Publications

One of the clues in detection in modern physics is the development of detector materials able to produce simultaneously two or more different processes, as well as the measurement of the physical quantities associated to these processes in order to discriminate and to identify different particles. In the same time, the absorption of radiation in matter is not a continuous process and due to the interaction mechanism it is localized. As a result, for short time, transient processes are produced, some of them used in detection, other producing disorder that affects the properties of the detector material. In the present paper the thermal spike model is extended and used for semiconductors and liquefied noble gases used as target media for detectors. Both classes of materials are very promising for the detection of heavy particles in nuclear and astroparticle physics.

The long time degradation produced by particles and ions in crystalline materials used for devices to work in space, or for detectors in HEP and astroparticles, is characterised by the non-ionising energy loss, which is calculated in the frame of an analytical model. The transient phenomena as short time degradation are characterised by the time and space dependencies of the lattice and electron temperatures near the projectile trajectory. These processes are considered in the frame of a thermal spike model, which takes into account both ionization and nuclear energy loss processes.

Comparative studies of gate oxides on a N+ pre-implanted area (N-interface similar to 1x10(19)cm(-3)) and on a virgin Si face 4H-SiC material (N-interface similar to 1x10(16)cm(-3)) have been undertaken by means of Capacitance-Voltage (C-V) characteristics, performed at different temperatures and frequencies, and Thermal Dielectric Relaxation Current technique. In the non implanted samples, the stretch out of the C-V curves get larger as the temperature is lowered to 150K, while for lower temperatures the C-V characteristics become steeper and some discontinuities occur. These discontinuities are specific for the non-implanted sample and are associated with charging of the fast near interface states (NIToxfast) via a tunneling from the shallow interface states (D-it). The tunneling from the shallow D-it to NIToxfast supress the a.c. response of D-it, which is recovered only after most of the NIToxfast are charged with electrons.

Non-linear phenomena have been observed in the Ag(paint)-As2S3 system. This behaviour is useful in rectifier devices and in dynamical switching devices based on chalcogenides.

Nanostructured thermoelectric semiconductors are a promising material to convert waste heat to electricity for energy regeneration due to improvement of Seebeck coefficient and thermal conductivity reducing. Among various thermoelectric materials, bismuth telluride based alloys are the most used in the fabrication of TE devices. The processes associated with the electrodeposition of (Bi,Sb)(2)Te-3 nanowires and films are reported along with an analysis of the composition, morphology and structure of resulting materials. Electrochemical behavior was examined using cyclic and linear voltammetry and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy techniques.

A derivative of p-aminoazobenzene-epoxy resin was studied. Visually examination between crossed polarizers does not show birefringence but it can be optically induced. Changing the polarization direction of the irradiating light leads to the changing of the privileged direction of the induced birefringence. The birefringence value was evaluated and compared with liquid crystals as anisotropic compounds.

The aim of this paper is the preparation and characterization of hydroxyapatite doped with europium (Eu3+, Eu:Hap). The nanopowders were obtained by coprecipitation method and analyzed through infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR) and Fourier transform Raman spectroscopy (FT-Raman). The preliminary results reveal the nanometric dimension of the particles and indicate that Eu3+ has been introduced into the framework of HAp. The Eu concentration effects of nano Eu: HAp were studied on human osteoblast MG 63 cells in vitro. Our results demonstrate that cell proliferation is not related to the Eu concentration in the HAp particles. This work provides an interesting view of the role of nano Eu: HAp as ideal biomedical materials in future clinical applications.

The electrical conductivity of new nanocomposite systems liquid-ctystal/montmorillonite clay is performed using impedance spectroscopy. The dependence of the electrical conductivity on the frequency, temperature and bias voltage is obtained. The results referring to the alternative voltage influence allow getting more information on the conduction mechanism than the previous ones obtained under frequency and temperature influence. An important role has the polarization at the electrode-sample interface, both in continuous and alternative current. The electrode polarization effect on the electrical conductivity in dependence on the above mentioned parameters is also examined.

Electrical and photoconductive properties of films consisting of amorphous Ge nanoparticles uniformly distributed in amorphous SiO2 were studied. These films were prepared by sol-gel method and treated by rapid thermal annealing technique. Measurements of current-voltage and conductance-temperature characteristics, spectral and bias dependences of the photocurrent on samples with coplanar geometry of electrodes, were performed. The current-voltage characteristics have a weak rectifying behaviour. The variable range hopping transport mechanism, described by the Mott law, in amorphous materials, in the absence of dominant Coulomb interactions, was evidenced in the temperature dependence of the dark current. The samples exhibit very good photoconductive properties, explained by taking into account the Ge clusters and defects, produced by the rapid thermal annealing.

GeSiO nanostructures obtained by using two different preparation methods, sol-gel and magnetron-sputtering were studied. They are formed from Ge nanoparticles dispersed in amorphous matrix, with different morphology depending on the preparation method. Electrical investigations (current-voltage and current-temperature measurements) were performed and experimental results were modelled. It was shown that preparation conditions induce the electrical behaviour of GeSiO films, so that the electrical transport in sputtered films is governed by a hopping mechanism, while in sol-gel ones it is dominated by the junction formed at the interface with Si substrate. Also, the temperature dependence of current shows different hopping mechanisms.