Clathrate compounds and method of manufacturing

The present invention comprises new materials, material structures, and processes of fabrication of such that may be used in technologies involving the conversion of light to electricity and/or heat to electricity, and in optoelectronics technologies. The present invention provide for the fabrication of a clathrate compound comprising a type II clathrate lattice with atoms of silicon and germanium as a main framework forming lattice spacings within the framework, wherein the clathrate lattice follows the general formula Si136-yGey, where y indicates the number of Ge atoms present in the main framework and 136-y indicates the number of Si atoms present in the main framework, and wherein y\u3e0

Effect of buffer layers on low-temperature growth of mirror-like superconducting thin films on sapphire

Plasma-assisted laser deposition was used to grow high quality mirror-like superconducting Y-Ba-Cu-O films on sapphire with or without a buffer layer. The buffer layers of MgO, Ag, or BaTiO3 were also laser deposited. At a deposition temperature of 400-500 °C, the as-deposited Y-Ba-Cu-O films on MgO/Al2O3, Ag/Al2O3, BaTiO 3/Al2O3, and plain Al2O3 substrates were all superconducting at ≳75 K without post-annealing. The orientation of the film and the critical current are both affected by the presence of the buffer layer

As-deposited Y-Ba-Cu-O superconducting films on silicon at 400°C

Y-Ba-Cu-O thin films have been grown on silicon at a substrate temperature of 400°C by plasma-assisted laser deposition technique. These films were superconducting in an as-deposited state. Films deposited directly on silicon and films with a MgO buffer layer differed in their superconducting properties. Films with a MgO layer showed higher critical temperatures (70 K) and higher critical currents (3×103 A/cm2 at 31 K) than films deposited directly on Si. Depth profiling by Auger and x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy has been employed to study the diffusion and structural variation near the interface

Method of manufacturing a clathrate compound

The present invention comprises new materials, material structures, and processes of fabrication of such that may be used in technologies involving the conversion of light to electricity and/or heat to electricity, and in optoelectronics technologies. The present invention provide for the fabrication of a clathrate compound comprising a type II clathrate lattice with atoms of silicon and germanium as a main framework forming lattice spacings within the framework, wherein the clathrate lattice follows the general formula Si136−yGey, where y indicates the number of Ge atoms present in the main framework and 136−y indicates the number of Si atoms present in the main framework, and wherein y\u3e0

Deposition of superconducting Y-Ba-Cu-O films at 400°C without post-annealing

Superconducting thin films of Y1Ba2Cu 3O7-x were fabricated using the process of plasma-assisted laser deposition. The substrate temperature was as low as 400°C and high-temperature post-annealing in an O2 atmosphere was not necessary. The as-deposited films have a Tc of ∼85 K, and are oriented mostly with the c axis perpendicular to the substrate surface. The measured Jc at 80 K was 105 A/cm2

Growth of CdSxSe1-x thin films by laser evaporation deposition

Optical quality thin films of CdSxSe1-x were deposited on quartz for various values of x. It was found that these films were polycrystalline in structure, with a high degree of orientation of the c axis. An empirical relationship between the band gap and the lattice constant for the binary system CdS-CdSe was also obtained