Non-contact in-situ pulsed electro acoustic method for the analysis of charge transport in irradiated space-used polymers

The characterization of dielectric materials in space environment requires to understand and predict their electric behaviour, taking into account ionisation, and ageing effect (through electron or UV radiation, thermal cycling, …)For this purpose, new methods have been developed for the characterisation and qualification of space materials and satellite structure. These studies led initially to the development of dedicated facilities for the simulation of representative irradiation conditions. This work is focused on a new non-disturbing technique for the measurement of charge distribution within space irradiated polymers. This technique named PEA (Pulsed Electro-Acoustic) has been implemented in the irradiation facility for in-situ and real time measurement during irradiation and relaxation of polymer materials. Implementation and validation of this technique are presented and discussed in this paper.     

Structural,electrical and magnetic properties of (Fe,Co) co-doped SnO2 diluted magnetic semiconductor nanostructures

Nanostructures (NSs) of basic composition Sn_1−xFe_x/2Co_x/2O₂ with x=0.00, 0.04, 0.06, 0.08 and 0.1 were synthesized by citrate-gel route and characterized to understand their structural, electrical and magnetic properties. X-ray diffraction and Raman spectroscopy were used to confirm the formation of single phase rutile type tetragonal structure. The crystallite sizes calculated by using Williamson Hall were found to decrease with increasing doping level. In addition to the fundamental Raman peaks of rutile SnO₂, the other three weak Raman peaks at about 505, 537 and 688 cm⁻¹ were also observed. Field emission scanning electron microscopy studies showed the emergence of structural transformation. Electric properties such as dc electrical resistivity as a function of temperature and ac conductivity as a function of frequency were also studied. The variation of dielectric properties with frequency reveals that the dispersion is due to Maxwell–Wagner type of interfacial polarization in general. Hysteresis loops were clearly observed in M–H curves of Fe and Co co-doped SnO₂ NSs. However, pure SnO₂ nanoparticles (NPs) showed paramagnetic behaviour which vanished at higher values of magnetic field. The grain and grain boundary contribution in the conduction process is estimated through complex impedance plot fitted with non-linear least square (NLLS) approach which shows that the role of grain boundaries increases rapidly as compared to the grain volume with the increase of Fe and Co ions in to system.     

Enhanced room temperature ferromagnetism and photoluminescence behavior of Cu-doped ZnO co-doped with Mn

Cu, Mn co-doped ZnO nanoparticles were successfully synthesized by the sol–gel technique. XRD pattern described that Mn-doping did not affect the hexagonal wurtzite structure of the samples and no secondary phases were found. The reduced crystallite size at Mn=2% is due to the suppression of grain surface growth by foreign impurity. The enhancement of crystal size after Mn=2% is due to the expansion of lattice volume produced by the distortion around the dopant ion. The better dielectric constant and conductivity noticed at Mn=2% are explained by charge carrier density and crystallite size. The suppression of broad UV band by Mn-doping is discussed based on the generation of non-radiative recombination centers. Hysteresis loop showed the clear room temperature ferromagnetism in all the samples and the magnetization increased with Mn-doping. Better electrical and magnetic behavior of Zn_0.94Cu_0.04Mn_0.02O sample is suggested for effective opto-magnetic devices.     

Swift heavy ion induced capacitance and dielectric properties of Ni/n-GaAs Schottky diode

The in-situ capacitance and dielectric properties of 25 MeV C⁴⁺ ion irradiated Ni/n-GaAs Schottky barrier diode (SBD) were studied at 100 kHz in the fluence range 5 × 10¹⁰ – 5 × 10¹³ ions/cm². The investigation shows reduction in capacitance and charge density with increase in ion fluence. Consequent changes were observed in other related parameters like conductance, dielectric constant, dielectric loss, loss tangent and electrical modulus. The results were interpreted in terms of generation of swift heavy ion induced acceptor trap states by electronic energy loss mechanism. Besides, the switch over characteristics of depletion to inversion regions in the CV plot reveals minority carrier recombination centers also. The dispersion and relaxation peaks observed in bias dependent dielectric plots were ascribed to the polarization and relaxation mechanism due to the interfacial trap states. The traps and recombination centers were found to alter the barrier characteristics of the fabricated SBD depending upon the ion fluence.     

Electrical Properties of Carboxyl Methylcellulose/Chitosan Dual-Blend Green Polymer Doped with Ammonium Bromide

This present work discusses dual-blend green polymer electrolyte (GPE)–based natural polymers, composed of carboxyl methylcellulose (CMC) and chitosan (CS), created by introducing various compositions of ammonium bromide (NH₄Br) as a dopant in the system. These GPEs were successfully prepared by the solution casting technique and characterized using electrical impedance spectroscopy (EIS). From EIS measurement, the highest room-temperature conductivity is 1.21 × 10^?5 Scm^?1 for the sample containing 20 wt.% of NH₄Br. Plot of the temperature dependence of the GPEs revealed that the system obeys the Arrhenius rule and was thermally assisted. Besides that, dielectric studies were also conducted and the data were analyzed using complex permittivity, ?^*, and complex electrical modulus, M*, to determine the sample with the highest conductivity value. Thus, this study confirmed non-Debye behavior in the sample.     

Optical constants,dispersion energy parameters and dielectric properties of ultra-smooth nanocrystalline BiVO4 thin films prepared by rf-magnetron sputtering

BiVO₄ thin films have been prepared through radio frequency (rf) magnetron sputtering of a pre-fabricated BiVO₄ target on ITO coated glass (ITO-glass) substrate and bare glass substrates. BiVO₄ target material was prepared through solid-state reaction method by heating Bi₂O₃ and V₂O₅ mixture at 800 °C for 8 h. The films were characterized by X-ray diffraction, UV–Vis spectroscopy, LCR meter, field emission scanning electron microscopy, transmission electron microscopy and atomic force microscopy. BiVO₄ thin films deposited on the ITO-glass substrate are much smoother compared to the thin films prepared on bare glass substrate. The rms surface roughness calculated from the AFM images comes out to be 0.74 nm and 4.2 nm for the films deposited on the ITO-glass substrate and bare glass substrate for the deposition time 150 min respectively. Optical constants and energy dispersion parameters of these extra-smooth BiVO₄ thin films have been investigated in detail. Dielectric properties of the BiVO₄ thin films on ITO-glass substrate were also investigated. The frequency dependence of dielectric constant of the BiVO₄ thin films has been measured in the frequency range from 20 Hz to 2 MHz. It was found that the dielectric constant increased from 145 to 343 at 20 Hz as the film thickness increased from 90 nm to 145 nm (deposition time increased from 60 min to 150 min). It shows higher dielectric constant compared to the literature value of BiVO₄.     

Structural,optical and dielectric relaxor properties of neodymium doped cubic perovskite (Ba1−xNd2x/3)(Zr0.3Ti0.7)O3

Neodymium doped Barium Zirconate Titanate (Ba_1−xNd_2x/3)(Zr_0.3Ti_0.7)O₃ (x = 0.00, 0.02, 0.04, 0.06, 0.08, 0.10) ceramics were prepared using the solid state reaction route. Structural characterizations of the materials were done by using X-ray diffraction and Raman spectroscopy. XRD study suggested that all the compositions were of single phase cubic perovskite structure with space group Pm-3m while Raman spectra revealed that the replacement of the Ba²⁺ ions by Nd³⁺ ions significantly reduced the intensity of the Raman active modes and shifted them towards higher energy side. Room temperature optical property was analyzed by photoluminescence spectroscopy, which confirmed formation of shallow defects in the band gap. Photoluminescence property was attributed to the presence of polar [TiO₆] distorted clusters in the globally cubic matrix. As a result PL emission spectra of these materials were found to belong to violet–blue regions. Microstructural study of sintered pellets revealed that the grain sizes increase with increase in doping concentration. The temperature dependence of the dielectric properties was investigated in the frequency range 1 kHz to 1 MHz. The broadening in the dielectric constant peak around the phase transition temperature and shifting of the temperature maximum towards higher temperatures with increase in frequency indicated a relaxor type of behavior.     

Synthesis,structure and dielectric properties of a novel Gd coordination polymer based on 2-（ pyridin-4-yl ）- 1H-i midazole-4,B -dicarboxylate

A new Gd coordination polymer based on 2-（pyridin-4-yl）-I H-imidazole-4,5-dicarboxylate （H3PIDC） has been synthesized under hydrothermal conditions, formulated as {[Gd3（HPIDC）3（PIDC）（H2O）4].3H2O}n （1）. The compound crystallizes in the monoclinic system, space group C2/c with a=20.951（7）, b = 9.515（3）, c = 27.483（10） A,β= 106.176（6）°, Z = 4, V= 5262（3） A3, C40 H45 Gd3 N12 O30, Dc = 2.071 g/cm3, Mr=1645.63, λ （MoKa）=0.71073A, μ=3.846mm-1, F（000）=3204, the final R=0.0390 and wR= 0.1332. Complex 1 is a two-dimensional MOF built up from T-shaped 3-connected HPIDC2 , PIDC3 and 4-connected metal nodes. Dielectric constant of complex 1 was measured at different frequencies with temperature variation.     

Iso-structural phase transition in tetramethylammonium nickel（Ⅱ） nitrite [（CH3）4N][Ni（NO2）3]

The title compound, tetramethylammonium nickel nitrite [（CH3）4N][Ni（NO2）3], has a hexagonal perovskite-type structure with formula ABX3. It undergoes two reversible phase transitions occurring at about 409.1 and 428.4 K, associated with dielectric transitions. DSC measurement and dielectric measurement confirm the transition. The variable-temperature X-ray structural determinations and the powder X-ray diffraction （PXRD） experiments reveal that this compound has the same space group P3ml （No. 164） at 293 K, 413 K and 438 K. The phase transitions are caused by the rotation of the [（CH3）4N]＋ cation.     

Dispersion analysis of triclinic K2Cr2O7

Polarized IR-reflection spectra of a single crystal of K₂Cr₂O₇ were recorded at near normal incidence. Dispersion analysis was applied, taking fully into account the triclinic symmetry of the crystal and the measuring conditions, to determine the oscillator parameters. The oscillator parameters and the dielectric background tensor were proven valid by comparison between measured and based on these parameters modeled spectra of a randomly oriented polycrystalline sample.