Crystallization behavior and origin of c-axis orientation in sol–gel-derived ZnO:Li thin films on glass substrates

Preferentially, c-axis-oriented lithium-doped zinc oxide (ZnO:Li) thin films were prepared on Pyrex borosilicate glass substrates by a sol–gel method starting from zinc acetate dihydrate, lithium chloride, 2-methoxyethanol and monoethanolamine. Decomposition and crystallization behavior of dip-coated amorphous precursor films during post-annealing treatments were investigated by thermogravimetry–differential thermal analysis (TG–DTA), X-ray diffraction (XRD), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), optical transmittance measurements, field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM) and atomic force microscopy (AFM). It was revealed that the films contained the organic compounds at temperatures up to 300°C, which was the key to the transformation from the amorphous to the crystalline state. Thermodynamical consideration of nucleation and crystal growth was made taking account of surface energies of the film and the glass substrate and an interfacial energy between them. Mechanisms underlying the c-axis orientation were proposed based upon the initial orientation due to nucleation and final growth orientation.     

Rapid nucleation of diamond films by pulsed laser chemical vapor deposition

The nucleation of diamond films could be greatly enhanced on mirror-polished Si substrate by a pulsed Nd:YAG laser beam without any thermal- and plasma-assisted processes during a very short time. The nucleation density increased with decreasing laser power density from 1.38×10¹⁰ to 1.17×10⁹ W/cm² and deposition pressure from 1013 to 4 mbar. The pulsed laser beam made no contribution to enhance nucleation at substrate temperature as low as 650°C. X-ray diffraction measurements showed the (1 1 1) diffraction peak of diamond for the samples obtained using only pulsed laser during 40 min. The enhanced nucleation and growth of diamond crystallites were attributed to effective excitation of reactive gases and etching of non-diamond carbon phases by the pulsed laser beam.     

Fundamental processes in Si/Si and Ge/Si epitaxy studied by scanning tunneling microscopy during growth

Experimental results on the epitaxy of Si and Ge on Si(0 0 1) and Si(1 1 1) surfaces, which are obtained by scanning tunneling microscopy (STM) imaging during growth, are reviewed. Techniques for simultaneous epitaxial growth and STM measurements at high temperature are described. The ability to access the evolution of the growth morphology during growth down to the atomic level enables the study of the influence of surface reconstruction on the growth. The relatively complete characterization of the growth process facilitates comparison to theoretical models and allows the identification of fundamental growth processes. For instance, the observed transition between different growth modes can be explained by specific growth processes included in a model. The influence of strain on the growth morphology is reviewed for the case of heteroepitaxial growth of Ge on Si. With the method of combining STM imaging and epitaxial growth, the transition from two-dimensional to three-dimensional growth as well as the evolution of size and shape of three-dimensional islands can be studied.     

Nucleation and growth mechanism for the electropolymerization of aniline on highly oriented pyrolytic graphite at higher potentials

In this work, the nucleation and growth mechanism for the electropolymerization of aniline was investigated at higher potentials on highly oriented pyrolytic graphite by potentiostatic current-time transient and atomic force microscopic (AFM) measurements. The electrochemical data fitted to the theoretical curves for the nucleation and growth suggest that electropolymerization of aniline follows the three-dimensional growth and progressive nucleation mechanism. These results were also compared with the results obtained at lower potentials. The results obtained from transient analysis, at higher potentials, were in good agreement with the results of AFM images. Electronic Publication     

Hexagonal AlN films grown on nominal and off-axis Si(0 0 1) substrates

Nucleation and growth of wurtzite AlN layers on nominal and off-axis Si(0 0 1) substrates by plasma-assisted molecular beam epitaxy is reported. The nucleation and the growth dynamics have been studied in situ by reflection high-energy electron diffraction. For the films grown on the nominal Si(0 0 1) surface, cross-sectional transmission electron microscopy and X-ray diffraction investigations revealed a two-domain film structure (AlN¹ and AlN²) with an epitaxial orientation relationship of [0 0 0 1]_AlN || [0 0 1]_Si and AlN¹ || AlN² || [1 1 0]_Si. The epitaxial growth of single crystalline wurtzite AlN thin films has been achieved on off-axis Si(0 0 1) substrates with an epitaxial orientation relationship of [0 0 0 1]_AlN parallel to the surface normal and 0 1 1 0_AlN || [1 1 0]_Si.     

Influence of Nucleation Agents Concentration on Crystallization Structure and Properties of Glass-ceramics

Deep color glass-ceramics is prepared by using gold tailings as the main raw material, and Cr2O3 is added as nucleation agent. Influence of different Cr2O3 additions on crystallization structure and properties of CaO-MgO-Al2O3-SiO2 glass-ceramics has been discussed so as to select optimum additions. DTA is employed to determine optimum crystallization and nucleation temperatures; XRD and SEM are used to characterize microstructure of each sample; and performance indexes, such as water absorption, bulk density, flexural strength and so on, are also determined. Experimental results show that when 3wt% Cr2O3 is introduced, fine glass-ceramics with diopside as the main crystal and Ca-Fe diopside as the second-crystal is obtained, and its corresponding performance indexes are as follows: water absorption 0.12%, bulk density 2.56 g/cm3, and flexural strength 70.01 Mpa.     

Possibilities of C 1s XPS and N(E) C KVV Auger spectroscopy for identification of inherent peculiarities of diamond growth

The interaction of C-atoms and CH_n-radicals with uncleaned and argon cleaned silicon substrate and with diamond surface after H-treatment have been studied in situ by XPS and Auger spectroscopy. It was found the formation of a new chemical surface state of carbon atoms in the case of carbon atoms and radicals interaction with cleaned silicon. The same chemical state was revealed on the H-treated diamond surface. Graphite-like structure of carbon atoms was observed on the surface of unlearned silicon and H-treated diamond after interaction with carbon atoms and radicals. N(E) C KVV Auger spectrum for the new chemical state of carbon atoms significantly differs from typical spectra for sp²- and sp³-bonded carbon materials. The high energy part of this spectrum was interpreted under the hypothesis of sp³-bonded carbon atoms but with shifted fermi level position.     

Nucleation theory for a model bistable chemical reaction

The theory of homogeneous nucleation is developed for a model nonlinear bistable chemical reaction driven far from equilibrium (trimolecular Schlögl model). The theory is restricted to the vicinity of the stable/unstable transition, where the nucleation barrier is small but nonvanishing. The nucleation rates are derived for two types of fluctuations: first, fluctuations due to a homogeneous external white noise source, and second, internal chemical fluctuations, described by a reastion-diffusion multivariate master equation. In the white noise case, a Landau-Ginzburg potential can be defined, and the standard nucleation formalism can be applied; this is not true for the internal case and a new result is used. The inhomogeneous chemical fluctuations, due to the coupling between the nonlinear reaction and diffusion, are shown to have an influence on the nucleation rate. Quantitative conditions are also given to evaluate the possibility of homogeneous nucleation in nonlinear chemical systems.     

The origin of nucleation peak in transformational plasticity

A typical stress-strain relation for martensitic materials exhibits a mismatch between the nucleation and propagation thresholds leading to the formation of the nucleation peak. We develop an analytical model of this phenomenon and obtain specific relations between the macroscopic parameters of the peak and the microscopic characteristics of the material. Although the nucleation peak appears in the model as an interplay between discreteness and nonlocality, it does not disappear in the continuum limit. We verify the quantitative predictions of the model by comparison with experimental data for cubic to monoclinic phase transformation in NiTi.