Thermoelectric properties of Li-doped Sr_(0.7)Ba_(0.3)Nb_2O_(6-δ) ceramics

Thermoelectric properties of Li-dopedSr_(0.7)Ba_(0.3)Nb_2O_(6-δ)ceramics were investigated in the temperature range from 323 K to 1073 K. The electrical conductivity increases significantly after lithium interstitial doping. However, both of the magnitudes of Seebeck coefficient and electrical conductivity vary non-monotonically but synchronously with the doping contents, indicating that doped lithium ions may not be fully ionized and oxygen vacancy may also contribute to carriers. The lattice thermal conductivity increases firstly and then decreases as the doping content increases, which is affected by competing factors.Thermoelectric performance is enhanced by lithium interstitial doping due to the increase of the power factor and the thermoelectric figure of merit reaches maximum value(0.21 at 1073 K) in the sample Sr_(0.70)Ba_(0.30)Li_(0.10)Nb_2O_6.     

Electrical transport properties of YCo_(1-x)Mn_xO_3(0 ≤x≤ 0.2)prepared by sol–gel process

Mn substitution compounds YCo1-xMnx O3(0 ≤ x ≤ 0.2) are synthesized by using the sol–gel process. Electrical transport properties of YCo1-xMnx O3 are investigated in the temperature range from 200 K to 780 K. The experimental results show that after Mn substitution the electrical resistivity of YCo1-xMnx O3 first increases, then decreases, which is due to the electrons introduced by Mn doping. The sign of Seebeck coefficient for YCo1-xMnx O3(x = 0) is positive or negative, which is also proved by the Hall coefficient measurement. Moreover, at about room temperature, the Seebeck coefficient of YCo1-xMnx O3 with 1% doping Mn content becomes a negative value, whose absolute value is maximum;furthermore, the absolute value gradually decreases with increasing the Mn substitution content, which can be explained by the double carrier model.     

Modulation of electrical and optical properties of gallium-doped ZnO films by radio frequency magnetron sputtering

Ga-doped ZnO(GZO) films are prepared on amorphous glass substrates at room temperature by radio frequency magnetron sputtering.The results reveal that the gallium doping efficiency,which will have an important influence on the electrical and optical properties of the film,can be governed greatly by the deposition pressure and film thickness.The position shifts of the ZnO(002) peaks in X-ray diffraction(XRD) measurements and the varied Hall mobility and carrier concentration confirms this result.The low Hall mobility is attributed to the grain boundary barrier scattering.The estimated height of barrier decreases with the increase of carrier concentration,and the trapping state density is nearly constant.According to defect formation energies and relevant chemical reactions,the photoluminescence(PL) peaks at 2.46 eV and 3.07 eV are attributed to oxygen vacancies and zinc vacancies,respectively.The substitution of more Ga atoms for Zn vacancies with the increase in film thickness is also confirmed by the PL spectrum.The obvious blueshift of the optical bandgap with an increase of carrier concentration is explained well by the Burstein-Moss(BM) effect.The bandgap difference between 3.18 eV and 3.37 eV,about 0.2 eV,is attributed to the metal-semiconductor transition.     

Structure,Electrical,and Optical Properties of Nb-doped BaTiO3 Thin Films Grown by Laser Molecular Beam Epitaxy

Structure,electrical,and optical properties of Nb-doped BaTiO3 (Nb:BTO) thin films on MgO substrates grownby laser molecular beam epitaxy with increasing Nb content were investigated.The Nb:BTO thin films with high crystallinity are epitaxially grown on MgO substrates.With more Nb-doped content,the impurity phases are found in Nb:BTO thin films.Hall measurement at room temperature confirms that the charge carriers of the Nb:BTO thin films are n-type.When the Nb-doped content increases,the carrier concentration and carrier mobility increase.Meanwhile the optical transmittance decreases with the increase of the Nb-doping,and the width of the forbidden band in each group is not affected by the presence of Nb in the samples.Raman spectra show that the structural phase transition may occur with the increase of the Nb-doping content,in the meantime more defects and impurities exist in the Nb:BTO thin films.     

Improvement of Thermoelectric Performance in BiCuSeO Oxide by Ho Doping and Band Modulation

We try to use Ho doping combined with band modulation to adjust the thermoelectric properties for BiCuSeO.The results show that Ho doping can increase the carrier concentration and increase the electrical conductivity in the whole temperature range.Although Seebeck coefficient decreases due to the increase of carrier concentration,it still keeps relatively high values,especially in the middle and high temperature range.On this basis,the band-modulation sample can maintain relatively higher carrier concentration while maintaining relatively higher mobility,and further improve the electrical transporting performance.In addition,due to the introduction of a large number of interfaces in the band-modulation samples,the phonon scattering is enhanced effectively and the lattice thermal conductivity is reduced.Finally,the maximal power factor(PF) of 5.18μW·cm~(-1)K~(-2) and the dimensionless thermoelectric figure of merits(ZT) of 0.81 are obtained from the 10% Ho modulation doped sample at 873 K.     

Oxygen ion conductivity of La_(0.8)Sr_(0.2)Ga_(0.83)Mg_(0.17-x)Co_xO_(3-δ) synthesized by laser rapid solidification

Materials La0.8Sr0.2Ga0.83Mg0.17-xCoxO3-δ with x = 0, 0.05, 0.085, 0.10, and 0.15 are synthesized by laser rapid solidification. It is shown that the samples prepared by laser rapid solidification give rise to unique spear-like or leaf-like microstructures which are orderly arranged and densely packed. Their electrical properties each show a general dependence of the Co content and the total conductivities of La 0.8 Sr 0.2 Ga 0.83 Mg 0.085 Co 0.085 O 3-δ prepared by laser rapid solidification are measured to be 0.067, 0.124, and 0.202 S·cm -1 at 600, 700, and 800℃, respectively, which are much higher than by conventional solid state reactions. Moreover, the electrical conductivities each as a function of the oxygen partial pressure are also measured. It is shown that the samples with the Co content values ≤ 8.5 mol% each exhibit basically ionic conduction while those for Co content values ≥ 10 mol % each show ionic mixed electronic conduction under oxygen partial pressures from 10 -16 atm (1 atm = 1.01325×10 5 Pa) to 0.98 atm. The improved ionic conductivity of La 0.8 Sr 0.2 Ga 0.83 Mg 0.085 Co 0.085 O 3-δ prepared by laser rapid solidification compared with by solid state reactions is attributed to the unique microstructure of the sample generated during laser rapid solidification.     

Doping effect on the structure and physical properties of quasi-one-dimensional compounds Ba_9Co_3(Se_(1-x)S_x)15(x=0–0.2)

A series of samples of Ba_9Co_3(Se_(1-x)S_x)15 (x=0,0.05,0.1,0.15,0.2) with quasi-one-dimensional (1D) structure were successfully synthesized under high-temperature and high-pressure conditions.The influence of partial substitution of S for Se on the structure,electronic transport,and magnetic properties of Ba_9Co_3(Se_(1-x)S_x)15 has been investigated in detail.The x-ray diffraction data shows that the lattice constant decreases linearly with increasing S-doping level,which follows the Vegrad’s law.The doped S atoms preferentially occupy the site of Se atoms in CoSe_6 octahedron.Physical properties measurements indicate that all the samples of Ba_9Co_3(Se_(1-x)S_x)15 are semiconducting and display spin glass behavior.As the replacement of Se by smaller size S,although the inter-chain distance decreases,the electronic hopping between CoSe/S_6 chains is weakened and leads to an increase of band gap from 0.75 e V to 0.86 e V,since the S-3p electrons are more localized than Se-4p ones.Ba_9Co_3(Se_(1-x)S_x)15 exhibits 1D conducting chain characteristic.     

Structural,optical,and electrical properties of Cu-doped ZrO_2 films prepared by magnetron co-sputtering

Copper(Cu)-doped ZrO_2(CZO) films with different Cu content(0 at.%～ 8.07 at.%) are successfully deposited on Si(100) substrates by direct current(DC) and radio frequency(RF) magnetron co-sputtering. The influences of Cu content on structural, morphological, optical and electrical properties of CZO films are discussed in detail. The CZO films exhibit ZrO_2 monocline(ˉ111) preferred orientation, which indicates that Cu atoms are doped in ZrO_2 host lattice. The crystallite size estimated form x-ray diffraction(XRD) increases by Cu doping, which accords with the result observed from the scanning electron microscope(SEM). The electrical resistivity decreases from 2.63 ?.cm to 1.48 ?·cm with Cu doping content increasing, which indicates that the conductivity of CZO film is improved. However, the visible light transmittances decrease slightly by Cu doping and the optical band gap values decrease from 4.64 eV to 4.48 eV for CZO films.     

Phase Transition Behavior of LiCr 0.35 Mn0.65O2 under High Pressure by Electrical Conductivity Measurement

The electrical conductivity of powdered LiCr 0.35 Mn0.65O2 is measured under high pressure up to 26.22 GPa in the temperature range 300-413 K by using a diamond anvil cell. It is found that both conductivity and activation enthalpy change discontinuously at 5.36 GPa and 21.66 GPa. In the pressure range 1.10-5.36 GPa, pressure increases the activation enthalpy and reduces the carrier scattering, which finally leads to the conductivity increase. In the pressure ranges 6.32-21.66 GPa and 22.60-26.22 GPa, the activation enthalpy decreases with pressure increasing, which has a positive contribution to electrical conductivity increase. Two pressure-induced structural phase transitions are found by in-situ x-ray diffraction under high pressure, which results in the discontinuous changes of conductivity and activation enthalpy.     

Characterization of different-Al-content AlGaN/GaN heterostructures on sapphire

Al x Ga 1-x N/GaN high-electron-mobility transistor (HEMT) structures with Al composition ranging from x = 0.13 to 0.36 are grown on sapphire substrates by low-pressure metalorganic chemical vapor deposition (LP-MOCVD). The effects of Al content on crystal quality, surface morphology, optical and electrical characteristics of the AlGaN/GaN heterostructures have been analyzed. Although high Al-content (36%) heterostructure exhibits a distinguished photoluminescence peak related to recombination between the two-dimensional electron gas and photoexcited holes (2DEG-h), its crystal quality and rough surface morphology are poor. 2DEG mobility increases with the Al content up to 26% and then it apparently decreases for high Al-content (36%) AlGaN/GaN heterostructure. The increase of sheet carrier density with the increase of Al content has been observed. A high mobility at room temperature of 2105 cm 2 /V s with a sheet carrier density of n s = 1.10 × 10 13 cm -2 , for a 26% Al-content AlGaN/GaN heterostructure has been obtained, which is approaching state-of-the-art for HEMT grown on SiC. Sheet resistance as low as 274 Ω/□ has also been achieved.     

Optical spectra and local structure of Eu~(3+) ions doped in Nb_2O_5-La_2O_3-B_2O_3-BaO glasses

The xNb2O5-(15-x)La2O3-40B2O3-45BaO (x = 5, 7,5, 12.5 mol%) glasses doped with Eu3 mol% are fabricated by the melting method. The Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectra, phonon sideband spectra, emission and excitation spectra of the glasses are measured. The crystal field parameter and coordination number of Eu3 ions in the glasses are obtained according to the splitting of their 5D0 - 7F1 levels. The intensity parametersΩ2 andΩ4 of Eu3 ions for optical transition are calculated from their emission spectra in terms of reduced matrix U(t) (λ= 2, 4, 6) character for optical transitions. The results indicate that the intensity parametersΩ2 andΩ4 increase with the increase of Nb2O5 content, suggesting that the symmetry becomes lower, the band of Eu and O atoms becomes stronger and the covalence increases with the increase of Nb2O5 content.     

Surface effect of nanocrystals doped with rare earth ions enriched on surface and its application in upconversion luminescence

By employing a certain proportion of hydrogen peroxide, ammonia, ammonium fluoride, and ethylene diamine tetraacetic acid (EDTA) as precipitator, well-crystallized LaOF:Eu3+ and LaOF:Yb3+, Er3+ nanocrystals are synthe- sized by using the chemical co-precipitation method. The structural properties of these samples are characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) spectra. The results show that all the samples have an average size below 70 nm, which decreases gradually with the increase of the EDTA content, and a certain number of EDTA molecules are coupled with doped ions on the surfaces of nanocrystals. Most of the doped ions are proved to be enriched on the surfaces of nanocrystals and surrounded by the high energy vibration groups and bonds in EDTA molecules. The observed differences in upconversion emission spectrum among the different LaOF:Yb3+, Er3+ nanocrystals are explained by the different two-photon upconversion mechanisms. Especially, in the LaOF:Yb3+, Er3+ nanocrystals with EDTA, the two-photon processes that contain several special cross-relaxation processes are introduced to analyse the corresponding upconversion mechanisms.     

Effects of Ni doping on the structural properties and collapse of magnetic ordering in NdFe_(1-x)Ni_xO_3(0.1 ≤x≤ 0.7) orthoferrites

Nd Fe_(1-x)Ni_xO_3(0.1 ≤ x ≤ 0.7) orthoferrites are synthesized by solid state reaction method, and the structural properties of these materials are investigated by employing x-ray diffraction(XRD), scanning electron microscopy(SEM) and M o¨ssbauer spectroscopy. The orthorhombic structure is observed in all systems; however, with the increase in Ni doping,the increase in tolerance factor and the decrease in the cell volume are observed. Orthorhombic distortion decreases with Ni content increasing up to 50%, while above 50% Ni doping it increases. SEM examination indicates the increases in grain size and intermixing of grains with increase in Ni concentration. Comparison between bulk and theoretical densities shows that in each of all samples porosity is less than 2%. M?ssbauer spectroscopic investigations are performed to explain local structure, Fe oxidation states and collapse of the magnetic ordering. In these samples the Fe oxidation state remains+3 and there is no considerable increase in hole states observed; however due to mismatch of the ionic radii between Fe~(3+) and Ni~(3+), octahedral distortions, sagging and distribution of hyperfine parameters increase with increase in Ni concentration. The major factors behind the collapse of magnetic ordering in the Ni-doped systems are the weakening of the super-exchange interactions, decrease in the Neel temperature, increase in spin–spin relaxation frequency and high spin to low spin transition.     

Phase transformation and morphology tuning of β-NaYF_4:Yb~(3+),Er~(3+) nanocrystals through K~+ ions codoping

In this work, a simple method to modulate the crystal phase and morphology with a large amount of K+ions codoping is proposed. The phase changes to the mixture of β-Na YF4 and β-KYF4 with increasing the content of K+ions to 80 mol%.When it exceeds 80 mol%, β-Na YF4 disappears gradually and β-KYF4 dominates with a poor crystalline. In addition, the morphology changes from nanosphere to nanoplate, and then to nanoprism, which indicates that a higher content of K+ions favors the growth rates along [0001] than the [10-10] of the nanocrystals. Additionally, the upconversion(UC) luminescence properties and the ratio of red/green(R/G) UC intensity of samples with different phases and morphologies are detected,which makes it possible to tune the UC fluorescence by varying the concentration of K+ions.     

Effect of Nb doping on microstructures and thermoelectric properties of SrTiO_3 ceramics

Nb-doped SrTiO_3 thermoelectric ceramics with different niobium concentrations,sintering temperatures and Sr-site vacancies are successfully prepared by high energy ball milling combined with carbon burial sintering.For fully understanding the effect of niobium doping on SrTiO_3,thermoelectric transport properties are systematically investigated in a temperature range from 300 K to 1100 K.The carrier mobility can be significantly enhanced,and the electrical conductivity is quadrupled,when the sintering temperature rises from 1673 K to 1773 K(beyond the eutectic temperature(1713 K) of SrTiO_3–TiO_2).The lattice vibration can be suppressed by the lattice distortion introduced by the doped niobium atoms.However,Sr-site vacancies compensate for the lattice distortion and increase the lattice thermal conductivity more or less.Finally,we achieve a maximum value of figure-of-merit z T of 0.21 at 1100 K for Sr Ti_(0.9)Nb_(0.1)O_3 ceramic sintered at1773 K.     

Paraconductivity study in ErBa_2Cu_(3-x)M_xO_(7-δ)(M=Zn,Fe) superconductors

We report here the paraconductivity of ErBa_2Cu_(3-x)M_xO_(7-δ)(M=Zn, Fe) superconductors.The logarithmic plots of excess conductivityσand reduced temperatureCreveal two different exponents corresponding to crossover temperature as a result of shifting the order parameter from 2 to 3.The first exponent in the normal field region is close to1,in which the order parameter dimensionality(OPD)is 2.The second exponent in the critical field region is close to 0.5,in which the OPD is 3.The coherence length,interlayer coupling,interlayer separation and carrier concentration decrease with increasing doping content,and their values for Fe samples are different from those of Zn samples.While anisotropy is increased with increasing doping content,it is generally higher for a Zn sample than that for an Fe sample.We also estimate several physical parameters such as upper critical magnetic fields in the a–b plane and along the c axis(Baband Bc),and critical current density J at 0 K.Although Baband Bcare generally increased with doping content increasing,the value of Babis found to be twice more than that of Bc.A similar behavior is obtained for J(0 K)and its value is higher in the Fe sample than that in the Zn sample.These results are discussed in terms of oxygen deficiency,localization of carriers,and flux pinning,which are produced by doping.     

Thermoelectric properties of Sr_(0.61)Ba_(0.39)Nb_2O_(6-δ) ceramics in different oxygen-reduction conditions

The thermoelectric properties of Sr0.61Ba0.39Nb2O6-δceramics, reduced in different conditions, are investigated in the temperature range from 323 K to 1073 K. The electrical transport behaviors of the samples are dominated by the thermal-activated polaron hopping in the low temperature range, the Fermi glass behavior in the middle temperature range,and the Anderson localized behavior in the high temperature range. The thermal conductivity presents a plateau at hightemperatures, indicating a glass-like thermal conduction behavior. Both the thermoelectric power factor and the thermal conductivity increase with the increase of the degree of oxygen-reduction. Taking these two factors into account, the oxygen-reduction can still contribute to promoting the thermoelectric figure of merit. The highest ZT value is obtained to be ～0.19 at 1073 K in the heaviest oxygen reduced sample.     

Electron beam evaporation deposition of cadmium sulphide and cadmium telluride thin films: Solar cell applications

Cadmium sulphide (CdS) and cadmium telluride (CdTe) thin films are deposited by electron beam evaporation. Atomic force microscopy (AFM) reveals that the root mean square (RMS) roughness values of the CdS films increase as substrate temperature increases. The optical band gap values of CdS films increase slightly with the increase in the substrate temperature, in a range of 2.42-2.48 eV. The result of Hall effect measurement suggests that the carrier concentration decreases as the substrate temperature increases, making the resistivity of the CdS films increase. CdTe films annealed at 300℃ show that their lowest transmittances are due to their largest packing densities. The electrical characteristics of CdS/CdTe thin film solar cells are investigated in dark conditions and under illumination. Typical rectifying and photovoltaic properties are obtained.     

Magnetism and magnetoresistance of Er1-xSmxMn6Ge6(x=0.2－1.0) compounds

Magnetic and transport properties of Er_{1-x}Sm_xMn_6Ge_6(x=0.2-1.0) have been investigated by x-ray diffraction (XRD) and magnetization measurement. Analysis of the XRD patterns indicates that the samples with x≤0.4 mainly consist of HfFe_6Ge_6-type phase and the samples with 0.6≤x≤1.0 mainly consist of YCo_6Ge_6-type phase (P6/mmm). The lattice constants and the unit cell volume increase with increasing Sm content. The antiferro－ferri－ferromagnetic transitions can be observed with increasing Sm content. The samples with x=0.2 and 0.4 order antiferromagnetically at 420 and 425K, respectively. The samples with x=0.6, 0.8 and 1.0 order from ferri- to ferromagnetically over the whole magnetic ordering temperature range. The corresponding Curie temperatures are 435, 441 and 446K, respectively. The magnetoresistance (MR) isotherms of the sample with x=0.8, measured at various temperatures, are analysed. The magnitude of MR is found to be positive below 55K and gradually increases to a relatively large value of about 5.02% at 5K in a field of 5T as the temperature is lowered. A possible explanation for the positive MR is given.     

Optical spectra and local structure of Eu3+ ions doped in Nb2O5-La2O3-B2O3-BaO glasses

The xNb2O5-(15-x)La2O3-40B2O3-45BaO (x = 5, 7.5, 12.5 mol%) glasses doped with Eu3+ ions in 1mol% are fabricated by the melting method. The Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectra, phonon sideband spectra, emission and excitation spectra of the glasses are measured. The crystal field parameter and coordination number of Eu3+ ions in the glasses are obtained according to the splitting of their 5D0 - 7F1levels. The intensity parameters Ω2 and Ω4 of Eu3+ ions for optical transition are calculated from their emission spectra in terms of reduced matrix U(t) (λ= 2,4,6) character for optical transitions. The results indicate that the intensity parameters Ω2 and Ω4 increase with the increase of Nb2O5 content, suggesting that the symmetry becomes lower, the band of Eu and O atoms becomes stronger and the covalence increases with the increase of Nb2O5 content.