Publications

Passivated zinc oxide nanowires (NW) were used to improve the charge injection in organic lightemitting diode (OLED) structures. Conducting polymers, deposited on the well-dispersed ZnO NW, were used to modify the electrical conductivity across the OLED structure because the charge transport is influenced by the interface interactions. Passivation with polymers improves the transport characteristics of the device due to the interaction between ZnONWand PEDOT:PSS polymer. The hole current density increases with the ZnO NW concentration, which made the current injection more balanced and therefore enhanced the electroluminescence efficiency. A templateless electrochemical deposition method was used to grow zinc oxide nanowires on an ITO/glass substrate because parameters such as the densities and dimensions of the nanowires can be controlled to produce thin and well dispersed structures.

We demonstrate the fabrication and characterization of epitaxial W2C Schottky contacts into 4H-SiC via sputtering deposition of ultra-thin W followed by thermal annealing. The alloying reaction occurs below 600 degrees C, yielding a stable layer up to 1200 degrees C. The epitaxial layer is hexagonal, unexpectedly forming W2C phase even at the lowest annealing temperature, which is predicted to occur at 1500 degrees C in bulk systems. Schottky contacts based on epitaxial W2C films exhibit smoother interface morphology, higher thermal stability, lower turn-ON voltage and about similar to 50% reduction in Schottky-contact resistance compared with thick Ti Schottky contacts.

High density bulks (97%-99%) of MgB2 were prepared by spark plasma sintering (SPS) in nitrogen (N-2) atmosphere for different heating rates (10, 20 and 100 degrees C min(-1)) and compared with reference samples processed in vacuum and Ar. N-2 reacts with MgB2 and forms MgB9N along the MgB2 grain boundaries. The high-field critical current density is enhanced for the sample processed in N-2 with a heating rate of 100 degrees C min(-1). At 2-35 K, this sample shows the strongest contribution of the grain boundary pinning (GBP). All samples are in the point pinning (PP) limit and by increasing temperature the GBP contribution decreases.

We report on output power performances obtained by diode-laser pumping of buried cladding-wave guides that were inscribed with a femtosecond-laser beam writing technique in several Nd:YVO4 media. Continuous-wave output power of 3.4 W at 1.06 mu m for an absorbed pump power at 808 nm of 10.3 W was obtained from a circular waveguide of 100-mu m diameter that was realized in a 6.9-mm long, 0.5-at% Nd:YVO4 crystal; the slope efficiency with respect to the absorbed pump power was 0.36. The pump at 880 nm, directly into the F-4(3/2) emitting level, was used to improve the waveguide output characteristics. With an absorbed pump power of 9.8 W at 880 nm, the same waveguide yielded 4.4 W at 1.06 mu m, whereas for emission at 1.34 mu m the output power reached 1.7 W; the slope efficiency improved to 0.47 for laser emission at 1.06 mu m and reached 0.24 for operation at 1.34 mu m. Results recorded from similar waveguides that were inscribed in 0.7-at% Nd:YVO4 and 1.0-at% Nd:YVO4 crystals are presented. (C) 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

A series of MgB2 samples were irradiated with protons of 11.3 and 13.2 MeV. Magnetization data shows an insignificant reduction of the critical temperatures but a continuous decrease of the Meissner fraction with increasing fluence or energy. All samples show a consistent improvement of the critical current density compared to the virgin sample and an increase of the pinning energy at high fields as resulted from relaxation data. (C) 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Chitosan/biomimetic apatite thin films were grown in mild conditions of temperature and pressure by Combinatorial Matrix-Assisted Pulsed Laser Evaporation on Ti, Si or glass substrates. Compositional gradients were obtained by simultaneous laser vaporization of the two distinct material targets. A KrF* excimer (lambda = 248 nm, tau(FWHM) = 25 ns) laser source was used in all experiments. The nature and surface composition of deposited materials and the spatial distribution of constituents were studied by SEM, EDS, AFM, GIXRD, FTIR, micro-Raman, and XPS. The antimicrobial efficiency of the chitosan/biomimetic apatite layers against Staphylococcus aureus and Escherichia coli strains was interrogated by viable cell count assay. The obtained thin films were XRD amorphous and exhibited a morphology characteristic to the laser deposited structures composed of nanometric round shaped grains. The surface roughness has progressively increased with chitosan concentration. FTIR, EDS and XPS analyses indicated that the composition of the BmAp-CHT C-MAPLE composite films gradually modified from pure apatite to chitosan. The bioevaluation tests indicated that S. aureus biofilm is more susceptible to the action of chitosanrich areas of the films, whilst the E. coli biofilm proved more sensible to areas containing less chitosan. The best compromise should therefore go, in our opinion, to zones with intermediate-to-high chitosan concentration which can assure a large spectrum of antimicrobial protection concomitantly with a significant enhancement of osseointegration, favored by the presence of biomimetic hydroxyapatite. (C) 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Thin amorphous As2S3 films show a giant photoexpansion of similar to 5% upon femtosecond laser illumination and this expansion remains after switching off the laser beam. To understand the structural modifications which occur during the photoexpansion process we assumed a molecular cluster structure of the amorphous As2S3. The focused femtosecond laser beam induces electrical charge redistribution on the sulfur atoms of each cluster, which increases the electrical repulsion between sulfur atoms, and thus induces an expansion of the clusters, by network reconfiguration, without breaking the bonds. An increase of the van der Waals distance between molecular clusters also takes place. (C) 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Thin films of amorphous and polycrystalline indium zinc oxide (IZO) having various In/(In + Zn) nominal compositions from 0.3 to 0.9 were grown by the pulsed laser deposition technique at room temperature or at 400 degrees C on oxidized Si and quartz substrates. After deposition, the films were gamma irradiated at doses of 10, 20 and 30 kGy under Ar atmosphere. Grazing incidence X-ray diffraction investigations could not find measurable changes of the structure after irradiation. Simulations of the X-ray reflectivity (XRR) and diffuse scattering curves acquired from the films showed a small density decrease after irradiation, accompanied by an increase of the thickness and surface roughness. Spectroscopic ellipsometry investigations confirmed the increase of the IZO films' thickness after irradiation, being in agreement with the XRR results. Small changes in the refractive index, most probably caused by changes in the film density were also observed. Four point probe measurements showed very small resistivity increases after irradiation, with the films containing higher In concentration presenting negligible changes. (C) 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Dye-doped polymer thin films were obtained by spin-coating of 8% polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP) solutions (in ethanol). Ni or ZnO nanowires were incorporated in Rhodamine 6G doped polymer films (10(-4) M dye concentration). Optical and morphological properties of simple dye-doped polymer films and films containing metallic or semiconducting nanostructures were investigated. Optical microscopy and scanning electron microscopy were used to image the nanowires. The presence of Ni nanowires induces a small shift (2-3 nm) to longer wavelengths on the emission band of Rh 6G doped PVP film. The ZnO nanowires' presence was confirmed by X-ray diffraction measurements. An enhancement of the emission of the dye doped polymer is induced by the semiconducting structures. (C) 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.