Rattling Europe’s ordoliberal ‘iron cage’ : the contestation of austerity in Southern Europe

This article explains the popular revolt against austerity in Southern Europe as the outcome of profound politico-economic changes that are shaped by the transformation of the European Union’s (EU’s) macro-economic governance. It comprises three parts. The first part demonstrates how ordoliberalism – the Germanic variant of (neo)liberal economic thinking – was embedded in the EU’s new macro-economic governance, in processes that constitutionalise austerity and remove democratic controls over the economy. The second part examines the impact of austerity-driven reforms on welfare and employment in the aftermath of the sovereign debt crisis. These reforms undermined the social reproduction of Southern Europe’s familistic welfare model by destabilising three key pillars of social protection: employment security for households’ primary earners; small property ownership; and pension adequacy. The third part analyses the emergence of anti-austerity social politics in Southern Europe, both parliamentary and grassroots, and assesses their effectiveness in light of the collapse of public trust in both EU and domestic political institutions. The article concludes with our reflections on the fragility of EU’s integration process under the hegemony of ordoliberalism

Films Stoichiometry Effects on the Electronic Transport Properties of Solution-Processed Yttrium Doped Indium–Zinc Oxide Crystalline Semiconductors for Thin Film Transistor Applications

Spray-coated crystalline InZnOx-based semiconductors are investigated as a function of [In3+]:[Zn2+] and their performance as TFTs semiconducting channels. More precisely, it is demonstrated that optical, structural, and electron transport properties show a high degree of sensitivity to the films' stoichiometry; that is, the [In3+]:[Zn2+] atomic ratio that equally determines the amorphous or crystalline structure of the film. Yttrium co-doping of InZnOx with [In3+]:[Zn2+] atomic ratio of 6:4 shows that the YInZnOx structure and the key TFT parameters can further be engineered and improved in terms of the on-to-off current modulation ratio and, most importantly, the field effect mobility. It is finally demonstrated that the latter is in excess of 52 cm(2) V-1 s(-1) by combining crystalline YInZnOx and spray-coated MgO dielectrics. These results identify spray-coated crystalline YInZnOx as a viable TFT semiconducting channel material with respect to enhanced electrical performance and processing requirements in terms of simplicity and cost

TL/OSL properties of natural schist for archaeological dating and retrospective dosimetry

Schist, a metamorphic rock composed largely of quartz and muscovite, has been used as a building stone through the centuries in many parts of the world. In ancient Greece, it was used in buildings and monuments (Knossos, Karthaia, etc). Basic TL and OSL properties of schist are studied in the present work to evaluate its potential use in archaeological dating and retrospective dosimetry. In particular, the optical stability, as well as the linearity of the TL and OSL signal were investigated for samples of natural schist obtained from a roofing slate. The results indicate that both signals are rapidly bleached when the sample is exposed to sunlight. An exposure of 1 min reduces the TL signal by 93%, the IRSL signal by 99% and the post-IR BSL signal by 90%. The dose response was found to be linear for a radiation dose at least up to 75 Gy for the TL and the IR OSL signal and at least up to 25 Gy for the post-IR BSL signal. (C) 2007 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved

ZnO-based thin film transistors employing aluminum titanate gate dielectrics deposited by spray pyrolysis at ambient air

The replacement of SiO2 gate dielectrics with metal oxides of higher dielectric constant has led to the investigation of a wide range of materials with superior properties compared with SiO2. Despite their attractive properties, these high-k dielectrics are usually manufactured using costly vacuum-based techniques. To overcome this bottleneck, research has focused on the development of alternative deposition methods based on solution-processable metal oxides. Here we report the application of spray pyrolysis for the deposition and investigation of Al2x-1·TixOy dielectrics as a function of the [Ti4+]/[Ti4++2·Al3+] ratio and their implementation in thin film transistors (TFTs) employing spray-coated ZnO as the active semiconducting channels. The films are studied by UV-visible absorption spectroscopy, spectroscopic ellipsometry, impedance spectroscopy, atomic force microscopy, X-ray diffraction and field-effect measurements. Analyses reveal amorphous Al2x-1·TixOy dielectrics that exhibit a wide band gap (∼4.5 eV), low roughness (∼0.9 nm), high dielectric constant (k ∼ 13), Schottky pinning factor S of ∼0.44 and very low leakage currents (<5 nA/cm2). TFTs employing stoichiometric Al2O3·TiO2 gate dielectrics and ZnO semiconducting channels exhibit excellent electron transport characteristics with low operating voltages (∼10 V), negligible hysteresis, high on/off current modulation ratio of ∼106, subthreshold swing (SS) of ∼550 mV/dec and electron mobility of ∼10 cm2 V-1 s-1