National Institute Of Materials Physics - Romania

Nano-hydroxyapatite bio-ceramics were synthesized by sol-gel method. The gel was dried at 80 degrees C for 96 h. The dried gels were individually heated at a rate of 5 degrees C/min up to 600 degrees C, 800 degrees C, and 1000 degrees C. X-ray diffraction (XRD), transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) were used for to characterize the composition, morphology and particle size of samples. At 800 degrees C a small amount of CaO (about 0.3 wt%) was detected in which increased after annealing at 1000 degrees C (about 1.1 wt%). The crystallites are elongated along the c crystallographic axis, but the size anisotropy decreases with increasing temperature above 800 degrees C. The size along the elongation axis increased from 43 nm at 80 degrees C to about 143 nm at 1000 degrees C, as determined by XRD, and from 120 to 280 nm, as measured by TEM. The functional groups were analyzed using Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) and Raman spectroscopies confirming the presence of various and PO43 and OH- bands in the samples. After calcination at 1000 degrees C the bands are more intense which indicates an increase in the cristallynity. The photoluminescence (PL) of HAp treated at various temperatures (80, 600, 800, 1000 degrees C) was also studied. hFOB 1.19 osteoblats cells were used to determine cell proliferation, viability and citotoxicity after interaction with the prepared bioceramics. To evaluate cell proliferation rate quantitative by the hFOB 1.19 cells on HAp samples were cultured to 4 days. Cellular morphology was investigated using FESEM to obtain qualitative information of osteoblast cells on HAp samples. The number of hFOB 1.19 cells on control HAp_80, HAp_600, HAp_800 and HAp_1000 was 400 +/- 30, 360 +/- 25, 350 +/- 21, 320 +/- 16 and 300 +/- 10 after 4 days. Our results proved that the HAp sintered at 1000 degrees C promoted osteoblast cell attachment and adhesion.

This paper presents the preparation and investigation of structure and electrical properties of nanostructures consisting of Si1-xGex nanocrystals. Nanostructures were prepared by RF magnetron sputtering, followed by thermal annealing. X-ray diffraction, TEM, high resolution TEM and SAED measurements were performed. Current-voltage and current-temperature characteristics were taken. Nanostructures have different electrical behavior. Current-voltage curves are linear, while current-temperature curves are dependent on the annealing temperature. In films annealed at 650 degrees C, electrical transport is controlled by quantum confinement effect and localized states (current-temperature characteristics), while in films annealed at 900 degrees C it is controlled by tunneling of thermally activated carriers between neighboring nanocrystals.

The effect of Fe, respective Cu, additions as substitute for Ni in NiTi shape memory alloys (SMAs) on the delaying of its phase transition and narrowing hysteresis are well known, NiTi-Fe and NiTi-Cu SMAs having applications especially to the actuators that require such properties. These SMAs are currently produced by conventional melting methods, which are energo-intensive and impose very severe processing conditions to avoid contamination. The results of researches presented in this paper prove the possibility of these SMAs obtaining by powder metallurgy via reactive sintering - more advantageous from both technical and economic point of view. A beneficial effect on both sintering and homogeneity of the obtained SMAs proved to have a controlled mechanical alloying applied to powder mixture before compacting and sintering.

Smooth, transparent and highly oriented nanostructured ZnO films were synthesized by RF-magnetron sputtering onto Si(100) substrates. A mild-pressed zinc oxide powder target was used for all depositions. The sputtering parameters were varied in order to obtain structures with good adherence and crystallinity. The depositions were carried out in inert argon atmosphere at four sputtering pressures (0.2 Pa, 0.25 Pa, 0.3 Pa and 0.45 Pa). ZnO films were deposited at 150 degrees C. The films were characterized from structural (XRD) and morphological (AFM) point of view. The influence of each sputtering parameter on the morphological and structural properties is discussed.

Indium Zinc Oxide compositional libraries were fabricated by combinatorial pulsed laser deposition technique on glass substrate at room temperature. Two pairs of targets with In atomic concentrations, In/(In+Zn), of 28 at.% and 56 at.% or 42 at.% and 70 at.% were employed. A high transparency was observed for all the coatings with transmittance values better than 95%. The maximum thicknesses of the samples, inferred by spectroscopic ellipsometry, were within the 174-310 nm range for the simple PLD films, whereas in case of combinatorial PLD coatings were 341 or 467 nm. Energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy revealed that In content in the combinatorial films was in the 27-52 at. % range. From atomic force microscopy histograms we evidenced a decrease of the RMS roughness down to 1 nm with the increase of the In content. As a result of the compositional library studies two minimum values of the electrical resistivity were identified at 2.3x10(-3) Omega.cm and 8.6 x 10(-4) Omega.cm, which correspond to 28.8-29.5 at.% and 44-49 at% range of Indium content.

The Ba1-xPbxNd2Ti5O14 ceramic material (BNT) is very attractive for applications at frequencies around few GHz [1]. The temperature coefficient of the resonant frequency T-f decreases from + 70 ppm/degrees C to - 15 ppm/degrees C with the Pb content x increase up to 0.5. The samples with high Pb content exhibit a dielectric constant up to 86.6, but the product Q x f is several times lower than for such microwave ceramics as zirconium tin titanate [1-2]. When a product Q x f higher than 6000 is required in order to use the BNT materials at high frequencies, then the Pb content can result from the tradeoff between small temperature coefficient T-f and high quality factor Q. The features of the BNT dielectric resonators lead to the development of miniaturized dielectric resonator antenna (DRA) with improved characteristics. The DRAs of BNT ceramics presented in this paper exhibit an increased bandwidth due to an optimal height over diameter ratio. For an increased gain and shaping of the overall radiation pattern, an array of dielectric resonator antennas is proposed.

The effect of nitrogen (N) introduced by ion implantation at the SiO2/4H-SiC interface on the capacitance of the MOS capacitors is investigated. The Thermal Dielectric Relaxation Current (TDRC) technique and Capacitance-Voltage (C-V) measurements performed at different temperatures and probe frequencies on an N implanted sample and on a virgin sample were employed for this purpose. There are three types of defects located at or near the interface, D-it, NIToxfast and NIToxslow that can be distinguished. Only D-it and NIToxfast respond to the a.c. small, high frequency signal at temperatures above 150K. The separation of D-it from the NIToxfast states have enabled us to study the influence of the excess of interfacial Nitrogen on each of the mentioned defects. It has been found that the N-implantation process fully suppresses the formation of NIToxfast and partially NIToxslow and D-it. Theoretical C-V characteristics were computed, based on the defect distributions determined by TDRC, and compared with the experimental ones showing a close agreement.

Barium neodymium titanate (BNT) material was prepared and characterized. The very high dielectric constant, high Qxf product and controllable temperature coefficient recommend the BNT material for microwave applications. Slot coupled antennas with BNT resonators are investigated. The resonator shape effect on the antenna bandwidth is discussed.

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.