Two dimensional (2D) arrays of noble metal nanoparticles are widely used in the sensing of nanoscale biological and chemical events. Research in this area has sparked considerable interest in many fields owing to the novel optical properties, e.g., the localized surface plasmon resonance, of these metallic nanoarrays. In this paper, we report successes in fabricating 2D arrays of gold nano-islands using nanosphere lithography. The reproducibility and the effectiveness of the nano-patterning method are tested by means of spin coating and capillary force deposition. We found that the capillary force deposition method was more effective for nanospheres with diameters greater than 600 nm, whereas the spin coating method works better for nanospheres with diameters less than 600 nm. The optimal deposition parameters for both methods were reported, showing about 80% reproducibility. In addition, we characterize gold nano-island arrays both geometrically with AFM as well as optically with UV-VIS spectrometry. The AFM images revealed that the obtained nano-arrays formed a hexagonal pattern of truncated tetrahedron nano-islands. The experimental and theoretical values of the geometric parameters were compared. The 2D gold nano-arrays showed strong LSPR in the absorption spectra. As the nano-islands increased in size, the LSPR absorption bands became red-shifted. Linear dependence of the plasmon absorption maximum on the size of the gold nano-islands was identified through the increment in the plasmon absorption maximum rate for a one nanometer increase in the characteristic length of the nano-islands. We found that the 2D gold nano-arrays showed nearly seven-fold higher sensitivity of the absorption spectrum to the size of the nano-islands as compared to colloidal gold nano-particles.
The Xe plasma flat lamp, considered to be a new eco-friendly LCD backlight, requires a further improvement of its luminance and luminous efficiency. To improve the performance of this type of lamp, it is necessary to understand the effects of the discharge variables on the luminous characteristics of the lamp. In this study, the luminous characteristics of a coplanartype Xe plasma flat lamp with a teeth-type electrode pattern were analyzed while varying the gas composition, gas pressure and input voltage. The effects of the phosphor layer on the discharge and the luminous characteristics of the lamp were also studied. The luminous efficiency of the coplanar-type Xe plasma flat lamp improved as the Xe input ratio and gas pressure increased. Higher luminous efficiency was also obtained when helium (He) was used as a buffer gas and when a phosphor layer was fabricated on the electrode region. In contrast, the luminous efficiency was reduced with increasing the input voltage. It was found that the infrared emissions from the lamp were affected by the Xe excitation rate in the plasma, the Xe gas density, the collisional quenching of excited Xe species by gas molecules, and the recombination rate between the Xe ions and electrons.
Half-Heusler alloys are a potential thermoelectric material for use in high-temperature applications. In an attempt to produce half-Heusler thermoelectric materials with fine microstructures, TiCoSb was synthesized by the mechanical alloying of stoichiometric elemental powder compositions and then consolidated by vacuum hot pressing. The phase transformations during the mechanical alloying and hot consolidation process were investigated using XRD and SEM. A single-phase, half- Heusler allow was successfully produced by the mechanical alloying process, but a minor portion of the second phase of the CoSb formation was observed after the vacuum hot pressing. The thermoelectric properties as a function of the temperature were evaluated for the hot-pressed specimens. The Seebeck coefficients in the test range showed negative values, representing n-type conductivity, and the absolute value was found to be relatively low due to the existence of the second phase. It is shown that the electrical conductivity is relatively high and that the thermal conductivities are compatibly low in MA TiCoSb. The maximum ZT value was found to be relatively low in the test temperature range, possibly due to the lower Seebeck coefficient. The Hall mobility value appeared to be quite low, leading to the lower value of Seebeck coefficient. Thus, it is likely that the single phase produced by mechanical alloying process will show much higher ZT values after an excess Ti addition. It is also believed that further property enhancement can be obtained if appropriate dopants are selectively introduced into this MA TiCoSb System.
Nano-sized SnO2 thick films were prepared by a screen-printing method onto Al2O3 substrates. The sensing characteristics were investigated by measuring the electrical resistance of each sensor in a test box as a function of the detection gas. The nano-sized SnO2 thick film sensors were treated in a N2 atmosphere. The structural properties of the nano SnO2with a rutile structure according to XRD showed a (110) dominant SnO2 peak. The particle size of SnO2:Ni nano powders at Ni 8 wt% was about 45 nm, and the SnO2 particles were found to contain many pores according to the SEM analysis. The sensitivity of the nano SnO2-based sensors was measured for 5 ppm CH4 gas and CH3CH2CH3 gas at room temperature by comparing the resistance in air with that in the target gases. The results showed that the best sensitivity of SnO2:Ni and SnO2:Co sensors for CH4 gas and CH3CH2CH3 gas at room temperature was observed in SnO2:Ni sensors doped with 8 wt% Ni. The response time of the SnO2:Ni gas sensors was 10 seconds and recovery time was 15 seconds for the CH4 and CH3CH2CH3 gases.
A high-quality CIGS film with a selenization process needs to be developed for low-cost and large-scale production. In this study, we used Cu2In3, CuGa and Cu2Se sputter targets for the deposition of a precursor. The precursor deposited by sputtering was selenized in Se vapor. The precursor layer deposited by the co-sputtering of Cu2In3, CuGa and Cu2Se showed a uniform distribution of Cu, In, Ga, and Se throughout the layer with Cu, In, CuIn, CuGa and Cu2Se phases. After selenization at 550˚C for 30 min, the CIGS film showed a double-layer microstructure with a large-grained top layer and a small-grained bottom layer. In the AES depth profile, In was found to have accumulated near the surface while Cu had accumulated in the middle of the CIGS film. By adding a Cu-In-Ga interlayer between the co-sputtered precursor layer and the Mo film and adding a thin Cu2Se layer onto the co-sputtered precursor layer, large CIGS grains throughout the film were produced. However, the Cu accumulated in the middle of CIGS film in this case as well. By supplying In, Ga and Se to the CIGS film, a uniform distribution of Cu, In, Ga and Se was achieved in the middle of the CIGS film.
We carried out this study to evaluate the grain refining in and the mechanical properties of alloys that undergo severe plastic deformation (SPD). Conventional rolling (CR) and cross-roll rolling (CRR) as SPD methods were used with Ni-20Cr alloy as the experimental material. The materials were cold rolled to a thickness reduction of 90% and subsequently annealed at 700˚C for 30 min to obtain a fully recrystallized microstructure. For the annealed materials after the cold rolling, electron back-scattered diffraction (EBSD) analysis was carried out to investigate the grain boundary characteristic distributions (GBCDs). The CRR process was more effective when used to develop the grain refinement relative to the CR process; as a result, the grain size was refined from 70μm in the initial material to 4.2μm (CR) and 2.4μm (CRR). These grain refinements have a direct effect on improving the mechanical properties; in this case, the microhardness, yield and tensile strength showed significant increases compared to the initial material. In particular, the CRR-processed material showed more effective values relative to the CR-processed materials. The different texture distributions in the CR (001//ND) and CRR (111//ND) were likely the cause of the increase in the mechanical properties. These findings suggest that CRR can result in materials with a smaller grain size, improved texture development and improved mechanical properties after recrystallization by a subsequent annealing process.
We report the structural characterization of BixZn1-xO thin films grown on c-plane sapphire substrates by plasma-assisted molecular beam epitaxy. By increasing the Bi flux during the growth process, BixZn1-xO thin films with various Bi contents (x = 0~13.17 atomic %) were prepared. X-ray diffraction (XRD) measurements revealed the formation of Bi-oxide phase in (Bi)ZnO after increasing the Bi content. However, it was impossible to determine whether the formed Bi-oxide phase was the monoclinic structure α-Bi2O3 or the tetragonal structure β-Bi2O3 by means of XRD θ-2θ measurements, as the observed diffraction peaks of the 2θ value at ~28 were very close to reflection of the (012) plane for the monoclinic structure α-Bi2O3 at 28.064 and the reflection of the (201) plane for the tetragonal structure β-Bi2O3 at 27.946. By means of transmission electron microscopy (TEM) using a diffraction pattern analysis and a high-resolution lattice image, it was finally determined as the monoclinic structure α-Bi2O3 phase. To investigate the distribution of the Bi and Bi-oxide phases in BiZnO films, elemental mapping using energy dispersive spectroscopy equipped with TEM was performed. Considering both the XRD and the elemental mapping results, it was concluded that hexagonal-structure wurtzite BixZn1-xO thin films were grown at a low Bi content (x = ~2.37 atomic %) without the formation of α-Bi2O3. However, the increased Bi content (x = 4.63~13.17 atomic %) resulted in the formation of the α-Bi2O3 phase in the wurtzite (Bi)ZnO matrix.
The preparation of Y2O3-doped ZrO2 nanoparticles in Igepal CO-520/cyclohexane reverse micelle solutions is studied here. In this work, we synthesized nanosized Y2O3-doped ZrO2 powders in a reverse micelle process using aqueous ammonia as the precipitant. In this way, a hydroxide precursor was obtained from nitrate solutions dispersed in the nanosized aqueous domains of a microemulsion consisting of cyclohexane as the oil phase, with poly (oxyethylene) nonylphenylether (Igepal CO-520) as the non-ionic surfactant. The synthesized and calcined powders were characterized by thermogravimetrydifferential thermal analysis (TGA-DTA), X-ray diffraction analysis (XRD) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). The crystallite size was found to nearly identical with an increase in the water-to-surfactant (R) molar ratio. A FTIR analysis was carried to monitor the elimination of residual oil and surfactant phases from the microemulsion-derived precursor and the calcined powder. The average particle size and distribution of the synthesized Y2O3-doped ZrO2 were below 5 nm and narrow, respectively. The TG-DTA analysis showed that the phase of the Y2O3-doped ZrO2 nanoparticles changes from the monoclinic phase to the tetragonal phase at temperatures close to 530˚C. The phase of the synthesized Y2O3-doped ZrO2 when heated to 600˚C was tetragonal ZrO2.
Highly textured Ag, Al and Al:Si back reflectors for flexible n-i-p silicon thin-film solar cells were prepared on 100-μm-thick stainless steel substrates by DC magnetron sputtering and the influence of their surface textures on the light-scattering properties were investigated. The surface texture of the metal back reflectors was influenced by the increased grain size and by the bimodal distribution that arose due to the abnormal grain growth at elevated deposition temperatures. This can be explained by the structure zone model (SZM). With an increase in the deposition temperatures from room temperature to 500˚C, the surface roughness of the Al:Si films increased from 11 nm to 95 nm, whereas that of the pure Ag films increased from 6 nm to 47 nm at the same deposition temperature. Although Al:Si back reflectors with larger surface feature dimensions than pure Ag can be fabricated at lower deposition temperatures due to the lower melting point and the Si impurity drag effect, they show poor total and diffuse reflectance, resulting from the low reflectivity and reflection loss on the textured surface. For a further improvement of the light-trapping efficiency in solar cells, a new type of back reflector consisting of Ag/Al:Si bilayer is suggested. The surface morphology and reflectance of this reflector are closely dependent on the Al:Si bottom layer and the Ag top layer. The relationship between the surface topography and the light-scattering properties of the bilayer back reflectors is also reported in this paper.