Eco-efficiency measurement and material balance principle:an application in power plants Malmquist Luenberger Index

Incorporating Material Balance Principle (MBP) in industrial and agricultural performance measurement systems with pollutant factors has been on the rise in recent years. Many conventional methods of performance measurement have proven incompatible with the material flow conditions. This study will address the issue of eco-efficiency measurement adjusted for pollution, taking into account materials flow conditions and the MBP requirements, in order to provide ‘real’ measures of performance that can serve as guides when making policies. We develop a new approach by integrating slacks-based measure to enhance the Malmquist Luenberger Index by a material balance condition that reflects the conservation of matter. This model is compared with a similar model, which incorporates MBP using the trade-off approach to measure productivity and eco-efficiency trends of power plants. Results reveal similar findings for both models substantiating robustness and applicability of the proposed model in this paper

The effects of grain boundary scattering on electrical resistivity of Ag/NiSi silicide films formed on silicon substrate at 500 °c by RTA

The temperature-dependent resistivity measurements of Ag/Ni-Si silicide films with 28-260 nm thicknesses are studied as a function of temperature and film thickness over the temperature range of 100-900 K. The most striking behavior is that the variation of the resistivity of the films with temperature exhibits an unusual behavior. The total resistivity of the Ag/Ni-Si silicide films in this work increases linearly with temperature up to a T m temperature, and thereafter decreases rapidly. Our analyses have shown that in the temperature range of 100 to T m °K, the parallel-resistor formula reduces to Matthiessen's rule and ? D (Debye temperature) have been found to be about 201-404 K for the films. The correlation of the Ag/Ni-Si silicide formation with its electrical and morphological properties is also established. We have also shown that for temperature range of 100-T m °K, linear variation of the resistivity of the silicide films with temperature has been caused by both grain-boundary scattering and electron-phonon scattering. That is why resistivity data could have been analyzed successfully in terms of the Mayadas-Shatzkes (M-S) model. Theoretical and experimental values of reflection coefficients have been calculated by analyzing resistivity data using the M-S model. According to our analysis, R increases with decreasing film thickness for a given temperature. For room temperature, theoretical and experimental reflection coefficients have been calculated to be R th = 0.264, R exp = 0.296 for the thinnest sample (28 nm). On the other hand, for the thick sample (260 nm), these reflection coefficients have been determined as R th = 0.027, R exp = 0.048. © 2014 Elsevier B.V

The calculation of the reflection coefficients by analyzing resistivity data of the Ni-Si silicide films formed at 850 degrees C by RTA

WOS: 000327293500016The total electrical resistivity measurements of the Ni-Si silicide films, with thicknesses of 37-400 nm have been carried out as a function of temperature and film thickness in a wide temperature range of 100-900 K. The temperature-dependence of the total resistivity of the films shows unusual behavior. The total resistivity of the Ni-Si suicide films in this work increases linearly with temperature up to a T-m temperature, thereafter decreases rapidly and finally reaches zero. We have shown that in the temperature range of (100-T-m)K, linear variation of resistivity of the films with temperature has been caused from both grain-boundary and electron-phonon scattering, dominating simultaneously. That is why, resistivity data could have been analyzed in terms of the Mayadas-Shatzkes (M-S) model. R reflection coefficients have been calculated by analyzing resistivity data of the films using M-S model. Based on our analysis, for a given temperature R increases with decreasing thickness, whereas it is almost constant over the three-thickness ranges, defined as 400-162 nm, 105-60 nm and 42-37 nm, over which silicide films have almost same phases. For room temperature, theoretical and experimental reflection coefficients are calculated to be R-th = 0.75, R-th = 0.92, R-exp = 0.96 and R-exp = 0.85, R-exp = 0.93, R-exp = 0.96 by taking an average over the three-thickness ranges, respectively. (C) 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved

The calculation of the reflection coefficients by analyzing resistivity data of the Ni-Si silicide films formed at 850 C by RTA

The total electrical resistivity measurements of the Ni-Si silicide films, with thicknesses of 37-400 nm have been carried out as a function of temperature and film thickness in a wide temperature range of 100-900 K. The temperature-dependence of the total resistivity of the films shows unusual behavior. The total resistivity of the Ni-Si silicide films in this work increases linearly with temperature up to a Tm temperature, thereafter decreases rapidly and finally reaches zero. We have shown that in the temperature range of (100-Tm)K, linear variation of resistivity of the films with temperature has been caused from both grain-boundary and electron-phonon scattering, dominating simultaneously. That is why, resistivity data could have been analyzed in terms of the Mayadas-Shatzkes (M-S) model. R reflection coefficients have been calculated by analyzing resistivity data of the films using M-S model. Based on our analysis, for a given temperature R increases with decreasing thickness, whereas it is almost constant over the three-thickness ranges, defined as 400-162 nm, 105-60 nm and 42-37 nm, over which silicide films have almost same phases. For room temperature, theoretical and experimental reflection coefficients are calculated to be Rth = 0.75, Rth = 0.92, Rth = 0.96 and Rexp = 0.85, Rexp = 0.93, Rexp = 0.96 by taking an average over the three-thickness ranges, respectively. © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved

Temperature and thickness dependence of the grain boundary scattering in the Ni-Si silicide films formed on silicon substrate at 500 °c by RTA

The temperature-dependent resistivity measurements of Ni-Si silicide films with 18-290 nm thicknesses are studied as a function of temperature and film thickness over the temperature range of 100-900 K. The most striking behavior is that the variation of the resistivity of the films with temperature exhibits an unusual behavior. The total resistivity of the Ni-Si silicide films in this work increases linearly with temperature up to a Tm temperature, thereafter decreases rapidly and finally reaches zero. Our analyses have shown that in the temperature range of 100 to Tm (K), parallel-resistor formula reduces to Matthiessen's rule and D Debye temperature becomes independent of the temperature for the given thickness range, whereas at high temperatures (above Tm) it increases slightly with thickness. D Debye temperature have been found to be about 400-430 K for the films. We have also shown that for temperature range of 100 to Tm (K), linear variation of the resistivity of the silicide films with temperature has been caused from both grain-boundary scattering and electron-phonon scattering. That is why, resistivity data could have been analyzed in terms of the Mayadas-Schatzkes (M-S) model successfully. Theoretical and experimental values of reflection coefficients have been calculated by analyzing resistivity data using M-S model. According to our analysis, R increases with decreasing film thickness for a given temperature, while it is almost constant for the thickness range of 200-67 nm and 47-18 nm, over which silicide films show almost the same phases, also confirmed by our XRD, SEM and RBS measurements. © 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved

Temperature and thickness dependence of the grain boundary scattering in the Ni-Si suicide films formed on silicon substrate at 500 degrees C by RTA

WOS: 000301083800029The temperature-dependent resistivity measurements of Ni-Si silicide films with 18-290 nm thicknesses are studied as a function of temperature and film thickness over the temperature range of 100-900K. The most striking behavior is that the variation of the resistivity of the films with temperature exhibits an unusual behavior. The total resistivity of the Ni-Si silicide films in this work increases linearly with temperature up to a T-m temperature, thereafter decreases rapidly and finally reaches zero. Our analyses have shown that in the temperature range of 100 to T-m (K), parallel-resistor formula reduces to Matthiessen's rule and theta(D) Debye temperature becomes independent of the temperature for the given thickness range, whereas at high temperatures (above T-m) it increases slightly with thickness. theta(D) Debye temperature have been found to be about 400-430 K for the films. We have also shown that for temperature range of 100 to T-m (K), linear variation of the resistivity of the silicide films with temperature has been caused from both grain-boundary scattering and electron-phonon scattering. That is why, resistivity data could have been analyzed in terms of the Mayadas-Schatzkes (M-S) model successfully. Theoretical and experimental values of reflection coefficients have been calculated by analyzing resistivity data using M-S model. According to our analysis, R increases with decreasing film thickness for a given temperature, while it is almost constant for the thickness range of 200-67 nm and 47-18 nm, over which silicide films show almost the same phases, also confirmed by our XRD, SEM and RBS measurements. (C) 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved

Structural and electrical characterization of the nickel silicide films formed at 850 °C by rapid thermal annealing of the Ni/Si(1 0 0) films

Nickel di-silicide formation induced by RTA process at 850 °C for 60 s in the Ni/Si(1 0 0) systems are investigated as a function of the initial Ni film thickness of 7-89 nm using XRD, RBS, SEM, X-SEM and AFM. Based on the XRD and RBS data, in the silicide films of 400-105 nm, NiSi and NiSi 2 silicide phases co-exist, indicating that Ni overlayer is completely transformed to NiSi and NiSi 2 silicide phases. SEM reveals that these films consist of large grains for co-existence of NiSi 2 and NiSi phases, separated from one another by holes, reflecting that NiSi 2 grows as islands in NiSi matrix. These films have low sheet resistance, ranging from 1.89 to 5.44 ?/? and good thermal stability. For thicknesses ? 80 nm RBS yields more Si-rich silicide phases compared to thicker films, whereas SEM reveals that Si-enriched silicide islands with visible holes grow in Si matrix. As the film thickness decreases from 400 to 35 nm, AFM reveals a ridge-like structure showing a general trend of decreasing average diameter and mean roughness values, while sheet resistance measurements exhibit a dramatic increase ranging from 1.89 to 53.73 ?/?. This dramatic sheet resistance increase is generated by substantial grain boundary grooving, followed by island formation, resulting in a significant phase transformation from NiSi 2 -rich to Si-rich silicide phases. © 2010 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved