About the Importance of Nanometer-Thick Intergranular Penetration in the Analysis of Liquid Metal Embrittlement

Liquid metal embrittlement (LME) of copper by liquid bismuth is investigated at 300°C. It is shown that a very rapid damage is due to the synergy between the external stress and the phenomenon of intergranular penetration (IGP). Tests of IGP, i.e. without external stress, were done at 300°C and at 600°C and have resulted in strong intergranular embrittlement due to the formation of nanometer-thick intergranular films, as measured and quantified by Auger electron spectroscopy (AES). The formation of these films is discussed with respect to apparently non-zero dihedral angles at 600°C. A general procedure based on mechanical testing and AES measurements, to check whether IGP has occurred or not, is outlined. This procedure can be seen as an alternative way to determine the wetting transition temperature. The presence of nanometer-thick films due to IGP is discussed with respect to the LME mechanisms.     

Enhancing the thermal conductivity of polymer-assisted deposited Al2O3 film by nitrogen doping

<正>Polymer-assisted deposition technique has been used to deposit Al₂O₃ and N-doped Al₂O₃（AlON） thin films on Si（100） substrates.The chemical compositions,crystallinity,and thermal conductivity of the as-grown films have been characterized by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy（XPS）,X-ray diffraction（XRD）,and 3-omega method,respectively. Amorphous and polycrystalline Al₂O₃ and AlON thin films have been formed at 700℃and 1000℃.The thermal conductivity results indicated that the effect of nitrogen doping on the thermal conductivity is determined by the competition of the increase of Al-N bonding and the suppression of crystallinity.A 67%enhancement in thermal conductivity has been achieved for the samples grown at 700℃,demonstrating that the nitrogen doping is an effective way to improve the thermal performance of polymer-assisted-deposited Al₂O₃ thin films at a relatively low growth temperature.     

固态金属中声子热传递的分子动力学模拟研究

固态金属中的热传递是声子和自由电子共同作用的结果。自由电子引起的热导率可以通过电导率,利用Wiedemann-Franz定律得到,声子引起的热导率目前仍然不能进行实验测量,只能借助其他方法来研究。本文采用非平衡分子动力学(NEMD)方法,用镶嵌原子方法(EAM)势能模型,模拟计算了不同厚度(1.760-10.56nm)金属镍薄膜中由于声子-声子作用引起的热导率。然后根据纳米厚度金属薄膜的热导率借助关联式推到宏观尺度下由于声子-声子作用引起的热导率。结果表明,对于纳米厚度金属薄膜,由于声子-声子作用引起的热导率比块体金属镍的热导率小一个数量级;薄膜厚度越小,声子-声子作用引起的热导率越小;对于块体金属镍,由于声子-声子作用引起的热导率约占其总热导率的33.0%左右。     

纳米多孔氩薄膜热导率的分子动力学模拟

利用经典的Lennard-Jones势能模型,采用分子动力学模拟方法研究纳米多孔氩薄膜热导率.结果表明,纳米多孔氩薄膜热导率明显小于同温度下纯纳米氩薄膜热导率,并且孔隙率越大热导率减小越多.借助基于并联方法的有效热导率模型,对纳米多孔氩薄膜的热导率随孔隙率的变化进行解释.模拟结果还发现,薄膜内的多孔分布对薄膜的热导率有影响.     

The effect of (00l) crystal plane orientation on the thermoelectric properties of Bi2Te3 thin film

Highly (00l)-oriented pure Bi₂Te₃ films with in-plane layered grown columnar nanostructure have been fabricated by a simple magnetron co-sputtering method. Compared with ordinary Bi₂Te₃ film and bulk materials, the electrical conductivity and Seebeck coefficient of such films have been greatly increased simultaneously due to raised carrier mobility and electron scattering parameter, while the thermal conductivity has been decreased due to phonon scattering by grain boundaries between columnar grains and interfaces between each layers. The power factor has reached as large as 33.7 μW cm⁻¹ K⁻², and the out-of-plane thermal conductivity is reduced to 0.86 W m⁻¹ K⁻¹. Our results confirm that tailoring nanoscale structures inside thermoelectric films effectively enhances their performances.     

Probing thermal properties of vanadium dioxide thin films by time-domain thermoreflectance without metal film

Vanadium dioxide(VO_2) is a strongly correlated material, and it has become known due to its sharp metal–insulator transition(MIT) near room temperature. Understanding the thermal properties and their change across MIT of VO_2 thin film is important for the applications of this material in various devices. Here, the changes in thermal conductivity of epitaxial and polycrystalline VO_2 thin film across MIT are probed by the time-domain thermoreflectance(TDTR) method.The measurements are performed in a direct way devoid of deposition of any metal thermoreflectance layer on the VO_2 film to attenuate the impact from extra thermal interfaces. It is demonstrated that the method is feasible for the VO_2 films with thickness values larger than 100 nm and beyond the phase transition region. The observed reasonable thermal conductivity change rates across MIT of VO_2 thin films with different crystal qualities are found to be correlated with the electrical conductivity change rate, which is different from the reported behavior of single crystal VO_2 nanowires. The recovery of the relationship between thermal conductivity and electrical conductivity in VO_2 film may be attributed to the increasing elastic electron scattering weight, caused by the defects in the film. This work demonstrates the possibility and limitation of investigating the thermal properties of VO_2 thin films by the TDTR method without depositing any metal thermoreflectance layer.     

氢化非晶硅薄膜的热导率研究

采用铂电极为加热电阻,研究了厚度为300—370nm等离子体化学气相沉积(PECVD)工艺制备的氢化非晶硅(a-Si：H)薄膜的热导率随衬底温度的变化规律.用光谱式椭偏仪拟合测量薄膜的厚度,得到了沉积速率随衬底温度变化规律,傅里叶红外(FTIR)表征了在KBr晶片衬底上制备的a-Si：H薄膜的红外光谱特性,SiH原子团键合模的震动对热量的吸收降低了薄膜热导率.从动力学角度分析了薄膜热导率随平均温度升高而增大的原因,并比较了声子传播和自由电子移动在a-Si：H薄膜热导率变化上的作用差异. 关键词： 非晶硅 热导率 薄膜 热能     

Effect of porosity on the laser induced damage threshold of porous anodic alumina films

Thermal stress of porous alumina films has been simulated by finite element method based on thermal transfer equation and thermal stress formulas. The influence of equivalent thermal conductivity and elastic modulus on laser induced damage threshold (LIDT) has been studied. It was found that the biggest circumferential tensile stress will be small with the porosity from 15% to 35%, and it effectively improves the LIDT. The equivalent thermal conductivity and LIDT decreases with the increase of porosity. The equivalent elastic modulus decreases and LIDT increase with the increase of porosity.     

Frequency Dependence of the Complex Conductivity of Thin Polymer Films

Technical Physics - A method to experimentally determine the components of complex thermal conductivity for thin polymer films has been developed. It is based on measuring the temperatures of both...     

Giant electric conductivity at the CuO-Cu interface: HTSC-like temperature variations

The temperature dependence of electric conductivity and current-voltage characteristics were studied in CuO single crystals with Cu films deposited onto natural faces by thermal evaporation in vacuum or by electrolysis. After electric (resistive) or thermal annealing of the samples, the conductivity of Cu films in this system significantly increases (by a factor of up to 1.5×10⁵ and above) as compared to that of the control Cu films on a glass-ceramic substrate. The effect is attributed to an interfacial layer formed between CuO and Cu, the high conductivity mechanism in which is unclear. It is suggested that the giant electric conductivity and its HTSC-like temperature dependence, as well as nonlinear current–voltage characteristics of the samples can be due to the formation of superconducting regions with the critical temperatures significantly higher than 400 K.     

Electrical conductivity of nitride carbon films with different nitrogen content

The electrical conductivity of nitride carbon (DLC: N) films has been studied. It is found that the electrical conductivity of the deposited films increases slowly with increasing nitrogen content, however, it decreases after the nitrogen content in the film reaches a certain value of 12.8 at%. Thermal treatment results show that the electrical conductivity of the lowly nitrogen doped DLC film increases rapidly, while that of the heavily doped film decreases after annealing at 300 °C for 30 min. Raman and XPS spectra results show that when the nitrogen content in the films reaches a certain value, there appears nonconductive phases. Therefore the electrical conductivity of the heavily doped films decreases. FTIR spectra analysis results show that the nitrogen atom as an impurity center undergoes an ‘activation’ process during the thermal treatment, which leads to the increase of the electrical conductivity. Therefore, the nitrogen in these two kinds of films has different effects on the electrical conductivity.     

Preferential growth of Bi<Subscript>2</Subscript>Te<Subscript>3</Subscript> films with a nanolayer structure: enhancement of thermoelectric properties induced by nanocrystal boundaries

Preferential growth of different crystal planes in layered Bi₂Te₃ thin films with each layer <40 nm has been achieved by a simple magnetron co-sputtering method. The preferential growth of (015) plane or (001) was achieved at special depositing conditions due to the more sufficient growth along the in-plane direction induced by the enhanced diffusion of atoms and lower deposition rate. The Bi₂Te₃ film with preferential growth of (001) plane possesses about two times higher electrical conductivity and Seebeck coefficient as compared to the film with preferential growth of (015) plane, due to the greatly enhanced carrier mobility. Furthermore, the thermal conductivity has been suppressed due to more phonon scattering at grain boundaries, compared with ordinary Bi₂Te₃ alloys and films.     

Photothermal investigation Study of ZnO thin films: effects of Zn and O polar substrate

ZnO thin films were grown by metal-organic chemical vapor deposition on Zn- and O-polar surfaces of ZnO substrate. The effect of Zn- and O-polar substrate on the surface morphology and opto-thermal proprieties has been studied. Hall-measurements were used to determine the carrier concentration of the deposited films. Photothermal deflection spectroscopy (PDS) was used to determine the optical absorption spectrum and the gap energy by comparing experimental amplitude of the photothermal signal to the corresponding theoretical one. Thermal conductivity and diffusivity were also deduced from the photothermal deflection measurements. The found values were very low due to the thermal resistivity of the layer–substrate interface.     

Electron-Beam-Induced Modifications in High-Density Polyethylene

Post-irradiation studies have been carried out to elucidate the effects of electron beam irradiation on the structural, optical, dielectric, and thermal properties of high-density polyethylene (HDPE) films. The experimental results showed that both the optical band gap and activation energy of HDPE films decreases with an increase in the doses of electron radiation. The electrical measurements showed that dielectric constant and the ac conductivity of HDPE increases with an increase in the dose of electron radiation. The thermal analysis carried out using DSC and TGA revealed that the melting temperature, degree of crystallinity, and thermal stability of the HDPE films increased, obviously, due to the predominant cross-linking reaction following high doses of electron irradiation.     

氮化硅纳米薄膜非平衡热导率实验研究

3ω实验方法是一种可以对薄膜热导率进行瞬时测量的方法。根据3ω方法测试原理,搭建了薄膜导热系数测试平台,并且分别测试低频率段和高频段薄膜与基底的温升以及薄膜热导率。测试结果表明:Si3N4薄膜的热导率随温度的升高而增大;高频段下,热导率受频率影响大,误差大;在低频段下薄膜热导率与频率变化基本无关;基于电子与声子的局部热平衡运输方程假设,S i3N4薄膜的热导率具有极度非平衡性;通过比较电阻、热导率与温度的关系可以看出加热器的尺寸大小会影响薄膜的热导率,最佳加热器的宽度选用20μm左右。     

Study of reactive film heterostructures with several interfaces using the thermal desorption spectroscopy

The thermal desorption spectroscopy is used to study the interaction of the chemisorbed oxygen and carbon monoxide molecules with the nanometer-thick ytterbium films that are formed on the surfaces of silicon substrates at room temperature. In accordance with the results at a temperature of 300 K, the O₂ and CO molecules are chemisorbed on the surface of a metal film and do not exhibit dissociation to atoms under such conditions. The molecular dissociation is observed at higher temperatures. The liberated oxygen is involved in reactions with ytterbium and silicon that lead to the formation of complicated silicates, which dissociate at even higher temperatures.     

单晶硅纳米薄膜面向导热MD研究的探讨

本文分析了经典分子动力学(Molecular Dynamics)技术在模拟厚度在纳米量级的单晶硅薄膜平行于薄膜平面方向的热导率时出现的用难,指出精确计算薄膜表面附近处的原子运动状态对于单晶硅纳米薄膜面向热导率的分子动力学模拟具有重要意义,并在此基础上提出采用基于分子动力学和预处理共轭梯度法(Preconditioned conjugate Gradients)的Ab Initio方案模拟面向热导率。     

Reduction of phonon mean free path: From low-temperature physics to room temperature applications in thermoelectricity

It has been proposed for a long time now that the reduction of the thermal conductivity by reducing the phonon mean free path is one of the best way to improve the current performance of thermoelectrics. By measuring the thermal conductance and thermal conductivity of nanowires and thin films, we show different ways of increasing the phonon scattering from low-temperature up to room-temperature experiments. It is shown that playing with the geometry (constriction, periodic structures, nano-inclusions), from the ballistic to the diffusive limit, the phonon thermal transport can be severely altered in single crystalline semiconducting structures; the phonon mean free path is in consequence reduced. The diverse implications on thermoelectric properties will be eventually discussed.     

Thermal conductivity and interface thermal resistance of Si film on Si substrate determined by photothermal displacement interferometry

An in situ, noncontact, photothermal displacement interferometer for performing thermal diffusivity measurements on bulk and thin-film materials has been developed. Localized transient surface motion is generated through photothermoelastic coupling of a pulsed, heating laser beam to the sample under investigation. The maximum surface displacement is found to be linearly dependent on the laser power while the proportionality is a function of the thermal diffusivity. Both thin-film conductivity and film/substrate interface thermal resistance are derived from the measured, effective thermal conductivity by employing simple heat-flow analysis. Wedge-shaped Si films, vacuum deposited on single crystal Si wafers are studied with this technique. A sample with oxide layer removed by ion bombardment of the wafer surface prior to film deposition shows the same film conductivity as a sample film deposited on an as-cast wafer, while the uncleaned sample exhibits higher interface thermal resistance. It is found that the thin-film thermal conductivity is somewhat smaller than the bulk value. However, the existence of an interface thermal resistance, when combined with film thermal conductivity, can result in an effective thermal conductivity as low as two orders of magnitude lower than the bulk value.Currently supported by the LLE fellowship     

Mechanism for improvement in mechanical and thermal stability in dispersed phase polymer composites

We report substantial improvement in the mechanical stability, thermal stability, and conductivity of four series of ion-conducting dispersed phase composite polymer electrolytes (CPEs). Tensile strength of filler-dispersed composite films was ≥2 MPa in contrast to ~1 MPa for undispersed polymer–salt complex. Similarly, elongation at break has shown an increase by ~200–300% in the composite films. Filler-induced enhancement in thermal and mechanical stability has clearly been noticed. The improvement in the mechanical stability is also accompanied by a corresponding increase in electrical conductivity in the composite films by 1–2 orders of magnitude at lower (2 wt.%) of the filler loading. A mechanism for the improvement in mechanical stability has been proposed. The strength of the mechanism lies in evidenced polymer–filler interaction among the composite components. Suppression of thermal degradation and increased mechanical strength of the CPEs on filler addition has been explained on the basis of transient cross-linking of the polymeric segments and filler–polymer bridging effect.