Ductile Bulk Aluminum-Based Alloy with Good Glass-Forming Ability and High Strength

Based on a new approach for designing glassy alloy compositions, bulk Al-based alloys with good glass-forming ability （GFA） are synthesized. The cast Al86Si0.5Ni4.06Co2.94 Y6Sc0.5 rod with a diameter of i mm shows almost fully amorphous structure besides about 5% fcc-Al nucleated in the center of the rod. The bulk alloy with high Al concentration exhibits an ultrahigh yield strength of 1.18 GPa and maximum strength of 1.27 GPa as well as an obvious plastic strain of about 2.4% during compressive deformation. This light Al-based alloy with good GFA and mechanical properties is promising as a new high specific strength material with good deformability.     

First-Principles Study of Structural Stabilities, Electronic and Optical Properties of SrF2 under High Pressure

An investigation of structural stabilities, electronic and optical properties of SrF2 under high pressure is conducted using a first-principles calculation based on density functional theory （DFT） with the plane wave basis set as implemented in the CASTEP code. Our results predict that the second high-pressure phase of SrF2 is of a Ni2In- type structure, and demonstrate that the sequence of the pressure-induced phase transition of SrF2 is the fluorite structure （Fm3m） to the PbC12-type structure （Pnma）, and to the Ni2In-type phase （P63/mmc）. The first and second phase transition pressures are 5. 77 and 45.58 GPa, respectively. The energy gap increases initially with pressure in the Fm3m, and begins to decrease in the Pnma phases at 30 GPa. The band gap overlap metallization does not occur up to 210 GPa. The pressure effect on the optical properties is discussed.     

Influence of nanocrystalline structure and composition on hardness of thin films based on TiO<Subscript>2</Subscript>

In this work, the influence of Tb-doping on structure, and especially hardness of nanocrystalline TiO₂ thin films, has been described. Thin films were formed by a high-energy reactive magnetron sputtering process in a pure oxygen atmosphere. Undoped TiO₂-matrix and TiO₂:Tb (2 at. % and 2.6 at. %) thin films, had rutile structure with crystallite sizes below 10 nm. The high-energy process produces nanocrystalline, homogenous films with a dense and close packed structure, that were confirmed by X-ray diffraction patterns and micrographs from a scanning electron microscope. Investigation of thin film hardness was performed with the aid of a nanoindentation technique. Results of measurements have shown that the hardness of all manufactured nanocrystalline films is above 10 GPa. In the case of undoped TiO₂ matrix, the highest hardness value was obtained (14.3 GPa), while doping with terbium results in hardness decreasing down to 12.7 GPa and 10.8 GPa for TiO₂:(2 at. % Tb) and TiO₂:(2.6 at. % Tb) thin films, respectively. Incorporation of terbium into TiO₂-matrix also allows modification of the elastic properties of the films.     

Effect of In-Doping on Electronic Structure and Optical Properties of Sr2TiO4

The effect of In doping on the electronic structure and optical properties of Sr2 TiO4 is investigated by a firstprinciples calculation of plane wave ultrasoft pseudopotentials based on density functional theory. The calculated results reveal that corner-shared TiO6 octahedra dominate the main electronic properties of Sr2TiO4 and the covalency of the Ti-O（1） bond in the ab plane is stronger than that of the Ti-O（2） bond along the c-axis. After In doping, there is a little lattice expansion in Sr2In0.125 Ti0.875 O4 and the interaction between the Ti-O bond near the impurity In atom is weakened. The binding energies of Sr2TiO4 and Sr2In0.125Ti0.875O4 estimated from the electronic structure calculations indicate that the crystal structure of Sr2In0.125 Ti0.875 O4 is still stable after doping, but its stability is lower than that of undoped Sr2TiO4. Moreover, the valence bands （VBs） of the Sr2In0.125Ti0.875O4 system consist of O 2p and In 4d states, and the mixing of O 2p and In 4d states makes the top VBs shift significantly to high energies, resulting in visible light absorption. The adsorption of visible light is of practical importance for the application of St2 TiO4 as a photocatalyst.     

BaCO3和TiO2粉末混合物冲击压缩性和BaTiO3冲击合成的实验研究

 利用高能炸药爆轰驱动冲击波、狭缝扫描闪光隙高速照相技术和阻抗匹配解原理，在10~100 GPa压力范围内，测量了BaCO₃和TiO₂粉末混合物的冲击绝热数据。同时，利用轴对称柱面和平面爆轰装置，进行了该混合物样品的冲击后回收实验和回收样品的X射线衍射分析，考察BaTiO₃的冲击合成。测量出的冲击绝热数据，以冲击波压力和比容平面上的结果为例，在约30和45 GPa两个压力值时，比容发生明显跃变。冲击绝热数据与回收样品X射线衍射分析结果相结合，判断出，这两个跃变分别对应于TiO₂从锐钛矿相转变到高压β-TiO₂相，BaCO₃与TiO₂开始急剧化学反应合成出BaTiO₃并放出CO₂。此外，在压力为10 GPa左右作回收实验，其回收样品的X射线衍射分析表明TiO₂由锐钛矿相完全转变为金红石相。     

Physical and Chemical Properties of TiOxNy Prepared by Low-Temperature Oxidation of Ultrathin Metal Nitride Directly Deposited on SiO2

Physical and chemical properties of titanium oxynitride （TiOxNy ） formed by low-temperature oxidation of titanium nitride （TIN） layer are investigated for advanced metal-oxide-semiconductor （MOS） gate dielectric application. TiOxNy exhibits polycrystalline properties after the standard thermal process for MOS device fabrication, showing the preferred orientation at [200]. Superior electrical properties of TiOxNy can be maintained before and after the annealing, probably due to the nitrogen incorporation in the oxide bulk and at the interface. Naturally formed transition layer between TiOxNy and SiO2 is also confirmed.     

Raman Investigation of Sodium Titanate Nanotubes under Hydrostatic Pressures up to 26.9GPa

High pressure behavior of sodium titanate nanotubes （Na2Ti2O5） is investigated by Raman spectroscopy in a diamond anvil cell （DAC） at room temperature. The two pressure-induced irreversible phase transitions are observed under the given pressure. One occurs at about 4.2 GPa accompanied with a new Raman peak emerging at 834 cm-1 which results from the lattice distortion of the Ti-O network in titanate nanotubes. It can be can be assigned to Ti-O lattice vibrations within lepidocrocite-type （H0.7Ti1.825V0.175O4＆#12539;H2O）TiO6 octahedral host layers with V being vacancy. The structure of the nanotubes transforms to orthorhombic lepidocrocite structure. Another amorphous phase transition occurs at 16.7 GPa. This phase transition is induced by the collapse of titanate nanotubes. All the Raman bands shift toward higher wavenumbers with a pressure dependence ranging from 1.58-5.6 cm-1/GPa.     

Effect of Process Parameters on Laser Damage Threshold of TiO2 Coatings

We investigate the laser damage behaviour of an electron-beam-deposited TiO2 monolayer at different process parameters. The optical properties, chemical composition, surface defects, absorption and laser-induced damage threshold （LIDT） of films are measured. It is found that TiO2 films with the minimum absorption and the highest LIDT can be fabricated using a TiO2 starting material after annealing. LIDT is mainly related to absorption and is influenced by the non-stoichiometric defects for TiO2 films. Surface defects show no evident effects on LIDT in this experiment.     

Role of TiO2 Nanotube on Improvement of Performance of Hybrid Photovoltaic Devices

The performance of TiO₂ nanotubes in bulk heterojunction of poly (2-methoxy-5-(2'-ethylhexyloxy)-1, 4-phenylenevinylene) (MEH-PPV)/TiO₂ nanotubes is investigated. The transport properties are studied by using the time-of-flight technique (TOF). The carrier mobilities of both holes and electrons are not improved for the MEH-PPV:TiO₂ composites compared with the pristine MEH-PPV. However, photoluminescence under the influence of the electric field indicates that the dissociation of excitons in the MEH-PPV:TiO₂ composites, which is facilitated by photoinduced charge transfer, only requires a smaller electric field.     

Electronic Structure and Elastic Properties of Ti3AlC from First-Principles Calculations

We perform a first-principles study on the electronic structure and elastic properties of TiaA1C with an antiperovskite structure. The absence of band gap at the Fermi level and the finite value of the density of states at the Fermi energy reveal the metallic behavior of this compound. The elastic constants of Ti3AlC are derived yielding c11 = 356 GPa, c12 = 55 GPa, c44 = 157 GPa. The bulk modulus B, shear modulus G and Young＇s modulus E are determined to be 156, 151 and 342 GPa, respectively. These properties are compared with those of Ti3AlC2 and Ti2AlC with a layered structure in the Ti-Al-C system and FeaAlC with the same antiperovskite structure.     

Improvement in Dielectric Tunability of Ba0.6Sr0.4TiO4-Mg2TiO4 Composite Ceramics via Heterogeneous Nucleation Processing

Dielectric tunable composite ceramics Ba0.6Sr0.4 TiO4-Mg2 TiO4 （BST-MT） are prepared with a heterogeneous nucleation sol-gel approach. The Mg2 TiO4 powders are synthesized by the conventionM solid-state reaction method. The micro-sized MT powders with dispersant Ciba-4010 are introduced into Ba-Sr-Ti sol to obtain uniform and homogeneous mixture compounds with nano-sized BST particles synthesized via heterogeneous nucleation （HN） in the sol-gel process. Thus, the mierostructural and dielectric properties can be tailored. The dielectric constants of BST-MT composite ceramics can be adjusted in a larg＇e range from 294 to 1790, and the dielectric tunability can be adjusted from 29.4% to 37.0% with different MT contents from 60wt% to 20wt%. Compared to the samples prepared by the conventional solid-state （SS） process, the BST-MT composite ceramics by the heterogeneous nucleation sol-gel process exhibit a more uniform microstructure, and improve dielectric properties.     

Electronic Structure and Optical Properties of La-Doped SrTiO3 and Sr2TiO4 by Density Function Theory

The effect of La doping on the electronic structure and optical properties of SrTiO₃ and Sr₂TiO₄ is investigated by the first-principles calculation of plane wave ultrasoft pseudopotential based on the density function theory (DFT). The calculated results reveal that the electron doping in the case of Sr_0.875La_0.125TiO₃ and Sr_1.875La_0.125TiO₄ can be described within the rigid band model. The La³⁺ ions fully acts as electron donors in Sr_0.875La_0.125TiO₃ and Sr_1.875La_0.125TiO₄ systems and the Fermi level shifts further into the conduction bands (CBs) for Sr_1.875La_0.125TiO₄ compared to Sr_0.875La_0.125TiO₃. The two systems exhibit n-type degenerate semiconductor features. At the same time, the density of states (DOS) of the two systems shift towards low energies and the optical band gaps are broadened. The Sr_1.875La_0.125TiO₄ is highly transparent with the transmittance about 90% in the visible range, which is larger than that of Sr_0.875La_0.125TiO₃(85%). The wide band gap, small transition probability and weak absorption due to the low partial density of states (PDOS) of impurity in the Fermi level result in the optical transparency of the films...     

Structural, Elastic and Electronic Properties of ReO2

Structural, elastic and electronic properties of ReO₂ are investigated by first-principles calculations based on density functional theory. The ground stateof ReO₂ has an orthorhombic symmetry which belongs to space group Pbcn with a=4.7868Å b=5.5736Å, and c=4.5322Å. The calculated bulk moduli are 322GPa, 353GPa, and 345GPa for orthorhombic, tetragonal, and monoclinic ReO₂, respectively, indicating that ReO₂ has a strong incompressibility. ReO₂ is a metal ductile solid and presents large elastic anisotropy. The obtained Debye temperatures are 850K for orthorhombic, 785K for tetragonal, and 791K for monoclinic ReO₂.     

Compression Behaviour of Bulk Metallic Glasses and Binary Amorphous Alloy

The compression properties of Zr41Ti14Cu12.aNi10Be22.5, Zr44.4Nb7Cu13.5Ni10.8Be24.3 bulk metallic glasses and Ni77P23 binary amorphous alloy are investigated at room temperature up to 24 GPa, 39 GPa and 30.5 GPa, respectively, using in-situ high pressure energy dispersive x-ray diffraction with a synchrotron radiation source. The pressure-volume relationship of Ni77P23 amorphous alloy is consistent well with the second order BirchMurnaghan （B-M） equation within the experimental pressure range. However, under higher pressure, the experimental data of Zr-based specimens deviate from the B-M equation. Compare to the binary amorphous alloy less excess free volume existing in the bulk metallic glass and multi-component atomic configuration results in a two-stage relationship between compressibility and pressure.     

In-Situ High Pressure Raman Spectrum and Electrical Property of PbMoO4

In-situ high pressure Raman spectra and electrical conductivity measurements of scheelite-structure compound PbMoO4 are presented. The Raman spectrum of PbMoO4 is determined up to 26.5 GPa on a powdered sample in a diamond anvil cell （DAC） under nonhydrostatic conditions. The PbMoO4 gradully experiences the trans- formation from the crystal to amorphous between 9.2 and 12.5 GPa. The crystal to amorphous transition may be due to the mechanical deformation and the crystalographic transformation. Furthermore, the electrical conductivity of PbMoO4 is in situ measured accurately using a microcircuit fabricated on a DAC based on the van der Pauw method. The results show that the electrical conductivity of PbMoO4 increases with increases of pressure and temperature. At 26.5 GPa, the electrical conductivity value of PbMoO4 at 295K is 1.93 - 10-4 S/cm, while it raises by one order of magnitude at 430K and reached 3.33 - 10-3 S/cm. However, at 430K, compared with the electrical conductivity value of PbMoO4 at 26.5 GPa, it drops by about two order magnitude at 7.4 GPa and achieves 2.81 × 10^-5 S/cm. This indicates that the effect of pressure on the electrical conductivity of PbMoO4 is more obvious than that of temperature.     

Influence of Annealing Temperature on Structure, Optical Loss and Laser-Induced Damage Threshold of TiO2 Thin Films

TiO2 thin films are prepared on fused silica with conventional electron beam evaporation deposition. After annealed at different temperatures for 4h, the spectra and XRD patterns of the TiO2 thin film are obtained. Weak absorption of coatings is measured by the surface thermal lensing technique, and laser-induced damage threshold （LIDT） is determined. It is found that with the increasing annealing temperature, the transmittance of TiO2 films decreases. Especially when coatings are annealed at high temperature over 1173K, the optical loss is very serious. Weak absorption detection indicates that the absorption of coatings decreases firstly and then increases, and the absorption and defects play major roles in the LIDT of TiO2 thin films.     

Raman Investigation of BaWO4-II Phase under Hydrostatic Pressures up to 14.8GPa

The BaW04-17 phase is synthesized at 5.0 GPa and 610~C with a cubic-anvil apparatus and identified by XRD. Raman scattering measurement is carried out to investigate the phase behaviour of a pure BaW04-Ⅱ phase （space group P21/n, Z = 8） under hydrostatic pressures up to 14.8 GPa at ambient temperature. In each spectrum recorded for this phase, 27 Raman modes are observed, and all bands shift toward higher wavenumber with a pressure dependence ranging from 3.8 to 0.2 cm- 1/GPa. No pressure-driven phase transition occurs in the entire pressure range in this study. Our results indicate that the previously reported high pressure phase of Ba WO4 at pressure above about 10 GPa and room temperature （Errandonea et al. Phys. Rev. B 73（2006）224103） is not the BaW04-Ⅱ phase.     

Pressure-induced phase transition of BaH2 : Post Ni2In phase

Up to now a Ni₂In structure is a final step in the structural sequence of ionic AX₂ compounds under high pressure. Powder X-ray diffraction experiments on BaH₂ were performed at room temperature and high pressures up to 69 GPa. Successive phase transformations were observed to occur in two stages. The first was from the cotunnite to the Ni₂In structure at 2.5 GPa. The second transition commenced at pressures around 50 GPa and was completed at 65 GPa. At the transition the arrangement of a cation sublattice changes from an hcp to a simple hexagonal lattice. This is the first observation of the post Ni₂In phase.     

Effects of Different Dispersion Methods on the Microscopical Morphology of TiO2 Film

Nanocrystalline porous TiO2 films were prepared on conducting glass supports （ITO） by processed commercial TiO2 nanometre powder （P25）. Three methods of physical dispersing for TiO2 powder, i.e. grinding, magnetic stirring, sonicleaning, were used to disperse TiO2 nanometre powder. Surface morphologies of TiO2 films were observed by optic-microscope and SEM. It is found that the surface morphologies of TiO2 films are determined not only by the dispersing methods but also by the percentage of TiO2 powder in the dispersing system. Different film morphologies can be obtained under the same preparation condition but with different dispersing methods. A lot of cracks exist on the film surface for which the TiO2 slurry is dispersed by grinding. Magnetic stirring leads to some white points and micro-holes on the film surface. Only a few of micro-holes can be observed on the film surface, in which the TiO2 slurry is dispersed by sonicleaning. Different surface morphologies can also be found with different thicknesses of TiO2 films. Different film thicknesses are due to different percentages of TiO2 powder in the slurry. The related mechanism leading to different features of the surface morphologies for the TiO2 films is discussed.     

高压下Zr70Cu30非晶合金的热稳定性和晶化相的变化

 用电阻测量及X射线衍射法研究了非晶Zr₇₀Cu₃₀合金在常压和高压下热稳定性以及晶化相的变化。结果表明压力提高了这种非晶合金的晶化温度并明显地改变了合金中的相平衡关系。在2 GPa压力下，平衡相为Cu₁₀Zr₇和α-Zr的混合物，而常压下为CuZr₂和少量α-Zr的混合物。