Kinetic interface roughening and magneto resistance of sputter-deposited Fe/Ni75B25 multilayers

The roughening of interfaces as a function of layer thickness and magneto transport properties have been investigated on sputter-deposited Fe/Ni₇₅B₂₅ multilayer films. X-ray reflectivity data were recorded for Ni₇₅B₂₅(72 nm) film and for [Fe(2 nm)/Ni₇₅B₂₅(2 nm)]₁₆ and [Fe(4 nm)/Ni₇₅B₂₅(4 nm)]₈ multilayer films. A power law dependence of the interfacial width of growing Fe/Ni₇₅B₂₅ interfaces was observed. The resulting growth exponents β were found to be in the range of 0.55–0.58 in the initial growth stage of the multilayer with lower Fe/Ni₇₅B₂₅ repetition thickness and at approximately 0.34 for multilayer with higher repetition thickness. The growth exponents were compared with theoretical calculations. High resolution electron microscopy revealed the columnar growth of the Fe/Ni₇₅B₂₅ multilayer. Additionally, an increase of magnetoresistance was observed by the multilayering of Ni₇₅B₂₅ films with Fe interlayers.     

Hydroxyapatite coating on porous silicon substrate obtained by precipitation process

Hydroxyapatite Ca₁₀(PO₄)₆(OH)₂ (HAP) is known as a bioactive and biocompatible material, HAP coatings were used to improve the biocompatible of substrate by many researcher, In this work, HAP thin films on porous silicon (PS) substrates have been prepared by aqueous precipitation method with rapid thermal annealing (RTA) processes. The HAP films had been prepared under the annealing temperature ranging from 300 to 1000 °C. By the measurement of X-ray diffraction (XRD), it was found that for the crystallinity optimization, the heat-treatment at 850–950 °C for 1 h would be favorable. Atomic force microscopy (AFM) and scanning electron microscope (SEM) measurements reveal a dense and smooth surface of the HAP film, and tightly adherence of the coating on porous silicon substrate after sintered. Thus, by this method, porous silicon could be increased its bioactivity and so that could be used in the biomedical area.     

Structure and magneto-optical properties of fine-grain garnet thin films

The structure and magneto-optical properties of fine-grain garnet thin films crystallized by the rapid recurrent thermal annealing (RRTA) method have been studied. The RRAT method has been used to crystallize BiGaDyIG garnet single-layer or BiGaDyIG/AI double-layer films and to get nanometer grain size (about 30–50 nm), which results in a large Faraday rotation angle, a smoother surface and fewer voids in the films. Meanwhile we have discovered that the Faraday rotation angle increases with the number of recurrences during the rapid annealing and quenching. With the more recurrent annealing one can not only get a strong Faraday effect, but it suppresses the appearance of DyFeO₃ phase in garnet films, which has been explained very well. By applying the new method, the as-deposited films have been succesfully crystallized to the (BiDy)₃(FeGa)₅O₁₂ garnet phase. They exhibited excellent magneto-optical properties with a coercivity of about 1500 Oe and effective Faraday rotation angle of 1.5°. The composition, magnetic and magneto-optical properties of the crystallized garnet films have been examined.     

Structural and magnetic properties of FIB-irradiated microstructures on a Pt/Co multilayer

We present a study of the structural and magnetic effects induced by focused 30 keV Ga⁺ ion beam irradiation on a Pt(2.8 nm)/[Pt(0.6 nm)/Co(0.3 nm)]₆/Pt(6.5 nm) ferromagnetic multilayer, using transmission electron microscopy, optical and magneto-optical microscopy. The work is of relevance to high-density data-storage applications, where media planarity is crucial for device reliability.     

Enhanced magnetic properties of Nd–Fe–B thin films crystallized by heat treatment

Nd₂Fe₁₄B Φ phase crystallites were formed in Nd_16.7Fe_65.5B_17.8 thin films prepared by RF sputtering with subsequent heat treatment. The 2 μm-thick films were deposited onto 0.1 mm Mo sheets at an average substrate temperature (T_s) of 365°C. The enhanced magnetic properties of the magnetically anisotropic thin films were investigated using different heating rates (h_r) of 10°C, 20°C, 50°C and 100°C/min in an annealing experiment. Transformation from the amorphous phase to the crystalline phase is clearly manifested by the formation of fine crystallites embedded as a columnar matrix of Nd₂Fe₁₄B phase. High-resolution scanning electron microscope data of the cross-section of the annealed films show columnar stacking of Nd₂Fe₁₄B crystallites with sizes <500 nm. Transmission electron microscope observations revealed that the microstructure of these films having out-of-plane magnetization consists of uniformly distributed Φ phase with grain size around 400 nm together with small Nd rich particles. This grain size of Φ phase is comparable to the single domain particle diameter of Nd₂Fe₁₄B. Significant change in _iH_c, 4πM_r and 4πM_s with h_r was confirmed. Annealing conditions with a heating rate of 50°C/min to an annealing temperature (T_a) of 650°C for 30 min was consequently found to give optimum properties for the NdFeB thin films. The resulting magnetic properties, considered to be the effect of varying h_r were _iH_c= 1307–1357 kA/m, 4πM_r=0.78–1.06 T and 4πM_s=0.81–1.07 T.     

A comparison of FePt thin films with HfO2 or MnO additive

The influence of oxide additives on the magnetic and structural properties of FePt L1₀ thin films has been studied. FePt films with HfO₂ additive grown on a 5 nm MgO buffer showed a primarily random texture for both as-deposited and annealed samples. The average grain size was limited to 10 nm and the perpendicular coercivity was 1.3 kOe for a 10 nm thick FePt +20% HfO₂ film annealed at 650°C for 10 min. In direct contrast, MnO additive neither limited grain size nor L1₀ ordering in annealed FePt films. A 10 nm thick FePt+20% MnO film grown on a 5 nm MgO buffer showed a unique discontinuous microstructure composed of clusters of (0 0 1) textured L1₀ grains after being annealed at 650°C for 10 min. The average size of the grains making up these clusters was 50 nm and the perpendicular coercivity of the film exceeded 7 kOe.     

Defect versus nanocrystal luminescence emitted from room temperature and hot-implanted SiO2 layers

Silicon nanocrystals have been synthesized in SiO₂ matrix using Si ion implantation. Si ions were implanted into 300-nm-thick SiO₂ films grown on crystalline Si at energies of 30–55 keV, and with doses of 5×10¹⁵, 3×10¹⁶, and 1×10¹⁷ cm⁻². Implanted samples were subsequently annealed in an N₂ ambient at 500–1100°C during various periods. Photoluminescence spectra for the sample implanted with 1×10¹⁷ cm⁻² at 55 keV show that red luminescence (750 nm) related to Si-nanocrystals clearly increases with annealing temperature and time in intensity, and that weak orange luminescence (600 nm) is observed after annealing at low temperatures of 500°C and 800°C. The luminescence around 600 nm becomes very intense when a thin SiO₂ sample is implanted at a substrate temperature of 400°C with an energy of 30 keV and a low dose of 5×10¹⁵ cm⁻². It vanishes after annealing at 800°C for 30 min. We conclude that this luminescence observed around 600 nm is caused by some radiative defects formed in Si-implanted SiO₂.     

Superconducting Nd1.85Ce0.15CuO4 films grown by the pulsed electron deposition technique

Nd_1.85Ce_0.15CuO_4−δ superconducting thin films were prepared on (1 0 0) SrTiO₃ substrates by pulsed electron deposition technique without reducing atmosphere. Oxygen content is finely controlled by high temperature vacuum annealing, and optimal superconductivity has been obtained. The deposition conditions of the film are discussed in details. Higher deposition temperature and lower gas pressure result in the loss of copper and the appearance of the foreign phase Ce_0.5Nd_0.5O_1.75. High quality Nd_1.85Ce_0.15CuO_4−δ epitaxial films are deposited at 840–870 °C in the mixed gas with a ratio of O₂:Ar = 1:3.     

Influence of sodium ion dynamics on the 23Na quadrupolar interaction in sodalite: a high-temperature 23Na MAS NMR study

High-temperature ²³Na MAS NMR experiments up to 873 K for a number of different sodalites (Na₈[AlSiO₄]₆(NO₃)₂, Na₈[AlSiO₄]₆(NO₂)₂, Na₈[AlSiO₄]₆I₂, Na_7.9[AlSiO₄]₆(SCN)_7.9 · 0.5H₂O, Na₈[AlGeO₄]₆(NO₃)₂, and Na₇[AlSiO₄]₆(H₃O₂) · 4H₂O) were carried out. The spectra of the first five sodalites consist of a quadrupolar MAS pattern with different quadrupolar coupling constants. The quadrupolar interaction for the thiocyanate sodalite, the nitrate aluminosilicate, and germanate sodalite decreases strongly passing a coalescence state on heating, while the quadrupolar interaction of the iodide and nitrite sample shows nearly no change. The basic hydrosodalite shows an asymmetric lineshape at room temperature and, between 350 and 370 K, a second line due to the evaporation of cage-water emerges. The linewidth increases with rising temperature. The temperature dependence of the quadrupolar interaction seems to be a function of the sodalite β-cage expansion. Two conceivable jump mechanisms are proposed for a tetrahedral two-site jump between occupied and unoccupied tetrahedral sites.     

Effects of substitution of Ti for Fe in BiFeO3 films prepared by sol–gel process

Ti substituted BiFe_1−xTi_xO_3+δ films have been prepared on indium–tin oxide (ITO)/glass substrates by the sol–gel process. The films with x=0.00–0.20 were prepared at an annealing temperature of 600 °C. X-ray diffraction patterns indicate that all films adopt R3m structure and the films with x=0 and 0.10 show pure perovskite phase. Cross-section scanning shows the thickness of the films is about 300 nm. Through 0.05 Ti substitution, the 2P_r increases to 8.30 μC/cm² from 2.12 μC/cm² of the un-substituted BiFeO₃ film and show enhanced ferroelectricity at room temperature. The 2P_r values are 2.63 and 0.44 μC/cm² for the films with x=0.01 and 0.2, respectively. Moreover, the films with x=0.05 and 0.10 show enhanced dielectric property since the permittivity increases near 150 at the same measuring frequency. Through the substitution of Ti, the leakage conduction is reduced for the films with x=0.05–0.20.     

Low temperature fabrication of vanadium oxide films for uncooled bolometric detectors

Vanadium oxide films with temperature coefficient of resistant of −2.6% K⁻¹ have been fabricated on Si₃N₄-film-coated Si substrates by ion beam sputtering in a controlled Ar/O₂ atmosphere, at a relatively low growth temperature of 200 °C. The as-deposited films show no semiconductor-to-metal phase transitions even heated up to 150 °C. X-ray diffractometry shows that the main compound of the VO_x film is a metastable phase of vanadium dioxide (VO₂(B)) and the VO₂(B) film can be transformed into VO₂ film by post-growth annealing at 450 °C in flowing Ar atmosphere.     

Picosecond nonlinear optical response of Ba0.5Sr0.5TiO3 thin films fabricated by pulsed laser deposition

Well-crystallized Ba_0.5Sr_0.5TiO₃ thin films with good surface morphology were prepared on MgO(1 0 0) substrates by pulsed laser deposition technique at a deposition temperature of 800 °C under the oxygen pressure of 2 × 10⁻³ Pa. X-ray diffraction and atomic force microscopy were used to characterize the films. The full width at half maximum of the (0 0 2) Ba_0.5Sr_0.5TiO₃ rocking curve and the root-mean-square surface roughness within the 5 μm × 5 μm area were 0.542° and 0.555 nm, respectively. The nonlinear optical properties of the films were determined by a single beam Z-scan method at a wavelength of 532 nm with laser duration of 55 ps. The results show that Ba_0.5Sr_0.5TiO₃ thin films exhibit a fast third-order nonlinear optical response with the nonlinear refractive index and nonlinear absorption coefficient being n₂ = 5.04 × 10⁻⁶ cm²/kW and β = 3.59 × 10⁻⁶ (m/W), respectively.     

Structure and optical properties of sol–gel derived Gd2O3 waveguide films

Pure and rare earth doped gadolinium oxide (Gd₂O₃) waveguide films were prepared by a simple sol–gel process and dip-coating method. Gd₂O₃ was successfully synthesized by hydrolysis of gadolinium acetate. Thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) and differential thermal analysis (DTA) were used to study the thermal chemistry properties of dried gel. Structure of Gd₂O₃ films annealed at different temperature ranging from 400 to 750 °C were investigated by Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR) spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction (XRD) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). The results show that Gd₂O₃ starts crystallizing at about 400 °C and the crystallite size increases with annealing temperature. Oriented growth of (4 0 0) face of Gd₂O₃ has been observed when the films were deposited on (1 0 0) Si substrate and annealed at 750 °C. The laser beam (λ=632.8 nm) was coupled into the film by a prism coupler and propagation loss of the film measured by scattering-detection method is about 2 dB/cm. Luminescence properties of europium ions doped films were measured and are discussed.     

Synthesis and physical behaviour of In2S3 films

In₂S₃ layers have been grown by close-spaced evaporation of pre-synthesized In₂S₃ powder from its constituent elements. The layers were deposited on glass substrates at temperatures in the range, 200–350 °C. The effect of substrate temperature on composition, structure, morphology, electrical and optical properties of the as-grown indium sulfide films has been studied. The synthesized powder exhibited cubic structure with a grain size of 63.92 nm and S/In ratio of 1.01. The films grown at 200 °C were amorphous in nature while its crystallinity increased with the increase of substrate temperature to 300 °C. The films exhibited pure tetragonal β-In₂S₃ phase at the substrate temperature of 350 °C. The surface morphological analysis revealed that the films grown at 300 °C had an average roughness of 1.43 nm. These films showed a S/In ratio of 0.98 and a lower electrical resistivity of 1.28 × 10³ Ω cm. The optical band gap was found to be direct and the layers grown at 300 °C showed a higher optical transmittance of 78% and an energy band gap of 2.49 eV.     

Crystallization kinetics of the Fe40Ni38Mo4B18 amorphous alloy

X-ray diffraction (XRD) and Mössbauer spectroscopy were used to study the annealing of the Fe₄₀Ni₃₈Mo₄B₁₈ amorphous alloy. The samples were isothermally annealed in the 858–878 K temperature range several times. Two crystalline phases were observed in the annealed samples: FeNi₃ and (Fe, Ni, Mo)₂₃B₆. Preliminary results indicate that assuming a linear relationship between the area under the main XRD peak associated with the FeNi₃ phase and its volume fraction, this can be fitted to a Johnson–Mehl–Avrami equation with an exponent n close to 1.0. Mössbauer results show a broad magnetic hyperfine field distribution in as-received samples and, consistent with XRD results, a sextet attributed to precipitates of FeNi₃ (B_hf=29.5 T) for long annealing times.     

Effect of interfacial diffusion on microstructure and properties of FePt/B4C multifunctional multilayer composite films

FePt/B₄C multilayer composite films were prepared by magnetron sputtering and subsequent annealing in vacuum. By changing Fe layer thickness of [Fe/Pt]₆/B₄C films, optimal magnetic property (8.8 kOe and remanence squareness is about 1.0) is got in [Fe(5.25 nm)/Pt(3.75 nm)]₆/B₄C sample whose composition is Fe rich and near stoichiometric ratio. The characterizations of microstructure demonstrate that the diffusion of B and C atoms into FePt layer depends strongly on B₄C interlayer thickness. When B₄C interlayer thickness of [Fe(2.625 nm)/Pt(3.75 nm)/Fe(2.625 nm)/B₄C]₆ films is bigger than 3 nm, stable value of grain size (6-6.5 nm), coercivity (6-7 kOe) and hardness (16-20 GPa) is observed. Finally, the multifunctional single FePt/B₄C composite film may find its way to substitute traditional three-layer structure commonly used in present data storage technology.     

Low-temperature activation of Mg-doped GaN with thin Co and Pt films

The activation of metallorganic chemical vapor deposition-grown Mg-doped GaN by N₂ annealing with thin Co and Pt films has been investigated. The Hall effect measurements revealed that both the Co and Pt films enhance activation of Mg acceptors as catalysts at low temperatures. A maximum hole concentration of p-type GaN was achieved at annealing temperature of 600 °C for the samples activated with both the Co and Pt films. It was also revealed that the activation of the acceptors is strongly affected by the thickness of the Co film.     

Well-ordered (1 0 0) InAs surfaces using wet chemical treatments

Atomic ordering of HCl-isopropanol (HCl-iPA) treated and vacuum annealed (1 0 0) InAs surfaces was studied by scanning tunneling microscopy (STM), low-energy electron diffraction (LEED), and reflectance anisotropy spectroscopy (RAS). On the as-treated surface, a diffused (1 × 1) pattern is observed, which successively evolves to the β₂(2 × 4)/c(2 × 8) and (4 × 2)/c(8 × 2) ones after annealing to 330 °C and 410 °C, respectively. At the intermediate temperature of 370 °C, an ₂(2 × 4)/(4 × 2) mixed reconstruction is observed. Reflectance anisotropy spectra are compared with those of the corresponding reconstructions observed after As-decapping and found to be quite similar. Therefore we conclude that high-quality (1 0 0) InAs surfaces can be obtained by wet chemical treatment in an easy, inexpensive and practical way.     

Sol-Gel Derived Thin Films of LiTaO3 on SiO2/Si Substrates for Optical Waveguide Applications

Thin films of lithium tantalate have been derived on SiO₂/Si substrate by sol-gel method. The sol is prepared by mixing LiOC₂H₅ and Ta(OC₂H₅)₅. The film is deposited by spincoating and annealing at 600°C. The film is characterized by means of X-ray diffraction, atomic force microscopy,and the m-line technique.The experimental results show that the film has crystallized into the pure trigonal phase and it is microsopically continuous and uniform. The crystalline size ranges from about 33nm to 96nm. The refractive index of the film is measured to be 1.84 at the wavelength of 633nm and the film is found to support several guiding modes at this wavelength.     

Fe(NH2trz)3·(BF4)2掺杂聚芴的有机电致发光器件

对于RGB有机电致发光器件(OLEDs),蓝光非常重要.在现有各种蓝光材料中,聚芴(PFO)非常稳定且荧光量子效率可达80%,但它有一个非常大的缺点:电致发光会产生异常绿光带.这严重影响了PFO相关器件的饱和色纯度.本文使用分子基磁性材料Fe(NH₂trz)₃·(BF₄)₂掺杂PFO方法,解决了这一难题.以ITO为衬底,制作了结构为ITO/PEDOT:PSS/PFO:Fe(NH₂trz)₃·(BF₄)₂/CsCl/Al的器件.报道了利用Fe(NH₂trz)₃·(BF₄)₂特殊的电子自旋态调制PFO的光电特性,实现了PFO的强烈纯正蓝光发射.详细研究了Fe(NH₂trz)₃·(BF₄)₂对PFO光电特性的影响.在4 V至9 V电压的偏置下,没有Fe(NH₂trz)₃·(BF₄)₂的器件,发出特别异常的绿光.然而,与此形成明显对照的是:Fe(NH₂trz)₃·(BF₄)₂掺杂的器件发出强烈的本征蓝光;PFO绿色发光带被成功压制;随着电压的变化,器件光谱的蓝光部分在整个EL谱所占比例没有改变.运用光电磁一体化测量技术,进一步研究了PFO掺杂Fe(NH₂trz)₃·(BF₄)₂器件的磁发光(MEL)和磁电导(MC)效应.发现PFO:Fe(NH₂trz)₃·(BF₄)₂和纯PFO薄膜内都没有激基缔合物产生.运用发光动力学理论,分析了Fe(NH₂trz)₃·(BF₄)₂阻断PFO异常绿光发射的机理.