XPS study of the chemical bonding in hydrogenated amorphous germanium–carbon alloys

A systematic study of the chemical bonding in hydrogenated amorphous germanium–carbon (a-Ge_1-xC_x:H)alloys using X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) is presented. The films, with carbon content ranging from 0 at. % to 100 at. %, were prepared by the rf co-sputtering technique. Raman spectroscopy was used to investigate the carbon hybridization. Rutherford backscattering spectroscopy (RBS) and XPS were used to determine the film stoichiometry. The Ge 3d and C 1s core levels were used for investigating the bonding properties of germanium and carbon atoms, respectively. The relative concentrations of C–Ge, C–C, and C–H bonds were calculated using the intensities of the chemically shifted C 1s components. It was observed that the carbon atoms enter the germanium network with different hybridization, which depends on the carbon concentration. For concentrations lower than 20 at. %, the carbon atoms are preferentially sp³ hybridized, and approximately randomly distributed. As the carbon content increases the concentration of sp² sites also increases and the films are more graphitic-like. Received: 4 May 1999 / Accepted: 24 November 1999 / Published online: 24 March 2000     

Analysis of the spectator-angular distribution in the light-nuclei reactions

Angular distributions of spectator particles in dp and ⁴Hep reactions in the region of a few GeV have been studied. Significant asymmetries of the spectator particle distributions have been observed for reactions where π-mesons are produced in the final state. Results of calculations in the framework of a spectator model taking into account the nuclear wave function, flux factor and the energy dependence of the NN elementary cross-sections, have been compared to experimental data. A good agreement has been observed for the fragments momenta, where the one-pole mechanism dominates. Received: 11 February 2000 / Accepted: 29 June 2000     

Reaction mechanism of <Superscript>6</Superscript>Li scattering at 600 MeV

Elastic scattering and inclusive breakup of ⁶Li particles on ¹²C, ⁵⁸Ni, ⁹⁰Zr, and ²⁰⁸Pb targets are measured at 100A MeV. The elastic scattering data are compared with single channel and Coupled Discretized Continuum Channels calculations. The coupling-effect between the elastic and the breakup channels is important even at an incident energy of 100A MeV and cannot be neglected. The inclusive breakup data are investigated for orbital dispersion effects which are found to be less significant at 100A MeV. The longitudinal momentum distributions are broader than predicted by theoretical expectations. Received: 17 December 1999 / Revised version: 9 February 2000     

Nanocrystalline silicon thin-film transistors with 50-nm-thick deposited channel layer, 10 cm2V-1s-1 electron mobility and 108 on/off current ratio

Thin-film transistors were made using 50-nm-thick directly deposited nanocrystalline silicon channel layers. The transistors have a coplanar top gate structure. The nanocrystalline silicon was deposited from discharges in silane, hydrogen and silicon tetrafluoride. The transistors combine a high electron field effect mobility of ∼10 cm² V^-1s^-1 with a low ‘off’ current of ∼10^-14 A per μm of channel length and an ‘on’/‘off’ current ratio of ∼10⁸. This result shows that transistors made from directly deposited silicon can combine high mobility with low ‘off’ currents. Received: 28 May 2001 / Accepted: 30 May 2001 / Published online: 30 August 2001     

Transfer, breakup, and fusion reactions of 6He with 209Bi near the Coulomb barrier

The fusion of ⁶He with a ²⁰⁹Bi target displays a large enhancement at energies near to and below the Coulomb barrier. Recently, a ⁴He group of remarkable intensity, which dominates the total reaction cross-section, has also been observed in the near-barrier interaction of the same system. It is argued that this transfer/breakup channel acts as a doorway state to fusion. Received: 1 May 2001 / Accepted: 4 December 2001     

Pb(II)-ion-selective electrodes based on chalcogenide glasses

Novel chalcogenide glasses (ChG) from the GeSe₂-PbSe-PbTe system were investigated as membrane materials in ion-selective electrodes reversible to Pb(II)-ions. Pb(II)-ion-selective electrodes (Pb(II)-ISE) of ‘coated wire’ type were constructed, which consist of standard Ag/AgCl electrodes uniformly coated with a composite mixture of polymer filled with GeSe₂-PbSe-PbTe glassy powder. The basic analytical characteristics of Pb(II)-ISE, such as reproducibility, linear range (L), slope of the electrode function (S), limits of detection (LD), working pH-range and response time (τ₉₅), were studied with respect to the ChG composition. The cross-selectivity in the presence of some interfering ions, which commonly attendant Pb²⁺-ions in analytical media, was investigated. Potential-generating mechanism was suggested explaining sufficiently the observed dependencies.     

Abnormal frequency dispersion of the admittance associated with a chromium/plasma deposited a-SiNx:H/p-Si structure

Admittance (Y_m) versus applied gate bias (V_G) on MIS structure (Cr/a-SiNx:H/p-Si) was measured as a function of frequency (mHz-MHz)/temperature (77-400 K) as parameters to investigate minority carrier behavior. Strong frequency dispersion in measured capacitance at inverting gate bias (positive biases for p-type silicon substrate) and low frequency behavior in capacitance-voltage (C-V) curves under high measuring frequencies (above kHz) at 300-400 K temperature interval are reported. This phenomenon is interpreted via lateral hopping conductivity of self-inversion charges beyond the gate inside a-SiNx:H film near interface as generation mechanism of minorities with a lower activation energy (0.11 eV) rather than prevailing mechanisms of much higher activation energies (namely, generation-recombination and diffusion).     

Analysis of Chemical Neutralization Products of Phosphonothiolates by Gas Chromatography Mass Spectrometry

A series of phosphonothiolates, including the highly toxic O-Ethyl-S-(2-diisopropylamino) ethyl methylphosphonothioate (VX), have been subjected to chemical neutralization reaction with metallic sodium. The phosphonothiolates decompose to their respective phosphonic and phosphonothioic acids and this results in the detoxification of VX. GC/MS technique in both EI and CI mode has been applied for reaction monitoring and final identification of the neutralization products formed in this reaction.     

Energy fluctuations in vibrated and driven granular gases

We investigate the behavior of energy fluctuations in several models of granular gases maintained in a non-equilibrium steady state. In the case of a gas heated from a boundary, the inhomogeneities of the system play a predominant role. Interpreting the total kinetic energy as a sum of independent but not identically distributed random variables, it is possible to compute the probability density function (pdf) of the total energy. Neglecting correlations and using the analytical expression for the inhomogeneous temperature profile obtained from the granular hydrodynamic equations, we recover results that have previously been observed numerically and that had been attributed to the presence of correlations. In order to separate the effects of spatial inhomogeneities from those ascribable to velocity correlations, we have also considered two models of homogeneously thermostated gases: in this framework it is possible to reveal the presence of non-trivial effects due to velocity correlations between particles. Such correlations stem from the inelasticity of collisions. Moreover, the observation that the pdf of the total energy tends to a Gaussian in the large system limit suggests that they are also due to the finite size of the system.     

Fractional hydrodynamic equations for fractal media

We use the fractional integrals in order to describe dynamical processes in the fractal medium. We consider the “fractional” continuous medium model for the fractal media and derive the fractional generalization of the equations of balance of mass density, momentum density, and internal energy. The fractional generalization of Navier-Stokes and Euler equations are considered. We derive the equilibrium equation for fractal media. The sound waves in the continuous medium model for fractional media are considered.