National Institute Of Materials Physics - Romania

In this paper a new type of dual-mode compact resonator for mobile communication systems, in the 900 MHz frequency band, is investigated. This compact planar resonator, developed on a 0.635 mm substrate with a 10.8 dielectric constant, has a square shape with an edge of 20.5 mm. For this dual resonator, several methods of modes coupling were considered. The radiation characteristics of this new resonator were investigated.

Pulsed Laser Deposition (PLD) is an ideal technique to be used for combinatorial approaches. By simply changing the deposition targets one can obtain alternating layers with different periodicities both vertically and laterally, along the substrate surface. By changing the laser impact area location and the number of pulses on each target used for ablation, one can grow films with a continuous variation of the chemical composition, which will be a function of the location on the substrate. To illustrate the advantages and versatility of this Combinatorial PLD (C-PLD) technique, several examples of films used in applications where more than one property should be tailored or optimized are presented. Investigations of thermo-chemical stability, chemical bonding and crystalline structure of thin films of mixtures of HfO2 and Al2O3 that are used as high-k dielectric layers in advanced C-MOS transistors is the first example, followed by a study of structural, mechanical, optical and electrical properties of mixtures of indium tin oxide and doped or pure zinc oxide that are used as transparent and conductive layers. The third example is from the deposition of multilayers of ZrC and ZrN with variable thicknesses to obtain hard coatings.

n-Type epitaxial silicon layers of different thickness and resistivity, grown on highly Sb doped CZ-substrate by ITME (Warsaw), and n-type MCz silicon supplied by Okmetic (Finland) were used for the processing of planar diodes at CiS (Erfurt). For the epi-diodes a standard as well as a diffusion oxygenation process was employed. Irradiations had been performed with 26 MeV protons at the cyclotron of the Karlsruhe University and with neutrons at the TRIGA reactor of the Ljubljana University. Microscopic investigations using the DLTS method were done. The correlation of the IO(2i)-defect and the oxygen concentration was studied by a depth-profile measurement. The annealing behavior of the IO(2i)-defect at different temperatures was investigated and the activation energy extracted. (C) 2007 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

N-type epitaxial layers of 72 mu m thickness and a resistivity of 150 Omega cm have been grown on highly Sb-doped Cz-substrates at ITME (Warsaw). The diode processing was performed at CiS-Erfurt. For comparison a batch of 280 mu m thick n-type MCZ wafers with a resistivity of >600 Omega cm from Okmetic (Finland) was added to the process run. Depth profiles of the oxygen and carbon concentration were measured via the SIMS-method on as grown epi-layers and after different device-process steps at CiS including an oxygen enrichment at 1100 degrees C for 24 h. For the MCz material the profiles were measured on untreated samples and after the full device process. Irradiation runs were performed with neutrons at the TRIGA reactor of Ljubljana up to a fluence value of 10(16) cm(-2). The development of the macroscopic device parameters (effective doping concentration and charge collection for a-particles) as function of fluence is presented for the standard and oxygenated epi-devices and compared with the MCz-diodes. The results are discussed in the frame of defect studies resulting from TSC-measurements. (C) 2007 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

The PbS/SiO2/Si structures show a clockwise hysteresis of capacitance-voltage (C-V) characteristics. The loop width increases with temperature and sweep time. The conductance-voltage (G-V) characteristics also present a hysteresis effect with two bumps. Both characteristics show a strong shift with frequency. We show that these effects are determined by the positive mobile ions injected in the oxide region during the chemical bath deposition of PbS and by the high concentration Of Si/SiO2 interface states. The corresponding C-V and G-V characteristics are simulated and the main peculiarities of the experimental results are well reproduced by the modeled curves.

We studied the chemical growth of calcium phosphate nanostructured coatings onto silicon wafers pre-covered with carbonated polycrystalline hydroxyapatite films. Silicon wafers were covered with hydroxyapatite thin layers by radio frequency magnetron sputtering and then immersed in 370 degrees C simulated body fluids for up to 20 days. Immersed structures were extracted every 2 days for studies by Fourier transform IR spectrometry. The chemically grown layers were further analyzed by X-ray diffraction and scanning electron microscopy. The growth kinetics of calcium phosphate deposits was monitored by estimating the area of phosphate, carbonate and water stretching bands of the recorded infra-red vibrational spectra. Sequential annealing in vacuum up to 950 degrees C was applied to elucidate the nature of incorporated water. Our studies revealed that the layers growing in simulated body fluid are rougher than initial hydroxyapatite interlayers, contain carbonates, include water in interlayer's voids and have therefore an increased biological activity for promoting faster implants integration with human bone tissues.

The microwaves are used for both civilian and military applications for communication and detection. Due to the emerging applications and the need for more bandwidth as well as for high speed there is a strong competition for ultra high frequencies devices. As it is know the size of different kind of microwave components is in a certain relation with the wavelength divided by root square of the dielectric permittivity. So the size of microwave component can be decreased by increasing the dielectric permittivity. Dielectric materials based on TiO2 are recommended for applications in electromagnetism and optics due to their nonlinear properties, to high value of the dielectric permittivity and their temperature behavior. The paper describes very shortly the technology applied to manufacture high dielectric permittivity materials based on TiO2 and microwave devices designed with this. In addition, the experimental data measured for a dielectric antenna are presented.

Epitaxial antiferroelectric/ferroelectric PbZrO3/PbZr0.8Ti0.2O3 multilayers were grown on SrRuO3-electroded SrTiO3(100) substrates by pulsed laser deposition. Polarization-field and switching current-voltage curves show a mixed antiferroelectric-ferroelectric behavior of the multilayers with an individual layer thickness above 10 nm, whereas below 10 nm the multilayers show only ferroelectric behavior. Clearly the PbZrO3 layers thinner than 10 nm experienced a transition into the ferroelectric state. X-ray diffraction reciprocal space mapping showed a corresponding orthorhombic-to-rhombohedral transition of the PbZrO3 layers. The observations are discussed in terms of the influence of strain.

Pb(Zr1-xTix)O-3 (PZT) thin films were prepared by sol-gel method on stainless steel (SS) and on platinum-coated silicon substrate (Pt/Si). The structure revealed by X-ray diffraction shows strong crystallographic orientation: (110) and (100), respectively. A small amount of pyrochlore phases (Pb-2(Zr,Ti)(2)O6-delta is formed in the films deposited on SS substrate. The crystallite size shows significant differences: d((00l))((SS)) = 27.1 nm, d((h00))((Pt)) = 88 nm. The tetragonal splitting is (Delta c/c)((SS)) = 3.55 % and (Delta c/c)((Pt)) = 3.32 %.