Unusual atomic arrangements in amorphous silicon

The existence of small bond angles (like those of triangles and squares) in amorphous silicon networks were studied by the tight-binding molecular dynamics method, by analyzing the statistical data of Si-Si-Si fragments inside large molecules, and also by the Reverse Monte-Carlo simulation method. The influence of small bond angles on the electronic density of states was revealed.     

Materials science of Mg-Ni-based new hydrides

One of the advantageous functional properties of Mg alloys (or compounds) is to exhibit the reversible hydriding reaction. In this paper, we present our systematic studies regarding the relationship between nanometer- or atomistic-scale structures and the specific hydriding properties of the Mg-Ni binary system, such as(1) nanostructured (n)-Mg₂Ni, (2) a mixture of n-Mg₂Ni and amorphous (a)-MgNi,(3) pure a-MgNi, and(4) n-MgNi₂. Further studies on(5) an a-MgNi-based system for clarifying the effect of the short-range ordering on the structural and hydriding properties and(6) a MgNi₂-based system for synthesizing the new Laves phase structure are also presented. The materials science of Mg-Ni-based new hydrides will provide indispensable knowledge for practically developing the Mg alloys as hydrogen-storage materials. Received: 14 August 2000 / Accepted: 6 November 2000 / Published online: 9 February 2001     

Atomic topology and radial distribution functions of a-SiNx alloys: ab initio simulations

Random structures of amorphous silicon-nitrogen alloys, a-SiN_x, are obtained for several values of x from 0 to the nearly stoichiometric composition of x=1.29, using a new ab initio thermal procedure based on a Harris-functional code and periodically continued cells with 64 atoms. Partial radial features are reported with no experimental counterparts for comparison, whereas the total radial distribution functions agree very well with the few existing experiments. Our average coordination numbers also agree very well with experiment. These results, being predictive, may stimulate further experimental and theoretical studies.     

Dispersive processes of light-induced defect creation in hydrogenated amorphous silicon

The growing curve of light-induced dangling bonds under illumination has been observed for various intensities of illumination in a-Si:H. It is fitted to a stretched exponential function and then two parameters β and τ involved in the function are estimated as a function of saturated dangling bond density . The experimental values of β, τ, and are compared with those calculated based on our model of light-induced defect creation in a-Si:H.     

A Modified Glass Formation Criterion for Various Glass Forming Liquids with Higher Reliability

A modified indicator of the glass forming ability （GFA） from the previous 7 = Tx/（Tl ＋ Tg） for various glass forming liquids is proposed based on a conceptual approach which combines more acceptable physical metallurgy views in terms of the time-temperature-transformation diagrams. It is found that the glass forming ability for glass forming liquids is closely associated mainly with two factors, i.e. （2Tx - Tg） and Tl （wherein Tx is the onset crystallization temperature, Tg the glass transition temperature, and Tl the liquidus temperature）, and could be predicated by a unified parameter γm defined as （2Tx - Tg）/Tl. This approach is confirmed and validated by experimental data in various glass forming systems including oxide glasses, cryoprotectants and metallic glasses, which all shows a higher reliability when their glass forming ability is predicted by the modified parameter.     

The influence of ball-milling on structural and magnetic properties of Co-based powders

The melt-spun Co- and Fe-based amorphous alloys have been investigated extensively for applications in magnetic devices, which require magnetically soft materials. Although these alloys exhibit excellent soft magnetic properties, their thin sheet shape, which is a consequence of the low glass forming ability, limits significantly their engineering applications. A powder metallurgy is thus an alternative way of producing bulk and, at the same time, soft magnetic materials, having desired shape. In our case, Co₅₆Fe₁₆Zr₈B₂₀ and Co_70.3Fe_4.7Si₁₀B₁₅ amorphous ribbons have been ball-milled for a short time and subsequently compacted (by hot pressing) into disc-shaped specimens with the aim to achieve samll values of resulting coercivity. This work is focused only on the first preparation step i.e. on structural and magnetic properties of ball-milled powders obtained by ball-milling of Co-based melt-spun ribbons at different conditions. Two different ways of milling were employed in order to obtain a powder form of the material: the ribbons were either continuously ball-milled for up to 12 hours or, after each half an hour of ball-milling, the vials were cooled in liquid nitrogen bath for half an hour. Mössbauer spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction and differential scanning calorimetry were employed to compare and to present the differences between these two different ways of milling.     

Microstructures and photoluminescence of hydrogenated amorphous carbon films produced by using organic hydrocarbon source

Thin layers of hydrogenated amorphous carbon were prepared by using organic hydrocarbon source, xylene (C₈H₁₀), in plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition (PECVD) system. The microstructures were characterized by using Fourier-transform infrared and Raman scattering spectra. The appearance of a sharp vibration signal in 1600 cm^-1 strongly suggests the existence of sp² carbon clusters with aromatic rings. With increasing the deposition rf power, the content of these aromatic structures is increased in the films. In contrast to a broad single PL peak in methane (CH₄)-baseda-C:H films, the PL band of xylene-based a-C:H films contains multiple peaks in blue-green light region, which is influenced by rf power. We tentatively attributed it to the radiative recombination of electron-hole pairs through some luminescent centers associated with aromatic structures. Received: 26 April 2000 / Accepted: 9 May 2000 / Published online: 13 September 2000     

Long-Term Thermal Stability of Binary Cu50.3Zr49.7 Bulk Metallic Glass

We investigate the kinetics and thermal stability of a simple Cu50.3Zr49.7 binary bulk metallic glass （BMG）. The long-term thermal stability of CU50.3Zr49.7 BMG is evaluated by a newly developed method from an extension of Vogel- Fulcher-Tammann analysis. The method has been proven to be valid in CU50.3Zr49.7 or even other BMGs.     

Observation of β-Relaxation in Sub-Tg Isothermally Annealed Al-Based Metallic Glasses

Al85Ni5 Y8Ca2 and Al88Ni5 Y6Co2Fe2 metallic glasses are fabricated by melt spinning. A kink or a small exothermic peak is observed for both the samples isothermally annealed at sub-glass transition temperatures. Temperature modulated differential scanning calorimetry （TMDSC） data disapprove amorphous phase separation. The activation energies derived from Kissinger plots of the exothermic process on DSC curve around glass transition temperature are consistent with those of β-relaxation of metallic glasses.     

Structural and optical properties of thin films porous amorphous silicon carbide formed by Ag-assisted photochemical etching

In this work, we present the formation of porous layers on hydrogenated amorphous SiC (a-SiC: H) by Ag-assisted photochemical etching using HF/K₂S₂O₈ solution under UV illumination at 254 nm wavelength. The amorphous films a-SiC: H were elaborated by d.c. magnetron sputtering using a hot pressed polycrystalline 6H-SiC target. Because of the high resistivity of the SiC layer, around 1.6 MΩ cm and in order to facilitate the chemical etching, a thin metallic film of high purity silver (Ag) has been deposited under vacuum onto the thin a-SiC: H layer. The etched surface was characterized by scanning electron microscopy, secondary ion mass spectroscopy, infrared spectroscopy and photoluminescence. The results show that the morphology of etched a-SiC: H surface evolves with etching time. For an etching time of 20 min the surface presents a hemispherical crater, indicating that the porous SiC layer is perforated. Photoluminescence characterization of etched a-SiC: H samples for 20 min shows a high and an intense blue PL, whereas it has been shown that the PL decreases for higher etching time. Finally, a dissolution mechanism of the silicon carbide in 1HF/1K₂S₂O₈ solution has been proposed.     

Effect of air post contamination on mechanical properties of amorphous carbon nitride thin films

We report in this study the mechanical, structural and compositional characteristics of amorphous carbon nitride films (a-CN_x) deposited on Si(100) using RF magnetron sputtering of graphite targets in pure nitrogen and under different RF powers. The properties of the films were determined in their as deposited state using nuclear reaction analysis (NRA), elastic recoil detection (ERDA), infrared (IR) absorption and Raman spectroscopy. The mechanical properties were obtained combining nanoindentation and residual stress measurements. The presence of various types of C-N bonds, as well as the post-deposition contamination of the deposited films by oxygen and water (voids) is revealed. The measured hardness and Young modulus were 0.9-2.03 and 23-27 GPa, respectively. These results have been analysed in term of the matrix flexibility which results from the nitrogen content and the porous character of the films, which can affect deeply the estimation of the physical-mechanical properties of the films.     

Structural and Dynamic Properties of Amorphous Silicon： Tight-Binding Molecular Dynamics Simulation

The tight-binding molecular dynamics simulation has been performed to study structural and dynamical properties of amorphous silicon. It is found that the radial distribution function and static structure factor are in good agreement with the experimental measurements. The bond order parameters Q1 are sensitive to the structure change at different quenching rates. For the dynamical properties, we have calculated the vibration and electronic density of states. The simulation results show that the transverse acoustic is in good agreement with the experimental data, and the high frequency transverse optical (TO) peak shifts to the right of the experimental TO peak.     

Fractal microstructures of light-emitting porous silicon films

By means of scanning electron microscopy and computer simulation, we have investigated the microstructures of a 23-μm-thick porous silicon (PS) film and a 6-μm-thick PS film. The two films give off strong visible emissions when excited by the 254 nm light. For the 23-μm-thick PS film, both of its cross-sectional and top-surface morphologies exhibit self-similarity whose small-scale and large-scale microstructures resemble one another. For the 6-μm-thick PS film, self-similar cracks are developed on its top surface. Our results have demonstrated that the microstructures of PS films exhibit the characteristics of fractals. With box counting method, the fractal dimensions of the PS films are calculated to be about 2.3-2.6. Based on the model of diffusion-limited aggregation, the fractal growth processes have been simulated for the PS films.     

Synthesis and properties of Fe-W powder

This paper deals with the study of Fe-W powders, which were prepared by electrolyzing, and their stabilized properties. The synthesized Fe-W powders were studied using X-ray diffraction, thermal analysis, Mössbauer spectroscopy and thermomagnetic measurement. A poor hydrogen absorption occurred. After the heat treatment at 800°C, the amorphous and α-Fe(W) phases were decomposed into prevailing α-Fe with approx. 3 at.% W accompanied by the W(Fe), λ-Fe₂W, and Fe²⁺ in oxide phases.     

A first-principles study of half-metallic ferromagnetism in binary alkaline-earth nitrides with rock-salt structure

In this Letter, using the first-principles full-potential linearized augmented plane-wave (FP-LAPW) method, we extend the electronic structure and magnetism studies on zinc-blende structure of II-V compounds MX (M=Ca,Sr,Ba; X=N,P,As) [M. Sieberer, J. Redinger, S. Khmelevskyi, P. Mohn, Phys. Rev. B 73 (2006) 024404] to the rock-salt structure. It is found that, in the nine rock-salt compounds, only alkaline-earth nitrides CaN, SrN and BaN exhibit ferromagnetic half-metallic character with a magnetic moment of per formula unit. Furthermore, compared with the zinc-blende structure of CaN, SrN and BaN, the rock-salt structure has lower energy, which makes them more promising candidates of possible growth of half-metallic films on suitable substrates.     

Influence of the plasma parameters and nitrogen addition on the electrical characteristics of DLC films deposited by inductively coupled plasma deposition

This work has been based on studies of the plasma parameters influence and nitrogen addition over on the electrical characteristics of diamond-like carbon (DLC) films deposited by inductively coupled plasma deposition (ICP) system. For these studies, it was used a mixture of methane with different flows of nitrogen, two different pressure processes and three different coil powers. The nitrogenated DLC films, had presented a great variation in their electric and structural properties with the nitrogen variation in the plasma. With the nitrogen addition, an increase in its dielectric constant of 1.7-7.4 to concentration of the 40% of the nitrogen has occurred. For high nitrogen concentrations (80% of nitrogen), the dielectric constant decreases (of 7.4 for 5.0). The resistivity of the films decreases with the nitrogen concentration increase (1.2 × 10⁹ Ω cm). Attributing semiconductors characteristics to DLC films. With the increase of nitrogen concentration, the sp³ hybridization increases, too. These characteristics were excellent for innumerable applications in electronic devices.     

A Feasible Approach to Optical--Electrical Hybrid Data Storage Using Phase Change Material

We present our experimental results supporting optical-electrical hybrid data storage by optical recording and electrical reading using Ge2Sb2Te5as recording medium. The sheet resistance of laser-irradiated Ge2Sb2 Te5 films exhibits an abrupt change of four orders of magnitude （from 107 to 10^3 Ω/sq） with increasing laser power, current-voltage curves of the amorphous area and the laser-crystallized dots, measured by a conductive atomic force microscope （C-AFM）, show that their resistivities are 2. 725 and 3.375 × 10^-3 Ω, respectively, the surface current distribution in the films also shows high and low resistance states. All these results suggest that the laser-recorded bit can be read electrically by measuring the change of electrical resistivity, thus making opticalelectrical hybrid data storage possible.     

Effect of Yttrium Addition on Glass Forming Ability of ZrCuAlSi Alloy

The effect of yttrium addition on glass formation of a ZrCuAlSi alloy is investigated. The maximum diameter 8mm of the glassy rods for （Zr46.3Cu43.3Al8.9Si1.5）100-xYx alloy with x = 2.5 is obtained by copper mould casting. Apparent enhancement of the glass formation ability is found with addition of yttrium, mainly due to the purification of the alloy melt and the suppression of formation of the primary phases by yttrium.     

Preparation of Mg55Ni35Si10 Amorphous Powders by Mechanical Alloying and Consolidation by Vacuum Hot Pressing

Amorphous Mg55Ni35Si10 powders are fabricated by using a mechanical alloying technique. The amorphous powders are found to exhibit a relatively high crystallization temperature of 380℃. The as-milled amorphous Mg55Ni35Si10 powders are consolidated successfully into bulk body by vacuum hot pressing technique. Limited nanocrystallization is noticed. The Vickers microhardness range of the Mg55Ni35Si10 bulk sample is 7834 to 8048 MPa. Its bending strength and compressive strength are 529 MPa and 1466 MPa, respectively.     

Defects in thin film silicon at the transition from amorphous to microcrystalline structure

Defects in thin film silicon with different structure all the way from amorphous to microcrystalline were investigated by electron spin resonance with emphasis on amorphous material prepared close to the transition to crystalline growth. Electron beam irradiation and stepwise annealing is used for reversible variation of the defect density over three orders of magnitude. The electron irradiation enhances mainly the native paramagnetic defects. Additional resonances are found as satellites to the central line, which anneal rapidly at temperatures below 100 °C. These features are most pronounced for the amorphous material prepared close to the transition to crystalline growth. (© 2007 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)