National Institute Of Materials Physics - Romania

The paper focuses on the utilization of radiofrequency discharges at intermediate pressures for plasma removal of carbon residuals or layers from narrow gaps and channels. It is shown that by proper handling of the discharge power and pressure it is possible to control the development of plasma inside narrow gaps, in the proximity of surfaces to be cleaned. The discharge operation inside gaps having the width in the range 0.6-2 mm was demonstrated. The cleaning effectiveness is exemplified for castellated surfaces having rectangular gaps coated with hydrogenated amorphous carbon layers. Cleaning of large surfaces can be approached with a movable "plasma shower" type device. (C) 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

CeO2 films were prepared from solutions of different concentrations (0.05-1.0 M) on textured Ni substrates. Homogeneous nucleation and growth of CeO2 nanocrystals <8 nm occurs upon calcination at 350-500 degrees C. At the heating and sintering stage, the homogeneous growth is inhibited in favor of the development of grains with (0 0 1) texture. The grain growth normal to the film surface is well described by a stretched exponential function with a relaxation time of up to 60 min and with Kohlrausch exponent values of less than unity. The increase in grain size is accompanied by the relaxation of the microstrain. During the relaxation time, the grain coarsening is controlled by surface diffusion characterized by an activation energy as low as 0.6 eV. At the relaxation time, the surface morphology is strongly concentration dependent. The surface morphology changes from separated (agglomerated) grains to a continuous grain configuration as the concentration increases from 0.05 M to 0.8 M. After the relaxation time, both the grain size normal to the film surface and the lateral grain size continue to grow, and the grain configuration continues to change. These processes are concentration dependent. In the films with a nominal thickness >170 nm (>0.8 M), the transition to classical curvature-driven grain-growth kinetics is evident (at 1000 degrees C, below the literature value of 1100 degrees C). The decrease in the Kohlrausch exponent for these thick films suggests that the grain coarsening through grain boundary migration is responsible for the stretched regime of grain-size relaxation. (C) 2011 Acta Materialia Inc. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Ferroelectric ceramics Ba0.6Sr0.4TiO3 (BST 40) were prepared, by solid-state reaction in the temperature range 1210-1450 degrees C. Maximum values of the ceramic densities were around 94% of their theoretical value. X-ray diffraction techniques (XRD) and scanning electron spectroscopy (SEM) were used to analyze the structure and the surface morphology of ceramics. Rounded, well defined or abnormal granular growth was observed in the SEM images, vs. sintering conditions and purity of the raw materials. In all samples, BST 40 ceramic is the major phase, but there are also present small amounts of secondary phases, as revealed in XRD diffraction patterns. Permittivity and dielectric loss measurements were performed in the temperature range - 150 to + 150 degrees C, and 150 Hz-5 MHz frequency values. Permittivity values rising from 1200 to 12,500, with increasing sintering temperatures, were recorded. Narrow and well defined transition peaks were noticed at higher sintering temperatures. Curie temperature was around 2 degrees C, for samples with the mentioned composition. Permittivity and losses vs. frequency show different behavior whether BST ceramics are in polar or non-polar state and with the distance toward phase transition. Microwave measurements performed at room temperature have shown lower values of permittivity, compared with similar data at low frequency, and dielectric losses lower than 1% at 0.7 GHz. The sintering conditions (temperatures, sintering time, etc.) and purity of the raw materials lead to important changes of transition temperatures in the polymorphic diagram, which we have built-for the other Ba1 - xSrxTiO(3) compositions (x = 0.25-0.90) sintered at 1260 degrees C for 2 h. (C) 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

A general method for mapping the equipotential profile surrounding a conductive cylindrically symmetric high aspect ratio structure, such as a carbon nanotube or a Spindt tip, is devised. The surface of the object is replaced by a discrete set of charges located on the symmetry axis. The overall electrostatic potential must satisfy a set of boundary conditions imposed on the original surface. The optimum number of charges is determined through an iterative self-validating process such that the obtained equipotential mimics the surface of the object. The method is exemplified by calculating the electric field enhancement factor for rounded cones and cylinders resembling Spindt tips and carbon nanotubes, respectively. (C) 2011 American Institute of Physics. [doi: 10.1063/1.3582141]

Phase transformation behavior of Ti50Ni30Cu20 shape memory alloys prepared by powder metallurgy is analyzed with respect to the duration of mechanical alloying. The processed blends were studied by differential scanning calorimetry and room temperature X-ray diffraction. The martensitic transformations evidenced by thermal scans are discussed in correlation with the relative phase content obtained from the refinement of the X-ray diffraction patterns. (c) 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

The paper presents the influence of pulsed laser deposition (PLD) parameters on the structural and optical properties of PZT thin films grown on platinum substrate. X-ray diffraction (XRD), spectroscopic ellipsometry (SE) and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) are used to determine the thin film properties. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and atomic force microscopy (AFM) are employed to get additional information. By changing the distance between target and substrate, different crystalline orientations of PZT are obtained. The thin film thickness and its roughness, as well as the refractive index are also influenced by the chosen distance. (C) 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

The electronic properties of two-dimensional toroidal surfaces of nanometer size have been investigated by approximately solving the time-independent Schrodinger equation. The effects of the quantum confinement on the electron population of these structures were shown by studying the average electron density on the surface of the torus. The unique electron spread that resulted from such computations encouraged further study on the field emission properties of this two-dimensional manifold. The Wentzel-Kramers-Brillouin approximate approach was used for a preliminary study of the field emission properties of the nanotori for various geometrical parameters. (c) 2011 American Vacuum Society. [DOI: 10.1116/1.3531935]

Ba(Zn1/3Ta2/3)O-3 (BZT) dielectric resonators were prepared by solid-state reaction. The starting materials were BaCO3, ZnO, and Ta2O5 powders with high purity. The double calcined BZT pellets were sintered in air at temperatures of 1575, 1600, 1625, and 1650 degrees C for 4 h. The X-ray diffraction data allowed the study of the unit cell distortion degree and the presence of the secondary phases. A long-range order with a 2:1 ratio of Ta and Zn cations on the octahedral positions of the perovskite structure was observed with the increase of the sintering temperature. The dielectric constant of BZT resonators measured around 6 GHz was between 26 and 28. High values of Q x f product (120 THz) were obtained for BZT resonators sintered at 1650 degrees C/4 h. The temperature coefficient of the resonance frequency exhibits positive values less than 6 ppm/degrees C. The achieved dielectric parameters recommend BZT dielectric resonators for microwave and millimeter wave applications. (C) 2010 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Transmission electron microscopy and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy analyses are performed to investigate Ge nanoparticles embedded in an amorphous SiO2 matrix. GeSiO thin films are prepared by two methods, sol-gel and radio frequency magnetron sputtering. After the deposition, the sol-gel films are annealed in either N-2 (at 1 atm and 800 A degrees C) or H-2 (at 2 atm and 500 A degrees C), and the sputtered films in H-2 (at 2 atm and 500 A degrees C), to allow Ge segregation. Amorphous Ge-rich nanoparticles (3-7 nm size) are observed in sol-gel films. Crystalline Ge nanoparticles in the high pressure tetragonal phase (10-50 nm size) are identified in the sputtered films. The size of the nanoparticles increases with Ge concentration in the volume of the film. At the film surface, the Ge concentration is much larger that in the volume for both sol-gel and sputtered films. At the same time, at the film surface, only oxidized Ge is observed.

The Bi4Ge3O12 (BGO) glass materials were sintered from a mixture of oxides powders, rapidly heated and melted at 1323 K and poured on the graphite plates heated at different temperatures. Their optical properties are compared with BGO single crystals being strongly dependent by the experimental conditions, which influence the further stability of the samples. The dielectric functions of the samples reveal a clear difference between the two phases (amorphous and crystalline). The refractive index of the amorphous phase has lower values which indicate that the density of the material is diminishes. Also, a sign of disorder is seen in optical absorption (extinction coefficient). From the optical band gap determinations of those two phases, it is confirmed the disorder structure and red-shifts of the band gap value compared with crystalline phase. The absorption spectra are in good agreement with the ellipsometric measurements, regarding the transparency and the edge of the band gap. (C) 2010 Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved.