Surface structure and the optical properties of black chrome

A new optical model is presented for solar-selective black chrome. Surface texture is shown to be the primary factor which gives thin films of black chrome a uniformly high absorptance in the visible and near-infrared regions. Internal composition of the films is a secondary influence on their optical properties. We present results consistent with experimental data obtained from films having widely varying structures and compositions, both before and after heat treatment.Our optical model does not rely on the quasistatic approximation, hitherto universally employed in theoretical studies of solar-selective black chrome. Instead, we use a rigorous diffraction formulation for doubly-periodic surfaces (bigratings). The key parameters of the surface morphology are determined from stereo-pair electronmicrographs, and are used in the bigrating model. We present the predicted variation of spectral absorptance with wavelength, as well as integrated absorptance and thermal emittance, for roughened chromium. We give results both for bare metal, and for the metal conformally overcoated either with a thin layer of Cr₂O₃ or with a Cr/Cr₂O₃ cermet. Various shapes of surface features are examined, and surface profile is shown not to be crucial in determining optical properties.     

The origination of ill-defined layer in organic spin valves

The origination of ill-defined layer in organic spin valves was investigated by using atomic force microscopy (AFM) and Rutherford backscattering (RBS) analysis. It was found that conductive bulges of LSMO film and self-grown pinholes in Alq₃ film other than Co inclusions could lead to the formation of ill-defined layer. The morphology of LSMO substrate had a strong influence on that of Alq₃ film, LSMO/Alq₃ and Alq₃/Co interfaces. Moreover, Alq₃ film with the thickness of 1-4 nm could be barriers which was explained by small active area and added insulated layer in organic magnetic tunnel junctions.     

Internal-reflection-spectroscopy study of adsorption of water on CaF2 surfaces

The infrared internal-reflection spectra of CaF₂ trapezoids in air indicate the presence of an adsorbed water film. This adsorption has been studied in a vacuum system in which the trapezoids were cleaned by baking and then exposed to water vapor. Study of the absorptance and the ratio of s- to p-polarized absorptance in the 3400 cm^?1 spectral region indicates that the index of refraction of the film and the product of the extinction coefficient and the film thickness can be obtained. Analysis suggests that the index of refraction and extinction coefficient of the film on polished CaF₂ surfaces are somewhat less than that of bulk water. The simplest implication is that the film has an expanded or open structure.     

Electrical characteristics of HTS/manganite double layers

Superconductor/ferromagnetic (SC/FM) Y₁Ba₂Cu₃O_7−δ /La_0.7Sr_0.3MnO₃ (YBCO/LSMO) double layers were prepared on LaAlO₃ substrates by magnetron sputtering and their electrical and microwave parameters were investigated at 77 K. In the theoretical plan, simple formulas for estimation of the sensitivity of the SC surface impedance to the concentration changes of normal charge carriers were proposed and the surface resistance R _S peculiarities of both SC and FM surfaces were described. Thinner YBCO/LSMO structure was characterized by lower SC parameters and higher surface resistance R _S at ∼ 4 GHz. The difference of R _S of sample SC surfaces was interpreted as due to a difference between the normal charge carrier densities in these samples. R _S of the FM surface was higher than that of the SC surface due to the microwave losses of the magnetic subsystem. A peak of the microwave losses, observed in the thicker double layer, was assumed to be caused by uniform FMR in the LSMO film. Presented at 5-th International Conference Solid State Surfaces and Interfaces, November 19–24, 2006, Smolenice Castle, Slovakia.     

Influence of the laser wavelength on the epitaxial growth and electrical properties of La0.8Sr0.2MnO3 films grown by excimer laser-assisted MOD

Epitaxial La_1−xSr_xMnO₃ (LSMO) films were prepared by excimer laser-assisted metal organic deposition (ELAMOD) at a low temperature using ArF, KrF, and XeCl excimer lasers. Cross-section transmission electron microscopy (XTEM) observations confirmed the epitaxial growth and homogeneity of the LSMO film on a SrTiO₃ (STO) substrate, which was prepared using ArF, KrF, and XeCl excimer lasers. It was found that uniform epitaxial films could be grown at 500 °C by laser irradiation. When an XeCl laser was used, an epitaxial film was formed on the STO substrate at a fluence range from 80 to 140 mJ/cm² of the laser fluence for the epitaxial growth of LSMO film on STO substrate was changed. When the LaAlO₃ (LAO) substrate was used, an epitaxial film was only obtained by ArF laser irradiation, and no epitaxial film was obtained using the KrF and XeCl lasers. When the back of the amorphous LSMO film on an LAO substrate was irradiated using a KrF laser, no epitaxial film formed. Based on the effect of the wavelength and substrate material on the epitaxial growth, formation of the epitaxial film would be found to be photo thermal reaction and photochemical reaction. The maximum temperature coefficient of resistance (TCR) of the epitaxial La_0.8Sr_0.2MnO₃ film on an STO substrate grown using an XeCl laser is 4.0%/K at 275 K. XeCl lasers that deliver stabilized pulse energies can be used to prepare LSMO films with good a TCR.     

The influence of surface roughness in X-ray resonant magnetic reflectivity experiments

We present simulations of X-ray resonant magnetic reflectivity (XRMR) spectra of the surface magnetic dead layer in La_1−x Sr _x MnO₃ (LSMO) films that take in account the effect of different forms of roughness that can be encountered experimentally. The results demonstrate a method to distinguish between surface (morphological) roughness, and two generic kinds of magnetic roughness at the buried interface between the surface dead layer and the fully magnetic bulk part of the film. We show that the XRMR technique can distinguish between different types of magnetic roughness at the dead layer/bulk interface only if the sample surface is nearly atomically flat (the morphological roughness is one unit cell or less). Furthermore, to distinguish between the two types of magnetic roughness, the simulations show that fitting of XRMR spectra out to very high incidence angles must be performed. In the specific case of LSMO films with a dead layer with average thickness of 4 unit cells, this corresponds to an incidence angle > 50^∘.     

Effect of Au proximity on the LSMO surface: An ab initio study

The effect of the proximity of Au on the electronic and magnetic properties of La_0.66Sr_0.33MnO₃ (LSMO) has been investigated by means of ab initio calculations within the density-functional theory. The calculations show an orbital reconstruction of the interfacial Mn, which is due more to the presence of a discontinuity rather than to a real chemical interaction with Au atoms. In fact, the same orbital reconstruction is found in the free LSMO surface. In both cases of Au/LSMO and LSMO surface, the Mn magnetic moments change very little with respect to the bulk case. In general, the calculations show a negligible influence of the Au atomic layer on LSMO at an ideal interface, with the LSMO surface magnetic and electronic properties essentially unchanged.     

Modulated room temperature magnetoresistance in manganite superlattices

In this study, the spacer-thickness-dependent room-temperature magnetoresistance (RTMR) is investigated in ferromagnetic/antiferromagnetic (FM/AFM) superlattices composed of 10 repetitions of La_0.7Sr_0.3MnO₃/Nd_0.6Ca_0.4MnO₃ [LSMO/NCMO]₁₀. A series of superlattice samples with the thickness of the LSMO layer being fixed at 5 nm while that of the NCMO layer varied from 0 to 5 nm were fabricated using pulsed laser deposition. RTMR is measured at the fields from zero to 10 kOe with two different configurations, in plane (IP) and out-of-plane (OOP). At 10 kOe, RTMR varies with increasing spacer thickness of NCMO at both IP and OOP configurations. A maximum IP MR ratio of 16% at 10 kOe is found in the sample of [LSMO(5 nm)/NCMO(0.45 nm)]₁₀, which is three times that for the pure LSMO film. Therefore, it is concluded that the inserting of the NCMO layer between LSMO layers can effectively tune the RTMR ratio, which might be related to the magnetic coupling between FM and AFM domains.     

Interfacial spin interactions of ferromagnetic and antiferromagnetic manganite bilayers

A pulsed laser deposition technique was used to grow ferromagnetic La_0.7Sr_0.3MnO₃ (LSMO) films on antiferromagnetic La_0.33Ca_0.67MnO₃ (LCMO) and Pr_0.7Ca_0.3MnO₃ (PCMO) films in bilayer forms. The LSMO film on the PCMO layer had a more elongated out-of-plane lattice than that on the LCMO layer. The former had a lower ferromagnetic transition temperature (320 K) than the latter (350 K). The enhanced low-temperature magnetoresistance of the LSMO/PCMO bilayer suggests that the spin frustration is stronger at this bilayer than in the LSMO/LCMO bilayer. These differences indicate that strain state and defect concentration play important roles in governing interfacial spin interactions.     

Modification of the organic/La0.7Sr0.3MnO3 interface by in situ gas treatment

La_0.7Sr_0.3MnO₃ (LSMO) can act as a spin injection electrode in organic spin-valves and organic light-emitting devices. For the latter application, good control of the electronic structure of the organic/LSMO interface is a key issue to ensure sufficient current injection in the device. By exposing cleaned LSMO surfaces to activated oxygen and hydrogen, the work function of the samples can reach 5.15 and 4.3 eV, respectively, as shown by in situ photoemission measurements. The initial stage of formation of the organic/LSMO interface upon deposition of N,N′-bis-(1-naphyl)-N,N′-diphenyl-1,1′-biphenyl-4,4′-diamine (NPB) onto the oxygen-treated LSMO surface is examined. We find that the NPB molecules evenly cover the LSMO surface and that the interface barrier height is 0.8 eV, which is comparable to that at the NPB/indium tin oxide (ITO) interface with the ITO surface pretreated in situ by oxygen plasma.     

Nonlinear thickness dependence of two-photon absorptance in Al2O3 films

Linear and nonlinear absorptance in Al₂O₃ films of different optical thicknesses are investigated using an ArF laser calorimeter. While the linear absorptance at 193 nm shows the expected linear increase, nonlinear absorptance increases quadratically with increasing film thickness. Thus, it cannot be described by a constant nonlinear absorption coefficient β. The experimental findings are explained by a simple phenomenological approach using excited states with a finite interaction length longer than the actual film thickness. a new material constant Γ is introduced, which describes the nonlinear absorptance behavior correctly. Received: 19 May 2000 / Accepted: 22 May 2000 / Published online: 13 July 2000     

Narrow-band spectral features of structured silver surface with rectangular resonant cavities

This paper is aimed to investigate spectral properties of structured silver surface with periodic rectangular hollow cavities. Numerical computation is conducted to obtain spectral distribution of surface absorptance with different structural parameters using the finite-difference time-domain (FDTD) method. By means of numerical examples, the effects of structural parameters, incident angle and azimuthal angle on the spectral features of the structured surface are discussed. It is found that the structured surface shows the characteristics of the peak absorption in the vicinity of resonant wavelength of rectangular cavity. For some special structure parameters, the peak absorptance of the incident plane wave can reach as high as above 80% due to the excitation of microcavity effect. The optimal narrow-band absorption can be achieved by the rational design of the structural parameters of rectangular cavity. The directional dependence of spectral absorptance is also analyzed and the results reveal that the absorption peak positions are incident-angle-independent. The results show that the microscaled rectangular cavities fabricated on the low-emissivity silver surface are very efficient for selective improvement of the radiative features, which provides guidance for the design of narrow-band infrared thermal emitters.     

Effect of magnetic film thickness on rectifying properties of La0.8Sr0.2MnO3/TiO2 heterostructures

The La_0.8Sr_0.2MnO₃ (LSMO)/ TiO₂ heterostructures with different thicknesses of the LSMO films were successfully synthesized using the RF magnetron sputtering technique. Excellent rectifying characteristics are presented in all heterostructures in a wide temperature range. The differences of the diffusive potentials for three heterojunctions are very little at 300 K. The samples exhibit a high resistance that plays an important role on their rectifying properties. The diffusive potential decreases with increasing temperature. The result is attributed to both the reduction of the thickness of the deletion layer due to the thermal diffusion and the modulation of the interfacial electronic structure of the heterostructures. The metal-insulator (M-I) transition is observed clearly from the single LSMO layers and the LSMO/ TiO₂ p-n heterojunctions.     

Novel aspects of charge and lattice dynamics in the hole-doped manganite La0.67Sr0.33MnO3

Previous infrared studies on the hole-doped manganite La_0.67Sr_0.33MnO₃ (LSMO) have analysed its charge dynamics in terms of one type of charge carrier despite evidence of both electron and hole Fermi surfaces. Here, we investigate the charge dynamics of an LSMO film with infrared and optical spectroscopy in order to provide a complete picture of metallic conduction. In the ferromagnetic metallic phase, the low-frequency optical conductivity is best explained by a two-carrier model comprising electrons and holes. The number densities, effective masses and relaxation response of the delocalized electrons and holes are quantified. We discover that only one-third of the doped charges are coherent and contribute to the dc transport. Metallic LSMO cannot be classified as a bad metal at low temperatures because the mean free path of the coherent, mobile charge carriers exceeds the Ioffe–Regel–Mott limit. The incoherent spectral response of the doped charges manifests itself as a broad mid-infrared feature. We also report the first observation of splitting of an infrared-active phonon due to local Jahn–Teller distortion in the vicinity of the thermally driven transition to the nonmetallic, paramagnetic phase in LSMO. This demonstrates that infrared spectroscopy is capable of detecting the presence of local lattice distortions in correlated electron systems.     

Influence of microstructures on exchange bias behaviors of La0.7Sr0.3MnO3/La0.33Ca0.67MnO3 bilayers

Ferromagnetic La_0.7Sr_0.3MnO₃ (LSMO) and antiferromagnetic La_0.33Ca_0.67MnO₃ (LCMO) layers were grown on SrTiO₃ (STO) substrates by the pulsed laser deposition technique. LSMO films had rougher surfaces and larger grain sizes than LCMO films. Fully strained bilayers, in which each layer was as thin as 10 nm, were prepared by changing their stacking sequences, i.e. LSMO/LCMO/STO and LCMO/LSMO/STO. The former had higher T_C (350 K) than the latter (300 K), and exchange bias effects were only observed in the former bilayers. This revealed that microstructures could play an important role in the transport and magnetic properties of manganese oxide thin films.     

Thickness-dependent surface morphology of La0.9Sr0.1MnO3 ultrathin films

La_0.9Sr_0.1MnO₃ (LSMO) ultrathin films with various thickness (in the range of 5-50 unit cells) are grown on (0 0 1) substrates of the single-crystal SrTi_0.99Nb_0.01O₃ by laser molecular-beam epitaxy (laser-MBE), and the surface morphology of these films were measured by scanning tunneling microscopy (STM). STM images of LSMO ultrathin film surface reveal that surface morphology becomes more flat with increasing film thickness. This study highlights the important effect of strain caused by the lattice mismatch between substrates and ultrathin films. And the results should be useful to the investigations on growing manganite perovskite materials.     

A simple thermal decomposition synthesis, magnetic properties, and cytotoxicity of La0.7Sr0.3MnO3 nanoparticles

This study reports the new and simple synthesis of magnetic La_0.7Sr_0.3MnO₃ (LSMO) nanoparticles by thermal decomposition method using acetate salts of La, Sr and Mn as starting materials. To obtain the LSMO nanoparticles, thermal decomposition of the precursor is carried out at the temperatures of 600, 700, 800, 900, and 1000°C for 6 hours. The synthesized LSMO nanoparticles were characterized by XRD, FT-IR, TEM and SEM. Structural characterization shows that the prepared particles consisted of two phases of LaMnO₃ (LMO) and LSMO with crystallite sizes ranging from 18 to 55 nm. All the prepared samples have a perovskite structure which changes from cubic to rhombohedral with the increase in the thermal decomposition temperature. Basic magnetic characteristics such as saturation magnetization (M _S) and coercive field (H _C) are evaluated by sample vibrating magnetometry at room temperature (20°C). The samples show soft ferromagnetic behavior with M _S values of ∼9–55 emu/g and H _C values of ∼8–37 Oe, depending on the crystallite size and thermal decomposition temperature. The relationship between the crystallite size and the magnetic properties is presented and discussed. The cytotoxicity of synthesized LSMO nanoparticles was also evaluated with NIH 3T3 cells and the result showed that the synthesized nanoparticles were not toxic to the cells as determined from cell viability in response to the liquid extraction of LSMO nanoparticles.     

Epitaxial LSMO films grown on MgO single crystalline substrates

The manganite La_0.67Sr_0.33MnO₃ (LSMO) layers are deposited on single crystal MgO(0 0 1) substrates using a magnetron dc sputtering. The crystalline perfection of the layers, both the as-prepared and the annealed, are characterized by X-ray diffraction technique, rocking curve measurements, Rutherford backscattering spectroscopy (RBS) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). TEM analyses give evidence of the epitaxial growth of the annealed LSMO with a nanocrystalline surface layer. The temperature dependence of resistance in the 77-340 K range is measured by a standard four-probe technique. While the as-prepared film does not show any transition from paramagnetic to ferromagnetic state, the film annealed in oxygen shows steep R(T) dependence with a peak at 330 K and maximal slope (dR/dT) at 290 K where the maximal sensitivity is 3% K⁻¹.     

Optimization of near-field optical field of multi-layer dielectric gratings for pulse compressor

Multi-layer dielectric (MLD) gratings for pulse compressors in high-energy laser systems should provide high diffraction efficiency as well as high laser induced damage thresholds (LIDT). Nonuniform optical near-field distribution is one of the important factors to limit their damage resistant capabilities. Electric field distributions in the gratings and multi-layer film region are analyzed by using Fourier modal method. Optimization of peak electric field in the gratings ridge is performed with a merit function, including both diffraction efficiency and electric field enhancement when the top layer material is HfO₂ and SiO₂, respectively. A set of optimized gratings parameters is obtained for each structure, which reduce the peak electric field within the gratings ridge to being respective 1.39 and 1.84 times the value of incident light respectively. Finally, we also discuss the effects of gratings refractive index, gratings sidewall angle and incident angle on peak electric field in the gratings ridge.     

Enhanced magnetoresistance in La0.82Sr0.18MnO3-π-conjugated semiconducting polymer heterostructure

We report a large enhancement (∼90%) in magnetoresistance in La_0.82Sr_0.18MnO₃ (LSMO) layers by incorporating a π-conjugated semiconducting polymer layer in between them. The epitaxial LSMO layers were deposited by DC magnetron sputtering on SrTiO₃ single crystal substrates and have FM transition temperature (T_C)∼310 K. A semiconducting polymer poly(3-octylthiophene) (P3OT) layer was deposited over the epitaxial LSMO layer by solution dip coating technique and with subsequent deposition of another epitaxial LSMO layer, forming a LSMO-P3OT-LSMO heterostructure. The effect of P3OT incorporation on magnetotransport properties of this heterostructure has been examined in the temperature range 77-350 K. Large MR enhancement observed near room temperature in the FM regime is explained in terms of efficient magnetic field dependent carrier injection at LSMO/P3OT interface.