ZnO thin films co-doped with Mg and Ga (MxGyZzO, x+y+z=1, x=0.05, y=0.02 and z=0.93) were preparedon glass substrates by RF magnetron sputtering with different sputtering powers ranging from 100W to 200W at a substratetemperature of 350oC. The effects of the sputtering power on the structural, morphological, electrical, and optical propertiesof MGZO thin films were investigated. The X-ray diffraction patterns showed that all the MGZO thin films were grown asa hexagonal wurtzite phase with the preferred orientation on the c-axis without secondary phases such as MgO, Ga2O3, orZnGa2O4. The intensity of the diffraction peak from the (0002) plane of the MGZO thin films was enhanced as the sputteringpower increased. The (0002) peak positions of the MGZO thin films was shifted toward, a high diffraction angle as thesputtering power increased. Cross-sectional field emission scanning electron microscopy images of the MGZO thin filmsshowed that all of these films had a columnar structure and their thickness increased with an increase in the sputtering power.MGZO thin film deposited at the sputtering power of 200W showed the best electrical characteristics in terms of the carrierconcentration (4.71×1020cm−3), charge carrier mobility (10.2cm2V−1s−1) and a minimum resistivity (1.3×10−3Ωcm). A UV-visible spectroscopy assessment showed that the MGZO thin films had high transmittance of more than 80% in the visibleregion and that the absorption edges of MGZO thin films were very sharp and shifted toward the higher wavelength side, from270nm to 340nm, with an increase in the sputtering power. The band-gap energy of MGZO thin films was widened from3.74eV to 3.92eV with the change in the sputtering power.
The ZnO thin films were grown on GaN template substrates by RF magnetron sputtering at different RF powers and n-ZnO/p-GaN heterojunction LEDs were fabricated to investigate the effect of the RF power on the characteristics of the n-ZnO/p-GaN LEDs. For the growth of the ZnO thin films, the substrate temperature was kept constant at 200˚C and the RF power was varied within the range of 200 to 500W at different growth times to deposit films of 100 nm thick. The electrical, optical and structural properties of ZnO thin films were investigated by ellipsometry, X-ray diffraction (XRD), atomic force microscopy (AFM), photoluminescence (PL) and by assessing the Hall effect. The characteristics of the n-ZnO/p-GaN LEDs were evaluated by current-voltage (I-V) and electroluminescence (EL) measurements. ZnO thin films were grown with a preferred c-axis orientation along the (0002) plane. The XRD peaks shifted to low angles and the surface roughness became non-uniform with an increase in the RF power. Also, the PL emission peak was red-shifted. The carrier density and the mobility decreased with the RF power. For the n-ZnO/p-GaN LED, the forward current at 20 V decreased and the threshold voltage increased with the RF power. The EL emission peak was observed at approximately 435 nm and the luminescence intensity decreased. Consequently, the crystallinity of the ZnO thin films grown with RF sputtering powers were improved. However, excess Zn affected the structural, electrical and optical properties of the ZnO thin films when the optimal RF power was exceeded. This excess RF power will degrade the characteristics of light emitting devices.
In this study, hydroxyapatite (HAp) was incorporated into toothpaste and its effect on the remineralization and restoration of dental enamel was evaluated. Different sets of toothpaste were incorporated with HAp levels of 0%, 5%, 10 %, and 15 %. The filler particles of the resulting toothpaste samples were observed via SEM and XRD and compared with compositions of several commercially available toothpastes, showing that the HAp was successfully incorporated into the toothpaste samples. Different sets of human enamel were inflicted with lesions and then treated with the different fabricated toothpaste samples for five minutes three times a day for seven days. During the treatment, the teeth were subjected to demineralization and remineralization cycles to simulate the effect of natural saliva. The surface of the enamel samples were observed using SEM before and after one week of treatment, showing the formation of HAp layers on the surfaces of the enamel samples. The effect of the toothpaste on the lesions was observed using an inverted light microscope and the lesion depth was found to decrease as the concentration of HAp in the toothpaste used increased. HAp was successfully incorporated in the toothpaste and its presence was found to lessen lesion depths and improve tooth remineralization.
Nanosphere lithography is an inexpensive, simple, high-throughput nanofabrication process. NSL can be done in different ways, such as drop coating, spin coating or by means of tilted evaporation. Nitride-based light-emitting diodes (LEDs) are applied in different places, such as liquid crystal displays and traffic signals. The characteristics of gallium nitride (GaN)-based LEDs can be enhanced by fabricating nanopatterns on the top surface of the LEDs. In this work, we created differently sized (420, 320 and 140 nm) nanopatterns on the upper surfaces of GaN-based LEDs using a modified nanosphere lithography technique. This technique is quite different from conventional NSL. The characterization of the patterned GaN-based LEDs revealed a dependence on the size of the holes in the pattern created on the LED surface. The depths of the patterns were 80 nm as confirmed by AFM. Both the photoluminescence and electroluminescence intensities of the patterned LEDs were found to increase with an increase in the size of holes in the pattern. The light output power of the 420-nm hole-patterned LED was 1.16 times higher than that of a conventional LED. Moreover, the current-voltage characteristics were improved with the fabrication of differently sized patterns over the LED surface using the proposed nanosphere lithography method.
Cu2ZnSn(S,Se)4 material is receiving an increased amount of attention for solar cell applications as an absorber layer because it consists of inexpensive and abundant materials (Zn and Sn) instead of the expensive and rare materials (In and Ga) in Cu(In,Ga)Se2 solar cells. We were able to achieve a cell conversion efficiency to 4.7% by the selenization of a stacked metal precursor with the Cu/(Zn + Sn)/Mo/glass structure. However, the selenization of the metal precursor results in large voids at the absorber/Mo interface because metals diffuse out through the top CZTSe layer. To avoid the voids at the absorber/Mo interface, binary selenide compounds of ZnSe and SnSe2 were employed as a precursor instead of Zn and Sn metals. It was found that the precursor with Cu/SnSe2/ZnSe stack provided a uniform film with larger grains compared to that with Cu2Se/SnSe2/ZnSe stack. Also, voids were not observed at the Cu2ZnSnSe4/Mo interface. A severe loss of Sn was observed after a high-temperature annealing process, suggesting that selenization in this case should be performed in a closed system with a uniform temperature in a SnSe2 environment. However, in the experiments, Cu top-layer stack had more of an effect on reducing Sn loss compared to Cu2Se top-layer stack.
Spatial distributions of alloying elements of an Fe-based amorphous ribbon with a nominal composition of Fe75C11Si2B8Cr4 were analyzed through the atom probe tomography method. The amorphous ribbon was prepared through the melt spinning method. The macroscopic amorphous natures were confirmed using an X-ray diffractometer (XRD) and a differential scanning calorimeter (DSC). Atom Probe (Cameca LEAP 3000X HR) analyses were carried out in pulsed voltage mode at a specimen base temperature of about 60 K, a pulse to base voltage ratio of 15 %, and a pulse frequency of 200 kHz. The target detection rate was set to 5 ions per 1000 pulses. Based on a statistical analyses of the data obtained from the volume of 59×59×33nm3, homogeneous distributions of alloying elements in nano-scales were concluded. Even with high carbon and strong carbide forming element contents, nano-scale segregation zones of alloying elements were not detected within the Fe-based amorphous ribbon. However, the existence of small sub-nanometer scale clusters due to short range ordering cannot be completely excluded.
In this paper, we studied a p-type reflector based on indium tin oxide (ITO) for vertical-type ultraviolet light-emitting diodes (UV LEDs). We investigated the reflectance properties with different deposition methods. An ITO layer with a thickness of 50 nm was deposited by two different methods, sputtering and e-beam evaporation. From the measurement of the optical reflection, we obtained 70% reflectance at a wavelength of 382 nm by means of sputtering, while only 30% reflectance resulted when using the e-beam evaporation method. Also, the light output power of a 1mm×1mm vertical chip created with the sputtering method recorded a twofold increase over a chip created with e-beam evaporation method. From the measurement of the root mean square (RMS), we obtained a RMS value 1.3 nm for the ITO layer using the sputtering method, while this value was 5.6 nm for the ITO layer when using the e-beam evaporation method. These decreases in the reflectance and light output power when using the e-beam evaporation method are thought to stem from the rough surface morphology of the ITO layer, which leads to diffused reflection and the absorption of light. However, the turn-on voltage and operation voltage of the two samples showed identical results of 2.42 V and 3.5 V, respectively. Given these results, we conclude that the two ITO layers created by different deposition methods showed no differences in the electric properties of the ohmic contact and series resistance.
The mechanical properties and microstructures of aluminum-matrix composites fabricated by the dispersion of fine alumina particles less than 20μm in size into 6061 aluminum alloys are investigated in this study. In the as-quenched state, the yield stress of the composite is 40~85 MPa higher than that of the 6061 alloy. This difference is attributed to the high density of dislocations within the matrix introduced due to the difference in the thermal expansion coefficients between the matrix and the reinforcement. The difference in the yield stress between the composite and the 6061 alloy decreases with the aging time and the age-hardening curves of both materials show a similar trend. At room temperature, the strain-hardening rate of the composite is higher than that of the 6061 alloy, most likely because the distribution of reinforcements enhances the dislocation density during deformation. Both the yield stress and the strain-hardening rate of the T6-treated composite decrease as the testing temperature increases, and the rate of decrease is faster in the composite than in the 6061 alloy. Under creep conditions, the stress exponents of the T6-treated composite vary from 8.3 at 473 K to 4.8 at 623 K. These exponents are larger than those of the 6061 matrix alloy.
In the segmented-in-series solid-oxide fuel cells (SIS-SOFCs), fabrication techniques which use decalcomania paper have many advantages, i.e., an increased active area of the electrode; better interfacial adhesion property between the anode, electrolyte and cathode; and improved layer thickness uniformity. In this work, a cell-stack was fabricated on porous ceramic flattened tube supports using decalcomania paper, which consists of an anode, electrolyte, and a cathode. The anode layer was 40μm thick, and was porous. The electrolyte layers exhibited a uniform thickness of about 20μm with a dense structure. Interfacial adhesion was improved due to the dense structure. The cathode layers was 30μm thick with porous structure, good adhesion to the electrolyte. The ohmic resistance levels at 800, 750 and 700˚C were measured, showing values of 1.49, 1.58 and 1.65Ω·cm2, respectively. The polarization resistances at 800, 750 and 700˚C were measured to be 1.63, 2.61 and 4.17cm2, respectively. These lower resistance values originated from the excellent interfacial adhesion between the anode, electrolyte and cathode. In a two-cell-stack SOFC, open-circuit voltages(OCVs) of 1.915, 1.942 and 1.957 V and maximum power densities(MPD) of 289.9, 276.1 and 220.4mW/cm2 were measured at 800, 750 and 700˚C, respectively. The proposed fabrication technique using decalcomania paper was shown to be feasible for the easy fabrication of segmented-in-series flattened tube SOFCs.