National Institute Of Materials Physics - Romania

BiFeO3 is one of the most promising multiferroic materials but undergoes two major drawbacks: low dielectric susceptibility and high dielectric loss. Here we report high in-plane dielectric permittivity (epsilon' similar to 2500) and low dielectric loss (tan delta < 0.01) obtained on Bi0.95Y0.05FeO3 films epitaxially grown on SrTiO3 (001) by pulsed laser deposition. High resolution transmission electron microscopy and geometric phase analysis evidenced nanostripe domains with alternating compressive/tensile strain and slight lattice rotations. Nanoscale mixed phase/domain ensembles are commonly found in different complex materials with giant dielectric/electromechanical (ferroelectric/relaxors) or magnetoresistance (manganites) response. Our work brings insight into the joined role of chemical pressure and epitaxial strain on the appearance of nanoscale stripe structure which creates conditions for easy reorientation and high dielectric response, and could be of more general relevance for the field of materials science where engineered materials with huge response to external stimuli are a highly priced target.

The distribution and interaction of isolated Mn2+ impurity ions incorporated in 2.9 nm average diameter cubic ZnS quantum dots (QDs), prepared by surfactant-assisted liquid-liquid synthesis with initial impurity concentrations in the 20-50,000 ppm range, has been investigated by electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) spectroscopy. The well resolved spectra, observed in the whole investigated concentration range, reflect the localization of the Mn2+ ions in the core and on the surface of the cZnS: Mn QDs at isolated sites. According to the analysis of the dependences of the concentration of incorporated isolated Mn2+ ions vs. initial impurity concentration and of the core localized Mn2+ ions spectra line-width vs. actual concentration, the isolated Mn2+ ions remain in the whole concentrations range in a diluted paramagnetic state characterized by dipolar magnetic interactions. Pulse EPR measurements of the spinespin dipolar interaction for the incorporated Mn2+ ions confirm their diluted distribution, which excludes these ions as a possible source of collective magnetism properties. (C) 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

FePt system attracts currently a great deal of interest for applications as future RE free permanent magnets. Among the key issues to be solved one may count the decreasing of the ordering temperature and improvement of magnetic behavior. For that purpose we have studied the effect of a nitriding post-synthesis procedure on the FePtAgB melt spun ribbons, aimed at refining the microstructure and enhancing the magnetic performances. Deep structural characterization by transmission electron microscopy, electron diffraction, energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy and X-ray diffraction allowed us to observe the morphology and to correctly assign and identify the nature of the main granular phases observed. Nitriding procedure is shown to strongly enhance the (001) texturing and the degree of ordering of the L1(0) FePt phase, as well as largely increase of coercivity, compared to the as-cast state. These changes are interpreted in terms of Ag segregation towards intergranular region associated to N diffusion and creation of vacancies that favor consistently the process of ordering the FePt grains into the L1(0) tetragonal phase. (C) 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

The strong correlation between morphology and charge storage properties of HfO2/Ge/HfO2/Si trilayer structures was evidenced. The morphology of structures deposited by magnetron sputtering and electron beam evaporation was tailored by rapid thermal annealing and investigated by transmission electron microscopy, Raman and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopies. The best hysteresis loops (capacitance-voltage characteristics) were obtained for trilayers with high density Ge nanocrystals located in the position of as-deposited Ge layer. The decrease of Ge nanocrystals density narrows the memory window, by spreading Ge atoms into HfO2 matrix (sputtered trilayers), or by Ge atoms expulsion toward HfO2 nanocrystals surface (evaporated trilayers). (C) 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

FePt-based alloys are currently under scrutiny for their possible use as materials for perpendicular magnetic recording. Another possible application is in the field of permanent magnets without rare-earths, magnets that may operate at higher temperatures than the classic Nd-Fe-B magnets. Within this study, FeCoPt alloys prepared by rapid solidification from the melt are structurally and magnetically characterized. In the as-cast FeCoPt ribbons, a three-phase structure comprising well-ordered CoFePt and CoPt L1(0) phases embedded in a disordered fcc FePt matrix was evidenced by XRD, HREM and SAED. Extended transmission electron microscopy analysis demonstrates the incipient formation of ordered L1(0) phases. X-ray diffraction was used to characterize the phase structure and to obtain the structural parameters of interest for L1(0) ordering. In the as-cast state, the co-existence of hard magnetic CoFePt and CoPt L1(0) tetragonal phases with the soft fcc FePt phase is obtained within a refined microstructure made of alternatively disposed grains (grain sizes from 1 to 7 nm). Following a thermal treatment of 1 h at 670 degrees C, the soft magnetic fcc matrix phase transforms to tetragonal L1(0) phases (disorder-order transition). The resulting CoPt and CoFePt L1(0) phases have grains of around 5-20 nm in size. In the as-cast state, magnetic measurements show a quite large remanence (0.75 T), close to the value of the parent L1(0) FePt phase. Coercive fields of about 200 kA/m at 5 K were obtained, comparable with those reported for some FePt-based bulk alloys. Upon annealing both remanence and coercivity are increased and values of up to 254 kA/m at 300 K are obtained. The polycrystalline structure of the annealed FeCoPt samples, as well as the formation of multiple c-axis domains in different CoPt and CoFePt regions (which leads to a reduction of the magneto-crystalline anisotropy) may account for the observed coercive fields that are lower than in the case of very thin FeCoPt films. A Curie temperature of about 820 K (close to 550 degrees C) is reported for the Fe35Co15Pt50 alloy which opens wide possibilities for the use of such magnets in high operating temperature industrial applications. The present results indicate that ternary FeCoPt alloys hold a great potential as a novel class of rare earth free exchange-spring coupled nanocomposite magnets. (C) 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Aluminum doped zinc oxide (AZO) thin films were obtained by pulsed laser deposition on (001) SrTiO3 (STO) on a range of substrate temperatures during ablation between 300 degrees C and 600 degrees C. A hexagonal system lying on a cubic one should be difficult to be obtained in epitaxial form. The geometrical selection of the AZO growth on (001) STO is not giving a unique preferential orientation. Two orientations, c-axis (along [001]) and 110, have been observed experimentally with different ratios at different substrate temperature. Discussions are made with respect to the temperature dependence of lattice mismatch between the two cases and the cubic surface of the substrate, and to the substrate surface morphology and terminating atomic layer composition. The 110 AZO is the main phase at deposition temperature of 550 degrees C, while for other substrate temperatures the 001 is the preferential orientation. The conductive character of 110 AZO thin film have been inferred from both ellipsometry spectra and current-voltage measurements. Excepting the samples deposited at 300 degrees C, the lowest resistivity is recorded for the samples with 110 AZO as the main phase. (C) 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

This work reports on the unprecedented magnetron sputtering deposition of submicrometric hollow cones of bioactive glass at low temperature in the absence of any template or catalyst. The influence of sputtering conditions on the formation and development of bioglass cones was studied. It was shown that larger populations of well-developed cones could be achieved by increasing the argon sputtering pressure. A mechanism describing the growth of bioglass hollow cones is presented, offering the links for process control and reproducibility of the cone features. The composition, structure, and morphology of the as-synthesized hollow cones were investigated by energy dispersive spectroscopy (EDS), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), grazing incidence geometry X-ray diffraction (GIXRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and transmission electron microscopy (TEM)-selected area electron diffraction (SAED). The in vitro biological performance, assessed by degradation tests (ISO 10993-14) and cytocompatibility assays (ISO 10993-5) in endothelial cell cultures, was excellent. This allied with resorbability and the unique morphological features make the submicrometer hollow cones interesting candidate material devices for focal transitory permeabilization of the blood brain barrier in the treatment of carcinoma and neurodegenerative disorders.

High density (above 92%) superconducting bulks of MgB2 co-added with cubic BN (c-BN) and fullerenes (C-60) were obtained by the ex-situ spark plasma sintering (SPS). Compositions were (MgB2)((1-x))(C)(x)(c-BN)(0.01), x = 0.0125, 0.025, 0.05, 0.075. The co-added sample (MgB2)(0.975)(C)(0.025)(c-BN)(0.01) shows a marginally higher critical current density J(c) at intermediate magnetic fields and below 15 K than for optimum samples added with c-BN or C-60. For this sample, pinning is in the point pinning limit and the delta T-c mechanism is dominant. At high magnetic fields co-added samples are inferior to samples added with one additive, but are superior to pristine sample. Co-addition of c-BN and C-60 is not effective for vortex pinning when compared with individual addition. The result is discussed based on phase formation aspects, microstructural details and residual strain. It was found that in the presence of C-60, c-BN consumption with formation of MgNB9 is intensified with implications on different elements that influence pinning. (C) 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

The article presents the fabrication and characterization of NV (non-volatile) memory devices based on SiO2/Ge/SiO2 trilayer structures on Si wafers. The trilayer structures were obtained by using the magnetron sputtering method for the deposition of gate SiO2 and intermediate Ge layers and the rapid thermal oxidation for the growth of tunnel SiO2 layer. Rapid thermal annealing was performed for obtaining Ge nanocrystals embedded in the SiO2 gate oxide, as charge-storage elements. Two NV cross bar memory structures based on two cell sizes of 300x300 and 100x100m(2) were manufactured. Capacity-voltage curves were measured on the memory devices, at different frequencies in the 1kHz-10MHz range at room temperature (RT) for evidencing the hysteresis loops and for showing that the devices keep memory in time at these frequencies. We have obtained capacity-voltage hysteresis curves with large memory window up to 2V. We demonstrate that the trilayer structure SiO2/Ge/SiO2/on Si with Ge NCs embedded in the SiO2 gate oxide is suitable for NV memory applications having a large number of cells.

TEMPO stable free radical has been supported on porous silica nanoparticles in different ways and the resulted materials have been tested as heterogeneous oxidation catalyst of three benzylic alcohols using air as final oxidant and nitrosonium tetrafluoroborate as cocatalyst. Good to excellent yields were obtained. The catalytic system consists in fact in two coupled cycles, NO/NO2 and TEMPO+/TEMPO, able to convert under mild conditions (room temperature, air, metal and halogen free condition) alcohols into aldehydes or ketones. Under these conditions, supported TEMPO on silica nanoparticles containing gold clusters lowers the efficiency of the catalyst.