Interfacial reactions of rf-sputtered TiNi thin films on (100) silicon with a SiN diffusion barrier

Silicon nitride (SiN) with a 50?nm thickness on Si(100) as a thermal barrier was obtained by plasma-enhanced chemical vapour deposition (PECVD). TiNi thin films were rf sputtered on a SiN/Si substrate and then annealed at 400–700°C for 30?min. Their interfacial reactions were studied using transmission electron microscopy, X-ray diffraction and Auger electron spectroscopy analyses. Experimental results show that the thickness of reaction layer in TiNi/SiN/Si specimens is clearly reduced, compared with that in TiNi/Si specimens under the same annealing conditions. The significant effect of the SiN layer as a diffusion barrier in TiNi/SiN/Si can be recognized. N and Si atoms diffuse from the SiN layer to react with TiNi films at 500°C and 600°C respectively. The TiN_{1 ? x} phase is formed in specimens annealed at 500°C, and mixed Ti₂Ni₃Si and Ti₄Ni₂O compounds are found at 600°C. In the specimen annealed at 700°C, the reaction layer has sublayers in the sequence TiNi/Ti₄Ni₂O/Ti₂Ni₃Si/TiN_{1 ? x} /SiN/Si. The SiN thermal barrier obtained by PECVD caused quite different diffusion species to cross the interfaces between TiNi/SiN/Si and TiNi/Si specimens during the annealing.     

Periodic antiphase boundary spinel-based structures in aluminates,gallates, aluminium oxynitrides and transition aluminas

The crystallographic structures of several transition aluminas possessing a face-centred cubic packing of oxygen anions can be considered as deriving from that of a non-stoichiometric spinel. However, they are not yet known in detail owing to the poor crystallinity of most of the samples studied by X-ray or electron diffraction. Conversely, relatively large crystals have been produced in the case of non-stoichiometric spinels in the alumina-rich (or Ga₂O₃-rich) parts of the Al₂O₃–AlN, Al₂O₃–MgO, Al₂O₃–NiO, Al₂O₃–Li₂O and Ga₂O₃–MgO systems. Detailed studies of their diffraction patterns have shown that all these phases possess periodic antiphase boundary (PAPB) structures based on the spinel structure. In the case of the so-called δ-transition aluminas, various structural models have been previously proposed and in this paper we are focusing on the striking similarities between their diffraction patterns and those of several metastable PAPB aluminate structures. This makes it possible to show that at least three distinct PAPB structures must be taken into account in the case of δ-transition aluminas. APB planes are either {100} or {110} whereas APB vectors are either 1/2??001? or 1/4??110? when referring to the spinel structure. Neighbouring octahedral and tetrahedral incompatible sites are observed in the vicinity of each APB and cation vacancies are shown to occupy these octahedral sites.     

Structural properties of Zinc Lithium borate glass

Zinc Lithium Borate glasses of different composition were prepared with the aim of using it for thermoluminescence dosimetry. Melt quenching method was adopted in this process. Fourier transform Infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy and UV-vis-NIR spectroscopy techniques were employed to investigate the infrared spectra and energy band gap of different composition of Zinc Lithium Borate glasses. X-ray diffraction analysis was used to confirm the amorphous nature of the glass samples. Glass forming ability and stability of the glass was checked using Differential thermal analysis (DTA). Density, molar volume, refractive index parameters have been analyzed in the light of different concentration of the modifier. The active vibrational modes of 1200–1600 cm^?1 for B-O stretching of BO₃ units, 800–1200 cm^?1 for B-O stretching of BO₄ units and 400–800 cm^?1 for bending vibration of various borate segments were detected. Addition of ZnO to lithium borate shows its influence in converting the dominant BO₃ group to BO₄ group. BO₄ are known for creating complex defects, a situation that established deep and stable traps good for thermoluminescence phenomena. From optical data, direct and indirect energy band gap has been calculated using the data obtained from UV-vis-NIR spectroscopy. Both direct and indirect band gaps decrease with the increase of modifier Li₂CO₃.     

Fast intramolecular dynamics of triphenyl phosphite investigated by <Emphasis Type="Bold">2</Emphasis>H NMR

The first analysis of rapid intramolecular motions of triphenyl phosphite by ²H NMR is presented. The fragile slowing down of the primary relaxation is followed by a solid-echo method. The occurrence of a fast reorientation of the phenyl side groups is demonstrated in the supercooled liquid state, identified as a two-fold flip on the basis of simple lineshape simulations. Coexistence of both static and motionally averaged components in “two phase” spectra indicate a broad distribution of correlation times for this relaxation. This dynamical behavior is shown to persist in the glacial phase. Received 28 May 2002 / Received in final form 1st October 2002 Published online 31 December 2002     

Free-space Fresnel diffraction for the approximation of fractional Fourier transform

Fractional Fourier transformation of an object can be approximated by the object's free-space Fresnel diffraction pattern under some restricted conditions and plane wave illumination according to Hua's method. A better approximation is achieved under least-squared conditions developed in this paper. Simulation results verify that our theoretical development works for any fractional order a compared with the previous approach.     

Study of the Anglular Structure of Emission from the Radio Galaxy 3C295 in the Decameter Wavelength Range

We present the results of observations of the angular structure of the radio source 3C295 at decameter waves using the URAN-1 and URAN-2 interferometers. It is shown that the radio image of 3C295 at these frequencies differs drastically from the structure of this object observed at higher frequencies. The simplest model of the structure of this radio galaxy, comprising one component with a Gaussian brightness distribution of angular size (7.4 ± 0.4)× (8.7± 0.4) at 25 MHz and (9.1± 0.5)× (10.6 ± 0.5) at 20 MHz, is determined. A decrease in the spectral density of the emission with decreasing frequency, observed below 50 MHz, is explained.     

Measuring the Polarization Parameters of Rain by Inverse Scattering

The theory is presented for one method of determining the effective polarization parameters of the rain medium in the problem of polarization information processing of detecting target. The determination of the effective polarization parameters of the propagation medium is from the data of propagation measurements over a line-of-sight link. The polarization parameters the effective average value, the effective standard deviation and F the effective shape parameter of the propagation medium are obtained by means of the method of inverse scattering, showing a good agreement with the data from direct measurements.     

Increasing Self-Described Sequences

We proceed with our study of increasing self-described sequences F, beginning with 1 and defined by a functional equation In [1] we exhibited the simple solution f (t)=Ct, for some (0,1), of the associated functional-differential equation and we proved that provided <2/(2+d()), where we have the asymtotic equivalence F(m)~ Cm.In the present paper we show that this last result is optimal, in the sense that the self-described sequence defined by |F^–1(m)|=F(m)², that is