537 research outputs found
Effects of laser wavelength and fluence on the growth of ZnO thin films by pulsed laser deposition
Transparent, electrically conductive and c-axis oriented ZnO thin films have been grown by the pulsed laser deposition (PLD) technique on silicon and Corning glass substrates employing either a KrF excimer laser (¿ = 248 nm) or a frequency-doubled Nd:YAG laser (¿ = 532 nm). The crystalline structure, surface morphology, optical and electrical properties of the deposited films were found to depend not only on the substrate temperature and oxygen partial pressure, but also on the irradiation conditions. The quality of the ZnO layers grown by the shorter wavelength laser was always better than that of the layers grown by the longer wavelength, under otherwise identical deposition conditions. This behaviour was qualitatively accounted for by the results of the numerical solution of a one-dimensional heat diffusion equation which indicated a strong superheating effect of the melted target material for the case of frequency-doubled Nd:YAG laser irradiations. By optimizing the deposition conditions we have grown, employing the KrF laser, very smooth c-axis oriented ZnO films having a full-width at half-maximum value of the (002) X-ray diffraction value less than 0.16° and optical transmittance around 85% in the visible region of the spectrum at a substrate temperature of only 300°C
Optical Properties of Ar Ions Irradiated Nanocrystalline ZrC and ZrN Thin Films
Thin nanocrystalline ZrC and ZrN films (less than 400 nanometers), grown on (100) Si substrates at a substrate temperature of 500 degrees Centigrade by the pulsed laser deposition (PLD) technique, were irradiated by 800 kiloelectronvolts Ar ion irradiation with fluences from 1 times 10(sup 14) atoms per square centimeter up to 2 times 10(sup 15) atoms per square centimeter. Optical reflectance data, acquired from as-deposited and irradiated films, in the range of 500-50000 per centimeter (0.066 electronvolts), was used to assess the effect of irradiation on the optical and electronic properties. Both in ZrC and ZrN films we observed that irradiation affects the optical properties of the films mostly at low frequencies, which is dominated by the free carriers response. In both materials, we found a significant reduction in the free carriers scattering rate, i.e. possible increase in mobility, at higher irradiation flux. This is consistent with our previous findings that irradiation affects the crystallite size and the micro-strain, but it does not induce major structural changes
Structural instability in an autophosphorylating kinase switch
We analyse a simple kinase model that exhibits bistability when there is no protein turnover, and show analytically that the property of being bistable is not necessarily conserved when degradation and synthesis of the kinase are taken into account
Unforeseen high temperature and humidity stability of FeCl intercalated few layer graphene
We present the first systematic study of the stability of the structure and
electrical properties of FeCl intercalated few-layer graphene to high
levels of humidity and high temperature. Complementary experimental techniques
such as electrical transport, high resolution transmission electron microscopy
and Raman spectroscopy conclusively demonstrate the unforeseen stability of
this transparent conductor to a relative humidity up to at room
temperature for 25 days, to a temperature up to 150\,^\circC in atmosphere
and up to a temperature as high as 620\,^\circC in vacuum, that is more than
twice higher than the temperature at which the intercalation is conducted. The
stability of FeCl intercalated few-layer graphene together with its unique
values of low square resistance and high optical transparency, makes this
material an attractive transparent conductor in future flexible electronic
applications.Comment: Scientific Reports, volume 5, article no. 760
Probing ferroelectricity in highly conducting materials through their elastic response: persistence of ferroelectricity in metallic BaTiO3-d
The question whether ferroelectricity (FE) may coexist with a metallic or
highly conducting state, or rather it must be suppressed by the screening from
the free charges, is the focus of a rapidly increasing number of theoretical
studies and is finally receiving positive experimental responses. The issue is
closely related to the thermoelectric and multiferroic (also magnetic)
applications of FE materials, where the electrical conductivity is required or
spurious. In these circumstances, the traditional methods for probing
ferroelectricity are hampered or made totally ineffective by the free charges,
which screen the polar response to an external electric field. This fact may
explain why more than 40 years passed between the first proposals of FE metals
and the present experimental and theoretical activity. The measurement of the
elastic moduli, Young's modulus in the present case, versus temperature is an
effective method for studying the influence of doping on a FE transition
because the elastic properties are unaffected by electrical conductivity. In
this manner, it is shown that the FE transitions of BaTiO3-d are not suppressed
by electron doping through O vacancies; only the onset temperatures are
depressed, but the magnitudes of the softenings, and hence of the piezoelectric
activity, are initially even increased
Bulk Fermi surface and electronic properties of CuBiSe
The electronic properties of CuBiSe have been
investigated using Shubnikov-de Haas and optical reflectance measurements.
Quantum oscillations reveal a bulk, three-dimensional Fermi surface with
anisotropy 2 and a modest increase in
free-carrier concentration and in scattering rate with respect to the undoped
BiSe, also confirmed by reflectivity data. The effective mass is
almost identical to that of BiSe. Optical conductivity reveals a
strong enhancement of the bound impurity bands with Cu addition, suggesting
that a significant number of Cu atoms enter the interstitial sites between Bi
and Se layers or may even substitute for Bi. This conclusion is also supported
by X-ray diffraction measurements, where a significant increase of microstrain
was found in CuBiSe, compared to BiSe.Comment: Accepted to Phys. Rev B (R
Investigation of infrared phonon modes in multiferroic single-crystal FeTeOBr
Reflection and transmission as a function of temperature (5--300 K) have been
measured on single crystals of the multiferroic compound FeTeOBr
utilizing light spanning the far infrared to the visible portions of the
electromagnetic spectrum. The complex dielectric function and optical
properties were obtained via Kramers-Kronig analysis and by fits to a
Drude-Lortentz model. Analysis of the anisotropic excitation spectra via
Drude-Lorentz fitting and lattice dynamical calculations have lead to the
observation of all 52 IR-active modes predicted in the plane and 43 or the
53 modes predicted along the b axis of the monoclinic cell. Assignments to
groups (clusters) of phonons have been made and trends within them are
discussed in light of our calculated displacement patterns.Comment: 9 pages, 7 figure
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