280 research outputs found
Zinc Oxide Defect Microstructure and Surface Chemistry Derived from Oxidation of Metallic Zinc: Thin-Film Transistor and Sensor Behavior of ZnO Films and Rods
Zinc oxide thin films are fabricated by controlled oxidation of sputtered zinc metal films on a hotplate in air at temperatures between 250 and 450â°C. The nanocrystalline films possess high relative densities and show preferential growth in (100) orientation. Integration in thinâfilm transistors reveals moderate charge carrier mobilities as high as 0.2â
cmâVs. The semiconducting properties depend on the calcination temperature, whereby the best performance is achieved at 450â°C. The defect structure of the thin ZnO film can be tracked by Dopplerâbroadening positron annihilation spectroscopy as well as positron lifetime studies. Comparably long positron lifetimes suggest interaction of zinc vacancies (V) with one or more oxygen vacancies (V) in larger structural entities. Such VâV defect clusters act as shallow acceptors, and thus, reduce the overall electron conductivity of the film. The concentration of these defect clusters decreases at higher calcination temperatures as indicated by changes in the S and W parameters. Such zinc oxide films obtained by conversion of metallic zinc can also be used as seed layers for solution deposition of zinc oxide nanowires employing a mild microwaveâassisted process. The functionality of the obtained nanowire arrays is tested in a UV sensor device. The best results with respect to sensor sensitivity are achieved with thinner seed layers for device construction
Synthesis, oxide formation, properties and thin film transistor properties of yttrium and aluminium oxide thin films employing a molecular-based precursor route
Combustion synthesis of dielectric yttrium oxide and aluminium oxide thin films is possible by introducing a molecular single-source precursor approach employing a newly designed nitro functionalized malonato complex of yttrium (Y-DEM-NOâ1) as well as defined urea nitrate coordination compounds of yttrium (Y-UN 2) and aluminium (Al-UN 3). All new precursor compounds were extensively characterized by spectroscopic techniques (NMR/IR) as well as by single-crystal structure analysis for both urea nitrate coordination compounds. The thermal decomposition of the precursors 1â3 was studied by means of differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) and thermogravimetry coupled with mass spectrometry and infrared spectroscopy (TG-MS/IR). As a result, a controlled thermal conversion of the precursors into dielectric thin films could be achieved. These oxidic thin films integrated within capacitor devices are exhibiting excellent dielectric behaviour in the temperature range between 250 and 350 °C, with areal capacity values up to 250 nF cmâ»ÂČ, leakage current densities below 1.0 Ă 10â»âč A cmâ»ÂČ (at 1 MV cmâ»Âč) and breakdown voltages above 2 MV cmâ»Âč. Thereby the increase in performance at higher temperatures can be attributed to the gradual conversion of the intermediate hydroxy species into the respective metal oxide which is confirmed by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). Finally, a solution-processed YxOy based TFT was fabricated employing the precursor Y-DEM-NO21. The device exhibits decent TFT characteristics with a saturation mobility (ÎŒsat) of 2.1 cmÂČ Vâ»Âč sâ»Âč, a threshold voltage (Vth) of 6.9 V and an on/off current ratio (Ion/off) of 7.6 Ă 10â”
Synthesis and Assembly of Zinc Oxide Microcrystals by a LowâTemperature DissolutionâReprecipitation Process: Lessons Learned About Twin Formation in Heterogeneous Reactions
Cobalt-doped zinc oxide single crystals with the shape of hexagonal platelets were synthesized by thermohydrolysis of zinc acetate, cobalt acetate, and hexamethylenetetramine (HMTA) in mixtures of ethanol and water. The mineralization proceeds by a low-temperature dissolutionâreprecipitation process from the liquid phase by the formation of basic cobalt zinc salts as intermediates. The crystal shape as well as twin formation of the resulting oxide phase can be influenced by careful choice of the solvent mixture and the amount of doping. An understanding of the course of the reaction was achieved by comprehensive employment of analytical techniques (i.e., SEM, XRD, IR) including an in-depth HRTEM study of precipitates from various reaction stages. In addition, EPR as well as UV/Vis spectroscopic measurements provide information about the insertion of the cobalt dopant into the zincite lattice. The LangmuirâBlodgett (LB) technique is shown to be suitable for depositing coatings of the platelets on glass substrates functionalized with polyelectrolyte multilayers and hence is applied for the formation of monolayers containing domains with ordered tessellation. No major differences are found between deposits on substrates with anionic or cationic surface modification. The adherence to the substrates is sufficient to determine the absolute orientation of the deposited polar single crystals by piezoresponse force microscopy (PFM) and Kelvin probe force microscopy (KPFM) studies
Charmonium suppression in p-A collisions at RHIC
We discuss charmonium production in proton-nucleus collisions at RHIC
energies under the assumption of xF and x2 scaling. We find that all the
ambiguities due to energy loss are gone at this energy and therefore data will
reveal the scaling law, if any. These p-A data will also be crucial to
interpret nucleus-nucleus data with respect to a possible formation of a quark
gluon plasma because the extrapolations for charmonium production from the
present p-A data to RHIC energies, based on the two scaling laws, differ by a
factor of four.Comment: 6 pages, 3 figures. New section on shadowing and energy loss,
References adde
The Complexity of Computing Minimal Unidirectional Covering Sets
Given a binary dominance relation on a set of alternatives, a common thread
in the social sciences is to identify subsets of alternatives that satisfy
certain notions of stability. Examples can be found in areas as diverse as
voting theory, game theory, and argumentation theory. Brandt and Fischer [BF08]
proved that it is NP-hard to decide whether an alternative is contained in some
inclusion-minimal upward or downward covering set. For both problems, we raise
this lower bound to the Theta_{2}^{p} level of the polynomial hierarchy and
provide a Sigma_{2}^{p} upper bound. Relatedly, we show that a variety of other
natural problems regarding minimal or minimum-size covering sets are hard or
complete for either of NP, coNP, and Theta_{2}^{p}. An important consequence of
our results is that neither minimal upward nor minimal downward covering sets
(even when guaranteed to exist) can be computed in polynomial time unless P=NP.
This sharply contrasts with Brandt and Fischer's result that minimal
bidirectional covering sets (i.e., sets that are both minimal upward and
minimal downward covering sets) are polynomial-time computable.Comment: 27 pages, 7 figure
230 Th normalization: new insights on an essential tool for quantifying sedimentary fluxes in the modern and quaternary ocean
© The Author(s), 2020. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License. The definitive version was published in Costa, K. M., Hayes, C. T., Anderson, R. F., Pavia, F. J., Bausch, A., Deng, F., Dutay, J., Geibert, W., Heinze, C., Henderson, G., Hillaire-Marcel, C., Hoffmann, S., Jaccard, S. L., Jacobel, A. W., Kienast, S. S., Kipp, L., Lerner, P., Lippold, J., Lund, D., Marcantonio, F., McGee, D., McManus, J. F., Mekik, F., Middleton, J. L., Missiaen, L., Not, C., Pichat, S., Robinson, L. F., Rowland, G. H., Roy-Barman, M., Alessandro, Torfstein, A., Winckler, G., & Zhou, Y. 230 Th normalization: new insights on an essential tool for quantifying sedimentary fluxes in the modern and quaternary ocean. Paleoceanography and Paleoclimatology, 35(2), (2020): e2019PA003820, doi:10.1029/2019PA003820.230Th normalization is a valuable paleoceanographic tool for reconstructing highâresolution sediment fluxes during the late Pleistocene (last ~500,000 years). As its application has expanded to ever more diverse marine environments, the nuances of 230Th systematics, with regard to particle type, particle size, lateral advective/diffusive redistribution, and other processes, have emerged. We synthesized over 1000 sedimentary records of 230Th from across the global ocean at two time slices, the late Holocene (0â5,000 years ago, or 0â5 ka) and the Last Glacial Maximum (18.5â23.5 ka), and investigated the spatial structure of 230Thânormalized mass fluxes. On a global scale, sedimentary mass fluxes were significantly higher during the Last Glacial Maximum (1.79â2.17 g/cm2kyr, 95% confidence) relative to the Holocene (1.48â1.68 g/cm2kyr, 95% confidence). We then examined the potential confounding influences of boundary scavenging, nepheloid layers, hydrothermal scavenging, sizeâdependent sediment fractionation, and carbonate dissolution on the efficacy of 230Th as a constant flux proxy. Anomalous 230Th behavior is sometimes observed proximal to hydrothermal ridges and in continental margins where high particle fluxes and steep continental slopes can lead to the combined effects of boundary scavenging and nepheloid interference. Notwithstanding these limitations, we found that 230Th normalization is a robust tool for determining sediment mass accumulation rates in the majority of pelagic marine settings (>1,000 m water depth).We thank Zanna Chase and one anonymous reviewer for valuable feedback. K. M. C. was supported by a Postdoctoral Scholarship at WHOI. L. M. acknowledges funding from the Australian Research Council grant DP180100048. The contribution of C. T. H., J. F. M., and R. F. A. were supported in part by the U.S. National Science Foundation (USâNSF). G. H. R. was supported by the Natural Environment Research Council (grant NE/L002434/1). S. L. J. acknowledges support from the Swiss National Science Foundation (grants PP002P2_144811 and PP00P2_172915). This study was supported by the Past Global Changes (PAGES) project, which in turn received support from the Swiss Academy of Sciences and the USâNSF. This work grew out of a 2018 workshop in AixâMarseille, France, funded by PAGES, GEOTRACES, SCOR, USâNSF, AixâMarseille UniversitĂ©, and John Cantle Scientific. All data are publicly available as supporting information to this document and on the National Center for Environmental Information (NCEI) at https://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/paleo/study/28791
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