Grain boundary layers in nanocrystalline ferromagnetic zinc oxide

The complete solubility of an impurity in a polycrystal increases with decreasing grain size, because the impurity dissolves not only in the crystallite bulk but also on the grain boundaries. This effect is especially strong when the adsorption layers (or the grain boundary phases) are multilayer. For example, the Mn solubility in the nanocrystalline films (where the size of grains is ∼20 nm) is more than three times greater than that in the ZnO single crystals. The thin nanocrystalline Mn-doped ZnO films in the Mn concentration range 0.1–47 at % have been obtained from organic precursors (butanoates) by the “liquid ceramic” method. They have ferromagnetic properties, because the specific area of the grain boundaries in them is greater than the critical value [B.B. Straumal et al., Phys. Rev. B 79, 205206 (2009)]. The high-resolution electron transmission microscopy studies show that the ZnO nanocrystalline grains with the wurtzite lattice are separated by amorphous layers whose thickness increases with the Mn concentration. The morphology of these layers differs greatly from the structure of the amorphous prewetting films on the grain boundaries in the ZnO:Bi₂O₃ system.     

50~110 nm波段高反射率多层膜的设计与制备

阐述了50~110 nm强吸收波段亚四分之一波长多层膜的设计方法.这种膜系是由强吸收材料叠加而成，每层膜光学厚度小于四分之一个波长.与常规周期多层膜相比，这种膜系更适用于提高强吸收波段的反射率.利用该方法设计了50 nm处高反射多层膜，并以此为初始条件通过Levenberg-Marquart优化方法完成了50~110 nm强吸收波段宽带高反射率Si/W/Co多层膜的设计，其平均反射率达到45%.采用直流磁控溅射方法制备了Si/W/Co多层膜,用X射线衍射仪(XRD)对膜层结构进行了测试，测试结果表明制作出的多层膜结构与设计结构基本相符.     

Structural characterization of ultrathin Cr and Sc films for soft X-ray mirrors

The structure of multilayers of ultrathin scandium (Sc) and chromium (Cr) films has been characterized by means of transmission electron microscopy (TEM). Face centered cubic Sc was found both in magnetron sputtered thin Sc layers on Si(0 0 1) and in Cr/Sc multilayers for soft X-ray mirrors. The single Sc and Cr layers are polycrystalline with randomly oriented grains, while Sc and Cr within the Cr/Sc multilayer show a strong [0 0 1] texture in the deposition direction. From high-resolution images the orientation-relationship at the Cr/Sc interfaces could be deduced as: Sc_[110]//Cr_[100] and Sc_[010]//Cr_[110], which was confirmed by image simulations.     

Structure evolution and mechanical properties enhancement of Al/AlN multilayer

A set of Al/AlN multilayers with various modulation periods were prepared using DC magnetron sputtering method. Low angle X-ray diffraction (LAXRD) was used to analyze the layered structure of multilayers. The phase structure of the films was investigated with grazing angle X-ray diffraction (GAXRD). LAXRD results indicate that well-defined multilayer modulation structures are formed for the relatively larger modulation periods. However, the loss of mutilayered structure is detected in the multilayer with low modulation period. A very wide amorphous peak is observed in multilayer with modulation period of 4 nm. The multilayers show obvious crystallization at larger modulation periods, however, the diffraction peaks are much wider than the Al single layer because of the interruption of the continuous columnar grain growth by alternating deposition processes. Nanoindentation experiments were performed to study the mechanical properties as a function of multilayer modulation period. It is found that the hardness of the multilayers is greater than the hardness calculated from rule of mixtures. With the modulation periods adjusted, the multilayers are even harder than its hard component (AlN). A maximum hardness of 24.9 GPa, about 1.9 times larger than its hard component (AlN) and 3.7 times larger than the hardness calculated from the rule of mixtures, is found at the multilayer with modulation period of 16 nm. The wear test results show that the multilayers possess lower and stable friction coefficient, and superior wear properties.     

Light-Emitting Diodes Based on All-Quantum-Dot Multilayer Films and the Influence of Various Hole-Transporting Layers on the Performance

We present a systematic analysis of the exciton-recombination zone within all-quantum-dot(QD) multilayer films using sensing QD layers in QD-based light-emitting diodes(QLEDs),and demonstrate the all-QD multilayer films with different sequences of layers prepared by inserting a sensing blue QD layer denoted as B at various positions within four red QD multilayers denoted as R.We also use different hole transporting layers(PVK,CBP as well as poly-TPD) to prevent the formation of leakage current and to improve the luminance.The results show that the total EL emission is mostly at the fourth(60%) and fifth(40%) QD monolayers,adjacent to ITO.This presents both decreasing current density and increasing brightness with different hole transporting layers,thus resulting in more efficient performance.     

Effect of rare earth on the microstructures and properties of a low expansion superalloy

A new Fe-Ni-Co-Nb-Ti-Si superalloy containing trace additions of selective rare earths and having good combination of very low thermal expansion coefficient, high-resistance to stress accelerated grain boundary oxygen embrittlement and fairly good notch-bar rupture strength has been successfully developed. The resistance to oxidation for long time exposure at high-temperatures and the stress rupture life has been improved significantly with trace yttrium addition. The microstructures of the alloys have been studied by means of analytical electron microscopy, chemical and X-ray analysis techniques. The results reveal that the trace yttrium segregates in the strengthening phase with platelet morphology, and helps in transforming A(3)B type epsilon phase into A(5)B type H. The morphology and crystal structures of the grain boundary phases also change with selective additions of rare earth elements. Compared with those in the conventional alloy, the platelet precipitates in the yttrium-containing alloy densely segregate within the grains and along the grain boundaries with smaller size. The segregation of the platelet precipitates within the grains is helpful in improving the strength of the alloy. In addition, its precipitation along the grain boundaries can improve the resistance to stress accelerated grain boundary oxidation and stress rupture property of the alloy and thereby contribute to its temperature stability.     

THE REFLECTIVE PROPERTIES OF BROADBAND OPTICAL MULTILAYERS

Binary multilayers with a certain kind of disorder may exhibit high reflection range over a very wide bandwidth. The dependencies of this bandwidth on the center wavelength, random layers sequence, refractive contrast of the coating materials, layer thickness errors and the angle of incidence have been studied numerically. Our simulations have shown that broadband reflectors can be designed for various applications. The reflective curves for staggered multilayers are also computed. The results show that the broadening effect of irregular multilayers is dominated by its degree of disorder. A broadband TiO₂-SiO₂ multilayer is fabricated. The measured width of the transmittance less than 1% for this multilayer covers 400 nm, from 700 to 1100 nm, which is just the tuning range of T_i: sapphire lasers.     

197Au Mössbauer study of Au/Ni artificial multilayers

¹⁹⁷Au Mössbauer measurements have been performed at 16 K on the Au/Ni artificial multilayers having three different thickness of the layers those are 10Å Au/10Å Ni, 30Å Au/30Å Ni and 53Å Au/53Å Ni on a 250Å pure Au buffer layer. Mössbauer spectra obtained can be decomposed into mainly two components. One is an unperturbed component having an identical isomer shift value to the bulk Au metal. The other is the component perturbed strongly by the Ni layer indicating a broad contribution at positive velocity side and its intensity depends on the thickness of the Au layer. The spectrum from 10Å Au/10Å Ni multilayer is an entirely perturbed one and its area ratio to the component rising from pure Au buffer layer indicates the large Debye-Waller-factor suggesting the supermodulus effect in this multilayer.     

Mo/Si软X射线多层膜的界面粗糙度研究

 用磁控溅射法分别制备了以Mo膜层和Si膜层为顶层的Mo/Si多层膜系列, 利用小角X射线衍射确定了各多层膜的周期厚度。以不同周期数的Mo/Si多层膜的新鲜表面近似等同于同一多层膜的内界面,通过原子力显微镜研究了多层膜界面粗糙度随膜层数的变化规律。并在国家同步辐射实验室测量了各多层膜的软X射线反射率。研究表明：随着膜层数的增加,Mo膜层和Si膜层的界面粗糙度先减小后增加然后再减小,多层膜的峰值反射率先增加后减小。     

Mo/Si软X射线多层膜的界面粗糙度研究

用磁控溅射法分别制备了以Mo膜层和Si膜层为顶层的Mo/Si多层膜系列, 利用小角X射线衍射确定了各多层膜的周期厚度。以不同周期数的Mo/Si多层膜的新鲜表面近似等同于同一多层膜的内界面,通过原子力显微镜研究了多层膜界面粗糙度随膜层数的变化规律。并在国家同步辐射实验室测量了各多层膜的软X射线反射率。研究表明：随着膜层数的增加,Mo膜层和Si膜层的界面粗糙度先减小后增加然后再减小,多层膜的峰值反射率先增加后减小。     

Mo/Si多层膜表面保护层设计

为提高Mo/Si多层膜的稳定性与使用寿命,通过分析多层膜驻波电场的分布,对表面保护层及多层膜最上层材料的厚度进行优化设计,使优化后的反射率最高.计算表明,一定厚度的表面保护层总对应一个最优的最上层材料厚度.在13.36 nm波长,膜对数为50的Mo/Si多层膜10度入射的理论反射率为74.47%;当添加厚度为2.3 nm的Ru作为表面保护层,对应多层膜最上层Si的优化厚度为3.93 nm,其理论反射率为75.20％.设计结果表明,通过优化设计表面保护层,可以提高多层膜稳定性,改善多层膜性能.     

Analysis of Bulk and Interface Phenomena in CdTe/CdS Thin-Film Solar Cells

CdTe layers have been grown on CdS layers to produce thin-film photovoltaic devices. Because of the large lattice mismatch of roughly 10%, CdTe and CdS can only be joined at the expense of a high density of misfit dislocations. Additionally, after deposition the CdTe layer contains submicrometer sized, [111] oriented, columnar grains with a high density of stacking faults and microtwins resulting in a poor electrical performance of the p-n junction. The performance of these cells can be improved by depositing a CdCl₂ layer on the CdTe absorber layer and subsequent annealing of the stack in air. This treatment induces interdiffusion of S and Te across the interface, which results in a better lattice match. During this anneal, CdTe is subject to grain growth, recovery and recrystallization. In samples annealed for different durations after different amounts of CdCl₂ were applied, grain growth is completed during the first minutes of annealing. Subsequent diffusion of Cl is detected along the CdTe grain boundaries. The presence of Cl enhances the recrystallization of the CdTe layer, starting from the CdTe surface, while recovery of the CdTe layer, mostly by the reduction of microtwins, takes place at the interface. The simultaneous occurrence of recrystallization and recovery leads to a preferred alignment of grain boundaries in CdTe parallel to the interface. Electron beam induced current measurements show the detrimental effect of these grain boundaries on the charge carrier collection efficiency of the cell. Based on these results, a modified growth procedure is proposed.     

Structure and mechanical properties of Al/AlN multilayer with different AlN layer thickness

Nanometer scale Al/AlN multilayers have been prepared by dc magnetron sputtering technique with a columnar target. A set of Al/AlN multilayers with the Al layer thickness of 2.9 nm and the AlN layer thickness variation from 1.13 to 6.81 nm were determined. Low angle X-ray diffraction (LAXRD) was used to analyze the layered structure of multilayers. The phase structure of the coatings was investigated with grazing angle XRD (GAXRD). Mechanical properties of these multilayers were thoroughly studied using a nanoindentation and ball-on-disk micro-tribometer. It was found that the multilayer hardness and reduced modulus showed no strong dependence on the AlN layer thickness. Al2.9 nm/AlN1.13 nm multilayer had more excellent tribological properties than single layers and other proportion multilayers with a lowest friction coefficient of 0.15. And the tribological properties of all the multilayers are superior to the AlN single layer.     

Current-driven excitations in symmetric magnetic nanopillars

We study experimentally the current-driven magnetic excitations in symmetric Co/Cu/Co nanopillars. In contrast with all the previous observations where the current of only one polarity is capable of exciting a multilayer system saturated by an externally applied magnetic field, we observe that both polarities of the applied current trigger excitations in a symmetric multilayer. This may indicate that in symmetric structures the current propels high-frequency magnetic oscillations in all magnetic layers. We argue, however, that only one layer is excited in our multilayers but, interestingly, currents of opposite polarities excite different layers. This hypothesis is supported by modeling the spin accumulation in symmetric magnetic multilayers.     

The effect of surface contact conditions on grain boundary interdiffusion in a semi-infinite bicrystal

The Kirkendall effect is conditioned by active diffusion as well as by active sources and sinks for vacancies. In the case of grain boundaries under the condition of negligible bulk diffusion, the Kirkendall effect is highly localized and responsible for the formation of an extra material wedge in the grain boundary, which may lead to high stress concentrations. The Kirkendall effect in grain boundaries of a binary system is described by a set of partial differential equations for the mole fraction of one of the diffusing components and for the stress component normal to the grain boundary completed with the respective initial and boundary conditions. The contact conditions of the grain boundary with the surface layer acting as source of one of the diffusing components can be considered as equilibrium ones ensuring the continuity of generalized chemical potentials of both diffusing components. Thus, the boundary conditions are determined by the difference in chemistry (i.e. how the thermodynamic parameters depend on chemical composition) of the grain boundaries and of the surface layer. The simulations based on the present model indicate a drastic influence of the chemistry on the grain boundary interdiffusion and Kirkendall effect.     

High-frequency dynamics of Co/Fe multilayers with stripe domains

Within the framework of two-dimensional (2D) numerical micromagnetic simulations, the equilibrium magnetization configuration and the high-frequency (0.1–30 GHz) linear response of Co/Fe multilayers have been investigated in detail. Due to the perpendicular anisotropy of Co layers, a stripe domain pattern can develop through the whole multilayer, the characteristics of which depend on the magnitude of the perpendicular anisotropy, the respective thicknesses of Co and Fe layers and the number of Co/Fe bilayers in the stack. One of the most striking features associated with the layering effect is the ripening aspect of the static magnetization configuration across the multilayers which induces complicated dynamic susceptibility spectra including surface modes and volume modes strongly confined within the inner Fe layers. The effect of the cubic magnetocrystalline anisotropy of Fe layers and the influence of a nonuniform perpendicular magnetic anisotropy within the Co layers on the static and dynamic magnetic properties of Co/Fe multilayers are then analyzed quantitatively.     

Controlling sound absorption by an upstream resistive layer

Resistive screens, or perforated plates, are widely used upstream of porous materials. They can be used either for protection or decoration, or for acoustic properties enhancement. This study points out the role that a resistive layer can have upstream on a porous material. Based on numerical simulations, this work gives the guidelines for rational use of high resistive layers in order to maximize the normal sound absorption of porous multilayers. Two major results emerge: (i) the upstream resistive layer can control the sound absorption of the porous multilayer, while nullifying the acoustic properties of downstream layer and (ii) this upstream layer may be detrimental to sound absorption of porous multilayer. Experimental validation on a porous multilayer, controlled by a woven textile, supports these findings. The sound absorption of material with poor sound absorption performance can be enhanced with a conveniently designed resistive layer.     

Interface roughness, surface roughness and soft X-ray reflectivity of Mo/Si multilayers with different layer number

A series of Mo/Si multilayers with the same periodic length and different periodic number were prepared by magnetron sputtering, whose top layers were respectively Mo layer and Si layer. Periodic length and interface roughness of Mo/Si multilayers were determined by small angle X-ray diffraction (SAXRD).Surface roughness change curve of Mo/Si multilayer with increasing layer number was studied by atomic force microscope (AFM). Soft X-ray reflectivity of Mo/Si multilayers was measured in National Synchrotron Radiation Laboratory (NSRL). Theoretical and experimental results show that the soft X-ray reflectivity of Mo/Si multilayer is mainly determined by periodic number and interface roughness, surface roughness has little effect on reflectivity.     

Multilayers as defect barriers

A multilayer structure consisting of undoped GaAs and AlAs layers was incorporated into a buffer layer on GaAs substrates. This reduces the spreading of impurities from the substrate (e.g. tellurium) into layers deposited on top of the multilayer system as observed by SIMS and C/V profiling. Incorporation coefficients for tellurium in GaAs, AlAs and multilayers were calculated.     

Thin multilayers characterization by grazing X-ray reflectometry and use of Fourier transform

Grazing X-ray reflectometry is used in order to characterize thin layer stacks, in particular periodic multilayers. The specular reflectivity depends on the thickness, the complex refractive index of each layer and on the roughness of the interfaces. By a trial and error method, the experimental reflectivity curve can be fitted with a theoretical one, and so, the parameters of the stack can be obtained. This numerical method needs usually initial guess of the kind of results.Fourier transform method allows to obtain directly the values of distances between interfaces, with a good approximation depending on the maximum angular scan of the measure. It can also reveal some particularity of the multilayer, i.e. periodic multilayered structures with more than two layers per period. As an illustration of this characterization method, some examples in XUV optical domain will be shown. This method can also be used for the characterization of many kinds of multilayer stacks, in particular semi-conductor heterostructures ones, under the condition that adjacent layers have sufficient contrast index at the wavelength of the X-ray source.