Flame Temperature Effect on the Structure of SiC Nanoparticles Grown by Laser Pyrolysis

Small SiC nanoparticles (10 nm diameter) have been grown in a flow reactor by CO₂ laser pyrolysis from a C₂H₂ and SiH₄ mixture. The laser radiation is strongly absorbed by SiH₄ vibration. The energy is transferred to the reactive medium and leads to the dissociation of molecules and the subsequent growth of the nanoparticles. The reaction happens with a flame. The purpose of the experiments reported in this paper is to limit the size of the growing particles to the nanometric scale for which specific properties are expected to appear. Therefore the effects of experimental parameters on the structure and chemical composition of nanoparticles have been investigated. For a given reactive mixture and gas velocity, the flame temperature is governed by the laser power. In this study, the temperature was varied from 875°C to 1100°C. The chemical analysis of the products indicate that their composition is a function of the temperature. For the same C/Si atomic ratio in the gaseous phase, the C/Si ratio in the powder increases from 0.7 at 875°C up to 1.02 at 1100°C, indicating a growth mechanism limited by C₂H₂ dissociation. As expected, X-ray diffraction has shown an improved crystallisation with increasing temperature. Transmission electron microscopy observations have revealed the formation of 10 nm grains for all values of laser power (or flame temperature). These grains appear amorphous at low temperature, whereas they contain an increasing number of nanocrystals (2 nm diameter) when the temperature increases. These results pave the way to a better control of the structure and chemical composition of laser synthesised SiC nanoparticles in the 10 nm range.     

Effect of boron concentration on the UV photosensitivity of silica glass film for planar lightwave circuit

The photosensitivity dynamics in SiO₂ glass with a composition similar to that of silica planar lightwave circuit (PLC) devices was investigated as a fundamental study prior to device fabrication. Silica bulk glasses with similar composition to the core layer of PLC devices were prepared with various concentrations of B₂O₃. The photosensitivity in boron and germanium co-doped amorphous SiO₂ yields a refractive index change Δn as high as 10⁻³ after irradiation with a KrF UV laser beam. The index modulation disappeared after thermal annealing. The result of annealing experiment and UV absorption/Raman spectra revealed that the molar volume change by UV irradiation is responsible for the index variation in the material.     

BNCT蒙特卡洛剂量计算的混合网格算法研究

在硼中子俘获治疗(BNCT)的蒙特卡洛(MC)剂量计算中,通常使用单一的网格模式,如16mm,8mm,4mm.使用细网格计算资源太大,使用粗网格,计算精度不够,为此,根据粒子穿透深度和计数量的变化梯度,采用混合网格模拟计算,达到了细网格的精度,时间仅为细网格的37%.     

Empirical pseudopotential band structure parameters of 4H-SiC using a genetic algorithm fitting routine

In this paper, the viability of using a genetic algorithm to find band structure parameters for empirical pseudopotential method (EPM) calculations is demonstrated by applying a genetic algorithm to find the EPM parameters for 4H-SiC. The form of the pseudopotential for 4H-SiC and the 19 form factors found by the genetic algorithm to fit the band structure to experimentally measured indirect energy gap and direct optical gaps are given. In addition, the effective masses for the conduction band minimum are extracted from the calculated band structure. It is shown that the genetic algorithm provides an effective, automated way to find parameters that give reasonably good fits to both the band gaps and the effective masses simultaneously.     

非球面碳化硅反射镜的加工与检测

为了获得高精度非球面碳化硅(SiC)反射镜,对非球面碳化硅反射镜基底以及改性后碳化硅反射镜表面的加工与检测技术进行了研究。介绍了非球面计算机控制光学表面成型（CCOS）技术及FSGJ-2非球面数控加工设备。采用轮廓检测法和零位补偿干涉检测法分别对碳化硅反射镜研磨和抛光阶段的面形精度进行了检测,并采用零位补偿干涉检测法及表面粗糙度测量仪对最终加工完毕的碳化硅反射镜的面形精度和表面粗糙度进行检测。测量结果表明：各项技术指标均满足设计要求,其中非球面碳化硅(SiC)反射镜实际使用口径内的面形精度（RMS值）为0.016λ(λ=0.6328μm）,表面粗糙度（RMS值）为0.85nm。     

Research on high-voltage 4H-SiC P-i-N diode with planar edge junction termination techniques

The planar edge termination techniques of junction termination extension (JTE) and offset field plates and field-limiting rings for the 4H-SiC P-i-N diode were investigated and optimized by using a two-dimensional device simulator ISE-TCAD10.0. By experimental verification, a good consistency between simulation and experiment can be observed. The results show that the reverse breakdown voltage for the 4H-SiC P-i-N diode with optimized JTE edge termination can accomplish near ideal breakdown voltage and much lower leakage current. The breakdown voltage can be near 1650 V, which achieves more than 90 percent of ideal parallel plane junction breakdown voltage and the leakage current density can be near 3 × 10-5 A/cm2.     

6H-SiC单晶的激光刻蚀及光谱分析

激光微加工是半导体精密加工的一个有效方法。对于碳化硅(SiC)单晶,使用紫外波段激光可以获得对入射能量最大的吸收效率。使用355 nm全固态激光器对6H-SiC单晶进行刻蚀。同时将样品置于不同的介质下以探究最优加工条件。使用拉曼光谱表征激光刻蚀后的SiC表面。刻蚀后表面主要由无定形硅及纳米晶石墨组成,对于空气下刻蚀的SiC晶片,无定形硅主要分布于刻蚀坑的周围,刻蚀坑内较少。而在液体下刻蚀的样品,无定形硅的空间分布相反。通过分析残留在表面的物质,在另一角度研究了激光刻蚀的反应机理。对于液体辅助的激光加工,以往的研究主要关注液层的厚度及粘度,对液体还原性的研究很少。为确定液体还原性的影响,使用共聚焦激光扫描显微镜及能量色散谱检测了不同液体辅助加工样品的表面形貌及氧含量。结果表明,液体还原性在激光刻蚀过程中有着较大的影响,使用有着还原性的液体作为介质可以有效减少表面氧化并获得更规则的表面形貌。     

Polymer-precursor-derived (am-) SiC/TiC composites for resistive heaters in large volume multi-anvil high pressure/high-temperature apparatus

(Amorphous-)SiC/TiC composites for resistive tubular heaters in HP/HT experiments were obtained via a polymer-precursor process. A slurry consisting of a commercial SiC-precursor polymer (allylhydridopolycarbosilane, AHPCS) and TiC powder as conductive filler was applied to the inner walls of zirconia insulation tubes, using a centrifugation-casting method. Resistive coatings with homogeneous thickness of ～200 μm were obtained. The heaters were tested in octahedral multi-anvil assemblies at ～10 GPa with simultaneous recording of heating voltage and current. Up to a maximum temperature of ～1800°C they showed temperature vs. power characteristics reproducible from batch to batch, with resistance decreasing from 0.08 to 0.02 Ω during heating. Microstructural characterization using SEM/EDX was carried out on the recovered SiC/TiC composite material, as well as on pristine resistive heaters directly after coating and curing to 230°C, and after additional pyrolysis at 900°C in argon. In all cases, a stable composite microstructure of an interpenetrating network of TiC particles with either silicon carbide polymer precursor or an amorphous SiC phase were found. The composites were characterized by XRD and thermogravimetry. Further improvement of coating procedure and materials combination (precursor/filler/insulator substrate) may result in advanced coatings, operational well beyond 2000°C.     

First principle study of unzipped boron nitride nanotubes

Systematic first principle calculations have been used to explain the dangling bonds behaviour in the rolling up of a boron nitride nanoribbon (BNNR) to construct a single-walled boron nitride nanotube (BNNT). We found in armchair BNNR two degenerate dangling bonds split and move up to higher energies due to symmetry breaking of system. While in zigzag BNNR changing the topology of system does not affect on metallic features of the band structure, but in unzipped BNNT case a metallic-semimetallic phase transition occurs. Considering the width dependent electronic properties of hydrogen passivated armchair BNNRs, exhibit zigzag behaviour of energy gap in agreement with previous results.     

Synthesis of micro- or nano-crystalline diamond films on WC-Co substrates with various pretreatments by hot filament chemical vapor deposition

Diamond films deposited on tungsten carbide can lead to major improvements in the life and performance of cutting tools. However, deposition of diamond onto cemented tungsten carbide (WC-Co) is problematic due to the cobalt binder in the WC. This binder provides additional toughness to the tool but results in poor adhesion and low nucleation density of any diamond film. A two-step chemical etching pretreatment (Murakami reagent and Caro acid, (MC)-pretreatment) and a boronization pretreatment have both been used extensively to improve adhesion of CVD diamond film on WC-Co substrates. Here we discuss the applicability of MC-pretreatment for a range of Co-containing WC-Co substrates, and demonstrate a controlled synthesis process based on liquid boronizing pretreatment for obtaining smooth and dense micro- or nano-crystalline diamond films on high Co-containing WC-Co substrates. Substrate treatments and deposition parameters were found to have major influences on the smoothness, structure and quality of the diamond films. The best quality diamond films were achieved under conditions of relatively high substrate temperature (T_s) and the best adhesion was achieved at T_s = 800 °C.