Effect of Ni-Zr codoping on dielectric and magnetic properties of SrFe12O19 via sol-gel route

Nanocrystalline strontium hexaferrites SrFe12-2x (Ni2+-Zr4+)(x)O-19] nanoparticles were successfully synthesized by sal gel process. For densification the powders were sintered at 950 degrees C/4 h. The sintered samples were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), surface area measurement, and field emission scanning electron microscope (FESEM). The lattice parameter a is almost constant but c increased with x upto 0.8 and then decreased. The frequency dependent complex permittivity (epsilon and epsilon `' and permeability (mu' and mu `') and magnetic properties such as saturation magnetization (M-s), coercive field (H-c) were studied. If is observed that saturation magnetization increased gradually from 57.82 emuig to 67.2 emufg as x increased from 0.2 to 0.4 and then decreased from 672 emufg to 31.63 ernufg for x=1.0. In present study, x=0.4 shows high value of M-s 67.2 emu/g. The real part of permittivity (epsilon') remains constant upto a frequency 1 GHz and increases further with an increase of frequency, a resonance and anti resonance peak was observed above 1 GHz for all the samples. In real part of permeability (mu') the relaxation frequency is observed above 1 GHz for all the samples and it is attributed to the domain wall motion. It is well known that the permeability for polycrystalline ferrites can be described as the superposition of two different magnetizing mechanisms: spin rotation and domain wall motion. These low coercive strontium hexaferrites are suitable for magnetic recording applications in hard disks, floppy disks, video tapes, etc. (C) 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

High performance sol-gel spin-coated titanium dioxide dielectric based MOS structures

High-kappa TiO2 thin films have been fabricated using cost effective sol-gel and spin-coating technique on p-Si (100) wafer. Plasma activation process was used for better adhesion between TiO2 films and Si. The influence of annealing temperature on the structure-electrical properties of titania films were investigated in detail. Both XRD and Raman studies indicate that the anatase phase crystallizes at 400 degrees C, retaining its structural integrity up to 1000 degrees C. The thickness of the deposited films did not vary significantly with the annealing temperature, although the refractive index and the RMS roughness enhanced considerably, accompanied by a decrease in porosity. For electrical measurements, the films were integrated in metal-oxide-semiconductor (MOS) structure. The electrical measurements evoke a temperature dependent dielectric constant with low leakage current density. The Capacitance-voltage (C-V) characteristics of the films annealed at 400 degrees C exhibited a high value of dielectric constant (similar to 34). Further, frequency dependent C-V measurements showed a huge dispersion in accumulation capacitance due to the presence of TiO2/Si interface states and dielectric polarization, was found to follow power law dependence on frequency (with exponent `s'=0.85). A low leakage current density of 3.6 x 10(-7) A/cm(2) at 1 V was observed for the films annealed at 600 degrees C. The results of structure-electrical properties suggest that the deposition of titania by wet chemical method is more attractive and cost-effective for production of high-kappa materials compared to other advanced deposition techniques such as sputtering, MBE, MOCVD and AID. The results also suggest that the high value of dielectric constant kappa obtained at low processing temperature expands its scope as a potential dielectric layer in MOS device technology. (C) 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Sol-gel combustion synthesis and luminescent properties of nanocrystalline YAG : Eu3+ phosphors

EU3+ -doped Y3Al5O12 (YAG:Eu3+) phosphors were synthesized by a facile sol-gel combustion method. In this process, citric acid traps the constituent cations and reduces the diffusion length of the precursors. YAG phase is obtained through sintering at 900 degrees C for 2h. There were no intermediate phases such as YAlO3 (YAP) and Y4Al2O9 (YAM) observed. The charge transfer band of nanocrystalline phosphors shows a shift toward the high-energy side, compared with that of amorphous ones due to lower covalency of Eu-O bond for nanocrystalline phosphors. The higher concentration quenching in YAG:EU3+ nanophosphors may be caused by the confinement effect on resonant energy transfer of nanocrystalline. It also indicates that the sol-gel combustion synthesis method provides a good distribution of Eu3+ activators in YAG host. (c) 2005 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Structural and optical properties of YAG : Ce3+ phosphors by sol-gel combustion method

High-quality Ce3+-doped Y3Al5O12 (YAG:Ce3+) phosphors were synthesized by a facile sol-gel combustion method. In this sol-gel combustion process, citric acid acts as a fuel for combustion, traps the constituent cations and reduces the diffusion length of the precursors. The XRD and FT-IR results show that YAG phase can form through sintering at 900 degrees C for 2 h. This temperature is much lower than that required to synthesize YAG phase via the solid-state reaction method. There were no intermediate phases such as YAlO3 (YAP) and Y4Al2O9 (YAM) observed in the sintering process. The average grain size of the phosphors sintered at 900-1100 degrees C is about 40 nm. With the increasing of sintering temperature, the emission intensity increases due to the improved crystalline and homogeneous distribution of Ce3+ ions. A blue shift has been observed in the Ce3+ emission spectrum of YAG:Ce3+ phosphors with increasing sintering temperatures from 900 to 1200 degrees C. It can be explained that the decrease of lattice constant affects the crystal field around Ce3+ ions. The emission intensity of 0.06Ce-doped YAG phosphors is much higher than that of the 0.04Ce and 0.02Ce ones. The red-shift at higher Ce3+ concentrations may be Ce-Ce interactions or variations in the unit cell parameters between YAG:Ce3+ and YAG. It can be concluded that the sol-gel combustion synthesis method provides a good distribution of Ce3+ activators at the molecular level in YAG matrix. (c) 2005 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Role of Bi3+ ions for Er3+ ions efficient 1.54 mu m light emission in Er/Bi codoped SiO2 thin film prepared by sol-gel method

Er/Bi codoped SiO2 thin films were prepared by sol-gel method and spin-on technology with subsequent annealing process. The bismuth silicate crystal phase appeared at low annealing temperature while vanished as annealing temperature exceeded 1000 degrees C, characterized by X-ray diffraction, and Rutherford backscattering measurements well explained the structure change of the films, which was due to the decrease of bismuth concentration. Fine structures of the Er3+-related 1.54 mu m light emission (line width less than 7 nm) at room temperature was observed by photoluminescence (PL) measurement. The PL intensity at 1.54 gm reached maximum at 800 degrees C and decreased dramatically at 1000 degrees C. The PL dependent annealing temperature was studied and suggested a clear link with bismuth silicate phase. Excitation spectrum measurements further reveal the role of Bi3+ ions for Er3+ ions near infrared light emission. Through sol-gel method and thermal treatment, Bi3+ ions can provide a perfect environment for Er3+ ion light emission by forming Er-Bi-Si-O complex. Furthermore, energy transfer from Bi3+ ions to Er3+ ions is evidenced and found to be a more efficient way for Er3+ ions near infrared emission. This makes the Bi3+ ions doped material a promising application for future erbium-doped waveguide amplifier and infrared LED

Fabrication of 1.55-mu m Si-based resonant cavity enhanced photodetectors using sol-gel bonding

In this work, a novel bonding method using silicate gel as the bonding medium was developed to fabricate an InGaAs narrow-band response resonant cavity enhanced photodetector on a silicon substrate. The bonding was performed at a low temperature of 350 degreesC without any special treatment on bonding surfaces and a Si-based narrow-band response InGaAs photodetector was successfully fabricated, with a quantum efficiency of 34.4% at the resonance wavelength of 1.54 mum, and a full-width at half-maximum of about 27 nm. The photodetector has a linear photoresponse up to 4-mW optical power under 1.5 V or higher reverse bias. The low temperature wafer bonding process demonstrates a great potential in device fabrication.

Sol-gel matrix modified microstructured optical fibre towards a fluoride sensitive optical probe

In this article, we report an optical fluoride probe based on microstructured polymer optical fibers (MPOFs) which is modified with morin-Al complex doped silica gel film. This probe is fabricated by sol-gel fluxion coating process. Sol solution doped with morin-Al is directly inhaled into array holes of MPOF and then forms morin-Al-gel matrix film in them. The sensing probe shows different fluorescence intensity to different fluoride ion concentrations in the aqueous solution. The range of response is 550 mmol/L, under the condition of pH 4.6. Crown Copyright (C) 2009 Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Preparation of stir bars for sorptive extraction using sol-gel technology

A sol-gel coating method for the preparation of extractive phase on bars used in sorptive microextraction is described. The extraction phase of poly(dimethylsiloxane) is partially crosslinked with the sol-gel network, and the most part is physically incorporated in the network. Three aging steps at different temperatures are applied to complete the crosslinking process. Thirty-micrometer-thick coating layer is obtained by one coating process. The improved coating shows good thermal stability up to 300degreesC. Spiked aqueous samples containing n-alkanes, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons and organophosphorus pesticides were analyzed by using the sorptive bars and GC. The results demonstrate that it is suitable for both aploar and polar analytes. The detection limit for chrysene is 7.44 ng/L, 0.74 ng/L for C-19 and 0.9 ng/L for phorate. The extraction equilibration can be reached in less than 15 min by supersonic extraction with the bars of 30 mum coating layer. (C) 2004 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Synthesis and characterization of (Zn,Cd)TiO3 by a modified sol-gel method

Ilmenite-type (Zn1-xCdx)TiO3 (0 <= x <= 0.15 and 0.8 <= x <= 1.0) was synthesized by a modified sol-gel route including the Pechini process via two-step heat treatments. The thermal stability of (Zn1-xCdx)TiO3 depended on the amount of cadmium content. The as-synthesized (Zn1-xCdx)TiO3 (0 <= x <= 0.15 and 0.8 <= x <= 1.0) showed higher thermal stability than that of ZnTiO3. The variation of the dielectric constant of all synthesized (Zn1-xCdx)TiO3 samples for all measurement frequencies showed a similar tendency.

Near-infrared luminescence from sol-gel materials doped with holmium(III) and thulium(III) complexes

A series of ternary Ln(tta)(3)L complexes (Ln = Ho, Tm; Htta = 2-thenoyltrifluoroacetone; L = 1,10-phenanthroline, 2,2'-bipyridine, or triphenyl phosphate oxide) and their corresponding sol-gel hybrid materials formed via the in situ synthesis process (designated as Ln-T-L gel) were reported. The complexes and the gels were studied in detail, which suggest the complexes have been successfully synthesized in the corresponding gels.

Glucose biosensor based on gold nanoparticle-catalyzed luminol electrochemiluminescence on a three-dimensional sol-gel network

An electrochemiluminescent glucose biosensor was proposed based on gold nanoparticle-catalyzed luminol electrochemiluminescence (ECL). Gold nanoparticles were self-assembled onto silica sol-gel network, and then glucose oxidase was adsorbed on the surface of gold nanoparticles. The surface assembly process and the electrochemistry and ECL behaviors of the biosensor were investigated. The assembled gold nanoparticles could efficiently electrocatalyze luminol ECL ECL intensity of the biosensor depended on scan rate, luminol concentration, and size of gold nanoparticles.

Conformation studies on sol-gel transition in triblock copolymer solutions

The gelation of physically associating triblock copolymers in a good solvent was investigated by means of the Monte Carlo simulation and a gelation process based on the conformation transition of the copolymer that was described in detail. In our simulative system, it has been found that the gelation is closely related with chain conformations, and there exist four types of chains defined as free, dangling, loop, and bridge conformations. The copolymer chains with different conformations contribute to the formation of gel in different ways. We proposed a conformational transition model, by which we evaluated the role of these four types of chains in sol-gel transition. It was concluded that the free chains keeping the conformation transition equilibrium and the dangling conformation being the hinge of conformation transition, while the chain with loop conformation enlarges the size of the congeries and the chain with bridge conformations binds the congeries consisted of the copolymer chains. In addition, the effects of temperature and concentration on the physical gelation, the association of the copolymer congeries, and the copolymer chain conformations' distribution were discussed.

Preparation of nanocrystalline NiZnCu ferrite particles by sol-gel method and their magnetic properties

Polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) was first used as chelating agent and metal nitrates as precursor of ferrite in the fabrication of nanocrystalline Ni0.65Zn0.35Cu0.1Fe1.9O4 particles by the sol-gel method. The thermal decomposition process of dried gel was studied by thermogravimetry (TG), differential thermal analysis (DTA) and infrared spectra (IR). The structural and magnetic properties of resultant particles were investigated by X-ray diffraction (XRD), transmission electron microscope (TEM), vibrating sample magnetometer (VSM) and Mossbauer spectroscopy. The dependence of the decomposition of dried gel, the formation of spinel structured NiZnCu ferrite, the sizes of annealed particles, the saturation magnetization and coercivity of annealed particles on annealing temperature is presented.

A study of NiZnCu-ferrite/SiO2 nanocomposites with different ferrite contents synthesized by sol-gel method

Ni0.65Zn0.35Cu0.1Fe1.9O4/SiO2 nanocomposites with different weight percentages of NiZnCu-ferrite dispersed in silica matrix were successfully fabricated by the sol-gel method using tetraethylorthosilicate (TEOS) as a precursor of silica, and metal nitrates as precursors of NiZnCu ferrite. The thermal decomposition process of the dried gel was studied by thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) and differential thermal analysis (DTA). The obtained Ni0.65Zn0.35Cu0.1Fe1.9O4/SiO2 nanocomposites were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), transmission electron microscope (TEM), scanning electron microscope (SEM), Mossbauer spectroscopy and vibrating sample magnetometry (VSM). The formation of stoichiometric NiZnCu-ferrite dispersed in silica matrix is confirmed when the weight percentage of ferrite is not more than 30%. Samples with higher ferrite content have small amount of alpha-Fe2O3. The transition from the paramagnetic to the ferromagnetic state is observed as the ferrite content increases from 20 to 90wt%.

Synthesis of nanocrystalline Ba(CoxZn1-x)(2)Fe16O27 by sol-gel auto-combustion method

The synthesis of nanocrystalline W-type hexaferrites Ba(CoxZn1-x)(2)Fe16O27 powders by sol-gel auto-combustion method has been investigated. The thermal decomposition process of dried gel was studied by thermogravimetry (TG), differential thermal analysis (DTA) and infrared spectra (IR). The structural and magnetic properties of resultant particles were investigated by X-ray diffraction (XRD), transmission electron microscope (TEM), and vibrating sample magnetometer (VSM). The results reveal that the dried gel exhibits auto-combustion behavior. After combustion, pure nanocrystalline W-type hexaferrite phase starts to appear at the calcination temperature of 800 degrees C. The crystallinity and the grain size increase at higher temperature. The saturation magnetization and coercivity clearly depend on calcination temperature and Co content X.