Neue Suboxid-Cluster [O5Ba18] in den Kristallstrukturen von Ba21M2O5 (M = Si,Ge)

Novel Suboxide Clusters [O₅Ba₁₈] in the Crystal Structures of Ba₂₁M₂O₅ (M = Si, Ge) The compounds Ba₂₁M₂O₅ (M = Si, Ge) crystallize in the cubic system with space group Fd3m, lattice constants 2 038.3(10) pm (Si), 2 039.8(9) pm (Ge) resp. and Z = 8. The crystal structure contains isolated Si/Ge atoms coordinated by barium atoms in an icosahedral arrangement. The oxygen atoms are situated in the centers of barium octahedra, four of which share common faces with an additional central octahedron. The novel clusters [O₅Ba₁₈] in principal are related to those in the crystal structures of the binary Cs/Rb suboxides.     

Pulsed electroluminescence in silicon nanocrystals-based devices fabricated by PECVD

Fully compatible CMOS capacitive devices have been developed in order to obtain electrically stimulated luminescence. By high-temperature annealing in N₂ atmosphere PECVD non-stoichiometric silica layers, silicon nanocrystals were formed. Photoluminescence, as well as structural studies, were carried out on these layers to decide the best material composition, which lies next to 17% of silicon excess. Under pulsed electrical stimulation, devices show sharp, narrow, less than 5 μs and pulse-frequency-independent, luminescence peaks at the end of the stimulation pulse. Current analysis on those capacities show hole injection at the beginning and electron injection at the end of the stimulation pulses. It is seen that no positive pulses are needed for attaining bipolar charge injection. Electroluminescence is detected when biasing with negative pulses at about 15 V and increasing up to 50 V. The electroluminescence spectrum matches photoluminescence one, allowing assigning both luminescent radiation to the same emission mechanism, that is, electron–hole recombination within the silicon nanocrystals.     

Identifying suboxide grains at the metal–oxide interface of a corroded Zr–1.0%Nb alloy using (S)TEM,transmission-EBSD and EELS

Here we report a methodology combining TEM, STEM, Transmission-EBSD and EELS to analyse the structural and chemical properties of the metal–oxide interface of corroded Zr alloys in unprecedented detail. TEM, STEM and diffraction results revealed the complexity of the distribution of suboxide grains at the metal–oxide interface. EELS provided accurate quantitative analysis of the oxygen concentration across the interface, identifying the existence of local regions of stoichiometric ZrO and Zr₃O₂ with varying thickness. Transmission-EBSD confirmed that the suboxide grains can be indexed with the hexagonal ZrO structure predicted with ab initio by Nicholls et al. (2014). The t-EBSD analysis has also allowed for the mapping of a relatively large region of the metal–oxide interface, revealing the location and size distribution of the suboxide grains.