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As devices get smaller, a challenge is presented to those who determine the physical properties of the materials used within these devices in a fast and reliable way. This thesis attempts to answer, in part, to that challenge, with a focus on the elastic and, to a lesser extent, thermal properties of thin functional films that are deposited on single crystal substrates. The elastic anisotropy introduced by the single crystal substrate has a major effect on the surface acoustic wave (SAW) velocity and its dispersion. The aim of this work is to extract the elastic properties of functional coatings, and exploit the anisotropy of the substrate, through the fitting of the SAW velocity dispersion. This approach brings an addition to earlier work at ATF (KU Leuven), the Applied optics group (University of Nottingham) and the Keith Nelson research group (MIT).Experimentally the SAW velocity dispersion is measured through two all optical methods. Impulsive stimulated thermal scattering (ISTS, also known as heterodyne diffraction or transient grating) and grating induced laser beam deflection (GILBD) both excite and detect SAWs, with a chosen wavelength, on reflective surfaces. Several films were investigated, each presenting the applicability of the presented approach toother situations. Nanocrystalline diamond (NCD) attempts to bring the extraordinary properties of diamond to applications. In this thesis the elastic and thermal properties were determined, and were found to be in line with literature values. It also reveals that this technique is able to characterize a rough isotropic intermediate layer (a Cr top coating was deposited to enhance reflectivity). Sintered porous silicon is typically used as a sacrificial layer to transfer a functional layer from a bulk Si substrate to a glass substrate for use in photovoltaic cells. c44 and c'=(c11-c12)/2 were determined for samples with different porosities and were found to be within the boundaries set by a finite element model. Additionally it was observed that the microscopic anisotropy of the Si matrix translates to a macroscopic anisotropy in the SAW velocity dispersion. This study shows the applicability of the technique on soft (porous) anisotropic coatings on anisotropic substrates. MnO2 is a typical cathode material in batteries and is studied here as a thin film (500 nm). The resulting value for the Young's modulus and porosity were confirmed by independent techniques. The presented method is thus able to simultaneously determine both the Young's modulus and the porosity of an isotropic coating with sub-micron thickness, with a error estimate that is smaller than the other presented methods.Ni2MnGa is a magnetic shape memory alloy with great potential for the development of microsensors and microactuators. The presented approach allowed to determine a value for c44 and c' of the cubic superstructure of the twinned martensitic phase of the material. Additionally the martensite to austenitephase transition couldbe monitored using SAWs and the effective thermal diffusivity at a temperature higher than the Curie temperature (hence making the M-A transition invisible to magnetic measurements) and for a very small sample with a thin (500 nm) coating (hence making the transition very difficult to detect using calorimetric methods). Bi2Te3, finally, is a thermoelectric material of which the figure of merit, the ratio of the electric conductivity to thermal conductivity, expresses its ability to convert thermal energy into electrical energy (and vice versa). In this study the thermal diffusivity was determined of two films. The extracted values were a factor 2 to 5 lower than those found in literature, which was explained by the granular morphology of the BiTe film. The different case studies illustrate the feasible of the presented approach to extract elastic properties from coatings that are mounted on single crystals. The anisotropy that the single crystal substrate introduces is a factor that has to be accounted for, and which was exploited to extract more elastic information from the coating. For coatings with cubic anisotropy, or a cubic superstructure, it was shown that it is possible to reliably estimate a value for c44 and c'. For isotropic coatings it was shown, through a simulation feasibility study, that it is possible to extract the Young's modulus, the thickness, the density and Poisson's ratio. The latter is a parameter that is difficult to measure and is often given an ad hoc value. A technique that is sensitive to it is therefore valuable. However, the reliable extraction of Poisson's ratio was not confirmed by the experimental results on MnO2. Future investigation on a custom made sample with good optical quality and known properties should allow to cross-validate the feasibility study. Future research should attempt to characterize films with a thickness smaller than 50 nm, as in this is the current working range in the microelectronic industry. Additionally, in this thickness regime the properties of the films change and so interesting physics (confinement effects) can be investigated.
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V2O3 (vanadium sesquioxide) is widely considered to be a model system for strongly correlated electron systems. At ambient pressure, bulk V2O3 undergoes a metal-insulator transition (MIT) at a temperature of 150-160K from a strongly correlated rhombohedral paramagnetic metallic phase (PM) to a monoclinic anti-ferromagnetic insulating phase (AFI), accompanied by an abrupt increase in resistivity of up to 7 decades. Upon application of pressure or doping with Ti, the MIT temperature between the PM and AFI phases decreases until eventually the PM phase is stabilised at all temperatures down to 0K. Doping with e.g. Cr causes a transition to a rhombohedral paramagnetic insulating phase (PI), without any change in longe-range order. This dissertation is concerned with the growth and properties of thin (< 100 nm) and ultrathin (< 10 nm) layers of V2O3. The layers were grown by means of oxygen-assisted molecular beam epitaxy on (0001)-Al2O3 and on buffer layers which were grown on (0001)-Al2O3. The layers have been studied with high-resolution X-ray diffraction (XRD), reciprocal space mapping (RSM), X-ray reflectivity (XRR), and transport and optical measurements at cryogenic temperatures. The V2O3 phase was confirmed from the structural symmetry, lattice spacings, density, transport properties and optical properties.The first goal of this work was to be able to tune V2O3 to any point on the bulk phase diagram by means of temperature, Cr doping, stoichiometry and epitaxial strain. The second goal was to study the influence of the proximity of surfaces and interfaces on the properties of V2O3 layers. We have observed that oxygen deficient layers and layers under in-plane tensile strain grown on (0001)-Al2O3 exhibit transport properties which correspond qualitatively to those of Cr-doped V2O3. This suggests the equivalence between oxygen deficiency, tensile in-plane strain and Cr doping in the context of the generalised phase diagram. Buffer layers of Cr2O3 and (V1-xCrx)2O3 have been deposited epitaxially on (0001)-Al2O3, with the intention of using these buffers as template layers for the growth of V2O3 with a controlled strain state. It was found from RSM that V2O3 layers grown directly on (0001)-Al2O3 are almost relaxed with bulk-like transport properties for thicknesses of 17 nm and more. Ultrathin layers of 6 and 4 nm thick display a coherent component, which is correlated with a significant attenuation of the PM-AFI MIT. We suggest that electronic effects, possibly in combination with clamping of the layer, could be responsible for this. In contrast, thin and ultrathin V2O3 layers grown on Cr2O3 buffer layers display bulk-like lattice parameters and we conclude that the Cr2O3 acts to structurally decouple the V2O3 layer from the Al2O3 substrate. A pronounced MIT can still be observed in a V2O3 layer of only 3.5 nm grown on Cr2O3, which puts a new lower limit on the thickness above which an MIT can be observed in V2O3 layers.A dead layer, where the quasiparticle weight isstrongly reduced with respect to bulk V2O3, has been theoretically predicted and experimentally reported in literature. Our data indicate that the thickness of this layer should be smaller than 1 nm. This finding is relevant for the possible integration of ultrathin layers of correlated electron systems in novel device concepts. Growth of (Cr1-xAlx)2O3 buffer layers requires further optimisation before it can be used effectively as a template for V2O3 growth. We have also grown (V1-xCrx)2O3 on (0001)-Al2O3, with the goal of stabilising the PI phase. Cr concentration values extracted from fits of particle-induced X-ray emission correspond well with the nominal values, confirming good control over the concentration. XRD scans suggest that Cr substitutes for V in the lattice. No PM-PI transition could be observed in the temperature-dependent transport, which we ascribe to a combination of phase coexistence in a large temperature interval and a reduced resistivity ratio between both phases in thin films. Finally, we have synthesised V2O3/Cr2O3 superlattices with small modulation length on (0001)-Al2O3. Characteristic superlattice reflections could be observed in XRD and XRR scans, and the modulation lengths extracted from both techniques corresponds well with the nominal values. The transport properties depend strongly on modulation length. Possible mechanisms for this dependence were discussed. We suggest that superlattice structures could be fertile ground for the realisation of interface effects in V2O3.
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Solid state physics --- Thin films. --- Thin films --- 538.97 --- Films, Thin --- Solid film --- Solid state electronics --- Solids --- Surfaces (Technology) --- Coatings --- Thick films --- Special geometry and interaction with particles and radiation --- 538.97 Special geometry and interaction with particles and radiation
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538.97 <083> --- Special geometry and interaction with particles and radiation--Tabellen. Lijsten. Indices --(niet-bibliografische) --- 538.97 <083> Special geometry and interaction with particles and radiation--Tabellen. Lijsten. Indices --(niet-bibliografische) --- Physics --- Tables --- Chemistry --- Engineering
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