Surface analytical characterization of oxide-free Si(100) wafer surfaces

Summary Wet-chemical cleaning procedures of Si(100) wafers are surface analytically characterized and compared. Hydrophobic surfaces show considerably less native oxides in comparison to hydrophilic surfaces.The growth of the oxide is determined as a function of exposure to air by means of XPS measurements. The chemically shifted Si2p XPS signal is utilized for the quantification of the growth kinetics.One hour after cleaning no chemically shifted Si2p XPS peak is discernible on the hydrophobic surfaces. Assuming homogeneous oxide growth, the detection limit of native oxides is estimated to be below 0.05 nm using an emission angle of 18° with respect to the wafer surface. The calculation of the oxide thickness from the chemically shifted and nonchemically shifted Si2p XPS peak intensities is carried out according to Finster and Schulze [1]. For more than a day after cleaning no surface oxides can be identified on the hydrophobic surfaces. The oxide growth kinetics is logarithmic. The very slow oxidation rate cannot be attributed to fluorine residues since no fluorine is seen by XPS. We explain the slow oxidation rate by a homogeneous hydrogen saturated Si(100) wafer surface.

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Oberflächenanalytische Charakterisierung oxidfreier Si(100)-Waferoberflächen

     

Anchoring Properties of Nematic Liquid Crystals Studied Using the Attenuated Total Reflection Method

By using the attenuated total reflection method associated with the excitation of surface plasmons, the tilt angle of the liquid crystal director and its gradient at the surface are measured in a planar nematic cell as a function of the applied voltage. The surface anchoring anisotropy δπ of the liquid crystal and the surface elastic constant k_s, are found to be δπ = 0.288 erg/cm and k_s, = 9·12 × 10^-11 erg, respectively, when the boundary condition suggested by Barbero et al is used. The theoretical and experimental values obtained with this boundary condition and that of Mada are discussed. The results show that the boundary condition proposed by Barbero et al is in better agreement with the experiment.     

Observation of hydrogen induced intermediate borides in PrFeB based alloys by Mössbauer effect spectroscopy

In the present work, a quantitative analysis of the phase compositions by Mössbauer effect spectroscopy of solid and conventional hydrogen disproportionated Pr_13.7Fe_80.3B_6.0 and Pr_13.7Fe_63.5Co_16.7Zr_0.1B_6.0 alloys was carried out. Significant amounts of intermediate borides t-Fe₃B and Pr(Fe, Co)₁₂B₆ were detected after solid hydrogen disproportionation treatment in Pr_13.7Fe_80.3B_6.0 and Pr_13.7Fe_63.5Co_16.7Zr_0.1B_6.0 alloys, respectively. After conventional hydrogenation–disproportionation–desorption–recombination treatment these phases were not detected and in no case residual Pr₂Fe₁₄B-phase was found. It was observed that the amount of intermediate borides after disproportionation can be correlated with the degree of texture after recombination at various temperatures.     

VO2-Based Infrared Microbolometer Array

V0₂-based thin film materials on silicon substrates are fabricated by ion beam sputtering and a post-annealing which is different from the conventional fabricating method. An infrared linear microbolometer array with 128 pixels is prepared using as-deposited vanadium dioxide thin films. Optical and electrical properties for V0₂-based microbolometer array are tested.     

Account of Thermal Flow Through Metal-Semimetal BiSb Contact Boundary for Determination of EHF Detector Volt-Watt Sensitivity

Bismuth, antimony and its alloys are the typical representatives of a class of semimetals, which electric conductance is lower in 10²-10³ times, than of usual well conducting an electrical current metals. The alloys bismuth with antimony have semi-conductor properties in wide area of compositions at temperatures below 77 °K. The semimetals are rather perspective materials from the point of view of their probable application in various devices [1,2,3].In present time the semimetal alloys BiSb have wide application in thermoelectric generators and refrigerators. In work [3] the opportunity of use of semimetals BiSb with percentage content of Bi and Sb from 8 % up to 25 % was shown as high-sensitivity and of small inertion indicators of the mm range radiation where thermoelectric effect is used. The principle of action of such indicators is based on occurrence of temperature gradient in a semimetal crystal BiSb that has two contacts of the various area with flowing electrical current. Basic element of such device is the dot contact metal - semimetal. One of the main characteristics is volt-watt sensitivity of metal-semimetal BiSb contact which calculating is shown in present work.     

Effects of stenosis on arterial rheology through a mathematical model

The paper presents an analytical study of blood flow through a stenosed artery using a suitable mathematical model. The artery is modelled as an anisotropic viscoelastic cylindrical tube containing a non-Newtonian viscous incompressible fluid representing blood. The blood flow is assumed to be characterized by the Herschel–Bulkley model. The effect of the surrounding connective tissues on the motion of the arterial wall has been incorporated. Initially, the relevant solutions of the boundary value problem are obtained in the Laplace transform space, through the use of a suitable finite difference technique. Laplace inversion is carried out by employing suitable numerical techniques. Finally, the variations of the vascular wall displacements, the velocity distribution of the blood flow, the flux, the resistance to flow and the wall shear stress in the stenotic region are quantified through numerical computations and presented graphically.