Publications

Barium tetratitanate (BaTi4O9) ceramic prepared by coprecipitation method was analyzed by Raman spectroscopy and by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). The orthorhombic crystalline structure of BaTi4O9 ceramic sintered at 1300 degrees C for 2h in air was identified on the Raman spectrum. The sample was etched in argon plasma and then analysed by XPS. The etching process did not influence significantly the XPS spectra of barium and titan suggesting a good compositional homogeneity of the BaTi4O9 ceramic prepared by oxalate method.

The structure of low coordinated disordered materials can be understood in the frame of basically different theories: the formation of a continuous random network with all the valence bonds satisfied, the formation of small clusters (amorphites) having all the bond at the margins satisfied (closed clusters) or open clusters with many dangling bonds that are partially compensated due to the formation of valence alternation pairs, and last but not least the formation of so-called nanoparacrystalline structures, i.e. deformed nano-crystalline structures. We show that an intermediate model based on a mixture of closed and open clusters as well as layer like configurations can explain the structure and properties of the binary arsenic chalcogenide glasses.

Ceria-zirconia supported (10 and 20 wt.% EuCoO3) versus bulk EuCoO3 perovskite were prepared via citrate decomposition at 700 degrees C and tested for toluene complete oxidation. S-BET, XRD, XPS, H-2-TPD and in situ Eu-151 Mossbauer investigations were performed. Electron delocalization processes around the Eu cations are induced by the reaction, as proved via the evolution of the Mossbauer parameters. All characterization data indicate the formation of a well-dispersed EuCoO3 at the surface of Ce0.9Zr0.1O2 for the 10 wt.% loading and larger crystallite formation for 20 wt.% loading. In terms of intrinsic activity for toluene combustion, supported catalysts were more active than bulk EuCoO3. All structural changes during operation time are reversible. (C) 2006 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

The crystallization processes that occur in amorphous melt-spun ribbons of nominal composition Fe73.5Cu1Nb3Si13.5B9 with Gd addition in different concentrations are studied by differential scanning calorimetry (DSC). The aim of Gd addition is to study the changes induced in the calorimetric behavior of Finemet alloys, the crystallization sequences at intermediate stages of annealing as well as the nature of obtained crystallization products. The nature and structural properties of the phases formed at the end of the calorimetric process are investigated using X-ray diffraction (XRD) and Mossbauer spectrometry (MS). The crystallization sequence and also the phase composition at different stages of annealing were investigated for the Fe68.5Gd5Cu1Nb3Si13.5B9 alloy. Structure and magnetic properties of resulting crystallized samples have been thoroughly investigated. It is shown that in the above-mentioned composition, the decomposition at around 690 degrees C of the metastable Gd3Fe62B14 phase formed at incipient stages of crystallization leads to the co-existence of Gd2Fe14B, Fe2B and alpha-Fe(Si) phases. Magnetic measurements of as-cast and annealed samples are in good agreement with the XRD and MS results and with the proposed crystallization sequences and decomposition of intermediate metastable phases. (c) 2005 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Results are reported on the characterization of 200-250 nm thick TiO(x) transparent films grown at temperatures of 150 degrees C and 500 degrees C by reactive pulsed-laser ablation of a metallic Ti target under 0.13-13.3 Pa oxygen atmosphere. Film structure and composition were investigated by X-ray diffraction and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. The samples deposited at 150 degrees C reveal a mixture of amorphous TiO(2) and Ti(2)O(3), irrespective of oxygen pressure. The O:Ti atomic ratio fluctuates in their surface around 1.83 for oxygen pressure ranging between 0.13 Pa and 2.66 Pa. The samples deposited at 500 degrees C feature different characteristics, as a function of oxygen pressure: (a) below 2.66 Pa of O(2) the films contain a mixture of significant amount of anatase and rutile TiO(2) phases, along with titanium suboxides; (b) above this threshold, the rutile phase vanishes, the anatase TiO(2) phase remaining dominant along with small amounts of nanocrystalline suboxides. The size of the anatase nanocrystallites decreases with the increase of oxygen pressures. The samples deposited at 500 degrees C feature a slight improvement of surface stoichiometry, from roughly TiO(1.8) to TiO(1.9). The films deposited at high substrate temperature and oxygen pressure are highly hydrophilic. (c) 2006 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Thin layers of Fe are deposited at 100 degrees C on GaAs(1 0 0) and InAs(1 0 0) substrates by molecular beam epitaxy. These structures are characterized by photoelectron spectroscopy (PES), in order to derive their chemical composition and interface reactivity, and by X-ray magnetic circular dichroism (XMCD) recorded at room temperature in remanence mode, in order to derive the atomic magnetic moment of Fe. As previously reported, Fe/GaAs(1 0 0) exhibits a strong and complicated interface reactivity, with considerable intermixing of Fe with Ga and As. Unlike the above structure, Fe/InAs(1 0 0) exhibits a much lower interface reactivity, whereas the Fe magnetic moment increase is much more pronounced as function of Fe thickness. The total atomic ferromagnetic moment reaches at room temperature 2.0 Bohr magnetons by about I nm Fe effective thickness, which is almost the Fe bcc bulk value (2.2 Bohr magnetons). The novelty of the present study is a direct comparison of the two interfaces prepared and measured in the same experimental arrangements. (c) 2006 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Multilayer Cr/CrN/Cr/Cr(N,C) and Cr/CrN with 8 and 32 layer coatings were deposited on austenite substrates using pulsed laser deposition (PLD) technique. The microstructure observations were performed using Philips CM20 (TM), TECNAI G(2) F20 - TWIN (TM) and JEOL EX4000 (TM) transmission microscopes. The performed experiments indicated that lowering the argon flow from 60 to 30 cm(3)/s during chromium ablation changes buffer layers microstructure from nearly amorphous to nano-crystalline. The nitride or carbo-nitride layers turned out to be less sensitive to changes in nitrogen flow during deposition. The columnar microstructure of Cr layers is coarser than those in CrN ones under the same deposition condition. This observation proved also that relying on PLD technique as thin as 30 nm layers might be formed within multilayer Cr/CrN coatings.

The dependence of the driven-current through a tunnel junction on the relative orientation of the magnetization in the electrodes deviates from the Julliere formula when the current is resonant through impurity levels. For asymmetric coupling of the impurities to the electrodes, the magnetoresistance can even be negative on the resonance. Such inversion in sign is due to the fact that not only the density of states in the electrodes is important (for both orientations of spins), but also the density of states at the impurity position, which has a specific behavior. We find the exact conditions under which the negative magnetoresistance occurs, as function of both polarization and coupling asymmetry. The resonant magnetoresistance may have single or double-dip aspect, depending on the mentioned parameters.

Shallow defect levels in floating zone (FZ) and diffusion oxygenated FZ (DOFZ) silicon, before and after irradiation with a Co-60 gamma-source up to 300 Mrad, have been studied by thermally stimulated currents (TSC) and deep level transient spectroscopy (DLTS) in the temperature range 4.2-110 K. Besides vacancy oxygen (VO) and interstitial-substitutional carbon (CiCs) emissions, several TSC peaks have been observed. A trap with an activation energy of 11 meV has been observed at 6 K only in irradiated DOFZ. Two hole traps at 80 meV and 95 meV have been observed both in irradiated FZ and DOFZ, while a trap at 100 meV, related to an interstitial-oxygen (IO2) complex, has been revealed only in irradiated DOFZ. A TSC peak close to 24 K has been resolved into two components, whose concentrations are independent of irradiation fluence: a trap at 55 meV and a level which remains charged after emission at 80 meV. Our measurements confirm the formation, only in DOFZ, of a radiation induced donor at 230 meV. It appears to be responsible for the improved radiation hardness of oxygenated Si together with the suppression of deep acceptors, since no shallower radiation-induced donors have been detected in DOFZ samples.