A New Method for Preparing Superconducting MgB2 Films from Diborane

We report on a new preparation method for magnesium diboride (MgB2) films by chemical vapour deposition (CVD) from diborane (B2H6).It is two-step ex situ approach,with the precursor boron films grown by CVD from B2H6 at 460℃,followed by a post-annealing process in magnesium (Mg) vapour at 830℃.The prepared MgB2 thin films on Al2O3 polycrystalline substrates have an onset transition temperature of 35K and a zeroresistance temperature of about 24K.Well-crystallized MgB2 grains have clearly been observed in the SEM images and confirmed by x-ray diffraction analysis.The advantages of the proposed method are the feasibility to prepare large-area superconducting films and the compatibility with semiconductor technology.     

Microwave Response of MgB2/A12O3 Superconducting Thin Films by Microstrip Resonator Technique

Double-sided superconducting MgB2 thin films are deposited onto c-A120a substrates by the hybrid physical chemical vapour deposition method. The microwave response of MgB2/A12O3 is investigated by microstrip resonator technique. A grain-size model is introduced to the theory of microstrip resonators to analyse microwave properties of the films. We obtain effective penetration depth of the films at OK （λe0 = 463nm） and surface resistance （R8 = 1.52 mΩ at 11 K and 8. 73 GHz） by analysing the resonant frequency and unload quality factor of the microstrip resonator, which suggests that the impurities and disorders of grain boundaries of MgB2/A12 Oa result in increasing penetration depth and surface resistance of the films.     

Characterization of Undoped and Cu-Doped ZnO Thin Films Deposited on Glass Substrates by Spray Pyrolysis

Undoped and copper doped zinc oxide （ZnO） thin films have been prepared on glass substrates by spray pyrolysis technique. The films were doped with copper using the direct method by addition of a copper salt （CuCl2） in the spray solution of ZnO. Variation of structural, electrical, optical and thermoluminescence （TL） properties with doping concentrations is investigated in detail.     

Superconductivity in Heavily Boron-Doped Diamond Films Prepared by Electron Assisted Chemical Vapour Deposition Method

Heavily boron-doped thick diamond films with higher superconducting transition temperatures have been prepared by electron assisted chemical vapour deposition method. The results of scanning electron microscopy, Raman spectroscopy, x-ray diffraction, and Hall effect indicate that the films have nice crystalline facets, a notable decrease in the growth rate, and an increase in the tensile stress. Meanwhile, the film resistivity decreases with the increase of the carrier concentration. Our measurements show that the films with 4.88×10^20 cm^-3 and 1.61×10^21 cm^-3 carrier concentration have superconductivity, with onset temperatures of 9.7 K （8.9K for zero resistance） and 7.8 K （6.1 K for zero resistance）, respectively.     

Influence of Different Substrates on Laser Induced Damage Thresholds at 1064nm of Ta2O5 Films

Ta2O5 films are prepared on Si, BK7, fused silica, antireflection （AR） and high reflector （HR） substrates by electron beam evaporation method, respectively. Both the optical property and laser induced damage thresholds （LIDTs） at 1064 nm of Ta2O5 films on different substrates are investigated before and after annealing at 673 K for 12 h. It is shown that annealing increases the refractive index and decreases the extinction index, and improves the O/Ta ratio of the Ta2O5 films from 2.42 to 2.50. Moreover, the results show that the LIDTs of the Ta2O5 films are mainly correlated with three parameters： substrate property, substoichiometry defect in the films and impurity defect at the interface between the substrate and the films. Details of the laser induced damage models in different cases are discussed.     

Phase Structural Characteristics of ZrV2 Thin Film Prepared by Magnetron Sputtering

The thin film metal hydride has become an emerging field of research in metal hydride batteries for its good mechanical and hydrogenation properties. ZrV2 thin films have been prepared using a dc magnetron sputtering method, and the phase structure is investigated. Only amorphous or crystalline Zr and V mixture phases are achieved when substrates are heated during either to 400℃ or to 550℃. The annealing causes segregation of Zr and V in the film induced by strain-driven diffusion and interdiffusion between substrate Mo and film elements at high temperature, which results in the formation of mixture phases ofC14, C15, Zr and V, but the content of C15 phase is not higher compared with that in the bulk material.     

High quality NbTiN films fabrication and rapid thermal annealing investigation

NbTiN thin films are good candidates for applications including single-photon detector, kinetic inductance detector, hot electron bolometer, and superconducting quantum computing circuits because of their favorable characteristics,such as good superconducting properties and easy fabrication.In this work, we systematically investigated the growth of high-quality NbTiN films with different thicknesses on Si substrates by reactive DC-magnetron sputtering method.After optimizing the growth conditions, such as the gas pressure, Ar/N_2 mixture ratio, and sputtering power, we obtained films with excellent superconducting properties.A high superconducting transition temperature of 15.5 K with narrow transition width of 0.03 K was obtained in a film of 300 nm thickness with surface roughness of less than 0.2 nm.In an ultra-thin film of 5 nm thick, we still obtained a transition temperature of 7.6 K.In addition, rapid thermal annealing(RTA) in atmosphere of nitrogen or nitrogen and hydrogen mixture was studied to improve the film quality.The results showed that Tc and crystal size of the NbTiN films were remarkably increased by RTA.For ultrathin films, the annealing in N_2/H_2 mixture had better effect than that in pure N2.The T_c of 10 nm films improved from 9.6 K to 10.3 K after RTA in N_2/H_2 mixture at 450℃.     

Compositional and Structural Properties of TiO2-xNx Thin Films Deposited by Radio-Frequency Magnetron Sputtering

TiO2-xNx thin films are deposited onto Si（100） and quartz substrates by arf magnetron sputtering method using a titanium metal disc as a target in Ar, N2, and 02 atmospheres. The substrate temperature is kept at 300℃. The O2 and Ar gas flow rates are kept to be constants and the N gas flow rate is varied. TiO2-xNx films with different N contents are characterized by x-ray diffraction and x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. The results indicate that the TiO2-xNx thin films can be obtained at 13% N and 15% N contents in the film, and the films with mixed TiO2 and TiN crystal can be obtained at 13% N and 15% N contents in the film. In terms of the results of x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, N ls of β-N （396 eV） is the main component in the TiO2-xNx thin films. Because the energy level of β-N is positioned above the valence-band maximum of TiO2, an effective optical-energy gap decreases from 2.8 eV （for pure TiO2 film deposited by the same rf sputtering system） to 2.3 eV, which is verified by the optical-absorption spectra.     

A study on the microwave responses of YBCO and TBCCO thin films by coplanar resonator technique

YBa2Cu3O7（YBCO） thin films have been prepared by thermal coevaporation on LaAlO3（LAO） substrates, and Tl2Ba2CaCu2O8（TBCCO） thin films are synthesized by magnetron sputtering method on LAO substrates. The transition temperature Tc is 90 K forYBCO/LAO and 104 K for TBCCO/LAO. Microwave responses of the films are studied systematically by coplanar resonator technique. Energy gaps of the films obtained are △0 = 1.04kBTc for YBCO films and △0 =0.84kBTc for TBCCO films by analysing the temperature dependence of resonant frequencies of coplanar resonator. Penetration depth at 0 K A0 = 198.nm for YBCO films and A0 = 200 nm for TBCCO films could also be obtained by using the weak coupling theory and two fluid theory. Results of penetration depth and energy gap confirm the weak coupling properties of the films. In addition, microwave surface resistances Rs of YBCO/LAO and TBCCO/LAO are also investigated by analysing the quality factor and insert loss of the coplanar resonator. Surface resistance of TBCCO/LAO is less than that of YBCO/LAO, so that TBCCO/LAO films may have more potential applications.     

Pinhole defects in MPCVD diamond films

Diamond films were deposited in microwave plasma chemical vapor deposition (MPCVD) method on plain silicon substrates with (100) orientation. And the pinhole defects on them were investigated by optical microscopy and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). X-ray masks were fabricated with the films deposited by us. We found the pinhole defects in the film destroyed the gold absorber. The corrosion-resistance tests conducted in 30% KOH solution under 80℃showed that the diamond films with pinhole defects have lower corrosion-resistance. In addition, the possible mechanism of the formation of pinhole defects in diamond films was discussed. And we deduced that the defects on substrates, competitive growth of multi-phase in diamond films, lattice dislocation between substrates and diamond films could be associated with the defect formation.     

Element Substitution Effect in Transition Metal Oxypnictide Re(O1-xFx)TAs (Re=rare earth, T=transition metal)

Different element substitution effects in transition metal oxypnictide Re(O_1-xF_x)TAs, with Re=La, Ce, Nd, Eu, Gd, Tm, T=Fe, Ni, Ru, are studied. Similarto the La- or Ce-based systems, we find that the pure NdOFeAs shows a strong resistivity anomaly near 145K, which is ascribed to the spin-density-wave instability. Electron doping by F increases T_c to about 50K. While in the case of Gd, Tc is reduced below 10K. The tetragonal ZrCuSiAs-type structure could not be formed for Eu or Tm substitution in our preparing process. For the Ni-based case, although both pure and F-doped LaONiAs are superconducting, no superconductivity is found when La is replaced by Ce in both the cases, instead a ferromagnetic ordering transition is likely to form at low temperature in the undoped sample. We also synthesize LaO_1-xF_xRuAs and CeO_1-xF_xRuAs compounds. The metallic behaviour is observed down to 4K.     

Hard Sphere Diffusion Behaviour of Polymer Translocating through Interacting Pores

The translocation of polymer chain through a small pore from a high concentration side (cis side) to a low concentration side (trans side) is simulated by using Monte Carlo technique. The effect of the polymer--pore interaction on the translocation is studied. We find a special interaction at which the decay of the number of polymer chain, N, at the cis side obeys Fick's law, i.e. N decreases exponentially with time. The behaviour is analogous to the diffusion of hard sphere.     

Experimental Research of Spontaneous Evolution from Ultracold Rydberg Atoms to Plasma

The spontaneous evolution from ultracold Rydberg atoms to plasma is investigated in a caesium MOT by using the method of field ionization. The plasma transferred from atoms in different Rydberg states （n = 22-32） are obtained experimentally. Dependence of the threshold time of evolving to plasma and the threshold number of initial Rydberg atoms on the principal quantum number of initial Rydberg states is studied. The experimental results are in agreement with hot-cold Rydberg-Rydberg atom collision ionization theory.     

Natural Cone Formation for Fast Ignition of Laser Fusion

We propose to utilize the leading pulse of a petawatt class laser to create a conic plasma channel in the dense plasmas. This plasma channel could serve as a natural cone to guide the main pulse to the cone tip, as behaves similarly to the physical Au cone. We estimate that the leading pulse of a petawatt laser could create a natural cone with cone tip only about 100 μm away from the edge of compressed core plasma. The natural cone formation should be compatible for a good uniform compression and efficient fast heating of the imploded fuel.     

Modification of Band Gap of -SiC by N-Doping

The geometrical and electronic structures of nitrogen-doped β-SiC are investigated by employing the first principles of plane wave ultra-soft pseudo-potential technology based on density functional theory. The structures of SiC1-xNx （x = 0, 1/32, 1/16, 1/8, 1/4） with different doping concentrations are optimized. The results reveal that the band gap of β-SiC transforms from an indirect band gap to a direct band gap with band gap shrinkage after carbon atoms are replaced by nitrogen atoms. The Fermi level shifts from valence band top to conduction band by doping nitrogen in pure β-SiC, and the doped β-SiC becomes metallic. The degree of Fermi levels entering into the conduction band increases with the increment of doping concentration; however, the band gap becomes narrower. This is attributed to defects with negative electricity occurring in surrounding silicon atoms. With the increase of doping concentration, more residual electrons, more easily captured by the 3p orbit in the silicon atom, will be provided by nitrogen atoms to form more defects with negative electricity.     

First-Principles Study of Li Doping in a Double-Wall Carbon Nanotube

By performing first-principles calculations, we study Li doping in a double-wall carbon nanotube where a （5,0） tube is confined inside a （14,0） tube. There are three possible sites for Li doping and two of them are energetically favorable. The change of energy band structure is closely related to the doping sites and the charge transfer is investigated. Bader charge analysis indicates that Li prefers to donate its electron to the inner （5,0） tube. Moreover, the Li capacity of the system can reach LIC4.75 which makes it a promising candidate for Li-ion battery materials.     

Continuous-Variable Quantum Teleportation of Entangled Coherent States

We propose a quantum teleportation scheme for tripartite entangled coherent state （ECS） with continuous variable. Our scheme is feasible and economical in the sense that we need only linear optical devices such as beam splitters, phase shifters and photon detectors and employ three bipartite maximally ECSs as quantum channels. We also generalize the tripartite scheme into multipartite ease and calculate the minimum average fidelity for the schemes in tripartite and multipartite cases.     

A Closed-Form Model for Position-Dependent Potential across the Channel in DG-MOSFETs

A closed-form model for electrostatic potential distribution in the direction normal to the channel for double-gate （DG） MOSFETs is presented. The effects of doping （NA for nMOS） and minority carriers both are taken into account for the first time, in solving Poisson＇s equation analytically. Excellent agreement between model-predicted results and numerical device simulation is achieved for a wide range of body thickness, light or high channeldoping, under various bias conditions. This complete closed form for position-dependent potential distribution has wide applications for MOS compact modelling and device design.     

Microtubule as a Transmission Line for Ionic Currents

We establish a new model for ionic waves along microtubules based on polyelectrolyte features of cylindrical biopolymers. The nonlinear transmission line described by a nonlinear differential equation is obtained with stable kink solution pertinent to the shape of the front of accompanying potential. The localized ionic wave could be used to explain the behavior of microtubules as biomolecular transistors capable of amplifying electrical information in neurons.