A novel approach to thermal Analysis of Thin films

A novel instrument is described called the Thin film Analyser (TFA) which quantitatively measures changes in mechanical and rheological properties of drying films in-situ on a test panel. It is based around a simple force-sensing device, capable of carrying various probes, which can be positioned in anX-Y plane over the panel. Temperature control is achieved by means of a heating block under the sample. By imposing a thermal gradient along the block, measurements can be obtained at a series of temperatures in a single experiment. Several applications of the TFA to the drying of curable and latex-based coatings are discussed, as well as some more specialized uses. The TFA concept represents a novel approach to the thermal analysis of thin films.The authors gratefully acknowledge the design, engineering and software development work of the Instrument Group at ICI Paints, in particular John Hayton, Neil Burrows, Tony Evans and Ian Francis, who have now built three versions of the TFA.     

Chemical synthesis of p-type nanocrystalline copper selenide thin films for heterojunction solar cells

Nanocrystalline thin films of copper selenide have been grown on glass and tin doped-indium oxide substrates using chemical method. At ambient temperature, golden films have been synthesized and annealed at 200 °C for 1 h and were examined for their structural, surface morphological and optical properties by means of X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy and UV-vis spectrophotometry techniques, respectively. Cu_2−xSe phase was confirmed by XRD pattern and spherical grains of 30 ± 4 - 40 ± 4 nm in size aggregated over about 130 ± 10 nm islands were seen by SEM images. Effect of annealing on crystallinity improvement, band edge shift and photoelectrochemical performance (under 80 mW/cm² light intensity and in lithium iodide electrolyte) has been studied and reported. Observed p-type electrical conductivity in copper selenide thin films make it a suitable candidate for heterojunction solar cells.     

Characteristics of Ti0.97Co0.03O2:Sb0.01 dilute magnetic semiconducting thin films deposited at 500 °C by pulsed laser deposition

Epitaxial Ti_0.97Co_0.03O₂:Sb_0.01(TCO:Sb) films were deposited on R-Al₂O₃ (1 1 0 2) substrates at 500 °C in various deposition pressures by pulsed laser deposition. The solubility of cobalt within the films increases with decreasing deposition pressure at a deposition temperature of 500 °C. The TCO:Sb films deposited at 5×10⁻⁶ Torr exhibit a p-type anomalous Hall effect having a hole concentration of 6.1×10²²/cm³ at 300 K. On the other hand, films deposited at 4×10⁻⁴ Torr exhibits an n-type anomalous Hall effect having an electron concentration of about 1.1×10²¹/cm³. p- or n-type DMS characteristics depends on the change of the structure of TCO:Sb films and the solubility of Co is possible by controlling the deposition pressure.     

In‐line monitoring of UV photopolymerization with a quartz crystal resonator

An in‐line monitoring device using a quartz crystal resonator for thin film polymerization was proposed, and its performance has been evaluated by implementing in the UV polymerization of 2‐hydroxyethyl methacrylate with a photoinitiator of 1‐chloroanthraquinone. Because the variation of resonant resistance of the resonator is proportional to the square root of viscosity change that is closely related to the polymerization degree, the resistance can be used as a measure of the polymerization degree. The resistance measurements were compared with the outcome of instrumental analyses of polymerization degree using an FTIR spectrometer and a gel permeation chromatograph. The experimental results showed that the resistance measurements were consistent with the experimental outcome of the instrumental analyses, and this indicates the effectiveness of the proposed device. Owing to the simplicity and availability of the resonator system, its wide utilization in the monitoring of a variety of film polymerization processes, including photoresistor application, is expected. © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem 44: 2428–2439, 2006     

Differential AC-chip calorimeter for glass transition measurements in ultrathin films

A differential AC-chip calorimeter capable of measuring the step in heat capacity at the glass transition in nanometer-thin films is described. Because of the differential setup, pJ/K sensitivity is achieved. Heat capacity can be measured for sample masses below 1 ng in broad temperature range as needed for the study of the glass transition in nanometer-thin polymeric films. Relative accuracy is sufficient to investigate the changes in heat capacity as the step at the glass transition of polystyrene. The step is about 25% of the total heat capacity of polystyrene. The calorimeter allows for the frequency dependent measurement of complex heat capacity in the frequency range from 1 Hz to 1 kHz. The glass transition in thin polystyrene films (50–4 nm) was determined at well-defined experimental time scales. No thickness dependency of the glass transition temperature was observed within the error limits (±3 K)—neither at constant frequency (40 Hz) nor for the trace in the activation diagram (1 Hz–1 kHz). © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part B: Polym Phys 44: 2996–3005, 2006     

Preparation and characterization of mesoporous silica thin films from polyethoxysiloxanes

Tetraethoxysilane (TEOS) and polyethoxysiloxanes (PEOSs; prepared by the acid‐catalyzed hydrolytic polycondensation of TEOS) were subjected to the sol–gel process in the presence of cetyltrimethylammonium bromide (CTAB), respectively. The PEOSs with M_w 700–26,000, as prepared by sol–gel coating of TEOS and PEOS under various conditions, were used. Uniform and crack‐free thin films of thickness 276–613 nm were prepared by spin‐coating of a PEOS solution containing CTAB. When the coating films were sintered at 400 °C, the combustion of ethoxy groups and CTAB took place to provide porous silica thin films. The structure of the thin films was found to be dependent on the molecular weight of PEOS and the molar ratio of CTAB/Si: lamellar or hexagonal phase was observed for M_w less than 15,000 and for CTAB/Si molar ratios greater than 0.10. Honeycomb structures were observed for M_w less than 5000 and for CTAB/Si molar ratios of 0.15. The honeycomb structure was also observed by atomic force microscopy and transmission electron microscope. © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem 44: 2542–2550, 2006     

对薄层柱壳爆炸膨胀断裂过程的研究

 本文提出了一个用于描述动态破坏发展过程的损伤度函数。从这个损伤度函数出发,把材料特征性方程取为强化粘塑性本构方程形式,导出了薄层柱壳爆炸膨胀运动在两种近似下（恒定膨胀速度近似合恒定应变速率近似）断裂判据的解析表达式。结果分析表明,在上述条件下,存在着一个动态断裂“塑性峰”,在这个峰值条件的应变率下,柱壳出现贯穿断裂时刻的应变最大。以软钢为算例,本断裂判据可以比较好地解释Иванов和陈大年等给出的实验结果。这时,动态断裂“塑性峰”对应的应变率为4×10⁴ s^-1,相应的应变约为60%~80%。     

维生素B类药物在薄层原位的近红外付立叶变换表面增强拉曼光谱

维生素Ｂ类药物在薄层原位的近红外付立叶变换表面增强拉曼光谱汪瑗，于秉正张煦（首都师范大学分析测试中心北京１０００３７）（北京大学分析测试中心北京）关键词维生素Ｂ_１，维生素Ｂ_２，薄层色谱，表面增强拉曼散射，近红外付立叶变换拉曼光谱将薄层色谱（ＴＬＣ）...     

红外镜反射光谱的测试与解析

红外镜反射（infrared specular reflection，简称SR）光谱与被测样品和衬底的折射指数、吸收指数以及入射角有密切关系，往往由之产生畸变。要从红外镜反射技术测得的光谱处理得到人们熟悉的吸收光谱，需要经过较复杂的计算机数学处理。本文通过几个比较特殊的镜反射例子，以说明镜反射光谱的测试和解析必须注意多种影响因素。     

溶液酸度和反应温度对CaMoO4薄膜电化学制备的影响

本工作研究了恒电流电化学技术制备CaMoO₄薄膜工艺中，溶液酸度和反应温度对薄膜形成的影响。结果表明，酸度会影响薄膜的生长时间和光致发光特性，在较低酸度沉积薄膜时，容易造成薄膜的团簇生长和不确定相的形成；适当升高反应温度会加快晶粒的生长、提高薄膜的纯度、增加薄膜发射光谱的相对强度。在CaMoO₄薄膜电化学制备工艺中，溶液pH值控制在12.0附近和反应温度控制在60 ℃的左右比较好。