Chloride atomic-layer chemical vapor deposition of TiO2 with a chloride pretreatment of substrates

A procedure for changing the course of the atomic-layer chemical vapor deposition (ALCVD) growth of TiO2 from TiCl4 and H2O on amorphous SiO2 substrates/underlayers at low temperatures is proposed. The changes are characterized by the real-time incremental dielectric reflection measurements and post-growth spectrophotometry and reflection high-energy electron diffraction measurements. In the procedure, an ultrathin layer of the material is deposited and, subsequently, in situ inhomogeneously etched in the TiCl4 flow, both steps being performed at a temperature above 350°C. As a result, an ultrathin microrough mixed amorphous/anatase-phase surface layer is created. By using this layer as a seed layer, the crystalline-growth temperature of the material is reduced. So anatase (mixed with amorphous phase) TiO2 thin films on SiO2 substrates at 125°C are, for the first time, grown. The films are shown to be depth-inhomogeneous. The upper part of the films, when they are thicker, is well texture

The orexin OX1 receptor activates a novel Ca2+ influx pathway necessary for coupling to phospholipase C.

Ca(2+) elevations in Chinese hamster ovary cells stably expressing OX(1) receptors were measured using fluorescent Ca(2+) indicators fura-2 and fluo-3. Stimulation with orexin-A led to pronounced Ca(2+) elevations with an EC(50) around 1 nm. When the extracellular [Ca(2+)] was reduced to a submicromolar concentration, the EC(50) was increased 100-fold. Similarly, the inositol 1,4,5-trisphosphate production in the presence of 1 mm external Ca(2+) was about 2 orders of magnitude more sensitive to orexin-A stimulation than in low extracellular Ca(2+). The shift in the potency was not caused by depletion of intracellular Ca(2+) but by a requirement of extracellular Ca(2+) for production of inositol 1,4,5-trisphosphate. Fura-2 experiments with the "Mn(2+)-quench technique" indicated a direct activation of a cation influx pathway by OX(1) receptor independent of Ca(2+) release or pool depletion. Furthermore, depolarization of the cells to +60 mV, which almost nullifies the driving force for Ca(2+) entry, abolished the Ca(2+) response to low concentrations of orexin-A. The results thus suggest that OX(1) receptor activation leads to two responses, (i) a Ca(2+) influx and (ii) a direct stimulation of phospholipase C, and that these two responses converge at the level of phospholipase C where the former markedly enhances the potency of the latter.Journal ArticleResearch Support, Non-U.S. Gov'tinfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishe

Effect of phase composition on X-ray absorption spectra of ZrO2 thin films

The X-ray photoabsorption spectra of ZrO2 films with different phase compositions were measured. The analysis of the results obtained shows that due to the site-sensitivity the X-ray photoabsorption spectroscopy is an attractive method for characterization of the ZrO2 structure. This allows application of the X-ray spectroscopy in investigation of the crystal structure in the various stages of the thin film growth including the initial stage of the ZrO2 growth. (c) 2006 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved