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Now showing 1 - 10 of 12
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    On the Impact of Strained PECVD Nitride Layers on Oxide Precipitate Nucleation in Silicon
    (Pennington, NJ : ECS, 2019) Kissinger, G.; Kot, D.; Costina, I.; Lisker, M.
    PECVD nitride layers with different layer stress ranging from about 315 MPa to −1735 MPa were deposited on silicon wafers with similar concentration of interstitial oxygen. After a thermal treatment consisting of nucleation at 650°C for 4 h or 8 h followed annealing 780°C 3 h + 1000°C 16 h in nitrogen, the profiles of the oxide precipitate density were investigated. The binding states of hydrogen in the layers was investigated by FTIR. There is a clear effect of the layer stress on oxide precipitate nucleation. The higher the compressive layer stress is the higher is a BMD peak below the front surface. If the nitride layer is removed after the nucleation anneal the BMD peak below the front surface becomes lower. It is possible to model the BMD peak below the surface by vacancy in-diffusion from the silicon/nitride interface. With increasing duration of the nucleation anneal the vacancy injection from the silicon/nitride interface decreases and with increasing compressive layer stress it increases. © The Author(s) 2019.
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    Evolution of planar defects during homoepitaxial growth of β-Ga2O3 layers on (100) substrates—A quantitative model
    (Melville, NY : American Inst. of Physics, 2016) Schewski, R.; Baldini, M.; Irmscher, K.; Fiedler, A.; Markurt, T.; Neuschulz, B.; Remmele, T.; Schulz, T.; Wagner, G.; Galazka, Z.; Albrecht, M.
    We study the homoepitaxial growth of β-Ga2O3 (100) grown by metal-organic vapour phase as dependent on miscut-angle vs. the c direction. Atomic force microscopy of layers grown on substrates with miscut-angles smaller than 2° reveals the growth proceeding through nucleation and growth of two-dimensional islands. With increasing miscut-angle, step meandering and finally step flow growth take place. While step-flow growth results in layers with high crystalline perfection, independent nucleation of two-dimensional islands causes double positioning on the (100) plane, resulting in twin lamellae and stacking mismatch boundaries. Applying nucleation theory in the mean field approach for vicinal surfaces, we can fit experimentally found values for the density of twin lamellae in epitaxial layers as dependent on the miscut-angle. The model yields a diffusion coefficient for Ga adatoms of D = 7 × 10−9 cm2 s−1 at a growth temperature of 850 °C, two orders of magnitude lower than the values published for GaAs.
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    Effect of Molar Mass on Critical Specific Work of Flow for Shear-Induced Crystal Nucleation in Poly (l-Lactic Acid)
    (Basel : MDPI, 2021) Du, Mengxue; Jariyavidyanont, Katalee; Kühnert, Ines; Boldt, Regine; Androsch, René
    The concept of specific work of flow has been applied for the analysis of critical shearing conditions for the formation of crystal nuclei in poly (l-lactic acid) (PLLA). Systematic variation in both time and rate of shearing the melt in a parallel-plate rheometer revealed that these parameters are interconvertible regarding the shear-induced formation of crystal nuclei; that is, low shear rate can be compensated for by increasing the shear time and vice versa. This result supports the view that critical shearing conditions can be expressed by a single quantity, providing additional options for tailoring polymer processing routes when enhanced nuclei formation is desired/unwanted. Analysis of PLLA of different mass-average molar masses of 70, 90, 120, and 576 kDa confirmed improved shear-induced crystal nucleation for materials of higher molar mass, with critical specific works of flow, above which shear-induced nuclei formation occurs, of 550, 60, 25, and 5 kPa, respectively.
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    The impact of surface morphology on the magnetovolume transition in magnetocaloric LaFe11.8Si1.2
    (New York : American Institute of Physics, 2016) Waske, A.; Lovell, E.; Funk, A.; Sellschopp, K.; Rack, A.; Giebeler, L.; Gostin, P.F.; Fähler, S.; Cohen, L.F.
    First order magnetocaloric materials reach high entropy changes but at the same time exhibit hysteresis losses which depend on the sample’s microstructure. We use non-destructive 3D X-ray microtomography to understand the role of surface morphology for the magnetovolume transition of LaFe11.8Si1.2. The technique provides unique information on the spatial distribution of the volume change at the transition and its relationship with the surface morphology. Complementary Hall probe imaging confirms that on a morphologically complex surface minimization of strain energy dominates. Our findings sketch the way for a tailored surface morphology with low hysteresis without changing the underlying phase transition.
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    Reducing the nucleation barrier in magnetocaloric Heusler alloys by nanoindentation
    (New York : American Institute of Physics, 2016) Niemann, R.; Hahn, S.; Diestel, A.; Backen, A.; Schultz, L.; Nielsch, K.; Wagner, M.F.-X.; Fähler, S.
    Magnetocaloric materials are promising as solid state refrigerants for more efficient and environmentally friendly cooling devices. The highest effects have been observed in materials that exhibit a first-order phase transition. These transformations proceed by nucleation and growth which lead to a hysteresis. Such irreversible processes are undesired since they heat up the material and reduce the efficiency of any cooling application. In this article, we demonstrate an approach to decrease the hysteresis by locally changing the nucleation barrier. We created artificial nucleation sites and analyzed the nucleation and growth processes in their proximity. We use Ni-Mn-Ga, a shape memory alloy that exhibits a martensitic transformation. Epitaxial films serve as a model system, but their high surface-to-volume ratio also allows for a fast heat transfer which is beneficial for a magnetocaloric regenerator geometry. Nanoindentation is used to create a well-defined defect. We quantify the austenite phase fraction in its proximity as a function of temperature which allows us to determine the influence of the defect on the transformation.
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    Infrequent new particle formation over the remote boreal forest of Siberia
    (Amsterdam [u.a.] : Elsevier Science, 2018) Wiedensohler, A.; Ma, N.; Birmili, W.; Heintzenberg, J.; Ditas, F.; Andreae, M.O.; Panov, A.
    Aerosol particle number size distributions (PNSD) were investigated to verify, if extremely low-volatility organic vapors (ELVOC) from natural sources alone could induce new particle formation and growth events over the remote boreal forest region of Siberia, hundreds of kilometers away from significant anthropogenic sources. We re-evaluated observations determined at a height of 300 m of the remote observatory ZOTTO (Zotino Tall Tower Observatory, http://www.zottoproject.org). We found that new particle formation events occurred only on 11 days in a 3-year period, suggesting that homogeneous nucleation with a subsequent condensational growth could not be the major process, maintaining the particle number concentration in the planetary boundary layer of the remote boreal forest area of Siberia. © 2018 Elsevier Ltd
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    On the Impact of Strained PECVD Oxide Layers on Oxide Precipitation in Silicon
    (Pennington, NJ : ECS, 2019) Kissinger, G.; Kot, D.; Lisker, M.; Sattler, A.
    PECVD oxide layers with different layer stress ranging from about −305.2 MPa to 39.9 MPa were deposited on silicon wafers with similar concentration of interstitial oxygen. After a thermal treatment consisting of rapid thermal annealing (RTA) and furnace annealing 780°C 3 h + 1000°C 16 h in nitrogen the profiles of the oxide precipitate density were investigated. Supersaturations of self-interstitials as function of layer stress were determined by adjusting modelling results to measured depth profiles of bulk microdefects. The self-interstitial supersaturation generated by RTA at 1250°C and 1175°C at the silicon/oxide interface is increasing linearly with increasing layer stress. Values for self-interstitial supersaturation determined on deposited oxide layers after RTA at 1250°C and 1175°C are very similar to values published for RTO by Sudo et al. An RTA at 1175°C with a PECVD oxide on top of the wafer is a method to effectively suppress oxygen precipitation in silicon wafers. Nucleation anneals carried out at 650°C for 4 h and 8 h did not show any effect of PECVD oxide layers on oxide precipitate nucleation. © The Author(s) 2019.
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    Cortical hot spots and labyrinths: Why cortical neuromodulation for episodic migraine with aura should be personalized
    (Lausanne : Frontiers Research Foundation, 2015) Dahlem, M.A.; Schmidt, B.; Bojak, I.; Boie, S.; Kneer, F.; Hadjikhani, N.; Kurths, J.
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    Spatially controlled epitaxial growth of 2D heterostructures via defect engineering using a focused He ion beam
    (London : Nature Publishing Group, 2021) Heilmann, Martin; Deinhart, Victor; Tahraoui, Abbes; Höflich, Katja; Lopes, J. Marcelo J.
    The combination of two-dimensional (2D) materials into heterostructures enables the formation of atomically thin devices with designed properties. To achieve a high-density, bottom-up integration, the growth of these 2D heterostructures via van der Waals epitaxy (vdWE) is an attractive alternative to the currently mostly employed mechanical transfer, which is problematic in terms of scaling and reproducibility. Controlling the location of the nuclei formation remains a key challenge in vdWE. Here, a focused He ion beam is used to deterministically place defects in graphene substrates, which serve as preferential nucleation sites for the growth of insulating, 2D hexagonal boron nitride (h-BN). Therewith a mask-free, selective-area vdWE (SAvdWE) is demonstrated, in which nucleation yield and crystal quality of h-BN are controlled by the ion beam parameters used for defect formation. Moreover, h-BN grown via SAvdWE is shown to exhibit electron tunneling characteristics comparable to those of mechanically transferred layers, thereby lying the foundation for a reliable, high-density array fabrication of 2D heterostructures for device integration via defect engineering in 2D substrates.
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    Atomic Sn–enabled high-utilization, large-capacity, and long-life Na anode
    (Washington, DC [u.a.] : Assoc., 2022) Xu, Fei; Qu, Changzhen; Lu, Qiongqiong; Meng, Jiashen; Zhang, Xiuhai; Xu, Xiaosa; Qiu, Yuqian; Ding, Baichuan; Yang, Jiaying; Cao, Fengren; Yang, Penghui; Jiang, Guangshen; Kaskel, Stefan; Ma, Jingyuan; Li, Liang; Zhang, Xingcai; Wang, Hongqiang
    Constructing robust nucleation sites with an ultrafine size in a confined environment is essential toward simultaneously achieving superior utilization, high capacity, and long-term durability in Na metal-based energy storage, yet remains largely unexplored. Here, we report a previously unexplored design of spatially confined atomic Sn in hollow carbon spheres for homogeneous nucleation and dendrite-free growth. The designed architecture maximizes Sn utilization, prevents agglomeration, mitigates volume variation, and allows complete alloying-dealloying with high-affinity Sn as persistent nucleation sites, contrary to conventional spatially exposed large-size ones without dealloying. Thus, conformal deposition is achieved, rendering an exceptional capacity of 16 mAh cm−2 in half-cells and long cycling over 7000 hours in symmetric cells. Moreover, the well-known paradox is surmounted, delivering record-high Na utilization (e.g., 85%) and large capacity (e.g., 8 mAh cm−2) while maintaining extraordinary durability over 5000 hours, representing an important breakthrough for stabilizing Na anode.