We used Brewster’sLaw to examine the mechanism of liquid crystal(LC) alignment on anorganic insulation layer when subjected to ion-beam irradiation. Brewster’s Law implies that the maximum rate polarized ray on a slanted insulation layers on the substrate and it illustrates the dependence of polarization and the mechanical structure on the ionbeam irradiation process. The pretilt angle of nematic LCs on the organic insulation surface was about 1.13° for an ionbeam exposure of 45° for 1minute at 1800eV. This shows the dependence of LC alignment on the polarization ratio in a slanted organic insulation layer.

This study demonstrates a different approach method to fabricate antimony selenide (Sb2Se3) thin-films for the solar cell applications. As-deposited Sb2Se3 thin-films are fabricated via electrodeposition route and, subsequently, annealed in the temperature range of 230 ~ 310oC. Cyclic voltammetry is performed to investigate the electrochemical behavior of the Sb and Se ions. The deposition potential of the Sb2Se3 thin films is determined to be -0.6 V vs. Ag/AgCl (in 1 M KCl), where the stoichiometric composition of Sb2Se3 appeared. It is found that the crystal orientations of Sb2Se3 thin-films are largely dependent on the annealing temperature. At an annealing temperature of 250 oC, the Sb2Se3 thin-film grew most along the c-axis [(211) and/or (221)] direction, which resulted in the smooth movement of carriers, thereby increasing the carrier collection probability. Therefore, the solar cell using Sb2Se3 thin-film annealed at 250 oC exhibited significant enhancement in JSC of 10.03 mA/cm2 and a highest conversion efficiency of 0.821 % because of the preferred orientation of the Sb2Se3 thin film.

Yttria stabilized zirconia single crystals show plastic deformation at high temperatures by activating dislocations. The plastic deformation is highly dependent on crystallographic orientation. When the samples were deformed at different orientations, stress-strain curves changed by operating different slip systems. The strength of samples was also highly dependent on crystallographic orientation, i.e., samples without yield drop showed higher strength than that of samples exhibiting yield drop. The slip systems in the sample deformed along<112>,<111> and<001> agreed with the theoretical values of the plastic deformation, following Schmid's Law. Dislocations play a major role in the plastic deformation of this crystal. At the early stages of plastic deformation, all samples exhibited dislocation dipoles and, in the later stages, dislocation interactions occurred by forming nodes, tangles and networks. In this study, three different orientations, [11-2], [111] and [001] were employed to explain the plastic deformation behavior. A microstructural analysis was performed to elucidate the mechanism of the plastic behavior of this crystal.