Formation of nanogaps in electrochemically deposited films of metals by the stress relaxation method

Formation of a set of planar electrodes spaced about 10 nm apart by electrochemical “healing” of gaps 50 to 100 nm wide in half-finished electrodes is described. The method consists in complete healing of the gap followed by the creation of a discontinuity at the joint of the electrodes via relaxation of stresses arising in the course of film deposition.     

Gap detection as a measure of electrode interaction in cochlear implants.

Gap detection thresholds were measured as an indication of the amount of interaction between electrodes in a cochlear implant. The hypothesis in this study was as follows: when the two stimuli that bound the gap stimulate the same electrode, and thus the same neural population, the gap detection threshold will be short. As two stimuli are presented to two electrodes that are more widely separated, the amount of neural overlap of the two stimuli decreases, the stimuli sound more dissimilar, and the gap thresholds increase. Gap detection thresholds can thus be used to infer the amount of overlap in neural populations stimulated by two electrodes. Three users of the Nucleus cochlear implant participated in this study. Gap detection thresholds were measured as a function of the distance between the two electrode pairs and as a function of the spacing between the two electrodes of a bipolar pair (i.e., using different modes of stimulation). The results indicate that measuring gap detection thresholds may provide an estimate of the amount of electrode interaction. Gap detection thresholds were a function of the physical separation of the electrode pairs used for the two stimuli that bound the gap. Lower gap thresholds were observed when the two electrode pairs were closely spaced, and gap thresholds increased as the separation increased, resulting in a "psychophysical tuning curve" as a function of electrode separation. The sharpness of tuning varied across subjects, and for the three subjects in this study, the tuning was generally sharper for the subjects with better speech recognition. The data also indicate that increasing the separation between active and reference electrodes has limited effect on spatial selectivity (or tuning) as measured perceptually.     

Impedance spectra of thin permalloy films with a nanoisland structure

The behavior of the impedance spectra of island permalloy films prepared through vacuum evaporation onto optically polished glass-ceramic substrates has been investigated in the frequency range from 0.0001 to 100 MHz. A resistor-capacitor model of the films has been developed and the model parameters, for which there is a good agreement with experimental data on the frequency dependences of the real and imaginary components of the impedance, have been determined. The specific features in the behavior of the electrical and physical characteristics with variations in the thickness of the sample and the gap between the measuring electrodes have been investigated. It has been found that the relative permittivity of the films under investigation reaches values ɛ ∼ 10⁷–10⁸. The structural relaxation times have been calculated.     

Electroplating silver tetracyanoquinodimethane between gold micro-gap electrodes for the fabrication of coplanar devices, a new way to integrate material synthesis and devices fabrication within one step

In this paper we propose a method for the integration of the synthesis of silver-tetracyanoquinodimethane (AgTCNQ) and the fabrication of its devices within one step. The method was performed by electroplating Ag between gold coplanar micro-gap electrodes in tetracyanoquinodimethane (TCNQ) solution. As soon as silver was electrochemically dissolved in the TCNQ solution, it immediately reacted with TCNQ to form AgTCNQ and then deposited between Au gap electrodes. With the continuing of the reaction, the Au micro-gap electrodes were connected by AgTCNQ to form Au/AgTCNQ/Au coplanar gap devices. With this electroplating technique, series gap devices of AgTCNQ were fabricated, and the devices exhibited switching phenomena with good reproducibility. This method integrated the synthesis of AgTCNQ and the fabrication of its devices within a single step, and should be also inspirable for other charge transfer complexes. PACS 81.05.Hd; 81.20.Ka; 82.45.Aa; 82.45.Qr     

Simulation on the response of new phosphate glass RPC for <Emphasis Type="Italic">γ</Emphasis>-rays and e<Superscript>+</Superscript>/e<Superscript>−</Superscript> particles using GEANT3

The influence of phosphate glass electrode in the configuration of resistive plate chamber has been studied using GEANT3.21 Monte Carlo code. Bakelite electrodes were replaced by phosphate glass electrodes, as these glass materials have low bulk resistivity, are portable and easy to handle. These types of RPCs in their compact form of all materials are suitable for high rate background environment. We find that these new types of RPCs give little higher response to γ-rays and e⁺/e⁻ particles, both for single-and double gap RPCs. The results of simulation are discussed.      

Conditions for the production of a single conducting nanostructure by electroforming

The process of electroforming (the production of a carboniferous conducting medium when the current flows through an organic material under a high electric field) in open sandwichlike structures with an insulating gap several tens of nanometers in width is considered. It is shown experimentally that there are factors that both favor (external ballast resistor) and prevent (local spreading resistance and the presence of the initial conductivity in the insulating gap) the production of a single conducting element between the electrodes. A simple model of the process in terms of the equivalent electric circuit is proposed. The model helps to find the trade-off between these factors and to construct an I-V diagram, which exhibits a region within which a single conducting nanostructure can be electroformed. An expression that relates the minimum permissible resistance of the nanostructure to its geometric parameters is derived.     

γ-irradiation effect on transparent conducting ZnO:Ga films

Transparent and conducting pure and Ga-doped ZnO films prepared by e-beam evaporation in vacuum were irradiated at room temperature by Co⁶⁰ radiation source with the γ-photon average energy of 1.25 MeV and with different doses up to ∼600 kGy. The energy band gap E _g, electrical resistivity, carrier density as well as the structure parameters of pure and doped ZnO films versus the impurity content and γ-doses were determined in order to estimate the radiation-induced degradation effect on ZnO-based films used as transparent electrodes for electro-optical device applications.     

Anomalous electrons in vacuum diodes

The mechanism of production of electrons with an “anomalous” energy in the spectrum of high-power nanosecond electron bunches is investigated. Spherically symmetric propagation of the bunch between spherical electrodes in vacuum diodes with a large potential difference is considered. The results are compared with the earlier results on 1D propagation of the bunch between spherical electrodes.     

Asymmetric passage of current through a laser-produced plasma plume

The observation of the asymmetric passage of current in a plasma interrupter under certain conditions is reported. The effect can be attributed to different temperatures of the electrodes for the laser production of plasma in the interrupter. Zh. Tekh. Fiz. 69, 77–79 (March 1999)     

Fabrication of a carbon nanotube device using a patterned electrode and a local electric field

Suspensions of carbon nanotubes (CNTs) and organic solvent were dropped onto a substrate which had patterned electrodes while applying a DC voltage between the electrodes. Both multiwall and single-wall (SW) CNTs were purified from the mixture of CNTs and the undesirable particles of carbon when the solvent dichloromethane was used at high temperature. It is found that a SW CNT bridges the gap of the electrodes. This enables us to fabricate CNT devices at a controlled position.     

Generation of cold electrons in the downstream region of a microwave plasma source with near boundary resonances for production of negative ions

A microwave driven multicusp plasma based volume negative ion source equipped with a magnetic filter is developed. Instead of employing any electrodes or current carrying filaments, microwaves of frequency 2.45 GHz is used to generate plasma by resonance heating mechanisms namely the electron cyclotron resonance (ECR) and upper hybrid resonances (UHR), occurring near the boundary plasma layers. The principal process of negative ion production in hydrogen is dissociative attachment of low energy (0.5–1.0 eV) electrons to vibrationally excited neutral molecules generated from high energy (15–20 eV) electron impact. The source therefore necessitates two distinct spatial regions (a) production and (b) attachment chambers; which would contain electrons with optimum cross section for the aforementioned processes. A biased grid after the magnetic filter further helps to lower down the electron temperature to ≤1 eV which is favorable for the dissociative attachment process.     

High-frequency susceptibility of a multilayered ferromagnetic system with two-dimensional inhomogeneities

This paper reports on the results of the investigation of the high-frequency susceptibility of a layered ferromagnetic structure in which, apart from a periodic change in the magnetic anisotropy parameter from layer to layer, this parameter varies along layers according to a random law (the superlattice with two-dimensional phase inhomogeneities). The evolution of the frequency dependence of the imaginary part of the averaged Green’s function in the range of the energy gap (band gap) in the spectrum of waves propagating along the superlattice axis due to the change in the relative root-mean-square fluctuations of the phase γ2 has been studied at the boundaries of the odd Brillouin zones. It has been found that, for all odd Brillouin zones, the imaginary part of the Green’s function exhibits a universal behavior: the peak corresponding to the edge of the band gap with a lower frequency remains unchanged, and the peak corresponding to the edge of the band gap with a higher frequency is smoothed with an increase in the quantity γ₂. These effects, which were initially revealed at the boundary of the first Brillouin zone of the sinusoidal superlattice, have been explained, as before, by the specific features of the energy conservation laws for the incident and scattered waves in the lattice with two-dimensional inhomogeneities. It has been demonstrated that an increase in the Brillouin zone number leads to a decrease in the value of γ₂ at which the peak at the edge of the band gap with a higher frequency disappears.     

Electrical and optical emission measurements of a capillary dielectric barrier discharge

We report a capillary dielectric barrier discharge (Cap-DBD) plasma operated in atmospheric pressure air. The plasma reactor consists of metal wire electrodes inside quartz capillary tubes powered with a low kilohertz frequency AC high voltage power supply. Various reactor geometries (planar, 3-D multilayer, and circular) with wall-to-wall separation ranging from zero up to 500 micron were investigated. For the electrical and spectral measurements, three reactors, each with six tubes, six inches in length, were assembled with gap widths of 500 micron, 225 micron, and 0 micron (i.e. tubes touching). The discharges appear homogenous across the whole device at separations below 225 micron and turned into filamentary discharges at larger gap spaces. The operating voltage was generally around 3–4 kV (rms). The power consumption by the Cap-DBD was calculated using voltage/charge Lissajous figures with observed powers of a few watts to a maximum of about 14 W for the reactor with no gap spacing. Further studies of optical emission spectroscopy (OES) were employed to evaluate the reactive species generated in the microplasma source. The observed emission spectrum was predominantly within the second positive system of N₂\mbox{N}_2(C³\mbox{C}^3 P_u\Pi_u–B³\mbox{B}^3 P_g\Pi_g) and the first negative system of N⁺₂\mbox{N}^+_2(B²\mbox{B}^2 S⁺_u\Sigma^+_u–X²\mbox{X}^2 S⁺_g\Sigma^+_g).     

平面火花隙三电极开关研制及性能测试

研制了一种适用于平行板传输连接的平面火花隙三电极开关,开关正负电极为半圆形状,触发电极为细条状。将之替代立体式（半球形电极）火花隙三电极开关并应用于爆炸箔起爆装置中,装置回路参数将得以优化。实验测试了空气间隙为4.12, 3.14和2.2 mm的平面火花隙三电极开关的性能。结果表明,在开关间隙间距一定的情况下,随着电压的升高,开关间隙的放电时延和分散时间呈指数降低,开关电感小于15 nH;对于不同范围内的应用电压,使用不同间隙间距的开关,其分散时间不大于10 ns。该开关应用于较低充电电压（小于10 kV）的脉冲功率装置中,与立体式火花隙三电极开关相比,回路电感降低了约50 nH,放电周期缩短近1/3,峰值电流增加约1/3。     

Plasma electric furnace for modelling the treatment technology for associated petroleum gas

The AC plasma electric furnace with graphite electrodes was tested using methane as the modelling gas. Its advantage for production of hydrogen and fine soot was demonstrated. It was found that 1150–1200 °C of the reactor wall is enough for complete methane decomposition. It was shown that specific erosion of graphite electrodes is about 5·10⁻⁹ kg/C at the average current density of 32 A/cm². The work was financially supported by the State Contract No. 02.515.11.5010 (March 6, 2007).     

Finger capacitance of a terahertz photomixer in low-temperature-grown GaAs using the finite element method

Interdigitated finger capacitance of a continuous-wave terahertz photomixer is calculated using the finite element method.For the frequently used electrode width(0.2 μm) and gap width(1.8 μm),the finger capacitance increases quasi-quadratically with the number of electrodes increasing.The quasi-quadratic dependence can be explained by a sequence of lumped capacitors connected in parallel.For a photomixer composed of 10 electrodes and 9 photoconductive gaps,the finger capacitance increases as the gap width increases at a small electrode width,and follows the reverse trend at a large electrode width.For a constant electrode width,the finger capacitance first decreases and then slightly increases as the gap broadens until the smallest finger capacitance is formed.We also investigate the finger capacitances at different electrode and gap configurations with the 8 μm× 8 μm photomixer commonly used in previous studies.These calculations lead to a better understanding of the finger capacitance affected by the finger parameters,and should lead to terahertz photomixer optimization.     

Material Studies in a High Energy Spark Gap

The chemical interactions and physical processes occurring in a high energy spark gap with different combinations of gases, electrodes, and insulators were studied. The electrodes studied were graphite and a tungsten-copper composite; the insulators were Lexan and Blue Nylon; and the gases were N2 and SF6. The gas composition was monitored with a mass spectrometer. Spectroscopic techniques were used to observe the arc channel. The electrode surfaces were studied with several surface analysis techniques, including scanning electron microscopy, electron spectroscopy for chemical analysis, Auger electron spectroscopy, and X-ray fluorescence. The breakdown voltage distribution was examined for different material combinations. The plasma chemistry processes involving the gas, electrode, and insulator materials were found to affect the voltage self-breakdown distribution. The detailed surface analysis gave information about the nature of the chemical processes. The presence of Blue Nylon seemed to have a more adverse effect than Lexan and graphite seemed to have a narrower voltage distribution than the tungsten-copper composite.     

平面火花隙三电极开关研制及性能测试

 研制了一种适用于平行板传输连接的平面火花隙三电极开关，开关正负电极为半圆形状，触发电极为细条状。将之替代立体式（半球形电极）火花隙三电极开关并应用于爆炸箔起爆装置中，装置回路参数将得以优化。实验测试了空气间隙为4.12， 3.14和2.2 mm的平面火花隙三电极开关的性能。结果表明，在开关间隙间距一定的情况下，随着电压的升高，开关间隙的放电时延和分散时间呈指数降低，开关电感小于15 nH；对于不同范围内的应用电压，使用不同间隙间距的开关，其分散时间不大于10 ns。该开关应用于较低充电电压（小于10 kV）的脉冲功率装置中，与立体式火花隙三电极开关相比，回路电感降低了约50 nH，放电周期缩短近1/3，峰值电流增加约1/3。     

Hexagonal structures of current in a “semiconductor-gas-discharge gap” system

The results of experimental investigation of the stability boundary for a spatially homogeneous state of a discharge in the planar gap of a “semiconductor-gas-discharge” cryogenic system filled with nitrogen are considered. The semiconductor cathode was prepared from single-crystalline silicon doped with a deep-lying impurity. Quantitative data are obtained for the conditions of formation of a hexagonal dissipative structure in the current distribution for two values of the discharge gap length upon a change in the gas pressure and in the conductivity of the cathode. It is found that for a fixed gap length, the formation of the critical state can be described approximately by a universal function of the electrode conductivity and gas pressure.     

Detection of the decay of an acoustic soliton arising during pulsed breakdown of a glassy semiconductor film

The results of an experiment demonstrating the appearance of a soliton under certain conditions of pulsed breakdown of a glassy semiconductor film in a magnetic field are reported. The wave is excited by a current filament moving at a velocity close to the speed of sound between two parallel electrodes in an external magnetic field. To distinguish the direction of motion of the acoustic wave and that of the current filament along the substrate, electrodes with a bend that changes the direction of motion of the filament are deposited. Two “frozen” structural-excitation fronts, diverging at an angle to one another and attesting to the decay of the soliton at the moment the current filament vanishes, are observed at the location of the bend in the electrodes. Pis’ma Zh. éksp. Teor. Fiz. 70, No. 2, 70–72 (25 July 1999)