oxygen sharing between the InO6 polyhedra. Based on the obtained interconnectivity and spatial distribution of the InO6 and XO x polyhedra in amorphous In -X -O , composition-dependent structural models of the amorphous oxides are derived. The results help explain our Hall mobility measurements in In -X -O thin films grown by pulsed-laser deposition and highlight the importance of long-range structural correlations in the formation of amorphous oxides and their transport properties.

High carrier mobility of Sn-doped polycrystalline-Ge films on insulators by thickness-dependent low-temperature solid-phase crystallization

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sadoh, Taizoh; Kai, Yuki; Matsumura, Ryo; Moto, Kenta; Miyao, Masanobu

2016-12-01

To realize the advanced thin-film transistors (TFTs), high-carrier-mobility semiconductor films on insulator structures should be fabricated with low-temperature processing conditions (≤500 °C). To achieve this, we investigated the solid-phase crystallization of amorphous-GeSn films on insulating substrates under a wide range of Sn concentrations (0%-20%), film thicknesses (30-500 nm), and annealing temperatures (380-500 °C). Our results reveal that a Sn concentration close to the solid solubility of Sn in Ge (˜2%) is effective in increasing the grain-size of poly-GeSn. In addition, we discovered that the carrier mobility depends on the film thickness, where the mobilities are determined by the counterbalance between two different carrier scattering mechanisms. Here, vacancy-related defects dominate the carrier scattering near the insulating substrates (≤˜120 nm), and grain-size determined by bulk nucleation dominates the grain-boundary scattering of thick films (≥˜200 nm). Consequently, we obtained the maximum mobilities in samples with a Sn concentration of 2% and a film thickness of 200 nm. The effect of increasing the grain-size of poly-GeSn by lowering the annealing temperature was also clarified. By combining these results, a very high carrier mobility of 320 cm2/Vs was obtained at a low temperature of 380 °C. This mobility is about 2.5 times as high as previously reported data for Ge and GeSn films grown at low temperatures (≤500 °C). Our technique therefore opens up the possibility of high-speed TFTs for use in the next generation of electronics.

Technology and characterization of Thin-Film Transistors (TFTs) with a-IGZO semiconductor and high-k dielectric layer

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mroczyński, R.; Wachnicki, Ł.; Gierałtowska, S.

2016-12-01

In this work, we present the design of the technology and fabrication of TFTs with amorphous IGZO semiconductor and high-k gate dielectric layer in the form of hafnium oxide (HfOx). In the course of this work, the IGZO fabrication was optimized by means of Taguchi orthogonal tables approach in order to obtain an active semiconductor with reasonable high concentration of charge carriers, low roughness and relatively high mobility. The obtained Thin-Film Transistors can be characterized by very good electrical parameters, i.e., the effective mobility (μeff ≍ 12.8 cm2V-1s-1) significantly higher than that for a-Si TFTs (μeff ≍ 1 cm2V-1s-1). However, the value of sub-threshold swing (i.e., 640 mV/dec) points that the interfacial properties of IGZO/HfOx stack is characterized by high value of interface states density (Dit) which, in turn, demands further optimization for future applications of the demonstrated TFT structures.

Transparent amorphous oxide semiconductors for organic electronics: Application to inverted OLEDs

PubMed Central

Hosono, Hideo; Toda, Yoshitake; Kamiya, Toshio; Watanabe, Satoru

2017-01-01

Efficient electron transfer between a cathode and an active organic layer is one key to realizing high-performance organic devices, which require electron injection/transport materials with very low work functions. We developed two wide-bandgap amorphous (a-) oxide semiconductors, a-calcium aluminate electride (a-C12A7:e) and a-zinc silicate (a-ZSO). A-ZSO exhibits a low work function of 3.5 eV and high electron mobility of 1 cm2/(V · s); furthermore, it also forms an ohmic contact with not only conventional cathode materials but also anode materials. A-C12A7:e has an exceptionally low work function of 3.0 eV and is used to enhance the electron injection property from a-ZSO to an emission layer. The inverted electron-only and organic light-emitting diode (OLED) devices fabricated with these two materials exhibit excellent performance compared with the normal type with LiF/Al. This approach provides a solution to the problem of fabricating oxide thin-film transistor-driven OLEDs with both large size and high stability. PMID:28028243

H and Au diffusion in high mobility a-InGaZnO thin-film transistors via low temperature KrF excimer laser annealing

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bermundo, Juan Paolo S.; Ishikawa, Yasuaki; Fujii, Mami N.; Ikenoue, Hiroshi; Uraoka, Yukiharu

2017-03-01

We report the fabrication of high mobility amorphous InGaZnO (a-IGZO) thin-film transistors (TFTs) irradiated by a single shot of a 248 nm KrF excimer laser. Very high mobilities (μ) of up to 43.5 cm2/V s were obtained after the low temperature excimer laser annealing (ELA) process. ELA induces high temperatures primarily in the upper layers and maintains very low temperatures of less than 50 °C in the substrate region. Scanning Transmission Electron micrographs show no laser induced damage and clear interfaces after the laser irradiation. In addition, several characterization studies were performed to determine the μ improvement mechanism. The analysis of Secondary Ion Mass Spectrometry and X-ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy suggests incorporation of H mainly from the hybrid passivation layer into the channel. Moreover, Energy-dispersive X-ray Spectroscopy results show that Au diffused into the channel after ELA. Both KrF ELA-induced H and Au diffusion contributed to the higher μ. These results demonstrate that ELA can greatly enhance the electrical properties of a-IGZO TFTs for promising applications in large area, transparent, and flexible electronics.

Conjugated foldamers with unusually high space-charge-limited current hole mobilities.

PubMed

Li, Yong; Dutta, Tanmoy; Gerasimchuk, Nikolay; Wu, Shijie; Shetye, Kuldeep; Jin, Lu; Wang, Ruixin; Zhu, Da-Ming; Peng, Zhonghua

2015-05-13

Charge carrier mobility and its optimization play a critical role in the development of cutting-edge organic electronic and optoelectronic devices. Even though space-charge-limited current (SCLC) hole mobilities as high as 1.4 cm(2) V(-1) s(-1) have been reported for microscopically sized highly ordered liquid-crystalline conjugated small molecules, the SCLC hole mobility of device-sized thin films of conjugated polymers is still much lower, ranging from 10(-6) to 10(-3) cm(2) V(-1) s(-1). Herein, we report the synthesis, characterizations, and thin-film SCLC mobility of three discotic conjugated polymers, INDT-TT, INDT-BT, and INDT-NDT. Optical studies indicate that polymer INDT-NDT adopts a folded conformation in solutions of good or poor solvents, whereas polymer INDT-TT stays as random monomeric chains in good solvents and interchain aggregates in poor solvents. INDT-BT polymer chains, however, stay as foldamers in dilute solutions of good solvents but interchain aggregates in concentrated solutions or poor solvents. Circular dichroism spectroscopy provides clear evidence for the helical folding of INDT-NDT in solutions. Thin films spin-coated from 1,2-dichlorobenzene solutions of the polymers show SCLC hole mobility of 2.20 × 10(-6), 8.79 × 10(-5), and 2.77 × 10(-2) cm(2) V(-1) s(-1) for INDT-TT, INDT-BT, and INDT-NDT, respectively. HRTEM and powder XRD measurements show that INDT-NDT pristine thin films contain nanocrystalline domains, whereas the INDT-TT and INDT-BT films are amorphous. Thin films of INDT-NDT:PC71BM blends show increased crystallinity and further improved SCLC hole mobility up to 1.29 × 10(-1) cm(2) V(-1) s(-1), one of the highest SCLC mobility values ever recorded on solution-processed organic semiconducting thin films. The persistent folding conformation of INDT-NDT is believed to be responsible for the high crystallinity of its thin films and its high SCLC mobilities.

Crystallization and doping of amorphous silicon on low temperature plastic

DOEpatents

Kaschmitter, James L.; Truher, Joel B.; Weiner, Kurt H.; Sigmon, Thomas W.

1994-01-01

A method or process of crystallizing and doping amorphous silicon (a-Si) on a low-temperature plastic substrate using a short pulsed high energy source in a selected environment, without heat propagation and build-up in the substrate. The pulsed energy processing of the a-Si in a selected environment, such as BF3 and PF5, will form a doped micro-crystalline or poly-crystalline silicon (pc-Si) region or junction point with improved mobilities, lifetimes and drift and diffusion lengths and with reduced resistivity. The advantage of this method or process is that it provides for high energy materials processing on low cost, low temperature, transparent plastic substrates. Using pulsed laser processing a high (>900.degree. C.), localized processing temperature can be achieved in thin films, with little accompanying temperature rise in the substrate, since substrate temperatures do not exceed 180.degree. C. for more than a few microseconds. This method enables use of plastics incapable of withstanding sustained processing temperatures (higher than 180.degree. C.) but which are much lower cost, have high tolerance to ultraviolet light, have high strength and good transparency, compared to higher temperature plastics such as polyimide.

Crystallization and doping of amorphous silicon on low temperature plastic

DOEpatents

Kaschmitter, J.L.; Truher, J.B.; Weiner, K.H.; Sigmon, T.W.

1994-09-13

A method or process of crystallizing and doping amorphous silicon (a-Si) on a low-temperature plastic substrate using a short pulsed high energy source in a selected environment, without heat propagation and build-up in the substrate is disclosed. The pulsed energy processing of the a-Si in a selected environment, such as BF3 and PF5, will form a doped micro-crystalline or poly-crystalline silicon (pc-Si) region or junction point with improved mobilities, lifetimes and drift and diffusion lengths and with reduced resistivity. The advantage of this method or process is that it provides for high energy materials processing on low cost, low temperature, transparent plastic substrates. Using pulsed laser processing a high (>900 C), localized processing temperature can be achieved in thin films, with little accompanying temperature rise in the substrate, since substrate temperatures do not exceed 180 C for more than a few microseconds. This method enables use of plastics incapable of withstanding sustained processing temperatures (higher than 180 C) but which are much lower cost, have high tolerance to ultraviolet light, have high strength and good transparency, compared to higher temperature plastics such as polyimide. 5 figs.

Enhanced stability of thin film transistors with double-stacked amorphous IWO/IWO:N channel layer

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lin, Dong; Pi, Shubin; Yang, Jianwen; Tiwari, Nidhi; Ren, Jinhua; Zhang, Qun; Liu, Po-Tsun; Shieh, Han-Ping

2018-06-01

In this work, bottom-gate top-contact thin film transistors with double-stacked amorphous IWO/IWO:N channel layer were fabricated. Herein, amorphous IWO and N-doped IWO were deposited as front and back channel layers, respectively, by radio-frequency magnetron sputtering. The electrical characteristics of the bi-layer-channel thin film transistors (TFTs) were examined and compared with those of single-layer-channel (i.e., amorphous IWO or IWO:N) TFTs. It was demonstrated to exhibit a high mobility of 27.2 cm2 V‑1 s‑1 and an on/off current ratio of 107. Compared to the single peers, bi-layer a-IWO/IWO:N TFTs showed smaller hysteresis and higher stability under negative bias stress and negative bias temperature stress. The enhanced performance could be attributed to its unique double-stacked channel configuration, which successfully combined the merits of the TFTs with IWO and IWO:N channels. The underlying IWO thin film provided percolation paths for electron transport, meanwhile, the top IWO:N layer reduced the bulk trap densities. In addition, the IWO channel/gate insulator interface had reduced defects, and IWO:N back channel surface was insensitive to the ambient atmosphere. Overall, the proposed bi-layer a-IWO/IWO:N TFTs show potential for practical applications due to its possibly long-term serviceability.

Spray-combustion synthesis: Efficient solution route to high-performance oxide transistors

PubMed Central

Yu, Xinge; Smith, Jeremy; Zhou, Nanjia; Zeng, Li; Guo, Peijun; Xia, Yu; Alvarez, Ana; Aghion, Stefano; Lin, Hui; Yu, Junsheng; Chang, Robert P. H.; Bedzyk, Michael J.; Ferragut, Rafael; Marks, Tobin J.; Facchetti, Antonio

2015-01-01

Metal-oxide (MO) semiconductors have emerged as enabling materials for next generation thin-film electronics owing to their high carrier mobilities, even in the amorphous state, large-area uniformity, low cost, and optical transparency, which are applicable to flat-panel displays, flexible circuitry, and photovoltaic cells. Impressive progress in solution-processed MO electronics has been achieved using methodologies such as sol gel, deep-UV irradiation, preformed nanostructures, and combustion synthesis. Nevertheless, because of incomplete lattice condensation and film densification, high-quality solution-processed MO films having technologically relevant thicknesses achievable in a single step have yet to be shown. Here, we report a low-temperature, thickness-controlled coating process to create high-performance, solution-processed MO electronics: spray-combustion synthesis (SCS). We also report for the first time, to our knowledge, indium-gallium-zinc-oxide (IGZO) transistors having densification, nanoporosity, electron mobility, trap densities, bias stability, and film transport approaching those of sputtered films and compatible with conventional fabrication (FAB) operations. PMID:25733848

Spray-combustion synthesis: efficient solution route to high-performance oxide transistors.

PubMed

Yu, Xinge; Smith, Jeremy; Zhou, Nanjia; Zeng, Li; Guo, Peijun; Xia, Yu; Alvarez, Ana; Aghion, Stefano; Lin, Hui; Yu, Junsheng; Chang, Robert P H; Bedzyk, Michael J; Ferragut, Rafael; Marks, Tobin J; Facchetti, Antonio

2015-03-17

Metal-oxide (MO) semiconductors have emerged as enabling materials for next generation thin-film electronics owing to their high carrier mobilities, even in the amorphous state, large-area uniformity, low cost, and optical transparency, which are applicable to flat-panel displays, flexible circuitry, and photovoltaic cells. Impressive progress in solution-processed MO electronics has been achieved using methodologies such as sol gel, deep-UV irradiation, preformed nanostructures, and combustion synthesis. Nevertheless, because of incomplete lattice condensation and film densification, high-quality solution-processed MO films having technologically relevant thicknesses achievable in a single step have yet to be shown. Here, we report a low-temperature, thickness-controlled coating process to create high-performance, solution-processed MO electronics: spray-combustion synthesis (SCS). We also report for the first time, to our knowledge, indium-gallium-zinc-oxide (IGZO) transistors having densification, nanoporosity, electron mobility, trap densities, bias stability, and film transport approaching those of sputtered films and compatible with conventional fabrication (FAB) operations.

The electrical performance and gate bias stability of an amorphous InGaZnO thin-film transistor with HfO2 high-k dielectrics

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wang, Ruo Zheng; Wu, Sheng Li; Li, Xin Yu; Zhang, Jin Tao

2017-07-01

In this study, we set out to fabricate an amorphous indium gallium zinc oxide (a-IGZO) thin-film transistor (TFT) with SiNx/HfO2/SiNx (SHS) sandwiched dielectrics. The J-V and C-V of this SHS film were extracted by the Au/p-Si/SHS/Ti structure. At room temperature the a-IGZO with SHS dielectrics showed the following electrical properties: a threshold voltage of 2.9 V, a subthreshold slope of 0.35 V/decade, an on/off current ratio of 3.5 × 107, and a mobility of 12.8 cm2 V-1 s-1. Finally, we tested the influence of gate bias stress on the TFT, and the result showed that the threshold voltage shifted to a positive voltage when applying a positive gate voltage to the TFT.

Microscopic origin of resistance drift in the amorphous state of the phase-change compound GeTe

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gabardi, S.; Caravati, S.; Sosso, G. C.; Behler, J.; Bernasconi, M.

2015-08-01

Aging is a common feature of the glassy state. In the case of phase-change chalcogenide alloys the aging of the amorphous state is responsible for an increase of the electrical resistance with time. This phenomenon called drift is detrimental in the application of these materials in phase-change nonvolatile memories, which are emerging as promising candidates for storage class memories. By means of combined molecular dynamics and electronic structure calculations based on density functional theory, we have unraveled the atomistic origin of the resistance drift in the prototypical phase-change compound GeTe. The drift results from a widening of the band gap and a reduction of Urbach tails due to structural relaxations leading to the removal of chains of Ge-Ge homopolar bonds. The same structural features are actually responsible for the high mobility above the glass transition which boosts the crystallization speed exploited in the device.

Ionic liquid gating reveals trap-filled limit mobility in low temperature amorphous zinc oxide

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bubel, S.; Meyer, S.; Kunze, F.; Chabinyc, M. L.

2013-10-01

In low-temperature solution processed amorphous zinc oxide (a-ZnO) thin films, we show the thin film transistor (TFT) characteristics for the trap-filled limit (TFL), when the quasi Fermi energy exceeds the conduction band edge and all tail-states are filled. In order to apply gate fields that are high enough to reach the TFL, we use an ionic liquid tape gate. Performing capacitance voltage measurements to determine the accumulated charge during TFT operation, we find the TFL at biases higher than predicted by the electronic structure of crystalline ZnO. We conclude that the density of states in the conduction band of a-ZnO is higher than in its crystalline state. Furthermore, we find no indication of percolative transport in the conduction band but trap assisted transport in the tail-states of the band.

Amorphous ices explained in terms of nonequilibrium phase transitions in supercooled water

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Limmer, David; Chandler, David

2013-03-01

We analyze the phase diagram of supercooled water out-of-equilibrium using concepts from space-time thermodynamics and the dynamic facilitation theory of the glass transition, together with molecular dynamics simulations. We find that when water is driven out-of-equilibrium, it can exist in multiple amorphous states. In contrast, we find that when water is at equilibrium, it can exist in only one liquid state. The amorphous non-equilibrium states are solids, distinguished from the liquid by their lack of mobility, and distinguished from each other by their different densities and local structure. This finding explains the experimentally observed polyamorphism of water as a class of nonequilibrium phenomena involving glasses of different densities. While the amorphous solids can be long lived, they are thermodynamically unstable. When allowed to relax to equilibrium, they crystallize with pathways that pass first through liquid state configurations and then to ordered ice.

Directionally Aligned Amorphous Polymer Chains via Electrohydrodynamic-Jet Printing: Analysis of Morphology and Polymer Field-Effect Transistor Characteristics.

PubMed

Kim, Yebyeol; Bae, Jaehyun; Song, Hyun Woo; An, Tae Kyu; Kim, Se Hyun; Kim, Yun-Hi; Park, Chan Eon

2017-11-15

Electrohydrodynamic-jet (EHD-jet) printing provides an opportunity to directly assembled amorphous polymer chains in the printed pattern. Herein, an EHD-jet printed amorphous polymer was employed as the active layer for fabrication of organic field-effect transistors (OFETs). Under optimized conditions, the field-effect mobility (μ FET ) of the EHD-jet printed OFETs was 5 times higher than the highest μ FET observed in the spin-coated OFETs, and this improvement was achieved without the use of complex surface templating or additional pre- or post-deposition processing. As the chain alignment can be affected by the surface energy of the dielectric layer in EHD-jet printed OFETs, dielectric layers with varying wettability were examined. Near-edge X-ray absorption fine structure measurements were performed to compare the amorphous chain alignment in OFET active layers prepared by EHD-jet printing and spin coating.

Probing the Unique Role of Gallium in Amorphous Oxide Semiconductors through Structure-Property Relationships

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Moffitt, Stephanie L.; Zhu, Qimin; Ma, Qing

This study explores the unique role of Ga in amorphous (a-) In[BOND]Ga[BOND]O oxide semiconductors through combined theory and experiment. It reveals substitutional effects that have not previously been attributed to Ga, and that are investigated by examining how Ga influences structure–property relationships in a series of pulsed laser deposited a-In[BOND]Ga[BOND]O thin films. Element-specific structural studies (X-ray absorption and anomalous scattering) show good agreement with the results of ab initio molecular dynamics simulations. This structural knowledge is used to understand the results of air-annealing and Hall effect electrical measurements. The crystallization temperature of a-IO is shown to increase by as muchmore » as 325 °C on substituting Ga for In. This increased thermal stability is understood on the basis of the large changes in local structure that Ga undergoes, as compared to In, during crystallization. Hall measurements reveal an initial sharp drop in both carrier concentration and mobility with increasing Ga incorporation, which moderates at >20 at% Ga content. This decline in both the carrier concentration and mobility with increasing Ga is attributed to dilution of the charge-carrying In[BOND]O matrix and to increased structural disorder. The latter effect saturates at high at% Ga.« less

Chain Confinement in Electrospun Nanocomposites: using Thermal Analysis to Investigate Polymer-Filler Interactions

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Q Ma; B Mao; P Cebe

2011-12-31

We investigate the interaction of the polymer matrix and filler in electrospun nanofibers using advanced thermal analysis methods. In particular, we study the ability of silicon dioxide nanoparticles to affect the phase structure of poly(ethylene terephthalate), PET. SiO{sub 2} nanoparticles (either unmodified or modified with silane) ranging from 0 to 2.0 wt% in PET were electrospun from hexafluoro-2-propanol solutions. The morphologies of both the electrospun (ES) nanofibers and the SiO{sub 2} powders were observed by scanning and transmission electron microscopy, while the amorphous or crystalline nature of the fibers was determined by real-time wide-angle X-ray scattering. The fractions of themore » crystal, mobile amorphous, and rigid amorphous phases of the non-woven, nanofibrous composite mats were quantified by using heat capacity measurements. The amount of the immobilized polymer layer, the rigid amorphous fraction, was obtained from the specific reversing heat capacity for both as-spun amorphous fibers and isothermally crystallized fibers. Existence of the rigid amorphous phase in the absence of crystallinity was verified in nanocomposite fibers, and two origins for confinement of the rigid amorphous fraction are proposed. Thermal analysis of electrospun fibers, including quasi-isothermal methods, provides new insights to quantitatively characterize the polymer matrix phase structure and thermal transitions, such as devitrification of the rigid amorphous fraction.« less

High mobility bottom gate InGaZnO thin film transistors with SiOx etch stopper

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kim, Minkyu; Jeong, Jong Han; Lee, Hun Jung; Ahn, Tae Kyung; Shin, Hyun Soo; Park, Jin-Seong; Jeong, Jae Kyeong; Mo, Yeon-Gon; Kim, Hye Dong

2007-05-01

The authors report on the fabrication of thin film transistors (TFTs), which use an amorphous indium gallium zinc oxide (a-IGZO) channel, by rf sputtering at room temperature and for which the channel length and width are patterned by photolithography and dry etching. To prevent plasma damage to the active channel, a 100-nm-thick SiOx layer deposited by plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition was adopted as an etch stopper structure. The a-IGZO TFT (W /L=10μm/50μm) fabricated on glass exhibited a high field-effect mobility of 35.8cm2/Vs, a subthreshold gate swing value of 0.59V/decade, a thrseshold voltage of 5.9V, and an Ion/off ratio of 4.9×106, which is acceptable for use as the switching transistor of an active-matrix TFT backplane.

A study on the high temperature-dependence of the electrical properties in a solution-deposited zinc-tin-oxide thin-film transistor operated in the saturation region

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yu, Kyeong Min; Bae, Byung Seong; Jung, Myunghee; Yun, Eui-Jung

2016-06-01

We investigate the effects of high temperatures in the range of 292 - 393 K on the electrical properties of solution-processed amorphous zinc-tin-oxide (a-ZTO) thin-film transistors (TFTs) operated in the saturation region. The fabricated a-ZTO TFTs have a non-patterned bottom gate and top contact structure, and they use a heavily-doped Si wafer and SiO2 as a gate electrode and a gate insulator layer, respectively. In a-ZTO TFTs, the trap release energy ( E TR ) was deduced by using Maxwell-Boltzmann statistics. The decreasing E TR toward zero with increasing gate voltage (the density of trap states ( n s )) in the a-ZTO active layer can be attributed to a shift of the Fermi level toward the mobility edge with increasing gate voltage. The TFTs with low gate voltage (low n s ) exhibit multiple trap and release characteristics and show thermally-activated behavior. In TFTs with a high gate voltage (high n s ), however, we observe decreasing mobility and conductivity with increasing temperature at temperatures ranging from 303 to 363 K. This confirms that the E TR can drop to zero, indicating a shift of the Fermi level beyond the mobility edge. Hence, the mobility edge is detected at the cusp between thermally-activated transport and band transport.

Amorphous indium-tin-zinc oxide films deposited by magnetron sputtering with various reactive gases: Spatial distribution of thin film transistor performance

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Jia, Junjun; Torigoshi, Yoshifumi; Shigesato, Yuzo, E-mail: yuzo@chem.aoyama.ac.jp

This work presents the spatial distribution of electrical characteristics of amorphous indium-tin-zinc oxide film (a-ITZO), and how they depend on the magnetron sputtering conditions using O{sub 2}, H{sub 2}O, and N{sub 2}O as the reactive gases. Experimental results show that the electrical properties of the N{sub 2}O incorporated a-ITZO film has a weak dependence on the deposition location, which cannot be explained by the bombardment effect of high energy particles, and may be attributed to the difference in the spatial distribution of both the amount and the activity of the reactive gas reaching the substrate surface. The measurement for themore » performance of a-ITZO thin film transistor (TFT) also suggests that the electrical performance and device uniformity of a-ITZO TFTs can be improved significantly by the N{sub 2}O introduction into the deposition process, where the field mobility reach to 30.8 cm{sup 2} V{sup –1} s{sup –1}, which is approximately two times higher than that of the amorphous indium-gallium-zinc oxide TFT.« less

Transport properties of Sb doped Si nanowires

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Nukala, Prathyusha; Sapkota, Gopal; Gali, Pradeep; Usha, Philipose

2011-10-01

n-type Si nanowires were synthesized at ambient pressure using SiCl4 as Si source and Sb source as the dopant. Sb doping of 3-4 wt % was achieved through a post growth diffusion technique. The nanowires were found to have an amorphous oxide shell that developed post-growth; the thickness of the shell is estimated to be about 3-4 nm. The composition of the amorphous shell covering the crystalline Si core was determined by Raman spectroscopy, with evidence that the shell was an amorphous oxide layer. Optical characterization of the as-grown nanowires showed green emission, attributed to the presence of the oxide shell covering the Si nanowire core. Etching of the oxide shell was found to decrease the intensity of this green emission. A single undoped Si nanowire contacted in an FET type configuration was found to be p-type with channel mobility of 20 cm^2V-1S-1. Sb doped Si nanowires exhibited n-type behavior, compensating for the holes in the undoped nanowire. The doped nanowires had carrier mobility and concentration of 160 cm^2V-1S-1 and 9.6 x 10^18cm-3 respectively.

Compositional dependence of defect mobility and damage buildup in Al xGa 1- xAs

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Stonert, A.; Turos, A.; Nowicki, L.; Breeger, B.; Wendler, E.; Wesch, W.

2001-04-01

Defect transformations at low temperatures in ion implanted Al xGa 1- xAs (0⩽ x⩽1) ternary compounds were studied. Experiments consisted of ion implantation with 150 keV N or 200 keV Ar ions with different doses at temperatures between 18 and 77 K, and in situ RBS/channeling measurements at selected temperatures. An important recovery stage attributed to the defect mobility in the Ga(Al) sublattice was revealed near 280 K. For x>0.5 this stage was largely suppressed. Instead, a continuous damage recovery at low temperatures was observed. It was noticed that defect recombination can also be produced upon prolonged storage at the implantation temperature. For AlAs ( x=1) the 280 K stage disappeared completely and only a small defect recovery at low temperatures was noticed. Upon N- or Ar-ion bombardment, after an incubation period, a sharp crystalline-to-amorphous transition appeared. The amorphization dose increases with increasing x and is a factor of 10 higher for x=0.96 than that for x=0. A further increase of the dose by a factor of 15 was required to amorphize AlAs ( x=1).

Equilibrium state at supersaturated drug concentration achieved by hydroxypropyl methylcellulose acetate succinate: molecular characterization using (1)H NMR technique.

PubMed

Ueda, Keisuke; Higashi, Kenjirou; Yamamoto, Keiji; Moribe, Kunikazu

2015-04-06

The maintenance mechanism of the supersaturated state of poorly water-soluble drugs, glibenclamide (GLB) and chlorthalidone (CLT), in hydroxypropyl methylcellulose acetate succinate (HPMC-AS) solution was investigated at a molecular level. HPMC-AS suppressed drug crystallization from supersaturated drug solution and maintained high supersaturated level of drugs with small amount of HPMC-AS for 24 h. However, the dissolution of crystalline GLB into HPMC-AS solution failed to produce supersaturated concentrations, although supersaturated concentrations were achieved by adding amorphous GLB to HPMC-AS solution. HPMC-AS did not improve drug dissolution and/or solubility but efficiently inhibited drug crystallization from supersaturated drug solutions. Such an inhibiting effect led to the long-term maintenance of the amorphous state of GLB in HPMC-AS solution. NMR measurements showed that HPMC-AS suppressed the molecular mobility of CLT depending on their supersaturation level. Highly supersaturated CLT in HPMC-AS solution formed a gel-like structure with HPMC-AS in which the molecular mobility of the CLT was strongly suppressed. The gel-like structure of HPMC-AS could inhibit the reorganization from drug prenuclear aggregates to the crystal nuclei and delay the formation of drug crystals. The prolongation subsequently led to the redissolution of the aggregated drugs in aqueous solution and formed the equilibrium state at the supersaturated drug concentration in HPMC-AS solution. The equilibrium state formation of supersaturated drugs by HPMC-AS should be an essential mechanism underlying the marked drug concentration improvement.

High-performance all-printed amorphous oxide FETs and logics with electronically compatible electrode/ channel interface.

PubMed

Sharma, Bhupendra Kumar; Stoesser, Anna; Mondal, Sandeep Kumar; Garlapati, Suresh K; Fawey, Mohammed H; Chakravadhanula, Venkata Sai Kiran; Kruk, Robert; Hahn, Horst; Dasgupta, Subho

2018-06-12

Oxide semiconductors typically show superior device performance compared to amorphous silicon or organic counterparts, especially, when they are physical vapor deposited. However, it is not easy to reproduce identical device characteristics when the oxide field-effect transistors (FETs) are solution-processed/ printed; the level of complexity further intensifies with the need to print the passive elements as well. Here, we developed a protocol for designing the most electronically compatible electrode/ channel interface based on the judicious material selection. Exploiting this newly developed fabrication schemes, we are now able to demonstrate high-performance all-printed FETs and logic circuits using amorphous indium-gallium-zinc oxide (a-IGZO) semiconductor, indium tin oxide (ITO) as electrodes and composite solid polymer electrolyte as the gate insulator. Interestingly, all-printed FETs demonstrate an optimal electrical performance in terms of threshold voltages and device mobility and may very well be compared with devices fabricated using sputtered ITO electrodes. This observation originates from the selection of electrode/ channel materials from the same transparent semiconductor oxide family, resulting in the formation of In-Sn-Zn-O (ITZO) based diffused a-IGZO/ ITO interface that controls doping density while ensuring high electrical performance. Compressive spectroscopic studies reveal that Sn doping mediated excellent band alignment of IGZO with ITO electrodes is responsible for the excellent device performance observed. All-printed n-MOS based logic circuits have also been demonstrated towards new-generation portable electronics.

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Novikov, S. V.; Ting, M.; Yu, K. M.

In this paper we report our study on n-type Te doping of amorphous GaN 1-xAs x layers grown by plasma-assisted molecular beam epitaxy. We have used a low temperature PbTe source as a source of tellurium. Reproducible and uniform tellurium incorporation in amorphous GaN 1-xAs x layers has been successfully achieved with a maximum Te concentration of 9×10²⁰ cm⁻³. Tellurium incorporation resulted in n-doping of GaN 1-xAs x layers with Hall carrier concentrations up to 3×10¹⁹ cm⁻³ and mobilities of ~1 cm²/V s. The optimal growth temperature window for efficient Te doping of the amorphous GaN 1-xAs x layers hasmore » been determined.« less

Channel layer thickness dependence of In-Ti-Zn-O thin-film transistors fabricated using pulsed laser deposition

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhang, Q.; Shan, F. K.; Liu, G. X.; Liu, A.; Lee, W. J.; Shin, B. C.

2014-05-01

Amorphous indium-titanium-zinc-oxide (ITZO) thin-film transistors (TFTs) with various channel thicknesses were fabricated at room temperature by using pulsed laser deposition. The channel layer thickness (CLT) dependence of the TFTs was investigated. All the ITZO thin films were amorphous, and the surface roughnesses decreased slightly first and then increased with increasing CLT. With increasing CLT from 35 to 140 nm, the on/off current ratio and the field-effect mobility increased, and the subthreshold swing decreased. The TFT with a CLT of 210 nm exhibited the worst performance, while the ITZO TFT with a CLT of 140 nm exhibited the best performance with a subthreshold voltage of 2.86 V, a mobility of 53.9 cm2V-1s-1, a subthreshold swing of 0.29 V/decade and an on/off current ratio of 109.

Late effects of 2.2 GeV protons on the central nervous system.

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Lippincott, S. W.; Calvo, W.

1971-01-01

Investigation of late pathological effects of high-energy (2.2 GeV) protons on the brain of rabbits, in a postirradiation period of up to 16 months following exposure at fluxes of 30, 100, and 1000 billion protons per sq cm. At the latter two irradiation-intensity levels, the kinds of brain lesions inflicted include large venous dilatation, thickening of vessel walls with deposit of amorphous PAS positive substance, thrombosis, perivascular infiltration of leukocytes and macrophages, mobilization of microglia cells, gliosis, demyelinization, and multiple small pseudocyst formation.

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Gelinck, G. H., E-mail: Gerwin.Gelinck@tno.nl; Department of Applied Physics, Eindhoven University of Technology, P.O. Box 513, 5600 MB Eindhoven; Breemen, A. J. J. M. van

Ferroelectric polarization switching of poly(vinylidene difluoride-trifluoroethylene) is investigated in different thin-film device structures, ranging from simple capacitors to dual-gate thin-film transistors (TFT). Indium gallium zinc oxide, a high mobility amorphous oxide material, is used as semiconductor. We find that the ferroelectric can be polarized in both directions in the metal-ferroelectric-semiconductor (MFS) structure and in the dual-gate TFT under certain biasing conditions, but not in the single-gate thin-film transistors. These results disprove the common belief that MFS structures serve as a good model system for ferroelectric polarization switching in thin-film transistors.

An in-situ analytical scanning and transmission electron microscopy investigation of structure-property relationships in electronic materials

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wagner, Andrew James

As electronic and mechanical devices are scaled downward in size and upward in complexity, macroscopic principles no longer apply. Synthesis of three-dimensionally confined structures exhibit quantum confinement effects allowing, for example, silicon nanoparticles to luminesce. The reduction in size of classically brittle materials reveals a ductile-to-brittle transition. Such a transition, attributed to a reduction in defects, increases elasticity. In the case of silicon, elastic deformation can improve electronic carrier mobility by over 50%, a vital attribute of modern integrated circuits. The scalability of such principles and the changing atomistic processes which contribute to them presents a vitally important field of research. Beginning with the direct observation of dislocations and lattice planes in the 1950s, the transmission electron microscope has been a powerful tool in materials science. More recently, as nanoscale technologies have proliferated modern life, their unique ability to spatially resolve nano- and atomic-scale structures has become a critical component of materials research and characterization. Signals produced by an incident beam of high-energy electrons enables researchers to both image and chemically analyze materials at the atomic scale. Coherently and elastically-scattered electrons can be collected to produce atomic-scale images of a crystalline sample. New specimen stages have enabled routine investigation of samples heated up to 1000 °C and cooled to liquid nitrogen temperatures. MEMS-based transducers allow for sub-nm scale mechanical testing and ultrathin membranes allow study of liquids and gases. Investigation of a myriad of previously "unseeable" processes can now be observed within the TEM, and sometimes something new is found within the old. High-temperature annealing of pure a Si:H films leads to crystallization of the film. Such films provide higher carrier mobility compared to amorphous films, offering improved photovoltaic performance. The annealing process, however, requires exceptionally high temperature (> 600 °C) and time (tens of hours), limiting throughput and costing energy. In an effort to fabricate polycrystalline solar cells at lower cost, large ( 30 nm) silicon nanocrystals were incorporated into hydrogenated amorphous silicon (a Si:H) thin films. When annealed, the embedded nanocrystals were expected to act as heterogeneous nucleation sites and crystallize the surrounding amorphous matrix. When observed in the TEM, an additional and unexpected event was observed. At the boundary between the nanocrystal and amorphous matrix, nanocavities were observed to form. Continued annealing resulted in movement of the cavities away from the nanocrystal while leaving behind a crystalline tail. The origins and fundamental mechanisms of this phenomenon were examined by in-situ heating TEM and ex-situ crystallographic TEM techniques. We demonstrate a mechanism of solid-phase crystallization (SPC) enabled by nanoscale cavities formed at the interface between an hydrogenated amorphous silicon film and embedded 30 nm to 40 nm Si nanocrystals. The nanocavities, 10 nm to 25 nm across, have the unique property of an internal surface that is part amorphous and part crystalline, enabling capillarity-driven diffusion from the amorphous to the crystalline domain. The nanocavities propagate rapidly through the amorphous phase, up to five times faster than the SPC growth rate, while "pulling behind" a crystalline tail. It is shown that twin boundaries exposed on the crystalline surface accelerate crystal growth and influence the direction of nanocavity propagation. The mechanical properties and mechanisms of plasticity in these same silicon nanocubes have also been investigated. The strain-dependent mechanical properties and the underlying mechanisms governing the elastic-plastic response are explored in detail. Elastic strains approaching 7% and flow stresses of 11 GPa were observed, significantly higher than that observed in other nanoscale volumes of Si. In-situ imaging revealed the formation of 5 nm dislocation embryos at 7% strain, giving way at 20% strain to continuous nucleation of leading partial dislocations with {111}-habit at the embryo surface.

Effect of atomic layer deposition temperature on the performance of top-down ZnO nanowire transistors

PubMed Central

2014-01-01

This paper studies the effect of atomic layer deposition (ALD) temperature on the performance of top-down ZnO nanowire transistors. Electrical characteristics are presented for 10-μm ZnO nanowire field-effect transistors (FETs) and for deposition temperatures in the range 120°C to 210°C. Well-behaved transistor output characteristics are obtained for all deposition temperatures. It is shown that the maximum field-effect mobility occurs for an ALD temperature of 190°C. This maximum field-effect mobility corresponds with a maximum Hall effect bulk mobility and with a ZnO film that is stoichiometric. The optimized transistors have a field-effect mobility of 10 cm2/V.s, which is approximately ten times higher than can typically be achieved in thin-film amorphous silicon transistors. Furthermore, simulations indicate that the drain current and field-effect mobility extraction are limited by the contact resistance. When the effects of contact resistance are de-embedded, a field-effect mobility of 129 cm2/V.s is obtained. This excellent result demonstrates the promise of top-down ZnO nanowire technology for a wide variety of applications such as high-performance thin-film electronics, flexible electronics, and biosensing. PMID:25276107

Mobility and bio-availability of heavy metals in anthropogenically contaminated alluvial (deluvial) meadow soils (EUTRIC FLUVISOLS)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Dinev, Nikolai; Hristova, Mariana; Tzolova, Venera

2015-04-01

The total content of heavy metals is not sufficient to assess the pollution and the risk for environment as it does not provide information for the type and solubility of heavy metals' compounds in soils. The purpose was to study and determine the mobility of heavy metals in anthropogenically contaminated alluvial (delluvial) meadow soils spread around the non-ferrous plant near the town of Asenovgrad in view of risk assessment for environment pollution. Soil samples from monitoring network (1x1 km) was used. The sequential extraction procedure described by Zein and Brummer (1989) was applied. Results showed that the easily mobilizable cadmium compounds predominate in both contaminated and not contaminated soils. The stable form of copper (associated with silicate minerals, carbonates or amorphous and crystalline oxide compounds) predominates only in non polluted soils and reviles the risk of the environment contamination. Lead spreads and accumulates as highly soluble (mobile) compounds and between 72.3 and 99.6 percent of the total lead is bioavailable in soils. The procedure is very suitable for studying the mobility of technogenic lead and copper in alluvial soils with neutral medium reaction and in particular at the high levels of cadmium contamination. In soils with alkaline reaction - polluted and unpolluted the error of analysis increases for all studied elements.

Transparent indium-tin oxide/indium-gallium-zinc oxide Schottky diodes formed by gradient oxygen doping

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ho, Szuheng; Yu, Hyeonggeun; So, Franky

2017-11-01

Amorphous InGaZnO (a-IGZO) is promising for transparent electronics due to its high carrier mobility and optical transparency. However, most metal/a-IGZO junctions are ohmic due to the Fermi-level pinning at the interface, restricting their device applications. Here, we report that indium-tin oxide/a-IGZO Schottky diodes can be formed by gradient oxygen doping in the a-IGZO layer that would otherwise form an ohmic contact. Making use of back-to-back a-IGZO Schottky junctions, a transparent IGZO permeable metal-base transistor is also demonstrated with a high common-base gain.

Microcrystalline silicon thin-film transistors for large area electronic applications

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chan, Kah-Yoong; Bunte, Eerke; Knipp, Dietmar; Stiebig, Helmut

2007-11-01

Thin-film transistors (TFTs) based on microcrystalline silicon (µc-Si:H) exhibit high charge carrier mobilities exceeding 35 cm2 V-1 s-1. The devices are fabricated by plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition at substrate temperatures below 200 °C. The fabrication process of the µc-Si:H TFTs is similar to the low temperature fabrication of amorphous silicon TFTs. The electrical characteristics of the µc-Si:H-based transistors will be presented. As the device charge carrier mobility of short channel TFTs is limited by the contacts, the influence of the drain and source contacts on the device parameters including the device charge carrier mobility and the device threshold voltage will be discussed. The experimental data will be described by a modified standard transistor model which accounts for the contact effects. Furthermore, the transmission line method was used to extract the device parameters including the contact resistance. The modified standard transistor model and the transmission line method will be compared in terms of the extracted device parameters and contact resistances.

Amorphous tin-cadmium oxide films and the production thereof

DOEpatents

Li, Xiaonan; Gessert, Timothy A

2013-10-29

A tin-cadmium oxide film having an amorphous structure and a ratio of tin atoms to cadmium atoms of between 1:1 and 3:1. The tin-cadmium oxide film may have an optical band gap of between 2.7 eV and 3.35 eV. The film may also have a charge carrier concentration of between 1.times.10.sup.20 cm.sup.-3 and 2.times.10.sup.20 cm.sup.-3. The tin cadmium oxide film may also exhibit a Hall mobility of between 40 cm.sup.2V.sup.-1 s.sup.-1 and 60 cm.sup.2V.sup.-1 s.sup.-1. Also disclosed is a method of producing an amorphous tin-cadmium oxide film as described and devices using same.

Inhibition of Recrystallization of Amorphous Lactose in Nanocomposites Formed by Spray-Drying.

PubMed

Hellrup, Joel; Alderborn, Göran; Mahlin, Denny

2015-11-01

This study aims at investigating the recrystallization of amorphous lactose in nanocomposites. In particular, the focus is on the influence of the nano- to micrometer length scale nanofiller arrangement on the amorphous to crystalline transition. Further, the relative significance of formulation composition and manufacturing process parameters for the properties of the nanocomposite was investigated. Nanocomposites of amorphous lactose and fumed silica were produced by co-spray-drying. Solid-state transformation of the lactose was studied at 43%, 84%, and 94% relative humidity using X-ray powder diffraction and microcalorimetry. Design of experiments was used to analyze spray-drying process parameters and nanocomposite composition as factors influencing the time to 50% recrystallization. The spray-drying process parameters showed no significant influence. However, the recrystallization of the lactose in the nanocomposites was affected by the composition (fraction silica). The recrystallization rate constant decreased as a function of silica content. The lowered recrystallization rate of the lactose in the nanocomposites could be explained by three mechanisms: (1) separation of the amorphous lactose into discrete compartments on a micrometer length scale (compartmentalization), (2) lowered molecular mobility caused by molecular interactions between the lactose molecules and the surface of the silica (rigidification), and/or (3) intraparticle confinement of the amorphous lactose. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. and the American Pharmacists Association.

The effect of sodium chloride on molecular mobility in amorphous sucrose detected by phosphorescence from the triplet probe erythrosin B.

PubMed

You, Yumin; Ludescher, Richard D

2008-02-04

Phosphorescence from the triplet probe erythrosin B provides spectroscopic characteristics such as emission energy and lifetime that are specifically sensitive to molecular mobility of the local environment. This study used phosphorescence of erythrosin B to investigate how variation in NaCl content modulated the mobility of the amorphous sucrose matrix over the temperature range from 5 to 100 degrees C. Addition of NaCl increased the emission energy and the energy difference with excitation at the absorption maximum and the red edge, and increased the lifetime by reducing the non-radiative decay rate in the glass as well as in the undercooled liquid in a concentration dependent manner, indicating that NaCl decreased the matrix molecular mobility. Emission energy and lifetime increased with increasing NaCl content up to a maximum at NaCl/sucrose mole ratio of approximately 0.5; above 0.5 mole ratio, the effect of NaCl was less significant and appeared to be opposed by increasing plasticization by residual water. Changes in the width of the distribution of the emission energy and lifetime and variation in the lifetime with excitation and emission wavelength indicated that NaCl increased the spectral heterogeneity and thus increased the extent of dynamic site heterogeneity. These results are consistent with a physical model in which sodium and chloride ions interact with sucrose OH by ion-dipole interactions, forming clusters of less mobile molecules within the matrix.

Thermoelectric effects of amorphous Ga-Sn-O thin film

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Matsuda, Tokiyoshi; Uenuma, Mutsunori; Kimura, Mutsumi

2017-07-01

The thermoelectric effects of an amorphous Ga-Sn-O (a-GTO) thin film have been evaluated as a physical parameter of a novel oxide semiconductor. Currently, a-GTO thin films are greatly desired not only because they do not contain rare metals and are therefore free from problems on the exhaustion of resources and the increase in cost but also because their initial characteristics and performance stabilities are excellent when they are used in thin-film transistors. In this study, an a-GTO thin film was deposited on a quartz substrate by RF magnetron sputtering and postannealing was performed in air at 350 °C for 1 h using an annealing furnace. The Seebeck coefficient and electrical conductivity of the a-GTO thin film were -137 µV/K and 31.8 S/cm at room temperature, and -183 µV/K and 43.8 S/cm at 397 K, respectively, and as a result, the power factor was 1.47 µW/(cm·K2) at 397 K; these values were roughly as high as those of amorphous In-Ga-Zn-O (a-IGZO) thin films. Therefore, a-GTO thin films will be a candidate material for thermoelectric devices fabricated in a large area at a low cost by controlling the carrier mobility, carrier density, device structures, and so forth.

Near single-crystalline, high-carrier-mobility silicon thin film on a polycrystalline/amorphous substrate

DOEpatents

Findikoglu, Alp T [Los Alamos, NM; Jia, Quanxi [Los Alamos, NM; Arendt, Paul N [Los Alamos, NM; Matias, Vladimir [Santa Fe, NM; Choi, Woong [Los Alamos, NM

2009-10-27

A template article including a base substrate including: (i) a base material selected from the group consisting of polycrystalline substrates and amorphous substrates, and (ii) at least one layer of a differing material upon the surface of the base material; and, a buffer material layer upon the base substrate, the buffer material layer characterized by: (a) low chemical reactivity with the base substrate, (b) stability at temperatures up to at least about 800.degree. C. under low vacuum conditions, and (c) a lattice crystal structure adapted for subsequent deposition of a semiconductor material; is provided, together with a semiconductor article including a base substrate including: (i) a base material selected from the group consisting of polycrystalline substrates and amorphous substrates, and (ii) at least one layer of a differing material upon the surface of the base material; and, a buffer material layer upon the base substrate, the buffer material layer characterized by: (a) low chemical reactivity with the base substrate, (b) stability at temperatures up to at least about 800.degree. C. under low vacuum conditions, and (c) a lattice crystal structure adapted for subsequent deposition of a semiconductor material, and, a top-layer of semiconductor material upon the buffer material layer.

Phase transformations in amorphous fullerite C60 under high pressure and high temperature

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Borisova, P. A.; Blanter, M. S.; Brazhkin, V. V.; Somenkov, V. A.; Filonenko, V. P.

2015-08-01

First phase transformations of amorphous fullerite C60 at high temperatures (up to 1800 K) and high pressures (up to 8 GPa) have been investigated and compared with the previous studies on the crystalline fullerite. The study was conducted using neutron diffraction and Raman spectroscopy. The amorphous fullerite was obtained by ball-milling. We have shown that under thermobaric treatment no crystallization of amorphous fullerite into С60 molecular modification is observed, and it transforms into amorphous-like or crystalline graphite. A kinetic diagram of phase transformation of amorphous fullerite in temperature-pressure coordinates was constructed for the first time. Unlike in crystalline fullerite, no crystalline polymerized phases were formed under thermobaric treatment on amorphous fullerite. We found that amorphous fullerite turned out to be less resistant to thermobaric treatment, and amorphous-like or crystalline graphite were formed at lower temperatures than in crystalline fullerite.

Simulating the Stability of Colloidal Amorphous Iron Oxide in Natural Water

EPA Science Inventory

Considerable uncertainty exists as to whether existing thermodynamic equilibrium solid/water partitioning paradigms can be used to assess the mobility of insoluble manufactured nanomaterials in the aquatic environment. In this work, the traditional Derjaguin–Landau–Verwey–Overbee...

Inert gas annealing effect in solution-processed amorphous indium-gallium-zinc-oxide thin-film transistors

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lee, Seungwoon; Jeong, Jaewook

2017-08-01

In this paper, the annealing effect of solution-processed amorphous indium-gallium-zinc-oxide thin-film transistors (a-IGZO TFTs), under ambient He (He-device), is systematically analyzed by comparison with those under ambient O2 (O2-device) and N2 (N2-device), respectively. The He-device shows high field-effect mobility and low subthreshold slope owing to the minimization of the ambient effect. The degradation of the O2- and N2-device performances originate from their respective deep acceptor-like and shallow donor-like characteristics, which can be verified by comparison with the He-device. However, the three devices show similar threshold voltage instability under prolonged positive bias stress due to the effect of excess oxygen. Therefore, annealing in ambient He is the most suitable method for the fabrication of reference TFTs to study the various effects of the ambient during the annealing process in solution-processed a-IGZO TFTs.

Controlled epitaxial graphene growth within removable amorphous carbon corrals

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Palmer, James; Hu, Yike; Hankinson, John

2014-07-14

We address the question of control of the silicon carbide (SiC) steps and terraces under epitaxial graphene on SiC and demonstrate amorphous carbon (aC) corrals as an ideal method to pin SiC surface steps. aC is compatible with graphene growth, structurally stable at high temperatures, and can be removed after graphene growth. For this, aC is first evaporated and patterned on SiC, then annealed in the graphene growth furnace. There at temperatures above 1200 °C, mobile SiC steps accumulate at the aC corral that provide effective step flow barriers. Aligned step free regions are thereby formed for subsequent graphene growth atmore » temperatures above 1330 °C. Atomic force microscopy imaging supports the formation of step-free terraces on SiC with the step morphology aligned to the aC corrals. Raman spectroscopy indicates the presence of good graphene sheets on the step-free terraces.« less

Analytical drain current model for symmetric dual-gate amorphous indium gallium zinc oxide thin-film transistors

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Qin, Ting; Liao, Congwei; Huang, Shengxiang; Yu, Tianbao; Deng, Lianwen

2018-01-01

An analytical drain current model based on the surface potential is proposed for amorphous indium gallium zinc oxide (a-InGaZnO) thin-film transistors (TFTs) with a synchronized symmetric dual-gate (DG) structure. Solving the electric field, surface potential (φS), and central potential (φ0) of the InGaZnO film using the Poisson equation with the Gaussian method and Lambert function is demonstrated in detail. The compact analytical model of current-voltage behavior, which consists of drift and diffusion components, is investigated by regional integration, and voltage-dependent effective mobility is taken into account. Comparison results demonstrate that the calculation results obtained using the derived models match well with the simulation results obtained using a technology computer-aided design (TCAD) tool. Furthermore, the proposed model is incorporated into SPICE simulations using Verilog-A to verify the feasibility of using DG InGaZnO TFTs for high-performance circuit designs.

Capacitorless 1T-DRAM on crystallized poly-Si TFT.

PubMed

Kim, Min Soo; Cho, Won Ju

2011-07-01

The single-transistor dynamic random-access memory (1T-DRAM) using a polycrystalline-silicon thin-film transistor (poly-Si TFT) was investigated. A 100-nm amorphous silicon thin film was deposited onto a 200-nm oxidized silicon wafer via low-pressure chemical vapor deposition (LPCVD), and the amorphous silicon layer was crystallized via eximer laser annealing (ELA) with a KrF source of 248 nm wavelength and 400 mJ/cm2 power. The fabricated capacitor less 1T-DRAM on the poly-Si TFT was evaluated via impact ionization and gate-induced drain leakage (GIDL) current programming. The device showed a clear memory margin between the "1" and "0" states, and as the channel length decreased, a floating body effect which induces a kink effect increases with high mobility. Furthermore, the GIDL current programming showed improved memory properties compared to the impact ionization method. Although the sensing margins and retention times in both program methods are commercially insufficient, it was confirmed the feasibility of the application of 1T-DRAM operation to TFTs.

Homogeneous double-layer amorphous Si-doped indium oxide thin-film transistors for control of turn-on voltage

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Kizu, Takio, E-mail: KIZU.Takio@nims.go.jp, E-mail: TSUKAGOSHI.Kazuhito@nims.go.jp; Tsukagoshi, Kazuhito, E-mail: KIZU.Takio@nims.go.jp, E-mail: TSUKAGOSHI.Kazuhito@nims.go.jp; Aikawa, Shinya

We fabricated homogeneous double-layer amorphous Si-doped indium oxide (ISO) thin-film transistors (TFTs) with an insulating ISO cap layer on top of a semiconducting ISO bottom channel layer. The homogeneously stacked ISO TFT exhibited high mobility (19.6 cm{sup 2}/V s) and normally-off characteristics after annealing in air. It exhibited normally-off characteristics because the ISO insulator suppressed oxygen desorption, which suppressed the formation of oxygen vacancies (V{sub O}) in the semiconducting ISO. Furthermore, we investigated the recovery of the double-layer ISO TFT, after a large negative shift in turn-on voltage caused by hydrogen annealing, by treating it with annealing in ozone. The recoverymore » in turn-on voltage indicates that the dense V{sub O} in the semiconducting ISO can be partially filled through the insulator ISO. Controlling molecule penetration in the homogeneous double layer is useful for adjusting the properties of TFTs in advanced oxide electronics.« less

High-performance low-cost back-channel-etch amorphous gallium-indium-zinc oxide thin-film transistors by curing and passivation of the damaged back channel.

PubMed

Park, Jae Chul; Ahn, Seung-Eon; Lee, Ho-Nyeon

2013-12-11

High-performance, low-cost amorphous gallium-indium-zinc oxide (a-GIZO) thin-film-transistor (TFT) technology is required for the next generation of active-matrix organic light-emitting diodes. A back-channel-etch structure is the most appropriate device structure for high-performance, low-cost a-GIZO TFT technology. However, channel damage due to source/drain etching and passivation-layer deposition has been a critical issue. To solve this problem, the present work focuses on overall back-channel processes, such as back-channel N2O plasma treatment, SiOx passivation deposition, and final thermal annealing. This work has revealed the dependence of a-GIZO TFT characteristics on the N2O plasma radio-frequency (RF) power and frequency, the SiH4 flow rate in the SiOx deposition process, and the final annealing temperature. On the basis of these results, a high-performance a-GIZO TFT with a field-effect mobility of 35.7 cm(2) V(-1) s(-1), a subthreshold swing of 185 mV dec(-1), a switching ratio exceeding 10(7), and a satisfactory reliability was successfully fabricated. The technology developed in this work can be realized using the existing facilities of active-matrix liquid-crystal display industries.

Fluorene- and benzofluorene-cored oligomers as low threshold and high gain amplifying media

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kazlauskas, Karolis; Kreiza, Gediminas; Bobrovas, Olegas; AdomÄ--nienÄ--, Ona; AdomÄ--nas, Povilas; Jankauskas, Vygintas; JuršÄ--nas, Saulius

2015-07-01

Deliberate control of intermolecular interactions in fluorene- and benzofluorene-cored oligomers was attempted via introduction of different-length alkyl moieties to attain high emission amplification and low amplified spontaneous emission (ASE) threshold at high oligomer concentrations. Containing fluorenyl peripheral groups decorated with different-length alkyl moieties, the oligomers were found to express weak concentration quenching of emission, yet excellent carrier drift mobilities (close to 10-2 cm2/V/s) in the amorphous films. Owing to the larger radiative decay rates (>1.0 × 109 s-1) and smaller concentration quenching, fluorene-cored oligomers exhibited down to one order of magnitude lower ASE thresholds at higher concentrations as compared to those of benzofluorene counterparts. The lowest threshold (300 W/cm2) obtained for the fluorene-cored oligomers at the concentration of 50 wt % in polymer matrix is among the lowest reported for solution-processed amorphous films in ambient conditions, what makes the oligomers promising for lasing application. Great potential in emission amplification was confirmed by high maximum net gain (77 cm-1) revealed for these compounds. Although the photostability of the oligomers was affected by photo-oxidation, it was found to be comparable to that of various organic lasing materials including some commercial laser dyes evaluated under similar excitation conditions.

Correlation between oxygen stoichiometry, structure, and opto-electrical properties in amorphous In2O3:H films

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Koida, Takashi; Shibata, Hajime; Kondo, Michio; Tsutsumi, Koichi; Sakaguchi, Akio; Suzuki, Michio; Fujiwara, Hiroyuki

2012-03-01

We have characterized amorphous In2O3:H (H : ˜4 at.%) transparent conducting films by Rutherford backscattering spectrometry (RBS), thermal desorption spectroscopy, spectroscopic ellipsometry, and Hall measurements. The amorphous In2O3:H films have been fabricated at room temperature by sputtering of an In2O3 ceramic target under Ar, O2, and H2O vapor with variation of a flow ratio r(O2) = O2/(O2+Ar). We observe (i) signals originating from Ar in RBS spectra for all the films and (ii) desorption of H2O and Ar gases during post thermal annealing of the films. Furthermore, O2 desorption together with H2O and Ar is observed for the films grown at r(O2) > 0.375%, whereas In desorption together with H2O and Ar is observed for the films grown at r(O2) < 0.375%. These results suggest that the films have void and/or multi-vacancy rich structures inside the amorphous network, and the variety of atoms, such as Ar, H2O, and weakly bonded O and In, is present in the void structures for the films grown at O2-rich and O2-poor conditions, respectively. Corresponding to the structural changes, optical and electrical properties also change at r(O2) = 0.375%. For the films grown at r(O2) < 0.375%, we observe a broad absorption in the visible wavelengths that cannot be explained by free carrier absorption. In this film, the carrier mobility reduces rapidly with increasing carrier density. Analysis of spectroscopic ellipsometry and Hall measurements reveals that a large decrease in mobility is due to a large increase in carrier effective mass, in addition to the effect of ionized impurity scattering. In this article, we discuss the optical and transport properties with the variation of oxygen stoichiometry and microscopic structures in the amorphous In2O3:H films.

Investigation of the High Mobility IGZO Thin Films by Using Co-Sputtering Method

PubMed Central

Hsu, Chao-Ming; Tzou, Wen-Cheng; Yang, Cheng-Fu; Liou, Yu-Jhen

2015-01-01

High transmittance ratio in visible range, low resistivity, and high mobility of IGZO thin films were prepared at room temperature for 30 min by co-sputtering of Zn2Ga2O5 (Ga2O3 + 2 ZnO, GZO) ceramic and In2O3 ceramic at the same time. The deposition power of pure In2O3 ceramic target was fixed at 100 W and the deposition power of GZO ceramic target was changed from 80 W to 140 W. We chose to investigate the deposition power of GZO ceramic target on the properties of IGZO thin films. From the SEM observations, all of the deposited IGZO thin films showed a very smooth and featureless surface. From the measurements of XRD patterns, only the amorphous structure was observed. We aimed to show that the deposition power of GZO ceramic target had large effect on the Eg values, Hall mobility, carrier concentration, and resistivity of IGZO thin films. Secondary ion mass spectrometry (SIMS) analysis in the thicknesses’ profile of IGZO thin films found that In and Ga elements were uniform distribution and Zn element were non-uniform distribution. The SIMS analysis results also showed the concentrations of Ga and Zn elements increased and the concentrations of In element was almost unchanged with increasing deposition power.

Method for measuring the drift mobility in doped semiconductors

DOEpatents

Crandall, Richard S.

1982-01-01

A method for measuring the drift mobility of majority carriers in semiconductors consists of measuring the current transient in a Schottky-barrier device following the termination of a forward bias pulse. An example is given using an amorphous silicon hydrogenated material doped with 0.2% phosphorous. The method is particularly useful with material in which the dielectric relaxation time is shorter than the carrier transit time. It is particularly useful in material useful in solar cells.

On the structure of amorphous calcium carbonate--a detailed study by solid-state NMR spectroscopy.

PubMed

Nebel, Holger; Neumann, Markus; Mayer, Christian; Epple, Matthias

2008-09-01

The calcium carbonate phases calcite, aragonite, vaterite, monohydrocalcite (calcium carbonate monohydrate), and ikaite (calcium carbonate hexahydrate) were studied by solid-state NMR spectroscopy ( (1)H and (13)C). Further model compounds were sodium hydrogencarbonate, potassium hydrogencarbonate, and calcium hydroxide. With the help of these data, the structure of synthetically prepared additive-free amorphous calcium carbonate (ACC) was analyzed. ACC contains molecular water (as H 2O), a small amount of mobile hydroxide, and no hydrogencarbonate. This supports the concept of ACC as a transient precursor in the formation of calcium carbonate biominerals.

Flexible amorphous oxide thin-film transistors on polyimide substrate for AMOLED

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Xu, Zhiping; Li, Min; Xu, Miao; Zou, Jianhua; Gao, Zhuo; Pang, Jiawei; Guo, Ying; Zhou, Lei; Wang, Chunfu; Fu, Dong; Peng, Junbiao; Wang, Lei; Cao, Yong

2014-10-01

We report a flexible amorphous Lanthanide doped In-Zn-O (IZO) thin-film transistor (TFT) backplane on polyimide (PI) substrate. In order to de-bond the PI film from the glass carrier easily after the flexible AMOLED process, a special inorganic film is deposited on the glass before the PI film is coated. The TFT exhibited a field-effect mobility of 6.97 cm2V-1 s-1, a subthreshold swing of 0.248 V dec-1, and an Ion/Ioff ratio of 5.19×107, which is sufficient to drive the OLEDs.

Reduction of channel resistance in amorphous oxide thin-film transistors with buried layer

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chong, Eugene; Kim, Bosul; Lee, Sang Yeol

2012-04-01

A silicon-indium-zinc-oxide (SIZO) thin film transistor (TFT) with low channel-resistance (RCH) indium-zinc-oxide (In2O3:ZnO = 9:1) buried layer annealed at low temperature of 200°C exhibited high field-effect mobility (μFE) over 55.8 cm2/V·s which is 5 times higher than that of the conventional TFTs due to small threshold voltage (Vth) change of 1.8 V under bias-temperature stress (BTS) condition for 420 minutes. The low-RCH buried-layer allows more strong current-path formed in channel layer well within relatively high-RCH channel-layer since it is less affected by the channel bulk and/or back interface trap with high carrier concentration.

Flexible amorphous silicon PIN diode x-ray detectors

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Marrs, Michael; Bawolek, Edward; Smith, Joseph T.; Raupp, Gregory B.; Morton, David

2013-05-01

A low temperature amorphous silicon (a-Si) thin film transistor (TFT) and amorphous silicon PIN photodiode technology for flexible passive pixel detector arrays has been developed using active matrix display technology. The flexible detector arrays can be conformed to non-planar surfaces with the potential to detect x-rays or other radiation with an appropriate conversion layer. The thin, lightweight, and robust backplanes may enable the use of highly portable x-ray detectors for use in the battlefield or in remote locations. We have fabricated detector arrays up to 200 millimeters along the diagonal on a Gen II (370 mm x 470 mm rectangular substrate) using plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition (PECVD) a-Si as the active layer and PECVD silicon nitride (SiN) as the gate dielectric and passivation. The a-Si based TFTs exhibited an effective saturation mobility of 0.7 cm2/V-s, which is adequate for most sensing applications. The PIN diode material was fabricated using a low stress amorphous silicon (a-Si) PECVD process. The PIN diode dark current was 1.7 pA/mm2, the diode ideality factor was 1.36, and the diode fill factor was 0.73. We report on the critical steps in the evolution of the backplane process from qualification of the low temperature (180°C) TFT and PIN diode process on the 150 mm pilot line, the transfer of the process to flexible plastic substrates, and finally a discussion and demonstration of the scale-up to the Gen II (370 x 470 mm) panel scale pilot line.

Characterization of Two Distinct Amorphous Forms of Valsartan by Solid-State NMR.

PubMed

Skotnicki, Marcin; Apperley, David C; Aguilar, Juan A; Milanowski, Bartłomiej; Pyda, Marek; Hodgkinson, Paul

2016-01-04

Valsartan (VAL) is an antihypertensive drug marketed in an amorphous form. Amorphous materials can have different physicochemical properties depending on preparation method, thermal history, etc., but the nature of such materials is difficult to study by diffraction techniques. This study characterizes two different amorphous forms of valsartan (AR and AM) using solid-state NMR (SSNMR) as a primary investigation tool, supported by solution-state NMR, FT-IR, TMDSC, and dissolution tests. The two forms are found to be clearly distinct, with a significantly higher level of structural arrangement in the AR form, as observed in (13)C, (15)N, and (1)H SSNMR. (13)C and (15)N NMR indicates that the fully amorphous material (AM) contains an approximately equal ratio of cis-trans conformers about the amide bond, whereas the AR form exists mainly as one conformer, with minor conformational "defects". (1)H ultrafast MAS NMR shows significant differences in the hydrogen bonding involving the tetrazole and acid hydrogens between the two materials, while (15)N NMR shows that both forms exist as a 1,2,3,4-tetrazole tautomer. NMR relaxation times show subtle differences in local and bulk molecular mobility, which can be connected with the glass transition, the stability of the glassy material, and its response to aging. Counterintuitively the fully amorphous material is found to have a significantly lower dissolution rate than the apparently more ordered AR material.

Scaling behavior of fully spin-coated TFT

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mondal, Sandip; Kumar, Arvind; Rao, K. S. R. Koteswara; Venkataraman, V.

2017-05-01

We studied channel scaling behavior of fully spin coated, low temperature solution processed thin film transistor (TFT) fabricated on p++ - Si (˜1021 cm-3) as bottom gate. The solution processed, spin coated 40 nm thick amorphous Indium Gallium Zinc Oxide (a-IGZO) and 50 nm thick amorphous zirconium di-oxide (a-ZrO2) has been used as channel and low leakage dielectric at 350°C respectively. The channel scaling effect of the TFT with different width/length ratio (W/L= 2.5, 5 and 15) for same channel length (L = 10 μm) has been demonstrated. The lowest threshold voltage (Vth) is 6.25 V for the W/L=50/10. The maximum field effect mobility (μFE) has been found to be 0.123 cm2/Vs from W/L of 50/10 with the drain to source voltage (VD) of 10V and 20V gate to source voltage (VG). We also demonstrated that there is no contact resistance effect on the mobility of the fully sol-gel spin coated TFT.

A Comprehensive study of the Effects of Chain Morphology on the Transport Properties of Amorphous Polymer Films

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mendels, Dan; Tessler, Nir

2016-07-01

Organic semiconductors constitute one of the main components underlying present-day paradigm shifting optoelectronic applications. Among them, polymer based semiconductors are deemed particularly favorable due to their natural compatibility with low-cost device fabrication techniques. In light of recent advances in the syntheses of these classes of materials, yielding systems exhibiting charge mobilities comparable with those found in organic crystals, a comprehensive study of their charge transport properties is presented. Among a plethora of effects arising from these systems morphological and non morphological attributes, it is shown that a favorable presence of several of these attributes, including that of rapid on-chain carrier propagation and the presence of elongated conjugation segments, can lead to an enhancement of the system’s mobility by more than 5 orders of magnitude with respect to ‘standard’ amorphous organic semiconductors. New insight for the formulation of new engineering strategies for next generation polymer based semiconductors is thus gathered.

Evaluating the Mobility of Arsenic in Synthetic Iron-containing Solids Using a Modified Sequential Extraction Method.

PubMed

Shan, Jilei; Sáez, A Eduardo; Ela, Wendell P

2010-02-01

Many water treatment technologies for arsenic removal that are used today produce arsenic-bearing residuals which are disposed in non-hazardous landfills. Previous works have established that many of these residuals will release arsenic to a much greater extent than predicted by standard regulatory leaching tests (e.g. the toxicity characteristic leaching procedure, TCLP) and, consequently, require stabilization to ensure benign behavior after disposal. In this work, a four-step sequential extraction method was developed in an effort to determine the proportion of arsenic in various phases in untreated as well as stabilized iron-based solid matrices. The solids synthesized using various potential stabilization techniques included: amorphous arsenic-iron sludge (ASL), reduced ASL via reaction with zero valent iron (RASL), amorphous ferrous arsenate (PFA), a mixture of PFA and SL (M1), crystalline ferrous arsenate (HPFA), and a mixture of HPFA and SL (M2). The overall arsenic mobility of the tested samples increased in the following order: ASL > RASL > PFA > M1 > HPFA > M2.

Transient photoresponse in amorphous In-Ga-Zn-O thin films under stretched exponential analysis

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Luo, Jiajun; Adler, Alexander U.; Mason, Thomas O.; Bruce Buchholz, D.; Chang, R. P. H.; Grayson, M.

2013-04-01

We investigated transient photoresponse and Hall effect in amorphous In-Ga-Zn-O thin films and observed a stretched exponential response which allows characterization of the activation energy spectrum with only three fit parameters. Measurements of as-grown films and 350 K annealed films were conducted at room temperature by recording conductivity, carrier density, and mobility over day-long time scales, both under illumination and in the dark. Hall measurements verify approximately constant mobility, even as the photoinduced carrier density changes by orders of magnitude. The transient photoconductivity data fit well to a stretched exponential during both illumination and dark relaxation, but with slower response in the dark. The inverse Laplace transforms of these stretched exponentials yield the density of activation energies responsible for transient photoconductivity. An empirical equation is introduced, which determines the linewidth of the activation energy band from the stretched exponential parameter β. Dry annealing at 350 K is observed to slow the transient photoresponse.

Non-commutative Chern numbers for generic aperiodic discrete systems

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bourne, Chris; Prodan, Emil

2018-06-01

The search for strong topological phases in generic aperiodic materials and meta-materials is now vigorously pursued by the condensed matter physics community. In this work, we first introduce the concept of patterned resonators as a unifying theoretical framework for topological electronic, photonic, phononic etc (aperiodic) systems. We then discuss, in physical terms, the philosophy behind an operator theoretic analysis used to systematize such systems. A model calculation of the Hall conductance of a 2-dimensional amorphous lattice is given, where we present numerical evidence of its quantization in the mobility gap regime. Motivated by such facts, we then present the main result of our work, which is the extension of the Chern number formulas to Hamiltonians associated to lattices without a canonical labeling of the sites, together with index theorems that assure the quantization and stability of these Chern numbers in the mobility gap regime. Our results cover a broad range of applications, in particular, those involving quasi-crystalline, amorphous as well as synthetic (i.e. algorithmically generated) lattices.

Polyamorphism in tetrahedral substances: Similarities between silicon and ice

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Garcez, K. M. S.; Antonelli, A.

2015-07-01

Tetrahedral substances, such as silicon, water, germanium, and silica, share various unusual phase behaviors. Among them, the so-called polyamorphism, i.e., the existence of more than one amorphous form, has been intensively investigated in the last three decades. In this work, we study the metastable relations between amorphous states of silicon in a wide range of pressures, using Monte Carlo simulations. Our results indicate that the two amorphous forms of silicon at high pressures, the high density amorphous (HDA) and the very high density amorphous (VHDA), can be decompressed from high pressure (˜20 GPa) down to the tensile regime, where both convert into the same low density amorphous. Such behavior is also observed in ice. While at high pressure (˜20 GPa), HDA is less stable than VHDA, at the pressure of 10 GPa both forms exhibit similar stability. On the other hand, at much lower pressure (˜5 GPa), HDA and VHDA are no longer the most stable forms, and, upon isobaric annealing, an even less dense form of amorphous silicon emerges, the expanded high density amorphous, again in close similarity to what occurs in ice.

Amorphous indium-gallium-zinc-oxide thin-film transistors using organic-inorganic hybrid films deposited by low-temperature plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition for all dielectric layers

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hsu, Chao-Jui; Chang, Ching-Hsiang; Chang, Kuei-Ming; Wu, Chung-Chih

2017-01-01

We investigated the deposition of high-performance organic-inorganic hybrid dielectric films by low-temperature (close to room temperature) inductively coupled plasma chemical vapor deposition (ICP-CVD) with hexamethyldisiloxane (HMDSO)/O2 precursor gas. The hybrid films exhibited low leakage currents and high breakdown fields, suitable for thin-film transistor (TFT) applications. They were successfully integrated into the gate insulator, the etch-stop layer, and the passivation layer for bottom-gate staggered amorphous In-Ga-Zn-O (a-IGZO) TFTs having the etch-stop configuration. With the double-active-layer configuration having a buffer a-IGZO back-channel layer grown in oxygen-rich atmosphere for better immunity against plasma damage, the etch-stop-type bottom-gate staggered a-IGZO TFTs with good TFT characteristics were successfully demonstrated. The TFTs showed good field-effect mobility (μFE), threshold voltage (V th), subthreshold swing (SS), and on/off ratio (I on/off) of 7.5 cm2 V-1 s-1, 2.38 V, 0.38 V/decade, and 2.2 × 108, respectively, manifesting their usefulness for a-IGZO TFTs.

Tuning carrier mobility without spin transport degrading in copper-phthalocyanine

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Jiang, S. W.; Wang, P.; Chen, B. B.

2015-07-27

We demonstrate more than one order of magnitude of carrier mobility tuning for the copper-phthalocyanine (CuPc) without spin transport degrading in organic spin valve devices. Depending on the preparation conditions, organic spin valves with the CuPc film mobility of 5.78 × 10{sup −3} and 1.11 × 10{sup −4} cm{sup 2}/V s are obtained for polycrystalline and amorphous CuPc, respectively. Strikingly, the spin diffusion lengths are almost the same regardless of their mobilities that are ∼50 times different, which is in sharp contrast with previous prediction. These findings directly support that the spin relaxation in CuPc is dominated by the spin-orbit coupling.

Fabrication and Characteristics of High Mobility InSnZnO Thin Film Transistors.

PubMed

Choi, Pyungho; Lee, Junki; Park, Hyoungsun; Baek, Dohyun; Lee, Jaehyeong; Yi, Junsin; Kim, Sangsoo; Choi, Byoungdeog

2016-05-01

In this paper, we describe the fabrication of thin film transistors (TFTs) with amorphous indium-tin-zinc-oxide (ITZO) as the active material. A transparent ITZO channel layer was formed under an optimized oxygen partial pressure (OPP (%) = O2/(Ar + O2)) and subsequent annealing process. The electrical properties exhibited by this device include field-effect mobility (μ(eff)), sub-threshold swing (SS), and on/off current ratio (I(ON/OFF)) values of 28.97 cm2/V x s, 0.2 V/decade, and 2.64 x 10(7), respectively. The average transmittance values for each OPP condition in the visible range were greater than 80%. The positive gate bias stress resulted in a positive threshold voltage (V(th)) shift in the transfer curves and degraded the parameters μ(eff) and SS. These phenomena originated from electron trapping from the ITZO channel layer into the oxide/ITZO interface trap sites.

Charge carrier mobility in a two-phase disordered organic system in the low-carrier concentration regime

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Woellner, Cristiano F.; Li, Zi; Freire, José A.; Lu, Gang; Nguyen, Thuc-Quyen

2013-09-01

In this paper we use a three-dimensional Pauli master equation to investigate the charge carrier mobility of a two-phase system which can mimic donor-acceptor and amorphous-crystalline bulk heterojunctions. By taking the energetic disorder of each phase, their energy offset, and domain morphology into consideration, we show that the carrier mobility can have a completely different behavior when compared to a one-phase system. When the energy offset is equal to zero, the mobility is controlled by the more disordered phase. When the energy offset is nonzero, we show that the mobility electric field dependence switches from negative to positive at a threshold field proportional to the energy offset. Additionally, the influence of morphology, through the domain size and volume ratio parameters, on the transport is investigated and an approximate analytical expression for the zero field mobility is provided.

Impact of amorphization on the electronic properties of Zn-Ir-O systems.

PubMed

Muñoz Ramo, David; Bristowe, Paul D

2016-09-01

We analyze the geometry and electronic structure of a series of amorphous Zn-Ir-O systems using classical molecular dynamics followed by density functional theory taking into account two different charge states of Ir (+3 and  +4). The structures obtained consist of a matrix of interconnected metal-oxygen polyhedra, with Zn adopting preferentially a coordination of 4 and Ir a mixture of coordinations between 4 and 6 that depend on the charge state of Ir and its concentration. The amorphous phases display reduced band gaps compared to crystalline ZnIr2O4 and exhibit localized states near the band edges, which harm their transparency and hole mobility. Increasing amounts of Ir in the Ir(4+) phases decrease the band gap further while not altering it significantly in the Ir(3+) phases. The results are consistent with recent transmittance and resistivity measurements.

Flexible Electronics Powered by Mixed Metal Oxide Thin Film Transistors

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Marrs, Michael

A low temperature amorphous oxide thin film transistor (TFT) and amorphous silicon PIN diode backplane technology for large area flexible digital x-ray detectors has been developed to create 7.9-in. diagonal backplanes. The critical steps in the evolution of the backplane process include the qualification and optimization of the low temperature (200 °C) metal oxide TFT and a-Si PIN photodiode process, the stability of the devices under forward and reverse bias stress, the transfer of the process to flexible plastic substrates, and the fabrication and assembly of the flexible detectors. Mixed oxide semiconductor TFTs on flexible plastic substrates suffer from performance and stability issues related to the maximum processing temperature limitation of the polymer. A novel device architecture based upon a dual active layer improves both the performance and stability. Devices are directly fabricated below 200 ºC on a polyethylene naphthalate (PEN) substrate using mixed metal oxides of either zinc indium oxide (ZIO) or indium gallium zinc oxide (IGZO) as the active semiconductor. The dual active layer architecture allows for adjustment to the saturation mobility and threshold voltage stability without the requirement of high temperature annealing, which is not compatible with flexible plastic substrates like PEN. The device performance and stability is strongly dependent upon the composition of the mixed metal oxide; this dependency provides a simple route to improving the threshold voltage stability and drive performance. By switching from a single to a dual active layer, the saturation mobility increases from 1.2 cm2/V-s to 18.0 cm2/V-s, while the rate of the threshold voltage shift decreases by an order of magnitude. This approach could assist in enabling the production of devices on flexible substrates using amorphous oxide semiconductors. Low temperature (200°C) processed amorphous silicon photodiodes were developed successfully by balancing the tradeoffs between low temperature and low stress (less than -70 MPa compressive) and device performance. Devices with a dark current of less than 1.0 pA/mm2 and a quantum efficiency of 68% have been demonstrated. Alternative processing techniques, such as pixelating the PIN diode and using organic photodiodes have also been explored for applications where extreme flexibility is desired.

Amorphization and nanocrystallization of silcon under shock compression

DOE PAGES

Remington, B. A.; Wehrenberg, C. E.; Zhao, S.; ...

2015-11-06

High-power, short-duration, laser-driven, shock compression and recovery experiments on [001] silicon unveiled remarkable structural changes above a pressure threshold. Two distinct amorphous regions were identified: (a) a bulk amorphous layer close to the surface and (b) amorphous bands initially aligned with {111} slip planes. Further increase of the laser energy leads to the re-crystallization of amorphous silicon into nanocrystals with high concentration of nano-twins. This amorphization is produced by the combined effect of high magnitude hydrostatic and shear stresses under dynamic shock compression. Shock-induced defects play a very important role in the onset of amorphization. Calculations of the free energymore » changes with pressure and shear, using the Patel-Cohen methodology, are in agreement with the experimental results. Molecular dynamics simulation corroborates the amorphization, showing that it is initiated by the nucleation and propagation of partial dislocations. As a result, the nucleation of amorphization is analyzed qualitatively by classical nucleation theory.« less

Relaxation of bending stresses and the reversibility of residual stresses in amorphous soft magnetic alloys

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Kekalo, I. B.; Mogil’nikov, P. S., E-mail: pavel-mog@mail.ru

2015-06-15

The reversibility of residual bending stresses is revealed in ribbon samples of cobalt- and iron-based amorphous alloys Co{sub 69}Fe{sub 3.7}Cr{sub 3.8}Si{sub 12.5}B{sub 11} and Fe{sub 57}Co{sub 31}Si{sub 2.9}B{sub 9.1}: the ribbons that are free of applied stresses and bent under the action of residual stresses become completely or incompletely straight upon annealing at the initial temperatures. The influence of annealing on the relaxation of bending stresses is studied. Preliminary annealing is found to sharply decrease the relaxation rate of bending stresses, and the initial stage of fast relaxation of these stresses is absent. Complete straightening of preliminarily annealed ribbons ismore » shown to occur at significantly higher temperatures than that of the initial ribbons. Incomplete straightening of the ribbons is explained by the fact that bending stresses relaxation at high annealing temperatures proceeds due to both reversible anelastic deformation and viscous flow, which is a fully irreversible process. Incomplete reversibility is also caused by irreversible processes, such as the release of excess free volume and clustering (detected by small-angle X-ray scattering). The revealed differences in the relaxation processes that occur in the cobalt- and iron-based amorphous alloys are discussed in terms of different atomic diffusion mobilities in these alloys.« less

Tailoring indium oxide nanocrystal synthesis conditions for air-stable high-performance solution-processed thin-film transistors.

PubMed

Swisher, Sarah L; Volkman, Steven K; Subramanian, Vivek

2015-05-20

Semiconducting metal oxides (ZnO, SnO2, In2O3, and combinations thereof) are a uniquely interesting family of materials because of their high carrier mobilities in the amorphous and generally disordered states, and solution-processed routes to these materials are of particular interest to the printed electronics community. Colloidal nanocrystal routes to these materials are particularly interesting, because nanocrystals may be formulated with tunable surface properties into stable inks, and printed to form devices in an additive manner. We report our investigation of an In2O3 nanocrystal synthesis for high-performance solution-deposited semiconductor layers for thin-film transistors (TFTs). We studied the effects of various synthesis parameters on the nanocrystals themselves, and how those changes ultimately impacted the performance of TFTs. Using a sintered film of solution-deposited In2O3 nanocrystals as the TFT channel material, we fabricated devices that exhibit field effect mobility of 10 cm(2)/(V s) and an on/off current ratio greater than 1 × 10(6). These results outperform previous air-stable nanocrystal TFTs, and demonstrate the suitability of colloidal nanocrystal inks for high-performance printed electronics.

High-Bandgap Silicon Nanocrystal Solar Cells: Device Fabrication, Characterization, and Modeling

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Löper, Philipp; Canino, Mariaconcetta; Schnabel, Manuel; Summonte, Caterina; Janz, Stefan; Zacharias, Margit

Silicon nanocrystals (Si NCs) embedded in Si-based dielectrics provide a Si-based high-bandgap material (1.7 eV) and enable the construction of crystalline Si tandem solar cells. This chapter focusses on Si NC embedded in silicon carbide, because silicon carbide offers electrical conduction through the matrix material. The material development is reviewed, and optical modeling is introduced as a powerful method to monitor the four material components, amorphous and crystalline silicon as well as amorphous and crystalline silicon carbide. In the second part of this chapter, recent device developments for the photovoltaic characterization of Si NCs are examined. The controlled growth of Si NCs involves high-temperature annealing which deteriorates the properties of any previously established selective contacts. A membrane-based device is presented to overcome these limitations. In this approach, the formation of both selective contacts is carried out after high-temperature annealing and is therefore not affected by the latter. We examine p-i-n solar cells with an intrinsic region made of Si NCs embedded in silicon carbide. Device failure due to damaged insulation layers is analyzed by light beam-induced current measurements. An optical model of the device is presented for improving the cell current. A characterization scheme for Si NC p-i-n solar cells is presented which aims at determining the fundamental transport and recombination properties, i.e., the effective mobility lifetime product, of the nanocrystal layer at device level. For this means, an illumination-dependent analysis of Si NC p-i-n solar cells is carried out within the framework of the constant field approximation. The analysis builds on an optical device model, which is used to assess the photogenerated current in each of the device layers. Illumination-dependent current-voltage curves are modelled with a voltage-dependent current collection function with only two free parameters, and excellent agreement is found between theory and experiment. An effective mobility lifetime product of 10-10 cm2/V is derived and confirmed independently from an alternative method. The procedure discussed in this chapter is proposed as a characterization scheme for further material development, providing an optimization parameter (the effective mobility lifetime product) relevant for the photovoltaic performance of Si NC films.

Applying state diagrams to food processing and development

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Roos, Y.; Karel, M.

1991-01-01

The physical state of food components affects their properties during processing, storage, and consumption. Removal of water by evaporation or by freezing often results in formation of an amorphous state (Parks et al., 1928; Troy and Sharp, 1930; Kauzmann, 1948; Bushill et al., 1965; White and Cakebread, 1966; Slade and Levine, 1991). Amorphous foods are also produced from carbohydrate melts by rapid cooling after extrusion or in the manufacturing of hard sugar candies and coatings (Herrington and Branfield, 1984). Formation of the amorphous state and its relation to equilibrium conditions are shown in Fig. 1 [see text]. The most important change, characteristic of the amorphous state, is noticed at the glass transition temperature (Tg), which involves transition from a solid "glassy" to a liquid-like "rubbery" state. The main consequence of glass transition is an increase of molecular mobility and free volume above Tg, which may result in physical and physico-chemical deteriorative changes (White and Cakebread, 1966; Slade and Levine, 1991). We have conducted studies on phase transitions of amorphous food materials and related Tg to composition, viscosity, stickiness, collapse, recrystallization, and ice formation. We have also proposed that some diffusion-limited deteriorative reactions are controlled by the physical state in the vicinity of Tg (Roos and Karel, 1990, 1991a, b, c). The results are summarized in this article, with state diagrams based on experimental and calculated data to characterize the relevant water content, temperature, and time-dependent phenomena of amorphous food components.

Fabrication of InGaN thin-film transistors using pulsed sputtering deposition.

PubMed

Itoh, Takeki; Kobayashi, Atsushi; Ueno, Kohei; Ohta, Jitsuo; Fujioka, Hiroshi

2016-07-07

We report the first demonstration of operational InGaN-based thin-film transistors (TFTs) on glass substrates. The key to our success was coating the glass substrate with a thin amorphous layer of HfO2, which enabled a highly c-axis-oriented growth of InGaN films using pulsed sputtering deposition. The electrical characteristics of the thin films were controlled easily by varying their In content. The optimized InGaN-TFTs exhibited a high on/off ratio of ~10(8), a field-effect mobility of ~22 cm(2) V(-1) s(-1), and a maximum current density of ~30 mA/mm. These results lay the foundation for developing high-performance electronic devices on glass substrates using group III nitride semiconductors.

High-Density Amorphous Ice, the Frost on Interstellar Grains

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Jenniskens, P.; Blake, D. F.; Wilson, M. A.; Pohorille, A.

1995-01-01

Most water ice in the universe is in a form which does not occur naturally on Earth and of which only minimal amounts have been made in the laboratory. We have encountered this 'high-density amorphous ice' in electron diffraction experiments of low-temperature (T less than 30 K) vapor-deposited water and have subsequently modeled its structure using molecular dynamics simulations. The characteristic feature of high-density amorphous ice is the presence of 'interstitial' oxygen pair distances between 3 and 4 A. However, we find that the structure is best described as a collapsed lattice of the more familiar low-density amorphous form. These distortions are frozen in at temperatures below 38 K because, we propose, it requires the breaking of one hydrogen bond, on average, per molecule to relieve the strain and to restructure the lattice to that of low-density amorphous ice. Several features of astrophysical ice analogs studied in laboratory experiments are readily explained by the structural transition from high-density amorphous ice into low-density amorphous ice. Changes in the shape of the 3.07 gm water band, trapping efficiency of CO, CO loss, changes in the CO band structure, and the recombination of radicals induced by low-temperature UV photolysis all covary with structural changes that occur in the ice during this amorphous to amorphous transition. While the 3.07 micrometers ice band in various astronomical environments can be modeled with spectra of simple mixtures of amorphous and crystalline forms, the contribution of the high-density amorphous form nearly always dominates.

Two- and multi-step annealing of cereal starches in relation to gelatinization.

PubMed

Shi, Yong-Cheng

2008-02-13

Two- and multi-step annealing experiments were designed to determine how much gelatinization temperature of waxy rice, waxy barley, and wheat starches could be increased without causing a decrease in gelatinization enthalpy or a decline in X-ray crystallinity. A mixture of starch and excess water was heated in a differential scanning calorimeter (DSC) pan to a specific temperature and maintained there for 0.5-48 h. The experimental approach was first to anneal a starch at a low temperature so that the gelatinization temperature of the starch was increased without causing a decrease in gelatinization enthalpy. The annealing temperature was then raised, but still was kept below the onset gelatinization temperature of the previously annealed starch. When a second- or third-step annealing temperature was high enough, it caused a decrease in crystallinity, even though the holding temperature remained below the onset gelatinization temperature of the previously annealed starch. These results support that gelatinization is a nonequilibrium process and that dissociation of double helices is driven by the swelling of amorphous regions. Small-scale starch slurry annealing was also performed and confirmed the annealing results conducted in DSC pans. A three-phase model of a starch granule, a mobile amorphous phase, a rigid amorphous phase, and a crystalline phase, was used to interpret the annealing results. Annealing seems to be an interplay between a more efficient packing of crystallites in starch granules and swelling of plasticized amorphous regions. There is always a temperature ceiling that can be used to anneal a starch without causing a decrease in crystallinity. That temperature ceiling is starch-specific, dependent on the structure of a starch, and is lower than the original onset gelatinization of a starch.

Schottky barrier amorphous silicon solar cell with thin doped region adjacent metal Schottky barrier

DOEpatents

Carlson, David E.; Wronski, Christopher R.

1979-01-01

A Schottky barrier amorphous silicon solar cell incorporating a thin highly doped p-type region of hydrogenated amorphous silicon disposed between a Schottky barrier high work function metal and the intrinsic region of hydrogenated amorphous silicon wherein said high work function metal and said thin highly doped p-type region forms a surface barrier junction with the intrinsic amorphous silicon layer. The thickness and concentration of p-type dopants in said p-type region are selected so that said p-type region is fully ionized by the Schottky barrier high work function metal. The thin highly doped p-type region has been found to increase the open circuit voltage and current of the photovoltaic device.

A self-consistent first-principle based approach to model carrier mobility in organic materials

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Meded, Velimir; Friederich, Pascal; Symalla, Franz

2015-12-31

Transport through thin organic amorphous films, utilized in OLEDs and OPVs, has been a challenge to model by using ab-initio methods. Charge carrier mobility depends strongly on the disorder strength and reorganization energy, both of which are significantly affected by the details in environment of each molecule. Here we present a multi-scale approach to describe carrier mobility in which the materials morphology is generated using DEPOSIT, a Monte Carlo based atomistic simulation approach, or, alternatively by molecular dynamics calculations performed with GROMACS. From this morphology we extract the material specific hopping rates, as well as the on-site energies using amore » fully self-consistent embedding approach to compute the electronic structure parameters, which are then used in an analytic expression for the carrier mobility. We apply this strategy to compute the carrier mobility for a set of widely studied molecules and obtain good agreement between experiment and theory varying over several orders of magnitude in the mobility without any freely adjustable parameters. The work focuses on the quantum mechanical step of the multi-scale workflow, explains the concept along with the recently published workflow optimization, which combines density functional with semi-empirical tight binding approaches. This is followed by discussion on the analytic formula and its agreement with established percolation fits as well as kinetic Monte Carlo numerical approaches. Finally, we skatch an unified multi-disciplinary approach that integrates materials science simulation and high performance computing, developed within EU project MMM@HPC.« less

Minor-Cu doped soft magnetic Fe-based FeCoBCSiCu amorphous alloys with high saturation magnetization

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Li, Yanhui; Wang, Zhenmin; Zhang, Wei

2018-05-01

The effects of Cu alloying on the amorphous-forming ability (AFA) and magnetic properties of the P-free Fe81Co5B11C2Si1 amorphous alloy were investigated. Addition of ≤ 1.0 at.% Cu enhances the AFA of the base alloy without significant deterioration of the soft magnetic properties. The Fe80.5Co5B11C2Si1Cu0.5 alloy with the largest critical thickness for amorphous formation of ˜35 μm possesses a high saturation magnetization (Bs) of ˜1.78 T, low coercivity of ˜14.6 A/m, and good bending ductility upon annealing in a wide temperature range of 513-553 K with maintaining the amorphous state. The fabrication of the new high-Fe-content Fe-Co-B-C-Si-Cu amorphous alloys by minor doping of Cu gives a guideline to developing high Bs amorphous alloys with excellent AFA.

Optimization of Organic Solar Cells: Materials, Devices and Interfaces

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhou, Nanjia

Due to the increasing demand for sustainable clean energy, photovoltaic cells have received intensified attention in the past decade in both academia and industry. Among the types of cells, organic photovoltaic (OPV) cells offer promise as alternatives to conventional inorganic-type solar cells owning to several unique advantages such as low material and fabrication cost. To maximize power conversion efficiencies (PCEs), extensive research efforts focus on frontier molecular orbital (FMO) energy engineering of photoactive materials. Towards this objective, a series of novel donor polymers incorporating a new building block, bithiophene imide (BTI) group are developed, with narrow bandgap and low-lying highest occupied molecular orbital (HOMO) energies to increase short circuit current density, Jsc, and open circuit voltage, Voc.. Compared to other PV technologies, OPVs often suffer from large internal recombination loss and relatively low fill factors (FFs) <70%. Through a combination of materials design and device architecture optimization strategies to improve both microscopic and macroscopic thin film morphology, OPVs with PCEs up to 8.7% and unprecedented FF approaching 80% are obtained. Such high FF are close to those typically achieved in amorphous Si solar cells. Systematic variations of polymer chemical structures lead to understanding of structure-property relationships between polymer geometry and the resulting blend film morphology characteristics which are crucial for achieving high local mobilities and long carrier lifetimes. Instead of using fullerene as the acceptors, an alternative type of OPV is developed employing a high electron mobility polymer, P(NDI2OD-T2), as the acceptor. To improve the all-polymer blend film morphology, the influence of basic solvent properties such as solvent boiling point and solubility on polymer phase separation and charge transport properties is investigated, yielding to a high PCE of 2.7% for all-polymer solar cells. To take advantages of the inherent mechanical flexibility associated with organic materials, the development of transparent, flexible substrates to replace the conventionally used polycrystalline ITO electrodes is highly desirable. Employing an ultraflexible amorphous zinc indium tin oxide (a-ZITO) transparent conducting oxide (TCO), highly efficient OPVs with similar PCEs to rigid ones are obtained. Furthermore, these cells show no significant PCE reduction under controlled bending test.

WE-E-18A-01: Large Area Avalanche Amorphous Selenium Sensors for Low Dose X-Ray Imaging

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Scheuermann, J; Goldan, A; Zhao, W

2014-06-15

Purpose: A large area indirect flat panel imager (FPI) with avalanche gain is being developed to achieve x-ray quantum noise limited low dose imaging. It uses a thin optical sensing layer of amorphous selenium (a-Se), known as High-Gain Avalanche Rushing Photoconductor (HARP), to detect optical photons generated from a high resolution x-ray scintillator. We will report initial results in the fabrication of a solid-state HARP structure suitable for a large area FPI. Our objective is to establish the blocking layer structures and defect suppression mechanisms that provide stable and uniform avalanche gain. Methods: Samples were fabricated as follows: (1) ITOmore » signal electrode. (2) Electron blocking layer. (3) A 15 micron layer of intrinsic a-Se. (4) Transparent hole blocking layer. (5) Multiple semitransparent bias electrodes to investigate avalanche gain uniformity over a large area. The sample was exposed to 50ps optical excitation pulses through the bias electrode. Transient time of flight (TOF) and integrated charge was measured. A charge transport simulation was developed to investigate the effects of varying blocking layer charge carrier mobility on defect suppression, avalanche gain and temporal performance. Results: Avalanche gain of ∼200 was achieved experimentally with our multi-layer HARP samples. Simulations using the experimental sensor structure produced the same magnitude of gain as a function of electric field. The simulation predicted that the high dark current at a point defect can be reduced by two orders of magnitude by blocking layer optimization which can prevent irreversible damage while normal operation remained unaffected. Conclusion: We presented the first solid state HARP structure directly scalable to a large area FPI. We have shown reproducible and uniform avalanche gain of 200. By reducing mobility of the blocking layers we can suppress defects and maintain stable avalanche. Future work will optimize the blocking layers to prevent lag and ghosting.« less

Evaluating the Mobility of Arsenic in Synthetic Iron-containing Solids Using a Modified Sequential Extraction Method

PubMed Central

Shan, Jilei; Sáez, A. Eduardo; Ela, Wendell P.

2013-01-01

Many water treatment technologies for arsenic removal that are used today produce arsenic-bearing residuals which are disposed in non-hazardous landfills. Previous works have established that many of these residuals will release arsenic to a much greater extent than predicted by standard regulatory leaching tests (e.g. the toxicity characteristic leaching procedure, TCLP) and, consequently, require stabilization to ensure benign behavior after disposal. In this work, a four-step sequential extraction method was developed in an effort to determine the proportion of arsenic in various phases in untreated as well as stabilized iron-based solid matrices. The solids synthesized using various potential stabilization techniques included: amorphous arsenic-iron sludge (ASL), reduced ASL via reaction with zero valent iron (RASL), amorphous ferrous arsenate (PFA), a mixture of PFA and SL (M1), crystalline ferrous arsenate (HPFA), and a mixture of HPFA and SL (M2). The overall arsenic mobility of the tested samples increased in the following order: ASL > RASL > PFA > M1 > HPFA > M2. PMID:23459695

Positioning growth of NPB crystalline nanowires on the PTCDA nanocrystal template.

PubMed

Wang, Hong; Lin, Haiping; Fan, Xing; Ostendorp, Stefan; Wang, Yandong; Huang, Lizhen; Jiang, Lin; Li, Youyong; Wilde, Gerhard; Fuchs, Harald; Wang, Wenchong; Chi, Lifeng

2018-05-31

Non-planar organic molecules often form amorphous films via vapor phase deposition on surfaces. In this study, we demonstrate for the first time that direct crystalline growth of non-planar NPB is possible when the orientation of initially deposited molecules on a PTCDA nanocrystal template is controlled to make it analogous to the structure of the molecular crystal. The crystalline NPB nanowires can be further positioned by controlling the site-selective growth of PTCDA nanocrystal templates at pre-determined locations. Short channel bottom contact OFET array with the NPB nanowires directly grown on electrodes were subsequently fabricated. The hole mobility of NPB nanowires is improved by 40-fold in comparison to that of the amorphous films.

The effect of grooves in amorphous substrates on the orientation of metal deposits. I - Carbon substrates

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Anton, R.; Poppa, H.; Flanders, D. C.

1982-01-01

The graphoepitaxial alignment of vapor-deposited discrete metal crystallites is investigated in the nucleation and growth stages and during annealing by in situ UHV/TEM techniques. Various stages of nucleation, growth and coalescence of vapor deposits of Au, Ag, Pb, Sn, and Bi on amorphous, topographically structured C substrates are analyzed by advanced dark-field techniques to detect preferred local orientations. It is found that the topography-induced orientation of metal crystallites depends strongly on their mobility and their respective tendency to develop pronounced crystallographic shapes. Lowering of the average surface free energies and increasing the crystallographic surface energy anisotropies cause generally improved graphoepitaxial alignments.

Facile Routes To Improve Performance of Solution-Processed Amorphous Metal Oxide Thin Film Transistors by Water Vapor Annealing.

PubMed

Park, Won-Tae; Son, Inyoung; Park, Hyun-Woo; Chung, Kwun-Bum; Xu, Yong; Lee, Taegweon; Noh, Yong-Young

2015-06-24

Here, we report on a simple and high-rate oxidization method for producing solution-based compound mixtures of indium zinc oxide (IZO) and indium gallium zinc oxide (IGZO) metal-oxide semiconductors (MOS) for thin-film transistor (TFT) applications. One of the issues for solution-based MOS fabrication is how to sufficiently oxidize the precursor in order to achieve high performance. As the oxidation rate of solution processing is lower than vacuum-based deposition such as sputtering, devices using solution-processed MOS exhibit relatively poorer performance. Therefore, we propose a method to prepare the metal-oxide precursor upon exposure to saturated water vapor in a closed volume for increasing the oxidization efficiency without requiring additional oxidizing agent. We found that the hydroxide rate of the MOS film exposed to water vapor is lower than when unexposed (≤18%). Hence, we successfully fabricated oxide TFTs with high electron mobility (27.9 cm(2)/V·s) and established a rapid process (annealing at 400 °C for 5 min) that is much shorter than the conventional as-deposited long-duration annealing (at 400 °C for 1 h) whose corresponding mobility is even lower (19.2 cm(2)/V·s).

Structure-Property Relationships in Amorphous Transparent Conducting Oxides

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Moffitt, Stephanie Lucille

Over the last 20 years a new field of amorphous transparent conducting oxides (a-TCOs) has developed. The amorphous nature of these films makes them well suited for large area applications. In addition, a-TCOs can be made at low temperatures and through solution processing methods. These assets provide promising opportunities to improve applications such as solar cells and back-lit displays where traditional crystalline TCOs are used. In addition, it opens the door for new technological applications including the possibility for transparent, flexible electronics. Despite the recent growth in this field, fundamental understanding of the true nature of conductivity and the amorphous structure in this materials system is still progressing. To develop a greater understanding of a-TCOs, structure-property relationships were developed in the a-IGO and a-IZO systems. From the combination of element-specific local structure studies and liquid quench molecular dynamics simulations it is clear that a degree of structure remains in a-TCOs. By understanding this structure, the effect of gallium on thermal stability, carrier concentration and carrier mobility is understood. The source of charge carriers in a-IZO is identified as oxygen vacancies through the application of in situ Brouwer analysis. The continued development of the Brouwer analysis technique for use in amorphous oxides adds to the available methods for studying defects in amorphous systems. Finally, the foundational knowledge gained from the in-depth study of a-IGO was extended to understand the role of combustion processing and pulsed laser deposition as growth methods for transistors based on a-IGO.

Amorphous ZnO Quantum Dot/Mesoporous Carbon Bubble Composites for a High-Performance Lithium-Ion Battery Anode.

PubMed

Tu, Zhiming; Yang, Gongzheng; Song, Huawei; Wang, Chengxin

2017-01-11

Due to its high theoretical capacity (978 mA h g -1 ), natural abundance, environmental friendliness, and low cost, zinc oxide is regarded as one of the most promising anode materials for lithium-ion batteries (LIBs). A lot of research has been done in the past few years on this topic. However, hardly any research on amorphous ZnO for LIB anodes has been reported despite the fact that the amorphous type could have superior electrochemical performance due to its isotropic nature, abundant active sites, better buffer effect, and different electrochemical reaction details. In this work, we develop a simple route to prepare an amorphous ZnO quantum dot (QDs)/mesoporous carbon bubble composite. The composite consists of two parts: mesoporous carbon bubbles as a flexible skeleton and monodisperse amorphous zinc oxide QDs (smaller than 3 nm) encapsulated in an amorphous carbon matrix as a continuous coating tightly anchored on the surface of mesoporous carbon bubbles. With the benefits of abundant active sites, amorphous nature, high specific surface area, buffer effect, hierarchical pores, stable interconnected conductive network, and multidimensional electron transport pathways, the amorphous ZnO QD/mesoporous carbon bubble composite delivers a high reversible capacity of nearly 930 mA h g -1 (at current density of 100 mA g -1 ) with almost 90% retention for 85 cycles and possesses a good rate performance. This work opens the possibility to fabricate high-performance electrode materials for LIBs, especially for amorphous metal oxide-based materials.

Amorphous silicon solar cell allowing infrared transmission

DOEpatents

Carlson, David E.

1979-01-01

An amorphous silicon solar cell with a layer of high index of refraction material or a series of layers having high and low indices of refraction material deposited upon a transparent substrate to reflect light of energies greater than the bandgap energy of the amorphous silicon back into the solar cell and transmit solar radiation having an energy less than the bandgap energy of the amorphous silicon.

Depressurization amorphization of single-crystal boron carbide.

PubMed

Yan, X Q; Tang, Z; Zhang, L; Guo, J J; Jin, C Q; Zhang, Y; Goto, T; McCauley, J W; Chen, M W

2009-02-20

We report depressurization amorphization of single-crystal boron carbide (B4C) investigated by in situ high-pressure Raman spectroscopy. It was found that localized amorphization of B4C takes place during unloading from high pressures, and nonhydrostatic stresses play a critical role in the high-pressure phase transition. First-principles molecular dynamics simulations reveal that the depressurization amorphization results from pressure-induced irreversible bending of C-B-C atomic chains cross-linking 12 atom icosahedra at the rhombohedral vertices.

Nature of phase transitions in crystalline and amorphous GeTe-Sb2Te3 phase change materials.

PubMed

Kalkan, B; Sen, S; Clark, S M

2011-09-28

The thermodynamic nature of phase stabilities and transformations are investigated in crystalline and amorphous Ge(1)Sb(2)Te(4) (GST124) phase change materials as a function of pressure and temperature using high-resolution synchrotron x-ray diffraction in a diamond anvil cell. The phase transformation sequences upon compression, for cubic and hexagonal GST124 phases are found to be: cubic → amorphous → orthorhombic → bcc and hexagonal → orthorhombic → bcc. The Clapeyron slopes for melting of the hexagonal and bcc phases are negative and positive, respectively, resulting in a pressure dependent minimum in the liquidus. When taken together, the phase equilibria relations are consistent with the presence of polyamorphism in this system with the as-deposited amorphous GST phase being the low entropy low-density amorphous phase and the laser melt-quenched and high-pressure amorphized GST being the high entropy high-density amorphous phase. The metastable phase boundary between these two polyamorphic phases is expected to have a negative Clapeyron slope. © 2011 American Institute of Physics

Deformation-induced localized solid-state amorphization in nanocrystalline nickel.

PubMed

Han, Shuang; Zhao, Lei; Jiang, Qing; Lian, Jianshe

2012-01-01

Although amorphous structures have been widely obtained in various multi-component metallic alloys, amorphization in pure metals has seldom been observed and remains a long-standing scientific curiosity and technological interest. Here we present experimental evidence of localized solid-state amorphization in bulk nanocrystalline nickel introduced by quasi-static compression at room temperature. High-resolution electron microscope observations illustrate that nano-scale amorphous structures present at the regions where severe deformation occurred, e.g. along crack paths or surrounding nano-voids. These findings have indicated that nanocrystalline structures are highly desirable for promoting solid-state amorphization, which may provide new insights for understanding the nature of the crystalline-to-amorphous transformation and suggested a potential method to produce elemental metallic glasses that have hardly been available hitherto through rapid solidification.

Deformation-induced localized solid-state amorphization in nanocrystalline nickel

PubMed Central

Han, Shuang; Zhao, Lei; Jiang, Qing; Lian, Jianshe

2012-01-01

Although amorphous structures have been widely obtained in various multi-component metallic alloys, amorphization in pure metals has seldom been observed and remains a long-standing scientific curiosity and technological interest. Here we present experimental evidence of localized solid-state amorphization in bulk nanocrystalline nickel introduced by quasi-static compression at room temperature. High-resolution electron microscope observations illustrate that nano-scale amorphous structures present at the regions where severe deformation occurred, e.g. along crack paths or surrounding nano-voids. These findings have indicated that nanocrystalline structures are highly desirable for promoting solid-state amorphization, which may provide new insights for understanding the nature of the crystalline-to-amorphous transformation and suggested a potential method to produce elemental metallic glasses that have hardly been available hitherto through rapid solidification. PMID:22768383

High-pressure Irreversible Amorphization of La1/3NbO3

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

I Halevy; A Hen; A Broide

2011-12-31

The crystallographic structure of La{sub 1/3}NbO{sub 3} perovskite was studied at high pressures using a diamond-anvil cell and synchrotron radiation. High-pressure energy dispersive (EDS) x-ray diffraction and high-pressure angle dispersive (ADS) x-ray diffraction revealed an irreversible amorphization at {approx}10 GPa. A large change in the bulk modulus accompanied the high-pressure amorphization.

Fluxing purification and its effect on magnetic properties of high-Bs FeBPSiC amorphous alloy

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Pang, Jing; Wang, Anding; Yue, Shiqiang; Kong, Fengyu; Qiu, Keqiang; Chang, Chuntao; Wang, Xinmin; Liu, Chain-Tsuan

2017-07-01

A high-Bs amorphous alloy with the base composition Fe83B11P3Si2C1 was used to study the effects of fluxing purification on amorphous forming ability and magnetic properties of the alloy prepared with raw materials in industrialization. By using fluxing purification, the surface crystallization was suppressed and fully amorphous Fe83B11P3Si2C1 ribbons with a maximum thickness of 48 μm were successfully achieved by using an industrial process and materials. The amorphous ribbons made with industrial-purified alloys exhibit excellent magnetic properties, containing high-Bs of 1.65 T, low Hc of 2.0 A/m, and high μe of 9.7 × 103 at 1 kHz. Impurities in the melting alloys exist in three forms and have different effluences on magnetic properties. The surface crystallization was triggered by the impurities which exist as high melting point inclusions serving as nuclei. Thus, fluxing purification is a feasible way for industrialization of high-Bs FeBPSiC amorphous alloys.

Picosecond amorphization of SiO2 stishovite under tension.

PubMed

Misawa, Masaaki; Ryuo, Emina; Yoshida, Kimiko; Kalia, Rajiv K; Nakano, Aiichiro; Nishiyama, Norimasa; Shimojo, Fuyuki; Vashishta, Priya; Wakai, Fumihiro

2017-05-01

It is extremely difficult to realize two conflicting properties-high hardness and toughness-in one material. Nano-polycrystalline stishovite, recently synthesized from Earth-abundant silica glass, proved to be a super-hard, ultra-tough material, which could provide sustainable supply of high-performance ceramics. Our quantum molecular dynamics simulations show that stishovite amorphizes rapidly on the order of picosecond under tension in front of a crack tip. We find a displacive amorphization mechanism that only involves short-distance collective motions of atoms, thereby facilitating the rapid transformation. The two-step amorphization pathway involves an intermediate state akin to experimentally suggested "high-density glass polymorphs" before eventually transforming to normal glass. The rapid amorphization can catch up with, screen, and self-heal a fast-moving crack. This new concept of fast amorphization toughening likely operates in other pressure-synthesized hard solids.

Structural Origin of Enhanced Dynamics at the Surface of a Glassy Alloy

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sun, Gang; Saw, Shibu; Douglass, Ian; Harrowell, Peter

2017-12-01

The enhancement of mobility at the surface of an amorphous alloy is studied using a combination of molecular dynamic simulations and normal mode analysis of the nonuniform distribution of Debye-Waller factors. The increased mobility at the surface is found to be associated with the appearance of Arrhenius temperature dependence. We show that the transverse Debye-Waller factor exhibits a peak at the surface. Over the accessible temperature range, we find that the bulk and surface diffusion coefficients obey the same empirical relationship with the respective Debye-Waller factors. Extrapolating this relationship to lower T , we argue that the observed decrease in the constraint at the surface is sufficient to account for the experimentally observed surface enhancement of mobility.

Solution-printed organic semiconductor blends exhibiting transport properties on par with single crystals

PubMed Central

Niazi, Muhammad R.; Li, Ruipeng; Qiang Li, Er; Kirmani, Ahmad R.; Abdelsamie, Maged; Wang, Qingxiao; Pan, Wenyang; Payne, Marcia M.; Anthony, John E.; Smilgies, Detlef-M.; Thoroddsen, Sigurdur T.; Giannelis, Emmanuel P.; Amassian, Aram

2015-01-01

Solution-printed organic semiconductors have emerged in recent years as promising contenders for roll-to-roll manufacturing of electronic and optoelectronic circuits. The stringent performance requirements for organic thin-film transistors (OTFTs) in terms of carrier mobility, switching speed, turn-on voltage and uniformity over large areas require performance currently achieved by organic single-crystal devices, but these suffer from scale-up challenges. Here we present a new method based on blade coating of a blend of conjugated small molecules and amorphous insulating polymers to produce OTFTs with consistently excellent performance characteristics (carrier mobility as high as 6.7 cm2 V−1 s−1, low threshold voltages of<1 V and low subthreshold swings <0.5 V dec−1). Our findings demonstrate that careful control over phase separation and crystallization can yield solution-printed polycrystalline organic semiconductor films with transport properties and other figures of merit on par with their single-crystal counterparts. PMID:26592862

Solution-printed organic semiconductor blends exhibiting transport properties on par with single crystals.

PubMed

Niazi, Muhammad R; Li, Ruipeng; Qiang Li, Er; Kirmani, Ahmad R; Abdelsamie, Maged; Wang, Qingxiao; Pan, Wenyang; Payne, Marcia M; Anthony, John E; Smilgies, Detlef-M; Thoroddsen, Sigurdur T; Giannelis, Emmanuel P; Amassian, Aram

2015-11-23

Solution-printed organic semiconductors have emerged in recent years as promising contenders for roll-to-roll manufacturing of electronic and optoelectronic circuits. The stringent performance requirements for organic thin-film transistors (OTFTs) in terms of carrier mobility, switching speed, turn-on voltage and uniformity over large areas require performance currently achieved by organic single-crystal devices, but these suffer from scale-up challenges. Here we present a new method based on blade coating of a blend of conjugated small molecules and amorphous insulating polymers to produce OTFTs with consistently excellent performance characteristics (carrier mobility as high as 6.7 cm(2) V(-1) s(-1), low threshold voltages of<1 V and low subthreshold swings <0.5 V dec(-1)). Our findings demonstrate that careful control over phase separation and crystallization can yield solution-printed polycrystalline organic semiconductor films with transport properties and other figures of merit on par with their single-crystal counterparts.

Electrical and structural properties of ZnO synthesized via infiltration of lithographically defined polymer templates

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Chang-Yong Nam; Stein, Aaron; Kisslinger, Kim

We investigate the electrical and structural properties of infiltration-synthesized ZnO. In-plane ZnO nanowire arrays with prescribed positional registrations are generated by infiltrating diethlyzinc and water vapor into lithographically defined SU-8 polymer templates and removing organic matrix by oxygen plasma ashing. Transmission electron microscopy reveals that homogeneously amorphous as-infiltrated polymer templates transform into highly nanocrystalline ZnO upon removal of organic matrix. Field-effect transistor device measurements show that the synthesized ZnO after thermal annealing displays a typical n-type behavior, ~1019 cm -3 carrier density, and ~0.1 cm 2 V -1 s -1 electron mobility, reflecting highly nanocrystalline internal structure. The results demonstratemore » the potential application of infiltration synthesis in fabricating metal oxide electronic devices.« less

Electrical and structural properties of ZnO synthesized via infiltration of lithographically defined polymer templates

DOE PAGES

Chang-Yong Nam; Stein, Aaron; Kisslinger, Kim; ...

2015-11-17

We investigate the electrical and structural properties of infiltration-synthesized ZnO. In-plane ZnO nanowire arrays with prescribed positional registrations are generated by infiltrating diethlyzinc and water vapor into lithographically defined SU-8 polymer templates and removing organic matrix by oxygen plasma ashing. Transmission electron microscopy reveals that homogeneously amorphous as-infiltrated polymer templates transform into highly nanocrystalline ZnO upon removal of organic matrix. Field-effect transistor device measurements show that the synthesized ZnO after thermal annealing displays a typical n-type behavior, ~1019 cm -3 carrier density, and ~0.1 cm 2 V -1 s -1 electron mobility, reflecting highly nanocrystalline internal structure. The results demonstratemore » the potential application of infiltration synthesis in fabricating metal oxide electronic devices.« less

Silicon Cations Intermixed Indium Zinc Oxide Interface for High-Performance Thin-Film Transistors Using a Solution Process.

PubMed

Na, Jae Won; Rim, You Seung; Kim, Hee Jun; Lee, Jin Hyeok; Hong, Seonghwan; Kim, Hyun Jae

2017-09-06

Solution-processed amorphous metal-oxide thin-film transistors (TFTs) utilizing an intermixed interface between a metal-oxide semiconductor and a dielectric layer are proposed. In-depth physical characterizations are carried out to verify the existence of the intermixed interface that is inevitably formed by interdiffusion of cations originated from a thermal process. In particular, when indium zinc oxide (IZO) semiconductor and silicon dioxide (SiO 2 ) dielectric layer are in contact and thermally processed, a Si 4+ intermixed IZO (Si/IZO) interface is created. On the basis of this concept, a high-performance Si/IZO TFT having both a field-effect mobility exceeding 10 cm 2 V -1 s -1 and a on/off current ratio over 10 7 is successfully demonstrated.

Solution-processed small molecule-polymer blend organic thin-film transistors with hole mobility greater than 5 cm2/Vs.

PubMed

Smith, Jeremy; Zhang, Weimin; Sougrat, Rachid; Zhao, Kui; Li, Ruipeng; Cha, Dongkyu; Amassian, Aram; Heeney, Martin; McCulloch, Iain; Anthopoulos, Thomas D

2012-05-08

Using phase-separated organic semiconducting blends containing a small molecule, as the hole transporting material, and a conjugated amorphous polymer, as the binder material, we demonstrate solution-processed organic thin-film transistors with superior performance characteristics that include; hole mobility >5 cm(2) /Vs, current on/off ratio ≥10(6) and narrow transistor parameter spread. These exceptional characteristics are attributed to the electronic properties of the binder polymer and the advantageous nanomorphology of the blend film. Copyright © 2012 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

High-pressure Gas Activation for Amorphous Indium-Gallium-Zinc-Oxide Thin-Film Transistors at 100 °C

PubMed Central

Kim, Won-Gi; Tak, Young Jun; Du Ahn, Byung; Jung, Tae Soo; Chung, Kwun-Bum; Kim, Hyun Jae

2016-01-01

We investigated the use of high-pressure gases as an activation energy source for amorphous indium-gallium-zinc-oxide (a-IGZO) thin film transistors (TFTs). High-pressure annealing (HPA) in nitrogen (N2) and oxygen (O2) gases was applied to activate a-IGZO TFTs at 100 °C at pressures in the range from 0.5 to 4 MPa. Activation of the a-IGZO TFTs during HPA is attributed to the effect of the high-pressure environment, so that the activation energy is supplied from the kinetic energy of the gas molecules. We reduced the activation temperature from 300 °C to 100 °C via the use of HPA. The electrical characteristics of a-IGZO TFTs annealed in O2 at 2 MPa were superior to those annealed in N2 at 4 MPa, despite the lower pressure. For O2 HPA under 2 MPa at 100 °C, the field effect mobility and the threshold voltage shift under positive bias stress were improved by 9.00 to 10.58 cm2/V.s and 3.89 to 2.64 V, respectively. This is attributed to not only the effects of the pressurizing effect but also the metal-oxide construction effect which assists to facilitate the formation of channel layer and reduces oxygen vacancies, served as electron trap sites. PMID:26972476

High-pressure Gas Activation for Amorphous Indium-Gallium-Zinc-Oxide Thin-Film Transistors at 100 °C.

PubMed

Kim, Won-Gi; Tak, Young Jun; Du Ahn, Byung; Jung, Tae Soo; Chung, Kwun-Bum; Kim, Hyun Jae

2016-03-14

We investigated the use of high-pressure gases as an activation energy source for amorphous indium-gallium-zinc-oxide (a-IGZO) thin film transistors (TFTs). High-pressure annealing (HPA) in nitrogen (N2) and oxygen (O2) gases was applied to activate a-IGZO TFTs at 100 °C at pressures in the range from 0.5 to 4 MPa. Activation of the a-IGZO TFTs during HPA is attributed to the effect of the high-pressure environment, so that the activation energy is supplied from the kinetic energy of the gas molecules. We reduced the activation temperature from 300 °C to 100 °C via the use of HPA. The electrical characteristics of a-IGZO TFTs annealed in O2 at 2 MPa were superior to those annealed in N2 at 4 MPa, despite the lower pressure. For O2 HPA under 2 MPa at 100 °C, the field effect mobility and the threshold voltage shift under positive bias stress were improved by 9.00 to 10.58 cm(2)/V.s and 3.89 to 2.64 V, respectively. This is attributed to not only the effects of the pressurizing effect but also the metal-oxide construction effect which assists to facilitate the formation of channel layer and reduces oxygen vacancies, served as electron trap sites.

Jeffamine® based polymers as highly conductive polymer electrolytes and cathode binder materials for battery application

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Aldalur, Itziar; Zhang, Heng; Piszcz, Michał; Oteo, Uxue; Rodriguez-Martinez, Lide M.; Shanmukaraj, Devaraj; Rojo, Teofilo; Armand, Michel

2017-04-01

We report a simple synthesis route towards a new type of comb polymer material based on polyether amines oligomer side chains (i.e., Jeffamine® compounds) and a poly(ethylene-alt-maleic anhydride) backbone. Reaction proceeds by imide ring formation through the NH2 group allowing for attachment of side chains. By taking advantage of the high configurational freedoms and flexibility of propylene oxide/ethylene oxide units (PO/EO) in Jeffamine® compounds, novel polymer matrices were obtained with good elastomeric properties. Fully amorphous solid polymer electrolytes (SPEs) based on lithium bis(trifluoromethanesulfonyl)imide (LiTFSI) and Jeffamine®-based polymer matrices show low glass transition temperatures around -40 °C, high ionic conductivities and good electrochemical stabilities. The ionic conductivities of Jeffamine-based SPEs (5.3 × 10-4 S cm-1 at 70 °C and 4.5 × 10-5 S cm-1 at room temperature) are higher than those of the conventional SPEs comprising of LiTFSI and linear poly(ethylene oxide) (PEO), due to the amorphous nature and the high concentration of mobile end-groups of the Jeffamine-based polymer matrices rather than the semi-crystalline PEO The feasibility of Jeffamine-based compounds in lithium metal batteries is further demonstrated by the implementation of Jeffamine®-based polymer as a binder for cathode materials, and the stable cycling of Li|SPE|LiFePO4 and Li|SPE|S cells using Jeffamine-based SPEs.

Designing heavy metal oxide glasses with threshold properties from network rigidity

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chakraborty, Shibalik; Boolchand, P.; Malki, M.; Micoulaut, M.

2014-01-01

Here, we show that a new class of glasses composed of heavy metal oxides involving transition metals (V2O5-TeO2) can surprisingly be designed from very basic tools using topology and rigidity of their underlying molecular networks. When investigated as a function of composition, such glasses display abrupt changes in network packing and enthalpy of relaxation at Tg, underscoring presence of flexible to rigid elastic phase transitions. We find that these elastic phases are fully consistent with polaronic nature of electronic conductivity at high V2O5 content. Such observations have new implications for designing electronic glasses which differ from the traditional amorphous electrolytes having only mobile ions as charge carriers.

Designing heavy metal oxide glasses with threshold properties from network rigidity.

PubMed

Chakraborty, Shibalik; Boolchand, P; Malki, M; Micoulaut, M

2014-01-07

Here, we show that a new class of glasses composed of heavy metal oxides involving transition metals (V2O5-TeO2) can surprisingly be designed from very basic tools using topology and rigidity of their underlying molecular networks. When investigated as a function of composition, such glasses display abrupt changes in network packing and enthalpy of relaxation at Tg, underscoring presence of flexible to rigid elastic phase transitions. We find that these elastic phases are fully consistent with polaronic nature of electronic conductivity at high V2O5 content. Such observations have new implications for designing electronic glasses which differ from the traditional amorphous electrolytes having only mobile ions as charge carriers.

Picosecond amorphization of SiO2 stishovite under tension

PubMed Central

Misawa, Masaaki; Ryuo, Emina; Yoshida, Kimiko; Kalia, Rajiv K.; Nakano, Aiichiro; Nishiyama, Norimasa; Shimojo, Fuyuki; Vashishta, Priya; Wakai, Fumihiro

2017-01-01

It is extremely difficult to realize two conflicting properties—high hardness and toughness—in one material. Nano-polycrystalline stishovite, recently synthesized from Earth-abundant silica glass, proved to be a super-hard, ultra-tough material, which could provide sustainable supply of high-performance ceramics. Our quantum molecular dynamics simulations show that stishovite amorphizes rapidly on the order of picosecond under tension in front of a crack tip. We find a displacive amorphization mechanism that only involves short-distance collective motions of atoms, thereby facilitating the rapid transformation. The two-step amorphization pathway involves an intermediate state akin to experimentally suggested “high-density glass polymorphs” before eventually transforming to normal glass. The rapid amorphization can catch up with, screen, and self-heal a fast-moving crack. This new concept of fast amorphization toughening likely operates in other pressure-synthesized hard solids. PMID:28508056

Crystallization of Polymers Investigated by Temperature-Modulated DSC

PubMed Central

Righetti, Maria Cristina

2017-01-01

The aim of this review is to summarize studies conducted by temperature-modulated differential scanning calorimetry (TMDSC) on polymer crystallization. This technique can provide several advantages for the analysis of polymers with respect to conventional differential scanning calorimetry. Crystallizations conducted by TMDSC in different experimental conditions are analysed and discussed, in order to illustrate the type of information that can be deduced. Isothermal and non-isothermal crystallizations upon heating and cooling are examined separately, together with the relevant mathematical treatments that allow the evolution of the crystalline, mobile amorphous and rigid amorphous fractions to be determined. The phenomena of ‘reversing’ and ‘reversible‘ melting are explicated through the analysis of the thermal response of various semi-crystalline polymers to temperature modulation. PMID:28772807

Dopant selection for control of charge carrier density and mobility in amorphous indium oxide thin-film transistors: Comparison between Si- and W-dopants

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Mitoma, Nobuhiko, E-mail: MITOMA.Nobuhiko@nims.go.jp, E-mail: TSUKAGOSHI.Kazuhito@nims.go.jp; Kizu, Takio; Lin, Meng-Fang

The dependence of oxygen vacancy suppression on dopant species in amorphous indium oxide (a-InO{sub x}) thin film transistors (TFTs) is reported. In a-InO{sub x} TFTs incorporating equivalent atom densities of Si- and W-dopants, absorption of oxygen in the host a-InO{sub x} matrix was found to depend on difference of Gibbs free energy of the dopants for oxidation. For fully oxidized films, the extracted channel conductivity was higher in the a-InO{sub x} TFTs containing dopants of small ionic radius. This can be explained by a reduction in the ionic scattering cross sectional area caused by charge screening effects.

Design of Amorphous Manganese Oxide@Multiwalled Carbon Nanotube Fiber for Robust Solid-State Supercapacitor.

PubMed

Shi, Peipei; Li, Li; Hua, Li; Qian, Qianqian; Wang, Pengfei; Zhou, Jinyuan; Sun, Gengzhi; Huang, Wei

2017-01-24

Solid-state fiber-based supercapacitors have been considered promising energy storage devices for wearable electronics due to their lightweight and amenability to be woven into textiles. Efforts have been made to fabricate a high performance fiber electrode by depositing pseudocapacitive materials on the outer surface of carbonaceous fiber, for example, crystalline manganese oxide/multiwalled carbon nanotubes (MnO 2 /MWCNTs). However, a key challenge remaining is to achieve high specific capacitance and energy density without compromising the high rate capability and cycling stability. In addition, amorphous MnO 2 is actually preferred due to its disordered structure and has been proven to exhibit superior electrochemical performance over the crystalline one. Herein, by incorporating amorphous MnO 2 onto a well-aligned MWCNT sheet followed by twisting, we design an amorphous MnO 2 @MWCNT fiber, in which amorphous MnO 2 nanoparticles are distributed in MWCNT fiber uniformly. The proposed structure gives the amorphous MnO 2 @MWCNT fiber good mechanical reliability, high electrical conductivity, and fast ion-diffusion. Solid-state supercapacitor based on amorphous MnO 2 @MWCNT fibers exhibits improved energy density, superior rate capability, exceptional cycling stability, and excellent flexibility. This study provides a strategy to design a high performance fiber electrode with microstructure control for wearable energy storage devices.

The relation between high-density and very-high-density amorphous ice.

PubMed

Loerting, Thomas; Salzmann, Christoph G; Winkel, Katrin; Mayer, Erwin

2006-06-28

The exact nature of the relationship between high-density (HDA) and very-high-density (VHDA) amorphous ice is unknown at present. Here we review the relation between HDA and VHDA, concentrating on experimental aspects and discuss these with respect to the relation between low-density amorphous ice (LDA) and HDA. On compressing LDA at 125 K up to 1.5 GPa, two distinct density steps are observable in the pressure-density curves which correspond to the LDA --> HDA and HDA --> VHDA conversion. This stepwise formation process LDA --> HDA --> VHDA at 125 K is the first unambiguous observation of a stepwise amorphous-amorphous-amorphous transformation sequence. Density values of amorphous ice obtained in situ between 0.3 and 1.9 GPa on isobaric heating up to the temperatures of crystallization show a pronounced change of slope at ca. 0.8 GPa which could indicate formation of a distinct phase. We infer that the relation between HDA and VHDA is very similar to that between LDA and HDA except for a higher activation barrier between the former. We further discuss the two options of thermodynamic phase transition versus kinetic densification for the HDA --> VHDA conversion.

Kinetically Controlled Two-Step Amorphization and Amorphous-Amorphous Transition in Ice.

PubMed

Lin, Chuanlong; Yong, Xue; Tse, John S; Smith, Jesse S; Sinogeikin, Stanislav V; Kenney-Benson, Curtis; Shen, Guoyin

2017-09-29

We report the results of in situ structural characterization of the amorphization of crystalline ice Ih under compression and the relaxation of high-density amorphous (HDA) ice under decompression at temperatures between 96 and 160 K by synchrotron x-ray diffraction. The results show that ice Ih transforms to an intermediate crystalline phase at 100 K prior to complete amorphization, which is supported by molecular dynamics calculations. The phase transition pathways show clear temperature dependence: direct amorphization without an intermediate phase is observed at 133 K, while at 145 K a direct Ih-to-IX transformation is observed; decompression of HDA shows a transition to low-density amorphous ice at 96 K and ∼1  Pa, to ice Ic at 135 K and to ice IX at 145 K. These observations show that the amorphization of compressed ice Ih and the recrystallization of decompressed HDA are strongly dependent on temperature and controlled by kinetic barriers. Pressure-induced amorphous ice is an intermediate state in the phase transition from the connected H-bond water network in low pressure ices to the independent and interpenetrating H-bond network of high-pressure ices.

Kinetically Controlled Two-Step Amorphization and Amorphous-Amorphous Transition in Ice

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lin, Chuanlong; Yong, Xue; Tse, John S.; Smith, Jesse S.; Sinogeikin, Stanislav V.; Kenney-Benson, Curtis; Shen, Guoyin

2017-09-01

We report the results of in situ structural characterization of the amorphization of crystalline ice Ih under compression and the relaxation of high-density amorphous (HDA) ice under decompression at temperatures between 96 and 160 K by synchrotron x-ray diffraction. The results show that ice Ih transforms to an intermediate crystalline phase at 100 K prior to complete amorphization, which is supported by molecular dynamics calculations. The phase transition pathways show clear temperature dependence: direct amorphization without an intermediate phase is observed at 133 K, while at 145 K a direct Ih-to-IX transformation is observed; decompression of HDA shows a transition to low-density amorphous ice at 96 K and ˜1 Pa , to ice Ic at 135 K and to ice IX at 145 K. These observations show that the amorphization of compressed ice Ih and the recrystallization of decompressed HDA are strongly dependent on temperature and controlled by kinetic barriers. Pressure-induced amorphous ice is an intermediate state in the phase transition from the connected H-bond water network in low pressure ices to the independent and interpenetrating H-bond network of high-pressure ices.

Kinetically Controlled Two-Step Amorphization and Amorphous-Amorphous Transition in Ice

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Lin, Chuanlong; Yong, Xue; Tse, John S.

We report the results of in situ structural characterization of the amorphization of crystalline ice Ih under compression and the relaxation of high-density amorphous (HDA) ice under decompression at temperatures between 96 and 160 K by synchrotron x-ray diffraction. The results show that ice Ih transforms to an intermediate crystalline phase at 100 K prior to complete amorphization, which is supported by molecular dynamics calculations. The phase transition pathways show clear temperature dependence: direct amorphization without an intermediate phase is observed at 133 K, while at 145 K a direct Ih-to-IX transformation is observed; decompression of HDA shows a transitionmore » to low-density amorphous ice at 96 K and ~ 1 Pa , to ice Ic at 135 K and to ice IX at 145 K. These observations show that the amorphization of compressed ice Ih and the recrystallization of decompressed HDA are strongly dependent on temperature and controlled by kinetic barriers. Pressure-induced amorphous ice is an intermediate state in the phase transition from the connected H-bond water network in low pressure ices to the independent and interpenetrating H-bond network of high-pressure ices.« less

Pressure-induced transformations in amorphous silicon: A computational study

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Garcez, K. M. S.; Antonelli, A.

2014-02-01

We study the transformations between amorphous phases of Si through molecular simulations using the environment dependent interatomic potential (EDIP) for Si. Our results show that upon pressure, the material undergoes a transformation from the low density amorphous (LDA) Si to the high density amorphous (HDA) Si. This transformation can be reversed by decompressing the material. This process, however, exhibits clear hysteresis, suggesting that the transformation LDA ↔ HDA is first-order like. The HDA phase is predominantly five-fold coordinated, whereas the LDA phase is the normal tetrahedrally bonded amorphous Si. The HDA phase at 400 K and 20 GPa was submitted to an isobaric annealing up to 800 K, resulting in a denser amorphous phase, which is structurally distinct from the HDA phase. Our results also show that the atomic volume and structure of this new amorphous phase are identical to those of the glass obtained by an isobaric quenching of the liquid in equilibrium at 2000 K and 20 GPa down to 400 K. The similarities between our results and those for amorphous ices suggest that this new phase is the very high density amorphous Si.

Transparent Oxide Thin-Film Transistors: Production, Characterization and Integration

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Barquinha, Pedro Miguel Candido

This dissertation is devoted to the study of the emerging area of transparent electronics, summarizing research work regarding the development of n-type thin-film transistors (TFTs) based on sputtered oxide semiconductors. All the materials are produced without intentional substrate heating, with annealing temperatures of only 150-200 °C being used to optimize transistor performance. The work is based on the study and optimization of active semiconductors from the gallium-indium-zinc oxide system, including both the binary compounds Ga2O3, In2O3 and ZnO, as well as ternary and quaternary oxides based on mixtures of those, such as IZO and GIZO with different atomic ratios. Several topics are explored, including the study and optimization of the oxide semiconductor thin films, their application as channel layers on TFTs and finally the implementation of the optimized processes to fabricate active matrix backplanes to be integrated in liquid crystal display (LCD) prototypes. Sputtered amorphous dielectrics with high dielectric constant (high-kappa) based on mixtures of tantalum-silicon or tantalum-aluminum oxides are also studied and used as the dielectric layers on fully transparent TFTs. These devices also include transparent and highly conducting IZO thin films as source, drain and gate electrodes. Given the flexibility of the sputtering technique, oxide semiconductors are analyzed regarding several deposition parameters, such as oxygen partial pressure and deposition pressure, as well as target composition. One of the most interesting features of multicomponent oxides such as IZO and GIZO is that, due to their unique electronic configuration and carrier transport mechanism, they allow to obtain amorphous structures with remarkable electrical properties, such as high hall-effect mobility that exceeds 60 cm2 V -1 s-1 for IZO. These properties can be easily tuned by changing the processing conditions and the atomic ratios of the multicomponent oxides, allowing to have amorphous oxides suitable to be used either as transparent semiconductors or as highly conducting electrodes. The amorphous structure, which is maintained even if the thin films are annealed at 500 °C, brings great advantages concerning interface quality and uniformity in large areas. A complete study comprising different deposition conditions of the semiconductor layer is also made regarding TFT electrical performance. Optimized devices present outstanding electrical performance, such as field-effect mobility (muFE) exceeding 20 cm2 V -1 s-1, turn-on voltage (Von) between -1 and 1 V, subthreshold slope (S) lower than 0.25 V dec-1 and On-Off ratio above 107 . Devices employing amorphous multicomponent oxides present largely improved properties when compared with the ones based on polycrystalline ZnO, mostly in terms of muFE. Within the compositional range where IZO and GIZO films are amorphous, TFT performance can be largely adjusted: for instance, high indium contents favor large mu FE but also highly negative Von, which can be compensated by proper amounts of zinc and gallium. Large oxygen concentrations during oxide semiconductor sputtering are found to be deleterious, decreasing muFE, shifting Von towards high values and turning the devices electrically unstable. It is also shown that semiconductor thickness (ds) has a very important role: for instance, by reducing ds to 10 nm it is possible to produce TFTs with Von≈0 V even using deposition conditions and/or target compositions that normally yield highly conducting films. Given the low ds of the films, this behavior is mostly related with surface states existent at the oxide semiconductor air-exposed back-surface, where depletion layers that can extend towards the dielectric/semiconductor interface are created due to the interaction with atmospheric oxygen. Different passivation layers on top of this air-exposed surface are studied, with SU-8 revealing to be to most effective one. Other important topics are source-drain contact resistance assessment and the effect of different annealing temperatures ( TA), being the properties of the TFTs dominated by TA rather than by the deposition conditions as TA increases. Fully transparent TFTs employing sputtered amorphous multicomponent dielectrics produced without intentional substrate heating present excellent electrical properties, that approach those exhibited by devices using PECVD SiO2 produced at 400 °C. Gate leakage current can be greatly reduced by using tantalum-silicon or tantalum-aluminum oxides rather than Ta2O5. A section of this dissertation is also devoted to the analysis of current stress stability and aging effects of the TFTs, being found that optimal devices exhibit recoverable threshold voltage shifts lower than 0.50 V after 24 h stress with constant drain current of 10 muA, as well as negligible aging effects during 18 months. The research work of this dissertation culminates in the fabrication of a backplane employing transparent TFTs and subsequent integration with a LCD frontplane by Hewlett-Packard. The successful operation of this initial 2.8h prototype with 128x128 pixels provides a solid demonstration that oxide semiconductor-based TFTs have the potential to largely contribute to a novel electronics era, where semiconductor materials away from conventional silicon are used to create fascinating applications, such as transparent electronic products.

A thermodynamic approach to model the caloric properties of semicrystalline polymers

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lion, Alexander; Johlitz, Michael

2016-05-01

It is well known that the crystallisation and melting behaviour of semicrystalline polymers depends in a pronounced manner on the temperature history. If the polymer is in the liquid state above the melting point, and the temperature is reduced to a level below the glass transition, the final degree of crystallinity, the amount of the rigid amorphous phase and the configurational state of the mobile amorphous phase strongly depend on the cooling rate. If the temperature is increased afterwards, the extents of cold crystallisation and melting are functions of the heating rate. Since crystalline and amorphous phases exhibit different densities, the specific volume depends also on the temperature history. In this article, a thermodynamically based phenomenological approach is developed which allows for the constitutive representation of these phenomena in the time domain. The degree of crystallinity and the configuration of the amorphous phase are represented by two internal state variables whose evolution equations are formulated under consideration of the second law of thermodynamics. The model for the specific Gibbs free energy takes the chemical potentials of the different phases and the mixture entropy into account. For simplification, it is assumed that the amount of the rigid amorphous phase is proportional to the degree of crystallinity. An essential outcome of the model is an equation in closed form for the equilibrium degree of crystallinity in dependence on pressure and temperature. Numerical simulations demonstrate that the process dependences of crystallisation and melting under consideration of the glass transition are represented.

Significant mobility improvement of amorphous In-Ga-Zn-O thin-film transistors annealed in a low temperature wet ambient environment

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Jallorina, Michael Paul A.; Bermundo, Juan Paolo S.; Fujii, Mami N.; Ishikawa, Yasuaki; Uraoka, Yukiharu

2018-05-01

Transparent amorphous oxide semiconducting materials such as amorphous InGaZnO used in thin film transistors (TFTs) are typically annealed at temperatures higher than 250 °C to remove any defects present and improve the electrical characteristics of the device. Previous research has shown that low cost and low temperature methods improve the electrical characteristics of the TFT. With the aid of surface and bulk characterization techniques in comparison to the device characteristics, this work aims to elucidate further on the improvement mechanisms of wet and dry annealing ambients that affect the electrical characteristics of the device. Secondary Ion Mass Spectrometry results show that despite outward diffusion of -H and -OH species, humid annealing ambients counteract outward diffusion of these species, leading to defect sites which can be passivated by the wet ambient. X-ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy results show that for devices annealed for only 30 min in a wet annealing environment, the concentration of metal-oxide bonds increased by as much as 21.8% and defects such as oxygen vacancies were reduced by as much as 18.2% compared to an unannealed device. Our work shows that due to the oxidizing power of water vapor, defects are reduced, and overall electrical characteristics are improved as evidenced with the 150 °C wet O2, 30 min annealed sample which exhibited the highest mobility of 5.00 cm2/V s, compared to 2.36 cm2/V s for a sample that was annealed at 150 °C in a dry ambient atmospheric environment for 2 h.

The effect of dehydration conditions on the functionality of anhydrous amorphous raffinose.

PubMed

Chamarthy, Sai Prasanth; Khalef, Nawel; Trasi, Niraj; Bakri, Aziz; Carvajal, M Teresa; Pinal, Rodolfo

2010-06-14

The purpose of this investigation is to study the effect of dehydration conditions of raffinose pentahydrate (RF.5H2O) on the physical properties and functionality of the resulting material. Crystalline RF.5H2O was dehydrated at two temperatures, 80 degrees C and 110 degrees C, producing the amorphous anhydrous form (RF.am). The dehydration temperature had no effect on a number of physical properties of the obtained RF.am, including X-ray powder diffraction, surface energy and water uptake. However, despite resulting on the same dynamics and extent of water sorption, different dehydration temperatures produced amorphous samples with drastically different recrystallization tendencies. Thermodynamic parameters show that despite the similarities on certain physical attributes, different dehydration temperature results in samples with significantly different free energy, hence stability. The difference in free energy produced by the dehydration temperature is attributed to differences in supramolecular structure that persist even in the liquid domain (above T(g)) of the amorphous samples. Evidence of such effects is observed as fluctuations in heat capacity present in RF.am but absent in the freshly prepared glass and also supported by the presence of molecular mobility modes observed using thermal polarization measurements. Copyright 2010 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Phase change in CoTi2 induced by MeV electron irradiation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zensho, Akihiro; Sato, Kazuhisa; Yasuda, Hidehiro; Mori, Hirotaro

2018-07-01

The phase change induced by MeV electron irradiation in the intermetallic compound E93-CoTi2 was investigated using high-voltage electron microscopy. Under MeV electron irradiation, CoTi2 was first transformed into an amorphous phase and, with continued irradiation, crystallite formation in the amorphous phase (i.e. formation of crystallites of a solid-solution phase within the amorphous phase) was induced. The critical temperature for amorphisation was around 250 K. The total dose (dpa) required for crystallite formation (i.e. that required for partial crystallisation) was high (i.e. 27-80 dpa) and, even after prolonged irradiation, the amorphous phase was retained in the irradiated sample. Such partial crystallisation behaviour of amorphous Co33Ti67 was clearly different from the crystallisation behaviour (i.e. amorphous-to-solid solution, polymorphous transformation) of amorphous Cr67Ti33 reported in the literature. A possible cause of the difference is discussed.

Synthesis of quenchable amorphous diamond

DOE PAGES

Zeng, Zhidan; Yang, Liuxiang; Zeng, Qiaoshi; ...

2017-08-22

Diamond owes its unique mechanical, thermal, optical, electrical, chemical, and biocompatible materials properties to its complete sp 3-carbon network bonding. Crystallinity is another major controlling factor for materials properties. Although other Group-14 elements silicon and germanium have complementary crystalline and amorphous forms consisting of purely sp 3 bonds, purely sp 3-bonded tetrahedral amorphous carbon has not yet been obtained. In this letter, we combine high pressure and in situ laser heating techniques to convert glassy carbon into “quenchable amorphous diamond”, and recover it to ambient conditions. Our X-ray diffraction, high-resolution transmission electron microscopy and electron energy-loss spectroscopy experiments on themore » recovered sample and computer simulations confirm its tetrahedral amorphous structure and complete sp 3 bonding. This transparent quenchable amorphous diamond has, to our knowledge, the highest density among amorphous carbon materials, and shows incompressibility comparable to crystalline diamond.« less

Synthesis of quenchable amorphous diamond

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Zeng, Zhidan; Yang, Liuxiang; Zeng, Qiaoshi

Diamond owes its unique mechanical, thermal, optical, electrical, chemical, and biocompatible materials properties to its complete sp 3-carbon network bonding. Crystallinity is another major controlling factor for materials properties. Although other Group-14 elements silicon and germanium have complementary crystalline and amorphous forms consisting of purely sp 3 bonds, purely sp 3-bonded tetrahedral amorphous carbon has not yet been obtained. In this letter, we combine high pressure and in situ laser heating techniques to convert glassy carbon into “quenchable amorphous diamond”, and recover it to ambient conditions. Our X-ray diffraction, high-resolution transmission electron microscopy and electron energy-loss spectroscopy experiments on themore » recovered sample and computer simulations confirm its tetrahedral amorphous structure and complete sp 3 bonding. This transparent quenchable amorphous diamond has, to our knowledge, the highest density among amorphous carbon materials, and shows incompressibility comparable to crystalline diamond.« less

Electron Scattering and Doping Mechanisms in Solid-Phase-Crystallized In2O3:H Prepared by Atomic Layer Deposition.

PubMed

Macco, Bart; Knoops, Harm C M; Kessels, Wilhelmus M M

2015-08-05

Hydrogen-doped indium oxide (In2O3:H) has recently emerged as an enabling transparent conductive oxide for solar cells, in particular for silicon heterojunction solar cells because its high electron mobility (>100 cm(2)/(V s)) allows for a simultaneously high electrical conductivity and optical transparency. Here, we report on high-quality In2O3:H prepared by a low-temperature atomic layer deposition (ALD) process and present insights into the doping mechanism and the electron scattering processes that limit the carrier mobility in such films. The process consists of ALD of amorphous In2O3:H at 100 °C and subsequent solid-phase crystallization at 150-200 °C to obtain large-grained polycrystalline In2O3:H films. The changes in optoelectronic properties upon crystallization have been monitored both electrically by Hall measurements and optically by analysis of the Drude response. After crystallization, an excellent carrier mobility of 128 ± 4 cm(2)/(V s) can be obtained at a carrier density of 1.8 × 10(20) cm(-3), irrespective of the annealing temperature. Temperature-dependent Hall measurements have revealed that electron scattering is dominated by unavoidable phonon and ionized impurity scattering from singly charged H-donors. Extrinsic defect scattering related to material quality such as grain boundary and neutral impurity scattering was found to be negligible in crystallized films indicating that the carrier mobility is maximized. Furthermore, by comparison of the absolute H-concentration and the carrier density in crystallized films, it is deduced that <4% of the incorporated H is an active dopant in crystallized films. Therefore, it can be concluded that inactive H atoms do not (significantly) contribute to defect scattering, which potentially explains why In2O3:H films are capable of achieving a much higher carrier mobility than conventional In2O3:Sn (ITO).

Near-infrared analysis of hydrogen-bonding in glass- and rubber-state amorphous saccharide solids.

PubMed

Izutsu, Ken-ichi; Hiyama, Yukio; Yomota, Chikako; Kawanishi, Toru

2009-01-01

Near-infrared (NIR) spectroscopic analysis of noncrystalline polyols and saccharides (e.g., glycerol, sorbitol, maltitol, glucose, sucrose, maltose) was performed at different temperatures (30-80 degrees C) to elucidate the effect of glass transition on molecular interaction. Transmission NIR spectra (4,000-12,000 cm(-1)) of the liquids and cooled-melt amorphous solids showed broad absorption bands that indicate random configuration of molecules. Heating of the samples decreased an intermolecular hydrogen-bonding OH vibration band intensity (6,200-6,500 cm(-1)) with a concomitant increase in a free and intramolecular hydrogen-bonding OH group band (6,600-7,100 cm(-1)). Large reduction of the intermolecular hydrogen-bonding band intensity at temperatures above the glass transition (T(g)) of the individual solids should explain the higher molecular mobility and lower viscosity in the rubber state. Mixing of the polyols with a high T(g) saccharide (maltose) or an inorganic salt (sodium tetraborate) shifted both the glass transition and the inflection point of the hydrogen-bonding band intensity to higher temperatures. The implications of these results for pharmaceutical formulation design and process monitoring (PAT) are discussed.

HIGHWAY INFRASTRUCTURE FOCUS AREA NEXT-GENERATION INFRASTRUCTURE MATERIALS VOLUME I - TECHNICAL PROPOSAL & MANAGEMENTENHANCEMENT OF TRANSPORTATION INFRASTRUCTURE WITH IRON-BASED AMORPHOUS-METAL AND CERAMIC COATINGS

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Farmer, J C

2007-12-04

The infrastructure for transportation in the United States allows for a high level of mobility and freight activity for the current population of 300 million residents, and several million business establishments. According to a Department of Transportation study, more than 230 million motor vehicles, ships, airplanes, and railroads cars were used on 6.4 million kilometers (4 million miles) of highways, railroads, airports, and waterways in 1998. Pipelines and storage tanks were considered to be part of this deteriorating infrastructure. The annual direct cost of corrosion in the infrastructure category was estimated to be approximately $22.6 billion in 1998. There weremore » 583,000 bridges in the United States in 1998. Of this total, 200,000 bridges were steel, 235,000 were conventional reinforced concrete, 108,000 bridges were constructed using pre-stressed concrete, and the balance was made using other materials of construction. Approximately 15 percent of the bridges accounted for at this point in time were structurally deficient, primarily due to corrosion of steel and steel reinforcement. Iron-based amorphous metals, including SAM2X5 (Fe{sub 49.7}Cr{sub 17.7}Mn{sub 1.9}Mo{sub 7.4}W{sub 1.6}B{sub 15.2}C{sub 3.8}Si{sub 2.4}) and SAM1651 (Fe{sub 48}Mo{sub 14}Cr{sub 15}Y{sub 2}C{sub 15}B{sub 6}) have been developed, and have very good corrosion resistance. These materials have been prepared as a melt-spun ribbons, as well as gas atomized powders and thermal-spray coatings. During electrochemical testing in several environments, including seawater at 90 C, the passive film stabilities of these materials were found to be comparable to that of more expensive high-performance alloys, based on electrochemical measurements of the passive film breakdown potential and general corrosion rates. These materials also performed very well in standard salt fog tests. Chromium (Cr), molybdenum (Mo) and tungsten (W) provided corrosion resistance, and boron (B) enabled glass formation. The high boron content of this particular amorphous metal made it an effective neutron absorber, and suitable for criticality control applications. These amorphous alloys appear to maintain their corrosion resistance up to the glass transition temperature. Visionary research is proposed to extend the application of corrosion-resistant iron-based amorphous metal coatings, and variants of these coatings, to protection of the Nation's transportation infrastructure. Specific objectives of the proposed work are: (1) fabrication of appropriate test samples for evaluation of concept; (2) collection of production and test data for coated steel reinforcement bars, enabling systematic comparison of various coating options, based upon performance and economic considerations; and (3) construction and testing of concrete structures with coated steel reinforcement bars, thereby demonstrating the value of amorphous-metal coatings. The benefits of ceramic coatings as thermal barriers will also be addressed.« less

An investigation into the crystallization tendency/kinetics of amorphous active pharmaceutical ingredients: A case study with dipyridamole and cinnarizine.

PubMed

Baghel, Shrawan; Cathcart, Helen; Redington, Wynette; O'Reilly, Niall J

2016-07-01

Amorphous drug formulations have great potential to enhance solubility and thus bioavailability of BCS class II drugs. However, the higher free energy and molecular mobility of the amorphous form drive them towards the crystalline state which makes them unstable. Accurate determination of the crystallization tendency/kinetics is the key to the successful design and development of such systems. In this study, dipyridamole (DPM) and cinnarizine (CNZ) have been selected as model compounds. Thermodynamic fragility (mT) was measured from the heat capacity change at the glass transition temperature (Tg) whereas dynamic fragility (mD) was evaluated using methods based on extrapolation of configurational entropy to zero [Formula: see text] , and heating rate dependence of Tg [Formula: see text] . The mean relaxation time of amorphous drugs was calculated from the Vogel-Tammann-Fulcher (VTF) equation. Furthermore, the correlation between fragility and glass forming ability (GFA) of the model drugs has been established and the relevance of these parameters to crystallization of amorphous drugs is also assessed. Moreover, the crystallization kinetics of model drugs under isothermal conditions has been studied using Johnson-Mehl-Avrami (JMA) approach to determine the Avrami constant 'n' which provides an insight into the mechanism of crystallization. To further probe into the crystallization mechanism, the non-isothermal crystallization kinetics of model systems were also analysed by statistically fitting the crystallization data to 15 different kinetic models and the relevance of model-free kinetic approach has been established. The crystallization mechanism for DPM and CNZ at each extent of transformation has been predicted. The calculated fragility, glass forming ability (GFA) and crystallization kinetics are found to be in good correlation with the stability prediction of amorphous solid dispersions. Thus, this research work involves a multidisciplinary approach to establish fragility, GFA and crystallization kinetics as stability predictors for amorphous drug formulations. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Electrostatic modulation of the electronic properties of Dirac semimetal Na3Bi thin films

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hellerstedt, Jack; Yudhistira, Indra; Edmonds, Mark T.; Liu, Chang; Collins, James; Adam, Shaffique; Fuhrer, Michael S.

2017-10-01

Large-area thin films of topological Dirac semimetal Na3Bi are grown on amorphous SiO2:Si substrates to realize a field-effect transistor with the doped Si acting as a back gate. As-grown films show charge carrier mobilities exceeding 7 000 cm2/V s and carrier densities below 3 ×1018cm-3 , comparable to the best thin-film Na3Bi . An ambipolar field effect and minimum conductivity are observed, characteristic of Dirac electronic systems. The results are quantitatively understood within a model of disorder-induced charge inhomogeneity in topological Dirac semimetals. The hole mobility is significantly larger than the electron mobility in Na3Bi which we ascribe to the inverted band structure. When present, these holes dominate the transport properties.

Electrical instability of InGaZnO thin-film transistors with and without titanium sub-oxide layer under light illumination

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chiu, Y. C.; Zheng, Z. W.; Cheng, C. H.; Chen, P. C.; Yen, S. S.; Fan, C. C.; Hsu, H. H.; Kao, H. L.; Chang, C. Y.

2017-03-01

The electrical instability behaviors of amorphous indium-gallium-zinc oxide thin-film transistors with and without titanium sub-oxide passivation layer were investigated under light illumination in this study. For the unpassivated IGZO TFT device, in contrast with the dark case, a noticeable increase of the sub-threshold swing was observed when under the illumination environment, which can be attributed to the generation of ionized oxygen vacancies within the α-IGZO active layer by high energy photons. For the passivated TFT device, the much smaller SS of 70 mV/dec and high device mobility of >100 cm2/Vs at a drive voltage of 3 V with negligible degradation under light illumination are achieved due to the passivation effect of n-type titanium sub-oxide semiconductor, which may create potential application for high-performance display.

Fabrication of MTN-type zeolite by self-assembling of supramolecular compound

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Huang, Aisheng; Caro, Jürgen

2009-10-01

MTN-type (Zeolite Socony Mobil Thirty-Nine) zeolite was prepared at 473 K by a novel method through self-assembling of a supramolecular compound called 2,4,6-tris (4-pyridyl) triazine (TPT) in DMF (N,N-dimethylformamide). The effects of fluoride, DMF and germanium on the synthesis of MTN-type zeolite were investigated. The crystallization was facilitated by adding fluoride to the synthesis solution, resulting in the formation of highly crystalline MTN samples, while some amorphous phase was observed in fluoride-free batches. DMF was required to obtain a highly crystalline MTN sample, since TPT dissolves easier in DMF than in water, thus facilitating the self-assembling of TPT into a 3D network to structure the MTN framework. The MTN structure could be synthesized at low germanium content (Ge/Si≤0.18), while AST (AlPO 4-sixteen) as a foreign phase is formed at high germanium substitution (Ge/Si≥0.5).

Directional amorphization of boron carbide subjected to laser shock compression.

PubMed

Zhao, Shiteng; Kad, Bimal; Remington, Bruce A; LaSalvia, Jerry C; Wehrenberg, Christopher E; Behler, Kristopher D; Meyers, Marc A

2016-10-25

Solid-state shock-wave propagation is strongly nonequilibrium in nature and hence rate dependent. Using high-power pulsed-laser-driven shock compression, unprecedented high strain rates can be achieved; here we report the directional amorphization in boron carbide polycrystals. At a shock pressure of 45∼50 GPa, multiple planar faults, slightly deviated from maximum shear direction, occur a few hundred nanometers below the shock surface. High-resolution transmission electron microscopy reveals that these planar faults are precursors of directional amorphization. It is proposed that the shear stresses cause the amorphization and that pressure assists the process by ensuring the integrity of the specimen. Thermal energy conversion calculations including heat transfer suggest that amorphization is a solid-state process. Such a phenomenon has significant effect on the ballistic performance of B 4 C.

MoS2-InGaZnO Heterojunction Phototransistors with Broad Spectral Responsivity.

PubMed

Yang, Jaehyun; Kwak, Hyena; Lee, Youngbin; Kang, Yu-Seon; Cho, Mann-Ho; Cho, Jeong Ho; Kim, Yong-Hoon; Jeong, Seong-Jun; Park, Seongjun; Lee, Hoo-Jeong; Kim, Hyoungsub

2016-04-06

We introduce an amorphous indium-gallium-zinc-oxide (a-IGZO) heterostructure phototransistor consisting of solution-based synthetic molybdenum disulfide (few-layered MoS2, with a band gap of ∼1.7 eV) and sputter-deposited a-IGZO (with a band gap of ∼3.0 eV) films as a novel sensing element with a broad spectral responsivity. The MoS2 and a-IGZO films serve as a visible light-absorbing layer and a high mobility channel layer, respectively. Spectroscopic measurements reveal that appropriate band alignment at the heterojunction provides effective transfer of the visible light-induced electrons generated in the few-layered MoS2 film to the underlying a-IGZO channel layer with a high carrier mobility. The photoresponse characteristics of the a-IGZO transistor are extended to cover most of the visible range by forming a heterojunction phototransistor that harnesses a visible light responding MoS2 film with a small band gap prepared through a large-area synthetic route. The MoS2-IGZO heterojunction phototransistors exhibit a photoresponsivity of approximately 1.7 A/W at a wavelength of 520 nm (an optical power of 1 μW) with excellent time-dependent photoresponse dynamics.

Experimental study of the polyamorphism of water. I. The isobaric transitions from amorphous ices to LDA at 4 MPa.

PubMed

Handle, Philip H; Loerting, Thomas

2018-03-28

The existence of more than one solid amorphous state of water is an extraordinary feature. Since polyamorphism might be connected to the liquid-liquid critical point hypothesis, it is particularly important to study the relations amongst the different amorphous ices. Here we study the polyamorphic transformations of several high pressure amorphous ices to low-density amorphous ice (LDA) at 4 MPa by isobaric heating utilising in situ volumetry and ex situ X-ray diffraction. We find that very-high density amorphous ice (VHDA) and unannealed high density amorphous ice (HDA) show significant relaxation before transforming to LDA, whereby VHDA is seen to relax toward HDA. By contrast, expanded HDA shows almost no relaxation prior to the transformation. The transition to LDA itself obeys criteria for a first-order-like transition in all cases. In the case of VHDA, even macroscopic phase separation is observed. These findings suggest that HDA and LDA are two clearly distinct polyamorphs. We further present evidence that HDA reaches the metastable equilibrium at 140 K and 0.1 GPa but only comes close to that at 140 K and 0.2 GPa. The most important is the path independence of the amorphous phase reached at 140 K and 0.1 GPa.

Experimental study of the polyamorphism of water. I. The isobaric transitions from amorphous ices to LDA at 4 MPa

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Handle, Philip H.; Loerting, Thomas

2018-03-01

The existence of more than one solid amorphous state of water is an extraordinary feature. Since polyamorphism might be connected to the liquid-liquid critical point hypothesis, it is particularly important to study the relations amongst the different amorphous ices. Here we study the polyamorphic transformations of several high pressure amorphous ices to low-density amorphous ice (LDA) at 4 MPa by isobaric heating utilising in situ volumetry and ex situ X-ray diffraction. We find that very-high density amorphous ice (VHDA) and unannealed high density amorphous ice (HDA) show significant relaxation before transforming to LDA, whereby VHDA is seen to relax toward HDA. By contrast, expanded HDA shows almost no relaxation prior to the transformation. The transition to LDA itself obeys criteria for a first-order-like transition in all cases. In the case of VHDA, even macroscopic phase separation is observed. These findings suggest that HDA and LDA are two clearly distinct polyamorphs. We further present evidence that HDA reaches the metastable equilibrium at 140 K and 0.1 GPa but only comes close to that at 140 K and 0.2 GPa. The most important is the path independence of the amorphous phase reached at 140 K and 0.1 GPa.

Dopant behavior in heavily doped polycrystalline Ge1- x Sn x layers prepared with pulsed laser annealing in water

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Takahashi, Kouta; Kurosawa, Masashi; Ikenoue, Hiroshi; Sakashita, Mitsuo; Nakatsuka, Osamu; Zaima, Shigeaki

2018-04-01

A low-temperature process for the formation of heavily doped polycrystalline Ge (poly-Ge) layers on insulators is required to realize next-generation electronic devices. In this study, we have systematically investigated pulsed laser annealing (PLA) in flowing water for heavily doped amorphous Ge1- x Sn x layers (x ≈ 0.02) with various dopants such as B, Al, Ga, In, P, As, and Sb on SiO2. It is found that the dopant density after PLA with a high laser energy is reduced when the oxidized dopant has a lower oxygen chemical potential than H2O. As a result, for the p-type doping of B, Al, Ga, and In, we obtained a high Hall hole density of 5 × 1019 cm-3 for PLA with a low energy. Consequently, the Hall hole mobility is limited to as low as 10 cm2 V-1 s-1. In contrast, for As and Sb doping, because the density of substitutional dopants does not decrease even after PLA with a high energy, we achieved a high Hall electron density of 6 × 1019 cm-3 and a high Hall electron mobility simultaneously. These results indicate that preventing the oxidation of dopant atoms by water is an important factor for achieving heavy doping using PLA in water.

Towards highly stable polymer electronics (Conference Presentation)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Nikolka, Mark; Nasrallah, Iyad; Broch, Katharina; Sadhanala, Aditya; Hurhangee, Michael; McCulloch, Iain; Sirringhaus, Henning

2016-11-01

Due to their ease of processing, organic semiconductors are promising candidates for applications in high performance flexible displays and fast organic electronic circuitry. Recently, a lot of advances have been made on organic semiconductors exhibiting surprisingly high performance and carrier mobilities exceeding those of amorphous silicon. However, there remain significant concerns about their operational and environmental stability, particularly in the context of applications that require a very high level of threshold voltage stability, such as active-matrix addressing of organic light-emitting diode (OLED) displays. Here, we report a novel technique for dramatically improving the operational stress stability, performance and uniformity of high mobility polymer field-effect transistors by the addition of specific small molecule additives to the polymer semiconductor film. We demonstrate for the first time polymer FETs that exhibit stable threshold voltages with threshold voltage shifts of less than 1V when subjected to a constant current operational stress for 1 day under conditions that are representative for applications in OLED active matrix displays. The approach constitutes in our view a technological breakthrough; it also makes the device characteristics independent of the atmosphere in which it is operated, causes a significant reduction in contact resistance and significantly improves device uniformity. We will discuss in detail the microscopic mechanism by which the molecular additives lead to this significant improvement in device performance and stability.

Efficient oxidation and sorption of arsenite using a novel titanium(IV)-manganese(IV) binary oxide sorbent.

PubMed

Zhang, Wei; Liu, Caihong; Zheng, Tong; Ma, Jun; Zhang, Gaosheng; Ren, Guohui; Wang, Lu; Liu, Yulei

2018-04-19

Owing to the high toxicity and mobility, the removal of arsenite (As(III)) is significantly more difficult than arsenate (As(V)), thus representing a major challenge in arsenite-contaminated water treatment. For efficient elimination of As(III), we successfully fabricated a novel Ti-Mn binary oxide via a simultaneous oxidation and coprecipitation process. The amorphous oxide was aggregated from nanosized particles with a high specific surface area of 349.5 m 2 /g. It could effectively oxidize As(III) to As(V) and had a high As(III) sorption capacity of 107.0 mg/g. As(III) sorption occurred rapidly and equilibrium was achieved within 24 h. The kinetic data was well fitted by the pseudo-second-order equation, indicating a chemical sorption process. The material was almost independent upon the presence of competitive ions. The As(III) removal by the sorbent is a combined process coupled oxidation with sorption, where the MnO 2 content is mainly responsible for oxidizing As(III) to As(V) and the formed As(V) is then adsorbed onto the surface of amorphous TiO 2 content, through replacing the surface hydroxyl group or the adsorbed As(III) and forming inner-sphere surface complexes. Furthermore, the arsenic-containing oxide could be effectively regenerated and reused. The bi-functional sorbent could be used as a potentially attractive sorbent for As(III) removal in drinking water treatment and environmental remediation. Copyright © 2018. Published by Elsevier B.V.

Pressure-induced reversible amorphization and an amorphous-amorphous transition in Ge₂Sb₂Te₅ phase-change memory material.

PubMed

Sun, Zhimei; Zhou, Jian; Pan, Yuanchun; Song, Zhitang; Mao, Ho-Kwang; Ahuja, Rajeev

2011-06-28

Ge(2)Sb(2)Te(5) (GST) is a technologically very important phase-change material that is used in digital versatile disks-random access memory and is currently studied for the use in phase-change random access memory devices. This type of data storage is achieved by the fast reversible phase transition between amorphous and crystalline GST upon heat pulse. Here we report pressure-induced reversible crystalline-amorphous and polymorphic amorphous transitions in NaCl structured GST by ab initio molecular dynamics calculations. We have showed that the onset amorphization of GST starts at approximately 18 GPa and the system become completely random at approximately 22 GPa. This amorphous state has a cubic framework (c-amorphous) of sixfold coordinations. With further increasing pressure, the c-amorphous transforms to a high-density amorphous structure with trigonal framework (t-amorphous) and an average coordination number of eight. The pressure-induced amorphization is investigated to be due to large displacements of Te atoms for which weak Te-Te bonds exist or vacancies are nearby. Upon decompressing to ambient conditions, the original cubic crystalline structure is restored for c-amorphous, whereas t-amorphous transforms to another amorphous phase that is similar to the melt-quenched amorphous GST.

Low thermal budget annealing technique for high performance amorphous In-Ga-ZnO thin film transistors

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Shin, Joong-Won; Cho, Won-Ju

2017-07-01

In this paper, we investigate a low thermal budget post-deposition-annealing (PDA) process for amorphous In-Ga-ZnO (a-IGZO) oxide semiconductor thin-film-transistors (TFTs). To evaluate the electrical characteristics and reliability of the TFTs after the PDA process, microwave annealing (MWA) and rapid thermal annealing (RTA) methods were applied, and the results were compared with those of the conventional annealing (CTA) method. The a-IGZO TFTs fabricated with as-deposited films exhibited poor electrical characteristics; however, their characteristics were improved by the proposed PDA process. The CTA-treated TFTs had excellent electrical properties and stability, but the CTA method required high temperatures and long processing times. In contrast, the fabricated RTA-treated TFTs benefited from the lower thermal budget due to the short process time; however, they exhibited poor stability. The MWA method uses a low temperature (100 °C) and short annealing time (2 min) because microwaves transfer energy directly to the substrate, and this method effectively removed the defects in the a-IGZO TFTs. Consequently, they had a higher mobility, higher on-off current ratio, lower hysteresis voltage, lower subthreshold swing, and higher interface trap density than TFTs treated with CTA or RTA, and exhibited excellent stability. Based on these results, low thermal budget MWA is a promising technology for use on various substrates in next generation displays.

High pressure synthesis of amorphous TiO2 nanotubes

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Li, Quanjun; Liu, Ran; Wang, Tianyi; Xu, Ke; Dong, Qing; Liu, Bo; Liu, Jing; Liu, Bingbing

2015-09-01

Amorphous TiO2 nanotubes with diameters of 8-10 nm and length of several nanometers were synthesized by high pressure treatment of anatase TiO2 nanotubes. The structural phase transitions of anatase TiO2 nanotubes were investigated by using in-situ high-pressure synchrotron X-ray diffraction (XRD) method. The starting anatase structure is stable up to ˜20GPa, and transforms into a high-density amorphous (HDA) form at higher pressure. Pressure-modified high- to low-density transition was observed in the amorphous form upon decompression. The pressure-induced amorphization and polyamorphism are in good agreement with the previous results in ultrafine TiO2 nanoparticles and nanoribbons. The relationship between the LDA form and α-PbO2 phase was revealed by high-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM) study. In addition, the bulk modulus (B0 = 158 GPa) of the anatase TiO2 nanotubes is smaller than those of the corresponding bulks and nanoparticles (180-240 GPa). We suggest that the unique open-ended nanotube morphology and nanosize play important roles in the high pressure phase transition of TiO2 nanotubes.

Thermodynamic analysis and purifying an amorphous phase of frozen crystallization centers

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lysov, V. I.; Tsaregradskaya, T. L.; Turkov, O. V.; Saenko, G. V.

2017-12-01

The possibility of dissolving frozen crystallization centers in amorphous alloys of the Fe-B system is considered by means of thermodynamic calculations. This can in turn improve the thermal stability of an amorphous alloy. The effect isothermal annealing has on the thermal stability of multicomponent amorphous alloys based on iron is investigated via the highly sensitive dilatometric technique, measurements of microsolidity, and electron microscopic investigations. The annealing temperature is determined empirically on the basis of the theses of the thermodynamic theory of the high temperature stability of multicomponent amorphous alloys, according to which there exists a range of temperatures that is characterized by a negative difference between the chemical potentials of phases in a heterogeneous amorphous matrix-frozen crystallization centers system. The thermodynamic condition of the possible dissolution of frozen crystallization centers is thus met. It is shown that introducing regimes of thermal processing allows us to expand the ranges of the thermal stability of iron-based amorphous alloys by 20-40 K through purifying an amorphous matrix of frozen crystallization centers. This conclusion is proved via electron microscopic investigations.

Inverted amorphous silicon solar cell utilizing cermet layers

DOEpatents

Hanak, Joseph J.

1979-01-01

An amorphous silicon solar cell incorporating a transparent high work function metal cermet incident to solar radiation and a thick film cermet contacting the amorphous silicon opposite to said incident surface.

Molecular implications of drug-polymer solubility in understanding the destabilization of solid dispersions by milling.

PubMed

Yang, Ziyi; Nollenberger, Kathrin; Albers, Jessica; Qi, Sheng

2014-07-07

The solubility of drugs in polymer matrixes has been recognized as one of the key factors governing the physical stability of solid dispersions. This study has explored the implications of drug solubility on the destabilization that occurs on milling, which is often used as an additional process for hot melt extruded (HME) solid dispersions. The theoretical drug solubility in the polymer was first predicted using various theoretical and experimental approaches. The destabilization effects of high-energy mechanical milling on the solid dispersions with drug loadings below and above the predicted solubility were then investigated using a range of thermal, microscopic, and spectroscopic techniques. Four model drug-polymer combinations were studied. The HME formulations with drug loading below the predicted solid solubility (undersaturated and true molecular dispersion) showed good stability against milling. In contrast, milling destabilized supersaturated HME dispersions via increasing molecular mobility and creating phase-separated, amorphous, drug-rich domains. However, these additional amorphous drug-rich domains created by milling show good stability under ambient conditions, though crystallization can be accelerated by additional heating. These results highlighted that the processing method used to prepare the solid dispersions may play a role in facilitating the stabilization of amorphous drug in supersaturated solid dispersions. The degree of supersaturation of the drug in the polymer showed significant impact on the destabilization behavior of milling on solid dispersions. An improved understanding of the destabilization behavior of solid dispersions upon milling can provide new insights into the processing related apparent solubility of drugs in polymers.

Experimental evidence for a crossover between two distinct mechanisms of amorphization in ice Ih under pressure.

PubMed

Strässle, Thierry; Klotz, Stefan; Hamel, Gérard; Koza, Michael M; Schober, Helmut

2007-10-26

We report neutron scattering data which reveal the central role of phonon softening leading to a negative melting line, solid-state amorphization, and negative thermal expansion of ice. We find that pressure-induced amorphization is due to mechanical melting at low temperatures, while at higher temperatures amorphization is governed by thermal melting (violations of Born's and Lindemann's criteria, respectively). This confirms earlier conjectures of a crossover between two distinct amorphization mechanisms and provides a natural explanation for the strong annealing observed in high-density amorphous ice.

Direct Inkjet Printing of Silver Source/Drain Electrodes on an Amorphous InGaZnO Layer for Thin-Film Transistors

PubMed Central

Ning, Honglong; Chen, Jianqiu; Fang, Zhiqiang; Tao, Ruiqiang; Cai, Wei; Yao, Rihui; Hu, Shiben; Zhu, Zhennan; Zhou, Yicong; Yang, Caigui; Peng, Junbiao

2017-01-01

Printing technologies for thin-film transistors (TFTs) have recently attracted much interest owing to their eco-friendliness, direct patterning, low cost, and roll-to-roll manufacturing processes. Lower production costs could result if electrodes fabricated by vacuum processes could be replaced by inkjet printing. However, poor interfacial contacts and/or serious diffusion between the active layer and the silver electrodes are still problematic for achieving amorphous indium–gallium–zinc–oxide (a-IGZO) TFTs with good electrical performance. In this paper, silver (Ag) source/drain electrodes were directly inkjet-printed on an amorphous a-IGZO layer to fabricate TFTs that exhibited a mobility of 0.29 cm2·V−1·s−1 and an on/off current ratio of over 105. To the best of our knowledge, this is a major improvement for bottom-gate top-contact a-IGZO TFTs with directly printed silver electrodes on a substrate with no pretreatment. This study presents a promising alternative method of fabricating electrodes of a-IGZO TFTs with desirable device performance. PMID:28772410

Direct Inkjet Printing of Silver Source/Drain Electrodes on an Amorphous InGaZnO Layer for Thin-Film Transistors.

PubMed

Ning, Honglong; Chen, Jianqiu; Fang, Zhiqiang; Tao, Ruiqiang; Cai, Wei; Yao, Rihui; Hu, Shiben; Zhu, Zhennan; Zhou, Yicong; Yang, Caigui; Peng, Junbiao

2017-01-10

Printing technologies for thin-film transistors (TFTs) have recently attracted much interest owing to their eco-friendliness, direct patterning, low cost, and roll-to-roll manufacturing processes. Lower production costs could result if electrodes fabricated by vacuum processes could be replaced by inkjet printing. However, poor interfacial contacts and/or serious diffusion between the active layer and the silver electrodes are still problematic for achieving amorphous indium-gallium-zinc-oxide (a-IGZO) TFTs with good electrical performance. In this paper, silver (Ag) source/drain electrodes were directly inkjet-printed on an amorphous a-IGZO layer to fabricate TFTs that exhibited a mobility of 0.29 cm²·V -1 ·s -1 and an on/off current ratio of over 10⁵. To the best of our knowledge, this is a major improvement for bottom-gate top-contact a-IGZO TFTs with directly printed silver electrodes on a substrate with no pretreatment. This study presents a promising alternative method of fabricating electrodes of a-IGZO TFTs with desirable device performance.

Supramolecular structure, phase behavior and thermo-rheological properties of a poly (L-lactide-co-ε-caprolactone) statistical copolymer.

PubMed

Ugartemendia, Jone M; Muñoz, M E; Santamaria, A; Sarasua, J R

2015-08-01

PLAcoCL samples, both unaged, termed PLAcoCLu, and aged over time, PLAcoCLa, were prepared and analyzed to study the phase structure, morphology, and their evolution under non-quiescent conditions. X- ray diffraction, Differential Scanning Calorimetry and Atomic Force Microscopy were complemented with thermo-rheological measurements to reveal that PLAcoCL evolves over time from a single amorphous metastable state to a 3 phase system, made up of two compositionally different amorphous phases and a crystalline phase. The supramolecular arrangements developed during aging lead to a rheological complex behavior in the PLAcoCLa copolymer: Around Tt=131 °C thermo-rheological complexity and a peculiar chain mobility reduction were observed, but at T>Tt the thermo-rheological response of a homogeneous system was recorded. In comparison with the latter, the PLLA/PCL 70:30 physical blend counterpart showed double amorphous phase behavior at all temperatures, supporting the hypothesis that phase separation in the PLAcoCLa copolymer is caused by the crystallization of polylactide segment blocks during aging. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Molecular motions in sucrose-PVP and sucrose-sorbitol dispersions-II. Implications of annealing on secondary relaxations.

PubMed

Bhattacharya, Sisir; Bhardwaj, Sunny P; Suryanarayanan, Raj

2014-10-01

To determine the effect of annealing on the two secondary relaxations in amorphous sucrose and in sucrose solid dispersions. Sucrose was co-lyophilized with either PVP or sorbitol, annealed for different time periods and analyzed by dielectric spectroscopy. In an earlier investigation, we had documented the effect of PVP and sorbitol on the primary and the two secondary relaxations in amorphous sucrose solid dispersions (1). Here we investigated the effect of annealing on local motions, both in amorphous sucrose and in the dispersions. The average relaxation time of the local motion (irrespective of origin) in sucrose, decreased upon annealing. However, the heterogeneity in relaxation time distribution as well as the dielectric strength decreased only for β1- (the slower relaxation) but not for β2-relaxations. The effect of annealing on β2-relaxation times was neutralized by sorbitol while PVP negated the effect of annealing on both β1- and β2-relaxations. An increase in local mobility of sucrose brought about by annealing could be negated with an additive.

Characterization of Physical and Mechanical Properties of Miscible Lactose-Sugars Systems.

PubMed

Li, Runjing; Roos, Yrjö H; Miao, Song

2017-09-01

Lactose-sugars systems were produced by spray drying. They were lactose, lactose-glucose (4:1) mixtures, lactose-maltose (4:1) mixtures, lactose-sucrose (4:1) mixtures, lactose-trehalose (4:1) mixtures, and lactose-corn syrup solids (CSS) (4:1) mixtures. The physical characteristics, water sorption behavior, glass transition, and mechanical properties of miscible lactose-sugars systems were investigated. Lactose-glucose mixtures had larger particle size than other lactose-sugars systems after spray drying. The presence of glucose or sucrose in lactose-sugars mixtures decreased the glass transition temperatures of amorphous systems, while the presence of maltose and trehalose had only minor impact on the glass transition temperatures. Moreover, glucose accelerated the crystallization of amorphous system at 0.44 a w , but its presence delayed the loss of sorbed water at higher water activities (≥0.54 a w ). Mechanical property study indicated that glucose and sucrose in amorphous system could result in an increase of molecular mobility, while the presence of CSS could decrease the free volume and maintain the stiffness of the miscible systems. © 2017 Institute of Food Technologists®.

Directional amorphization of boron carbide subjected to laser shock compression

PubMed Central

Zhao, Shiteng; Kad, Bimal; Remington, Bruce A.; LaSalvia, Jerry C.; Wehrenberg, Christopher E.; Behler, Kristopher D.; Meyers, Marc A.

2016-01-01

Solid-state shock-wave propagation is strongly nonequilibrium in nature and hence rate dependent. Using high-power pulsed-laser-driven shock compression, unprecedented high strain rates can be achieved; here we report the directional amorphization in boron carbide polycrystals. At a shock pressure of 45∼50 GPa, multiple planar faults, slightly deviated from maximum shear direction, occur a few hundred nanometers below the shock surface. High-resolution transmission electron microscopy reveals that these planar faults are precursors of directional amorphization. It is proposed that the shear stresses cause the amorphization and that pressure assists the process by ensuring the integrity of the specimen. Thermal energy conversion calculations including heat transfer suggest that amorphization is a solid-state process. Such a phenomenon has significant effect on the ballistic performance of B4C. PMID:27733513

IEEE Photovoltaic Specialists Conference, 20th, Las Vegas, NV, Sept. 26-30, 1988, Conference Record. Volumes 1 & 2

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Various papers on photovoltaics are presented. The general topics considered include: amorphous materials and cells; amorphous silicon-based solar cells and modules; amorphous silicon-based materials and processes; amorphous materials characterization; amorphous silicon; high-efficiency single crystal solar cells; multijunction and heterojunction cells; high-efficiency III-V cells; modeling and characterization of high-efficiency cells; LIPS flight experience; space mission requirements and technology; advanced space solar cell technology; space environmental effects and modeling; space solar cell and array technology; terrestrial systems and array technology; terrestrial utility and stand-alone applications and testing; terrestrial concentrator and storage technology; terrestrial stand-alone systems applications; terrestrial systems test and evaluation; terrestrial flatplate and concentrator technology; use of polycrystalline materials; polycrystalline II-VI compound solar cells; analysis of and fabrication procedures for compound solar cells.

Directional amorphization of boron carbide subjected to laser shock compression

DOE PAGES

Zhao, Shiteng; Kad, Bimal; Remington, Bruce A.; ...

2016-10-12

Solid-state shock-wave propagation is strongly nonequilibrium in nature and hence rate dependent. When using high-power pulsed-laser-driven shock compression, an unprecedented high strain rates can be achieved; we report the directional amorphization in boron carbide polycrystals. At a shock pressure of 45~50 GPa, multiple planar faults, slightly deviated from maximum shear direction, occur a few hundred nanometers below the shock surface. High-resolution transmission electron microscopy reveals that these planar faults are precursors of directional amorphization. We also propose that the shear stresses cause the amorphization and that pressure assists the process by ensuring the integrity of the specimen. Thermal energy conversionmore » calculations including heat transfer suggest that amorphization is a solid-state process. Such a phenomenon has significant effect on the ballistic performance of B 4C.« less

The influence of annealing on domain wall propagation in bistable amorphous microwire with unidirectional effect

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Onufer, Jozef; Ziman, Ján; Duranka, Peter; Kladivová, Mária

2018-07-01

The effect of gradual annealing on the domain wall mobility (velocity), nucleation, critical depinning and propagation fields in amorphous FeSiB microwires has been studied. A new experimental set-up, presented in this paper, allows measurement of average domain wall velocity for four different conditions and detection of the presence of unidirectional effect in wall propagation without manipulation of the microwire. The proposed interpretation is that a domain wall is considered as a relatively long object which can change its axial dimension due to inhomogeneity of damping forces acting on the wall during its propagation. It is demonstrated that unidirectional effect in domain wall propagation can be strongly reduced by annealing the wire at temperatures higher than 350 °C.

Chain confinement, phase transitions, and lamellar structure in semicrystalline polymers, polymer blends and polymer nanocomposites

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chen, Huipeng

Recent studies suggest that there are three phase fractions in semicrystalline polymers, the crystalline, the mobile amorphous and the rigid amorphous phases. Due to the distinct properties of the rigid amorphous fraction, RAF, it has been investigated for more than twenty years. In this thesis, a general method using quasi-isothermal temperature-modulated differential scaning calorimetry, DSC, is provided for the first time to obtain the temperature dependent RAF and the other two fractions, crystalline fraction and mobile amorphous fraction, MAF. For poly(ethylene terephthalate), PET, our results show RAF was vitrified during quasi-isothermal cooling after crystallization had been completed and became totally devitrified during quasi-isothermal heating before the start of melting. Several years after people initially discovered the existence of RAF, another issue arose relating to the physical location of RAF and mobile amorphous fraction, MAF, within a lamellar stack model. Two very different models to describe the location of RAF were proposed. In the Heterogeneous Stack Model, HET, RAF is located outside the lamellar stacks. In the Homogeneous Stack Model, HSM, RAF was located inside the lamellar stacks. To determine the lamellar structure of semicrystalline polymers comprising three phase, a general method is given in this thesis by using a combination of the DSC and small angle X-ray scattering, SAXS techniques. It has been applied to Nylon 6, isotactic polystyrene, iPS, and PET. It was found for all of these materials, the HSM model is correct to describe the lamellar structure. In addition to the determination of lamellar structures, this method can also provide the exact fraction of MAF inside and outside lamellar stacks for binary polymer blends. For binary polymer blends, MAF, normally is located partially inside and partially outside the lamellar stacks. However, the quantification of the MAF inside and outside the lamellar stacks has now been provided and is applied to the iPS/atactic polystyrene, aPS, blends. The fractions of MAF inside and outside the lamellar stacks were quantified for the first time. For A/B binary polymer blends, it has been reported that if B is already crystalline, the crystalline fraction would serve as a restriction on the subsequent growth of the crystallizable partner A, while amorphous fraction could be diffused from the crystalline growth front of the crystallizing A component. Considering the effect of RAF on binary blends, a new concept is provided: like the crystals, the RAF of one polymer component may inhibit the growth of crystals of the other blend partner. The non-isothermal crystallization of PET/poly(lactic acid), PLA, blends were investigated and the results confirmed the new concept is correct: PET forms a large amount of RAF and inhibits crystal formation in PLA. Then, we broadened the concept of RAF and investigated the RAF in recent 'hot' materials, polymer nanocomposites. It was found the fraction of RAF greatly increased with a small amount of multi-wall carbon nanotubes, MWCNT, loading in PET electrospun, ES, fibers. A general model is given for polymer ES fibers with MWCNTs: the addition of MWCNTs causes polymer chains in the ES fibers to become more extended, (ie, more stretched), resulting in more confinement of PET chains and an increase in the RAF.

Pressure-induced reversible amorphization and an amorphous–amorphous transition in Ge2Sb2Te5 phase-change memory material

PubMed Central

Sun, Zhimei; Zhou, Jian; Pan, Yuanchun; Song, Zhitang; Mao, Ho-Kwang; Ahuja, Rajeev

2011-01-01

Ge2Sb2Te5 (GST) is a technologically very important phase-change material that is used in digital versatile disks-random access memory and is currently studied for the use in phase-change random access memory devices. This type of data storage is achieved by the fast reversible phase transition between amorphous and crystalline GST upon heat pulse. Here we report pressure-induced reversible crystalline-amorphous and polymorphic amorphous transitions in NaCl structured GST by ab initio molecular dynamics calculations. We have showed that the onset amorphization of GST starts at approximately 18 GPa and the system become completely random at approximately 22 GPa. This amorphous state has a cubic framework (c-amorphous) of sixfold coordinations. With further increasing pressure, the c-amorphous transforms to a high-density amorphous structure with trigonal framework (t-amorphous) and an average coordination number of eight. The pressure-induced amorphization is investigated to be due to large displacements of Te atoms for which weak Te–Te bonds exist or vacancies are nearby. Upon decompressing to ambient conditions, the original cubic crystalline structure is restored for c-amorphous, whereas t-amorphous transforms to another amorphous phase that is similar to the melt-quenched amorphous GST. PMID:21670255

Mechanism of Radiation Damage Reduction in Equiatomic Multicomponent Single Phase Alloys.

PubMed

Granberg, F; Nordlund, K; Ullah, Mohammad W; Jin, K; Lu, C; Bei, H; Wang, L M; Djurabekova, F; Weber, W J; Zhang, Y

2016-04-01

Recently a new class of metal alloys, of single-phase multicomponent composition at roughly equal atomic concentrations ("equiatomic"), have been shown to exhibit promising mechanical, magnetic, and corrosion resistance properties, in particular, at high temperatures. These features make them potential candidates for components of next-generation nuclear reactors and other high-radiation environments that will involve high temperatures combined with corrosive environments and extreme radiation exposure. In spite of a wide range of recent studies of many important properties of these alloys, their radiation tolerance at high doses remains unexplored. In this work, a combination of experimental and modeling efforts reveals a substantial reduction of damage accumulation under prolonged irradiation in single-phase NiFe and NiCoCr alloys compared to elemental Ni. This effect is explained by reduced dislocation mobility, which leads to slower growth of large dislocation structures. Moreover, there is no observable phase separation, ordering, or amorphization, pointing to a high phase stability of this class of alloys.

Mechanism of Radiation Damage Reduction in Equiatomic Multicomponent Single Phase Alloys

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Granberg, F.; Nordlund, K.; Ullah, Mohammad W.; Jin, K.; Lu, C.; Bei, H.; Wang, L. M.; Djurabekova, F.; Weber, W. J.; Zhang, Y.

2016-04-01

Recently a new class of metal alloys, of single-phase multicomponent composition at roughly equal atomic concentrations ("equiatomic"), have been shown to exhibit promising mechanical, magnetic, and corrosion resistance properties, in particular, at high temperatures. These features make them potential candidates for components of next-generation nuclear reactors and other high-radiation environments that will involve high temperatures combined with corrosive environments and extreme radiation exposure. In spite of a wide range of recent studies of many important properties of these alloys, their radiation tolerance at high doses remains unexplored. In this work, a combination of experimental and modeling efforts reveals a substantial reduction of damage accumulation under prolonged irradiation in single-phase NiFe and NiCoCr alloys compared to elemental Ni. This effect is explained by reduced dislocation mobility, which leads to slower growth of large dislocation structures. Moreover, there is no observable phase separation, ordering, or amorphization, pointing to a high phase stability of this class of alloys.

Mechanism of Radiation Damage Reduction in Equiatomic Multicomponent Single Phase Alloys

DOE PAGES

Granberg, F.; Nordlund, K.; Ullah, Mohammad W.; ...

2016-04-01

Recently a new class of metal alloys, of single-phase multicomponent composition at roughly equal atomic concentrations (“equiatomic”), have been shown to exhibit promising mechanical, magnetic, and corrosion resistance properties, in particular, at high temperatures. These features make them potential candidates for components of next-generation nuclear reactors and other high-radiation environments that will involve high temperatures combined with corrosive environments and extreme radiation exposure. In spite of a wide range of recent studies of many important properties of these alloys, their radiation tolerance at high doses remains unexplored. In this work, a combination of experimental and modeling efforts reveals a substantialmore » reduction of damage accumulation under prolonged irradiation in single-phase NiFe and NiCoCr alloys compared to elemental Ni. This effect is explained by reduced dislocation mobility, which leads to slower growth of large dislocation structures. Finally and moreover, there is no observable phase separation, ordering, or amorphization, pointing to a high phase stability of this class of alloys.« less

Pressure-induced silica quartz amorphization studied by iterative stochastic surface walking reaction sampling.

PubMed

Zhang, Xiao-Jie; Shang, Cheng; Liu, Zhi-Pan

2017-02-08

The crystal to amorphous transformation is a common phenomenon in Nature and has important impacts on material properties. Our current knowledge on such complex solid transformation processes is, however, limited because of their slow kinetics and the lack of long-range ordering in amorphous structures. To reveal the kinetics in the amorphization of solids, this work, by developing iterative reaction sampling based on the stochastic surface walking global optimization method, investigates the well-known crystal to amorphous transformation of silica (SiO 2 ) under external pressures, the mechanism of which has long been debated for its non-equilibrium, pressure-sensitive kinetics and complex product components. Here we report for the first time the global potential energy surface (PES) and the lowest energy pathways for α-quartz amorphization from first principles. We show that the pressurization at 15 GPa, the reaction condition, can lift the quartz phase energetically close to the amorphous zone, which thermodynamically initializes the amorphization. More importantly, the large flexibility of Si cation coordination (including four, five and six coordination) results in many kinetically competing routes to more stable dense forms, including the known MI, stishovite, newly-identified MII and TI phases. All these pathways have high barriers due to the local Si-O bond breaking and are mediated by amorphous structures with five-fold Si. This causes simultaneous crystal-to-crystal and crystal-to-amorphous transitions. The high barrier and the reconstructive nature of the phase transition are the key kinetics origin for silica amorphization under pressures.

Amorphous silicon carbide passivating layers for crystalline-silicon-based heterojunction solar cells

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Boccard, Mathieu; Holman, Zachary C.

Amorphous silicon enables the fabrication of very high-efficiency crystalline-silicon-based solar cells due to its combination of excellent passivation of the crystalline silicon surface and permeability to electrical charges. Yet, amongst other limitations, the passivation it provides degrades upon high-temperature processes, limiting possible post-deposition fabrication possibilities (e.g., forcing the use of low-temperature silver pastes). We investigate the potential use of intrinsic amorphous silicon carbide passivating layers to sidestep this issue. The passivation obtained using device-relevant stacks of intrinsic amorphous silicon carbide with various carbon contents and doped amorphous silicon are evaluated, and their stability upon annealing assessed, amorphous silicon carbide beingmore » shown to surpass amorphous silicon for temperatures above 300 °C. We demonstrate open-circuit voltage values over 700 mV for complete cells, and an improved temperature stability for the open-circuit voltage. Transport of electrons and holes across the hetero-interface is studied with complete cells having amorphous silicon carbide either on the hole-extracting side or on the electron-extracting side, and a better transport of holes than of electrons is shown. Also, due to slightly improved transparency, complete solar cells using an amorphous silicon carbide passivation layer on the hole-collecting side are demonstrated to show slightly better performances even prior to annealing than obtained with a standard amorphous silicon layer.« less

Microscopic structure and electrical transport property of sputter-deposited amorphous indium-gallium-zinc oxide semiconductor films

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yabuta, H.; Kaji, N.; Shimada, M.; Aiba, T.; Takada, K.; Omura, H.; Mukaide, T.; Hirosawa, I.; Koganezawa, T.; Kumomi, H.

2014-06-01

We report on microscopic structures and electrical and optical properties of sputter-deposited amorphous indium-gallium-zinc oxide (a-IGZO) films. From electron microscopy observations and an x-ray small angle scattering analysis, it has been confirmed that the sputtered a-IGZO films consist of a columnar structure. However, krypton gas adsorption measurement revealed that boundaries of the columnar grains are not open-pores. The conductivity of the sputter-deposited a-IGZO films shows a change as large as seven orders of magnitude depending on post-annealing atmosphere; it is increased by N2-annealing and decreased by O2-annealing reversibly, at a temperature as low as 300°C. This large variation in conductivity is attributed to thermionic emission of carrier electrons through potential barriers at the grain boundaries, because temperature dependences of the carrier density and the Hall mobility exhibit thermal activation behaviours. The optical band-gap energy of the a-IGZO films changes between before and after annealing, but is independent of the annealing atmosphere, in contrast to the noticeable dependence of conductivity described above. For exploring other possibilities of a-IGZO, we formed multilayer films with an artificial periodic lattice structure consisting of amorphous InO, GaO, and ZnO layers, as an imitation of the layer-structured InGaZnO4 homologous phase. The hall mobility of the multilayer films was almost constant for thicknesses of the constituent layer between 1 and 6 Å, suggesting rather small contribution of lateral two-dimensional conduction It increased with increasing the thickness in the range from 6 to 15 Å, perhaps owing to an enhancement of two-dimensional conduction in InO layers.

One-Pot Synthesis of Tunable Crystalline Ni3 S4 @Amorphous MoS2 Core/Shell Nanospheres for High-Performance Supercapacitors.

PubMed

Zhang, Yu; Sun, Wenping; Rui, Xianhong; Li, Bing; Tan, Hui Teng; Guo, Guilue; Madhavi, Srinivasan; Zong, Yun; Yan, Qingyu

2015-08-12

Transition metal sulfides gain much attention as electrode materials for supercapacitors due to their rich redox chemistry and high electrical conductivity. Designing hierarchical nanostructures is an efficient approach to fully utilize merits of each component. In this work, amorphous MoS(2) is firstly demonstrated to show specific capacitance 1.6 times as that of the crystalline counterpart. Then, crystalline core@amorphous shell (Ni(3)S(4)@MoS(2)) is prepared by a facile one-pot process. The diameter of the core and the thickness of the shell can be independently tuned. Taking advantages of flexible protection of amorphous shell and high capacitance of the conductive core, Ni(3)S(4) @amorphous MoS(2) nanospheres are tested as supercapacitor electrodes, which exhibit high specific capacitance of 1440.9 F g(-1) at 2 A g(-1) and a good capacitance retention of 90.7% after 3000 cycles at 10 A g(-1). This design of crystalline core@amorphous shell architecture may open up new strategies for synthesizing promising electrode materials for supercapacitors. © 2015 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

Amorphization dynamics of Ge{sub 2}Sb{sub 2}Te{sub 5} films upon nano- and femtosecond laser pulse irradiation

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Siegel, J.; Gawelda, W.; Puerto, D.

2008-01-15

Phase transformations of crystalline Ge{sub 2}Sb{sub 2}Te{sub 5} films upon pulsed laser irradiation have been studied using in situ reflectivity measurements with temporal resolution. Two different configurations allowed point probing with nanosecond temporal resolution and imaging with subpicosecond temporal and micrometer spatial resolution. The role of the pulse duration and laser fluence on the dynamics of the phase change and the degree of amorphization is discussed. Several advantageous features of femtosecond compared to nanosecond laser-induced amorphization are identified. Moreover, a high-resolution study of the amorphization dynamics reveals the onset of amorphization at moderate fluences to occur within {approx}100 ps aftermore » arrival of the laser pulse. At high fluences, amorphization occurs after {approx}430 ps and the molten phase is characterized by an anomalously low reflectivity value, indicative of a state of extreme supercooling.« less

Charge transport in electrically doped amorphous organic semiconductors.

PubMed

Yoo, Seung-Jun; Kim, Jang-Joo

2015-06-01

This article reviews recent progress on charge generation by doping and its influence on the carrier mobility in organic semiconductors (OSs). The doping induced charge generation efficiency is generally low in OSs which was explained by the integer charge transfer model and the hybrid charge transfer model. The ionized dopants formed by charge transfer between hosts and dopants can act as Coulomb traps for mobile charges, and the presence of Coulomb traps in OSs broadens the density of states (DOS) in doped organic films. The Coulomb traps strongly reduce the carrier hopping rate and thereby change the carrier mobility, which was confirmed by experiments in recent years. In order to fully understand the doping mechanism in OSs, further quantitative and systematic analyses of charge transport characteristics must be accomplished. © 2015 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

Phosphate and phytate adsorption and precipitation on ferrihydrite surfaces

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Wang, Xiaoming; Hu, Yongfeng; Tang, Yadong

Phosphorous (P) sorption on mineral surfaces largely controls P mobility and bioavailability, hence its pollution potential, but the sorption speciation and mechanism remain poorly understood. In this study, we have identified and quantified the speciation of both phosphate and phytate sorbed on ferrihydrite with various P loadings at pH 3–8 using differential atomic pair distribution function (d-PDF) analysis, synchrotron-based X-ray diffraction (XRD), and P and Fe K-edge X-ray absorption near edge structure (XANES) and attenuated total reflectance-Fourier transform infrared (ATR-FTIR) spectroscopy. With increasing P sorption loading for both phosphate and phytate, the sorption mechanism transits from bidentate-binuclear surface complexation tomore » unidentified ternary complexation and to precipitation of amorphous FePO 4 and amorphous Fe-phytate. At a given P sorption loading, phosphate precipitates more readily than phytate. Both phosphate and phytate promote ferrihydrite dissolution with phytate more intensively, but the dissolved FeIII concentration in the bulk solution is low because the majority of the released Fe III precipitate with the anions. Results also show that amorphous FePO 4 and amorphous Fe-phytate have similar PO 4 local coordination environment. In conclusion, these new insights into the P surface complexation and precipitation, and the ligand-promoted dissolution behavior improve our understanding of P fate in soils, aquatic environment and water treatment systems as mediated by mineral-water interfacial reactions.« less

Phosphate and phytate adsorption and precipitation on ferrihydrite surfaces

DOE PAGES

Wang, Xiaoming; Hu, Yongfeng; Tang, Yadong; ...

2017-09-26

Phosphorous (P) sorption on mineral surfaces largely controls P mobility and bioavailability, hence its pollution potential, but the sorption speciation and mechanism remain poorly understood. In this study, we have identified and quantified the speciation of both phosphate and phytate sorbed on ferrihydrite with various P loadings at pH 3–8 using differential atomic pair distribution function (d-PDF) analysis, synchrotron-based X-ray diffraction (XRD), and P and Fe K-edge X-ray absorption near edge structure (XANES) and attenuated total reflectance-Fourier transform infrared (ATR-FTIR) spectroscopy. With increasing P sorption loading for both phosphate and phytate, the sorption mechanism transits from bidentate-binuclear surface complexation tomore » unidentified ternary complexation and to precipitation of amorphous FePO 4 and amorphous Fe-phytate. At a given P sorption loading, phosphate precipitates more readily than phytate. Both phosphate and phytate promote ferrihydrite dissolution with phytate more intensively, but the dissolved FeIII concentration in the bulk solution is low because the majority of the released Fe III precipitate with the anions. Results also show that amorphous FePO 4 and amorphous Fe-phytate have similar PO 4 local coordination environment. In conclusion, these new insights into the P surface complexation and precipitation, and the ligand-promoted dissolution behavior improve our understanding of P fate in soils, aquatic environment and water treatment systems as mediated by mineral-water interfacial reactions.« less

Development of a Self Aligned CMOS Process for Flash Lamp Annealed Polycrystalline Silicon TFTs

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bischoff, Paul

The emerging active matrix liquid crystal (AMLCD) display market requires a high performing semiconductor material to meet rising standards of operation. Currently amorphous silicon (a-Si) dominates the market but it does not have the required mobility for it to be used in AMLCD manufacturing. Other materials have been developed including crystallizing a-Si into poly-silicon. A new approach to crystallization through the use of flash lamp annealing (FLA) decreases manufacturing time and greatly improves carrier mobility. Previous work on FLA silicon for the use in CMOS transistors revealed significant lateral dopant diffusion into the channel greatly increasing the minimum channel length required for a working device. This was further confounded by the gate overlap due to misalignment during lithography patterning steps. Through the use of furnace dopant activation instead of FLA dopant activation and a self aligned gate the minimum size transistor can be greatly reduced. A new lithography mask and process flow were developed for the furnace annealing and self aligned gate. Fabrication of the self aligned devices resulted in oxidation of the Molybdenum self aligned gate. Further development is needed to successfully manufacture these devices. Non-self aligned transistors were made simultaneously with self aligned devices and used the furnace activation. These devices showed an increase in sheet resistance from 250 O to 800 O and lower mobility from 380 to 40.2 V/cm2s. The lower mobility can be contributed to an increase in implanted trap density indicating furnace annealing is an inferior activation method over FLA. The minimum transistor size however was reduced from 20 to 5 mum. With improvements in the self aligned process high performing small devices can be manufactured.

High temperature crystalline superconductors from crystallized glasses

DOEpatents

Shi, Donglu

1992-01-01

A method of preparing a high temperature superconductor from an amorphous phase. The method involves preparing a starting material of a composition of Bi.sub.2 Sr.sub.2 Ca.sub.3 Cu.sub.4 Ox or Bi.sub.2 Sr.sub.2 Ca.sub.4 Cu.sub.5 Ox, forming an amorphous phase of the composition and heat treating the amorphous phase for particular time and temperature ranges to achieve a single phase high temperature superconductor.

X-Ray Amorphous Phases in Antarctica Dry Valley Soils: Insight into Aqueous Alteration Processes on Mars?

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Ming, D. W.; Morris, R. V.; Rampe, E. B.; Golden, D. C.; Quinn, J. E.

2015-01-01

The Chemistry and Mineralogy (CheMin) instrument onboard the Mars Curiosity rover has detected abundant amounts (approx. 25-30 weight percentage) of X-ray amorphous materials in a windblown deposit (Rocknest) and in a sedimentary mudstone (Cumberland and John Klein) in Gale crater, Mars. On Earth, X-ray amorphous components are common in soils and sediments, but usually not as abundant as detected in Gale crater. One hypothesis for the abundant X-ray amorphous materials on Mars is limited interaction of liquid water with surface materials, kinetically inhibiting maturation to more crystalline phases. The objective of this study was to characterize the chemistry and mineralogy of soils formed in the Antarctica Dry Valleys, one of the driest locations on Earth. Two soils were characterized from different elevations, including a low elevation, coastal, subxerous soil in Taylor Valley and a high elevation, ultraxerous soil in University Valley. A variety of techniques were used to characterize materials from each soil horizon, including Rietveld analysis of X-ray diffraction data. For Taylor Valley soil, the X-ray amorphous component ranged from about 4 weight percentage in the upper horizon to as high as 15 weight percentage in the lowest horizon just above the permafrost layer. Transmission electron microscopy indicated that the presence of short-range ordered (SRO) smectite was the most likely candidate for the X-ray amorphous materials in the Taylor Valley soils. The SRO smectite is likely an aqueous alteration product of mica inherited from granitic materials during glaciation of Taylor Valley. The drier University Valley soils had lower X-ray amorphous contents of about 5 weight percentage in the lowest horizon. The X-ray amorphous materials in University Valley are attributed to nanoparticles of TiO2 and possibly amorphous SiO2. The high abundance of X-ray amorphous materials in Taylor Valley is surprising for one of the driest places on Earth. These materials may have been physically and chemical altered during soil formation, however, the limited interaction with water and low temperatures may result in the formation of "immature" X-ray amorphous or SRO materials. Perhaps, a similar process contributes to the formation of the high content of X-ray amorphous materials detected on Mars.

Volmer-Weber growth stages of polycrystalline metal films probed by in situ and real-time optical diagnostics

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Abadias, G.; Simonot, L.; Colin, J. J.; Michel, A.; Camelio, S.; Babonneau, D.

2015-11-01

The Volmer-Weber growth of high-mobility metal films is associated with the development of a complex compressive-tensile-compressive stress behavior as the film deposition proceeds through nucleation of islands, coalescence, and formation of a continuous layer. The tensile force maximum has been attributed to the end of the islands coalescence stage, based on ex situ morphological observations. However, microstructural rearrangements are likely to occur in such films during post-deposition, somewhat biasing interpretations solely based on ex situ analysis. Here, by combining two simultaneous in situ and real-time optical sensing techniques, based on surface differential reflectance spectroscopy (SDRS) and change in wafer curvature probed by multibeam optical stress sensor (MOSS), we provide direct evidence that film continuity does coincide with tensile stress maximum during sputter deposition of a series of metal (Ag, Au, and Pd) films on amorphous SiOx. Stress relaxation after growth interruption was testified from MOSS, whose magnitude scaled with adatom mobility, while no change in SDRS signal could be revealed, ruling out possible changes of the surface roughness at the micron scale.

The liquid⟷amorphous transition and the high pressure phase diagram of carbon

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Robinson, David R.; Wilson, Mark

2013-04-01

The phase diagram of carbon is mapped to high pressure using a computationally-tractable potential model. The use of a relatively simple (Tersoff-II) potential model allows a large range of phase space to be explored. The coexistence (melting) curve for the diamond crystal/liquid dyad is mapped directly by modelling the solid/liquid interfaces. The melting curve is found to be re-entrant and belongs to a conformal class of diamond/liquid coexistence curves. On supercooling the liquid a phase transition to a tetrahedral amorphous form (ta-C) is observed. The liquid ⟷ amorphous coexistence curve is mapped onto the pT plane and is found to also be re-entrant. The entropy changes for both melting and the amorphous ⟶ liquid transitions are obtained from the respective coexistence curves and the associated changes in molar volume. The structural change on amorphization is analysed at different points on the coexistence curve including for transitions that are both isochoric and isocoordinate (no change in nearest-neighbour coordination number). The conformal nature of the melting curve is highlighted with respect to the known behaviour of Si. The relationship of the observed liquid/amorphous coexistence curve to the Si low- and high-density amorphous (LDA/HDA) transition is discussed.

Amorphous Ni(OH)2/CQDs microspheres for highly sensitive non-enzymatic glucose detection prepared via CQDs induced aggregation process

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhu, Jiajie; Yin, Haoyong; Cui, Zhenzhen; Qin, Dongyu; Gong, Jianying; Nie, Qiulin

2017-10-01

Non-enzymatic electrochemical sensors for the detection of glucose were designed based on amorphous Ni(OH)2/CQDs microspheres. The amorphous Ni(OH)2/CQDs microspheres were prepared by a CQDs assistant crystallization inhibition process. The morphologies and composition of the microspheres were characterized by SEM, TEM, XRD, EDS, and TG/DSC. The results showed that the microspheres had uniform heterogeneous phases with amorphous Ni(OH)2 and CQDs. The sensor based on amorphous Ni(OH)2/CQDs microspheres showed remarkable electrocatalytic activity towards glucose oxidation comparing to the conventional crystalline Ni(OH)2, which included two linear range (20 μM-350 μM and 0.45mM-2.5 mM) with high selectivity of 2760.05 and 1853.64 μA mM-1cm-2. Moreover, the interference from the commonly interfering species such as urea, ascorbic acid, NaCl, L-proline and L-Valine, can be effectively avoided. The high sensitivity, wide glucose detection range and good selectivity of the electrode may be due to their synergistic effect of amorphous phase and CQDs incorporation. These findings may promote the application of amorphous Ni(OH)2 as advanced electrochemical glucose sensing materials.

Atomistic observation and simulation analysis of spatio-temporal fluctuations during radiation-induced amorphization.

PubMed

Watanabe, Seiichi; Hoshino, Misaki; Koike, Takuto; Suda, Takanori; Ohnuki, Soumei; Takahashi, Heishichirou; Lam, Nighi Q

2003-01-01

We performed a dynamical-atomistic study of radiation-induced amorphization in the NiTi intermetallic compound using in situ high-resolution high-voltage electron microscopy and molecular dynamics simulations in connection with image simulation. Spatio-temporal fluctuations as non-equilibrium fluctuations in an energy-dissipative system, due to transient atom-cluster formation during amorphization, were revealed by the present spatial autocorrelation analysis.

Mechanisms Underlying Ionic Mobilities in Nanocomposite Polymer Electrolytes

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ganesan, Venkat; Hanson, Benjamin; Pryamitsyn, Victor

2014-03-01

Recently, a number of experiments have demonstrated that addition of ceramics with nanoscale dimensions can lead to substantial improvements in the low temperature conductivity of the polymeric materials. However, the origin of such behaviors, and more generally, the manner by which nanoscale fillers impact the ion mobilities remain unresolved. In this communication, we report the results of atomistic molecular dynamics simulations which used multibody polarizable force-fields to study lithium ion diffusivities in an amorphous poly(ethylene-oxide) (PEO) melt containing well-dispersed TiO2 nanoparticles. We observed that the lithium ion diffusivities decrease with increased particle loading. Our analysis suggests that the ion mobilities are correlated to the nanoparticle-induced changes in the polymer segmental dynamics. Interestingly, the changes in polymer segmental dynamics were seen to be related to the nanoparticle's influence on the polymer conformational features. Overall, our results indicate that addition of nanoparticle fillers modify polymer conformations and the polymer segmental dynamics, and thereby influence the ion mobilities of polymer electrolytes.

Structural and electrical characteristics of high-κ Er2O3 and Er2TiO5 gate dielectrics for a-IGZO thin-film transistors

PubMed Central

2013-01-01

In this letter, we investigated the structural and electrical characteristics of high-κ Er2O3 and Er2TiO5 gate dielectrics on the amorphous indium-gallium-zinc-oxide (a-IGZO) thin-film transistor (TFT) devices. Compared with the Er2O3 dielectric, the a-IGZO TFT device incorporating an Er2TiO5 gate dielectric exhibited a low threshold voltage of 0.39 V, a high field-effect mobility of 8.8 cm2/Vs, a small subthreshold swing of 143 mV/decade, and a high Ion/Ioff current ratio of 4.23 × 107, presumably because of the reduction in the oxygen vacancies and the formation of the smooth surface roughness as a result of the incorporation of Ti into the Er2TiO5 film. Furthermore, the reliability of voltage stress can be improved using an Er2TiO5 gate dielectric. PMID:23294730

Structural and electrical characteristics of high-κ Er2O3 and Er2TiO5 gate dielectrics for a-IGZO thin-film transistors.

PubMed

Chen, Fa-Hsyang; Her, Jim-Long; Shao, Yu-Hsuan; Matsuda, Yasuhiro H; Pan, Tung-Ming

2013-01-08

In this letter, we investigated the structural and electrical characteristics of high-κ Er2O3 and Er2TiO5 gate dielectrics on the amorphous indium-gallium-zinc-oxide (a-IGZO) thin-film transistor (TFT) devices. Compared with the Er2O3 dielectric, the a-IGZO TFT device incorporating an Er2TiO5 gate dielectric exhibited a low threshold voltage of 0.39 V, a high field-effect mobility of 8.8 cm2/Vs, a small subthreshold swing of 143 mV/decade, and a high Ion/Ioff current ratio of 4.23 × 107, presumably because of the reduction in the oxygen vacancies and the formation of the smooth surface roughness as a result of the incorporation of Ti into the Er2TiO5 film. Furthermore, the reliability of voltage stress can be improved using an Er2TiO5 gate dielectric.

Toughening Fe-based Amorphous Coatings by Reinforcement of Amorphous Carbon.

PubMed

Wang, Wei; Zhang, Cheng; Zhang, Zhi-Wei; Li, Yi-Cheng; Yasir, Muhammad; Wang, Hai-Tao; Liu, Lin

2017-06-22

Toughening of Fe-based amorphous coatings meanwhile maintaining a good corrosion resistance remains challenging. This work reports a novel approach to improve the toughness of a FeCrMoCBY amorphous coating through in-situ formation of amorphous carbon reinforcement without reducing the corrosion resistance. The Fe-based composite coating was prepared by high velocity oxy-fuel (HVOF) thermal spraying using a pre-mixed Fe-based amorphous/nylon-11 polymer feedstock powders. The nylon-11 powders were in-situ carbonized to amorphous carbon phase during thermal spraying process, which homogeneously distributed in the amorphous matrix leading to significant enhancement of toughness of the coating. The mechanical properties, including hardness, impact resistance, bending and fatigue strength, were extensively studied by using a series of mechanical testing techniques. The results revealed that the composite coating reinforced by amorphous carbon phase exhibited enhanced impact resistance and nearly twice-higher fatigue strength than that of the monolithic amorphous coating. The enhancement of impact toughness and fatigue properties is owed to the dumping effect of the soft amorphous carbon phase, which alleviated stress concentration and decreased crack propagation driving force.

Size-dependent pressure-induced amorphization: a thermodynamic panorama.

PubMed

Machon, Denis; Mélinon, Patrice

2015-01-14

Below a critical particle size, some pressurized compounds (e.g. TiO2, Y2O3, PbTe) undergo a crystal-to-amorphous transformation instead of a polymorphic transition. This effect reflects the greater propensity of nanomaterials for amorphization. In this work, a panorama of thermodynamic interpretations is given: first, a descriptive analysis based on the energy landscape concept gives a general comprehension of the balance between thermodynamics and kinetics to obtain an amorphous state. Then, a formal approach based on Gibbs energy to describe the thermodynamics and phase transitions in nanoparticles gives a basic explanation of size-dependent pressure-induced amorphization. The features of this transformation (amorphization occurs at pressures lower than the polymorphic transition pressure!) and the nanostructuration can be explained in an elaborated model based on the Ginzburg-Landau theory of phase transition and on percolation theory. It is shown that the crossover between polymorphic transition and amorphization is highly dependent on the defect density and interfacial energy, i.e., on the synthesis process. Their behavior at high pressure is a quality control test for the nanoparticles.

Tracking Sodium-Antimonide Phase Transformations in Sodium-Ion Anodes: Insights from Operando Pair Distribution Function Analysis and Solid-State NMR Spectroscopy

DOE PAGES

Allan, Phoebe K.; Griffin, John M.; Darwiche, Ali; ...

2016-01-29

We use operando pair distribution function (PDF) analysis and ex situ 23Na magic-angle spinning solid-state nuclear magnetic resonance (MAS ssNMR) spectroscopy to gain insight into the alloying mechanism of high-capacity antimony anodes for sodium-ion batteries. Subtraction of the PDF of crystalline Na xSb phases from the total PDF, an approach constrained by chemical phase information gained from 23Na ssNMR in reference to relevant model compounds, identifies two previously uncharacterized intermediate species formed electrochemically; a-Na 3–xSb (x ≈ 0.4–0.5), a structure locally similar to crystalline Na 3Sb (c-Na 3Sb) but with significant numbers of sodium vacancies and a limited correlation length,more » and a-Na1.7Sb, a highly amorphous structure featuring some Sb–Sb bonding. The first sodiation breaks down the crystalline antimony to form first a-Na 3–xSb and, finally, crystalline Na 3Sb. Desodiation results in the formation of an electrode formed of a composite of crystalline and amorphous antimony networks. We link the different reactivity of these networks to a series of sequential sodiation reactions manifesting as a cascade of processes observed in the electrochemical profile of subsequent cycles. The amorphous network reacts at higher voltages reforming a-Na 1.7Sb, then a-Na 3–xSb, whereas lower potentials are required for the sodiation of crystalline antimony, which reacts to form a-Na 3–xSb without the formation of a-Na 1.7Sb. a-Na 3–xSb is converted to crystalline Na 3Sb at the end of the second discharge. In the end, we find no evidence of formation of NaSb. Variable temperature 23Na NMR experiments reveal significant sodium mobility within c-Na 3Sb; this is a possible contributing factor to the excellent rate performance of Sb anodes.« less

Tracking Sodium-Antimonide Phase Transformations in Sodium-Ion Anodes: Insights from Operando Pair Distribution Function Analysis and Solid-State NMR Spectroscopy

PubMed Central

2016-01-01

Operando pair distribution function (PDF) analysis and ex situ 23Na magic-angle spinning solid-state nuclear magnetic resonance (MAS ssNMR) spectroscopy are used to gain insight into the alloying mechanism of high-capacity antimony anodes for sodium-ion batteries. Subtraction of the PDF of crystalline NaxSb phases from the total PDF, an approach constrained by chemical phase information gained from 23Na ssNMR in reference to relevant model compounds, identifies two previously uncharacterized intermediate species formed electrochemically; a-Na3–xSb (x ≈ 0.4–0.5), a structure locally similar to crystalline Na3Sb (c-Na3Sb) but with significant numbers of sodium vacancies and a limited correlation length, and a-Na1.7Sb, a highly amorphous structure featuring some Sb–Sb bonding. The first sodiation breaks down the crystalline antimony to form first a-Na3–xSb and, finally, crystalline Na3Sb. Desodiation results in the formation of an electrode formed of a composite of crystalline and amorphous antimony networks. We link the different reactivity of these networks to a series of sequential sodiation reactions manifesting as a cascade of processes observed in the electrochemical profile of subsequent cycles. The amorphous network reacts at higher voltages reforming a-Na1.7Sb, then a-Na3–xSb, whereas lower potentials are required for the sodiation of crystalline antimony, which reacts to form a-Na3–xSb without the formation of a-Na1.7Sb. a-Na3–xSb is converted to crystalline Na3Sb at the end of the second discharge. We find no evidence of formation of NaSb. Variable temperature 23Na NMR experiments reveal significant sodium mobility within c-Na3Sb; this is a possible contributing factor to the excellent rate performance of Sb anodes. PMID:26824406

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Allan, Phoebe K.; Griffin, John M.; Darwiche, Ali

We use operando pair distribution function (PDF) analysis and ex situ 23Na magic-angle spinning solid-state nuclear magnetic resonance (MAS ssNMR) spectroscopy to gain insight into the alloying mechanism of high-capacity antimony anodes for sodium-ion batteries. Subtraction of the PDF of crystalline Na xSb phases from the total PDF, an approach constrained by chemical phase information gained from 23Na ssNMR in reference to relevant model compounds, identifies two previously uncharacterized intermediate species formed electrochemically; a-Na 3–xSb (x ≈ 0.4–0.5), a structure locally similar to crystalline Na 3Sb (c-Na 3Sb) but with significant numbers of sodium vacancies and a limited correlation length,more » and a-Na1.7Sb, a highly amorphous structure featuring some Sb–Sb bonding. The first sodiation breaks down the crystalline antimony to form first a-Na 3–xSb and, finally, crystalline Na 3Sb. Desodiation results in the formation of an electrode formed of a composite of crystalline and amorphous antimony networks. We link the different reactivity of these networks to a series of sequential sodiation reactions manifesting as a cascade of processes observed in the electrochemical profile of subsequent cycles. The amorphous network reacts at higher voltages reforming a-Na 1.7Sb, then a-Na 3–xSb, whereas lower potentials are required for the sodiation of crystalline antimony, which reacts to form a-Na 3–xSb without the formation of a-Na 1.7Sb. a-Na 3–xSb is converted to crystalline Na 3Sb at the end of the second discharge. In the end, we find no evidence of formation of NaSb. Variable temperature 23Na NMR experiments reveal significant sodium mobility within c-Na 3Sb; this is a possible contributing factor to the excellent rate performance of Sb anodes.« less

Amorphization of Serpentine at High Pressure and High Temperature

PubMed

Irifune; Kuroda; Funamori; Uchida; Yagi; Inoue; Miyajima

1996-06-07

Pressure-induced amorphization of serpentine was observed at temperatures of 200° to 300°C and pressures of 14 to 27 gigapascals with a combination of a multianvil apparatus and synchrotron radiation. High-pressure phases then crystallized rapidly when the temperature was increased to 400°C. These results suggest that amorphization of serpentine is an unlikely mechanism for generating deep-focus earthquakes, as the temperatures of subducting slabs are significantly higher than those of the rapid crystallization regime.

Processing Bi-Pb-Sr-Ca-Cu-O superconductors from amorphous state

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Chiang, C. K.; Wong-Ng, W.; Cook, L. P.; Freiman, S. W.; Hwang, N. M.; Vaudin, M.; Hill, M. D.; Shull, R. D.; Shapiro, A. J.; Swartzendruber, L. J.

1991-01-01

The bismuth based high T sub c superconductors can be processed via an amorphous Bi-Pb-Sr-Ca-Cu oxide. The amorphous oxides were prepared by melting the constituent powders in an alumina crucible at 1200 C in air followed by pouring the liquid onto an aluminum plate, and rapidly pressing with a second plate. In the amorphous state, no crystalline phase was identified in the powder x ray diffraction pattern of the quenched materials. After heat treatment at high temperature the amorphous materials crystallized into a glass ceramic containing a large fraction of the Bi2Sr2Ca2Cu3O(x) phase T sub c = 110 K. The processing method, crystallization, and results of dc electrical resistivity and ac magnetic susceptibility measurements are discussed.

High-Performance Inkjet-Printed Indium-Gallium-Zinc-Oxide Transistors Enabled by Embedded, Chemically Stable Graphene Electrodes.

PubMed

Secor, Ethan B; Smith, Jeremy; Marks, Tobin J; Hersam, Mark C

2016-07-13

Recent developments in solution-processed amorphous oxide semiconductors have established indium-gallium-zinc-oxide (IGZO) as a promising candidate for printed electronics. A key challenge for this vision is the integration of IGZO thin-film transistor (TFT) channels with compatible source/drain electrodes using low-temperature, solution-phase patterning methods. Here we demonstrate the suitability of inkjet-printed graphene electrodes for this purpose. In contrast to common inkjet-printed silver-based conductive inks, graphene provides a chemically stable electrode-channel interface. Furthermore, by embedding the graphene electrode between two consecutive IGZO printing passes, high-performance IGZO TFTs are achieved with an electron mobility of ∼6 cm(2)/V·s and current on/off ratio of ∼10(5). The resulting printed devices exhibit robust stability to aging in ambient as well as excellent resilience to thermal stress, thereby offering a promising platform for future printed electronics applications.

Enhancement of near-infrared detectability from InGaZnO thin film transistor with MoS2 light absorbing layer.

PubMed

Pak, Sang Woo; Chu, Dongil; Song, Da Ye; Lee, Seung Kyo; Kim, Eun Kyu

2017-11-24

We report an enhancement of near-infrared (NIR) detectability from amorphous InGaZnO (α-IGZO) thin film transistor in conjunction with randomly distributed molybdenum disulfide (MoS 2 ) flakes. The electrical characteristics of the α-IGZO grown by radio-frequency magnetron sputtering exhibit high effective mobility exceeding 15 cm 2 V -1 s -1 and current on/off ratio up to 10 7 . By taking advantages of the high quality α-IGZO and MoS 2 light absorbing layer, photodetection spectra are able to extend from ultra-violet to NIR range. The α-IGZO channel detector capped by MoS 2 show a photo-responsivity of approximately 14.9 mA W -1 at 1100 nm wavelength, which is five times higher than of the α-IGZO device without MoS 2 layer.

Enhancement of near-infrared detectability from InGaZnO thin film transistor with MoS2 light absorbing layer

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Pak, Sang Woo; Chu, Dongil; Song, Da Ye; Kyo Lee, Seung; Kim, Eun Kyu

2017-11-01

We report an enhancement of near-infrared (NIR) detectability from amorphous InGaZnO (α-IGZO) thin film transistor in conjunction with randomly distributed molybdenum disulfide (MoS2) flakes. The electrical characteristics of the α-IGZO grown by radio-frequency magnetron sputtering exhibit high effective mobility exceeding 15 cm2 V-1 s-1 and current on/off ratio up to 107. By taking advantages of the high quality α-IGZO and MoS2 light absorbing layer, photodetection spectra are able to extend from ultra-violet to NIR range. The α-IGZO channel detector capped by MoS2 show a photo-responsivity of approximately 14.9 mA W-1 at 1100 nm wavelength, which is five times higher than of the α-IGZO device without MoS2 layer.

High-performance a-IGZO thin-film transistor with conductive indium-tin-oxide buried layer

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ahn, Min-Ju; Cho, Won-Ju

2017-10-01

In this study, we fabricated top-contact top-gate (TCTG) structure of amorphous indium-gallium-zinc oxide (a-IGZO) thin-film transistors (TFTs) with a thin buried conductive indium-tin oxide (ITO) layer. The electrical performance of a-IGZO TFTs was improved by inserting an ITO buried layer under the IGZO channel. Also, the effect of the buried layer's length on the electrical characteristics of a-IGZO TFTs was investigated. The electrical performance of the transistors improved with increasing the buried layer's length: a large on/off current ratio of 1.1×107, a high field-effect mobility of 35.6 cm2/Vs, a small subthreshold slope of 116.1 mV/dec, and a low interface trap density of 4.2×1011 cm-2eV-1 were obtained. The buried layer a-IGZO TFTs exhibited enhanced transistor performance and excellent stability against the gate bias stress.

Electrical and structural properties of ZnO synthesized via infiltration of lithographically defined polymer templates

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Nam, Chang-Yong, E-mail: cynam@bnl.gov; Stein, Aaron; Kisslinger, Kim

We investigate the electrical and structural properties of infiltration-synthesized ZnO. In-plane ZnO nanowire arrays with prescribed positional registrations are generated by infiltrating diethlyzinc and water vapor into lithographically defined SU-8 polymer templates and removing organic matrix by oxygen plasma ashing. Transmission electron microscopy reveals that homogeneously amorphous as-infiltrated polymer templates transform into highly nanocrystalline ZnO upon removal of organic matrix. Field-effect transistor device measurements show that the synthesized ZnO after thermal annealing displays a typical n-type behavior, ∼10{sup 19 }cm{sup −3} carrier density, and ∼0.1 cm{sup 2} V{sup −1} s{sup −1} electron mobility, reflecting highly nanocrystalline internal structure. The results demonstrate themore » potential application of infiltration synthesis in fabricating metal oxide electronic devices.« less

Fabrication and stability investigation of ultra-thin transparent and flexible Cu-Ag-Au tri-layer film on PET

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Prakasarao, Ch Surya; D'souza, Slavia Deeksha; Hazarika, Pratim; Karthiselva N., S.; Ramesh Babu, R.; Kovendhan, M.; Kumar, R. Arockia; Joseph, D. Paul

2018-04-01

The need for transparent conducting electrodes with high transmittance, low sheet resistance and flexibility to replace Indium Tin Oxide is ever growing. We have deposited and studied the performance of ultra-thin Cu-Ag-Au tri-layer films over a flexible poly-ethylene terephthalate substrate. Scotch tape test showed good adhesion of the metallic film. Transmittance of the tri-layer was around 40 % in visible region. Optical profiler measurements were done to study the surface features. The XRD pattern revealed that film was amorphous. Sheet resistance measured by four probe technique was around 7.7 Ohm/Δ and was stable up to 423 K. The transport parameters by Hall effect showed high conductivity and carrier concentration with a mobility of 5.58 cm2/Vs. Tests performed in an indigenously designed bending unit indicated the films to be stable both mechanically and electrically even after 50,000 bending cycles.

Amorphous silicon carbide passivating layers for crystalline-silicon-based heterojunction solar cells

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Boccard, Mathieu; Holman, Zachary C.

With this study, amorphous silicon enables the fabrication of very high-efficiency crystalline-silicon-based solar cells due to its combination of excellent passivation of the crystalline silicon surface and permeability to electrical charges. Yet, amongst other limitations, the passivation it provides degrades upon high-temperature processes, limiting possible post-deposition fabrication possibilities (e.g., forcing the use of low-temperature silver pastes). We investigate the potential use of intrinsic amorphous silicon carbide passivating layers to sidestep this issue. The passivation obtained using device-relevant stacks of intrinsic amorphous silicon carbide with various carbon contents and doped amorphous silicon are evaluated, and their stability upon annealing assessed, amorphousmore » silicon carbide being shown to surpass amorphous silicon for temperatures above 300°C. We demonstrate open-circuit voltage values over 700 mV for complete cells, and an improved temperature stability for the open-circuit voltage. Transport of electrons and holes across the hetero-interface is studied with complete cells having amorphous silicon carbide either on the hole-extracting side or on the electron-extracting side, and a better transport of holes than of electrons is shown. Also, due to slightly improved transparency, complete solar cells using an amorphous silicon carbide passivation layer on the hole-collecting side are demonstrated to show slightly better performances even prior to annealing than obtained with a standard amorphous silicon layer.« less

Amorphous silicon carbide passivating layers for crystalline-silicon-based heterojunction solar cells

DOE PAGES

Boccard, Mathieu; Holman, Zachary C.

2015-08-14

With this study, amorphous silicon enables the fabrication of very high-efficiency crystalline-silicon-based solar cells due to its combination of excellent passivation of the crystalline silicon surface and permeability to electrical charges. Yet, amongst other limitations, the passivation it provides degrades upon high-temperature processes, limiting possible post-deposition fabrication possibilities (e.g., forcing the use of low-temperature silver pastes). We investigate the potential use of intrinsic amorphous silicon carbide passivating layers to sidestep this issue. The passivation obtained using device-relevant stacks of intrinsic amorphous silicon carbide with various carbon contents and doped amorphous silicon are evaluated, and their stability upon annealing assessed, amorphousmore » silicon carbide being shown to surpass amorphous silicon for temperatures above 300°C. We demonstrate open-circuit voltage values over 700 mV for complete cells, and an improved temperature stability for the open-circuit voltage. Transport of electrons and holes across the hetero-interface is studied with complete cells having amorphous silicon carbide either on the hole-extracting side or on the electron-extracting side, and a better transport of holes than of electrons is shown. Also, due to slightly improved transparency, complete solar cells using an amorphous silicon carbide passivation layer on the hole-collecting side are demonstrated to show slightly better performances even prior to annealing than obtained with a standard amorphous silicon layer.« less

Mobility of Supercooled liquid Toluene, Ethylbenzene, and Benzene near their Glass Transition Temperatures Investigated using Inert Gas Permeation

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

May, Robert A.; Smith, R. Scott; Kay, Bruce D.

We investigate the mobility of supercooled liquid toluene, ethylbenzene, and benzene near their respective glass transition temperatures (Tg). The permeation rate of Ar, Kr, and Xe through the supercooled liquid created when initially amorphous overlayers heated above their glass transition temperature is used to determine the diffusivity. Amorphous benzene crystallizes at temperatures well below its Tg and as a result the inert gas underlayer remains trapped until the onset of benzene desorption. In contrast, for toluene and ethylbenzene the onset of inert gas permeation is observed at temperatues near Tg. The inert gas desorption peak temperature as a function ofmore » the heating rate and overlayer thickness is used to quantify the diffusivity of supercooled liquid toluene and ethylbenzene from 115 K to 135 K. In this temperature range, diffusivities are found to vary across five orders of magnitude (~10-14 to 10-9 cm2/s). These data are compared to viscosity measurements and used to determine the low temperature fractional Stokes-Einstein exponent. Efforts to determine the diffusivity of a mixture of benzene and ethylbenzene are detailed, and the effect of mixing these materials on benzene crystallization is explored using infrared spectroscopy.« less

Enthalpy relaxation studies of two structurally related amorphous drugs and their binary dispersions.

PubMed

Bansal, Shyam Sunder; Kaushal, Aditya Mohan; Bansal, Arvind Kumar

2010-11-01

The purpose of the current study was to evaluate the enthalpy relaxation behavior of valdecoxib (VLB) and etoricoxib (ETB) and their binary dispersions to derive relaxation constants and to understand their molecular mobilities. Solid dispersions of VLB and ETB were prepared with 1%, 2%, 5%, 10%, 15%, and 20% (w/w) concentrations of polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP) in situ using differential scanning calorimetry (DSC). Enthalpy relaxation studies were carried out with isothermal storage periods of 1, 2, 4, 6, 16, and 24 hours at 40°C and 0% relative humidity (RH). PVP increased the glass transition temperature (T(g)) and decreased the enthalpy relaxation. Significant differences between two drugs were observed with respect to their relaxation behavior which may be due to differences in intermolecular interactions as predicted by Couchman-Karasz equation and molecular mobility. Kohlrausch-Williams-Watts equation was found to be inadequate in describing complex molecular relaxations in binary dispersions. The enthalpy relaxation behavior of VLB and ETB was found to be significantly different. PVP stabilized VLB significantly; however, its effect on ETB was negligible. The extent of enthalpy relaxation was found to correlate with hydrogen bonding tendency of the drug molecules. The outcome can help in rational designing of amorphous systems with optimal performance.

Effect of organic buffer layer in the electrical properties of amorphous-indium gallium zinc oxide thin film transistor.

PubMed

Wang, Jian-Xun; Hyung, Gun Woo; Li, Zhao-Hui; Son, Sung-Yong; Kwon, Sang Jik; Kim, Young Kwan; Cho, Eou Sik

2012-07-01

In this research, we reported on the fabrication of top-contact amorphous-indium gallium zinc oxide (a-IGZO) thin-film transistors (TFTs) with an organic buffer layer between inorganic gate dielectric and active layer in order to improve the electrical properties of devices. By inserting an organic buffer layer, it was possible to make an affirmation of the improvements in the electrical characteristics of a-IGZO TFTs such as subthreshold slope (SS), on/off current ratio (I(ON/OFF)), off-state current, and saturation field-effect mobility (muFE). The a-IGZO TFTs with the cross-linked polyvinyl alcohol (c-PVA) buffer layer exhibited the pronounced improvements of the muFE (17.4 cm2/Vs), SS (0.9 V/decade), and I(ON/OFF) (8.9 x 10(6)).

Application of melt extrusion in the development of a physically and chemically stable high-energy amorphous solid dispersion of a poorly water-soluble drug.

PubMed

Lakshman, Jay P; Cao, Yu; Kowalski, James; Serajuddin, Abu T M

2008-01-01

Formulation of active pharmaceutical ingredients (API) in high-energy amorphous forms is a common strategy to enhance solubility, dissolution rate and, consequently, oral bioavailability of poorly water-soluble drugs. Amorphous APIs are, however, susceptible to recrystallization and, therefore, there is a need to physically stabilize them as solid dispersions in polymeric carriers. Hot melt extrusion has in recent years gained wide acceptance as a method of choice for the preparation of solid dispersions. There is a potential that the API, the polymer or both may degrade if excessively high temperature is needed in the melt extrusion process, especially when the melting point of the API is high. This report details a novel method where the API was first converted to an amorphous form by solvent evaporation and then melt-extruded with a suitable polymer at a drug load of at least 20% w/w. By this means, melt extrusion could be performed much below the melting temperature of the drug substance. Since the glass transition temperature of the amorphous drug was lower than that of the polymer used, the drug substance itself served as the plasticizer for the polymer. The addition of surfactants in the matrix enhanced dispersion and subsequent dissolution of the drug in aqueous media. The amorphous melt extrusion formulations showed higher bioavailability than formulations containing the crystalline API. There was no conversion of amorphous solid to its crystalline form during accelerated stability testing of dosage forms.

On the amorphization behavior and hydrogenation performance of high-energy ball-milled Mg{sub 2}Ni alloys

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Kou, Hongchao; Hou, Xiaojiang; Zhang, Tiebang, E-mail: tiebangzhang@nwpu.edu.cn

2013-06-15

Amorphous Mg{sub 2}Ni alloy was prepared by high energy ball-milling starting with polycrystalline Mg{sub 2}Ni which was prepared with the help of a metallurgy method by using a SPEX 8000D mill. The microstructural and phase structure characterization of the prepared materials was performed via scanning electron microscopy, transition electron microscope and X-ray diffraction. The thermal stabilities were investigated by differential scanning calorimetry. The apparent activation energies were determined by means of the Kissinger method. The first and second crystallization reactions take place at ∼ 255 °C and ∼ 410 °C, and the corresponding activation energy of crystallization is E{sub a1}more » = 276.9 and E{sub a2} = 382.4 kJ/mol, respectively. At 3 MPa hydrogen pressure and 250 °C, the hydrogen absorption capacities of crystalline, partially and fully amorphous Mg{sub 2}Ni alloy are 2.0 wt.%, 3.2 wt.% and 3.5 wt.% within 30 min, respectively. - Graphical Abstract: We mainly focus on the amorphization behavior of crystalline Mg{sub 2}Ni alloy in the high energy ball-milling process and the crystallization behavior of the amorphous Mg{sub 2}Ni alloy in a follow-up heating process. The relationship of milling, microstructure and hydrogenation properties is established and explained by models. - Highlights: • Amorphous Mg{sub 2}Ni has been obtained by high energy ball milling the as-cast alloy. • The amorphization behavior of polycrystalline Mg{sub 2}Ni is presented. • The crystallization behavior of the amorphous Mg{sub 2}Ni alloy is illustrated. • Establish the relationship of milling, microstructure and hydrogenation properties.« less

Grain Nucleation and Growth in Deformed NiTi Shape Memory Alloys: An In Situ TEM Study

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Burow, J.; Frenzel, J.; Somsen, C.; Prokofiev, E.; Valiev, R.; Eggeler, G.

2017-12-01

The present study investigates the evolution of nanocrystalline (NC) and ultrafine-grained (UFG) microstructures in plastically deformed NiTi. Two deformed NiTi alloys were subjected to in situ annealing in a transmission electron microscope (TEM) at 400 and 550 °C: an amorphous material state produced by high-pressure torsion (HPT) and a mostly martensitic partly amorphous alloy produced by wire drawing. In situ annealing experiments were performed to characterize the microstructural evolution from the initial nonequilibrium states toward energetically more favorable microstructures. In general, the formation and evolution of nanocrystalline microstructures are governed by the nucleation of new grains and their subsequent growth. Austenite nuclei which form in HPT and wire-drawn microstructures have sizes close to 10 nm. Grain coarsening occurs in a sporadic, nonuniform manner and depends on the physical and chemical features of the local environment. The mobility of grain boundaries in NiTi is governed by the local interaction of each grain with its microstructural environment. Nanograin growth in thin TEM foils seems to follow similar kinetic laws to those in bulk microstructures. The present study demonstrates the strength of in situ TEM analysis and also highlights aspects which need to be considered when interpreting the results.

Periodically pulsed wet annealing approach for low-temperature processable amorphous InGaZnO thin film transistors with high electrical performance and ultrathin thickness

PubMed Central

Kim, Ye Kyun; Ahn, Cheol Hyoun; Yun, Myeong Gu; Cho, Sung Woon; Kang, Won Jun; Cho, Hyung Koun

2016-01-01

In this paper, a simple and controllable “wet pulse annealing” technique for the fabrication of flexible amorphous InGaZnO thin film transistors (a-IGZO TFTs) processed at low temperature (150 °C) by using scalable vacuum deposition is proposed. This method entailed the quick injection of water vapor for 0.1 s and purge treatment in dry ambient in one cycle; the supply content of water vapor was simply controlled by the number of pulse repetitions. The electrical transport characteristics revealed a remarkable performance of the a-IGZO TFTs prepared at the maximum process temperature of 150 °C (field-effect mobility of 13.3 cm2 V−1 s−1; Ion/Ioff ratio ≈ 108; reduced I-V hysteresis), comparable to that of a-IGZO TFTs annealed at 350 °C in dry ambient. Upon analysis of the angle-resolved x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, the good performance was attributed to the effective suppression of the formation of hydroxide and oxygen-related defects. Finally, by using the wet pulse annealing process, we fabricated, on a plastic substrate, an ultrathin flexible a-IGZO TFT with good electrical and bending performances. PMID:27198067

Effects of Molecular Structure and Packing Order on the Stretchability of Semicrystalline Conjugated Poly(Tetrathienoacene-diketopyrrolopyrrole) Polymers

DOE PAGES

Lu, Chien; Lee, Wen-Ya; Gu, Xiaodan; ...

2016-12-23

The design of polymer semiconductors possessing high charge transport performance, coupled with good ductility, remains a challenge. Understanding the distribution and behavior of both crystalline domains and amorphous regions in conjugated polymer films, upon an applied stress, shall provide general guiding principles to design stretchable organic semiconductors. Structure–property relationships (especially in both side chain and backbone engineering) are investigated for a series of poly(tetrathienoacene-diketopyrrolopyrrole) polymers. It is observed that the fused thiophene diketopyrrolopyrrole-based polymer, when incorporated with branched side chains and an additional thiophene spacer in the backbone, exhibits improved mechanical endurance and, in addition, does not show crack propagationmore » until 40% strain. Furthermore, this polymer exhibits a hole mobility of 0.1 cm2 V -1 s -1 even at 100% strain or after recovered from strain, which reveals prominent continuity and viscoelasticity of the polymer thin film. In conclusion, it is also observed that the molecular packing orientations (either edge-on or face-on) significantly affect the mechanical compliance of the polymer films. The improved stretchability of the polymers is attributed to both the presence of soft amorphous regions and the intrinsic packing arrangement of its crystalline domains.« less

Damage-free back channel wet-etch process in amorphous indium-zinc-oxide thin-film transistors using a carbon-nanofilm barrier layer.

PubMed

Luo, Dongxiang; Zhao, Mingjie; Xu, Miao; Li, Min; Chen, Zikai; Wang, Lang; Zou, Jianhua; Tao, Hong; Wang, Lei; Peng, Junbiao

2014-07-23

Amorphous indium-zinc-oxide thin film transistors (IZO-TFTs) with damage-free back channel wet-etch (BCE) process were investigated. A carbon (C) nanofilm was inserted into the interface between IZO layer and source/drain (S/D) electrodes as a barrier layer. Transmittance electron microscope images revealed that the 3 nm-thick C nanofilm exhibited a good corrosion resistance to a commonly used H3PO4-based etchant and could be easily eliminated. The TFT device with a 3 nm-thick C barrier layer showed a saturated field effect mobility of 14.4 cm(2) V(-1) s(-1), a subthreshold swing of 0.21 V/decade, an on-to-off current ratio of 8.3 × 10(10), and a threshold voltage of 2.0 V. The favorable electrical performance of this kind of IZO-TFTs was due to the protection of the inserted C to IZO layer in the back-channel-etch process. Moreover, the low contact resistance of the devices was proved to be due to the graphitization of the C nanofilms after annealing. In addition, the hysteresis and thermal stress testing confirmed that the usage of C barrier nanofilms is an effective method to fabricate the damage-free BCE-type devices with high reliability.

Periodically pulsed wet annealing approach for low-temperature processable amorphous InGaZnO thin film transistors with high electrical performance and ultrathin thickness.

PubMed

Kim, Ye Kyun; Ahn, Cheol Hyoun; Yun, Myeong Gu; Cho, Sung Woon; Kang, Won Jun; Cho, Hyung Koun

2016-05-20

In this paper, a simple and controllable "wet pulse annealing" technique for the fabrication of flexible amorphous InGaZnO thin film transistors (a-IGZO TFTs) processed at low temperature (150 °C) by using scalable vacuum deposition is proposed. This method entailed the quick injection of water vapor for 0.1 s and purge treatment in dry ambient in one cycle; the supply content of water vapor was simply controlled by the number of pulse repetitions. The electrical transport characteristics revealed a remarkable performance of the a-IGZO TFTs prepared at the maximum process temperature of 150 °C (field-effect mobility of 13.3 cm(2) V(-1) s(-1); Ion/Ioff ratio ≈ 10(8); reduced I-V hysteresis), comparable to that of a-IGZO TFTs annealed at 350 °C in dry ambient. Upon analysis of the angle-resolved x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, the good performance was attributed to the effective suppression of the formation of hydroxide and oxygen-related defects. Finally, by using the wet pulse annealing process, we fabricated, on a plastic substrate, an ultrathin flexible a-IGZO TFT with good electrical and bending performances.

Effects of Molecular Structure and Packing Order on the Stretchability of Semicrystalline Conjugated Poly(Tetrathienoacene-diketopyrrolopyrrole) Polymers

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Lu, Chien; Lee, Wen-Ya; Gu, Xiaodan

The design of polymer semiconductors possessing high charge transport performance, coupled with good ductility, remains a challenge. Understanding the distribution and behavior of both crystalline domains and amorphous regions in conjugated polymer films, upon an applied stress, shall provide general guiding principles to design stretchable organic semiconductors. Structure–property relationships (especially in both side chain and backbone engineering) are investigated for a series of poly(tetrathienoacene-diketopyrrolopyrrole) polymers. It is observed that the fused thiophene diketopyrrolopyrrole-based polymer, when incorporated with branched side chains and an additional thiophene spacer in the backbone, exhibits improved mechanical endurance and, in addition, does not show crack propagationmore » until 40% strain. Furthermore, this polymer exhibits a hole mobility of 0.1 cm2 V -1 s -1 even at 100% strain or after recovered from strain, which reveals prominent continuity and viscoelasticity of the polymer thin film. In conclusion, it is also observed that the molecular packing orientations (either edge-on or face-on) significantly affect the mechanical compliance of the polymer films. The improved stretchability of the polymers is attributed to both the presence of soft amorphous regions and the intrinsic packing arrangement of its crystalline domains.« less

Mobility and chemical fate of arsenic and antimony in water and sediments of Sarouq River catchment, Takab geothermal field, northwest Iran.

PubMed

Sharifi, Reza; Moore, Farid; Keshavarzi, Behnam

2016-04-01

Arsenic (As) and antimony (Sb) concentrations in water and sediments were determined along flow paths in the Sarouq River, Zarshuran and Agh Darreh streams. The results indicate high As and Sb concentrations in water and sediment samples. Raman spectroscopy shows hematite (α-Fe2O3), goethite [α-FeO(OH)] and lepidocrocite [γ-FeO(OH)] in sediment samples. Calculated saturation indices (SI) indicate oversaturation with respect to amorphous Fe(OH)3 for all samples, but undersaturation with respect to Al and Mn mineral and amorphous phases. Therefore, ferric oxides and hydroxides are assumed to be principal mineral phases for arsenic and antimony attenuation by adsorption/co-precipitation processes. The considerable difference between As and Sb concentration in sediment is due to strong adsorption of As(V) into the solid phase. Also, lower affinity of Sb(V) for mineral surfaces suggests a greater potential for aqueous transport. The adsorption of arsenic and antimony was examined using the Freundlich adsorption isotherm to determine their distribution model in water-sediment system and its compatibility with the existing theoretical model. The results showed that the adsorption behavior of both elements complies with the Freundlich adsorption isotherm. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Nanocrystal dispersed amorphous alloys

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Perepezko, John H. (Inventor); Allen, Donald R. (Inventor); Foley, James C. (Inventor)

2001-01-01

Compositions and methods for obtaining nanocrystal dispersed amorphous alloys are described. A composition includes an amorphous matrix forming element (e.g., Al or Fe); at least one transition metal element; and at least one crystallizing agent that is insoluble in the resulting amorphous matrix. During devitrification, the crystallizing agent causes the formation of a high density nanocrystal dispersion. The compositions and methods provide advantages in that materials with superior properties are provided.

Neutron irradiation and high temperature effects on amorphous Fe-based nano-coatings on steel - A macroscopic assessment

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Simos, N.; Zhong, Z.; Dooryhee, E.; Ghose, S.; Gill, S.; Camino, F.; Şavklıyıldız, İ.; Akdoğan, E. K.

2017-06-01

The study revealed that loss of ductility in an amorphous Fe-alloy coating on a steel substrate composite structure was essentially prevented from occurring, following radiation with modest neutron doses of ∼2 × 1018 n/cm2. At the higher neutron dose of ∼2 × 1019, macroscopic stress-strain analysis showed that the amorphous Fe-alloy nanostructured coating, while still amorphous, experienced radiation-induced embrittlement, no longer offering protection against ductility loss in the coating-substrate composite structure. Neutron irradiation in a corrosive environment revealed exemplary oxidation/corrosion resistance of the amorphous Fe-alloy coating, which is attributed to the formation of the Fe2B phase in the coating. To establish the impact of elevated temperatures on the amorphous-to-crystalline transition in the amorphous Fe-alloy, electron microscopy was carried out which confirmed the radiation-induced suppression of crystallization in the amorphous Fe-alloy nanostructured coating.

Fracture-induced amorphization of polycrystalline SiO2 stishovite: a potential platform for toughening in ceramics

PubMed Central

Nishiyama, Norimasa; Wakai, Fumihiro; Ohfuji, Hiroaki; Tamenori, Yusuke; Murata, Hidenobu; Taniguchi, Takashi; Matsushita, Masafumi; Takahashi, Manabu; Kulik, Eleonora; Yoshida, Kimiko; Wada, Kouhei; Bednarcik, Jozef; Irifune, Tetsuo

2014-01-01

Silicon dioxide has eight stable crystalline phases at conditions of the Earth's rocky parts. Many metastable phases including amorphous phases have been known, which indicates the presence of large kinetic barriers. As a consequence, some crystalline silica phases transform to amorphous phases by bypassing the liquid via two different pathways. Here we show a new pathway, a fracture-induced amorphization of stishovite that is a high-pressure polymorph. The amorphization accompanies a huge volume expansion of ~100% and occurs in a thin layer whose thickness from the fracture surface is several tens of nanometers. Amorphous silica materials that look like strings or worms were observed on the fracture surfaces. The amount of amorphous silica near the fracture surfaces is positively correlated with indentation fracture toughness. This result indicates that the fracture-induced amorphization causes toughening of stishovite polycrystals. The fracture-induced solid-state amorphization may provide a potential platform for toughening in ceramics. PMID:25297473

Fracture-induced amorphization of polycrystalline SiO2 stishovite: a potential platform for toughening in ceramics.

PubMed

Nishiyama, Norimasa; Wakai, Fumihiro; Ohfuji, Hiroaki; Tamenori, Yusuke; Murata, Hidenobu; Taniguchi, Takashi; Matsushita, Masafumi; Takahashi, Manabu; Kulik, Eleonora; Yoshida, Kimiko; Wada, Kouhei; Bednarcik, Jozef; Irifune, Tetsuo

2014-10-09

Silicon dioxide has eight stable crystalline phases at conditions of the Earth's rocky parts. Many metastable phases including amorphous phases have been known, which indicates the presence of large kinetic barriers. As a consequence, some crystalline silica phases transform to amorphous phases by bypassing the liquid via two different pathways. Here we show a new pathway, a fracture-induced amorphization of stishovite that is a high-pressure polymorph. The amorphization accompanies a huge volume expansion of ~100% and occurs in a thin layer whose thickness from the fracture surface is several tens of nanometers. Amorphous silica materials that look like strings or worms were observed on the fracture surfaces. The amount of amorphous silica near the fracture surfaces is positively correlated with indentation fracture toughness. This result indicates that the fracture-induced amorphization causes toughening of stishovite polycrystals. The fracture-induced solid-state amorphization may provide a potential platform for toughening in ceramics.

Peculiarities of Vibration Characteristics of Amorphous Ices

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gets, Kirill V.; Subbotin, Oleg S.; Belosludov, Vladimir R.

2012-03-01

Dynamic properties of low (LDA), high (HDA) and very high (VHDA) density amorphous ices were investigated within the approach based on Lattice Dynamics simulations. In this approach, we assume that the short-range molecular order mainly determines the dynamic and thermodynamic properties of amorphous ices. Simulation cell of 512 water molecules with periodical boundary conditions and disordering allows us to study dynamical properties and dispersion curves in the Brillouin zone of pseudo-crystal. Existence of collective phenomena in amorphous ices which is usual for crystals but anomalous for disordered phase was confirmed in our simulations. Molecule amplitudes of delocalized (collective) as well as localized vibrations have been considered.

Spatial atomic layer deposition of ZnO/TiO{sub 2} nanolaminates

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Chen, Rong, E-mail: rongchen@mail.hust.edu.cn; Lin, Ji-Long; He, Wen-Jie

2016-09-15

Spatial atomic layer deposition (S-ALD) is a potential high-throughput manufacturing technique offering fast and large scale ultrathin films deposition. Here, an S-ALD system with modular injectors is introduced for fabricating binary oxides and their nanolaminates. By optimizing the deposition conditions, both ZnO and TiO{sub 2} films demonstrate linear growth and desired surface morphology. The as-deposited ZnO film has high carrier mobility, and the TiO{sub 2} film shows suitable optical transmittance and band gap. The ZnO/TiO{sub 2} nanolaminates are fabricated by alternating substrate movement between each S-ALD modular units of ZnO and TiO{sub 2}. The grazing incidence x-ray diffraction spectra ofmore » nanolaminates demonstrating the signature peaks are weaker for the same thickness nanolaminates with more bilayers, suggesting tuning nanolaminates from crystalline to amorphous. Optical transmittances of ZnO/TiO{sub 2} laminates are enhanced with the increase of the bilayers' number in the visible range. Refractive indices of nanolaminates increase with the thickness of each bilayer decreasing, which demonstrates the feasibility of obtaining desired refractive indices by controlling the bilayer number. The electronic properties, including mobility, carrier concentration, and conductivity, are also tunable with different bilayers.« less

Impact of carrier doping on electrical properties of laser-induced liquid-phase-crystallized silicon thin films for solar cell application

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Umishio, Hiroshi; Matsui, Takuya; Sai, Hitoshi; Sakurai, Takeaki; Matsubara, Koji

2018-02-01

Large-grain-size (>1 mm) liquid-phase-crystallized silicon (LPC-Si) films with a wide range of carrier doping levels (1016-1018 cm-3 either of the n- or p-type) were prepared by irradiating amorphous silicon with a line-shaped 804 nm laser, and characterized for solar cell applications. The LPC-Si films show high electron and hole mobilities with maximum values of ˜800 and ˜200 cm2 V-1 s-1, respectively, at a doping level of ˜(2-4) × 1016 cm-3, while their carrier lifetime monotonically increases with decreasing carrier doping level. A grain-boundary charge-trapping model provides good fits to the measured mobility-carrier density relations, indicating that the potential barrier at the grain boundaries limits the carrier transport in the lowly doped films. The open-circuit voltage and short-circuit current density of test LPC-Si solar cells depend strongly on the doping level, peaking at (2-5) × 1016 cm-3. These results indicate that the solar cell performance is governed by the minority carrier diffusion length for the highly doped films, while it is limited by majority carrier transport as well as by device design for the lowly doped films.

In situ observation of shear-driven amorphization in silicon crystals.

PubMed

He, Yang; Zhong, Li; Fan, Feifei; Wang, Chongmin; Zhu, Ting; Mao, Scott X

2016-10-01

Amorphous materials are used for both structural and functional applications. An amorphous solid usually forms under driven conditions such as melt quenching, irradiation, shock loading or severe mechanical deformation. Such extreme conditions impose significant challenges on the direct observation of the amorphization process. Various experimental techniques have been used to detect how the amorphous phases form, including synchrotron X-ray diffraction, transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and Raman spectroscopy, but a dynamic, atomistic characterization has remained elusive. Here, by using in situ high-resolution TEM (HRTEM), we show the dynamic amorphization process in silicon nanocrystals during mechanical straining on the atomic scale. We find that shear-driven amorphization occurs in a dominant shear band starting with the diamond-cubic (dc) to diamond-hexagonal (dh) phase transition and then proceeds by dislocation nucleation and accumulation in the newly formed dh-Si phase. This process leads to the formation of an amorphous Si (a-Si) band, embedded with dh-Si nanodomains. The amorphization of dc-Si via an intermediate dh-Si phase is a previously unknown pathway of solid-state amorphization.

High Performance, Low Temperature Solution-Processed Barium and Strontium Doped Oxide Thin Film Transistors.

PubMed

Banger, Kulbinder K; Peterson, Rebecca L; Mori, Kiyotaka; Yamashita, Yoshihisa; Leedham, Timothy; Sirringhaus, Henning

2014-01-28

Amorphous mixed metal oxides are emerging as high performance semiconductors for thin film transistor (TFT) applications, with indium gallium zinc oxide, InGaZnO (IGZO), being one of the most widely studied and best performing systems. Here, we investigate alkaline earth (barium or strontium) doped InBa(Sr)ZnO as alternative, semiconducting channel layers and compare their performance of the electrical stress stability with IGZO. In films fabricated by solution-processing from metal alkoxide precursors and annealed to 450 °C we achieve high field-effect electron mobility up to 26 cm 2 V -1 s -1 . We show that it is possible to solution-process these materials at low process temperature (225-200 °C yielding mobilities up to 4.4 cm 2 V -1 s -1 ) and demonstrate a facile "ink-on-demand" process for these materials which utilizes the alcoholysis reaction of alkyl metal precursors to negate the need for complex synthesis and purification protocols. Electrical bias stress measurements which can serve as a figure of merit for performance stability for a TFT device reveal Sr- and Ba-doped semiconductors to exhibit enhanced electrical stability and reduced threshold voltage shift compared to IGZO irrespective of the process temperature and preparation method. This enhancement in stability can be attributed to the higher Gibbs energy of oxidation of barium and strontium compared to gallium.

High Performance, Low Temperature Solution-Processed Barium and Strontium Doped Oxide Thin Film Transistors

PubMed Central

2013-01-01

Amorphous mixed metal oxides are emerging as high performance semiconductors for thin film transistor (TFT) applications, with indium gallium zinc oxide, InGaZnO (IGZO), being one of the most widely studied and best performing systems. Here, we investigate alkaline earth (barium or strontium) doped InBa(Sr)ZnO as alternative, semiconducting channel layers and compare their performance of the electrical stress stability with IGZO. In films fabricated by solution-processing from metal alkoxide precursors and annealed to 450 °C we achieve high field-effect electron mobility up to 26 cm2 V–1 s–1. We show that it is possible to solution-process these materials at low process temperature (225–200 °C yielding mobilities up to 4.4 cm2 V–1 s–1) and demonstrate a facile “ink-on-demand” process for these materials which utilizes the alcoholysis reaction of alkyl metal precursors to negate the need for complex synthesis and purification protocols. Electrical bias stress measurements which can serve as a figure of merit for performance stability for a TFT device reveal Sr- and Ba-doped semiconductors to exhibit enhanced electrical stability and reduced threshold voltage shift compared to IGZO irrespective of the process temperature and preparation method. This enhancement in stability can be attributed to the higher Gibbs energy of oxidation of barium and strontium compared to gallium. PMID:24511184

Cu2I2Se6: A Metal-Inorganic Framework Wide-Bandgap Semiconductor for Photon Detection at Room Temperature.

PubMed

Lin, Wenwen; Stoumpos, Constantinos C; Kontsevoi, Oleg Y; Liu, Zhifu; He, Yihui; Das, Sanjib; Xu, Yadong; McCall, Kyle M; Wessels, Bruce W; Kanatzidis, Mercouri G

2018-02-07

Cu 2 I 2 Se 6 is a new wide-bandgap semiconductor with high stability and great potential toward hard radiation and photon detection. Cu 2 I 2 Se 6 crystallizes in the rhombohedral R3̅m space group with a density of d = 5.287 g·cm -3 and a wide bandgap E g of 1.95 eV. First-principles electronic band structure calculations at the density functional theory level indicate an indirect bandgap and a low electron effective mass m e * of 0.32. The congruently melting compound was grown in centimeter-size Cu 2 I 2 Se 6 single crystals using a vertical Bridgman method. A high electric resistivity of ∼10 12 Ω·cm is readily achieved, and detectors made of Cu 2 I 2 Se 6 single crystals demonstrate high photosensitivity to Ag Kα X-rays (22.4 keV) and show spectroscopic performance with energy resolutions under 241 Am α-particles (5.5 MeV) radiation. The electron mobility is measured by a time-of-flight technique to be ∼46 cm 2 ·V -1 ·s -1 . This value is comparable to that of one of the leading γ-ray detector materials, TlBr, and is a factor of 30 higher than mobility values obtained for amorphous Se for X-ray detection.

Effect of sugar additives on stability of human serum albumin during vacuum foam drying and storage.

PubMed

Hajare, A A; More, H N; Pisal, S S

2011-11-01

No literature on the protein stabilization of human serum albumin (HSA) by vacuum foam drying (VFD) has been reported. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of sugar-additive systems on the stability of HSA by VFD. For the assessment, HSA was formulated with sucrose and mannitol, respectively, alone or in combination with stabilizers, which were vacuum foam dried and stored at 25C. Protein content of the resulting dried formulations was analyzed by Lowry method. Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR) analysis of the HSA secondary structure showed apparent protein structure-stabilizing effects of the amorphous sugar and phosphate combination during the VFD. In particular, sucrose-sodium phosphate monobasic mixture provide an interesting alternative to pure saccharide formulations due to their high glass transition temperatures and their increased ability to maintain a low melting transition temperature in the presence of small amounts of water. Inhibition of the sucrose crystallization in solutions under vacuum resulted in highly amorphous sucrose. Changes in the endothermic melting transition suggested reduced sucrose molecular mobility with increase in the sodium phosphate ratio. The addition of phosphate salts to sugar systems has several interesting features that merit its consideration in formulations to protect dehydrated labile biomaterials. In conclusion, our data suggest that sucrose and phosphate as additives seem to protect HSA during VFD better than lyophilized products and also maintain its stability in the VFD state during storage.

Amorphous silicon ionizing particle detectors

DOEpatents

Street, Robert A.; Mendez, Victor P.; Kaplan, Selig N.

1988-01-01

Amorphous silicon ionizing particle detectors having a hydrogenated amorphous silicon (a--Si:H) thin film deposited via plasma assisted chemical vapor deposition techniques are utilized to detect the presence, position and counting of high energy ionizing particles, such as electrons, x-rays, alpha particles, beta particles and gamma radiation.

Nanocrystalline zirconia can be amorphized by ion irradiation.

PubMed

Meldrum, A; Boatner, L A; Ewing, R C

2002-01-14

Nanocrystalline composites are finding applications in high-radiation environments due to their excellent mechanical and electronic properties. We show, however, that at the smallest particle sizes, radiation damage effects can be so strongly enhanced that under the right conditions, materials that have never been made amorphous can become highly susceptible to irradiation-induced amorphization. Because light-weight, high-strength nanocomposites are potential materials for spacecraft shielding and sensor systems, these fundamental results have significant implications for the design and selection of materials to be used in environments where a large ion flux will be encountered.

Mineralogical controls on antimony and arsenic mobility during tetrahedrite-tennantite weathering at historic mine sites Špania Dolina-Piesky and Lubietová-Svätodušná, Slovakia

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Bor,; #269; inová rAdková, AnežkA

The legacy of copper (Cu) mining at Špania Dolina-Piesky and Lubietová-Svätodušná (central Slovakia) is waste rock and soil, surface waters, and groundwaters contaminated with antimony (Sb), arsenic (As), Cu, and other metals. Copper ore is hosted in chalcopyrite (CuFeS2) and sulfosalt solid-solution tetrahedrite-tennantite {Cu6[Cu4(Fe,Zn)2]Sb4S13–Cu6[Cu4(Fe,Zn)2]As4S13} that show wide-spread oxidation characteristic by olive-green color secondary minerals. Tetrahedrite-tennantite can be a significant source of As and Sb contamination. Synchrotron-based μ-XRD, μ-XRF, and μ-XANES combined with electron microprobe analyses have been used to determine the mineralogy, chemical composition, element distribution, and Sb speciation in tetrahedrite-tennantite oxidation products in waste rock. Our results show thatmore » the mobility of Sb is limited by the formation of oxidation products such as tripuhyite and roméite group mineral containing 36.54 wt% Sb for samples where the primary mineral chemical composition is close to tetrahedrite end-member. Antimony K-edge μ-XANES spectra of these oxidation products indicate that the predominant Sb oxidation state is 5+. Arsenic and Cu are also hosted by amorphous phases containing 6.23 wt% Sb on average and these are intergrown with tripuhyite and roméite. Antimony in this environment is not very mobile, meaning it is not easily released from solid phases to water, especially compared to As, Cu, and S. For samples where the primary sulfosalt is close to tennantite composition, the oxidation products associated with tennantite relicts contain 2.43 wt% Sb and are amorphous. The variable solubility of the secondary minerals that have been identified is expected to influence mobility of Sb and As in near-surface environment.« less

Solid-state amorphization of rebamipide and investigation on solubility and stability of the amorphous form.

PubMed

Xiong, Xinnuo; Xu, Kailin; Li, Shanshan; Tang, Peixiao; Xiao, Ying; Li, Hui

2017-02-01

Solid-state amorphization of crystalline rebamipide (RBM) was realized by ball milling and spray drying. The amorphous content of samples milled for various time was quantified using X-ray powder diffraction. Crystalline RBM and three amorphous RBM obtained by milling and spray drying were characterized by morphological analysis, X-ray diffraction, thermal analysis and vibrational spectroscopy. The crystal structure of RBM was first determined by single-crystal X-ray diffraction. In addition, the solubility and dissolution rate of the RBM samples were investigated in different media. Results indicated that the solubility and the dissolution rates of spray-dried RBM-PVP in different media were highly improved compared with crystalline RBM. The physical stabilities of the three amorphous RBM were systematically investigated, and the stability orders under different storage temperatures and levels of relative humidity (RH) were both as follows: spray dried RBM < milled RBM < spray dried RBM-PVP. A direct glass-to-crystal transformation was induced under high RH, and the transformation rate rose with increasing RH. However, amorphous RBM could stay stable at RH levels lower than 57.6% (25 °C).

Effect of radiation-induced amorphization on smectite dissolution.

PubMed

Fourdrin, C; Allard, T; Monnet, I; Menguy, N; Benedetti, M; Calas, G

2010-04-01

Effects of radiation-induced amorphization of smectite were investigated using artificial irradiation. Beams of 925 MeV Xenon ions with radiation dose reaching 73 MGy were used to simulate the effects generated by alpha recoil nuclei or fission products in the context of high level nuclear waste repository. Amorphization was controlled by X-ray diffraction, transmission electron microscopy, and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy. An important coalescence of the smectite sheets was observed which lead to a loss of interparticle porosity. The amorphization is revealed by a loss of long-range structure and accompanied by dehydroxylation. The dissolution rate far-from-equilibrium shows that the amount of silica in solution is two times larger in the amorphous sample than in the reference clay, a value which may be enhanced by orders of magnitude when considering the relative surface area of the samples. Irradiation-induced amorphization thus facilitates dissolution of the clay-derived material. This has to be taken into account for the safety assessment of high level nuclear waste repository, particularly in a scenario of leakage of the waste package which would deliver alpha emitters able to amorphize smectite after a limited period of time.

Amorphous metallizations for high-temperature semiconductor device applications

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Wiley, J. D.; Perepezko, J. H.; Nordman, J. E.; Kang-Jin, G.

1981-01-01

The initial results of work on a class of semiconductor metallizations which appear to hold promise as primary metallizations and diffusion barriers for high temperature device applications are presented. These metallizations consist of sputter-deposited films of high T sub g amorphous-metal alloys which (primarily because of the absence of grain boundaries) exhibit exceptionally good corrosion-resistance and low diffusion coefficients. Amorphous films of the alloys Ni-Nb, Ni-Mo, W-Si, and Mo-Si were deposited on Si, GaAs, GaP, and various insulating substrates. The films adhere extremely well to the substrates and remain amorphous during thermal cycling to at least 500 C. Rutherford backscattering and Auger electron spectroscopy measurements indicate atomic diffussivities in the 10 to the -19th power sq cm/S range at 450 C.

Amorphous silicon ionizing particle detectors

DOEpatents

Street, R.A.; Mendez, V.P.; Kaplan, S.N.

1988-11-15

Amorphous silicon ionizing particle detectors having a hydrogenated amorphous silicon (a--Si:H) thin film deposited via plasma assisted chemical vapor deposition techniques are utilized to detect the presence, position and counting of high energy ionizing particles, such as electrons, x-rays, alpha particles, beta particles and gamma radiation. 15 figs.

More Evidence of the Importance of Amorphous Silicates in CM Carbonaceous Chondrites: New Observations from a Fine-Grained Rim in the CM2 Chondrite, TIL 91722

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Brearley, A. J.; Le Guillou, C.

2015-07-01

A fine-grained rim in TIL 91722 contains abundant amorphous silicate material containing nanophase sulfides. Phyllosilicates are rare. The amorphous material has a high ferric iron content indicative of oxidation coupled with hydration.

Amorphous salts formed from rapid dehydration of multicomponent chloride and ferric sulfate brines: Implications for Mars.

PubMed

Sklute, Elizabeth C; Rogers, A Deanne; Gregerson, Jason C; Jensen, Heidi B; Reeder, Richard J; Dyar, M Darby

2018-03-01

Salts with high hydration states have the potential to maintain high levels of relative humidity (RH) in the near subsurface of Mars, even at moderate temperatures. These conditions could promote deliquescence of lower hydrates of ferric sulfate, chlorides, and other salts. Previous work on deliquesced ferric sulfates has shown that when these materials undergo rapid dehydration, such as that which would occur upon exposure to present day Martian surface conditions, an amorphous phase forms. However, the fate of deliquesced halides or mixed ferric sulfate-bearing brines are presently unknown. Here we present results of rapid dehydration experiments on Ca-, Na-, Mg- and Fe-chloride brines and multi-component (Fe 2 (SO 4 ) 3 ± Ca, Na, Mg, Fe, Cl, HCO 3 ) brines at ∼21°C, and characterize the dehydration products using visible/near-infrared (VNIR) reflectance spectroscopy, mid-infrared attenuated total reflectance spectroscopy, and X-ray diffraction (XRD) analysis. We find that rapid dehydration of many multicomponent brines can form amorphous solids or solids with an amorphous component, and that the presence of other elements affects the persistence of the amorphous phase under RH fluctuations. Of the pure chloride brines, only Fe-chloride formed an amorphous solid. XRD patterns of the multicomponent amorphous salts show changes in position, shape, and magnitude of the characteristic diffuse scattering observed in all amorphous materials that could be used to help constrain the composition of the amorphous salt. Amorphous salts deliquesce at lower RH values compared to their crystalline counterparts, opening up the possibility of their role in potential deliquescence-related geologic phenomena such as recurring slope lineae (RSLs) or soil induration. This work suggests that a wide range of aqueous mixed salt solutions can lead to the formation of amorphous salts and are possible for Mars; detailed studies of the formation mechanisms, stability and transformation behaviors of amorphous salts are necessary to further constrain their contribution to Martian surface materials.

Amorphous salts formed from rapid dehydration of multicomponent chloride and ferric sulfate brines: Implications for Mars

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sklute, Elizabeth C.; Rogers, A. Deanne; Gregerson, Jason C.; Jensen, Heidi B.; Reeder, Richard J.; Dyar, M. Darby

2018-03-01

Salts with high hydration states have the potential to maintain high levels of relative humidity (RH) in the near subsurface of Mars, even at moderate temperatures. These conditions could promote deliquescence of lower hydrates of ferric sulfate, chlorides, and other salts. Previous work on deliquesced ferric sulfates has shown that when these materials undergo rapid dehydration, such as that which would occur upon exposure to present day Martian surface conditions, an amorphous phase forms. However, the fate of deliquesced halides or mixed ferric sulfate-bearing brines are presently unknown. Here we present results of rapid dehydration experiments on Ca-, Na-, Mg- and Fe-chloride brines and multicomponent (Fe2(SO4)3 ± Ca, Na, Mg, Fe, Cl, HCO3) brines at ∼21 °C, and characterize the dehydration products using visible/near-infrared (VNIR) reflectance spectroscopy, mid-infrared attenuated total reflectance spectroscopy, and X-ray diffraction (XRD) analysis. We find that rapid dehydration of many multicomponent brines can form amorphous solids or solids with an amorphous component, and that the presence of other elements affects the persistence of the amorphous phase under RH fluctuations. Of the pure chloride brines, only Fe-chloride formed an amorphous solid. XRD patterns of the multicomponent amorphous salts show changes in position, shape, and magnitude of the characteristic diffuse scattering observed in all amorphous materials that could be used to help constrain the composition of the amorphous salt. Amorphous salts deliquesce at lower RH values compared to their crystalline counterparts, opening up the possibility of their role in potential deliquescence-related geologic phenomena such as recurring slope lineae (RSLs) or soil induration. This work suggests that a wide range of aqueous mixed salt solutions can lead to the formation of amorphous salts and are possible for Mars; detailed studies of the formation mechanisms, stability and transformation behaviors of amorphous salts are necessary to further constrain their contribution to Martian surface materials.

Amorphous salts formed from rapid dehydration of multicomponent chloride and ferric sulfate brines: Implications for Mars

PubMed Central

Sklute, Elizabeth C.; Rogers, A. Deanne; Gregerson, Jason C.; Jensen, Heidi B.; Reeder, Richard J.; Dyar, M. Darby

2018-01-01

Salts with high hydration states have the potential to maintain high levels of relative humidity (RH) in the near subsurface of Mars, even at moderate temperatures. These conditions could promote deliquescence of lower hydrates of ferric sulfate, chlorides, and other salts. Previous work on deliquesced ferric sulfates has shown that when these materials undergo rapid dehydration, such as that which would occur upon exposure to present day Martian surface conditions, an amorphous phase forms. However, the fate of deliquesced halides or mixed ferric sulfate-bearing brines are presently unknown. Here we present results of rapid dehydration experiments on Ca–, Na–, Mg– and Fe–chloride brines and multi-component (Fe2 (SO4)3 ± Ca, Na, Mg, Fe, Cl, HCO3) brines at ∼21°C, and characterize the dehydration products using visible/near-infrared (VNIR) reflectance spectroscopy, mid-infrared attenuated total reflectance spectroscopy, and X-ray diffraction (XRD) analysis. We find that rapid dehydration of many multicomponent brines can form amorphous solids or solids with an amorphous component, and that the presence of other elements affects the persistence of the amorphous phase under RH fluctuations. Of the pure chloride brines, only Fe–chloride formed an amorphous solid. XRD patterns of the multicomponent amorphous salts show changes in position, shape, and magnitude of the characteristic diffuse scattering observed in all amorphous materials that could be used to help constrain the composition of the amorphous salt. Amorphous salts deliquesce at lower RH values compared to their crystalline counterparts, opening up the possibility of their role in potential deliquescence-related geologic phenomena such as recurring slope lineae (RSLs) or soil induration. This work suggests that a wide range of aqueous mixed salt solutions can lead to the formation of amorphous salts and are possible for Mars; detailed studies of the formation mechanisms, stability and transformation behaviors of amorphous salts are necessary to further constrain their contribution to Martian surface materials. PMID:29670302

Fabrication of amorphous InGaZnO thin-film transistor with solution processed SrZrO3 gate insulator

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Takahashi, Takanori; Oikawa, Kento; Hoga, Takeshi; Uraoka, Yukiharu; Uchiyama, Kiyoshi

2017-10-01

In this paper, we describe a method of fabrication of thin film transistors (TFTs) with high dielectric constant (high-k) gate insulator by a solution deposition. We chose a solution processed SrZrO3 as a gate insulator material, which possesses a high dielectric constant of 21 with smooth surface. The IGZO-TFT with solution processed SrZrO3 showed good switching property and enough saturation features, i.e. field effect mobility of 1.7cm2/Vs, threshold voltage of 4.8V, sub-threshold swing of 147mV/decade, and on/off ratio of 2.3×107. Comparing to the TFTs with conventional SiO2 gate insulator, the sub-threshold swing was improved by smooth surface and high field effect due to the high dielectric constant of SrZrO3. These results clearly showed that use of solution processed high-k SrZrO3 gate insulator could improve sub-threshold swing. In addition, the residual carbon originated from organic precursors makes TFT performances degraded.

Investigating the Interaction Pattern and Structural Elements of a Drug-Polymer Complex at the Molecular Level.

PubMed

Nie, Haichen; Mo, Huaping; Zhang, Mingtao; Song, Yang; Fang, Ke; Taylor, Lynne S; Li, Tonglei; Byrn, Stephen R

2015-07-06

Strong associations between drug and polymeric carriers are expected to contribute to higher drug loading capacities and better physical stability of amorphous solid dispersions. However, molecular details of the interaction patterns and underlying mechanisms are still unclear. In the present study, a series of amorphous solid dispersions of clofazimine (CLF), an antileprosy drug, were prepared with different polymers by applying the solvent evaporation method. When using hypromellose phthalate (HPMCP) as the carrier, the amorphous solid dispersion system exhibits not only superior drug loading capacity (63% w/w) but also color change due to strong drug-polymer association. In order to further explain these experimental observations, the interaction between CLF and HPMCP was investigated in a nonpolar volatile solvent system (chloroform) prior to forming the solid dispersion. We observed significant UV/vis and (1)H NMR spectral changes suggesting the protonation of CLF and formation of ion pairs between CLF and HPMCP in chloroform. Furthermore, nuclear Overhauser effect spectroscopy (NOESY) and diffusion order spectroscopy (DOSY) were employed to evaluate the strength of associations between drug and polymers, as well as the molecular mobility of CLF. Finally, by correlating the experimental values with quantum chemistry calculations, we demonstrate that the protonated CLF is binding to the carboxylate group of HPMCP as an ion pair and propose a possible structural model of the drug-polymer complex. Understanding the drug and carrier interaction patterns from a molecular perspective is critical for the rational design of new amorphous solid dispersions.

Electron microscopy observation of TiO2 nanocrystal evolution in high-temperature atomic layer deposition.

PubMed

Shi, Jian; Li, Zhaodong; Kvit, Alexander; Krylyuk, Sergiy; Davydov, Albert V; Wang, Xudong

2013-01-01

Understanding the evolution of amorphous and crystalline phases during atomic layer deposition (ALD) is essential for creating high quality dielectrics, multifunctional films/coatings, and predictable surface functionalization. Through comprehensive atomistic electron microscopy study of ALD TiO2 nanostructures at designed growth cycles, we revealed the transformation process and sequence of atom arrangement during TiO2 ALD growth. Evolution of TiO2 nanostructures in ALD was found following a path from amorphous layers to amorphous particles to metastable crystallites and ultimately to stable crystalline forms. Such a phase evolution is a manifestation of the Ostwald-Lussac Law, which governs the advent sequence and amount ratio of different phases in high-temperature TiO2 ALD nanostructures. The amorphous-crystalline mixture also enables a unique anisotropic crystal growth behavior at high temperature forming TiO2 nanorods via the principle of vapor-phase oriented attachment.

Conformal coating of highly structured surfaces

DOEpatents

Ginley, David S.; Perkins, John; Berry, Joseph; Gennett, Thomas

2012-12-11

Method of applying a conformal coating to a highly structured substrate and devices made by the disclosed methods are disclosed. An example method includes the deposition of a substantially contiguous layer of a material upon a highly structured surface within a deposition process chamber. The highly structured surface may be associated with a substrate or another layer deposited on a substrate. The method includes depositing a material having an amorphous structure on the highly structured surface at a deposition pressure of equal to or less than about 3 mTorr. The method may also include removing a portion of the amorphous material deposited on selected surfaces and depositing additional amorphous material on the highly structured surface.

Dual active layer a-IGZO TFT via homogeneous conductive layer formation by photochemical H-doping

PubMed Central

2014-01-01

In this study, InGaZnO (IGZO) thin film transistors (TFTs) with a dual active layer (DAL) structure are fabricated by inserting a homogeneous embedded conductive layer (HECL) in an amorphous IGZO (a-IGZO) channel with the aim of enhancing the electrical characteristics of conventional bottom-gate-structure TFTs. A highly conductive HECL (carrier concentration at 1.6 × 1013 cm-2, resistivity at 4.6 × 10-3 Ω∙cm, and Hall mobility at 14.6 cm2/Vs at room temperature) is fabricated using photochemical H-doping by irradiating UV light on an a-IGZO film. The electrical properties of the fabricated DAL TFTs are evaluated by varying the HECL length. The results reveal that carrier mobility increased proportionally with the HECL length. Further, a DAL TFT with a 60-μm-long HECL embedded in an 80-μm-long channel exhibits comprehensive and outstanding improvements in its electrical properties: a saturation mobility of 60.2 cm2/Vs, threshold voltage of 2.7 V, and subthreshold slope of 0.25 V/decade against the initial values of 19.9 cm2/Vs, 4.7 V, and 0.45 V/decade, respectively, for a TFT without HECL. This result confirms that the photochemically H-doped HECL significantly improves the electrical properties of DAL IGZO TFTs. PMID:25435832

Dual active layer a-IGZO TFT via homogeneous conductive layer formation by photochemical H-doping.

PubMed

Jeong, Seung-Ki; Kim, Myeong-Ho; Lee, Sang-Yeon; Seo, Hyungtak; Choi, Duck-Kyun

2014-01-01

In this study, InGaZnO (IGZO) thin film transistors (TFTs) with a dual active layer (DAL) structure are fabricated by inserting a homogeneous embedded conductive layer (HECL) in an amorphous IGZO (a-IGZO) channel with the aim of enhancing the electrical characteristics of conventional bottom-gate-structure TFTs. A highly conductive HECL (carrier concentration at 1.6 × 10(13) cm(-2), resistivity at 4.6 × 10(-3) Ω∙cm, and Hall mobility at 14.6 cm(2)/Vs at room temperature) is fabricated using photochemical H-doping by irradiating UV light on an a-IGZO film. The electrical properties of the fabricated DAL TFTs are evaluated by varying the HECL length. The results reveal that carrier mobility increased proportionally with the HECL length. Further, a DAL TFT with a 60-μm-long HECL embedded in an 80-μm-long channel exhibits comprehensive and outstanding improvements in its electrical properties: a saturation mobility of 60.2 cm(2)/Vs, threshold voltage of 2.7 V, and subthreshold slope of 0.25 V/decade against the initial values of 19.9 cm(2)/Vs, 4.7 V, and 0.45 V/decade, respectively, for a TFT without HECL. This result confirms that the photochemically H-doped HECL significantly improves the electrical properties of DAL IGZO TFTs.

α″ Martensite and Amorphous Phase Transformation Mechanism in TiNbTaZr Alloy Incorporated with TiO2 Particles During Friction Stir Processing

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ran, Ruoshi; Liu, Yiwei; Wang, Liqiang; Lu, Eryi; Xie, Lechun; Lu, Weijie; Wang, Kuaishe; Zhang, Lai-Chang

2018-03-01

This work studied the formation of the α″ martensite and amorphous phases of TiNbTaZr alloy incorporated with TiO2 particles during friction stir processing. Formation of the amorphous phase in the top surface mainly results from the dissolution of oxygen, rearrangement of the lattice structure, and dislocations. High-stress stemming caused by dislocations and high-stress concentrations at crystal-amorphous interfaces promote the formation of α″ martensite. Meanwhile, an α″ martensitic transformation is hindered by oxygen diffusion from TiO2 to the matrix, thereby increasing resistance to shear.

Solid state amorphization in the Al-Fe binary system during high energy milling

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Urban, P., E-mail: purban@us.es; Montes, J. M.; Cintas, J.

2013-12-16

In the present study, mechanical alloying (MA) of Al75Fe25 elemental powders mixture was carried out in argon atmosphere, using a high energy attritor ball mill. The microstructure of the milled products at different stages of milling was characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and differential scanning calorimetry (DSC). The results showed that the amorphous phase content increased by increasing the milling time, and after 50 hours the amorphization process became complete. Heating the samples resulted in the crystallization of the synthesized amorphous alloys and the appearance of the equilibrium intermetallic compounds Al{sub 5}Fe{submore » 2}.« less

α″ Martensite and Amorphous Phase Transformation Mechanism in TiNbTaZr Alloy Incorporated with TiO2 Particles During Friction Stir Processing

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ran, Ruoshi; Liu, Yiwei; Wang, Liqiang; Lu, Eryi; Xie, Lechun; Lu, Weijie; Wang, Kuaishe; Zhang, Lai-Chang

2018-06-01

This work studied the formation of the α″ martensite and amorphous phases of TiNbTaZr alloy incorporated with TiO2 particles during friction stir processing. Formation of the amorphous phase in the top surface mainly results from the dissolution of oxygen, rearrangement of the lattice structure, and dislocations. High-stress stemming caused by dislocations and high-stress concentrations at crystal-amorphous interfaces promote the formation of α″ martensite. Meanwhile, an α″ martensitic transformation is hindered by oxygen diffusion from TiO2 to the matrix, thereby increasing resistance to shear.

Composition-Dependent Morphology of Bi- and Trimetallic Phosphides: Construction of Amorphous Pd-Cu-Ni-P Nanoparticles as a Selective and Versatile Catalyst.

PubMed

Zhao, Ming; Ji, Yuan; Wang, Mengyue; Zhong, Ning; Kang, Zinan; Asao, Naoki; Jiang, Wen-Jie; Chen, Qiang

2017-10-11

Amorphous materials have been widely researched in heterogeneous catalysis and for next-generation batteries. However, the well-defined production of high-quality (e.g., monodisperse and high surface area) amorphous alloy nanomaterials has rarely been reported. In this work, we investigated the correlations among the composition, morphology, and catalysis of various Pd-M-P nanoparticles (NPs) (M = Cu or Ni), which indicated that less Cu (≤20 atom %) was necessary for the formation of an amorphous morphology. The amorphous Pd-Cu-Ni-P NPs were fabricated with a controllable size and characterized carefully, which show excellent selective catalysis in the semihydrogenation of alkynes, hydrogenation of quinoline, and oxidation of primary alcohols. The uniqueness of the catalytic performance was confirmed by control experiments with monometallic Pd, amorphous Pd-Ni-P NPs, crystalline Pd-Cu-P NPs, and a crystalline counterpart of Pd-Cu-Ni-P catalyst. The catalytic selectivity likely arose from improved Pd-M (M = Cu or Ni) synergistic effects in the amorphous phase and the electron deficiency of Pd. The model reactions proceeded under H 2 or O 2 gas without any additives, bases, or metal oxide supports, and the catalyst could be reused several times. This report is expected to shed light on the design of amorphous alloy nanomaterials as green and inexpensive catalysts for atom-economic and selective reactions.

Significantly enhanced high-frequency permeability for composites with amorphous-membrane-fillers prepared using an infiltration method

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Li, Z. W.; Yang, Z. H.

2016-03-01

Amorphous-membrane-filler composites have been fabricated using an infiltration method. The composites are able to significantly increase the permeability by 200%, as compared to general amorphous flake composites. SEM and magnetic measurement show that the amorphous flakes in membrane are in-plane arrangement. A model, which considers the effect of flake arrangement on demagnetizing factor Nd and permeability, is proposed. The effect of the arrangement of flakes is equivalent to an effective Nd, which is equal to 1/3 and zero for random and complete in-plane arrangements, respectively. Due to in-plane arrangement of amorphous flakes, the decreased Nd leads to significantly enhanced permeability for the amorphous-membrane-filler composites, based on the Maxwell-Garret mixing law.

A new nanospray drying method for the preparation of nicergoline pure nanoparticles

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Martena, Valentina; Censi, Roberta; Hoti, Ela; Malaj, Ledjan; Di Martino, Piera

2012-06-01

Three different batches of pure nanoparticles (NPs) of nicergoline (NIC) were prepared by spray drying a water:ethanol solution by a new Nano Spray Dryer Büchi B-90. Spherical pure NPs were obtained, and several analytical techniques such as differential scanning calorimetry and X-ray powder diffractometry permitted to assess their amorphous character. A comparison of the solubility, intrinsic dissolution, and drug release of original particles and pure amorphous NPs were determined, revealing an interesting improvement of biopharmaceutical properties of amorphous NPs, due to both amorphous properties and nanosize dimensions. Since in a previous work, the high-thermodynamic stability of amorphous NIC was demonstrated, this study is addressed toward the formulation of NIC as pure amorphous NPs.

Ultralong room temperature phosphorescence from amorphous organic materials toward confidential information encryption and decryption.

PubMed

Su, Yan; Phua, Soo Zeng Fiona; Li, Youbing; Zhou, Xianju; Jana, Deblin; Liu, Guofeng; Lim, Wei Qi; Ong, Wee Kong; Yang, Chaolong; Zhao, Yanli

2018-05-01

Ultralong room temperature phosphorescence (URTP) emitted from pure amorphous organic molecules is very rare. Although a few crystalline organic molecules could realize URTP with long lifetimes (>100 ms), practical applications of these crystalline organic phosphors are still challenging because the formation and maintenance of high-quality crystals are very difficult and complicated. Herein, we present a rational design for minimizing the vibrational dissipation of pure amorphous organic molecules to achieve URTP. By using this strategy, a series of URTP films with long lifetimes and high phosphorescent quantum yields (up to 0.75 s and 11.23%, respectively) were obtained from amorphous organic phosphors without visible fluorescence and phosphorescence under ambient conditions. On the basis of the unique features of URTP films, a new green screen printing technology without using any ink was developed toward confidential information encryption and decryption. This work presents a breakthrough strategy in applying amorphous organic materials for URTP.

Evaluation of Amorphous Transformer by Optimum Capacity Selection based on the Load Curve Pattern of Customers

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Takagi, Masaaki; Yamamoto, Hiromi; Yamaji, Kenji

Energy loss in transformer is composed of no-load loss and load loss. No-load loss of amorphous transformer (i.e. amorphous metal-based transformer) is less by about 70% compared with traditional transformers (e.g. silicon steel-based transformer). However, amorphous transformers have disadvantages of high cost and high load loss parameter compared with traditional transformers. Furthermore, there are varieties of transformer capacities, and the customers who would buy new transformer have many choices. In this paper, the authors propose an algorithm for optimum transformer selection based on the load curve patterns of customers. It is possible to select the capacity that minimizes the total cost by measuring equivalent load Qe that is the root mean square of load. It becomes clear that amorphous transformer is effective in achieving substantial energy saving compared with traditional transformer.

Alumina nanoparticle/polymer nanocomposite dielectric for flexible amorphous indium-gallium-zinc oxide thin film transistors on plastic substrate with superior stability

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Lai, Hsin-Cheng; Pei, Zingway, E-mail: zingway@dragon.nchu.edu.tw; Graduate Institute of Optoelectronic Engineering, National Chung Hsing University, Taichung 40227, Taiwan

In this study, the Al{sub 2}O{sub 3} nanoparticles were incorporated into polymer as a nono-composite dielectric for used in a flexible amorphous Indium-Gallium-Zinc Oxide (a-IGZO) thin-film transistor (TFT) on a polyethylene naphthalate substrate by solution process. The process temperature was well below 100 °C. The a-IGZO TFT exhibit a mobility of 5.13 cm{sup 2}/V s on the flexible substrate. After bending at a radius of 4 mm (strain = 1.56%) for more than 100 times, the performance of this a-IGZO TFT was nearly unchanged. In addition, the electrical characteristics are less altered after positive gate bias stress at 10 V for 1500 s. Thus, this technology ismore » suitable for use in flexible displays.« less

Analysis of electronic structure of amorphous InGaZnO/SiO{sub 2} interface by angle-resolved X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Ueoka, Y.; Ishikawa, Y.; Maejima, N.

2013-10-28

The electronic structures of amorphous indium gallium zinc oxide (a-IGZO) on a SiO{sub 2} layers before and after annealing were observed by constant final state X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (CFS-XPS) and X-ray adsorption near-edge structure spectroscopy (XANES). From the results of angle-resolved CFS-XPS, the change in the electronic state was clearly observed in the a-IGZO bulk rather than in the a-IGZO/SiO{sub 2} interface. This suggests that the electronic structures of the a-IGZO bulk strongly affected the thin-film transistor characteristics. The results of XANES indicated an increase in the number of tail states upon atmospheric annealing (AT). We consider that the increasemore » in the number of tail states decreased the channel mobility of AT samples.« less

Water-soluble thin film transistors and circuits based on amorphous indium-gallium-zinc oxide.

PubMed

Jin, Sung Hun; Kang, Seung-Kyun; Cho, In-Tak; Han, Sang Youn; Chung, Ha Uk; Lee, Dong Joon; Shin, Jongmin; Baek, Geun Woo; Kim, Tae-il; Lee, Jong-Ho; Rogers, John A

2015-04-22

This paper presents device designs, circuit demonstrations, and dissolution kinetics for amorphous indium-gallium-zinc oxide (a-IGZO) thin film transistors (TFTs) comprised completely of water-soluble materials, including SiNx, SiOx, molybdenum, and poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA). Collections of these types of physically transient a-IGZO TFTs and 5-stage ring oscillators (ROs), constructed with them, show field effect mobilities (∼10 cm2/Vs), on/off ratios (∼2×10(6)), subthreshold slopes (∼220 mV/dec), Ohmic contact properties, and oscillation frequency of 5.67 kHz at supply voltages of 19 V, all comparable to otherwise similar devices constructed in conventional ways with standard, nontransient materials. Studies of dissolution kinetics for a-IGZO films in deionized water, bovine serum, and phosphate buffer saline solution provide data of relevance for the potential use of these materials and this technology in temporary biomedical implants.

Modulation of the electrical properties in amorphous indium-gallium zinc-oxide semiconductor films using hydrogen incorporation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Song, Aeran; Park, Hyun-Woo; Chung, Kwun-Bum; Rim, You Seung; Son, Kyoung Seok; Lim, Jun Hyung; Chu, Hye Yong

2017-12-01

The electrical properties of amorphous-indium-gallium-zinc-oxide (a-IGZO) thin films were investigated after thermal annealing and plasma treatment under different gas conditions. The electrical resistivity of a-IGZO thin films post-treated in a hydrogen ambient were lower than those without treatment and those annealed in air, regardless of the methods used for both thermal annealing and plasma treatment. The electrical properties can be explained by the quantity of hydrogen incorporated into the samples and the changes in the electronic structure in terms of the chemical bonding states, the distribution of the near-conduction-band unoccupied states, and the band alignment. As a result, the carrier concentrations of the hydrogen treated a-IGZO thin films increased, while the mobility decreased, due to the increase in the oxygen vacancies from the occurrence of unoccupied states in both shallow and deep levels.

Amorphous Silicon: Flexible Backplane and Display Application

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sarma, Kalluri R.

Advances in the science and technology of hydrogenated amorphous silicon (a-Si:H, also referred to as a-Si) and the associated devices including thin-film transistors (TFT) during the past three decades have had a profound impact on the development and commercialization of major applications such as thin-film solar cells, digital image scanners and X-ray imagers and active matrix liquid crystal displays (AMLCDs). Particularly, during approximately the past 15 years, a-Si TFT-based flat panel AMLCDs have been a huge commercial success. a-Si TFT-LCD has enabled the note book PCs, and is now rapidly replacing the venerable CRT in the desktop monitor and home TV applications. a-Si TFT-LCD is now the dominant technology in use for applications ranging from small displays such as in mobile phones to large displays such as in home TV, as well-specialized applications such as industrial and avionics displays.

Spatial Distribution of Amorphization Intensity in Boron Carbide During Rate-Dependent Indentation and Impact Processes

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Parsard, Gregory G.

Boron carbide is a lightweight ceramic commonly used in applications requiring high hardness. At sufficiently high stresses, the material experiences a localized phase transformation (amorphization) which seemingly weakens its structure. Raman spectroscopy is used to distinguish these transformed regions from crystalline material based on the evolution of new peaks in collected Raman spectra. Vickers indentations of various loads were created at quasistatic and dynamic strain rates to trigger amorphization. The resulting imprints and subsurface regions were scanned with Raman spectroscopy to map amorphization intensity at several depths to generate three-dimensional representations of the amorphized zones, which were analyzed to determine the influence of load and strain rate upon amorphized zone characteristics. The square of amorphized zone depth beneath Vickers indentations increases linearly with load and shows little to no strain rate dependence. Sudden decreases in amorphization intensity at certain depths coincided with the presence of lateral cracks, suggesting that lateral cracks may lead to a loss of amorphized material during mechanical polishing. Experimental results were compared against finite element simulations to estimate critical values of stress and strain associated with amorphization. Raman spectra were also analyzed to determine the indentation-induced residual compressive pressure in crystalline boron carbide. In unstressed crystalline boron carbide, a peak exists near 1088 cm-1 which shifts to higher wavenumbers with the application of compressive pressure. The change in position of this crystalline peak was tracked across surfaces at various depths beneath the indentations and then converted into pressure using the piezospectroscopic coefficient of boron carbide. Residual compressive pressures on the order of gigapascals were found near the indentations, with stress relaxation near regions affected by radial cracks, spall, and graphitic inclusions. These measured residual compressive pressures were consistently higher than those predicted by finite element simulations at various loads, suggesting that amorphization, which was not accounted for by the simulations, may increase compressive residual stress in the crystalline material. Amorphization may cause affected regions to expand relative to their formerly crystalline state and exerting radial compressive forces upon the surrounding crystalline regions and circumferential tension along its boundary, thus promoting crack propagation within the amorphized region.

Conversion of nuclear waste to molten glass: Formation of porous amorphous alumina in a high-Al melter feed

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Xu, Kai; Hrma, Pavel; Washton, Nancy

The transition of Al phases in a simulated high-Al high-level nuclear waste melter feed heated at 5 K min-1 to 700°C was investigated with transmission electron microscopy, 27Al nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy, the Brunauer-Emmett-Teller method, and X-ray diffraction. At temperatures between 300 and 500°C, porous amorphous alumina formed from the dehydration of gibbsite, resulting in increased specific surface area of the feed (~8 m2 g-1). The high-surface-area amorphous alumina formed in this manner could potentially stop salt migration in the cold cap during nuclear waste vitrification.

Neutron irradiation and high temperature effects on amorphous Fe-based nano-coatings on steel – A macroscopic assessment

DOE PAGES

Simos, N.; Zhong, Z.; Dooryhee, E.; ...

2017-03-23

Here, this study revealed that loss of ductility in an amorphous Fe-alloy coating on a steel substrate composite structure was essentially prevented from occurring, following radiation with modest neutron doses of ~2 x 10 18 n/cm 2. At the higher neutron dose of ~2 x 10 19, macroscopic stress-strain analysis showed that the amorphous Fe-alloy nanostructured coating, while still amorphous, experienced radiation-induced embrittlement, no longer offering protection against ductility loss in the coating-substrate composite structure. Neutron irradiation in a corrosive environment revealed exemplary oxidation/corrosion resistance of the amorphous Fe-alloy coating, which is attributed to the formation of the Fe 2Bmore » phase in the coating. To establish the impact of elevated temperatures on the amorphous-to-crystalline transition in the amorphous Fe-alloy, electron microscopy was carried out which confirmed the radiation-induced suppression of crystallization in the amorphous Fe-alloy nanostructured coating.« less

Formation of soft magnetic high entropy amorphous alloys composites containing in situ solid solution phase

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wei, Ran; Sun, Huan; Chen, Chen; Tao, Juan; Li, Fushan

2018-03-01

Fe-Co-Ni-Si-B high entropy amorphous alloys composites (HEAACs), which containing high entropy solid solution phase in amorphous matrix, show good soft magnetic properties and bending ductility even in optimal annealed state, were successfully developed by melt spinning method. The crystallization phase of the HEAACs is solid solution phase with body centered cubic (BCC) structure instead of brittle intermetallic phase. In addition, the BCC phase can transformed into face centered cubic (FCC) phase with temperature rise. Accordingly, Fe-Co-Ni-Si-B high entropy alloys (HEAs) with FCC structure and a small amount of BCC phase was prepared by copper mold casting method. The HEAs exhibit high yield strength (about 1200 MPa) and good plastic strain (about 18%). Meanwhile, soft magnetic characteristics of the HEAs are largely reserved from HEAACs. This work provides a new strategy to overcome the annealing induced brittleness of amorphous alloys and design new advanced materials with excellent comprehensive properties.

Efficient Suppression of Defects and Charge Trapping in High Density In-Sn-Zn-O Thin Film Transistor Prepared using Microwave-Assisted Sputter.

PubMed

Goh, Youngin; Ahn, Jaehan; Lee, Jeong Rak; Park, Wan Woo; Ko Park, Sang-Hee; Jeon, Sanghun

2017-10-25

Amorphous oxide semiconductor-based thin film transistors (TFTs) have been considered as excellent switching elements for driving active-matrix organic light-emitting diodes (AMOLED) owing to their high mobility and process compatibility. However, oxide semiconductors have inherent defects, causing fast transient charge trapping and device instability. For the next-generation displays such as flexible, wearable, or transparent displays, an active semiconductor layer with ultrahigh mobility and high reliability at low deposition temperature is required. Therefore, we introduced high density plasma microwave-assisted (MWA) sputtering method as a promising deposition tool for the formation of high density and high-performance oxide semiconductor films. In this paper, we present the effect of the MWA sputtering method on the defects and fast charge trapping in In-Sn-Zn-O (ITZO) TFTs using various AC device characterization methodologies including fast I-V, pulsed I-V, transient current, low frequency noise, and discharge current analysis. Using these methods, we were able to analyze the charge trapping mechanism and intrinsic electrical characteristics, and extract the subgap density of the states of oxide TFTs quantitatively. In comparison to conventional sputtered ITZO, high density plasma MWA-sputtered ITZO exhibits outstanding electrical performance, negligible charge trapping characteristics and low subgap density of states. High-density plasma MWA sputtering method has high deposition rate even at low working pressure and control the ion bombardment energy, resulting in forming low defect generation in ITZO and presenting high performance ITZO TFT. We expect the proposed high density plasma sputtering method to be applicable to a wide range of oxide semiconductor device applications.

Amorphization of cobalt monoxide nanocrystals and related explosive gas sensing applications.

PubMed

Li, L H; Xiao, J; Yang, G W

2015-10-16

Amorphous nanomaterials have attracted attention due to their excellent performances, highly comparable to their crystalline counterparts. Sensor materials with amorphous phases are usually evaluated to be unsuitable for sensors because of poor performance. As a matter of fact, amorphous nanomaterials have rather unique sensor behaviors. Here, we report the amorphousization of cobalt monoxide (CoO) nanocrystals driven by a unique process involved in laser ablation in liquid (LAL). We also established that a fast and nonequilibrium process created by LAL results in the amorphousization of nanocrystals. The as-prepared amorphous CoO (a-CoO) nanoflakes possess a high aspect ratio, which showed good sensing of explosive gases. The fabricated gas sensor can detect CO and H2 at levels as low as 5 and 10 ppm, respectively, at 100 °C. The performance characteristics of this sensor, including high sensitivity, low working temperature, and low detection limit, are superior to those of sensors made with crystalline phase oxides. Meanwhile, a temperature-dependent p-n transition was observed in the sensor's response to CO, suggesting that the sensing properties can be tailored by changing the carrier type, thus tuning the selectivity of sensors to different gases. These findings demonstrate the potential applications of amorphous nanomaterials as gas sensor components.

Effect of direct current sputtering power on the behavior of amorphous indium-gallium-zinc-oxide thin-film transistors under negative bias illumination stress: A combination of experimental analyses and device simulation

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Jang, Jun Tae; Kim, Dong Myong; Choi, Sung-Jin

The effect of direct current sputtering power of indium-gallium-zinc-oxide (IGZO) on the performance and stability of the corresponding thin-film transistor devices was studied. The field effect mobility increases as the IGZO sputter power increases, at the expense of device reliability under negative bias illumination stress (NBIS). Device simulation based on the extracted sub-gap density of states indicates that the field effect mobility is improved as a result of the number of acceptor-like states decreasing. The degradation by NBIS is suggested to be induced by the formation of peroxides in IGZO rather than charge trapping.

The Structure of Liquid and Amorphous Hafnia.

PubMed

Gallington, Leighanne C; Ghadar, Yasaman; Skinner, Lawrie B; Weber, J K Richard; Ushakov, Sergey V; Navrotsky, Alexandra; Vazquez-Mayagoitia, Alvaro; Neuefeind, Joerg C; Stan, Marius; Low, John J; Benmore, Chris J

2017-11-10

Understanding the atomic structure of amorphous solids is important in predicting and tuning their macroscopic behavior. Here, we use a combination of high-energy X-ray diffraction, neutron diffraction, and molecular dynamics simulations to benchmark the atomic interactions in the high temperature stable liquid and low-density amorphous solid states of hafnia. The diffraction results reveal an average Hf-O coordination number of ~7 exists in both the liquid and amorphous nanoparticle forms studied. The measured pair distribution functions are compared to those generated from several simulation models in the literature. We have also performed ab initio and classical molecular dynamics simulations that show density has a strong effect on the polyhedral connectivity. The liquid shows a broad distribution of Hf-Hf interactions, while the formation of low-density amorphous nanoclusters can reproduce the sharp split peak in the Hf-Hf partial pair distribution function observed in experiment. The agglomeration of amorphous nanoparticles condensed from the gas phase is associated with the formation of both edge-sharing and corner-sharing HfO 6,7 polyhedra resembling that observed in the monoclinic phase.

Microstructure and Electrochemical Behavior of Fe-Based Amorphous Metallic Coatings Fabricated by Atmospheric Plasma Spraying

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhou, Z.; Wang, L.; He, D. Y.; Wang, F. C.; Liu, Y. B.

2011-01-01

A Fe48Cr15Mo14C15B6Y2 alloy with high glass forming ability (GFA) was selected to prepare amorphous metallic coatings by atmospheric plasma spraying (APS). The as-deposited coatings present a dense layered structure and low porosity. Microstructural studies show that some nanocrystals and a fraction of yttrium oxides formed during spraying, which induced the amorphous fraction of the coatings decreasing to 69% compared with amorphous alloy ribbons of the same component. High thermal stability enables the amorphous coatings to work below 910 K without crystallization. The results of electrochemical measurement show that the coatings exhibit extremely wide passive region and relatively low passive current density in 3.5% NaCl and 1 mol/L HCl solutions, which illustrate their superior ability to resist localized corrosion. Moreover, the corrosion behavior of the amorphous coatings in 1 mol/L H2SO4 solution is similar to their performance under conditions containing chloride ions, which manifests their flexible and extensive ability to withstand aggressive environments.

Amorphous and Nanocomposite Materials for Energy-Efficient Electric Motors

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Silveyra, Josefina M.; Xu, Patricia; Keylin, Vladimir; DeGeorge, Vincent; Leary, Alex; McHenry, Michael E.

2016-01-01

We explore amorphous soft-magnetic alloys as candidates for electric motor applications. The Co-rich system combines the benefits of low hysteretic and eddy-current losses while exhibiting negligible magnetostriction and robust mechanical properties. The amorphous precursors can be devitrified to form nanocomposite magnets. The superior characteristics of these materials offer the advantages of ease of handling in the manufacturing processing and low iron losses during motor operation. Co-rich amorphous ribbons were laser-cut to build a stator for a small demonstrator permanent-magnet machine. The motor was tested up to ~30,000 rpm. Finite-element analyses proved that the iron losses of the Co-rich amorphous stator were ~80% smaller than for a Si steel stator in the same motor, at 18,000 rpm (equivalent to an electric frequency of 2.1 kHz). These low-loss soft magnets have great potential for application in highly efficient high-speed electric machines, leading to size reduction as well as reduction or replacement of rare earths in permanent-magnet motors. More studies evaluating further processing techniques for amorphous and nanocomposite materials are needed.

The Structure of Liquid and Amorphous Hafnia

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Gallington, Leighanne; Ghadar, Yasaman; Skinner, Lawrie

Understanding the atomic structure of amorphous solids is important in predicting and tuning their macroscopic behavior. Here, we use a combination of high-energy X-ray diffraction, neutron diffraction, and molecular dynamics simulations to benchmark the atomic interactions in the high temperature stable liquid and low-density amorphous solid states of hafnia. The diffraction results reveal an average Hf–O coordination number of ~7 exists in both the liquid and amorphous nanoparticle forms studied. The measured pair distribution functions are compared to those generated from several simulation models in the literature. We have also performed ab initio and classical molecular dynamics simulations that showmore » density has a strong effect on the polyhedral connectivity. The liquid shows a broad distribution of Hf–Hf interactions, while the formation of low-density amorphous nanoclusters can reproduce the sharp split peak in the Hf–Hf partial pair distribution function observed in experiment. The agglomeration of amorphous nanoparticles condensed from the gas phase is associated with the formation of both edge-sharing and corner-sharing HfO 6,7 polyhedra resembling that observed in the monoclinic phase.« less

The Structure of Liquid and Amorphous Hafnia

DOE PAGES

Gallington, Leighanne; Ghadar, Yasaman; Skinner, Lawrie; ...

2017-11-10

Understanding the atomic structure of amorphous solids is important in predicting and tuning their macroscopic behavior. Here, we use a combination of high-energy X-ray diffraction, neutron diffraction, and molecular dynamics simulations to benchmark the atomic interactions in the high temperature stable liquid and low-density amorphous solid states of hafnia. The diffraction results reveal an average Hf–O coordination number of ~7 exists in both the liquid and amorphous nanoparticle forms studied. The measured pair distribution functions are compared to those generated from several simulation models in the literature. We have also performed ab initio and classical molecular dynamics simulations that showmore » density has a strong effect on the polyhedral connectivity. The liquid shows a broad distribution of Hf–Hf interactions, while the formation of low-density amorphous nanoclusters can reproduce the sharp split peak in the Hf–Hf partial pair distribution function observed in experiment. The agglomeration of amorphous nanoparticles condensed from the gas phase is associated with the formation of both edge-sharing and corner-sharing HfO 6,7 polyhedra resembling that observed in the monoclinic phase.« less

Electrical properties of amorphous and epitaxial Si-rich silicide films composed of W-atom-encapsulated Si clusters

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Okada, Naoya, E-mail: okada-naoya@aist.go.jp; Nanoelectronics Research Institute, National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology, 1-1-1 Higashi, Tsukuba, Ibaraki 305-8562; Institute of Applied Physics, University of Tsukuba, 1-1-1 Tennodai, Tsukuba, Ibaraki 305-8573

We investigated the electrical properties and derived the energy band structures of amorphous Si-rich W silicide (a-WSi{sub n}) films and approximately 1-nm-thick crystalline WSi{sub n} epitaxial films (e-WSi{sub n}) on Si (100) substrates with composition n = 8–10, both composed of Si{sub n} clusters each of which encapsulates a W atom (WSi{sub n} clusters). The effect of annealing in the temperature range of 300–500 °C was also investigated. The Hall measurements at room temperature revealed that a-WSi{sub n} is a nearly intrinsic semiconductor, whereas e-WSi{sub n} is an n-type semiconductor with electron mobility of ∼8 cm{sup 2}/V s and high sheet electron density ofmore » ∼7 × 10{sup 12 }cm{sup −2}. According to the temperature dependence of the electrical properties, a-WSi{sub n} has a mobility gap of ∼0.1 eV and mid gap states in the region of 10{sup 19 }cm{sup −3} eV{sup −1} in an optical gap of ∼0.6 eV with considerable band tail states; e-WSi{sub n} has a donor level of ∼0.1 eV with sheet density in the region of 10{sup 12 }cm{sup −2} in a band gap of ∼0.3 eV. These semiconducting band structures are primarily attributed to the open band-gap properties of the constituting WSi{sub n} cluster. In a-WSi{sub n}, the random network of the clusters generates the band tail states, and the formation of Si dangling bonds results in the generation of mid gap states; in e-WSi{sub n}, the original cluster structure is highly distorted to accommodate the Si lattice, resulting in the formation of intrinsic defects responsible for the donor level.« less

Role of the Strength of Drug-Polymer Interactions on the Molecular Mobility and Crystallization Inhibition in Ketoconazole Solid Dispersions.

PubMed

Mistry, Pinal; Mohapatra, Sarat; Gopinath, Tata; Vogt, Frederick G; Suryanarayanan, Raj

2015-09-08

The effects of specific drug-polymer interactions (ionic or hydrogen-bonding) on the molecular mobility of model amorphous solid dispersions (ASDs) were investigated. ASDs of ketoconazole (KTZ), a weakly basic drug, with each of poly(acrylic acid) (PAA), poly(2-hydroxyethyl methacrylate) (PHEMA), and polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP) were prepared. Drug-polymer interactions in the ASDs were evaluated by infrared and solid-state NMR, the molecular mobility quantified by dielectric spectroscopy, and crystallization onset monitored by differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) and variable temperature X-ray diffractometry (VTXRD). KTZ likely exhibited ionic interactions with PAA, hydrogen-bonding with PHEMA, and weaker dipole-dipole interactions with PVP. On the basis of dielectric spectroscopy, the α-relaxation times of the ASDs followed the order: PAA > PHEMA > PVP. In addition, the presence of ionic interactions also translated to a dramatic and disproportionate decrease in mobility as a function of polymer concentration. On the basis of both DSC and VTXRD, an increase in strength of interaction translated to higher crystallization onset temperature and a decrease in extent of crystallization. Stronger drug-polymer interactions, by reducing the molecular mobility, can potentially delay the crystallization onset temperature as well as crystallization extent.

Inkjet printing of single-crystal films.

PubMed

Minemawari, Hiromi; Yamada, Toshikazu; Matsui, Hiroyuki; Tsutsumi, Jun'ya; Haas, Simon; Chiba, Ryosuke; Kumai, Reiji; Hasegawa, Tatsuo

2011-07-13

The use of single crystals has been fundamental to the development of semiconductor microelectronics and solid-state science. Whether based on inorganic or organic materials, the devices that show the highest performance rely on single-crystal interfaces, with their nearly perfect translational symmetry and exceptionally high chemical purity. Attention has recently been focused on developing simple ways of producing electronic devices by means of printing technologies. 'Printed electronics' is being explored for the manufacture of large-area and flexible electronic devices by the patterned application of functional inks containing soluble or dispersed semiconducting materials. However, because of the strong self-organizing tendency of the deposited materials, the production of semiconducting thin films of high crystallinity (indispensable for realizing high carrier mobility) may be incompatible with conventional printing processes. Here we develop a method that combines the technique of antisolvent crystallization with inkjet printing to produce organic semiconducting thin films of high crystallinity. Specifically, we show that mixing fine droplets of an antisolvent and a solution of an active semiconducting component within a confined area on an amorphous substrate can trigger the controlled formation of exceptionally uniform single-crystal or polycrystalline thin films that grow at the liquid-air interfaces. Using this approach, we have printed single crystals of the organic semiconductor 2,7-dioctyl[1]benzothieno[3,2-b][1]benzothiophene (C(8)-BTBT) (ref. 15), yielding thin-film transistors with average carrier mobilities as high as 16.4 cm(2) V(-1) s(-1). This printing technique constitutes a major step towards the use of high-performance single-crystal semiconductor devices for large-area and flexible electronics applications.

[Microcosmic mechanisms of amorphous indomethacin crystallization and the influence of nano-coating on crystallization].

PubMed

Hui, Ou-Yang; Yi, Tao; Zheng, Qin; Liu, Feng

2011-06-01

Amorphous drugs have higher solubility, better oral bioavailability and are easier to be absorbed than their crystalline counterparts. However, the amorphous drugs, with weak stability, are so easy to crystallize that they will lose the original advantages. Polarization microscope, scanning electron microscope, differential scanning calorimetry, X-ray diffractomer and Raman spectroscopy were used to study the microcosmic crystallization mechanisms of amorphous indometacin and the performance of the drug crystals. The results showed that the growth rate of amorphous indometacin crystals at the free surface was markedly faster than that through the bulk, and that the crystal growth rate decreased observably after spraying an ultrathin melting gold (10 nm) at the free surface of the drug. These results indicated that the high growth rates of amorphous drugs crystals at the free surface were the key to their stability and that an ultrathin coating could be applied to enhance the stability of amorphous drugs.

High rate chemical vapor deposition of carbon films using fluorinated gases

DOEpatents

Stafford, Byron L.; Tracy, C. Edwin; Benson, David K.; Nelson, Arthur J.

1993-01-01

A high rate, low-temperature deposition of amorphous carbon films is produced by PE-CVD in the presence of a fluorinated or other halide gas. The deposition can be performed at less than 100.degree. C., including ambient room temperature, with a radio frequency plasma assisted chemical vapor deposition process. With less than 6.5 atomic percent fluorine incorporated into the amorphous carbon film, the characteristics of the carbon film, including index of refraction, mass density, optical clarity, and chemical resistance are within fifteen percent (15%) of those characteristics for pure amorphous carbon films, but the deposition rates are high.

Amorphous Silk Fibroin Membranes for Separation of CO2

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Aberg, Christopher M.; Patel, Anand K.; Gil, Eun Seok; Spontak, Richard J.; Hagg, May-Britt

2009-01-01

Amorphous silk fibroin has shown promise as a polymeric material derivable from natural sources for making membranes for use in removing CO2 from mixed-gas streams. For most applications of silk fibroin, for purposes other than gas separation, this material is used in its highly crystalline, nearly natural form because this form has uncommonly high tensile strength. However, the crystalline phase of silk fibroin is impermeable, making it necessary to convert the material to amorphous form to obtain the high permeability needed for gas separation. Accordingly, one aspect of the present development is a process for generating amorphous silk fibroin by treating native silk fibroin in an aqueous methanol/salt solution. The resulting material remains self-standing and can be prepared as thin film suitable for permeation testing. The permeability of this material by pure CO2 has been found to be highly improved, and its mixed-gas permeability has been found to exceed the mixed-gas permeabilities of several ultrahigh-CO2-permeable synthetic polymers. Only one of the synthetic polymers poly(trimethylsilylpropyne) [PTMSP] may be more highly permeable by CO2. PTMSP becomes unstable with time, whereas amorphous silk should not, although at the time of this reporting this has not been conclusively proven.

High efficiency photovoltaic device

DOEpatents

Guha, Subhendu; Yang, Chi C.; Xu, Xi Xiang

1999-11-02

An N-I-P type photovoltaic device includes a multi-layered body of N-doped semiconductor material which has an amorphous, N doped layer in contact with the amorphous body of intrinsic semiconductor material, and a microcrystalline, N doped layer overlying the amorphous, N doped material. A tandem device comprising stacked N-I-P cells may further include a second amorphous, N doped layer interposed between the microcrystalline, N doped layer and a microcrystalline P doped layer. Photovoltaic devices thus configured manifest improved performance, particularly when configured as tandem devices.

Direct Detection of Aqueous CO2 by Infrared Waveguide Spectroscopy with an Amorphous Fluoropolymer Coating Rod.

PubMed

Hotta, Hiroki; Miki, Yuko; Kawaguchi, Yukiko; Tsunoda, Kin-Ichi; Nakaoka, Atsuko; Ko, Sho; Kimoto, Takashi

2017-01-01

Infrared waveguide spectroscopy using a sapphire rod coated with an amorphous fluoropolymer (Cytop, Asahi Glass Co., ltd, Japan) has been developed in order to directly observe CO 2 in aqueous solutions. Since the amorphous fluoropolymer has a relatively high gas-permeability and hydrophobic feature, the aqueous CO 2 transmits into the amorphous fluoropolymer coating film, but water cannot penetrate into the film. Good linearity of calibration curves for CO 2 in the gas and the aqueous solution were obtained.

Solubility of crystalline organic compounds in high and low molecular weight amorphous matrices above and below the glass transition by zero enthalpy extrapolation.

PubMed

Amharar, Youness; Curtin, Vincent; Gallagher, Kieran H; Healy, Anne Marie

2014-09-10

Pharmaceutical applications which require knowledge of the solubility of a crystalline compound in an amorphous matrix are abundant in the literature. Several methods that allow the determination of such data have been reported, but so far have only been applicable to amorphous polymers above the glass transition of the resulting composites. The current work presents, for the first time, a reliable method for the determination of the solubility of crystalline pharmaceutical compounds in high and low molecular weight amorphous matrices at the glass transition and at room temperature (i.e. below the glass transition temperature), respectively. The solubilities of mannitol and indomethacin in polyvinyl pyrrolidone (PVP) K15 and PVP K25, respectively were measured at different temperatures. Mixtures of undissolved crystalline solute and saturated amorphous phase were obtained by annealing at a given temperature. The solubility at this temperature was then obtained by measuring the melting enthalpy of the crystalline phase, plotting it as a function of composition and extrapolating to zero enthalpy. This new method yielded results in accordance with the predictions reported in the literature. The method was also adapted for the measurement of the solubility of crystalline low molecular weight excipients in amorphous active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs). The solubility of mannitol, glutaric acid and adipic acid in both indomethacin and sulfadimidine was experimentally determined and successfully compared with the difference between their respective calculated Hildebrand solubility parameters. As expected from the calculations, the dicarboxylic acids exhibited a high solubility in both amorphous indomethacin and sulfadimidine, whereas mannitol was almost insoluble in the same amorphous phases at room temperature. This work constitutes the first report of the methodology for determining an experimentally measured solubility for a low molecular weight crystalline solute in a low molecular weight amorphous matrix. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Can amorphization take place in nanoscale interconnects?

PubMed

Kumar, S; Joshi, K L; van Duin, A C T; Haque, M A

2012-03-09

The trend of miniaturization has highlighted the problems of heat dissipation and electromigration in nanoelectronic device interconnects, but not amorphization. While amorphization is known to be a high pressure and/or temperature phenomenon, we argue that defect density is the key factor, while temperature and pressure are only the means. For nanoscale interconnects carrying modest current density, large vacancy concentrations may be generated without the necessity of high temperature or pressure due to the large fraction of grain boundaries and triple points. To investigate this hypothesis, we performed in situ transmission electron microscope (TEM) experiments on 200 nm thick (80 nm average grain size) aluminum specimens. Electron diffraction patterns indicate partial amorphization at modest current density of about 10(5) A cm(-2), which is too low to trigger electromigration. Since amorphization results in drastic decrease in mechanical ductility as well as electrical and thermal conductivity, further increase in current density to about 7 × 10(5) A cm(-2) resulted in brittle fracture failure. Our molecular dynamics (MD) simulations predict the formation of amorphous regions in response to large mechanical stresses (due to nanoscale grain size) and excess vacancies at the cathode side of the thin films. The findings of this study suggest that amorphization can precede electromigration and thereby play a vital role in the reliability of micro/nanoelectronic devices.

Influence of excipients in comilling on mitigating milling-induced amorphization or structural disorder of crystalline pharmaceutical actives.

PubMed

Balani, Prashant N; Ng, Wai Kiong; Tan, Reginald B H; Chan, Sui Yung

2010-05-01

The feasibility of using excipients to suppress the amorphization or structural disorder of crystalline salbutamol sulphate (SS) during milling was investigated. SS was subjected to ball-milling in the presence of alpha-lactose monohydrate (LAC), adipic acid (AA), magnesium stearate (MgSt), or polyvinyl pyrrolidone (PVP). X-ray powder diffraction, dynamic vapor sorption (DVS), high sensitivity differential scanning calorimetry (HSDSC) were used to analyze the crystallinity of the milled mixtures. Comilling with crystalline excipients, LAC, AA, and MgSt proved effective in reducing the amorphization of SS. LAC, AA, or MgSt acting as seed crystals to induce recrystallization of amorphous SS formed by milling. During comilling, both SS and LAC turned predominantly amorphous after 45 min but transformed back to a highly crystalline state after 60 min. Amorphous content was below the detection limits of DVS (0.5%) and HSDSC (5%). Comilled and physical mixtures of SS and ALM were stored under normal and elevated humidity conditions. This was found to prevent subsequent changes in crystallinity and morphology of comilled SS:LAC as compared to significant changes in milled SS and physical mixture. These results demonstrate a promising application of comilling with crystalline excipients in mitigating milling induced amorphization of pharmaceutical actives.

Device and material characterization and analytic modeling of amorphous silicon thin film transistors

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Slade, Holly Claudia

Hydrogenated amorphous silicon thin film transistors (TFTs) are now well-established as switching elements for a variety of applications in the lucrative electronics market, such as active matrix liquid crystal displays, two-dimensional imagers, and position-sensitive radiation detectors. These applications necessitate the development of accurate characterization and simulation tools. The main goal of this work is the development of a semi- empirical, analytical model for the DC and AC operation of an amorphous silicon TFT for use in a manufacturing facility to improve yield and maintain process control. The model is physically-based, in order that the parameters scale with gate length and can be easily related back to the material and device properties. To accomplish this, extensive experimental data and 2D simulations are used to observe and quantify non- crystalline effects in the TFTs. In particular, due to the disorder in the amorphous network, localized energy states exist throughout the band gap and affect all regimes of TFT operation. These localized states trap most of the free charge, causing a gate-bias-dependent field effect mobility above threshold, a power-law dependence of the current on gate bias below threshold, very low leakage currents, and severe frequency dispersion of the TFT gate capacitance. Additional investigations of TFT instabilities reveal the importance of changes in the density of states and/or back channel conduction due to bias and thermal stress. In the above threshold regime, the model is similar to the crystalline MOSFET model, considering the drift component of free charge. This approach uses the field effect mobility to take into account the trap states and must utilize the correct definition of threshold voltage. In the below threshold regime, the density of deep states is taken into account. The leakage current is modeled empirically, and the parameters are temperature dependent to 150oC. The capacitance of the TFT can be modeled using a transmission line model, which is implemented using a small signal circuit with access resistors in series with the source and drain capacitances. This correctly reproduces the frequency dispersion in the TFT. Automatic parameter extraction routines are provided and are used to test the robustness of the model on a variety of devices from different research laboratories. The results demonstrate excellent agreement, showing that the model is suitable for device design, scaling, and implementation in the manufacturing process.

Amorphization of nanocrystalline monoclinic ZrO2 by swift heavy ion irradiation.

PubMed

Lu, Fengyuan; Wang, Jianwei; Lang, Maik; Toulemonde, Marcel; Namavar, Fereydoon; Trautmann, Christina; Zhang, Jiaming; Ewing, Rodney C; Lian, Jie

2012-09-21

Bulk ZrO(2) polymorphs generally have an extremely high amorphization tolerance upon low energy ion and swift heavy ion irradiation in which ballistic interaction and ionization radiation dominate the ion-solid interaction, respectively. However, under very high-energy irradiation by 1.33 GeV U-238, nanocrystalline (40-50 nm) monoclinic ZrO(2) can be amorphized. A computational simulation based on a thermal spike model reveals that the strong ionizing radiation from swift heavy ions with a very high electronic energy loss of 52.2 keV nm(-1) can induce transient zones with temperatures well above the ZrO(2) melting point. The extreme electronic energy loss, coupled with the high energy state of the nanostructured materials and a high thermal confinement due to the less effective heat transport within the transient hot zone, may eventually be responsible for the ionizing radiation-induced amorphization without transforming to the tetragonal polymorph. The amorphization of nanocrystalline zirconia was also confirmed by 1.69 GeV Au ion irradiation with the electronic energy loss of 40 keV nm(-1). These results suggest that highly radiation tolerant materials in bulk forms, such as ZrO(2), may be radiation sensitive with the reduced length scale down to the nano-metered regime upon irradiation above a threshold value of electronic energy loss.

Remarkable changes in interface O vacancy and metal-oxide bonds in amorphous indium-gallium-zinc-oxide thin-film transistors by long time annealing at 250 °C

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Chowdhury, Md Delwar Hossain; Um, Jae Gwang; Jang, Jin, E-mail: jjang@khu.ac.kr

We have studied the effect of long time post-fabrication annealing on negative bias illumination stress (NBIS) of amorphous indium-gallium-zinc-oxide (a-IGZO) thin-film-transistors. Annealing for 100 h at 250 °C increased the field effect mobility from 14.7 cm{sup 2}/V s to 17.9 cm{sup 2}/V s and reduced the NBIS instability remarkably. Using X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, the oxygen vacancy and OH were found to exist at the interfaces of a-IGZO with top and bottom SiO{sub 2}. Long time annealing helps to decrease the vacancy concentration and increase the metal-oxygen bonds at the interfaces; this leads to increase in the free carrier concentrations in a-IGZO and field-effect mobility.more » X-ray reflectivity measurement indicated the increment of a-IGZO film density of 5.63 g cm{sup −3} to 5.83 g cm{sup −3} (3.4% increase) by 100 h annealing at 250 °C. The increase in film density reveals the decrease of O vacancy concentration and reduction of weak metal-oxygen bonds in a-IGZO, which substantially helps to improve the NBIS stability.« less

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Leppäniemi, J., E-mail: jaakko.leppaniemi@vtt.fi; Ojanperä, K.; Kololuoma, T.

We propose a combined far ultraviolet (FUV) and thermal annealing method of metal-nitrate-based precursor solutions that allows efficient conversion of the precursor to metal-oxide semiconductor (indium zinc oxide, IZO, and indium oxide, In{sub 2}O{sub 3}) both at low-temperature and in short processing time. The combined annealing method enables a reduction of more than 100 °C in annealing temperature when compared to thermally annealed reference thin-film transistor (TFT) devices of similar performance. Amorphous IZO films annealed at 250 °C with FUV for 5 min yield enhancement-mode TFTs with saturation mobility of ∼1 cm{sup 2}/(V·s). Amorphous In{sub 2}O{sub 3} films annealed for 15 min with FUV atmore » temperatures of 180 °C and 200 °C yield TFTs with low-hysteresis and saturation mobility of 3.2 cm{sup 2}/(V·s) and 7.5 cm{sup 2}/(V·s), respectively. The precursor condensation process is clarified with x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy measurements. Introducing the FUV irradiation at 160 nm expedites the condensation process via in situ hydroxyl radical generation that results in the rapid formation of a continuous metal-oxygen-metal structure in the film. The results of this paper are relevant in order to upscale printed electronics fabrication to production-scale roll-to-roll environments.« less

Amorphous metal alloy

DOEpatents

Wang, R.; Merz, M.D.

1980-04-09

Amorphous metal alloys of the iron-chromium and nickel-chromium type have excellent corrosion resistance and high temperature stability and are suitable for use as a protective coating on less corrosion resistant substrates. The alloys are stabilized in the amorphous state by one or more elements of titanium, zirconium, hafnium, niobium, tantalum, molybdenum, and tungsten. The alloy is preferably prepared by sputter deposition.

Translational diffusion of cumene and 3-methylpentane on free surfaces and pore walls studied by time-of-flight secondary ion mass spectrometry

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Souda, Ryutaro

2010-12-07

Mobility of molecules in confined geometry has been studied extensively, but the origins of finite size effects on reduction of the glass transition temperature, T{sub g}, are controversial especially for supported thin films. We investigate uptake of probe molecules in vapor-deposited thin films of cumene, 3-methylpentane, and heavy water using secondary ion mass spectrometry and discuss roles of individual molecular motion during structural relaxation and glass-liquid transition. The surface mobility is found to be enhanced for low-density glasses in the sub-T{sub g} region because of the diffusion of molecules on pore walls, resulting in densification of a film via poremore » collapse. Even for high-density glasses without pores, self-diffusion commences prior to the film morphology change at T{sub g}, which is thought to be related to decoupling between translational diffusivity and viscosity. The diffusivity of deeply supercooled liquid tends to be enhanced when it is confined in pores of amorphous solid water. The diffusivity of molecules is further enhanced at temperatures higher than 1.2-1.3 T{sub g} irrespective of the confinement.« less

Timescales and mechanisms of formation of amorphous silica coatings on fresh basalts at Kīlauea Volcano, Hawai'i

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chemtob, Steven M.; Rossman, George R.

2014-10-01

Young basalts from Kīlauea Volcano, Hawai'i, frequently feature opaque surface coatings, 1-80 μm thick, composed of amorphous silica and Fe-Ti oxides. These coatings are the product of interaction of the basaltic surface with volcanically-derived acidic fluids. Previous workers have identified these coatings in a variety of contexts on Hawai'i, but the timescales of coating development, coating growth rates, and factors controlling lateral coating heterogeneity were largely unconstrained. We sampled and analyzed young lava flows (of varying ages, from hours to ~ 40 years) along Kīlauea's southwest and east rift zones to characterize variation in silica coating properties across the landscape. Coating thickness varies as a function of flow age, flow surface type, and proximity to acid sources like local fissure vents and regional plumes emitted from Kīlauea Caldera and Pu'u Ō'ō. Silica coatings that form in immediate proximity to acid sources are more chemically pure than those forming in higher pH environments, which contain significant Al and Fe. Incipient siliceous alteration was observed on basalt surfaces as young as 8 days old, but periods of a year or more are required to develop contiguous coatings with obvious opaque coloration. Inferred coating growth rates vary with environmental conditions but were typically 1-5 μm/year. Coatings form preferentially on flow surfaces with glassy outer layers, such as spatter ramparts, volcanic bombs, and dense pahoehoe breakouts, due to glass strain weakening during cooling. Microtextural evidence suggests that the silica coatings form both by in situ dissolution-reprecipitation and by deposition of silica mobilized in solution. Thin films of water, acidified by contact with volcanic vapors, dissolved near-surface basalt, then precipitated amorphous silica in place, mobilizing more soluble cations. Additional silica was transported to and deposited on the surface by silica-bearing altering fluids derived from the basalt interior.

Tin-Doped Inorganic Amorphous Films for Use as Transparent Monolithic Phosphors.

PubMed

Masai, Hirokazu; Miyata, Hiroki; Yamada, Yasuhiro; Okumura, Shun; Yanagida, Takayuki; Kanemitsu, Yoshihiko

2015-06-10

Although inorganic crystalline phosphors can exhibit high quantum efficiency, their use in phosphor films has been limited by a reliance on organic binders that have poor durability when exposed to high-power and/or high excitation energy light sources. To address this problem, Sn(2+)-doped transparent phosphate films measuring several micrometers in thickness have been successfully prepared through heat treatment and a subsequent single dip-coating process. The resulting monolithic inorganic amorphous film exhibited an internal quantum efficiency of over 60% and can potentially utilize transmitted light. Analysis of the film's emissivity revealed that its color can be tuned by changing the amount of Mn and Sn added to influence the energy transfer from Sn(2+) to Mn(2+). It is therefore concluded that amorphous films containing such emission centers can provide a novel and viable alternative to conventional amorphous films containing crystalline phosphors in light-emitting devices.

Tin-Doped Inorganic Amorphous Films for Use as Transparent Monolithic Phosphors

PubMed Central

Masai, Hirokazu; Miyata, Hiroki; Yamada, Yasuhiro; Okumura, Shun; Yanagida, Takayuki; Kanemitsu, Yoshihiko

2015-01-01

Although inorganic crystalline phosphors can exhibit high quantum efficiency, their use in phosphor films has been limited by a reliance on organic binders that have poor durability when exposed to high-power and/or high excitation energy light sources. To address this problem, Sn2+ -doped transparent phosphate films measuring several micrometers in thickness have been successfully prepared through heat treatment and a subsequent single dip-coating process. The resulting monolithic inorganic amorphous film exhibited an internal quantum efficiency of over 60% and can potentially utilize transmitted light. Analysis of the film’s emissivity revealed that its color can be tuned by changing the amount of Mn and Sn added to influence the energy transfer from Sn2+ to Mn2+. It is therefore concluded that amorphous films containing such emission centers can provide a novel and viable alternative to conventional amorphous films containing crystalline phosphors in light-emitting devices. PMID:26061744

Spontaneous crystalline-to-amorphous phase transformation of organic or medicinal compounds in the presence of porous media, part 2: amorphization capacity and mechanisms of interaction.

PubMed

Qian, Ken K; Suib, Steven L; Bogner, Robin H

2011-11-01

Amorphization of crystalline compounds using mesoporous media is a promising technique to improve the solubility and dissolution rate of poorly soluble compounds. The objective of this paper is to determine the capacity of amorphization and understand the mechanisms of phase transformation. Commercial grades of mesoporous silicon dioxide (SiO(2)) samples (5- to 30-nm mean pore diameters) with either constant surface area or constant pore volume were used. The amorphization capacity of naphthalene was not proportional to either the surface area or the pore volume measured using adsorption chambers. Instead, the amorphization capacity correlated with surface curvature, that is, the smaller the pore diameter and the higher the surface curvature, the greater the amorphization capacity. The change in surface chemistry due to a highly curved surface may be responsible for the enhanced amorphization capacity as well. The amorphization of crystalline compounds was facilitated through capillary condensation, with the decrease in pore volume as the direct experimental evidence. The amorphization capacity was also enhanced by the dipole-dipole or dipole-induced dipole interaction, promoted by the hydroxyl groups on the surface of SiO(2). The enthalpy of vapor-solid condensation of crystalline compounds was a useful indicator to predict the rank order of amorphization capacity. Copyright © 2011 Wiley-Liss, Inc.

Investigation of the capacity of low glass transition temperature excipients to minimize amorphization of sulfadimidine on comilling.

PubMed

Curtin, Vincent; Amharar, Youness; Hu, Yun; Erxleben, Andrea; McArdle, Patrick; Caron, Vincent; Tajber, Lidia; Corrigan, Owen I; Healy, Anne Marie

2013-01-07

The coprocessing of active pharmaceutical ingredient (API) with an excipient which has a high glass transition temperature (T(g)) is a recognized strategy to stabilize the amorphous form of a drug. This work investigates whether coprocessing a model API, sulfadimidine (SDM) with a series of low T(g) excipients, prevents or reduces amorphization of the crystalline drug. It was hypothesized that these excipients could exert a T(g) lowering effect, resulting in composite T(g) values lower than that of the API alone and promote crystallization of the drug. Milled SDM and comilled SDM with glutaric acid (GA), adipic acid (AA), succinic acid (SA), and malic acid (MA) were characterized with respect to their thermal, X-ray diffraction, spectroscopic, and vapor sorption properties. SDM was predominantly amorphous when milled alone, with an amorphous content of 82%. No amorphous content was detected by dynamic vapor sorption (DVS) on comilling SDM with 50% w/w GA, and amorphous content of the API was reduced by almost 30%, relative to the API milled alone, on comilling with 50% w/w AA. In contrast, amorphization of SDM was promoted on comilling with 50% w/w SA and MA, as indicated by near-infrared (NIR) spectroscopy. Results indicated that the API was completely amorphized in the SDM:MA comilled composite. The saturated solubility of GA and AA in the amorphous API was estimated by thermal methods. It was observed that the T(g) of the comelt quenched composites reached a minimum and leveled out at this solubility concentration. Maximum crystallinity of API on comilling was reached at excipient concentrations comparable to the saturated concentration solubility of excipient in the API. Moreover, the closer the Hildebrand solubility parameter of the excipient to the API, the greater the inhibition of API amorphization on comilling. The results reported here indicate that an excipient with a low T(g) coupled with high solubility in the API can prevent or reduce the generation of an amorphous phase on comilling.

Facile Synthesis of Highly Efficient Amorphous Mn-MIL-100 Catalysts: Formation Mechanism and Structure Changes during Application in CO Oxidation.

PubMed

Zhang, Xiaodong; Li, Hongxin; Lv, Xutian; Xu, Jingcheng; Wang, Yuxin; He, Chi; Liu, Ning; Yang, Yiqiong; Wang, Yin

2018-06-21

A comprehensive study was carried out on amorphous metal-organic frameworks Mn-MIL-100 as efficient catalysts for CO oxidation. This study focused on explaining the crystalline-amorphous-crystalline transformations during thermolysis of Mn-MIL-100 and studying the structure changes during the CO oxidation reaction. A possible formation mechanism of amorphous Mn-MIL-100 was proposed. Amorphous Mn-MIL-100 obtained by calcination at 250 °C (a-Mn-250) showed a smaller specific surface area (4 m 2  g -1 ) but high catalytic activity. Furthermore, the structure of amorphous Mn-MIL-100 was labile during the reaction. When a-Mn-250 was treated with reaction atmosphere at high temperature (giving used-a-Mn-250-S), the amorphous catalysts transformed into Mn 2 O 3 . Meanwhile, the BET surface area (164 m 2  g -1 ) and catalytic performance both sharply increased. In addition, used-a-Mn-250-S catalyst transformed from Mn 2 O 3 into Mn 3 O 4 , and this resulted in a slight decrease of catalytic activity in the presence of 1 vol % water vapor in the feed stream. A schematic mechanism of the structure changes during the reaction process was proposed. The success of the synthesis relies on the increase in BET surface area by using CO as retreatment atmosphere, and the enhanced catalytic activity was attributed to the unique structure, a large quantity of surface active oxygen species, oxygen vacancies, and good low-temperature reduction behavior. © 2018 Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

Solid state amorphization of nanocrystalline nickel by cryogenic laser shock peening

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Ye, Chang, E-mail: cye@uakron.edu; Ren, Zhencheng; Zhao, Jingyi

2015-10-07

In this study, complete solid state amorphization in nanocrystalline nickel has been achieved through cryogenic laser shock peening (CLSP). High resolution transmission electron microscopy has revealed the complete amorphous structure of the sample after CLSP processing. A molecular dynamic model has been used to investigate material behavior during the shock loading and the effects of nanoscale grain boundaries on the amorphization process. It has been found that the initial nanoscale grain boundaries increase the initial Gibbs free energy before plastic deformation and also serve as dislocation emission sources during plastic deformation to contribute to defect density increase, leading to themore » amorphization of pure nanocrystalline nickel.« less

Growth and microstructure formation of isothermally-solidified Zircaloy-4 joints brazed by a Zr-Ti-Cu-Ni amorphous alloy ribbon

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kim, K. H.; Lim, C. H.; Lee, J. G.; Lee, M. K.; Rhee, C. K.

2013-10-01

The microstructure and growth characteristics of Zircaloy-4 joints brazed by a Zr48Ti16Cu17Ni19 (at.%) amorphous filler metal have been investigated with regard to the controlled isothermal solidification and intermetallic formation. Two typical joints were produced depending on the isothermal brazing temperature: (1) a dendritic growth structure including bulky segregation in the central zone (at 850 °C), and (2) a homogeneous dendritic structure throughout the joint without segregation (at 890 °C). The primary α-Zr phase was solidified isothermally, nucleating to grow into a joint with a cellular or dendritic structure. Also, the continuous Zr2Ni and particulate Zr2Cu phases were formed in the segregated center zone and at the intercellular region, respectively, owing to the different solubility and atomic mobility of the solute elements (Ti, Cu, and Ni) in the α-Zr matrix. A disappearance of the central Zr2Ni phase was also rate-controlled by the outward diffusion of the Cu and Ni elements. When the detrimental Zr2Ni intermetallic phase was eliminated by a complete isothermal solidification at 890 °C, the strengths of the joints were high enough to cause yielding and fracture in the base metal, exceeding those of the bulk Zircaloy-4, at room temperature as well as at elevated temperatures (up to 400 °C).

Simulation of bipolar charge transport in nanocomposite polymer films

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lean, Meng H.; Chu, Wei-Ping L.

2015-03-01

This paper describes 3D particle-in-cell simulation of bipolar charge injection and transport through nanocomposite film comprised of ferroelectric ceramic nanofillers in an amorphous polymer matrix. The classical electrical double layer (EDL) model for a monopolar core is extended (eEDL) to represent the nanofiller by replacing it with a dipolar core. Charge injection at the electrodes assumes metal-polymer Schottky emission at low to moderate fields and Fowler-Nordheim tunneling at high fields. Injected particles migrate via field-dependent Poole-Frenkel mobility and recombine with Monte Carlo selection. The simulation algorithm uses a boundary integral equation method for solution of the Poisson equation coupled with a second-order predictor-corrector scheme for robust time integration of the equations of motion. The stability criterion of the explicit algorithm conforms to the Courant-Friedrichs-Levy limit assuring robust and rapid convergence. The model is capable of simulating a wide dynamic range spanning leakage current to pre-breakdown. Simulation results for BaTiO3 nanofiller in amorphous polymer matrix indicate that charge transport behavior depend on nanoparticle polarization with anti-parallel orientation showing the highest leakage conduction and therefore lowest level of charge trapping in the interaction zone. Charge recombination is also highest, at the cost of reduced leakage conduction charge. The eEDL model predicts the meandering pathways of charge particle trajectories.

Ice polyamorphism in the minimal Mercedes-Benz model of water.

PubMed

Cartwright, Julyan H E; Piro, Oreste; Sánchez, Pedro A; Sintes, Tomás

2012-12-28

We investigate ice polyamorphism in the context of the two-dimensional Mercedes-Benz model of water. We find a first-order phase transition between a crystalline phase and a high-density amorphous phase. Furthermore, we find a reversible transformation between two amorphous structures of high and low density; however, we find this to be a continuous and not an abrupt transition, as the low-density amorphous phase does not show structural stability. We discuss the origin of this behavior and its implications with regard to the minimal generic modeling of polyamorphism.

Ice polyamorphism in the minimal Mercedes-Benz model of water

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Cartwright, Julyan H. E.; Piro, Oreste; Sánchez, Pedro A.; Sintes, Tomás

2012-12-01

We investigate ice polyamorphism in the context of the two-dimensional Mercedes-Benz model of water. We find a first-order phase transition between a crystalline phase and a high-density amorphous phase. Furthermore, we find a reversible transformation between two amorphous structures of high and low density; however, we find this to be a continuous and not an abrupt transition, as the low-density amorphous phase does not show structural stability. We discuss the origin of this behavior and its implications with regard to the minimal generic modeling of polyamorphism.

Amorphization induced by focused ion beam milling in metallic and electronic materials.

PubMed

Huh, Yoon; Hong, Ki Jung; Shin, Kwang Soo

2013-08-01

Focused ion beam (FIB) milling using high-energy gallium ions is widely used in the preparation of specimens for transmission electron microscopy (TEM). However, the energetic ion beam induces amorphization on the edge of specimens during milling, resulting in a mischievous influence on the clearness of high-quality transmission electron micrographs. In this work, the amorphization induced by the FIB milling was investigated by TEM for three kinds of materials, metallic materials in bulk shape, and semiconductive and electronic ceramic materials as a substrate for the deposition of thin films.

Molecular dynamics in supercooled liquid and glassy states of antibiotics: azithromycin, clarithromycin and roxithromycin studied by dielectric spectroscopy. Advantages given by the amorphous state.

PubMed

Adrjanowicz, K; Zakowiecki, D; Kaminski, K; Hawelek, L; Grzybowska, K; Tarnacka, M; Paluch, M; Cal, K

2012-06-04

Antibiotics are chemical compounds of extremely important medical role. Their history can be traced back more than one hundred years. Despite the passing time and significant progress made in pharmacy and medicine, treatment of many bacterial infections without antibiotics would be completely impossible. This makes them particularly unique substances and explains the unflagging popularity of antibiotics within the medical community. Herein, using dielectric spectroscopy we have studied the molecular mobility in the supercooled liquid and glassy states of three well-known antibiotic agents: azithromycin, clarithromycin and roxithromycin. Dielectric studies revealed a number of relaxation processes of different molecular origin. Besides the primary α-relaxation, observed above the respective glass transition temperatures of antibiotics, two secondary relaxations in the glassy state were identified. Interestingly, the fragility index as well as activation energies of the secondary processes turned out to be practically the same for all three compounds, indicating probably much the same molecular dynamics. Long-term stability of amorphous antibiotics at room temperature was confirmed by X-ray diffraction technique, and calorimetric studies were performed to evaluate the basic thermodynamic parameters. Finally, we have also checked the experimental solubility advantages given by the amorphous form of the examined antibiotics.

Strength of Drug–Polymer Interactions: Implications for Crystallization in Dispersions

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Mistry, Pinal; Suryanarayanan, Raj

We investigated the influence of the strength of drug–polymer interactions on the crystallization behavior of a model drug in amorphous solid dispersions (ASDs). Ketoconazole ASDs were prepared with each poly(acrylic acid), poly(2-hydroxyethyl methacrylate), and polyvinylpyrrolidone. Over a wide temperature range in the supercooled region, the α-relaxation time was obtained, which provided a measure of molecular mobility. Isothermal crystallization studies were performed in the same temperature interval using either a synchrotron (for low levels of crystallinity) or a laboratory X-ray (for crystallization kinetics) source. The stronger the drug–polymer interaction, the longer was the delay in crystallization onset time, indicating an increasemore » in physical stability. Stronger drug–polymer interactions also translated to a decrease in the magnitude of the crystallization rate constant. In amorphous ketoconazole as well as in the dispersions, the coupling coefficient, a measure of the extent of coupling between relaxation and crystallization times was ~0.5. This value was unaffected by the strength of drug–polymer interactions. On the basis of these results, the crystallization times in ASDs were predicted at temperatures very close to Tg, using the coupling coefficient experimentally determined for amorphous ketoconazole. The predicted and experimental crystallization times were in good agreement, indicating the usefulness of the model.« less

Effect of electron count and chemical complexity in the Ta-Nb-Hf-Zr-Ti high-entropy alloy superconductor.

PubMed

von Rohr, Fabian; Winiarski, Michał J; Tao, Jing; Klimczuk, Tomasz; Cava, Robert Joseph

2016-11-15

High-entropy alloys are made from random mixtures of principal elements on simple lattices, stabilized by a high mixing entropy. The recently discovered body-centered cubic (BCC) Ta-Nb-Hf-Zr-Ti high-entropy alloy superconductor appears to display properties of both simple crystalline intermetallics and amorphous materials; e.g., it has a well-defined superconducting transition along with an exceptional robustness against disorder. Here we show that the valence electron count dependence of the superconducting transition temperature in the high-entropy alloy falls between those of analogous simple solid solutions and amorphous materials and test the effect of alloy complexity on the superconductivity. We propose high-entropy alloys as excellent intermediate systems for studying superconductivity as it evolves between crystalline and amorphous materials.

Nanoscale morphology of Ni{sub 50}Ti{sub 45}Cu{sub 5} nanoglass

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Śniadecki, Z., E-mail: sniadecki@ifmpan.poznan.pl; Institute of Nanotechnology, Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, Hermann-von-Helmholtz-Platz 1, D-76344 Eggenstein-Leopoldshafen; Wang, D.

2016-03-15

Nanoglasses are noncrystalline solids with a granular nano-/microstructure. In contrast to their nanocrystalline analogs, typically constituted of grains and grain boundaries, nanoglasses consist of glassy regions with a structure corresponding to melt-quenched glasses and amorphous interfaces characterized by a reduced density. Their unique properties can be controlled by modifying size and chemical composition of the granular and interfacial regions. Ni{sub 50}Ti{sub 45}Cu{sub 5} amorphous films were obtained by magnetron sputtering and analyzed to determine their nanoscale morphology and the formation mechanisms. The nanoglasses were noted to have a hierarchical nano-columnar structure with the smallest Ni-rich (Ni:Ti ratio of ca. 5:3)more » amorphous columns with diameters of about 8 nm and Ti-rich glassy interfacial regions with a substantially lower density. The results were obtained utilizing X-ray diffraction and different microscopic methods, e.g., atomic force microscopy and transmission electron microscopy. A detailed analysis indicates the complexity of the formation mechanisms of topologically and chemically distinguishable structural units with curvature driven surface diffusion, surface mobility, self-shadowing and internal stresses as the most important parameters. Common and simple synthesis method and the possibility for easy modification of the morphology and, consequently, the physical properties offer an opportunity for intensive studies of this new class of materials, opening the way towards possible applications. - Highlights: • Ni{sub 50}Ti{sub 45}Cu{sub 5} thin film nanoglasses were synthesized by magnetron sputtering. • Ti amorphous interfacial phase with reduced density is observed. • Stabilization of interfaces by specific local thermodynamic conditions.« less

The use of inverse gas chromatography and gravimetric vapour sorption to study transitions in amorphous lactose.

PubMed

Ambarkhane, Ameet V; Pincott, Kim; Buckton, Graham

2005-04-27

The aim of this study was to measure the glass transition of amorphous lactose under well-controlled temperature and humidity, using inverse gas chromatography (IGC) and to relate these data to gravimetric vapour sorption experiments. Amorphous lactose (spray-dried) was exposed to a stepwise increment in the relative humidity (%RH) under isothermal conditions in an IGC. At the end of each conditioning step a decane injection was made, and the retention volumes were calculated using the maximum peak height (V(max)) method. The pressure drop across the column was recorded using the pressure transducers. These measurements were performed at various temperatures from 25 to 40 degrees C. The extent of water sorption at identical humidity (%RH) and temperature conditions was determined gravimetrically using dynamic vapour sorption (DVS). At each T, it was possible to determine: (1) a transition at low RH relating to the onset of mobility; (2) changes in retention volume relating to the point, where T(g) = T; (3) changes in pressure drop, which were related to the sample collapse. The rate and extent of water sorption was seen to alter at T(g) and also at a collapse point. Combinations of temperature and critical %RH (%cRH required to lower the dry glass transition temperature to the experimental temperature) obtained from IGC were comparable to those obtained from DVS. It was shown that at each T, the sample spontaneously crystallised, when T(g) was 32 degrees C below T. Inverse gas chromatograph can be used in this novel way to reveal the series of transitions that occur in amorphous materials.

Ultralong room temperature phosphorescence from amorphous organic materials toward confidential information encryption and decryption

PubMed Central

Li, Youbing; Zhou, Xianju; Jana, Deblin; Liu, Guofeng; Lim, Wei Qi; Ong, Wee Kong

2018-01-01

Ultralong room temperature phosphorescence (URTP) emitted from pure amorphous organic molecules is very rare. Although a few crystalline organic molecules could realize URTP with long lifetimes (>100 ms), practical applications of these crystalline organic phosphors are still challenging because the formation and maintenance of high-quality crystals are very difficult and complicated. Herein, we present a rational design for minimizing the vibrational dissipation of pure amorphous organic molecules to achieve URTP. By using this strategy, a series of URTP films with long lifetimes and high phosphorescent quantum yields (up to 0.75 s and 11.23%, respectively) were obtained from amorphous organic phosphors without visible fluorescence and phosphorescence under ambient conditions. On the basis of the unique features of URTP films, a new green screen printing technology without using any ink was developed toward confidential information encryption and decryption. This work presents a breakthrough strategy in applying amorphous organic materials for URTP. PMID:29736419

Heterogeneous water oxidation: surface activity versus amorphization activation in cobalt phosphate catalysts.

PubMed

González-Flores, Diego; Sánchez, Irene; Zaharieva, Ivelina; Klingan, Katharina; Heidkamp, Jonathan; Chernev, Petko; Menezes, Prashanth W; Driess, Matthias; Dau, Holger; Montero, Mavis L

2015-02-16

Is water oxidation catalyzed at the surface or within the bulk volume of solid oxide materials? This question is addressed for cobalt phosphate catalysts deposited on inert electrodes, namely crystallites of pakhomovskyite (Co3(PO4)2⋅8 H2O, Pak) and phosphate-containing Co oxide (CoCat). X-ray spectroscopy reveals that oxidizing potentials transform the crystalline Pak slowly (5-8 h) but completely into the amorphous CoCat. Electrochemical analysis supports high-TOF surface activity in Pak, whereas its amorphization results in dominating volume activity of the thereby formed CoCat material. In the directly electrodeposited CoCat, volume catalysis prevails, but not at very low levels of the amorphous material, implying high-TOF catalysis at surface sites. A complete picture of heterogeneous water oxidation requires insight in catalysis at the electrolyte-exposed "outer surface", within a hydrated, amorphous volume phase, and modes and kinetics of restructuring upon operation. © 2015 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

Large-deformation and high-strength amorphous porous carbon nanospheres

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yang, Weizhu; Mao, Shimin; Yang, Jia; Shang, Tao; Song, Hongguang; Mabon, James; Swiech, Wacek; Vance, John R.; Yue, Zhufeng; Dillon, Shen J.; Xu, Hangxun; Xu, Baoxing

2016-04-01

Carbon is one of the most important materials extensively used in industry and our daily life. Crystalline carbon materials such as carbon nanotubes and graphene possess ultrahigh strength and toughness. In contrast, amorphous carbon is known to be very brittle and can sustain little compressive deformation. Inspired by biological shells and honeycomb-like cellular structures in nature, we introduce a class of hybrid structural designs and demonstrate that amorphous porous carbon nanospheres with a thin outer shell can simultaneously achieve high strength and sustain large deformation. The amorphous carbon nanospheres were synthesized via a low-cost, scalable and structure-controllable ultrasonic spray pyrolysis approach using energetic carbon precursors. In situ compression experiments on individual nanospheres show that the amorphous carbon nanospheres with an optimized structure can sustain beyond 50% compressive strain. Both experiments and finite element analyses reveal that the buckling deformation of the outer spherical shell dominates the improvement of strength while the collapse of inner nanoscale pores driven by twisting, rotation, buckling and bending of pore walls contributes to the large deformation.

Amorphous Zn₂GeO₄ Nanoparticles as Anodes with High Reversible Capacity and Long Cycling Life for Li-ion Batteries

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Yi, Ran; Feng, Jinkui; Lv, Dongping

2013-07-30

Amorphous and crystalline Zn₂GeO₄ nanoparticles were prepared and characterized as anode materials for Li-ion batteries. A higher reversible specific capacity of 1250 mAh/g after 500 cycles and excellent rate capability were obtained for amorphous Zn₂GeO₄ nanoparticles, compared to that of crystalline Zn₂GeO₄ nanoparticles. Small particle size, amorphous phase and incorporation of zinc and oxygen contribute synergetically to the improved performance by effectively mitigating the huge volume variations during lithiation and delithiation process.

Study of the solid-state amorphization of (GaSb){sub 1-x}Ge{sub x} semiconductors by real-time neutron diffraction and electron microscopy

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Fedotov, V. K., E-mail: fedotov@issp.ac.ru; Ponyatovsky, E. G.

2011-12-15

The spontaneous amorphization of high-pressure quenched phases of the GaSb-Ge system has been studied by neutron diffraction while slowly heating the phases at atmospheric pressure. The sequence of changes in the structural parameters of the initial crystalline phase and the final amorphous phase is established. The behavior of the phases and the correlation in the structural features of the phase transitions and anomalous thermal effects exhibit signs of the inhomogeneous model of solid-state amorphization.

Field-Induced Crystalline-to-Amorphous Phase Transformation on the Si Nano-Apex and the Achieving of Highly Reliable Si Nano-Cathodes

PubMed Central

Huang, Yifeng; Deng, Zexiang; Wang, Weiliang; Liang, Chaolun; She, Juncong; Deng, Shaozhi; Xu, Ningsheng

2015-01-01

Nano-scale vacuum channel transistors possess merits of higher cutoff frequency and greater gain power as compared with the conventional solid-state transistors. The improvement in cathode reliability is one of the major challenges to obtain high performance vacuum channel transistors. We report the experimental findings and the physical insight into the field induced crystalline-to-amorphous phase transformation on the surface of the Si nano-cathode. The crystalline Si tip apex deformed to amorphous structure at a low macroscopic field (0.6~1.65 V/nm) with an ultra-low emission current (1~10 pA). First-principle calculation suggests that the strong electrostatic force exerting on the electrons in the surface lattices would take the account for the field-induced atomic migration that result in an amorphization. The arsenic-dopant in the Si surface lattice would increase the inner stress as well as the electron density, leading to a lower amorphization field. Highly reliable Si nano-cathodes were obtained by employing diamond like carbon coating to enhance the electron emission and thus decrease the surface charge accumulation. The findings are crucial for developing highly reliable Si-based nano-scale vacuum channel transistors and have the significance for future Si nano-electronic devices with narrow separation. PMID:25994377

X-ray diffraction investigation of amorphous calcium phosphate and hydroxyapatite under ultra-high hydrostatic pressure

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lam, Elisa; Gu, Qinfen; Swedlund, Peter J.; Marchesseau, Sylvie; Hemar, Yacine

2015-11-01

The changes in the crystal structures of synthetically prepared amorphous calcium phosphate (ACP) and hydroxyapatite (HAP) in water (1:1 mass ratio) were studied by synchrotron X-ray diffraction (XRD) under ultra-high hydrostatic pressures as high as 2.34 GPa for ACP and 4 GPa for HAP. At ambient pressure, the XRD patterns of the ACP and HAP samples in capillary tubes and their environmental scanning electron micrographs indicated amorphous and crystalline characteristics for ACP and HAP, respectively. At pressures greater than 0.25 GPa, an additional broad peak was observed in the XRD pattern of the ACP phase, indicating a partial phase transition from an amorphous phase to a new high-pressure amorphous phase. The peak areas and positions of the ACP phase, as obtained through fitting of the experimental data, indicated that the ACP exhibited increased pseudo-crystalline behavior at pressures greater than 0.96 GPa. Conversely, no structural changes were observed for the HAP phase up to the highest applied pressure of 4 GPa. For HAP, a unit-cell reduction during compression was evidenced by a reduction in both refined lattice parameters a and c. Both ACP and HAP reverted to their original structures when the pressure was fully released to ambient pressure.

Design and Fabrication of a Miniaturized GMI Magnetic Sensor Based on Amorphous Wire by MEMS Technology

PubMed Central

Chen, Jiawen; Li, Jianhua; Li, Yiyuan; Chen, Yulong

2018-01-01

A miniaturized Co-based amorphous wire GMI (Giant magneto-impedance) magnetic sensor was designed and fabricated in this paper. The Co-based amorphous wire was used as the sense element due to its high sensitivity to the magnetic field. A three-dimensional micro coil surrounding the Co-based amorphous wire was fabricated by MEMS (Micro-Electro-Mechanical System) technology, which was used to extract the electrical signal. The three-dimensional micro pick-up coil was designed and simulated with HFSS (High Frequency Structure Simulator) software to determine the key parameters. Surface micro machining MEMS (Micro-Electro-Mechanical System) technology was employed to fabricate the three-dimensional coil. The size of the developed amorphous wire magnetic sensor is 5.6 × 1.5 × 1.1 mm3. Helmholtz coil was used to characterize the performance of the device. The test results of the sensor sample show that the voltage change is 130 mV/Oe and the linearity error is 4.83% in the range of 0~45,000 nT. The results indicate that the developed miniaturized magnetic sensor has high sensitivity. By testing the electrical resistance of the samples, the results also showed high uniformity of each device. PMID:29494477

Experimental study of the polyamorphism of water. II. The isobaric transitions between HDA and VHDA at intermediate and high pressures.

PubMed

Handle, Philip H; Loerting, Thomas

2018-03-28

Since the first report of very-high density amorphous ice (VHDA) in 2001 [T. Loerting et al., Phys. Chem. Chem. Phys. 3, 5355-5357 (2001)], the status of VHDA as a distinct amorphous ice has been debated. We here study VHDA and its relation to expanded high density amorphous ice (eHDA) on the basis of isobaric heating experiments. VHDA was heated at 0.1 ≤ p ≤ 0.7 GPa, and eHDA was heated at 1.1 ≤ p ≤ 1.6 GPa to achieve interconversion. The behavior upon heating is monitored using in situ volumetry as well as ex situ X-ray diffraction and differential scanning calorimetry. We do not observe a sharp transition for any of the isobaric experiments. Instead, a continuous expansion (VHDA) or densification (eHDA) marks the interconversion. This suggests that a continuum of states exists between VHDA and HDA, at least in the temperature range studied here. This further suggests that VHDA is the most relaxed amorphous ice at high pressures and eHDA is the most relaxed amorphous ice at intermediate pressures. It remains unclear whether or not HDA and VHDA experience a sharp transition upon isothermal compression/decompression at low temperature.

Experimental study of the polyamorphism of water. II. The isobaric transitions between HDA and VHDA at intermediate and high pressures

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Handle, Philip H.; Loerting, Thomas

2018-03-01

Since the first report of very-high density amorphous ice (VHDA) in 2001 [T. Loerting et al., Phys. Chem. Chem. Phys. 3, 5355-5357 (2001)], the status of VHDA as a distinct amorphous ice has been debated. We here study VHDA and its relation to expanded high density amorphous ice (eHDA) on the basis of isobaric heating experiments. VHDA was heated at 0.1 ≤ p ≤ 0.7 GPa, and eHDA was heated at 1.1 ≤ p ≤ 1.6 GPa to achieve interconversion. The behavior upon heating is monitored using in situ volumetry as well as ex situ X-ray diffraction and differential scanning calorimetry. We do not observe a sharp transition for any of the isobaric experiments. Instead, a continuous expansion (VHDA) or densification (eHDA) marks the interconversion. This suggests that a continuum of states exists between VHDA and HDA, at least in the temperature range studied here. This further suggests that VHDA is the most relaxed amorphous ice at high pressures and eHDA is the most relaxed amorphous ice at intermediate pressures. It remains unclear whether or not HDA and VHDA experience a sharp transition upon isothermal compression/decompression at low temperature.

Method for improving the stability of amorphous silicon

DOEpatents

Branz, Howard M.

2004-03-30

A method of producing a metastable degradation resistant amorphous hydrogenated silicon film is provided, which comprises the steps of growing a hydrogenated amorphous silicon film, the film having an exposed surface, illuminating the surface using an essentially blue or ultraviolet light to form high densities of a light induced defect near the surface, and etching the surface to remove the defect.

Sputtered pin amorphous silicon semi-conductor device and method therefor

DOEpatents

Moustakas, Theodore D.; Friedman, Robert A.

1983-11-22

A high efficiency amorphous silicon PIN semi-conductor device is constructed by the sequential sputtering of N, I and P layers of amorphous silicon and at least one semi-transparent ohmic electrode. A method of construction produces a PIN device, exhibiting enhanced physical integrity and facilitates ease of construction in a singular vacuum system and vacuum pump down procedure.

Amorphous metal alloy and composite

DOEpatents

Wang, Rong; Merz, Martin D.

1985-01-01

Amorphous metal alloys of the iron-chromium and nickel-chromium type have excellent corrosion resistance and high temperature stability and are suitable for use as a protective coating on less corrosion resistant substrates. The alloys are stabilized in the amorphous state by one or more elements of titanium, zirconium, hafnium, niobium, tantalum, molybdenum, and tungsten. The alloy is preferably prepared by sputter deposition.

Electrically conducting ternary amorphous fully oxidized materials and their application

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Giauque, Pierre (Inventor); Nicolet, Marc (Inventor); Gasser, Stefan M. (Inventor); Kolawa, Elzbieta A. (Inventor); Cherry, Hillary (Inventor)

2004-01-01

Electrically active devices are formed using a special conducting material of the form Tm--Ox mixed with SiO2 where the materials are immiscible. The immiscible materials are forced together by using high energy process to form an amorphous phase of the two materials. The amorphous combination of the two materials is electrically conducting but forms an effective barrier.

Nanoscale solely amorphous layer in silicon wafers induced by a newly developed diamond wheel

PubMed Central

Zhang, Zhenyu; Guo, Liangchao; Cui, Junfeng; Wang, Bo; Kang, Renke; Guo, Dongming

2016-01-01

Nanoscale solely amorphous layer is achieved in silicon (Si) wafers, using a developed diamond wheel with ceria, which is confirmed by high resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM). This is different from previous reports of ultraprecision grinding, nanoindentation and nanoscratch, in which an amorphous layer at the top, followed by a crystalline damaged layer beneath. The thicknesses of amorphous layer are 43 and 48 nm at infeed rates of 8 and 15 μm/min, respectively, which is verified using HRTEM. Diamond-cubic Si-I phase is verified in Si wafers using selected area electron diffraction patterns, indicating the absence of high pressure phases. Ceria plays an important role in the diamond wheel for achieving ultrasmooth and bright surfaces using ultraprecision grinding. PMID:27734934

Limits of metastability in amorphous ices: the neutron scattering Debye-Waller factor.

PubMed

Amann-Winkel, Katrin; Löw, Florian; Handle, Philip H; Knoll, Wiebke; Peters, Judith; Geil, Burkhard; Fujara, Franz; Loerting, Thomas

2012-12-21

Recently, it became clear that relaxation effects in amorphous ices play a very important role that has previously been overlooked. The thermodynamic history of amorphous samples strongly affects their transition behavior. In particular, well-relaxed samples show higher thermal stability, thereby providing a larger window to investigate their glass transitions. We here present neutron scattering experiments using fixed elastic window scans on relaxed forms of amorphous ice, namely expanded high density amorphous ice (eHDA), a variant of low density amorphous ice (LDA-II) and hyperquenched glassy water (HGW). These amorphous ices are expected to be true glassy counterparts of deeply supercooled liquid water, therefore fast precursor dynamics of structural relaxation are expected to appear below the calorimetric glass transition temperature. The Debye-Waller factor shows a very weak sub-T(g) anomaly in some of the samples, which might be the signature of such fast precursor dynamics. However, we cannot find this behavior consistently in all samples at all reciprocal length scales of momentum transfer.

In situ observation of shear-driven amorphization in silicon crystals

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

He, Yang; Zhong, Li; Fan, Feifei

Amorphous materials have attracted great interest in the scientific and technological fields. An amorphous solid usually forms under the externally driven conditions of melt-quenching, irradiation and severe mechanical deformation. However, its dynamic formation process remains elusive. Here we report the in situ atomic-scale observation of dynamic amorphization processes during mechanical straining of nanoscale silicon crystals by high resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM). We observe the shear-driven amorphization (SDA) occurring in a dominant shear band. The SDA involves a sequence of processes starting with the shear-induced diamond-cubic to diamond-hexagonal phase transition that is followed by dislocation nucleation and accumulation in themore » newly formed phase, leading to the formation of amorphous silicon. The SDA formation through diamond-hexagonal phase is rationalized by its structural conformity with the order in the paracrystalline amorphous silicon, which maybe widely applied to diamond-cubic materials. Besides, the activation of SDA is orientation-dependent through the competition between full dislocation nucleation and partial gliding.« less

Amorphous In–Ga–Zn–O thin-film transistor active pixel sensor x-ray imager for digital breast tomosynthesis

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Zhao, Chumin; Kanicki, Jerzy, E-mail: kanicki@eecs.umich.edu

Purpose: The breast cancer detection rate for digital breast tomosynthesis (DBT) is limited by the x-ray image quality. The limiting Nyquist frequency for current DBT systems is around 5 lp/mm, while the fine image details contained in the high spatial frequency region (>5 lp/mm) are lost. Also today the tomosynthesis patient dose is high (0.67–3.52 mGy). To address current issues, in this paper, for the first time, a high-resolution low-dose organic photodetector/amorphous In–Ga–Zn–O thin-film transistor (a-IGZO TFT) active pixel sensor (APS) x-ray imager is proposed for next generation DBT systems. Methods: The indirect x-ray detector is based on a combination of a novelmore » low-cost organic photodiode (OPD) and a cesium iodide-based (CsI:Tl) scintillator. The proposed APS x-ray imager overcomes the difficulty of weak signal detection, when small pixel size and low exposure conditions are used, by an on-pixel signal amplification with a significant charge gain. The electrical performance of a-IGZO TFT APS pixel circuit is investigated by SPICE simulation using modified Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute amorphous silicon (a-Si:H) TFT model. Finally, the noise, detective quantum efficiency (DQE), and resolvability of the complete system are modeled using the cascaded system formalism. Results: The result demonstrates that a large charge gain of 31–122 is achieved for the proposed high-mobility (5–20 cm{sup 2}/V s) amorphous metal-oxide TFT APS. The charge gain is sufficient to eliminate the TFT thermal noise, flicker noise as well as the external readout circuit noise. Moreover, the low TFT (<10{sup −13} A) and OPD (<10{sup −8} A/cm{sup 2}) leakage currents can further reduce the APS noise. Cascaded system analysis shows that the proposed APS imager with a 75 μm pixel pitch can effectively resolve the Nyquist frequency of 6.67 lp/mm, which can be further improved to ∼10 lp/mm if the pixel pitch is reduced to 50 μm. Moreover, the detector entrance exposure per projection can be reduced from 1 to 0.3 mR without a significant reduction of DQE. The signal-to-noise ratio of the a-IGZO APS imager under 0.3 mR x-ray exposure is comparable to that of a-Si:H passive pixel sensor imager under 1 mR, indicating good image quality under low dose. A threefold reduction of current tomosynthesis dose is expected if proposed technology is combined with an advanced DBT image reconstruction method. Conclusions: The proposed a-IGZO APS x-ray imager with a pixel pitch <75 μm is capable to achieve a high spatial frequency (>6.67 lp/mm) and a low dose (<0.4 mGy) in next generation DBT systems.« less

Amorphous In-Ga-Zn-O thin-film transistor active pixel sensor x-ray imager for digital breast tomosynthesis.

PubMed

Zhao, Chumin; Kanicki, Jerzy

2014-09-01

The breast cancer detection rate for digital breast tomosynthesis (DBT) is limited by the x-ray image quality. The limiting Nyquist frequency for current DBT systems is around 5 lp/mm, while the fine image details contained in the high spatial frequency region (>5 lp/mm) are lost. Also today the tomosynthesis patient dose is high (0.67-3.52 mGy). To address current issues, in this paper, for the first time, a high-resolution low-dose organic photodetector/amorphous In-Ga-Zn-O thin-film transistor (a-IGZO TFT) active pixel sensor (APS) x-ray imager is proposed for next generation DBT systems. The indirect x-ray detector is based on a combination of a novel low-cost organic photodiode (OPD) and a cesium iodide-based (CsI:Tl) scintillator. The proposed APS x-ray imager overcomes the difficulty of weak signal detection, when small pixel size and low exposure conditions are used, by an on-pixel signal amplification with a significant charge gain. The electrical performance of a-IGZO TFT APS pixel circuit is investigated by SPICE simulation using modified Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute amorphous silicon (a-Si:H) TFT model. Finally, the noise, detective quantum efficiency (DQE), and resolvability of the complete system are modeled using the cascaded system formalism. The result demonstrates that a large charge gain of 31-122 is achieved for the proposed high-mobility (5-20 cm2/V s) amorphous metal-oxide TFT APS. The charge gain is sufficient to eliminate the TFT thermal noise, flicker noise as well as the external readout circuit noise. Moreover, the low TFT (<10(-13) A) and OPD (<10(-8) A/cm2) leakage currents can further reduce the APS noise. Cascaded system analysis shows that the proposed APS imager with a 75 μm pixel pitch can effectively resolve the Nyquist frequency of 6.67 lp/mm, which can be further improved to ∼10 lp/mm if the pixel pitch is reduced to 50 μm. Moreover, the detector entrance exposure per projection can be reduced from 1 to 0.3 mR without a significant reduction of DQE. The signal-to-noise ratio of the a-IGZO APS imager under 0.3 mR x-ray exposure is comparable to that of a-Si:H passive pixel sensor imager under 1 mR, indicating good image quality under low dose. A threefold reduction of current tomosynthesis dose is expected if proposed technology is combined with an advanced DBT image reconstruction method. The proposed a-IGZO APS x-ray imager with a pixel pitch<75 μm is capable to achieve a high spatial frequency (>6.67 lp/mm) and a low dose (<0.4 mGy) in next generation DBT systems.

Inverse Resistance Change Cr2Ge2Te6-Based PCRAM Enabling Ultralow-Energy Amorphization.

PubMed

Hatayama, Shogo; Sutou, Yuji; Shindo, Satoshi; Saito, Yuta; Song, Yun-Heub; Ando, Daisuke; Koike, Junichi

2018-01-24

Phase-change random access memory (PCRAM) has attracted much attention for next-generation nonvolatile memory that can replace flash memory and can be used for storage-class memory. Generally, PCRAM relies on the change in the electrical resistance of a phase-change material between high-resistance amorphous (reset) and low-resistance crystalline (set) states. Herein, we present an inverse resistance change PCRAM with Cr 2 Ge 2 Te 6 (CrGT) that shows a high-resistance crystalline reset state and a low-resistance amorphous set state. The inverse resistance change was found to be due to a drastic decrease in the carrier density upon crystallization, which causes a large increase in contact resistivity between CrGT and the electrode. The CrGT memory cell was demonstrated to show fast reversible resistance switching with a much lower operating energy for amorphization than a Ge 2 Sb 2 Te 5 memory cell. This low operating energy in CrGT should be due to a small programmed amorphous volume, which can be realized by a high-resistance crystalline matrix and a dominant contact resistance. Simultaneously, CrGT can break the trade-off relationship between the crystallization temperature and operating speed.

High-Energy Ball Milling as Green Process To Vitrify Tadalafil and Improve Bioavailability.

PubMed

Krupa, Anna; Descamps, Marc; Willart, Jean-François; Strach, Beata; Wyska, Elżbieta; Jachowicz, Renata; Danède, Florence

2016-11-07

In this study, the suitability of high-energy ball milling was investigated with the aim to vitrify tadalafil (TD) and improve its bioavailability. To achieve this goal, pure TD as well as binary mixtures composed of the drug and Soluplus (SL) were coprocessed by high-energy ball milling. Modulated differential scanning calorimetry (MDSC) and X-ray powder diffraction (XRD) demonstrated that after such coprocessing, the crystalline form of TD was transformed into an amorphous form. The presence of a single glass transition (T g ) for all the comilled formulations indicated that TD was dispersed into SL at the molecular level, forming amorphous molecular alloys, regardless of the drug concentration. The high values of T g determined for amorphous formulations, ranging from 70 to 147 °C, foreshow their high stability during storage at room temperature, which was verified by XRD and MDSC studies. The stabilizing effect of SL on the amorphous form of TD in comilled formulations was confirmed. Dissolution tests showed immediate drug release with sustained supersaturation in either simulated gastric fluid of pH 1.2 or in phosphate buffer of pH 7.2. The beneficial effect of both amorphization and coamorphization on the bioavailability of TD was found. In comparison to aqueous suspension, the relative bioavailability of TD was only 11% for its crystalline form and 53% for the crystalline physical mixture, whereas the bioavailability of milled amorphous TD and the comilled solid dispersion was 128% and 289%, respectively. Thus, the results provide evidence that not only the presence of polymeric surfactant but also the vitrification of TD is necessary to improve bioavailability.

Amorphous boron gasket in diamond anvil cell research

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lin, Jung-Fu; Shu, Jinfu; Mao, Ho-kwang; Hemley, Russell J.; Shen, Guoyin

2003-11-01

Recent advances in high-pressure diamond anvil cell experiments include high-energy synchrotron x-ray techniques as well as new cell designs and gasketing procedures. The success of high-pressure experiments usually depends on a well-prepared sample, in which the gasket plays an important role. Various gasket materials such as diamond, beryllium, rhenium, and stainless steel have been used. Here we introduce amorphous boron as another gasket material in high-pressure diamond anvil cell experiments. We have applied the boron gasket for laser-heating x-ray diffraction, radial x-ray diffraction, nuclear resonant inelastic x-ray scattering, and inelastic x-ray scattering. The high shear strength of the amorphous boron maximizes the thickness of the sample chamber and increases the pressure homogeneity, improving the quality of high-pressure data. Use of amorphous boron avoids unwanted x-ray diffraction peaks and reduces the absorption of incident and x rays exiting the gasket material. The high quality of the diffraction patterns makes it possible to refine the cell parameters with powder x-ray diffraction data under high pressure and high temperature. The reactivity of boron prevents its use at high temperatures, however. When heated, boron may also react with the specimen to produce unwanted phases. The relatively porous boron starting material at ambient conditions also poses some challenges for sample preparation.

Amorphous silicon photovoltaic devices

DOEpatents

Carlson, David E.; Lin, Guang H.; Ganguly, Gautam

2004-08-31

This invention is a photovoltaic device comprising an intrinsic or i-layer of amorphous silicon and where the photovoltaic device is more efficient at converting light energy to electric energy at high operating temperatures than at low operating temperatures. The photovoltaic devices of this invention are suitable for use in high temperature operating environments.

Polyamorphism in Water: Amorphous Ices and their Glassy States

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Amann-Winkel, K.; Boehmer, R.; Fujara, F.; Gainaru, C.; Geil, B.; Loerting, T.

2015-12-01

Water is ubiquitous and of general importance for our environment. But it is also known as the most anomalous liquid. The fundamental origin of the numerous anomalies of water is still under debate. An understanding of these anomalous properties of water is closely linked to an understanding of the phase diagram of the metastable non-crystalline states of ice. The process of pressure induced amorphization of ice was first observed by Mishima et al. [1]. The authors pressurized hexagonal ice at 77 K up to a pressure of 1.6 GPa to form high density amorphous ice (HDA). So far three distinct structural states of amorphous water are known [2], they are called low- (LDA), high- (HDA) and very high density amorphous ice (VHDA). Since the discovery of multiple distinct amorphous states it is controversy discussed whether this phenomenon of polyamorphism at high pressures is connected to the occurrence of more than one supercooled liquid phase [3]. Alternatively, amorphous ices have been suggested to be of nanocrystalline nature, unrelated to liquids. Indeed inelastic X-ray scattering measurements indicate sharp crystal-like phonons in the amorphous ices [4]. In case of LDA the connection to the low-density liquid (LDL) was inferred from several experiments including the observation of a calorimetric glass-to-liquid transition at 136 K and ambient pressure [5]. Recently also the glass transition in HDA was observed at 116 K at ambient pressure [6] and at 140 K at elevated pressure of 1 GPa [7], using calorimetric measurements as well as dielectric spectroscopy. We discuss here the general importance of amorphous ices and their liquid counterparts and present calorimetric and dielectric measurements on LDA and HDA. The good agreement between dielectric and calorimetric results convey for a clearer picture of water's vitrification phenomenon. [1] O. Mishima, L. D. Calvert, and E. Whalley, Nature 314, 76, 1985 [2] D.T. Bowron, J. L. Finney, A. Hallbrucker, et al., J. Chem. Phys. 125, 2006 [3] P.G. Debenedetti, J. Phys.: Condens. Matter 15, R1669, 2003 [4] H. Schober, M.M. Koza et al., PRL 85, 4100, 2000 [5] G.P. Johari, A. Hallbrucker and E. Mayer Nature 330, 552, 1987 [6] K. Amann-Winkel, C. Gainaru, et al., PNAS 110, 17720, 2013 [7] Andersson, O., PNAS 108, 11013, 2011

Investigation of the influence of pretreatment parameters on the surface characteristics of amorphous metal for use in power industry

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Nieroda, Jolanta; Rybak, Andrzej; Kmita, Grzegorz; Sitarz, Maciej

2018-05-01

Metallic glasses are metallic materials, which exhibit an amorphous structure. These are mostly three or more component alloys, and some of them are magnetic metals. Materials of this kind are characterized by high electrical resistivity and at the same time exhibit very good magnetic properties (e.g. low-magnetization loss). The above mentioned properties are very useful in electrical engineering industry and this material is more and more popular as a substance for high-efficiency electrical devices production. This industry area is still evolving, and thus even higher efficiency of apparatus based on amorphous material is expected. A raw material must be carefully investigated and characterized before the main production process is started. Presented work contains results of complementary examination of amorphous metal Metglas 2605. Studies involve two ways to obtain clean and oxidized surface with high reactivity, namely degreasing followed by annealing process and plasma treatment. The amorphous metal parameters were examined by means of several techniques: surface free energy (SFE) measurements by sessile drop method, X-ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy (XPS), Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM), X-ray Diffraction (XRD), and both ex situ and in situ Raman spectroscopy. Additionally, influence of plasma parameters on wetting properties were optimized in systematic way with Design of Experiments (DOE) method. A wide range of used methods allow to fully investigate the amorphous metal material during preliminary preparation of surface. Obtained results provide information about appropriate parameters that should be applied in order to obtain highly reactive surface with functional oxide layer on it.

Radiation-stability of smectite.

PubMed

Sorieul, Stéphanie; Allard, Thierry; Wang, Lumin M; Grambin-Lapeyre, Caroline; Lian, Jie; Calas, Georges; Ewings, Rodney C

2008-11-15

The safety assessment of geological repositories for high-level nuclear waste and spent nuclear fuel requires an understanding of the response of materials to high temperatures and intense radiation fields. Clays, such as smectite, have been proposed as backfill material around waste packages, but their response to intense radiation from short-lived fission products and alpha decay of sorbed actinides remains poorly understood. Cumulative doses may amorphize clays and may alter their properties of sorption, swelling, or water retention. We describe the amorphization of smectites induced by electron and heavy ion irradiations to simulate ionizing radiation and alpha recoil nuclei, respectively. A new "bell-shaped" evolution of the amorphization dose with temperature has been determined. The maximum dose for amorphization occurs at about 300-400 degrees C, showing that temperature-induced dehydroxylation enhances amorphization. The exact shape of the bell-shaped curves depends on the interlayer cation. At ambient temperature, ionizing radiation and alpha-decay events do not show the same efficiency. The former results in amorphization at doses between 10(10)-10(11) Gy which are greater than the total radiation dose expected for radioactive waste over 10(6) years. In contrast, alpha-decay events amorphize clays at doses as low as 0.13-0.16 displacements per atom, i.e. doses consistent with nuclear waste accumulated over approximately 1000 yrs. However, the limited penetration of alpha particles and recoil nuclei, in the 100 nm - 20 microm range, will minimize damage. Clays will not be amorphized unless the waste package is breached and released actinides are heavily sorbed onto the clay overpack.

Super Soft All-Ethylene Oxide Polymer Electrolyte for Safe All-Solid Lithium Batteries

PubMed Central

Porcarelli, Luca; Gerbaldi, Claudio; Bella, Federico; Nair, Jijeesh Ravi

2016-01-01

Here we demonstrate that by regulating the mobility of classic −EO− based backbones, an innovative polymer electrolyte system can be architectured. This polymer electrolyte allows the construction of all solid lithium-based polymer cells having outstanding cycling behaviour in terms of rate capability and stability over a wide range of operating temperatures. Polymer electrolytes are obtained by UV-induced (co)polymerization, which promotes an effective interlinking between the polyethylene oxide (PEO) chains plasticized by tetraglyme at various lithium salt concentrations. The polymer networks exhibit sterling mechanical robustness, high flexibility, homogeneous and highly amorphous characteristics. Ambient temperature ionic conductivity values exceeding 0.1 mS cm−1 are obtained, along with a wide electrochemical stability window (>5 V vs. Li/Li+), excellent lithium ion transference number (>0.6) as well as interfacial stability. Moreover, the efficacious resistance to lithium dendrite nucleation and growth postulates the implementation of these polymer electrolytes in next generation of all-solid Li-metal batteries working at ambient conditions. PMID:26791572

Template-mediated nano-crystallite networks in semiconducting polymers.

PubMed

Kwon, Sooncheol; Yu, Kilho; Kweon, Kyoungchun; Kim, Geunjin; Kim, Junghwan; Kim, Heejoo; Jo, Yong-Ryun; Kim, Bong-Joong; Kim, Jehan; Lee, Seoung Ho; Lee, Kwanghee

2014-06-18

Unlike typical inorganic semiconductors with a crystal structure, the charge dynamics of π-conjugated polymers (π-CPs) are severely limited by the presence of amorphous portions between the ordered crystalline regions. Thus, the formation of interconnected pathways along crystallites of π-CPs is desired to ensure highly efficient charge transport in printable electronics. Here we report the formation of nano-crystallite networks in π-CP films by employing novel template-mediated crystallization (TMC) via polaron formation and electrostatic interaction. The lateral and vertical charge transport of TMC-treated films increased by two orders of magnitude compared with pristine π-CPs. In particular, because of the unprecedented room temperature and solution-processing advantages of our TMC method, we achieve a field-effect mobility of 0.25 cm(2) V(-1) s(-1) using a plastic substrate, which corresponds to the highest value reported thus far. Because our findings can be applied to various π-conjugated semiconductors, our approach is universal and is expected to yield high-performance printable electronics.

Super Soft All-Ethylene Oxide Polymer Electrolyte for Safe All-Solid Lithium Batteries

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Porcarelli, Luca; Gerbaldi, Claudio; Bella, Federico; Nair, Jijeesh Ravi

2016-01-01

Here we demonstrate that by regulating the mobility of classic -EO- based backbones, an innovative polymer electrolyte system can be architectured. This polymer electrolyte allows the construction of all solid lithium-based polymer cells having outstanding cycling behaviour in terms of rate capability and stability over a wide range of operating temperatures. Polymer electrolytes are obtained by UV-induced (co)polymerization, which promotes an effective interlinking between the polyethylene oxide (PEO) chains plasticized by tetraglyme at various lithium salt concentrations. The polymer networks exhibit sterling mechanical robustness, high flexibility, homogeneous and highly amorphous characteristics. Ambient temperature ionic conductivity values exceeding 0.1 mS cm-1 are obtained, along with a wide electrochemical stability window (>5 V vs. Li/Li+), excellent lithium ion transference number (>0.6) as well as interfacial stability. Moreover, the efficacious resistance to lithium dendrite nucleation and growth postulates the implementation of these polymer electrolytes in next generation of all-solid Li-metal batteries working at ambient conditions.

Influence of Molecular Shape on the Thermal Stability and Molecular Orientation of Vapor-Deposited Organic Semiconductors

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Walters, Diane M; Antony, Lucas; de Pablo, Juan

High thermal stability and anisotropic molecular orientation enhance the performance of vapor-deposited organic semiconductors, but controlling these properties is a challenge in amorphous materials. To understand the influence of molecular shape on these properties, vapor-deposited glasses of three disk-shaped molecules were prepared. For all three systems, enhanced thermal stability is observed for glasses prepared over a wide range of substrate temperatures and anisotropic molecular orientation is observed at lower substrate temperatures. For two of the disk-shaped molecules, atomistic simulations of thin films were also performed and anisotropic molecular orientation was observed at the equilibrium liquid surface. We find that themore » structure and thermal stability of these vapor-deposited glasses results from high surface mobility and partial equilibration toward the structure of the equilibrium liquid surface during the deposition process. For the three molecules studied, molecular shape is a dominant factor in determining the anisotropy of vapor-deposited glasses.« less

High pressure study on molecular mobility of leucrose

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kaminski, K.; Kaminska, E.; Hensel-Bielowka, S.; Pawlus, S.; Paluch, M.; Ziolo, J.

2008-08-01

Broadband dielectric measurements on leucrose were performed under ambient and high pressure. We showed that in this disaccharide, there are two secondary relaxation modes, a slower one sensitive to pressure and a faster one that is not. This finding clearly indicates that the faster secondary relaxation originates from the intramolecular motion. This conclusion contradicted previous interpretations of this mode observed for trehalose and maltitol, systems very closely related to leucrose. In addition, pressure sensitivity of the slower relaxation confirms our recent interpretation about the character of this process. Furthermore, we discovered that unlike the faster relaxation, the slower secondary relaxation is sensitive to the thermodynamic history of measurements. Finally, monitoring the changes in maximum loss of the slower secondary relaxation measured at the same pressure and temperature conditions for glasses obtained via different thermodynamic routes enabled us to draw a conclusion about the density of the formed glasses. Our observations may be helpful in establishing a new method of suppressing crystallization of amorphous drugs.

Why is it so difficult to classify Renazzo-type (CR) carbonaceous chondrites? - Implications from TEM observations of matrices for the sequences of aqueous alteration

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Abreu, Neyda M.

2016-12-01

A number of different classifications have been proposed for the CR chondrites; this study aims at reconciling these different schemes. Mineralogy-based classification has proved particularly challenging for weakly to moderately altered CRs because incipient mineral replacement and elemental mobilization arising from aqueous alteration only affected the most susceptible primary phases, which are generally located in the matrix. Secondary matrix phases are extremely fine-grained (generally sub-micron) and heterogeneously mixed with primary nebular materials. Compositional and isotopic classification parameters are fraught with confounding factors, such as terrestrial weathering, impact processes, and variable abundance of clasts from different regions of the CR parent body or from altogether different planetary bodies. Here, detailed TEM observations from eighteen FIB sections retrieved from the matrices of nine Antarctic CR chondrites (EET 96259, GRA 95229, GRO 95577, GRO 03116, LAP 02342, LAP 04516, LAP 04720, MIL 07525, and MIL 090001) are presented, representing a range of petrologic types. Amorphous Fe-Mg silicates are found to be the dominant phase in all but the most altered CR chondrite matrices, which still retain significant amounts of these amorphous materials. Amorphous Fe-Mg silicates are mixed with phyllosilicates at the nanometer scale. The ratio of amorphous Fe-Mg silicates to phyllosilicates decreases as: (1) the size of phyllosilicates, (2) abundance of magnetite, and (3) replacement of Fe-Ni sulfides increase. Carbonates are only abundant in the most altered CR chondrite, GRO 95577. Nanophase Fe-Ni metal and tochilinite are present small abundances in most CR matrices. Based on the presence, abundance and size of phyllosilicates with respect to amorphous Fe-Mg silicates, the sub-micron features of CR chondrites have been linked to existing classification sequences, and possible reasons for inconsistencies among classification schemes are discussed.

Amorphization and thermal stability of aluminum-based nanoparticles prepared from the rapid cooling of nanodroplets: effect of iron addition.

PubMed

Xiao, Shifang; Li, Xiaofan; Deng, Huiqiu; Deng, Lei; Hu, Wangyu

2015-03-07

Despite an intensive investigation on bimetallic nanoparticles, little attention has been paid to their amorphization in the past few decades. The study of amorphization on a nanoscale is of considerable significance for the preparation of amorphous nanoparticles and bulk metallic glass. Herein, we pursue the amorphization process of Al-based nanoparticles with classic molecular dynamics simulations and local structural analysis techniques. By a comparative study of the amorphization of pure Al and Fe-doped Al-based nanodroplets in the course of rapid cooling, we find that Fe addition plays a very important role in the vitrification of Al-based nanodroplets. Owing to the subsurface segregated Fe atoms with their nearest neighbors tending to form relatively stable icosahedral (ICO) clusters, the Fe-centred cluster network near the surface effectively suppresses the crystallization of droplets from surface nucleation and growth as the concentration of Fe attains a certain value. The glass formation ability of nanodroplets is suggested to be enhanced by the high intrinsic inner pressure as a result of small size and surface tension, combined with the dopant-inhibited surface nucleation. In addition, the effect of the size and the added concentration of nanoparticles on amorphization and the thermal stability of the amorphous nanoparticles are discussed. Our findings reveal the amorphization mechanism in Fe-doped Al-based nanoparticles and provide a theoretical guidance for the design of amorphous materials.

Moisture-Induced Amorphous Phase Separation of Amorphous Solid Dispersions: Molecular Mechanism, Microstructure, and Its Impact on Dissolution Performance.

PubMed

Chen, Huijun; Pui, Yipshu; Liu, Chengyu; Chen, Zhen; Su, Ching-Chiang; Hageman, Michael; Hussain, Munir; Haskell, Roy; Stefanski, Kevin; Foster, Kimberly; Gudmundsson, Olafur; Qian, Feng

2018-01-01

Amorphous phase separation (APS) is commonly observed in amorphous solid dispersions (ASD) when exposed to moisture. The objective of this study was to investigate: (1) the phase behavior of amorphous solid dispersions composed of a poorly water-soluble drug with extremely low crystallization propensity, BMS-817399, and PVP, following exposure to different relative humidity (RH), and (2) the impact of phase separation on the intrinsic dissolution rate of amorphous solid dispersion. Drug-polymer interaction was confirmed in ASDs at different drug loading using infrared (IR) spectroscopy and water vapor sorption analysis. It was found that the drug-polymer interaction could persist at low RH (≤75% RH) but was disrupted after exposure to high RH, with the advent of phase separation. Surface morphology and composition of 40/60 ASD at micro-/nano-scale before and after exposure to 95% RH were also compared. It was found that hydrophobic drug enriched on the surface of ASD after APS. However, for the 40/60 ASD system, the intrinsic dissolution rate of amorphous drug was hardly affected by the phase behavior of ASD, which may be partially attributed to the low crystallization tendency of amorphous BMS-817399 and enriched drug amount on the surface of ASD. Intrinsic dissolution rate of PVP decreased resulting from APS, leading to a lower concentration in the dissolution medium, but supersaturation maintenance was not anticipated to be altered after phase separation due to the limited ability of PVP to inhibit drug precipitation and prolong the supersaturation of drug in solution. This study indicated that for compounds with low crystallization propensity and high hydrophobicity, the risk of moisture-induced APS is high but such phase separation may not have profound impact on the drug dissolution performance of ASDs. Therefore, application of ASD technology on slow crystallizers could incur low risks not only in physical stability but also in dissolution performance. Copyright © 2018 American Pharmacists Association®. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Performance Investigation of Multilayer MoS2 Thin-Film Transistors Fabricated via Mask-free Optically Induced Electrodeposition.

PubMed

Li, Meng; Liu, Na; Li, Pan; Shi, Jialin; Li, Guangyong; Xi, Ning; Wang, Yuechao; Liu, Lianqing

2017-03-08

Transition metal dichalcogenides, particularly MoS 2 , have recently received enormous interest in explorations of the physics and technology of nanodevice applications because of their excellent optical and electronic properties. Although monolayer MoS 2 has been extensively investigated for various possible applications, its difficulty of fabrication renders it less appealing than multilayer MoS 2 . Moreover, multilayer MoS 2 , with its inherent high electronic/photonic state densities, has higher output driving capabilities and can better satisfy the ever-increasing demand for versatile devices. Here, we present multilayer MoS 2 back-gate thin-film transistors (TFTs) that can achieve a relatively low subthreshold swing of 0.75 V/decade and a high mobility of 41 cm 2 ·V -1 ·s -1 , which exceeds the typical mobility value of state-of-the-art amorphous silicon-based TFTs by a factor of 80. Ag and Au electrode-based MoS 2 TFTs were fabricated by a convenient and rapid process. Then we performed a detailed analysis of the impacts of metal contacts and MoS 2 film thickness on electronic performance. Our findings show that smoother metal contacts exhibit better electronic characteristics and that MoS 2 film thickness should be controlled within a reasonable range of 30-40 nm to obtain the best mobility values, thereby providing valuable insights regarding performance enhancement for MoS 2 TFTs. Additionally, to overcome the limitations of the conventional fabrication method, we employed a novel approach known as optically induced electrodeposition (OIE), which allows the flexible and precise patterning of metal films and enables rapid and mask-free device fabrication, for TFT fabrication.

Atomic Layer Deposited Thin Films for Dielectrics, Semiconductor Passivation, and Solid Oxide Fuel Cells

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Xu, Runshen

Atomic layer deposition (ALD) utilizes sequential precursor gas pulses to deposit one monolayer or sub-monolayer of material per cycle based on its self-limiting surface reaction, which offers advantages, such as precise thickness control, thickness uniformity, and conformality. ALD is a powerful means of fabricating nanoscale features in future nanoelectronics, such as contemporary sub-45 nm metal-oxide-semiconductor field effect transistors, photovoltaic cells, near- and far-infrared detectors, and intermediate temperature solid oxide fuel cells. High dielectric constant, kappa, materials have been recognized to be promising candidates to replace traditional SiO2 and SiON, because they enable good scalability of sub-45 nm MOSFET (metal-oxide-semiconductor field-effect transistor) without inducing additional power consumption and heat dissipation. In addition to high dielectric constant, high-kappa materials must meet a number of other requirements, such as low leakage current, high mobility, good thermal and structure stability with Si to withstand high-temperature source-drain activation annealing. In this thesis, atomic layer deposited Er2O3 doped TiO2 is studied and proposed as a thermally stable amorphous high-kappa dielectric on Si substrate. The stabilization of TiO2 in its amorphous state is found to achieve a high permittivity of 36, a hysteresis voltage of less than 10 mV, and a low leakage current density of 10-8 A/cm-2 at -1 MV/cm. In III-V semiconductors, issues including unsatisfied dangling bonds and native oxides often result in inferior surface quality that yields non-negligible leakage currents and degrades the long-term performance of devices. The traditional means for passivating the surface of III-V semiconductors are based on the use of sulfide solutions; however, that only offers good protection against oxidation for a short-term (i.e., one day). In this work, in order to improve the chemical passivation efficacy of III-V semiconductors, ultra-thin layer of encapsulating ZnS is coated on the surface of GaSb and GaSb/InAs substrates. The 2 nm-thick ZnS film is found to provide a long-term protection against reoxidation for one order and a half longer times than prior reported passivation likely due to its amorphous structure without pinholes. Finally, a combination of binary ALD processes is developed and demonstrated for the growth of yttria-stabilized zirconia films using alkylamido-cyclopentadiengyls zirconium and tris(isopropyl-cyclopentadienyl)yttrium, as zirconium and yttrium precursors, respectively, with ozone being the oxidant. The desired cubic structure of YSZ films is apparently achieved after post-deposition annealing. Further, platinum is atomic layer deposited as electrode on YSZ (8 mol% of Yttria) within the same system. In order to control the morphology of as-deposited Pt thin structure, the nucleation behavior of Pt on amorphous and cubic YSZ is investigated. Three different morphologies of Pt are observed, including nanoparticle, porous and dense films, which are found to depend on the ALD cycle number and the structure and morphology of they underlying ALD YSZ films.

Effect of electron count and chemical complexity in the Ta-Nb-Hf-Zr-Ti high-entropy alloy superconductor

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

von Rohr, Fabian; Winiarski, Michał J.; Tao, Jing

High-entropy alloys are made from random mixtures of principal elements on simple lattices, stabilized by a high mixing entropy. The recently discovered body-centered cubic (BCC) Ta-Nb-Hf-Zr-Ti high-entropy alloy superconductor appears to display properties of both simple crystalline intermetallics and amorphous materials; e.g., it has a well-defined superconducting transition along with an exceptional robustness against disorder. Here we show that the valence electron count dependence of the superconducting transition temperature in the high-entropy alloy falls between those of analogous simple solid solutions and amorphous materials and test the effect of alloy complexity on the superconductivity. We propose high-entropy alloys as excellentmore » intermediate systems for studying superconductivity as it evolves between crystalline and amorphous materials.« less

Effect of electron count and chemical complexity in the Ta-Nb-Hf-Zr-Ti high-entropy alloy superconductor

PubMed Central

von Rohr, Fabian; Winiarski, Michał J.; Tao, Jing; Klimczuk, Tomasz; Cava, Robert Joseph

2016-01-01

High-entropy alloys are made from random mixtures of principal elements on simple lattices, stabilized by a high mixing entropy. The recently discovered body-centered cubic (BCC) Ta-Nb-Hf-Zr-Ti high-entropy alloy superconductor appears to display properties of both simple crystalline intermetallics and amorphous materials; e.g., it has a well-defined superconducting transition along with an exceptional robustness against disorder. Here we show that the valence electron count dependence of the superconducting transition temperature in the high-entropy alloy falls between those of analogous simple solid solutions and amorphous materials and test the effect of alloy complexity on the superconductivity. We propose high-entropy alloys as excellent intermediate systems for studying superconductivity as it evolves between crystalline and amorphous materials. PMID:27803330

Effect of electron count and chemical complexity in the Ta-Nb-Hf-Zr-Ti high-entropy alloy superconductor

DOE PAGES

von Rohr, Fabian; Winiarski, Michał J.; Tao, Jing; ...

2016-11-01

High-entropy alloys are made from random mixtures of principal elements on simple lattices, stabilized by a high mixing entropy. The recently discovered body-centered cubic (BCC) Ta-Nb-Hf-Zr-Ti high-entropy alloy superconductor appears to display properties of both simple crystalline intermetallics and amorphous materials; e.g., it has a well-defined superconducting transition along with an exceptional robustness against disorder. Here we show that the valence electron count dependence of the superconducting transition temperature in the high-entropy alloy falls between those of analogous simple solid solutions and amorphous materials and test the effect of alloy complexity on the superconductivity. We propose high-entropy alloys as excellentmore » intermediate systems for studying superconductivity as it evolves between crystalline and amorphous materials.« less

Extractable Al and Si compounds in pale-podzolic soils of the Central Forest Reserve: Contents and distribution along the profile and by size fractions

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sokolova, T. A.; Tolpeshta, I. I.; Izosimova, Yu. G.

2017-06-01

The profile distributions of oxalate- and pyrophosphate-soluble Al compounds and oxalate-soluble Si compounds in the main horizons of pale-podzolic soils of the Central Forest Reserve and the fractions <1. 1-5, and >5 μm have been considered. In the clay-eluvial part of soil profile, the content of these compounds is differentiated by the eluvial-illuvial type with a clear accumulation in the EL horizon compared to the AEL horizon. This distribution is largely ensured by their differentiation in the clay and fine silt fractions, while an accumulative distribution of mobile Al compounds is observed in fractions >5 μm. The high correlation between the Al and Si contents in the Tamm extracts from the clay and fine silt fractions with the (Alox-Alpy)/Siox molar ratios, which are in the range of 1-3 in the EL horizon, confirms that mobile compounds are accumulated in these fractions in the form of amorphous aluminosilicates. In the AEL and EL horizons, an additional amount of Al can pass into the oxalate solution from the fine fractions due to the dissolution of Al hydroxide interlayers of soil chlorites. The eluvial-illuvial distribution of mobile Al and Si compounds typical for Al-Fe-humus podzols within the clay-illuvial part of profiles of the soils under study can be considered as an example of superimposed evolution.

Amorphous silicon radiation detectors

DOEpatents

Street, Robert A.; Perez-Mendez, Victor; Kaplan, Selig N.

1992-01-01

Hydrogenated amorphous silicon radiation detector devices having enhanced signal are disclosed. Specifically provided are transversely oriented electrode layers and layered detector configurations of amorphous silicon, the structure of which allow high electric fields upon application of a bias thereby beneficially resulting in a reduction in noise from contact injection and an increase in signal including avalanche multiplication and gain of the signal produced by incoming high energy radiation. These enhanced radiation sensitive devices can be used as measuring and detection means for visible light, low energy photons and high energy ionizing particles such as electrons, x-rays, alpha particles, beta particles and gamma radiation. Particular utility of the device is disclosed for precision powder crystallography and biological identification.

Amorphous silicon radiation detectors

DOEpatents

Street, R.A.; Perez-Mendez, V.; Kaplan, S.N.

1992-11-17

Hydrogenated amorphous silicon radiation detector devices having enhanced signal are disclosed. Specifically provided are transversely oriented electrode layers and layered detector configurations of amorphous silicon, the structure of which allow high electric fields upon application of a bias thereby beneficially resulting in a reduction in noise from contact injection and an increase in signal including avalanche multiplication and gain of the signal produced by incoming high energy radiation. These enhanced radiation sensitive devices can be used as measuring and detection means for visible light, low energy photons and high energy ionizing particles such as electrons, x-rays, alpha particles, beta particles and gamma radiation. Particular utility of the device is disclosed for precision powder crystallography and biological identification. 13 figs.

Deposition of device quality low H content, amorphous silicon films

DOEpatents

Mahan, A.H.; Carapella, J.C.; Gallagher, A.C.

1995-03-14

A high quality, low hydrogen content, hydrogenated amorphous silicon (a-Si:H) film is deposited by passing a stream of silane gas (SiH{sub 4}) over a high temperature, 2,000 C, tungsten (W) filament in the proximity of a high temperature, 400 C, substrate within a low pressure, 8 mTorr, deposition chamber. The silane gas is decomposed into atomic hydrogen and silicon, which in turn collides preferably not more than 20--30 times before being deposited on the hot substrate. The hydrogenated amorphous silicon films thus produced have only about one atomic percent hydrogen, yet have device quality electrical, chemical, and structural properties, despite this lowered hydrogen content. 7 figs.

Deposition of device quality low H content, amorphous silicon films

DOEpatents

Mahan, Archie H.; Carapella, Jeffrey C.; Gallagher, Alan C.

1995-01-01

A high quality, low hydrogen content, hydrogenated amorphous silicon (a-Si:H) film is deposited by passing a stream of silane gas (SiH.sub.4) over a high temperature, 2000.degree. C., tungsten (W) filament in the proximity of a high temperature, 400.degree. C., substrate within a low pressure, 8 mTorr, deposition chamber. The silane gas is decomposed into atomic hydrogen and silicon, which in turn collides preferably not more than 20-30 times before being deposited on the hot substrate. The hydrogenated amorphous silicon films thus produced have only about one atomic percent hydrogen, yet have device quality electrical, chemical, and structural properties, despite this lowered hydrogen content.

Role of Near Substrate and Bulk Polymer Morphology on Out-of-Plane Space-Charge Limited Hole Mobility.

PubMed

Turner, Johnathan; Gadisa, Abay

2016-12-07

Charge transport is a central issue in all types of organic electronic devices. In organic films, charge transport is crucially limited by film microstructure and the nature of the substrate/organic interface interactions. In this report, we discuss the influence of active layer thickness on space-charge limited hole transport in pristine polymer and polymer/fullerene bulk heterojunction thin films (∼15-300 nm) in a diode structure. According to the results, the out-of-plane hole mobility in pristine polymers is sensitive to the degree of polymer chain aggregation. Blending the polymers with a fullerene molecule does not change the trend of hole mobility if the polymer tends to make an amorphous structure. However, employing an aggregating polymer in a bulk heterojunction blend gives rise to a marked difference in charge carrier transport behavior compared to the pristine polymer and this difference is sensitive to active layer thickness. In aggregating polymer films, the thickness-dependent interchain interaction was found to have direct impact on hole mobility. The thickness-dependent mobility trend was found to correspond well with the trend of fill factors of corresponding bulk heterojunction solar cells. This investigation has a vital implication for material design and the development of efficient organic electronic devices, including solar cells and light-emitting diodes.

Characterization of dynamics in complex lyophilized formulations: II. Analysis of density variations in terms of glass dynamics and comparisons with global mobility, fast dynamics, and Positron Annihilation Lifetime Spectroscopy (PALS)

PubMed Central

Chieng, Norman; Cicerone, Marcus T.; Zhong, Qin; Liu, Ming; Pikal, Michael J.

2013-01-01

Amorphous HES/disaccharide (trehalose or sucrose) formulations, with and without added polyols (glycerol and sorbitol) and disaccharide formulations of human growth hormone (hGH), were prepared by freeze drying and characterized with particular interest in methodology for using high precision density measurements to evaluate free volume changes and a focus on comparisons between “free volume” changes obtained from analysis of density data, fast dynamics (local mobility), and PALS characterization of “free volume” hole size. Density measurements were performed using a helium gas pycnometer, and fast dynamics was characterized using incoherent neutron scattering spectrometer. Addition of sucrose and trehalose to hGH decreases free volume in the system with sucrose marginally more effective than trehalose, consistent with superior pharmaceutical stability of sucrose hGH formulations well below Tg relative to trehalose. We find that density data may be analyzed in terms of free volume changes by evaluation of volume changes on mixing and calculation of apparent specific volumes from the densities. Addition of sucrose to HES decreases free volume, but the effect of trehalose is not detectable above experimental error. Addition of sorbitol or glycerol to HES/trehalose base formulations appears to significantly decrease free volume, consistent with the positive impact of such additions on pharmaceutical stability (i.e., degradation) in the glassy state. Free volume changes, evaluated from density data, fast dynamics amplitude of local motion, and PALS hole size data generally are in qualitative agreement for the HES/disaccharide systems studied. All predict decreasing molecular mobility as disaccharides are added to HES. Global mobility as measured by enthalpy relaxation times, increases as disaccharides, particularly sucrose, are added to HES. PMID:23623797

Recent Progress in Some Amorphous Materials for Supercapacitors.

PubMed

Li, Qing; Xu, Yuxia; Zheng, Shasha; Guo, Xiaotian; Xue, Huaiguo; Pang, Huan

2018-05-14

A breakthrough in technologies having "green" and sustainable energy storage conversion is urgent, and supercapacitors play a crucial role in this area of research. Owing to their unique porous structure, amorphous materials are considered one of the best active materials for high-performance supercapacitors due to their high specific capacity, excellent cycling stability, and fast charging rate. This Review summarizes the synthesis of amorphous materials (transition metal oxides, carbon-based materials, transition metal sulfides, phosphates, hydroxides, and their complexes) to highlight their electrochemical performance in supercapacitors. © 2018 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

Investigation of vapor-deposited amorphous ice and irradiated ice by molecular dynamics simulation.

PubMed

Guillot, Bertrand; Guissani, Yves

2004-03-01

With the purpose of clarifying a number of points raised in the experimental literature, we investigate by molecular dynamics simulation the thermodynamics, the structure and the vibrational properties of vapor-deposited amorphous ice (ASW) as well as the phase transformations experienced by crystalline and vitreous ice under ion bombardment. Concerning ASW, we have shown that by changing the conditions of the deposition process, it is possible to form either a nonmicroporous amorphous deposit whose density (approximately 1.0 g/cm3) is essentially invariant with the temperature of deposition, or a microporous sample whose density varies drastically upon temperature annealing. We find that ASW is energetically different from glassy water except at the glass transition temperature and above. Moreover, the molecular dynamics simulation shows no evidence for the formation of a high-density phase when depositing water molecules at very low temperature. In order to model the processing of interstellar ices by cosmic ray protons and heavy ions coming from the magnetospheric radiation environment around the giant planets, we bombarded samples of vitreous ice and cubic ice with 35 eV water molecules. After irradiation the recovered samples were found to be densified, the lower the temperature, the higher the density of the recovered sample. The analysis of the structure and vibrational properties of this new high-density phase of amorphous ice shows a close relationship with those of high-density amorphous ice obtained by pressure-induced amorphization. Copyright 2004 American Institute of Physics

High thermal conductivity in electrostatically engineered amorphous polymers

PubMed Central

Shanker, Apoorv; Li, Chen; Kim, Gun-Ho; Gidley, David; Pipe, Kevin P.; Kim, Jinsang

2017-01-01

High thermal conductivity is critical for many applications of polymers (for example, packaging of light-emitting diodes), in which heat must be dissipated efficiently to maintain the functionality and reliability of a system. Whereas uniaxially extended chain morphology has been shown to significantly enhance thermal conductivity in individual polymer chains and fibers, bulk polymers with coiled and entangled chains have low thermal conductivities (0.1 to 0.4 W m−1 K−1). We demonstrate that systematic ionization of a weak anionic polyelectrolyte, polyacrylic acid (PAA), resulting in extended and stiffened polymer chains with superior packing, can significantly enhance its thermal conductivity. Cross-plane thermal conductivity in spin-cast amorphous films steadily grows with PAA degree of ionization, reaching up to ~1.2 W m−1 K−1, which is on par with that of glass and about six times higher than that of most amorphous polymers, suggesting a new unexplored molecular engineering strategy to achieve high thermal conductivities in amorphous bulk polymers. PMID:28782022

Amorphous TiO2 Shells: A Vital Elastic Buffering Layer on Silicon Nanoparticles for High-Performance and Safe Lithium Storage.

PubMed

Yang, Jianping; Wang, Yunxiao; Li, Wei; Wang, Lianjun; Fan, Yuchi; Jiang, Wan; Luo, Wei; Wang, Yang; Kong, Biao; Selomulya, Cordelia; Liu, Hua Kun; Dou, Shi Xue; Zhao, Dongyuan

2017-12-01

Smart surface coatings of silicon (Si) nanoparticles are shown to be good examples for dramatically improving the cyclability of lithium-ion batteries. Most coating materials, however, face significant challenges, including a low initial Coulombic efficiency, tedious processing, and safety assessment. In this study, a facile sol-gel strategy is demonstrated to synthesize commercial Si nanoparticles encapsulated by amorphous titanium oxide (TiO 2 ), with core-shell structures, which show greatly superior electrochemical performance and high-safety lithium storage. The amorphous TiO 2 shell (≈3 nm) shows elastic behavior during lithium discharging and charging processes, maintaining high structural integrity. Interestingly, it is found that the amorphous TiO 2 shells offer superior buffering properties compared to crystalline TiO 2 layers for unprecedented cycling stability. Moreover, accelerating rate calorimetry testing reveals that the TiO 2 -encapsulated Si nanoparticles are safer than conventional carbon-coated Si-based anodes. © 2017 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

Dilution effect on the formation of amorphous phase in the laser cladded Ni-Fe-B-Si-Nb coatings after laser remelting process

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Li, Ruifeng; Li, Zhuguo; Huang, Jian; Zhu, Yanyan

2012-08-01

Ni-Fe-B-Si-Nb coatings have been deposited on mild steel substrates using high power diode laser cladding. Scanning laser beam at high speeds was followed to remelt the surface of the coatings. Different laser cladding powers in the range of 700-1000 W were used to obtain various dilution ratios in the coating. The dilution effect on the chemical characterization, phase composition and microstructure is analyzed by energy dispersive spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction and scanning-electron microscopy. The microhardness distribution of the coatings after laser processing is also measured. The results reveal that Ni-based amorphous composite coatings have successfully been fabricated on mild steel substrate at low dilution ratio when the cladding power was 700 W, 800 W and 900 W. While at high laser power of 1000 W, no amorphous phase was found. The coatings with low dilution ratio exhibit the highest microhardness of 1200 HV0.5 due to their largest volume fraction of amorphous phase.

Rapid Amorphization in Metastable CoSeO3·H2O Nanosheets for Ultrafast Lithiation Kinetics.

PubMed

Jiang, Yingchang; Song, Yun; Pan, Zhichang; Meng, Yu; Jiang, Le; Wu, Zeyi; Yang, Peiyu; Gu, Qinfen; Sun, Dalin; Hu, Linfeng

2018-05-02

The realization of high-performance anode materials with high capacity at fast lithiation kinetics and excellent cycle stability remains a significant but critical challenge for high-power applications such as electric vehicles. Two-dimensional nanostructures have attracted considerable research interest in electrochemical energy storage devices owing to their intriguing surface effect and significantly decreased ion-diffusion pathway. Here we describe rationally designed metastable CoSeO 3 ·H 2 O nanosheets synthesized by a facile hydrothermal method for use as a Li ion battery anode. This crystalline nanosheet can be steadily converted into amorphous phase at the beginning of the first Li + discharge cycling, leading to ultrahigh reversible capacities of 1100 and 515 mAh g -1 after 1000 cycles at a high rate of 3 and 10 A g -1 , respectively. The as-obtained amorphous structure experiences an isotropic stress, which can significantly reduce the risk of fracture during electrochemical cycling. Our study offers a precious opportunity to reveal the ultrafast lithiation kinetics associated with the rapid amorphization mechanism in layered cobalt selenide nanosheets.

Current-voltage characteristics of organic semiconductors: Interfacial control between organic layers and electrodes

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kondo, Takeshi

2007-12-01

Current-voltage (I-V) characteristics of organic molecular glasses and solution processable materials embedded between two electrodes were studied to find materials possessing high charge-carrier mobilities and to design organic memory devices. The comparison studies between TOF, FET and SCLC measurements confirm the validity of using analyses of I-V characteristics to determine the mobility of organic semiconductors. Hexaazatrinaphthylene derivatives tri-substituted by electron withdrawing groups were characterized as potential electron transporting molecular glasses. The presence of two isomers has important implications for film morphology and effective mobility. The statistical isomer mixture of hexaazatrinaphthylene derivatized with pentafluoro-phenylmethyl ester is able to form amorphous films, and electron mobilities with the range of 10--2 cm2/Vs are observed in their I-V characteristics. Single-layer organic memory devices consisting of a polymer layer embedded between an Al electrode and ITO modified with Ag nanodots (Ag-NDs) prepared by a solution-based surface assembly demonstrated a potential capability as nonvolatile organic memory device with high ON/OFF switching ratios of 10 4. This level of performance could be achieved by modifying the ITO electrodes with some Ag-NDs that act as trapping sites, reducing the current in the OFF state. Based upon the observed electrical characteristics, the currents of the low-resistance state can be attributed to a tunneling through low-resistance pathways of metal particles originating from the metal top electrode in the organic layer and that the high-resistance state is controlled by charge trapping by the metal particles including Ag-NDs. In an alternative approach, complex films of AgNO3: hexaazatrinaphthylene derivatives were studied as the active layers for all-solution processed and air-stable organic memory devices. Rewritable memory effects were observed in the devices comprised of a thin polymer dielectric layer deposited on the bottom electrode, the complex film, and a conducting polymer film as the top electrode. The electrical characteristics indicate that the accumulation of Ag+ ions at the interface of the complex film and the top electrode may contribute to the switching effect.

A Tunable Molten-Salt Route for Scalable Synthesis of Ultrathin Amorphous Carbon Nanosheets as High-Performance Anode Materials for Lithium-Ion Batteries.

PubMed

Wang, Yixian; Tian, Wei; Wang, Luhai; Zhang, Haoran; Liu, Jialiang; Peng, Tingyue; Pan, Lei; Wang, Xiaobo; Wu, Mingbo

2018-02-14

Amorphous carbon is regarded as a promising alternative to commercial graphite as the lithium-ion battery anode due to its capability to reversibly store more lithium ions. However, the structural disorder with a large number of defects can lead to low electrical conductivity of the amorphous carbon, thus limiting its application for high power output. Herein, ultrathin amorphous carbon nanosheets were prepared from petroleum asphalt through tuning the carbonization temperature in a molten-salt medium. The amorphous nanostructure with expanded carbon interlayer spacing can provide substantial active sites for lithium storage, while the two-dimensional (2D) morphology can facilitate fast electrical conductivity. As a result, the electrodes deliver a high reversible capacity, outstanding rate capability, and superior cycling performance (579 and 396 mAh g -1 at 2 and 5 A g -1 after 900 cycles). Furthermore, full cells consisting of the carbon anodes coupled with LiMn 2 O 4 cathodes exhibit high specific capacity (608 mAh g -1 at 50 mA g -1 ) and impressive cycling stability with slow capacity loss (0.16% per cycle at 200 mA g -1 ). The present study not only paves the way for industrial-scale synthesis of advanced carbon materials for lithium-ion batteries but also deepens the fundamental understanding of the intrinsic mechanism of the molten-salt method.

Dynamics anomaly in high-density amorphous ice between 0.7 and 1.1 GPa

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Handle, Philip H.; Loerting, Thomas

2016-02-01

We studied high-density amorphous ices between 0.004 and 1.6 GPa by isobaric in situ volumetry and by subsequent ex situ x-ray diffraction and differential scanning calorimetry at 1 bar. Our observations indicate two processes, namely, relaxation in the amorphous matrix and crystallization, taking place at well-separated time scales. For this reason, we are able to report rate constants of crystallization kX and glass-transition temperatures Tg in an unprecedented pressure range. Tg's agree within ±3 K with earlier work in the small pressure range where there is overlap. Both Tg and kX show a pressure anomaly between 0.7 and 1.1 GPa, namely, a kX minimum and a Tg maximum. This anomalous pressure dependence suggests a continuous phase transition from high- (HDA) to very-high-density amorphous ice (VHDA) and faster hydrogen bond dynamics in VHDA. We speculate this phenomenology can be rationalized by invoking the crossing of a Widom line between 0.7 and 1.1 GPa emanating from a low-lying HDA-VHDA critical point. Furthermore, we interpret the volumetric relaxation of the amorphous matrix to be accompanied by viscosity change to explain the findings such that the liquid state can be accessed prior to the crystallization temperature TX at <0.4 GPa and >0.8 GPa.

Impact Ignition and Combustion Behavior of Amorphous Metal-Based Reactive Composites

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mason, Benjamin; Groven, Lori; Son, Steven

2013-06-01

Recently published molecular dynamic simulations have shown that metal-based reactive powder composites consisting of at least one amorphous component could lead to improved reaction performance due to amorphous materials having a zero heat of fusion, in addition to having high energy densities and potential uses such as structural energetic materials and enhanced blast materials. In order to investigate the feasibility of these systems, thermochemical equilibrium calculations were performed on various amorphous metal/metalloid based reactive systems with an emphasis on commercially available or easily manufactured amorphous metals, such as Zr and Ti based amorphous alloys in combination with carbon, boron, and aluminum. Based on the calculations and material availability material combinations were chosen. Initial materials were either mixed via a Resodyn mixer or mechanically activated using high energy ball milling where the microstructure of the milled material was characterized using x-ray diffraction, optical microscopy and scanning electron microscopy. The mechanical impact response and combustion behavior of select reactive systems was characterized using the Asay shear impact experiment where impact ignition thresholds, ignition delays, combustion velocities, and temperatures were quantified, and reported. Funding from the Defense Threat Reduction Agency (DTRA), Grant Number HDTRA1-10-1-0119. Counter-WMD basic research program, Dr. Suhithi M. Peiris, program director is gratefully acknowledged.

Chain Breakage in the Supercooled Liquid - Liquid Transition and Re-entry of the λ-transition in Sulfur.

PubMed

Zhang, Linji; Ren, Yang; Liu, Xiuru; Han, Fei; Evans-Lutterodt, Kenneth; Wang, Hongyan; He, Yali; Wang, Junlong; Zhao, Yong; Yang, Wenge

2018-03-14

Amorphous sulfur was prepared by rapid compression of liquid sulfur at temperatures above the λ-transition for to preserve the high-temperature liquid structure. We conducted synchrotron high-energy X-ray diffraction and Raman spectroscopy to diagnose the structural evolution of amorphous sulfur from room temperature to post-λ-transition temperature. Discontinuous changes of the first and second peaks in atomic pair-distribution-function, g(r), were observed during the transition from amorphous to liquid sulfur. The average first-neighbor coordination numbers showed an abrupt drop from 1.92 to 1.81. The evolution of the chain length clearly shows that the transition was accompanied by polymeric chains breaking. Furthermore, a re-entry of the λ-transition structure was involved in the heating process. The amorphous sulfur, which inherits the post-λ-transition structure from its parent melts, transformed to the pre-λ-transition liquid structure at around 391 K. Upon further heating, the pre-λ-transition liquid transformed to a post-λ-transition structure through the well-known λ-transition process. This discovery offers a new perspective on amorphous sulfur's structural inheritance from its parent liquid and has implications for understanding the structure, evolution and properties of amorphous sulfur and its liquids.

Solid state amorphization of metastable Al 0.5TiZrPdCuNi high entropy alloy investigated by high voltage electron microscopy

DOE PAGES

Nagase, Takeshi; Takeuchi, Akira; Amiya, Kenji; ...

2017-07-18

Here, the phase stability of high entropy alloy (HEA), Al 0.5TiZrPdCuNi, under fast electron irradiation was studied by in-situ high voltage electron microscopy (HVEM). The initial phase of this alloy quenched from the melt was dependent on cooling rate. At high cooling rates an amorphous phase was obtained, whereas a body-centered cubic ( b.c.c.) phase were obtained at low cooling rates. By thermal crystallization of the amorphous phase b.c.c. phase nano-crystals were formed. Upon fast electron irradiation solid state amorphization (SSA) was observed in b.c.c. phase regardless of the initial microstructure (i.e., “coarse crystalline structure” or “nano-crystalline structure with grainmore » boundaries as a sink for point defects”). SSA behavior in the Al 0.5TiZrPdCuNi HEAs was investigated by in-situ transmission electron microscopy observations. Because the amorphization is very rarely achieved in a solid solution phase under fast electron irradiation in common metallic materials, this result suggests that the Al 0.5TiZrPdCuNi HEA from other common alloys and the other HEAs. The differences in phase stability against the irradiation between the Al 0.5TiZrPdCuNi HEA and the other HEAs were discussed. This is the first experimental evidence of SSA in HEAs stimulated by fast electron irradiation.« less

Amorphous Sulfadoxine: A Physical Stability and Crystallization Kinetics Study.

PubMed

Aucamp, Marique; Milne, Marnus; Liebenberg, Wilna

2016-10-01

Poor aqueous solubility of drugs and the improvement thereof has always been a challenge for the pharmaceutical industry. With this, one of the focuses of the pharmaceutical research scientist involves investigating possible metastable forms of a given drug to be incorporated into solid dosage forms. The rationale being, the improved solubility offered by the metastable solid-state forms of drugs. Solubility remains a major challenge for formulation scientists, especially with antimicrobial agents where the emergence of resistance is directly dependent on the concentration and duration of the parasite exposed to the drug. Sulfadoxine-pyrimethamine combination therapies are still the recommended treatments for uncomplicated Plasmodium falciparum malaria. The aim of this study was to prepare an amorphous form of sulfadoxine and to investigate the stability and recrystallization behavior thereof. The amorphous form was prepared by the well-known quench cooling of the melt. The physico-chemical properties and stability of amorphous sulfadoxine were studied using hot-stage microscopy (HSM), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), x-ray powder diffractometry (XRPD), differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), as well as microcalorimetry. The recrystallization kinetics were studied isothermally by applying the Johnson-Mehl-Avrami model and non-isothermally by applying the Kissinger model. The physical stabilization of the amorphous form was investigated using physical mixtures of amorphous sulfadoxine with polyvinylpyrrolidone-25 (PVP-25). It was proved that sulfadoxine is a good glass former with relative high physical stability; however, water acts as a strong plasticizer for amorphous sulfadoxine, detrimentally affecting the stability during exposure to high moisture conditions.