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.     

Morphological and electrical properties of SrTiO_3/TiO_2/SrTiO_3 sandwich structures prepared by plasma sputtering

SrTiO_3(STO) and TiO_2 are insulating materials with large dielectric constants and opposite signs of the quadratic coefficient of voltage(α). Insertion of a TiO_2 thin film between STO layers increases the linearity of the capacitance in response to an applied voltage, to meet the increasing demand of large-capacitance-density dynamic random access memory capacitors. Both STO and TiO_2 suffer from the problem of high leakage current owing to their almost equivalent and low bandgap energies. To overcome this, the thickness of the thin TiO_2 film sandwiched between the STO films was varied. A magnetron sputtering system equipped with radio frequency and direct current power supply was employed for depositing the thin films. Ti N was deposited as the top and bottom metal electrodes to form a metal–insulator metal(MIM) structure,which exhibited a very large linear capacitance density of 21 fF/um~2 that decreased by increasing the thickness of the TiO_2 film. The leakage current decreased with an increase in the thickness of TiO_2, and for a 27-nm-thick film, the measured leakage current was 2.0 × 10~(-10) A. X-ray diffraction and Raman spectroscopy revealed that Ti N, STO, and TiO_2 films are crystalline and TiO_2 has a dominant anatese phase structure.     

The effects of post-thermal annealing on the optical parameters of indium-doped ZnO thin films

Indium-doped ZnO thin films are deposited on quartz glass slides by RF magnetron sputtering at ambient temper- ature. The as-deposited films are annealed at different temperatures from 400 C to 800 C in air for 1 h. Transmittance spectra are used to determine the optical parameters and the thicknesses of the films before and after annealing using a nonlinear programming method, and the effects of the annealing temperatures on the optical parameters and the thickness are investigated. The optical band gap is determined from the absorption coefficient. The calculated results show that the film thickness and optical parameters both increase first and then decrease with increasing annealing temperature from 400 C to 800 C. The band gap of the as-deposited ZnO:In thin film is 3.28 eV, and it decreases to 3.17 eV after annealing at 400 C. Then the band gap increases from 3.17 eV to 3.23 eV with increasing annealing temperature from 400 C to 800 C.     

Nanostructure and thermal-optical properties of vanadium dioxide thin films

A novel nanopolycrystalline structure of vanadium dioxide thin films is deposited on silicon or fused silica substrates by reactive ion sputtering and followed by an annealing. The characteristic analysis shows that the films have a columnar nanostructure with an average grain of 8 nm. The resistivities as a function of ambient temperatures tested by four-point probes for as-deposited films present that the transition temperature for nanostructure of vanadium dioxide films is near 35 ℃ which lowers about 33 ℃ in comparison with the transition temperature at 68 ℃ in its microstructure.     

Preparation and modification of VO_2 thin film on R-sapphire substrate by rapid thermal process

The VO2 thin film with high performance of metal-insulator transition （MIT） is prepared on R-sapphire substrate for the first time by magnetron sputtering with rapid thermal process （RTP）. The electrical characteristic and THz transmittance of MIT in VO2 film are studied by four-point probe method and THz time domain spectrum （THz-TDS）. X-ray diffraction （XRD）, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy （XPS）, atomic force microscopy （AFM）, and search engine marketing （SEM） are employed to analyze the crystalline structure, valence state, surface morphology of the film. Results indicate that the properties of VO2 film which is oxidized from the metal vanadium film in oxygen atmosphere are improved with a follow- up RTP modification in nitrogen atmosphere. The crystallization and components of VO2 film are improved and the film becomes compact and uniform. A better phase transition performance is shown that the resistance changes nearly 3 orders of magnitude with a 2-~C hysteresis width and the THz transmittances are reduced by 64% and 60% in thermal and optical excitation respectively.     

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.     

Aluminium phthalocyanine chloride thin films for temperature sensing

This study presents the fabrication and temperature sensing properties of sensors based on aluminium phthalocyanine chloride(AlPcCl)thin films.To fabricate the sensors,50-nm-thick electrodes with 50-μm gaps between them are deposited on glass substrates.AlPcCl thin films with thickness of 50–100 nm are deposited in the gap between electrodes by thermal evaporation.The resistance of the sensors decreases with increasing thickness and the annealing at 100℃ results in an increase in the initial resistance of sensors up to 24%.The sensing mechanism is based on the change in resistance with temperature.For temperature varying from 25℃ to 80℃,the change in resistance is up to 60%.Simulation is carried out and results obtained coincide with experimental data with an error of±1%.     

Effects of doping concentration on properties of Mn-doped ZnO thin films

This paper reports that the radio frequency magnetron sputtering is used to fabricate ZnO and Mn-doped ZnO thin films on glass substrates at 500~°C. The Mn-doped ZnO thin films present wurtzite structure of ZnO and have a smoother surface, better conductivity but no ferromagnetism. The x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy results show that the binding energy of Mn_2p3 / 2 increases with increasing Mn content slightly, and the state of Mn in the Mn-doped ZnO thin films is divalent. The chemisorbed oxygen in the Mn-doped ZnO thin films increases with increasing Mn doping concentration. The photoluminescence spectra of ZnO and Mn-doped ZnO thin films have a similar ultraviolet emission. The yellow green emissions of 4~wt.% and 10~wt.% Mn-doped thin films are quenched, whereas the yellow green emission occurs because of abundant oxygen vacancies in the Mn-doped ZnO thin films after 20~wt.% Mn doping. Compared with pure ZnO thin film, the bandgap of the Mn-doped ZnO thin films increases with increasing Mn content.     

Switching Properties and Phase Transition Mechanism of Mo^6＋—Doped Vanadium Dioxide Thin Films

Using V2O3 and MoO3 powders as precursors,a novel preparation method,i.e.,the so-called inorganic solgel,is developed to synthesize Mo^6 -doped vanadium dioxide(VO2) thin films.The structure,valence state,phase transition temperature and magnitude of resistivity change are characterized by x-ray diffraction,x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy and the four-point equipment.The results show that the main chemical composition of doped thin films was VO2,the sturcture of MoO3 in doped thin films did not change,and the phase transition temperature of doped thin films was obviously lowered with the increasing MoO3 doped concentration,but the magnitude of resistivity change was also decreased.However.so long as MoO3 doped concentration was not more than 5wt%.,the magnitude of resistivity change of doped thin films still reached more 2 orders.The analysis show that MoO3 dissolved in crystal structure of VO2 formed the donor defect MOv^x and then reduced the forbidden band width,which lowered the phase transition temperature,Consequently it was widened applications of the VO2 thin films.     

Spin-glass-like behaviour and positive magnetoresistance in oxygen deficient La2/3Ca1/3MnO3-δ thin films

The magnetism and magnetoresistance (MR) in a series of oxygen-deficient La_{2/3}Ca_{1/3}MnO_{3-δ} (LCMO) thin films have been investigated. Compared with the films with stoichiometric oxygen concentration, the oxygen-deficient LCMO thin films show a spin-glass-like behaviour at low temperatures, and a positive MR effect above the metal－insulator transition temperature. The mechanism of such unusual phenomena is discussed.     

Emergent reversible giant electroresistance in spacially confined La_(0.325)Pr_(0.3)Ca_(0.375)MnO_3 wires

Micro-patterning is considered to be a promising way to analyze phase-separated manganites. We investigate resistance in micro-patterned La0.325Pr0.3Ca0.375MnO3 wires with width of 10 μm, which is comparable to the phase separation scale in this material. A reentrant of insulating state at the metal–insulator temperature Tp is observed and a giant resistance change of over 90% driven by electric field is achieved by suppression of this insulating state. This resistance change is mostly reversible. The I–V characteristics are measured in order to analyze the origin of the giant electroresistance and two possible explanations are proposed.     

Effects of high temperature rapid thermal annealing on Ge films grown on Si（001） substrate

Tensile strain,crystal quality,and surface morphology of 500 nm thick Ge films were improved after rapid thermal annealing at 900 C for a short period(20 s).The films were grown on Si(001)substrates by ultra-high vacuum chemical vapor deposition.These improvements are attributed to relaxation and defect annihilation in the Ge films.However,after prolonged(20 s)rapid thermal annealing,tensile strain and crystal quality degenerated.This phenomenon results from intensive Si–Ge mixing at high temperature.     

Effect of high temperature band gap of GaN annealing on strain and nanoparticles

<正>Black-coloured GaN nanoparticles with an average grain size of 50 nm have been obtained by annealing GaN nanoparticles under flowing nitrogen at 1200℃for 30 min.XRD measurement result indicates an increase in the lattice parameter of the GaN nanoparticles annealed at 1200℃,and HRTEM image shows that the increase cannot be ascribed to other ions in the interstitial positions.If the as-synthesised GaN nanoparticles at 950℃are regarded as standard,the thermal expansion changes nonlinearly with temperature and is anisotropic;the expansion below 1000℃is smaller than that above 1000℃.This study provides an experimental demonstration for selecting the proper annealing temperature of GaN.In addition,a large blueshift in optical bandgap of the annealed GaN nanoparticles at 1200℃is observed,which can be ascribed to the dominant transitions from the C（Γ₇） with the peak energy at 3.532 eV.     

Improved Ligand-Field Theoretical Calculations of R-Line Thermal Broadenings of NIgO：Cr^3＋ and MgO：V^2＋

With the values of parameters obtained from improved ligand-field theory, by taking into account all the irreducible representations and their components in EPI as well as all the levels and the admixtures of basic wavefunctions within d^3 electronic configuration, the R-line thermal broadenings （TB） of both MgO：Cr^3＋ and MgO：V^2＋ have microscopic-theoretically been calculated, The results are in very good agreement with the experimental data. It is found that the R-line TB of MgO：Cr^3＋ or MgO：V^2＋ comes from the first-order term of EPI. The elastic Raman scattering of acoustic phonons plays a dominant role in R-line TB of MgO：Cr^3＋ or MgO：V^2＋.     

Energy Spectrum,g Factors,Strain-Induced Level-Splittings and R-Line Thermal Shift of MgO：V^2＋＋

Traditional ligand-field theory has to be improved by taking into account both pure electronic contribution and electron-phonon interaction one （including lattice-vibrational relaxation energy）. By means of improved ligand-field theory, the R line, t^322T1 and t^322T2 lines, t^22（^3T1）e^4T2, t^22（^3T1）e^4T1 and t2e^2（^4A2）4T1 bands, g factors of t^32 ^4A2 and t32E, four strain-induced level-splittings and R-line thermal shift of MgO：V^2＋ have been calculated. The results are in very good agreement with the experimental data. It is found that for MgO：V^2＋, the contributions due to electronphonon interaction （EPI） come from the first-order term; the contributions from the second-order and higher terms are insignificant. In thermal shift of R line of MgO：V^2＋, the temperature-dependent contribution due to EPI is dominant. The results obtained in this work may be used in theoretical calculations of other effects of EPI.     

Application of thermal stress model to paint removal by Q-switched Nd:YAG laser

In this paper, we demonstrate that thermal stress is the main mechanism in the process of paint removal by Q-switched Nd：YAG laser （λ = 1064 nm, τ = 10 ns）. A theoretical model ofpaint removal by short-pulse laser is established from the perspective of thermal stress. Thermal stress is generated by thermal expansion, and the temperatures of different samples are calculated according to the one-dimensional （1D） heat conduction equation. The theoretical cleaning threshold can be obtained by comparing thermal stress with the adhesion of paint, and the theoretical damage threshold is obtained by calculating the temperature. Moreover, the theoretical calculations are verified by experimental results. It is shown that the thermal stress model of the laser cleaning is very useful to choose the appropriate laser fluence in the practical applications of paint removal by Q-switched Nd： YAG laser because our model can validly balance the efficiency of laser cleaning and the safety of the substrate.     

Thermal analysis for the high duty cycle PIMS accelerator

To develop the high power proton linear accelerator for the Accelerator Driven System（ADS） program,the preliminary design of the Pi mode accelerating structure（PIMS） has been carried out.It is estimated that PIMS would heat up to 80 for low duty cycle（0.1%） without water-cooling,which is not acceptable thus water-cooling is demanded.The structure stability for the high duty cycle or even for CW operation is crucially important for the ADS application.Therefore,thermal analysis with water-cooling for a high duty accelerator in our ADS research is performed to control the frequency shift caused by a temperature rise.     

Modeling process of the neutral beam re-ionization loss

The basic process of re-ionization loss was studied.In the drift duct there are three processes leading to re-ionization loss：the collision of neutral beam particles with the molecules of background gas,similar collisions with released molecules from the inner wall of the drift duct and the ferret-collisions among particles with different energy of the neutral beam.Mathematical models have been developed and taking EAST-NBI parameters as an example,the re-ionization loss was obtained within these models.The result indicated that in the early stage of the neutral beam injector operation the released gas was quite abundant.The amount of re-ionization loss owing to the released gas can be as high as 60%.In the case of a long-time operation of the neutral beam injector,the total re-ionization loss decreases from 13.7% to 5.7%.Then the reionization loss originating mainly from the collisions between particles of the neutral beam and the background molecules is dominant,covering about 92% of the total re-ionization loss.The drift duct pressure was the decisive factor for neutral beam re-ionization loss.     

Influences of anionic and cationic dopants on the morphology and optical properties of PbS nanostructures

Selenium and zinc are used as anionic and cationic dopant elements to dope PbS nanostructures. The undoped and doped PbS nanostructures are grown using a thermal evaporation method. Scanning electron microscopy （SEM） results show similar morphologies for the undoped and doped PbS nanostructures. X-ray diffraction （XRD） patterns of three sets of the nanostructures indicate that these nanostructures each have a PbS structure with a cubic phase. Evidence of dopant incorporation is demonstrated by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy （XPS）. Raman spectra of the synthesized samples con- firm the XRD results and indicate five Raman active modes, which relate to the PbS cubic phase for all the nanostructures. Room temperature photoluminescence （PL） and UV-Vis spectrometers are used to study optical properties of the undoped and doped PbS nanostructures. Optical characterization shows that emission and absorption peaks are in the infrared （IR） region of the electromagnetic spectrum for all PbS nanostructures. In addition, the optical studies of the doped PbS nanos- tructures reveal that the band gap of the Se-doped PbS is smaller, and the band gap of the Zn-doped PbS is bigger than the band gap of the undoped PbS nanostructures.