National Institute Of Materials Physics - Romania

The corrosion and behavior of carbon steel in 2M HCl in the presence of N-(2-hydroxybenzilidene) thiosemicarbazide (HBTC) was investigated using weight loss and electrochemical studies. The morphology of carbon steel surface was investigated using scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and Mossbauer spectrometry. The corrosion current was determined using Tafel polarization. The inhibition efficiency increased with HBTC concentration; the experimental results suggest that the presence of HBTC in the solution increases the surface coverage (); a decrease in the corrosion spot with the increase of the HBTC concentration indicates good adsorbability of HBTC on the metal surface. The adsorption of this compound on the metal surface is found to obey Langmuir's adsorption isotherm. Mossbauer spectroscopy showed at this stage the main product of corrosion is a non-stoichiometric amorphous Fe3+ oxyhydroxide, consisting of a mixture of , , and -FeOOH, where -FeOOH is the main phase.

We study ester-type liquid crystal, 4'-cyanophenyl 4-n-hexyl benzoate and its homologue 4'-cyanophenyl 4-n-pentyl benzoate. We used the Thermally Stimulated Depolarization Currents method and found information about phase transition temperature, and activation energies. The temperatures of phase transitions were compared to those obtained by classical DSC/DTA measurements. Simultaneously with the TSDC, we measured the optical transmission; we found a decrease of the optical transmission when it was measured after a greater pre-applied polarizing electric field.

We report the fabrication of composites made of La2/3Sr1/3MnO3 and two comb-type polysiloxane-based copolymers, polysiloxane-g-styrene and polysiloxane-g-(styrene-co-butyl-acrylate), in an attempt to improve the elastic properties of the polymer-based composites. The composites were obtained by the co-precipitation of a polymer solution mixed with the lanthanum manganite followed by sintering at appropriate temperatures. The rheological properties of the composites before as well as the magnetic and transport properties after sintering process are presented.

We study theoretically the electronic transport in parallel few-level quantum dots in the presence of both intradot and interdot long-range Coulomb interaction. Each dot is connected to two leads and the steady-state currents are calculated within the Keldysh formalism using the random-phase approximation for the interacting Green functions. Due to the momentum transfer mechanism between the two systems it is possible to get a nonvanishing current through an unbiased Coulomb-blockaded dot if the other dot is set in the nonlinear transport regime. The transitions between the levels of the passive dot reduce the drag current and lead to negative differential conductance.

A novel method for the synthesis of nanostructured films produced by depositing gas-phase magnetic nanoparticles is presented and the properties of the films are reported. The technique mixes metal vapour and small argon clusters produced in a supersonic expansion. The condensed clusters are subsequently deposited in situ onto copper grids. The cluster size is controlled by the vapour pressure of the metal inside the pick-up chamber. Detailed analysis of the transmission electron micrographs of the Fe clusters shows that there is a simple linear relationship between the average metal cluster diameter and the metal vapour pressure during deposition. Furthermore, the nanoparticles show a relatively narrow size distribution for a given set of experimental conditions. Structural and magnetic investigations have been performed on Fe cluster samples, and the influence of the metal vapour pressure has been studied. Detailed analysis of the magnetic and structural data has been performed and valuable information such as cluster size distributions, strength of the interparticle dipolar interactions and average magnetic moment per cluster are derived. It is shown that, at room temperature, the magnetic behaviour of the films is consistent with nanoparticle supermoments interacting via dipolar interactions.

Electrical properties, i.e., dielectric hysteresis and leakage current, of epitaxial Pb(Zr0.2Ti0.8)O-3 films with bottom SrRuO3 electrode and different metals as top contact were investigated. The leakage current is largely insensitive to the work function of the top metal but increases with decreasing electronegativity as well as with decreasing number of electrons on the d-shell of the top metal. The best rectifying properties are obtained for metals with complete d-shell (Cu, Au, Ag, Pd), while the metals with few electrons on the d-shell (Ta, Cr) form Ohmic-like contacts. (c) 2008 American Institute of Physics. [DOI: 10.1063/1.3021293]

There was investigated the application of inorganic photo-resist based on three-component chalcogenide films for fabrication of submicrometer periodic relief on silicon wafers using interference lithography. For this purpose. technological process of resistive two-layer chalcogenide-Cr mask formation on a silicon surface was developed, and silicon anisotropic etching was optimized, too. This technology has been used for the fabrication of diffraction gratings and two-dimensional periodic structures on Si (100) surface. The obtained relief patterns were used to form photonic structures by oblique deposition of silicon monoxide in vacuum.

An optimized electroless deposition procedure to form Pd membranes onto ceramic substrates involving the thermal decomposition of a Pd complex compound ([Pd (NH3)(4)] [PdCl4]) is discussed. This allowed a reaction efficiency of about 90-95%. The proposed method significantly diminishes the Pd wastes as compared with the classical procedure involving hydrazine based reduction step. A Pd layer of about 3-5 mu m has been uniformly deposited on the inner surface of the alpha-Al2O3 based substrate, being characterized by a very good adherence and light grey metallic appearance. Homogeneous films of Pd were obtained by annealing the deposited Pd layers at temperatures higher than 500 degrees C in a hydrogen atmosphere. XRD and laser confocal microscopy techniques have been proved to be suitable to characterize the composition, thickness and uniformity of the formed Pd membranes.

This paper presents investigations on the electrical transport phenomena in perylene and PTCDA emphasising the particularities of the charge carrier injection at the contacts with inorganic semiconductors (Si) and metals (Cu, Al) and the effect of the supplementary organic layer (ZnPc, alpha-NPD) on the electrical conduction. The I-V characteristics for different delay and integration times, at forward and reverse bias, have evidenced a dominant ohmic behaviour of these SIS and MIS structures at low voltage (<0.1 V) and limitations of the current induced by the space charge and trap charge at voltages >1 V. An intermediate organic layer (ZnPc) with higher ionisation potential than PTCDA and lower electron affinity than perylene improves the charge carrier injection and the conduction properties of the Si/PTCDA/Si and forward biased Cu/perylene/Si heterostructures. No increase in the hole injection was obtained in Si(p)/perylene/Si(p) heterostructure introducing an a-NPD layer. (C) 2008 Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved.

Nanowires made of CdTe were produced by using a template method. Polymer ion track foils (30 micrometers thick) were used as templates, after a proper chemical etching. Nanowires were electrochemically grown in the resulting pores. A discussion of the observed correlations between the morphological/structural properties of the wires and the growth conditions is given. Electrical properties of the arrays of nanowires were studied in the temperature range of 40 K - 300 K, after contacting them by sputtering a gold layer on top of the membranes. Symmetric, non-linear I-V characteristics were recorded in the voltage range used and an activated electrical resistance was observed in the ohmic regime.