Publications

W-Si-C composites were fabricated by active filler controlled pyrolysis of W powder (high tungsten content) and W-SiC powder mixtures (low tungsten content), infiltrated by a preceramic polymer and heat treated at temperatures from 1600 to 2000 degrees C. Material with high volume fraction of W in initial powder-polymer mixture, formed a composite material composed of W, W2C and W5Si3 with closed porosity in a single polymer infiltration and pyrolysis (PIP) cycle. After heat treatment at 1700 degrees C the material exhibited flexural strength above 350 MPa, hardness of 7.8 GPa and indentation modulus of 250 GPa. Room temperature thermal conductivity of the composite was rather low, 23 Wm(-1) K-1, however, thermal conductivity increased with increasing temperature achieving 35 Wm(-1) K-1 at 1000 degrees C. The effect of W as active filler in W-SiC powder mixtures with low volume fraction of tungsten was negligible. Therefore, six polymer infiltration and pyrolysis cycles were used to achieve significant densification with 15% porosity. The material fabricated at 1800 degrees C was composed of SiC, WC and WSi2 and exhibited flexural strength of 400 MPa and room temperature thermal conductivity of 100 W m(-1) K-1, which decreased to 32 W m(-1) K-1 at 1000 degrees C. (C) 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Bioactive glasses are currently considered the suitable candidates to stir the quest for a new generation of osseous implants with superior biological/functional performance. In congruence with this vision, this contribution aims to introduce a reliable technological recipe for coating fairly complex 3D-shaped implants (e.g. dental screws) with uniform and mechanical resistant bioactive glass films by the radio-frequency magnetron sputtering method. The mechanical reliability of the bioactive glass films applied to real Ti dental implant fixtures has been evaluated by a procedure comprised of "cold" implantation in pig mandibular bone from a dead animal, followed by immediate tension-free extraction tests. The effects of the complex mechanical strains occurring during implantation were analysed by scanning electron microscopy coupled with electron dispersive spectroscopy. Extensive biocompatibility assays (MTS, immunofluorescence, Western blot) revealed that the bioactive glass films stimulated strong cellular adhesion and proliferation of human dental pulp stem cells, without promoting their differentiation. The ability of the implant coatings to conserve a healthy stem cell pool is promising to further endorse the fabrication of new osseointegration implant designs with extended lifetime. (C) 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

A comprehensive study of optical transitions in direct-bandgap Ge0.875Sn0.125 group IV alloys via photo-luminescence measurements as a function of temperature, compressive strain and excitation power is performed. The analysis of the integrated emission intensities reveals a strain-dependent indirect-to-direct bandgap transition, in good agreement with band structure calculations based on the 8-band k.p and deformation potential methods. We have observed and quantified Gamma valley-heavy hole and Gamma valley-light hole transitions at low pumping power and low temperatures in order to verify the splitting of the valence band due to strain. We will demonstrate that the intensity evolution of these transitions supports the conclusion about the fundamental direct bandgap in compressively strained GeSn alloys. The presented investigation, thus, demonstrates that direct-bandgap group IV alloys can be directly grown on Ge-buffered Si(001) substrates despite their residual compressive strain.

Electric and pyroelectric properties of AIN layers deposited on Si substrates with different resistivities were investigated. The dielectric constant was found to be around 12, while the conductance determined from dc current measurements was found to be in the 10(-9) to 10(-19) S range. The pyroelectric measurements were performed in voltage mode using two types of IR sources: a laser diode with 800 nm wavelength and a black body at 700 degrees C. A peculiar behavior was observed for the signal recorded when the laser diode was used as IR source. It was found that the Si substrate is introducing a signal component, due to the photogenerated carriers, which is adding to the pyroelectric signal generated by the AIN layer. This component is strongly dependent on the resistivity of the Si substrate. For strongly doped Si (Si++) the signal generated into the substrate represents only 10% of the recorded pyroelectric voltage. For electronic grade Si the signal generated into the substrate is about 100 times larger than the pyroelectric signal generated in the AIN layer. This effect can be used as an optical amplification of the pyroelectric signal. The frequency dependence observed for the pyroelectric signal recorded when the black body is used as IR source is typical for a pyroelectric detector. A value as large as 12.4 degrees C m(-2) K-1 was obtained for the pyroelectric coefficient using for estimation the constant signal at low modulation frequencies of the IR beam. However, the value of the pyroelectric coefficient is strongly affected by the electrical conductance of the AIN layer. As the conductance is frequency dependent it results that the value of the pyroelectric coefficient is frequency dependent, the value from above being valid only for very small frequencies of the temperature variation. It was also found that the electric and pyroelectric properties are dependent on the crystalline quality of the AIN layer. (C) 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Electrical properties of ferroelectric capacitors based on PbZr0.52Ti0.48O3 thin films grown by pulsed laser deposition on silicon substrate with SrTiO3 buffer layer grown by molecular beam epitaxy were studied. A SrRuO3 layer was deposited as bottom electrode also by pulse laser deposition and Pt, Ir, Ru, SrRuO3 were used as top contacts. Electrical characterization comprised hysteresis and capacitance-voltage measurements in the temperature range from 150 K to 400 K. It was found that the macroscopic electrical properties are affected by the electrode interface, by the choice of the top electrode. However, even for metals with very different work functions (e.g. Pt and SrRuO3) the properties of the top and bottom electrode interfaces remain fairly symmetric suggesting a strong influence from the bound polarization charges located near the interface. (C) 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Although impurity doping of nanocrystals is essential in controlling their physical properties for various applications, the doping mechanism of ultrasmall, colloidal II-VI semiconductor nanocrystals, corresponding to the initial stages of growth, is not yet understood. In this study the concentrations of Mn2+ ions in the core, on the surface, and as an agglomerated separate phase in 2.9 nm cubic ZnS nanocrystals, prepared by a surfactant-assisted liquid liquid synthesis within 20 to 20 000 ppm nominal impurity concentration range, have been determined by quantitative multifrequency electron paramagnetic resonance. The unexpected strong decrease in the core doping efficiency with the nominal concentration increase, in contrast to the small variation of the doping efficiency for the surface-bound Mn2+ ions, and the sizable core doping efficiency observed for 1.8 nm nanocrystals were explained with the extended lattice defect assisted mechanism of incorporation. According to this mechanism, which is not size or shape limited, being active from the initial growth stages, the incorporation of Mn2+ ions takes place at surface sites with high binding energy on dislocation steps formed by the emerging stacking defects. High resolution transmission electron microscopy confirms the presence of such stacking defects in a large proportion of the investigated cubic ZnS nanocrystals, ensuring the operation of the proposed doping mechanism.

Up-conversion properties of Yb3+/Er3+ co-doped LiYF4 nanocrystals embedded in a sol-gel derived oxyfluoride glass-ceramic have been studied by comparison to the corresponding polycrystalline sample. Under 980 rim laser light pumping, both Yb3+/Er3+ co-doped LiYF4 samples show green ((H-2(11/2,) S-4(3/2)) I-4(15/2)) and red (F-4(9/2) I-4(15/2)) up-conversion luminescences explained by a two-photon processes. The tendency for the saturation of the red up-conversion luminescence band observed in the glass ceramic was ascribed to a back energy transfer process Er3+-Yb3+ and cross-relaxation processes caused by the high Yb3+ and Er3+ ions Concentrations in the nanocrystals. (C) 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.