Observation of high-Tc superconductivity in inhomogeneous combinatorial ceramics

A single-sample synthesis concept based on multi-element ceramic samples can produce a variety of local products. When applied to cuprate superconductors (SC), statistical modelling predicts the occurrence of possible compounds in a concentration range of about 50 ppm. In samples with such low concentrations, determining which compositions are superconducting is a challenging task and requires local probes or separation techniques. Here, we report results from samples with seven components: BaO2, CaCO3, SrCO3, La2O3, PbCO3, ZrO2 and CuO oxides and carbonates, starting from different grain sizes. The reacted ceramics show different phases, particular grain growth, as well as variations in homogeneity and superconducting properties. High-Tc superconductivity up to 118 K was found. Powder x-ray diffraction (XRD) in combination with energy-dispersive spectroscopy (EDS), scanning transmission electron microscopy (STEM) can assign Pb1223 and (Sr,Ca,Ba)0.7-1.0CuO2 phases in inhomogeneous samples milled with 10 mm ball sizes. Rather uniform samples featuring strong grain growth were obtained with 3 mm ball sizes, resulting in Tc =70 K superconductivity of the La(Ba,Ca)2Cu3Ox based phase. Scanning SQUID microscopy (SSM) establishes locally formed superconducting areas at a level of a few microns in inhomogeneous superconducting particles captured by a magnetic separation technique. The present results demonstrate a new synthetic approach for attaining high-Tc superconductivity in compounds without Bi, Tl, Hg, or the need for high-pressure synthesis

Effects of annealing temperature on ZnO and AZO films prepared by sol–gel technique

Zinc oxide (ZnO) films have the potential in the emerging thin-film technologies which can be employed in thin-film solar cells, transistors, sensors and other optoelectronic devices. In this work, low cost sol-gel spin-coating technique was used to synthesize the ZnO films. The influences of annealing temperature on the structural and optical properties of ZnO and aluminum doped ZnO (AZO) films were investigated. The structural properties of the ZnO films such as surface morphology and crystallinity were determined using atomic force microscopy (AFM) and X-ray diffractometry (XRD), respectively. The optical properties of the ZnO films were characterized by the ultraviolet-visible (UV-vis) spectroscopy and Tauc method was adopted to estimate the optical gap. The experimental results reveal that the thermal annealing treatment affects the properties of the ZnO films. The effects of the low range annealing temperature on the sol-gel ZnO films addressed in this investigation will be discussed in this paper. (C) 2012 Elsevier B. V. All rights reserved

Environmental stability of high-mobility indium-oxide based transparent electrodes

Large-scale deployment of a wide range of optoelectronic devices, including solar cells, critically depends on the long-term stability of their front electrodes. Here, we investigate the performance of Sn-doped In2O3 (ITO), H-doped In2O3 (IO:H), and Zn-doped In2O3 (IZO) electrodes under damp heat (DH) conditions (85 degrees C, 85% relative humidity). ITO, IO: H capped with ITO, and IZO show high stability with only 3%, 9%, and 13% sheet resistance (Rs) degradation after 1000 h of DH, respectively. For uncapped IO: H, we find a 75% Rs degradation, due to losses in electron Hall mobility (mu(Hall)). We propose that this degradation results from chemisorbed OH-or H2O-related species in the film, which is confirmed by thermal desorption spectroscopy and x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. While mu(Hall) strongly degrades during DH, the optical mobility (mu(optical)) remains unchanged, indicating that the degradation mainly occurs at grain boundaries. (C) 2015 Author(s). All article content, except where otherwise noted, is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported License