Spray Pyrolysed Zinc Oxide Thin Films : Effects of Doping and Ion Beam Irradiation

In recent years scientists have made rapid and significant advances in the field of semiconductor physics. One of the most important fields of current interest in materials science is the fundamental aspects and applications of conducting transparent oxide thin films (TCO). The characteristic properties of such coatings are low electrical resistivity and high transparency in the visible region. The first semitransparent and electrically conducting CdO film was reported as early as in 1907 [1]. Though early work on these films was performed out of purely scientific interest, substantial technological advances in such films were made after 1940. The technological interest in the study of transparent semiconducting films was generated mainly due to the potential applications of these materials both in industry and research. Such films demonstrated their utility as transparent electrical heaters for windscreens in the aircraft industry. However, during the last decade, these conducting transparent films have been widely used in a variety of other applications such as gas sensors [2], solar cells [3], heat reflectors [4], light emitting devices [5] and laser damage resistant coatings in high power laser technology [6]. Just a few materials dominate the current TCO industry and the two dominant markets for TCO’s are in architectural applications and flat panel displays. The architectural use of TCO is for energy efficient windows. Fluorine doped tin oxide (FTO), deposited using a pyrolysis process is the TCO usually finds maximum application. SnO2 also finds application ad coatings for windows, which are efficient in preventing radiative heat loss, due to low emissivity (0.16). Pyrolitic tin oxide is used in PV modules, touch screens and plasma displays. However indium tin oxide (ITO) is mostly used in the majority of flat panel display (FPD) applications. In FPDs, the basic function of ITO is as transparent electrodes. The volume of FPD’s produced, and hence the volume of ITO coatings produced, continues to grow rapidly. But the current increase in the cost of indium and the scarcity of this material created the difficulty in obtaining low cost TCOs. Hence search for alternative TCO materials has been a topic of active research for the last few decades. This resulted in the development of binary materials like ZnO, SnO2, CdO and ternary materials like II Zn2SnO4, CdSb2O6:Y, ZnSO3, GaInO3 etc. The use of multicomponent oxide materials makes it possible to have TCO films suitable for specialized applications because by altering their chemical compositions, one can control the electrical, optical, chemical and physical properties. But the advantages of using binary materials are the easiness to control the chemical compositions and depositions conditions. Recently, there were reports claiming the deposition of CdO:In films with a resistivity of the order of 10-5 ohm cm for flat panel displays and solar cells. However they find limited use because of Cd-Toxicity. In this regard, ZnO films developed in 1980s, are very useful as these use Zn, an abundant, inexpensive and nontoxic material. Resistivity of this material is still not very low, but can be reduced through doping with group-III elements like In, Al or Ga or with F [6]. Hence there is a great interest in ZnO as an alternative of ITO. In the present study, we prepared and characterized transparent and conducting ZnO thin films, using a cost effective technique viz Chemical Spray Pyrolysis (CSP). This technique is also suitable for large area film deposition. It involves spraying a solution, (usually aqueous) containing soluble salts of the constituents of the desired compound, onto a heated substrate.

Polyaniline as an Automatic Beam Steering Material

This 'study' deals with a preliminary study of automatic beam steering properly in conducting polyaniline . Polyaniline in its undoped and doped .state was prepared from aniline by the chemical oxidative polymerization method. Dielectric properties of the samples were studied at S-band microwave frequencies using cavity perturbation technique. It is found that undoped po/vanihne is having greater dielectric loss and conductivity contpared with the doped samples. The beam steering property is studied using a perspex rod antenna and HP 85/OC vector network analyzer. The shift in the radiated beam is studied for different do voltages. The results show that polyaniline is a good nutterial far beam steering applications.

Investigations on Ultrasonic Transducer Array Systems for NDE of Underwater Pipelines

The main objective of carrying out this investigation is to develop suitable transducer array systems so that underwater pipeline inspection could be carried out in a much better way, a focused beam and electronic steering can reduce inspection time as well. Better results are obtained by optimizing the array parameters. The spacing between the elements is assumed to be half the wavelength so that the interelement interaction is minimum. For NDT applications these arrays are operated at MHz range. The wavelengths become very small in these frequency ranges. Then the size of the array elements becomes very small, requiring hybrid construction techniques for their fabrication. Transducer elements have been fabricated using PVDF as the active, mild steel as the backing and conducting silver preparation as the bonding materials. The transducer is operated in the (3,3) mode. The construction of a high frequency array is comparatively complicated. The interelement spacing between the transducer elements becomes considerably small when high frequencies are considered. It becomes very difficult to construct the transducer manually. The electrode connections to the elements can produce significant loading effect. The array has to be fabricated using hybrid construction techniques. The active materials has to be deposited on a proper substrate and etching techniques are required to fabricate the array. The annular ring, annular cylindrical or other similar structural forms of arrays may also find applications in the near future in treatments were curved contours of the human body are affected.

STANDARDIZATION OF PROCESS PARAMETERS FOR READY TO EAT FISH PRODUCTS IN INDIGENOUS POLYMER COATED TIN FREE STEEL CANS

In the present work, Indigenous polymer coated Tin Free Steel cans were analyzed fortheir suitability for thermal processing and storage of fish and fish products following standard methods. The raw materials used for the development of ready to eat thermally processed fish products were found to be of fresh condition. The values for various biochemical and microbiological parameters of the raw materials were well within the limits. Based on the analysis of commercial sterility, instrumental colour, texture, WB-shear force and sensory parameters, squid masala processed to F0 value of 8 min with a total process time of 38.5 min and cook value of 92 min was chosen as the optimum for squid masala in tin free steel cans while shrimp curry processed to F0 7 min with total process time of 44.0 min and cook value of 91.1 min was found to be ideal and was selected for storage study. Squid masala and shrimp curry thermally processed in indigenous polymer coated TFS cans were found to be acceptable even after one year of storage at room temperaturebased on the analysis of various sensory and biochemical parameters. Analysis of the Commission Internationale d’ Eclirage L*, a* and b* color values showed that the duration of exposure to heat treatment influenced the color parameters: the lightness (L*) and yellowness (b*)decreased, and the redness (a*) significantly increased with the increase in processing time or reduction in processing temperature.Instrumental analysis of texture showed that hardness-1 & 2 decreased with reduction in retort temperature while cohesiveness value did not show any appreciable change with decrease in temperature of processing. Other texture profile parameters like gumminess, springiness and chewiness decreased significantly with increase of processing time. W-B shear force values of mackerel meat processed at 130 °C were significantly higher than those processed at 121.1 and 115 °C. HTST processing of mackerel in brine helped in reducing the process time and improving the quality.The study also indicated that indigenous polymer coated TFS cans with easy openends can be a viable alternative to the conventional tin and aluminium cans. The industry can utilize these cans for processing ready to eat fish and shell fish products for both domestic and export markets. This will help in reviving the canning industry in India.

Photothermal beam deflection for non-destructive evaluation of semiconductor thin films

Non-destructive testing (NDT) is the use of non-invasive techniques to determine the integrity of a material, component, or structure. Engineers and scientists use NDT in a variety of applications, including medical imaging, materials analysis, and process control.Photothermal beam deflection technique is one of the most promising NDT technologies. Tremendous R&D effort has been made for improving the efficiency and simplicity of this technique. It is a popular technique because it can probe surfaces irrespective of the size of the sample and its surroundings. This technique has been used to characterize several semiconductor materials, because of its non-destructive and non-contact evaluation strategy. Its application further extends to analysis of wide variety of materials. Instrumentation of a NDT technique is very crucial for any material analysis. Chapter two explores the various excitation sources, source modulation techniques, detection and signal processing schemes currently practised. The features of the experimental arrangement including the steps for alignment, automation, data acquisition and data analysis are explained giving due importance to details.Theoretical studies form the backbone of photothermal techniques. The outcome of a theoretical work is the foundation of an application.The reliability of the theoretical model developed and used is proven from the studies done on crystalline.The technique is applied for analysis of transport properties such as thermal diffusivity, mobility, surface recombination velocity and minority carrier life time of the material and thermal imaging of solar cell absorber layer materials like CuInS2, CuInSe2 and SnS thin films.analysis of In2S3 thin films, which are used as buffer layer material in solar cells. The various influences of film composition, chlorine and silver incorporation in this material is brought out from the measurement of transport properties and analysis of sub band gap levels.The application of photothermal deflection technique for characterization of solar cells is a relatively new area that requires considerable attention.The application of photothermal deflection technique for characterization of solar cells is a relatively new area that requires considerable attention. Chapter six thus elucidates the theoretical aspects of application of photothermal techniques for solar cell analysis. The experimental design and method for determination of solar cell efficiency, optimum load resistance and series resistance with results from the analysis of CuInS2/In2S3 based solar cell forms the skeleton of this chapter.

Study on the determination of molecular distance in organic dye mixtures using dual beam thermal lens technique

A sensitive method based on the principle of photothermal phenomena to study the energy transfer processes in organic dye mixtures is presented. A dual beam thermal lens method can be very effectively used as an alternate technique to determine the molecular distance between donor and acceptor in fluorescein–rhodamine B mixture using optical parametric oscillator.

Application of laser beam deflection technique to study the diffusion process in electrolyte solutions

A simple method based on laser beam deflection to study the variation of diffusion coefficient with concentration in a solution is presented. When a properly fanned out laser beam is passed through a rectangular cell filled with solution having concentration gradient, the emergent beam traces out a curved pattern on a screen. By taking measurements on the pattern at different concentrations, the variation of diffusion coefficient with concentration can be determined.

Measurement of the absolute fluorescence quantum yield of rhodamine B solution using a dual-beam thermal lens technique

The dual-beam thermal lens technique has been found to be very effective for the measurement of fluorescence quantum yields of dye solutions. The concentration-dependence of the quantum yield of rhodamine B in methanol is studied here using this technique. The observed results are in line with the conclusion that the reduction in the quantum yield in the quenching region is essentially due to the non-radiative relaxation of the absorbed energy. The thermal lens has been found to become abberated above 40 mW of pump laser power. This low value for the upper limit of pump power is due to the fact that the medium is a resonantly absorbing one.

Dielectric Properties of Electron Beam Evaporated Samarium Oxide Films

The dielectric properties of electron beam evaporated Sm2O3 films have been investigated in the frequency range from 1 kHz to 1 MHz at various temperatures (300 K-453 K). The dielectric constant is found to depend on film thickness and it attains a constant value beyond 1000 A. The present electron beam evaporated Sm2O3 films have a high dielectric constant of 43. The frequency dependence of and tan teeta at various temperatures is also studied.

Studies on Fluorescence Efficiency and Photodegradation of Rhodamine 6G Doped PMMA Using a Dual Beam Thermal Lens Technique

In this paper we report the use of the dual beam thermal lens technique as a quantitative method to determine absolute fluorescence quantum efficiency and concentration quenching of fluorescence emission from rhodamine 6G doped Poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA), prepared with different concentrations of the dye. A comparison of the present data with that reported in the literature indicates that the observed variation of fluorescence quantum yield with respect to the dye concentration follows a similar profile as in the earlier reported observations on rhodamine 6G in solution. The photodegradation of the dye molecules under cw laser excitation is also studied using the present method.

Studies on Some Aspects of Light Beam Propagation Through Certain Nonlinear Media

This thesis deals with the study of light beam propagation through different nonlinear media. Analytical and numerical methods are used to show the formation of solitonS in these media. Basic experiments have also been performed to show the formation of a self-written waveguide in a photopolymer. The variational method is used for the analytical analysis throughout the thesis. Numerical method based on the finite-difference forms of the original partial differential equation is used for the numerical analysis.In Chapter 2, we have studied two kinds of solitons, the (2 + 1) D spatial solitons and the (3 + l)D spatio-temporal solitons in a cubic-quintic medium in the presence of multiphoton ionization.In Chapter 3, we have studied the evolution of light beam through a different kind of nonlinear media, the photorcfractive polymer. We study modulational instability and beam propagation through a photorefractive polymer in the presence of absorption losses. The one dimensional beam propagation through the nonlinear medium is studied using variational and numerical methods. Stable soliton propagation is observed both analytically and numerically.Chapter 4 deals with the study of modulational instability in a photorefractive crystal in the presence of wave mixing effects. Modulational instability in a photorefractive medium is studied in the presence of two wave mixing. We then propose and derive a model for forward four wave mixing in the photorefractive medium and investigate the modulational instability induced by four wave mixing effects. By using the standard linear stability analysis the instability gain is obtained.Chapter 5 deals with the study of self-written waveguides. Besides the usual analytical analysis, basic experiments were done showing the formation of self-written waveguide in a photopolymer system. The formation of a directional coupler in a photopolymer system is studied theoretically in Chapter 6. We propose and study, using the variational approximation as well as numerical simulation, the evolution of a probe beam through a directional coupler formed in a photopolymer system.

Studies on Heat Diffusion in Selected Conducting Polymers using Probe Beam Deflection and Photoacoustic Techniques

In the present study, radio frequency plasma polymerization technique is used to prepare thin films of polyaniline, polypyrrole, poly N-methyl pyrrole and polythiophene. The thermal characterization of these films is carried out using transverse probe beam deflection method. Electrical conductivity and band gaps are also determined. The effect of iodine doping on electrical conductivity and the rate of heat diffusion is explored.Bulk samples of poyaniline and polypyrrole in powder form are synthesized by chemical route. Open photoacoustic cell configuration is employed for the thermal characterization of these samples. The effect of acid doping on heat diffusion in these bulk samples of polyaniline is also investigated. The variation of electrical conductivity of doped polyaniline and polypyrrole with temperature is also studied for drawing conclusion on the nature of conduction in these samples. In order to improve the processability of polyaniline and polypyrrole, these polymers are incorporated into a host matrix of poly vinyl chloride. Measurements of thermal diffusivity and electrical conductivity of these samples are carried out to investigate the variation of these quantities as a function of the content of polyvinyl chloride.