Surface characteristics of SiO2-TiO2 strip fabricated by laser direct writing

SiO2-TiO2 sol-gel films are deposited on SiO2/Si by dip-coating technique. The SiO2-TiO2 strips are fabricated by laser direct writing using all ytterbium fiber laser and followed by chemical etching. Surface structures, morphologies and roughness of the films and strips are characterized. The experimental results demonstrate that the SiO2-TiO2 sol-gel film is loose in Structure and a shrinkage concave groove forms if the film is irradiated by laser beam. The surface roughness of both non-irradiated and laser irradiated areas increases with the chemical etching time. But the roughness of laser irradiated area increases more than that of non-irradiated area under the same etching time. After being etched for 28 s, the surface roughness value of the laser irradiated area increases from 0.3 nm to 3.1 nm.

Synthesis and surface characteristics of zirconia and modified zirconia: Performance of CO hydrogenation

ZrO2-A and ZrO2-B catalysts were prepared by two different coprecipitation methods and their performance of CO hydrogenation was studied. The results indicated that ZrO2 and Li-, Pd- and Mn-modified ZrO2 catalysts exhibited good selectivity and high STY to higher alcohols. The surface characteristics of ZrO2-A and ZrO2-B samples were investigated by means of BET, NH3-TPD, XRD and UV Raman technique. The tetragonal zirconia on the surface region of ZrO2-A and Li-Pd-Mn/ZrO2-A catalysts may be responsible for the high selectivity towards ethanol, while the monoclinic zirconia on the surface of ZrO2-B and Li-Pd-Mn/ZrO2-B catalysts may be crucial to the high isobutanol selectivity.

Electrocatalytic mechanism for formaldehyde oxidation on the highly dispersed gold microparticles and the surface characteristics of the electrode

Electrocatalytic mechanism for the electrochemical oxidation of formaldehyde (HCHO) on the highly dispersed Au microparticles electrodeposited on the surface of the glass carbon (GC) electrode in the alkaline Na2CO3/NaHCO3 solution and the surface characteristics of the Au microparticle-modified glass carbon (Au/GC) electrode were studied with in situ FTIR spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and X-ray diffraction (XRD). It was found that the final products of HCHO oxidation is HCOO- at the Au/GC electrode and CO2 at the bulk Au electrode. The difference may be ascribed to the different surface characteristics between the Au/GC electrode and the bulk Au electrode. (C) 1999 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.

The effect of tungsten additive on the surface characteristics of amorphous Ni-P alloy

The variation of surface compositions on amorphous Ni80.4W1.5P18.1 alloy by O-2 oxidation and H-2 reduction treatments have been studied by XPS, UPS and ISS. It shows that addition of tungsten in the amorphous Ni-P alloy leads to dramatic changes of the relating component distributions in the surface layers before and after these treatments. Oxidation of a Ni80.4W1.5P18.1 amorphous alloy in 1 bar of oxygen at 513 K caused a significant segregation of nickel in different oxide states at the surface. The subsequent reduction of the oxidized surface with I bar hydrogen at 553 K resulted in only a small portion of Ni and P being reduced into elemental states, while most of them was found to combine to form a kind of nickel phosphate compound. On the other hand, under the same conditions, the oxidation and reduction of a Ni80P20 alloy gave rise to metallic Ni and elemental P as the predominate species on the alloy surface. The addition of W in the amorphous alloy might act as nuclei for a favorable formation of the phosphate structure which was proposed to be an active species for hydrogen-relating catalytic reactions. (C) 1999 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.

Uniformly carbon-covered alumina and its surface characteristics

Uniformly carbon-covered alumina (CCA) was prepared via the carbonization of sucrose highly dispersed on the alumina surface. The CCA samples were characterized by XRD, XPS, DTA-TG, UV Raman, nitrogen adsorption experiments at 77 K, and rhodamine B (RB) adsorption in aqueous media. UV Raman spectra indicated that the carbon species formed were probably conjugated olefinic or polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, which can be considered molecular subunits of a graphitic plane. The N(2) adsorption isotherms, pore size distributions, and XPS results indicated that carbon was uniformly dispersed on the alumina surface in the as-prepared CCA. The carbon coverage and number of carbon layers in CCA could be controlled by the tuning of the sucrose content in the precursor and impregnation times. RB adsorption isotherms suggested that the monolayer adsorption capacity of RB on alumina increased drastically for the sample with uniformly dispersed carbon. The as-prepared CCA possessed the texture of alumina and the surface properties of carbon or both carbon and alumina depending on the carbon coverage.

Effect of oxidation on the optical and surface properties of AlGaN

The chemical properties of AlxGa1-xN surfaces exposed to air for different time periods are investigated by atomic force microscopy (AFM), photoluminescence (PL) measurement and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). PL and AFM results show that AlxGa1-xN samples exhibit different surface characteristics for different air-exposure times and Al contents. The XPS spectra of the Al 2p and Ga 2p core levels indicate that the peaks shifted slightly, from an Al-N to an Al-O bond and from a Ga-N to a Ga-O bond. All of these results show that the epilayer surface contains a large amount of Ga and Al oxides. (c) 2006 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Surface roughness and high density of cubic twins and hexagonal inclusions in cubic GaN epilayers

Surface roughness and its correlation with the polarity of internal hexagonal inclusions and cubic twins have been investigated by atomic force microscopy (AFM), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and X-ray diffraction (XRD). The surface roughness resulted from large amount of strips, which prolonged in [1 (1) over bar0] direction with small size in [110] or [110] direction. The sidestep of each strip is just the top of high density of hexagonal inclusions or cubic microtwins. Moreover, XRD shows that the amount of hexagonal inclusions and cubic microtwins measured in [110] direction are twice or more as much as in [110] direction. Therefore, it is hexagonal inclusions, cubic twins and their distributive polarity that is responsible to the surface characteristics of cubic GaN epilayers.

Characterization of a Laser-Discrete Quenched Steel Substrate/Chromium System by Dissolving Coatings

A laser-discrete quenched steel (LDQS) substrate/as-deposited chromium (top high-contraction (HC) and underlying low-contraction (LC) chromium) system was investigated by dissolving coatings in order to reveal the mechanism that the service life of the coated parts is largely improved using the hybrid technique of laser pre-quenching plus chromium post-depositing. It was found that the surface characteristics of the substrate, LC and HC chromium layer can be simultaneously revealed owing to the dissolution edge effect of chromium coatings. Moreover, the periodical gradient morphologies of the LDQS substrate are clearly shown: the surfaces of laser transformation-hardened regions are rather smooth; a lot of fine micro-holes exist in the transition zones; there are many micro-dimples in the original substrate. Furthermore, the novel method of dissolving coatings with sharp interfaces may be used to reveal the structural features of a substrate/coating system, explore the effect of the substrate on the initial microstructure and morphologies of coatings, and check the quality of the coated-parts.

Frequency characteristics and dynamical behaviors of self-modulation in vertical-cavity surface-emitting lasers

The frequency characteristics of a VCSEL with a quarter-wave plate (QWP) and an external reflector are investigated with the translation matrix of the vectorial field. Two series of eigenmode with a shift of half the free spectrum range are linearly polarized, respectively, along the neutral axes of QWP. We also numerically explore the polarization self-modulation phenomenon by using a vectorial laser equation and considering the inhomogeneous broadening of the gain medium. If the external cavity is so short that the shift is bigger than the homogeneous broadening, two stable longitudinal modes oscillate, respectively, on the neutral axes of QWP because they consume different carriers. With a long external cavity, the competition of the modes for the common carriers causes the intensity fluctuation of the modes with a period of one round-trip time of the external cavity.

Modelling analysis of influence of substrate surface defect on optical characteristics of single-layer coating

A simple and practical model is used to analyse the influence of substrate surface defect on the optical characteristics of a single-layer coating. A single-layer coating is prepared and its optical properties are fitted. Some explanations for the origin of the transition layer are presented. It is concluded that there is a transition layer forming between the substrate and coating, which is attributed to substrate surface defects, and its refractive index change is nearly of linearity.

Evolution of surface morphology and photoluminescence characteristics of 1.3-mu m In0.5Ga0.5As/GaAs quantum dots grown by molecular beam epitaxy

Evolution of surface morphology and optical characteristics of 1.3-mu m In0.5Ga0.5As/GaAs quantum dots (QDs) grown by molecular beam epitaxy (MBE) are investigated by atomic force microscopy (AFM) and photoluminescence (PL). After deposition of 16 monolayers (ML) of In0.5Ga0.5As, QDs are formed and elongated along the [110] direction when using sub-ML depositions, while large size InGaAs QDs with better uniformity are formed when using ML or super-ML depositions. It is also found that the larger size QDs show enhanced PL efficiency without optical nonlinearity, which is in contrast to the elongated QDs.