Spectroscopic and thermal properties of short wavelength metal (II) complexes containing alpha-isoxazolylazo-beta-diketones as co-ligands

Two new azo dyes of alpha-isoxazolylazo-beta-dilcetones and their Ni(II) and Cu(II) complexes with blue-violet light wavelength were synthesized using a coupling component, different diazo components and metal (II) ions (Ni2+ and Cu2+). Based on the elemental analysis, MS spectra and FT-IR spectral analyses, azo dyes were unequivocally shown to exist as hydrazoketo and azoenol forms which were respectively obtained from the solution forms and from the solid forms. The action of sodium methoxide (NaOMe) on azo dyes in solutions converts hydrazoketo form into azoenol form, so azo dyes are coordinated with metal (II) ions as co-ligands in the azoenol forms. The solubility of all the compounds in common organic solvents such as 2,2,3,3-tetrafluoro-1-propanol (TFP) or chloroform (CHCl3) and absorption properties of spin-coating thin films were measured. The difference of absorption maxima from the complexes to their ligands was discussed. In addition, the TG analysis of the complexes was also determined, and their thermal stability was evaluated. It is found that these new metal (II) complexes had potential application for high-density digital versatile disc-recordable (HD-DVD-R) system due to their good solubility in organic solvents, reasonable and controllable absorption spectra in blue-violet light region and high thermal stability. (c) 2004 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Structural change of laser-irradiated Ge2Sb2Te5 films studied by electrical property measurement

Sheet resistance of laser-irradiated Ge2Sb2Te5 thin films prepared by magnetron sputtering was measured by the four-point probe method. With increasing laser power the sheet resistance undergoes an abrupt drop from 10(7) to 10(3) Omega/square at about 580 mW. The abrupt drop in resistance is due to the structural change from amorphous to crystalline state as revealed by X-ray diffraction (XRD) study of the samples around the abrupt change point. Crystallized dots were also formed in the amorphous Ge2Sb2Te5 films by focused short pulse laser-irradiated, the resistivities at the crystallized dots and the non-crystallized area are 3.375 x 10(-3) and 2.725 Omega m, sheet resistance is 3.37 x 10(4) and 2.725 x 10(7) Omega/square respectively, deduced from the I-V Curves that is obtained by conductive atomic force microscope (C-AFM). (C) 2008 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Annealing effects on electron-beam evaporated Al2O3 films

The effects of post-deposited annealing on structure and optical properties of electron-beam evaporated Al2O3 single layers were investigated. The films were annealed in air for 1.5 h at different temperatures from 250 to 400 degrees C. The optical constants and cut-off wavelength were deduced. Microstructure of the samples was characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD). Profile and surface roughness measurement instrument was used to determine the rms surface roughness. It was found that the cut-off wavelength shifted to short wavelength as the annealing temperature increased and the total optical loss decreased. The film structure remained amorphous even after annealing at 400 degrees C temperature and the samples annealed at higher temperature had the higher rms surface roughness. The decreasing total optical loss with annealing temperature was attributed to the reduction of absorption owing to oxidation of the film by annealing. Guidance to reduce the optical loss of excimer laser mirrors was given. (c) 2004 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Influences of annealing on residual stress and structure of HfO2 films

HfO2 Elms are deposited on BK7 glass substrates by electron beam evaporation. The influences of annealing between 100 degrees C and 400 degrees C on residual stresses and structures of HfO2 films are studied. It is found that little differences of spectra, residual stresses and structures are obtained after annealing at lower temperatures. After annealing at higher temperatures, the spectra shift to short wavelength, the residual stress increases with the increasing annealing temperature. At the same time, the crystallite size increases and interplanar distance decreases. The variations of optical spectra and residual stress correspond to the evolutions of structures induced by annealing.

Investigation on properties of TiO2 thin films deposited at different oxygen pressures

TiO2 thin films were prepared by electron beam evaporation at different oxygen partial pressures. The influences of oxygen partial pressure on optical, mechanical and structural properties of TiO2 thin films were studied. The results showed that with the increase of oxygen partial pressure, the optical transmittance gradually increased, the transmittance edge gradually shifted to short wavelength, and the corresponding refractive index decreased. The residual stresses of all samples were tensile, and the value increased as oxygen partial pressure increasing, which corresponded to the evolutions of the packing densities. The structures of TiO2 thin films all were amorphous because deposition particles did not possess enough energy to crystallize. (C) 2007 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

The diverse Grania fauna (Clitellata : Enchytraeidae) of the Esperance area, Western Australia, with descriptions of two new species

Seven species of the marine enchytraeid genus Grania Southern, 1913 are described from sediments sampled during the 2003 International Workshop on the Marine Flora and Fauna of Esperance Bay and the Recherche Archipelago, on the southern coast of Western Australia. Two species are new to science, the euryhaline Tasmanian G. dolichura Rota and Erseus, 2000 represents a new record for the state, and the remaining four species were known from other parts of Western Australia. Grania quaerens sp. n. is recognized by having a high chaetal index (= 5 short chaetal foot), small coelomocytes, penial apparati with long whip-like terminal stylets, conspicuous spermathecae with ectally bulbous ducts, and ectally granulated ampullae housing sperm rings in their ental region. Grania sperantia sp. n. is readily distinguishable by the complete lack of lateral chaetae, a multiple-banded pattern of the clitellum, extremely long sperm funnels, and the intrasegmental location of the spermathecal pores. The latter new species and four others in the collection (G. bykane Coates, 1990, G. crassiducta Coates, 1990, G. dolichura, and G. ersei Coates, 1990) are remarkable in possessing the head organ, a sensory structure unique to Grania that was not noted previously in Western Australian species. When considering the whole genus, the geographic pattern of the head organ appears southern-centred: of the 17 species of Grania reported to possess it, as many as 13 inhabit the southern latitudes. The seventh species of the Esperance collection, G. vacivasa Coates and Stacey, 1993, is notable for the kind of items found in its gut and the unusual appearance of its pygidium.

Intrinsically limited critical temperatures of highly doped Ga1-xMnxAs thin films

Ga1-xMnxAs films with exceptionally high saturation magnetizations of approximate to 100 emu/cm(3) corresponding to effective Mn concentrations of x(eff)approximate to 0.10 still have a Curie temperature T-C smaller than 195 K contradicting mean-field predictions. The analysis of the critical exponent beta of the remnant magnetization-beta = 0.407(5)-in the framework of the models for disordered/amorphous ferromagnets suggests that this limit on T-C is intrinsic and due to the short range of the ferromagnetic interactions resulting from the small mean-free path of the holes. This result questions the perspective of room-temperature ferromagnetism in highly doped GaMnAs.

Nonlinear optical response of nc-Si-SiO2 films studied with femtosecond four-wave mixing technique

Nonlinear optical properties of silicon nanocrystals (nc-Si) embedded in SiO2 films are investigated using time-resolved four-wave mixing technique with a femtosecond laser. the off-resonant third-order nonlinear susceptibility chi((3)) is observed to be 1.3 x 10(-10) esu at 800 nm. The relaxation time of the film is fast as short as 50 fs. The off-resonant nonlinearity is predominantly electronic in origin and enhanced due to quantum confinement.

Nanocrystalline silicon films with high conductivity and the application for PIN solar cells

Intrinsic nanocrystalline silicon films (nc-Si:H) were prepared by plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition (PECVD) method. Films' microstructures and characteristics were studied with Raman spectroscopy and Atom Force Microscope (AFM). The electronic conductivity of nc-Si:H films was found to be 4.9 x 10(0)Omega(-1) cm(-1), which was one order of magnitude higher than the reported 10(-3)-10(-1)Omega(-1)cm(-1). And PIN solar cells with nc-Si:H film as intrinsic thin-layer (ITO/n(+)-nc-Si:H/i-nc-Si:H/p-c-Si/Ag) were researched. The cell's performances were measured, the open-circuit voltage V-oc was 534.7 mV, short-circuit current I-sc was 49.24 mA (3 cm(2)) and fill factor FF was 0.4228. (c) 2006 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Microstructure characterization of transition films from amorphous to nanocrocrystalline silicon

Hydrogenated silicon (Si:H) films near the threshold of crystallinity were prepared by very high-frequency plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition (VHF-PECVD) using a wide range of hydrogen dilution R-H = [H-2]/[SiH4] values of 2-100. The effects of H dilution R-H on the structural properties of the films were investigated using micro-Raman scattering and Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) absorption spectroscopy. The obtained Raman spectra show that the H dilution leads to improvements in the short-range order and the medium-range order of the amorphous network and then to the morphological transition from amorphous to crystalline states. The onset of this transition locates between R-H = 30 and 40 in our case, and with further increasing R-H from 40 to 100, the nanocrystalline volume fraction increases from similar to23% to 43%, and correspondingly the crystallite size enlarges from similar to2.8 to 4.4 nm. The FTIR spectra exhibit that with R-H increasing, the relative intensities of both the SiH stretching mode component at 2100 cm(-1) and wagging mode component at 620 cm(-1) increase in the same manner. We assert that these variations in IR spectra should be associated with the formation of paracrystalline structures in the low H dilution films and nanocrystalline structures in the high H dilution films. (C) 2003 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.

Photoluminescence of nanocrystalline SiC films prepared by rf magnetron sputtering

Amorphous Sic films are deposited on Si (111) substrates by rf magnetron sputtering and then annealed at 1200 degreesC for different times by a dc self-heating method in a vacuum annealing system. The crystallization of the amorphous Sic is determined by Raman scattering at room temperature and X-ray diffraction. The experimental result indicates that the Sic nanocrystals have formed in the films. The topography of the as-annealed films is characterized by atomic force microscopy. Measurements of photoluminescence of the as-annealed films show blue or violet light emission from the nanocrystalline Sic films and photoluminescence peak shifts to short wavelength side as the annealing time decreases.

Mechanism of induced reaction during XPS depth profile measurements of CeO2/Si films grown by ion beam epitaxy

In a search for the mechanism of the induced reduction reaction that occurred in X-ray photoelectron Spectroscopy (XPS) depth profiles measured experimentally on CeO2/Si epilayers grown by ion beam epitaxy (IBE), several possibilities have been checked. The first possibility, that the X-ray induces the reaction, has been ruled out by experimentation. Other possible models for the incident-ion induced reaction, one based on short-range interaction (direct collision) and the other based on long-range potential accompanied with the incident-ions, have been tested by simulation on computer. The results proved that the main mechanism is the former, not the latter. (C) 1998 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.

Polarization multiplexed write-once-read-many optical data storage in bacteriorhodopsin films

In polymeric films of bacteriorhodopsin (BR) a photoconversion product, which was named the F620 state, was observed on excitation of the film with 532 nm nanosecond laser pulses. This photoproduct shows a strong nonlinear absorption. Such BR films can be used for write-once-read-many (WORM) optical data storage. We demonstrate that a photoproduct similar or even identical to that obtained with nanosecond pulses is generated on excitation with 532 mn femtosecond pulses. This photoproduct also shows strong anisotropic absorption, which facilitates polarization storage of data. The product is thermally stable and is irretrievable to the initial B state either by photochemical reaction or through a thermal pathway. The experimental results indicate that the product is formed by a two-photon absorption process. Optical WORM storage is demonstrated by use of two polarization states, but more polarization states may be used. The combination of polarization data multiplexing and extremely short recording time in the femtosecond range enables very high data volumes to be stored within a very short time. (c) 2005 Optical Society of America.

Nonlinear Optical Properties of AI-Doped nc-Si-SiO_2 Composite Films

The nonlinear optical properties of Al-doped nc-Si-SiO_2 composite films have been investigated using the time-resolved four-wave mixing technique with a femtosecond laser. The off-resonant third-order nonlinear susceptibility is observed to be 1.0 × 10~(-10) esu at 800nm. The relaxation time of the optical nonlinearity in the films is as short as 60fs. The optical nonlinearity is enhanced due to the quantum confinement of electrons in Si nanocrystals embedded in the SiO_2 films. The enhanced optical nonlinearity does not originate from Al dopant because there are no Al clusters in the films.

Photoluminescence of nanocrystalline SiC films prepared by rf magnetron sputtering

Amorphous Sic films are deposited on Si (111) substrates by rf magnetron sputtering and then annealed at 1200 degreesC for different times by a dc self-heating method in a vacuum annealing system. The crystallization of the amorphous Sic is determined by Raman scattering at room temperature and X-ray diffraction. The experimental result indicates that the Sic nanocrystals have formed in the films. The topography of the as-annealed films is characterized by atomic force microscopy. Measurements of photoluminescence of the as-annealed films show blue or violet light emission from the nanocrystalline Sic films and photoluminescence peak shifts to short wavelength side as the annealing time decreases.