Comparative analysis of the growth of SmBa2Cu3O7-x thin films by off-axis pulsed laser deposition on different substrates

The growth of SmBa₂Cu₃O_7-x superconducting thin films by off-axis pulsed laser deposition on different substrates (SrTiO₃, MgO, LaAlO₃, and YSZ) has been analyzed by means of resistance vs. temperature and X-ray diffraction measurements. The onset and width of the resistive transition depend on the substrate type and are in the ranges (89-80) K and (1-9) K, respectively. X-ray diffraction spectra show only the 00l reflections, from which the lattice parameter c can be estimated. Moreover, the rocking curves of the 005 peaks give an indication of the films' crystallinity and oxygen stoichiometry.     

Metal--Insulator Transition in Ca-Doped Sr14-xCaxCu24O41 Systems Probed by Thermopower Measurements

High quality Sr14-xCaxCu24O41 single-crystals are successfully grown by floating-zone technique, and the trans- port properties are studied. The temperature dependence of resistivity along the c-axis direction is semiconductor- like for x ≤ 10 and it can be fitted by the thermal activation equation p = po exp（ △ /kBT） with kB being the Boltzmann constant and A the activation energy. A break in the slope of thermopower （S） versus the inverse temperature （1 IT） corresponding to the formation of charge-density waves （CD W） is first observed for x ≤ 6. The temperature dependence of thermopower becomes metallic for x ≥ 8 while the resistivity is still semiconductorlike. We propose that the insulation behaviour of the resistivity in the Ca doping range 8 ≤ x ≤ 11 could result from the localization of the charge carriers due to the disorder induced by Ca doping and a revised electronic phase diagram is derived based on our observations.     

Robust Low Voltage Program-Erasable Cobalt-Nanocrystal Memory Capacitors with Multistacked Al2O3/HfO2/Al2O3 Tunnel Barrier

A n atomic-layer-deposited Al2O3/HfO2/Al2O3 （A/H/A） tunnel barrier is in vestigated for Co nanocrystal memory capacitors. Compared to a single Al2O3 tunnel barrier, the A/H/A barrier can significantly increase the hysteresis window, i.e., an increase by 9 V for ±12 V sweep range. This is attributed to a marked decrease in the energy barriers of charge injections for the A/H/A tunnel barrier. Further, the Co-nanocrystal memory capacitor with the A/H/A tunnel barrier exhibits a memory window as large as 4.1 V for 100 μs program/erase at a low voltage of ±7 V, which is due to fast charge injection rates, i.e., about 2.4× 10^16 cm^-2 s^-1 for electrons and 1.9× 1016 cm^-2 s^-1 for holes.     

Long-Lasting Phosphorescence Properties of Pyrochlore La2Ti2O7：Pr^3＋ Phosphor

The La2Ti2O7：Pr^3＋, which emits red color luminescence upon UV light excitation, is prepared by the conventional high-temperature solid-state method and its luminescent properties are systematically investigated. X-ray diffraction, photoluminescence, afterglow emission spectra and long-lasting phosphorescence （LLP） decay curves are used to characterize this phosphor. After irradiation by a 290-nm UV light for 3 rain, the Pr^3＋-doped La2Ti2O7 phosphor emits intense red emitting afterglow from the ^1D2 →^ 3H4 transitions, and its afterglow can be seen with the naked eye in the dark clearly for more than 1 h after removal of the excitation source. The afterglow decay curve of the Pr^3＋-doped La2Ti2O7 phosphor contains a fast decay component and another slow decay one. The possible mechanism of this red light emitting LLP phosphor is also discussed based on the experimental results.     

Memory Effect of Metal--Insulator--Silicon Capacitors with SiO2/HfO2/Al2O3 Dielectrics

Charge trapping characteristics of the metal-insulator-silicon （MIS） capacitors with Si02/HfO2//A12O3 stacked dielectrics are investigated for memory applications＇. A capacitance-voltage hysteresis memory window as large as 7.3 V is achieved for the gate voltage sweeping of ±12 V, and a fiat-band voltage shift of 1.5 V is observed in terms of programming under 5 V and I ms. Furthermore, the time- and voltage-dependent charge trapping characteristics are also demonstrated, the former is related to charge trapping saturation and the latter is ascribed to variable tunnelling barriers for electron injecting and discharging under different voltages.     

Influences of Bi2O3/V2O5 Additives on the Microstructure and Magnetic Properties of Lithium Ferrite

Lithium ferrite materials with different concentrations of Bi2O3 and V2O5 additives are prepared by the conventional ceramic technique. The x-ray diffraction analysis proves that the additives do not affect the final crystal phase of the lithium ferrite in our testing range. Both Bi2O3 and V2O5 additives could promote densification and lower sintering temperature of the lithium ferrite. The average grain size first increases, and then gradually decreases with the Bi2O3 content. The maximal grain size appears with 0.25 wt% Bi2O3. The average grain size first increases, and then is kept almost unchanged with the V2O5 content. The maximal average grain size of the samples with V2O5 additive is much smaller than that of the samples with Bi2O3 additive. Furthermore, the V2O5 additive more easily enters the crystal lattice of the lithium ferrite than the Bi2O3 additive. These characteristics evidently affect the magnetic properties, such as saturation flux density, ratio of remanence Br to saturation flux density Bs, and coercive force of the lithium ferrite. The mechanisms involved are discussed.     

Acceptor Concentration Effects on Photovoltaic Response in the La1-xSrxMnO3/SrNbyTi1-yO3 Heterojunction

Photovoltaic response in the heterojunction of La1-x SrxMnO3/SrNby Ti1-yO3 （LSMO/SNTO） is analyzed theoretically based on the drift-diffusion model. It is found that the decrease of acceptor concentration in the La1-xSrxMnO3 layer of hereto junction can increase the peak value of photovoltaic signal and the speed of photovoltaic response, whereas the changing of donor concentration in the SrNby Ti1-yO3 layer has no such evident effect. Furthermore, the result also indicates that the modulation of Sr doping in La1-xSrxMnO3 is an effective method to accommodate the sensitivity and the speed of photovoltaic response for LSMO/SNTO photoelectric devices.     

Effects of Interfacial Polarization on Voltage Tunability of Pb(Fe1/2Nb1/2)1-xTixO3 Single Crystals

The voltage tunability of Pb(Fe_1/2Nb_1/2)_1-xTi_xO₃ single crystals is investigated at a low electric field (<130 V/cm) in a low frequency range (<1 MHz). The results show that the capacitance is strongly suppressed by the applied dc biases for both the rhombohedral sample and the tetragonal sample. A negative voltage tunability is only detected in the tetragonal sample. The origin of the giant tunability and the negative tunability is discussed based on the multipolarization-mechanism model and the equivalent circuit model, respectively. It is ascribed to the interfacial polarization at the interface of electrode/sample.     

Microwave Response of MgB2/A12O3 Superconducting Thin Films by Microstrip Resonator Technique

Double-sided superconducting MgB2 thin films are deposited onto c-A120a substrates by the hybrid physical chemical vapour deposition method. The microwave response of MgB2/A12O3 is investigated by microstrip resonator technique. A grain-size model is introduced to the theory of microstrip resonators to analyse microwave properties of the films. We obtain effective penetration depth of the films at OK （λe0 = 463nm） and surface resistance （R8 = 1.52 mΩ at 11 K and 8. 73 GHz） by analysing the resonant frequency and unload quality factor of the microstrip resonator, which suggests that the impurities and disorders of grain boundaries of MgB2/A12 Oa result in increasing penetration depth and surface resistance of the films.     

Photoluminescence Property of Co3O4 Nanowires

Co3O4 nanowire arrays are fabricated by electrodeposition with following heat-treatment in atmosphere ambient. Photoluminescence is investigated at 295K. In the experiment, when increasing the excitation light wavelength from 260 nm to 360 nm, two kinds of emissions corresponding to the increasing excitation light wavelength are observed. One of them alters the excited emission position, another keeps its emission position. The distinct behaviour of excited emissions related to the increasing excitation wavelength indicates that the mechanism of them must be different. According to the experimental comparison and first-principle calculation, the two kinds of emissions are discussed.     

Femtosecond Third-Order Optical Nonlinearity of Au：Bi203 Nanocomposite Films

Ultrafast third-order optical nonlinearities of the as-deposited and annealed Au：Bi2O3 nanocomposite films deposited by magnetron cosputtering are investigated by using femtosecond time-resolved optical Kerr effect （OKE） and pump probe techniques. The third-order optical nonlinear susceptibility is estimated to be 2.6Ф×10^- 10 esu and 1.8 × 10.9 esu at wavelength of 800nm, for the as-deposited and the annealed film, respectively. The OKE signal of the as-deposited film is nearly temporally symmetrical with a peak centred at zero delay time, which indicates the dominant contribution from intraband transition of conduction electrons. For the annealed film, the existence of a decay process in OKE signal implies the important contribution of hot electrons. These characteristics are in agreement with the hot electron dynamics observed in pump probe measurement.     

Improvement of Atomic-Layer-Deposited Al2O3/GaAs Interface Property by Sulfuration and NH3 Thermal Nitridation

Fermi level pinning at the interface between high-h gate dielectric and GaAs induced by unstable native oxides is a major obstacle for high performance GaAs-based metal-oxide-semiconductor （MOS） devices. We demonstrate the improved Al2O3/GaAs interracial characteristics by （NH4）2S immersion and NH3 thermal pretreatment prior to A1203 deposition. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy （XPS） analysis confirms that sulfuration of GaAs surface by （NH4 ）2S solution can effectively reduce As-O bonds while Ga-O bonds and elemental As still exist at Al2O3 /GaAs interface. However, it is found that N incorporation during the further thermal nitridation on sulfurated GaAs can effectively suppress the native oxides and elemental As in the sequent deposition of Al2O3. Atomic force microscopy （AFM） shows that the further thermal nitridation on sulfurated GaAs surface can also improve the surface roughness.     

Structural and electrical properties of La0.5Sr0.5CoO3 films on SrTiO3 and porous a-Al2O3 substrates

Films of La_0.5Sr_0.5CoO₃ (LSCO) have been deposited on specially treated TiO₂-terminated (001) SrTiO₃ substrate surfaces and on macroporous polycrystalline !-Al₂O₃ substrates, having a mean pore diameter of 80 nm, by pulsed laser deposition. The films deposited on SrTiO₃ are good conducting, (001) textured, and exceptionally smooth (1-2 Å for 100 nm thick films). LSCO films deposited on porous !-Al₂O₃ are polycrystalline and exhibit good crystallographic and electrical properties despite the large substrate roughness and the differences in lattice parameters and crystal structure between the film and the substrate. Different growth modes have been observed on the porous !-Al₂O₃ substrates depending on the oxygen pressure during film deposition. Films grown at an oxygen pressure of 10^-1 mbar are macroporous, whereas films grown at 10^-2 mbar completely cover the substrate pores. In the latter case, strain effects lead to film cracking.     

Nano-sized Domain Wall Pinning Effects in Dilute Cu-Doped Perovskite LaMn1-xCuxO3 Manganites

Magnetic properties of Cu-doped LaMn1-x Cux O3 （x =0.05-0.30） systems are carefully studied in the temperature range of 2-300K. A visible unexpected drop is observed in the ac susceptibility and the zero-field cooled dc magnetization curves for the dilute x 〈0.10 near 100K, which depends on the measuring frequency and magnetic field. Measurements on frequency dependence of ac susceptibility, observation of magnetic relaxation, and the existence of critical field indicate that the anomaly can be attributed to the domain wall pinning effects. This is directly proven by the results of ball milled nano-sized powder counterparts compared with the bulk materials.     

Ferroelectric Properties of Bi3.25La0.75Ti3O12 Thin Films Crystallized inDifferent N2/O2 Ambients

Bi3.25La0.75 Ti3O12 （BLT） ferroelectric thin films are deposited by sol-gel method and annealed for crystallizaion in total l eccm N2/02 mixed gas with various ratio at 750℃ for 30rain. The effect of crystallization ambient on the structural and ferroelectric properties of the BLT films is studied. The growth direction and grain size of BLT film are revealed to affect ferroeleetric properties. Alter the BLT film is annealed in 20%O2, the largest P~ value is obtained, which is ascribed to an increase of random orientation and large grain size. The fatigue property is improved with the concentration of oxygen in the ambient increasing, which is ascribed to annealing in the ambient with high concentrated oxygen adequately decreasing the defects related to lack of oxygen.