National Institute Of Materials Physics - Romania

The smart-cut (TM) process is based on inducing and processing structural defects below the free surface of semiconductor wafers. The necessary defects are currently induced by implantation of light elements such as hydrogen or helium. An alternative softer way to induce shallow subsurface defects is by RF-plasma hydrogenation. To facilitate the smart-cut process, the wafers containing the induced defects need to be subjected to an appropriate thermal treatment. In our experiments, (0 0 1) Si wafers are submitted to 200 and 50 W hydrogen RF-plasma and are subsequently annealed. The samples are studied by transmission electron microscopy (TEM), before and after annealing. The plasma-introduced defects are {1 1 1} and {1 0 0} planar-like defects and nanocavities, all of them involving hydrogen. Many nanocavities are aligned into strings almost parallel to the wafer surface. The annealing is performed either by furnace thermal treatment at 550 degrees C, or by in situ heating in the electron microscope at 450, 650 and 800 degrees C during the TEM observations. The TEM microstructural studies indicate a partial healing of the planar defects and a size increase of the nanometric cavities by a coalescence process of the small neighbouring nanocavities. By annealing, the lined up nanometric voids forming chains in the as-hydrogenated sample coalesced into well-defined cracks, mostly parallel to the wafer surface.

The attractive properties of Yttria doped ceria, particularly the structural and material properties, have led to vast research efforts to investigate and develop such materials. One of the main applications of this ceramic is in the IT-SOFC. The aim of this paper is the preparation and characterization of Y doped Ceria and low doped alpha-Al2O3, a new composite for IT-SOFC (10 mol %) Y:CeO2 and (150 ppm) Y:alpha-Al2O3 composite were obtained by sol-gel or mechanical route for 10YDC and 150 Y:alpha-Al2O3. Shapes, size distributions and the mean of grains were determined by SEM, EDX and statistical investigations.

SrZrO3 powders are obtained by solid state reaction from SrCO3 and ZrO2 precursors, without involving intermediate calcination and grinding steps. The resulted powders are essentially within a single phase, with sub-micron average crystallite size. Pellets of these powders show a relatively poor sintering behavior, when fired up to 1600 degrees C. Alternatively, spark plasma sintering technique is used in order to obtain nearly 100% dense samples at the expense of excessive grain coarsening (i.e., up to 5 mu m in diameter). Crystalline structure, composition and morphology of the specimens obtained in this work are investigated by X-ray diffraction, scanning and transmission electron microscopy together with energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy. (C) 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Accurate determination of the spin Hamiltonian (SH) parameters, describing the electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) spectra of paramagnetic impurity ions in wide band gap semiconductor nanocrystals, is essential for determining their localization and quantum properties. Here we present a procedure, based on publicly available software, for determining with higher accuracy the SH parameters of isolated Mn2+ impurity ions in small cubic ZnS nanocrystals. The procedure, which can be applied to other cubic II-VI semiconductor nanocrystals as well, is based on the analysis of both low and high frequency EPR spectra with line shape simulation and fitting computing programs, which include the hyperfine forbidden transitions and line broadening effects. The difficulties, limitations and errors which can affect the accuracy in determining some of the SH parameters are also discussed. (C) 2011 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

A numerical method to determine the cell parameters from the analysis of the J-V characteristics of a polymer solar cell is proposed. This method uses the equations given by the diode model, experimental data from the literature, and an adequate fitting procedure with seven fit parameters. Different aspects of the obtained results are discussed. Information concerning cell design optimization is also obtained. The method is of general application in the field of polymer solar cells, as well as to any kind of diode-like cell. Copyright (C) 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

The martensitic transformation characteristics in two series of cobalt substituted Ni-Fe-Ga Ferromagnetic Shape Memory alloys have been studied by differential scanning calorimetry, X-ray diffraction, electrical resistivity and thermomagnetic measurements. Co substitution for Fe or Ni promotes an increase of the Curie temperatures but the changes of the martensitic transformation temperatures are in agreement with the valence electron concentration and unit cell volume variations. A large hysteresis observed between cooling and heating curves as feature of a first order phase transition was evidenced by r(T) and thermomagnetic measurements.

A model for the detection of CO in the presence of humidity is proposed for thick porous film gas sensors based on p-type CuO. The sensing mechanism is investigated by means of simultaneous DC electrical resistance and work function changes measurements combined with appropriate modeling of the conduction in the polycrystalline sensing film. The experiments were performed at 150 degrees C in dry and humid air backgrounds. The conclusion is that, very similarly to the case of undoped SnO2, the explanation of the cross-interference of water in the CO detection is the fact that both react with pre-adsorbed oxygen ions. (C) 2010 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

The quantum efficiency of the absorption on quantum confinement levels is investigated. This is achieved by modeling the electron confinement in a spherical quantum dot (QD). The confinement levels are calculated using both infinite and finite rectangular quantum wells. The spectral internal quantum efficiency is evaluated within both the models, by computing Einstein's coefficients for the transitions between confinement levels. The size of QDs (1-3 nm radius) leads to negligible many body effects. The nature of the QD material and of the matrix embedding is taken into account in the finite rectangular quantum well approximation and introduces only a small correction. The temperature dependence of the efficiency is also taken into account. A numerical application is performed for a silicon QD of 2.5 nm radius, embedded in amorphous silica. It is proved that the absorption threshold shifts toward the far infrared limit and that the spectral internal quantum efficiency reaches 4-5% at the threshold.

Experimental studies on patterning hexagonal Ge nanostructures have been conducted on Si substrates through deposition of Ge with polystyrene spheres as a mask. The size distribution of the patterned Ge nanostructures is narrow with the full width at half maximum being less than 10% of the dot size. The two-dimensional patterned Ge nanostructures were further introduced in a Si matrix. Cross-section transmission electron microscopy reveals periodic dark stripes representing the deposited Ge dots in an a-Si matrix.

Glass-ceramics containing Eu3+-doped CaF2 nanocrystals of about 16 nm size have been made using the controlled crystallization at higher temperatures of the Eu3+-doped CaF2-SiO2 xerogels. In the glass-ceramic material the Eu3+ ions are embedded in both silica network and in the non-centrosymmetric sites of the CaF2 nanocrystals structure. Lower phonon energy of CaF2 and the dehydratation processes reduce the probability of non-radiative de-excitations and as a result a luminescence enhancement and an increase of the PL lifetime is observed. Eu-doping modifies the traps distribution within the glass-ceramics and as a result an additional broad thermoluminescence peak at about 380 degrees C was observed. The peak was assigned to the recombination of the electrons thermal released from the Eu3+-related traps in the glass matrix and in the CaF2 nanocrystals. (C) 2010 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.