Deposition and characterization of binary Al2O3/SiO2 coating layers on the surfaces of rutile TiO2 and the pigmentary properties

Binary Al₂O₃/SiO₂-coated rutile TiO₂ composites were prepared by a liquid-phase deposition method starting from Na₂SiO₃·9H₂O and NaAlO₂. The chemical structure and morphology of binary Al₂O₃/SiO₂ coating layers were investigated by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, TG-DSC, Zeta potential, powder X-ray diffraction, and transmission electron microscopy techniques. Binary Al₂O₃/SiO₂ coating layers both in amorphous phase were formed at TiO₂ surfaces. The silica coating layers were anchored at TiO₂ surfaces via Si-O-Ti bonds and the alumina coating layers were probably anchored at the SiO₂-coated TiO₂ surfaces via Al-O-Si bonds. The formation of continuous and dense binary Al₂O₃/SiO₂ coating layers depended on the pH value of reaction solution and the alumina loading. The binary Al₂O₃/SiO₂-coated TiO₂ composites had a high dispersibility in water. The whiteness and brightness of the binary Al₂O₃/SiO₂-coated TiO₂ composites were higher than those of the naked rutile TiO₂ and the SiO₂-coated TiO₂ samples. The relative light scattering index was found to depend on the composition of coating layers.     

Effect of some additions on the sinterability and magnetic properties of barium hexaferrite

The effect of additions on the densification of previously prepared stoichiometric barium hexaferrite, during the initial and intermediate stages of sintering, as well as on the coercivity and remanence were studied. The effect of non-stoichiometry, SiO₂, Al₂O₃, Cr₂O₃, TiO₂, SnO₂, MnO₂, MgO, NiO and Bi₂O₃ is included.While SiO₂ and Bi₂O₃ form liquid phases that increase the density, Al₂O₃, Cr₂O₃ and MnO₂ form a limited solid solution and are generally beneficial when added in the proper amounts. At 1300 SiO₂ up to 0.55% and Al₂O₃ up to 1% gave better magnetic properties. On the other hand addition of TiO₂, MgO, NiO or SnO₂ has a deleterious effect.     

Effective silicon surface passivation by atomic layer deposited Al2O3/TiO2 stacks

In this work atomic layer deposition of Al₂O₃ and TiO₂ has been used to obtain dielectric stacks for passivation of silicon surfaces. Our experiments on n‐ and p‐type silicon wafers deposited by thin Al₂O₃/TiO₂ stacks show that a considerably improved passivation is obtained compared to the Al₂O₃ single layer. For Al₂O₃ films thinner than 20 nm the emitter saturation current density decreases with increasing TiO₂ thickness. Especially the passivation of ultrathin (～5 nm) Al₂O₃ is very effectively enhanced by TiO₂ due to a decreased interface defect density as well as an increased fixed negative charge in the stacks. Hence, the thin Al₂O₃/TiO₂ stacks developed in this work can be used as a passivation coating for Si‐based solar cells. (© 2014 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)     

Investigation of 4H—SiC metal—insulation—semiconductor structure with Al2O3/SiO2 stacked dielectric

Atomic layer deposited (ALD) Al₂O₃/dry-oxidized ultrathin SiO₂ films as high-k gate dielectric grown on the 8° off-axis 4H-SiC (0001) epitaxial wafers are investigated in this paper. The metal-insulation-semiconductor (MIS) capacitors, respectively with different gate dielectric stacks (Al₂O₃/SiO₂, Al₂O₃, and SiO₂) are fabricated and compared with each other. The I-V measurements show that the Al₂O₃/SiO₂ stack has a high breakdown field ( ≥ 12 MV/cm) comparable to SiO₂, and a relatively low gate leakage current of 1× 10^-7 A/cm² at electric field of 4 MV/cm comparable to Al₂O₃. The 1-MHz high frequency C-V measurements exhibit that the Al₂O₃/SiO₂ stack has a smaller positive flat-band voltage shift and hysteresis voltage, indicating less effective charge and slow-trap density near the interface.     

Stacked and nanolaminated Al2O3/TiO2 for surface passivation and encapsulation of silicon

Silicon solar cells passivated with Al₂O₃ require a capping layer that protects the passivation layer from humidity because of sensitivity of Al₂O₃ to moisture. Al₂O₃/TiO₂ stacks obtained by atomic layer deposition have been known to provide a high level of passivation layers because of their excellent field‐effect passivation. In this work, degradation of this Al₂O₃/TiO₂ stack, when exposed to humidity, is examined, and an attempt is made for a humidity‐resistant encapsulation layer by adding Al₂O₃/TiO₂ nanolaminates that can be deposited in‐situ without breaking vacuum. Placing the nanolaminate on top of the TiO₂ and Al₂O₃ stack is found to lead to almost no degradation even after 10 days of humidity exposure. (© 2015 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH &Co. KGaA, Weinheim)     

The electrical properties of dielectric stacks of SiO2 and Al2O3 prepared by atomic layer deposition method

We produced dielectric stacks composed of ALD SiO₂ and ALD Al₂O₃, such as SiO₂/Al₂O₃, Al₂O₃/SiO₂, and SiO₂/Al₂O₃/SiO₂, and measured the leakage currents through the stacks in comparison with those of the single oxide layers. SiO₂/Al₂O₃ shows lowest leakage current for negative bias region below 6.4 V, and Al₂O₃/SiO₂ showed highest current under negative biases below 4.5 V. Two distinct electron conduction regimes are observed for Al₂O₃ and SiO₂/Al₂O₃. Poole-Frenkel emission is dominant at the high-voltage regime for both dielectrics, whereas the direct tunneling through the dielectric is dominant at the low-voltage regime. The calculated transition voltage between two regimes for SiO₂ (6.5 nm)/Al₂O₃ (12.6 nm) is −6.4 V, which agrees well with the experimental observation (−6.1 V). For the same EOT of entire dielectric stack, the transition voltage between two regimes decreases with thinner SiO₂ layer.     

Study of Al2O3/TiO2 reflectivity enhancing bi-layer films on bright aluminium substrates

Al₂O₃/TiO₂ bi-layer films on aluminium substrates have been obtained by combining anodising and TiO₂ sol-gel deposition. The reflectivity enhancing properties of these Al₂O₃/TiO₂ bi-layer films have been studied in relation to the refractive index and thickness of the Al₂O₃ and TiO₂ single-layers. It is shown that a significant improvement of reflectivity can be achieved by a proper optimisation of the bi-layer elaboration parameters.     

Al2O3/SiO2 films prepared by electron-beam evaporation as UV antireflection coatings on 4H-SiC

Al₂O₃/SiO₂ films have been deposited as UV antireflection coatings on 4H-SiC by electron-beam evaporation and characterized by reflection spectrum, scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). The reflectance of the Al₂O₃/SiO₂ films is 0.33% and 10 times lower than that of a thermally grown SiO₂ single layer at 276 nm. The films are amorphous in microstructure and characterize good adhesion to 4H-SiC substrate. XPS results indicate an abrupt interface between evaporated SiO₂ and 4H-SiC substrate free of Si-suboxides. These results make the possibility for 4H-SiC based high performance UV optoelectronic devices with Al₂O₃/SiO₂ films as antireflection coatings.     

The effect of TiO2 addition on the crystallization and phase formation in lithium aluminum silicate (LAS) glasses nucleated by P2O5

We have prepared lithium aluminum silicate (LAS) glasses of compositions (wt%) 10.6Li₂O-71.7SiO₂-7.1Al₂O₃-4.9K₂O-3.2B₂O₃-2.5P₂O₅(LAS-P) and 10.6Li₂O-71.7SiO₂-7.1Al₂O₃-4.9K₂O-3.2B₂O₃-1.25P₂O₅-1.25TiO₂ (LAS-PT) by the conventional melt quench technique. P₂O₅ and TiO₂ are added as nucleating agents to transform them into glass ceramics. We have studied the interdependence of different phases formed, microstructure, thermal expansion coefficient (TEC), and microhardness (MH) using X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), thermo-mechanical analysis (TMA), and MH (μ-hardness) measurements. The incorporation of TiO₂, in addition to P₂O₅, greatly affects phase evolution and morphology, thereby affecting the thermo-physical properties. Its presence resulted in the formation of only lithium disilicate phase in LAS-PT samples as compared to lithium disilicate and quartz in LAS-P samples on heat treatment at 820 °C. This produced low-aspect-ratio plate-like crystallites in LAS-PT vis-à-vis granular microstructure in LAS-P. Consequently due to the combined effect of both phase formation and morphology a single-phase glass ceramic with overall higher MH, TEC, and glass transition temperature (T_g) is produced.     

Comparison of Segregation Behaviors for Special and General Boundaries in Polycrystalline Al2O3 with SiO2-TiO2 Impurities

A systematic study of grain boundaries with an elongated grain morphology in TiO₂-doped polycrystalline Al₂O₃ materials with SiO₂ impurities is reported in this paper. Over 20 grain boundaries, all having common (0001) basal plane surface on one side, were investigated by using HRTEM and analytical TEM. A few of them were basal plane twin boundaries or other non-wetting boundaries, and the majority of grain boundaries were covered by amorphous phases, either as continuous films or with small pockets bounded by surface facets. Si and Ti were segregated to all boundaries, however, two categories of segregation were observed. Excesses of both segregants were between 1.0–4.0 atom/nm² at special and non-wetting boundaries, while they were in the range of 7.0–30 atom/nm² at boundaries with amorphous phases. A variation of amorphous film thickness was also observed, which has a clear relation with Si excess level while Ti excess remained at the same level. This observation suggests that the amorphous phases were primarily made of SiO₂ but Ti segregants were attached to grain surfaces. The variation in thickness of SiO₂-based film is strongly related to the surface structure of anisotropic Al₂O₃ grains.     

亚纳米厚的氧化铝包裹层可以显著提高负载型金纳米颗粒催化剂的热稳定性

负载型金纳米颗粒催化剂在许多催化反应中展现出非常好的催化活性,但是金纳米颗粒在高温等反应条件下容易烧结团聚,极大地限制了金催化剂的应用。利用原子层沉积技术在Au/TiO₂催化剂表面分别精确沉积了一层超薄的二氧化钛和氧化铝包裹层,并对比研究了包裹层对金纳米颗粒的热稳定性影响。原位红外漫反射CO吸附和x-射线光电子能谱数据证实了氧化物包裹层的存在。发现亚纳米厚的氧化铝包裹层能够在600 C完全避免金纳米颗粒的团聚;相反,二氧化钛包裹层对金纳米颗粒稳定性的提高没有明显效果。通过CO氧化探针反应的活性测试,发现随着煅烧温度的升高氧化铝包裹的Au/TiO₂ 催化剂的活性逐渐提高,表明高温处理可以促进被包裹金原子的暴露并表现出催化活性。提供了提高金纳米颗粒稳定性的有效方法,为拓展金催化剂在条件苛刻的反应中的应用奠定了技术基础.     

Er3+掺杂SiO2复合的Al2O3粉末结构及光致发光特性

采用溶胶-凝胶(sol-gel)工艺制备0.1 mol% Er³⁺掺杂Al₂O₃体系和SiO₂-Al₂O₃复合体系粉末. 实验结果表明：5 mol%的SiO₂复合加入Al₂O₃抑制γ→θ和θ→α相转变. 掺0.1 mol%Er³⁺:Al₂O₃体系粉末，900℃烧结，在1.47—1.63μm波段内光致发光(PL)谱为中心波长1.53 μm、半高宽56 nm的单一宽峰，1000—1200℃烧结，劈裂为多峰PL谱. 掺0.1 mol%Er³⁺:SiO₂-Al₂O₃复合体系粉末，在高达1200℃烧结，仍保持中心波长1.53 μm的单一宽峰PL谱，由于—OH更完全的脱除，PL强度较900℃烧结Al₂O₃体系，SiO₂-Al₂O₃复合体系均提高1个数量级. 关键词： 2-Al₂O₃复合体系')" href="#">SiO₂-Al₂O₃复合体系 掺铒 溶胶-凝胶工艺 光致发光     

Analysis and optimization of a new photonic crystal filters in near ultraviolet band

Transmission characteristics of one-dimensional (1D) photonic crystals (PCs) heterostructures containing defective are studied using the transfer matrix method. The key is to search the best combination style for different 1D PCs to form heterostructures. It is shown that the non-transmission range over near ultraviolet and visible range can be substantially enlarged and the phenomenon of narrow band PC filter in near ultraviolet can be realized by adjusting the repeat cycle counts of various photonic crystals. The theoretical results on multiple heterostructures containing TiO₂/SiO₂ multilayer films are presented. With a perfect omni-directional and high peak transmission filters for TE modes, this structure opens a promising way to fabricate ultra-narrow band PC filters with wide non-transmission range in near ultraviolet and visible range.     

Structure of Al2O3 thin layers synthesized on the silicon surface by atomic layer deposition

The distribution of the phase and chemical composition at an Al₂O₃/Si interface is studied by depth-resolved ultrasoft x-ray emission spectroscopy. The interface is formed by atomic layer deposition of Al₂O₃ films of various thicknesses (from several to several nanometers to several hundreds of nanometers) on the Si(100) surface (c-Si) or on a 50-nm-thick SiO₂ buffer layer on Si. L _2,3 bands of Al and Si are used for analysis. It is found that the properties of coatings and Al₂O₃/Si interfaces substantially depend on the thickness of the Al₂O₃ layer, which is explained by the complicated character of the process kinetics. At a small thickness of coatings (up to 10–30 nm), the Al₂O₃ layer contains inclusions of oxidized Si atoms, whose concentration increases as the interface is approached. As the thickness increases, a layer containing inclusions of metallic Al clusters forms. A thin interlayer of Si atoms occurring in an unconventional chemical state is found. When the SiO₂ buffer layer is used (Al₂O₃/SiO₂/Si), the structure of the interface and the coating becomes more perfect. The Al₂O₃ layer does not contain inclusions of metallic aluminum, does not vary with the sample thickness, and has a distinguished boundary with silicon.     

Effect of TiO2/Al2O3 film coated diamond abrasive particles by sol-gel technique

The diamond abrasive particles were coated with the TiO₂/Al₂O₃ film by the sol-gel technique. Compared with the uncoated diamonds, the TiO₂/Al₂O₃ film was excellent material for the protection of the diamonds. The results showed that the incipient oxidation temperature of the TiO₂/Al₂O₃ film coated diamonds in air atmosphere was 775 °C, which was higher 175 °C than that of the uncoated diamonds. And the coated diamonds also had better the diamond's single particle compressive strength and the impact toughness than that of uncoated diamonds after sintering at 750 °C. For the vitrified bond grinding wheels, replacing the uncoated diamonds with the TiO₂/Al₂O₃ film coated diamonds, the volume expansion of the grinding wheels decreased from 6.2% to 3.4%, the porosity decreased from 35.7% to 25.7%, the hardness increased from 61.2H_RC to 66.5H_RC and the grinding ratio of the vitrified bond grinding wheels to carbide alloy (YG8) increased from 11.5 to 19.1.     

99mTc Generator — The Maintenance of High Elution Efficiency

Several protecting procedures were applied to ensure good operating performances of the universal ^99mTc generators based on fission produced ⁹⁹Mo. These procedures include the modifications of the adsorbent. Instead of 1 g of pure Al₂O₃ the adsorption of ⁹⁹Mo is carried out on the multicomponent adsorbent containing the mixture of either Al₂O₃ + SiO₂ or Al₂O₃ · Cu²⁺ + SiO₂. The protection by drying should ensure that the columns contain minimum of moisture during the growth period of ^99mTc. It was found experimentally that the best results are obtained when the ratio of alumina in the mixture was 15 ± 5 (wt.%) and content of copper 365 μg Cu²⁺/column. The comparison of efficiency and applicability of the used protecting procedures is also given.     

Nano-composite solid polymer electrolytes for solid state ionic devices

Recent research efforts to improve the ambient temperature conductivity in polyethylene oxide (PEO) based solid polymer electrolytes have been directed towards the incorporation of ultra-fine nano-sized particles of ceramic fillers such as Al₂O₃, γ-LiAlO₂, SiO₂ and TiO₂ into the polymer electrolyte. In these PEO based nano-composite polymer electrolytes, conductivity enhancements of up to two orders of magnitude have been achieved. Thermal, electrical conductivity and dielectric relaxation measurements performed on several nano-composite polymer electrolyte systems have shown that the degree of enhancement depends primarily on the grain size. In this paper, results of three nano-composite polymer electrolyte systems, PEO:LiTFSI:Al₂O₃, PEO:LiTf:Al₂O₃ and PEO:LiTf: SiO₂ are discussed as representative examples. It is suggested that the conductivity enhancement is due to the creation of additional sites and favourable conduction pathways for ionic transport through Lewis acidbase type interactions between the filler surface groups (H/OH) and the ionic species. Paper presented at the 2nd International Conference on Ionic Devices, Anna University, Channai, India, Nov. 28–30, 2003.     

Annealing effects on the optical and structural properties of Al2O3/SiO2 films as UV antireflection coatings on 4H-SiC substrates

Al₂O₃/SiO₂ films have been prepared by electron-beam evaporation as ultraviolet (UV) antireflection coatings on 4H-SiC substrates and annealed at different temperatures. The films were characterized by reflection spectra, ellipsometer system, atomic force microscopy (AFM), X-ray diffraction (XRD) and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), respectively. As the annealing temperature increased, the minimum reflectance of the films moved to the shorter wavelength for the variation of refractive indices and the reduction of film thicknesses. The surface grains appeared to get larger in size and the root mean square (RMS) roughness of the annealed films increased with the annealing temperature but was less than that of the as-deposited. The Al₂O₃/SiO₂ films maintained amorphous in microstructure with the increase of the temperature. Meanwhile, the transition and diffusion in film component were found in XPS measurement. These results provided the important references for Al₂O₃/SiO₂ films annealed at reasonable temperatures and prepared as fine antireflection coatings on 4H-SiC-based UV optoelectronic devices.     

The effect of SiO2 and TiO2 nanoparticles on physical properties of SrFe12O19 nanoparticle

In order to obtain SrFe₁₂O₁₉ nanoparticles, thermal treatment method was employed, and afterwards SiO₂ and TiO₂ nanoparticles were embedded in SrFe₁₂O₁₉ matrix SrFe₁₂O₁₉ nanoparticles. The SiO₂ and TiO₂ nanoparticles' effects were set in SrFe₁₂O₁₉ matrix and experimental techniques which include, transmission electron microscopy (TEM), x-ray diffraction (XRD), fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), x-ray analysis (EDX) and field emission scanning electron microscope (FESEM) were used in studying the physical properties of the prepared nanoparticles. The precise DASF method (derivation of absorption spectrum fitting) was employed in examining the optical properties. The addition of SiO₂ and TiO₂ nanoparticles to SrFe₁₂O₁₉ matrix resulted in the reduction of energy band gap values in compare with the SrFe₁₂O₁₉ nanoparticles. The chemical analysis of SrFe₁₂O₁₉/SiO₂, SrFe₁₂O₁₉ nanoparticles, and SrFe₁₂O₁₉/TiO₂ nanocomposites was carried out using energy dispersion X-ray analysis (EDX). Ferromagnetic behaviors were demonstrated by SrFe₁₂O₁₉ nanoparticles, SrFe₁₂O₁₉/SiO₂ and SrFe₁₂O₁₉/TiO₂ nanocomposites, and the behaviors were validated through the use of a vibrating sample magnetometer (VSM). A wasp-waist was observed through hysteresis loop of SrFe₁₂O₁₉/SiO₂ nanocomposites, implying the presence of the two magnetic phases; soft and hard ferromagnetic.     

Excellent Si surface passivation by low temperature SiO2 using an ultrathin Al2O3 capping film

It is demonstrated that the application of an ultrathin aluminum oxide (Al₂O₃) capping film can improve the level of silicon surface passivation obtained by low‐temperature synthesized SiO₂ profoundly. For such stacks, a very high level of surface passivation was achieved after annealing, with S_eff < 2 cm/s for 3.5 Ω cm n‐type c‐Si. This can be attributed primarily to a low interface defect density (D_it < 10¹¹ eV^–1 cm^–2). Consequently, the Al₂O₃ capping layer induced a high level of chemical passivation at the Si/SiO₂ interface. Moreover, the stacks showed an exceptional stability during high‐temperature firing processes and therefore provide a low temperature (≤400 °C) alternative to thermally‐grown SiO₂. (© 2011 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)