VAM Applied to Dimensional Reduction of Nonlinear Multifunctional Film-fabric Laminates

This work aims at asymptotically accurate dimensional reduction of non-linear multi-functional film-fabric laminates having specific application in design of envelopes for High Altitude Airships (HAA). The film-fabric laminate for airship envelope consists of a woven fabric core coated with thin films on each face. These films provide UV protection and Helium leakage prevention, while the core provides required structural strength. This problem is both geometrically and materially non-linear. To incorporate the geometric non-linearity, generalized warping functions are used and finite deformations are allowed. The material non-linearity is handled by using hyper-elastic material models for each layer. The development begins with three-dimensional (3-D) nonlinear elasticity and mathematically splits the analysis into a one-dimensional through-the-thickness analysis and a two-dimensional (2-D) plate analysis. The through-the-thickness analysis provides the 2-D constitutive law which is then given as an input to the 2-D reference surface analysis. The dimensional reduction is carried out using Variational Asymptotic Method (VAM) for moderate strains and very small thickness-to-wavelength ratio. It features the identification and utilization of additional small parameters such as ratio of thicknesses and stiffness coefficients of core and films. Closed form analytical expressions for warping functions and 2-D constitutive law of the film-fabric laminate are obtained.

Application of principal component analysis to gas sensing characteristics of Cr0.8Fe0.2NbO4 thick film array

The transient changes in resistances of Cr0.8Fe0.2NbO4 thick film sensors towards specified concentrations of H-2, NH3, acetonitrile, acetone, alcohol, cyclohexane and petroleum gas at different operating temperatures were recorded. The analyte-specific characteristics such as slopes of the response and retrace curves, area under the curve and sensitivity deduced from the transient curve of the respective analyte gas have been used to construct a data matrix. Principal component analysis (PCA) was applied to this data and the score plot was obtained. Distinguishing one reducing gas from the other is demonstrated based on this approach, which otherwise is not possible by measuring relative changes in conductivity. This methodology is extended for three Cr0.8Fe0.2NbO4 thick film sensor array operated at different temperatures. (C) 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Dependence of shear yield strain and shear transformation zone on the glass transition temperature in thin film metallic glasses

The dependence of shear yield strain, the activation energy and volume of shear transformation zone on the glass transition temperature was investigated through the analysis of statistical distributions of the first pop-in events during spherical indentation of four different thin film metallic glasses. Only the Cu-Zr metallic glass exhibits a bimodal distribution of the first pop-in loads, whereas W-Ru-B, Zr-Cu-Ni-Al and La-Co-Al metallic glasses show an unimodal distribution. Results show that shear yield strain and activation energy of shear transformation zone decrease whereas the volume of shear transformation zone increases with increasing homologous temperature, indicating that it is the activation energy rather than the volume of shear transformation zone that controls shear yield strain. (C) 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Stimuli-responsive weak polyelectrolyte multilayer films: A thin film platform for self triggered multi-drug delivery

Polyelectrolyte multilayer (PEM) thin film composed of weak polyelectrolytes was designed by layer-by-layer (LbL) assembly of poly(allylamine hydrochloride) (PAH) and poly(methacrylic acid) (PMA) for multi-drug delivery applications. Environmental stimuli such as pH and ionic strength showed significant influence in changing the film morphology from pore-free smooth structure to porous structure and favored triggered release of loaded molecules. The film was successfully loaded with bovine serum albumin (BSA) and ciprofloxacin hydrochloride (CH) by modulating the porous polymeric network of the film. Release studies showed that the amount of release could be easily controlled by changing the environmental conditions such as pH and ionic strength. Sustained release of loaded molecules was observed up to 8 h. The fabricated films were found to be biocompatible with epithelial cells during in-vitro cell culture studies. PEM film reported here not only has the potential to be used as self-responding thin film platform for transdermal drug delivery, but also has the potential for further development in antimicrobial or anti-inflammatory coatings on implants and drug-releasing coatings for stents. (C) 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Observation of phase transformations in cement during hydration

We report the phase transformations in Portland cement before and after hydration. The hydration mechanism was studied in detail by using a full Rietveld refinement of the X-ray diffraction (XRD) patterns, Fourier Transformed Infra-Red (FTIR) spectroscopy, Thermogravimetric Analysis (TGA) and Mossbauer spectroscopy at room temperature. From the Rietveld refinement of XRD data, alite, belite, celite, brown-millerite and low quartz phases were detected and quantified as major phases in dry cement powder. After hydration, calcium carbonate, portlandite and ettringite phases were found to form. A large reduction in the amounts of alite and belite phases were observed suggesting the formation of amorphous C-S-H phase and emphasizing the role of alite phase in flash setting of cement, as justified by the XRD and FTIR spectroscopy. Mossbauer spectra of all the unset samples showed quadrupole split doublets corresponding to the brownmillerite phase which remains unchanged even after about one week of hydration, suggesting that brownmillerite did not transform to other phases during initial stage of hydration process. (C) 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

A Study of Pressure-Dependent Squeeze Film Stiffness as a Resonance Modulator Using Static and Dynamic Measurements

We report on the resonant frequency modulation of inertial microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) structures due to squeeze film stiffness over a range of working pressures. Squeeze film effects have been studied extensively, but mostly in the context of damping and Q-factor determination of dynamic MEMS structures, typically suspended over a fixed substrate with a very thin air gap. Here, we show with experimental measurements and analytical calculations how the pressure-dependent air springs (squeeze film stiffness) change the resonant frequency of an inertial MEMS structure by as much as five times. For capturing the isolated effect of the squeeze film stiffness, we first determine the static stiffness of our structure with atomic force microscope probing and then study the effect of the air spring by measuring the dynamic response of the structure, thus finding the resonant frequencies while varying the air pressure from 1 to 905 mbar. We also verify our results by analytical and Finite Element Method calculations. Our findings show that the pressure-dependent squeeze film stiffness can affect a rather huge range of frequency modulation (>400%) and, therefore, can be used as a design parameter for exploiting this effect in MEMS devices. 2014-0310]

Real-Time Stress Measurements in Germanium Thin Film Electrodes during Electrochemical Lithiation/Delithiation Cycling

An in situ study of stress evolution and mechanical behavior of germanium as a lithium-ion battery electrode material is presented. Thin films of germanium are cycled in a half-cell configuration with lithium metal foil as counter/reference electrode, with 1M LiPF6 in ethylene carbonate, diethyl carbonate, dimethyl carbonate solution (1:1:1, wt%) as electrolyte. Real-time stress evolution in the germanium thin-film electrodes during electrochemical lithiation/delithiation is measured by monitoring the substrate curvature using the multi-beam optical sensing method. Upon lithiation a-Ge undergoes extensive plastic deformation, with a peak compressive stress reaching as high as -0.76 +/- 0.05 GPa (mean +/- standard deviation). The compressive stress decreases with lithium concentration reaching a value of approximately -0.3 GPa at the end of lithiation. Upon delithiation the stress quickly became tensile and follows a trend that mirrors the behavior on compressive side; the average peak tensile stress of the lithiated Ge samples was approximately 0.83 GPa. The peak tensile stress data along with the SEM analysis was used to estimate a lower bound fracture resistance of lithiated Ge, which is approximately 5.3 J/m(2). It was also observed that the lithiated Ge is rate sensitive, i.e., stress depends on how fast or slow the charging is carried out. (C) The Author(s) 2015. Published by ECS. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License (CC BY, http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted reuse of the work in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. All rights reserved.

High-kappa TiO2 Thin Film Prepared by Sol-Gel Spin-Coating Method

High-k TiO2 thin film on p-type silicon substrate was fabricated by a combined sol-gel and spin coating method. Thus deposited titania film had anatase phase with a small grain size of 16 nm and surface roughness of congruent to 0.6 nm. The oxide capacitance (C-ox), flat band capacitance (C-FB), flat band voltage (V-FB), oxide trapped charge (Q(ot)), calculated from the high frequency (1 MHz) C-V curve were 0.47 nF, 0.16 nF, -0.91 V, 4.7x10(-12) C, respectively. As compared to the previous reports, a high dielectric constant of 94 at 1 MHz frequency was observed in the devices investigated here and an equivalent oxide thickness (EOT) was 4.1 nm. Dispersion in accumulation capacitance shows a linear relationship with AC frequencies. Leakage current density was found in acceptable limits (2.1e-5 A/cm(2) for -1 V and 5.7e-7 A/cm(2) for +1 V) for CMOS applications.

Effect of Te Addition into As2Se3 Thin Film: Optical Property Study by FTIR and XPS.

In the present work, we report the effect of Te deposition onto As2Se3 film which affects the optical properties. The Te/As2Se3 film was illuminated with 532 nm laser to study the photo induced diffusion. The prepared As2Se3, Te/As2Se3 films were characterized by X-ray diffraction which show a completely amorphous nature. On the basis of optical transmission data carried out by Fourier Transform infrared Spectroscopy, a non direct transition was found for these films. The optical bandgap is found to be decreased with Te deposition and photo darkening phenomena is observed for the diffused film. The change in the optical constants are also supported by the corresponding change in different types of bonds which are being analyzed by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy.

On the Equivalence of Acoustic Impedance and Squeeze Film Impedance in Micromechanical Resonators

In this work, we address the issue of modeling squeeze film damping in nontrivial geometries that are not amenable to analytical solutions. The design and analysis of microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) resonators, especially those that use platelike two-dimensional structures, require structural dynamic response over the entire range of frequencies of interest. This response calculation typically involves the analysis of squeeze film effects and acoustic radiation losses. The acoustic analysis of vibrating plates is a very well understood problem that is routinely carried out using the equivalent electrical circuits that employ lumped parameters (LP) for acoustic impedance. Here, we present a method to use the same circuit with the same elements to account for the squeeze film effects as well by establishing an equivalence between the parameters of the two domains through a rescaled equivalent relationship between the acoustic impedance and the squeeze film impedance. Our analysis is based on a simple observation that the squeeze film impedance rescaled by a factor of jx, where x is the frequency of oscillation, qualitatively mimics the acoustic impedance over a large frequency range. We present a method to curvefit the numerically simulated stiffness and damping coefficients which are obtained using finite element analysis (FEA) analysis. A significant advantage of the proposed method is that it is applicable to any trivial/nontrivial geometry. It requires very limited finite element method (FEM) runs within the frequency range of interest, hence reducing the computational cost, yet modeling the behavior in the entire range accurately. We demonstrate the method using one trivial and one nontrivial geometry.

High-kappa TiO2 Thin Film Prepared by Sol-Gel Spin-Coating Method

High-k TiO2 thin film on p-type silicon substrate was fabricated by a combined sol-gel and spin coating method. Thus deposited titania film had anatase phase with a small grain size of 16 nm and surface roughness of congruent to 0.6 nm. The oxide capacitance (C-ox), flat band capacitance (C-FB), flat band voltage (V-FB), oxide trapped charge (Q(ot)), calculated from the high frequency (1 MHz) C-V curve were 0.47 nF, 0.16 nF, -0.91 V, 4.7x10(-12) C, respectively. As compared to the previous reports, a high dielectric constant of 94 at 1 MHz frequency was observed in the devices investigated here and an equivalent oxide thickness (EOT) was 4.1 nm. Dispersion in accumulation capacitance shows a linear relationship with AC frequencies. Leakage current density was found in acceptable limits (2.1e-5 A/cm(2) for -1 V and 5.7e-7 A/cm(2) for +1 V) for CMOS applications.

Evidence for 3D isotropic long range spin-spin interaction near the ferromagnetic transition in bulk and thin film SrRuO3

In the case of metallic ferromagnets there has always been a controversy, i.e. whether the magnetic interaction is itinerant or localized. For example SrRuO3 is known to be an itinerant ferromagnet where the spin-spin interaction is expected to be mean field in nature. However, it is reported to behave like Ising, Heisenberg or mean field by different groups. Despite several theoretical and experimental studies and the importance of strongly correlated systems, the experimental conclusion regarding the type of spin-spin interaction in SrRuO3 is lacking. To resolve this issue, we have investigated the critical behaviour in the vicinity of the paramagnetic-ferromagnetic phase transition using various techniques on polycrystalline as well as (001) oriented SrRuO3 films. Our analysis reveals that the application of a scaling law in the field-cooled magnetization data extracts the value of the critical exponent only when it is measured at H -> 0. To substantiate the actual nature without any ambiguity, the critical behavior is studied across the phase transition using the modified Arrott plot, Kouvel-Fisher plot and M-H isotherms. The critical analysis yields self-consistent beta, gamma and delta values and the spin interaction follows the long-range mean field model. Further the directional dependence of the critical exponent is studied in thin films and it reveals the isotropic nature. It is elucidated that the different experimental protocols followed by different groups are the reason for the ambiguity in determining the critical exponents in SrRuO3.

Evidence for 3D isotropic long range spin-spin interaction near the ferromagnetic transition in bulk and thin film SrRuO3

In the case of metallic ferromagnets there has always been a controversy, i.e. whether the magnetic interaction is itinerant or localized. For example SrRuO3 is known to be an itinerant ferromagnet where the spin-spin interaction is expected to be mean field in nature. However, it is reported to behave like Ising, Heisenberg or mean field by different groups. Despite several theoretical and experimental studies and the importance of strongly correlated systems, the experimental conclusion regarding the type of spin-spin interaction in SrRuO3 is lacking. To resolve this issue, we have investigated the critical behaviour in the vicinity of the paramagnetic-ferromagnetic phase transition using various techniques on polycrystalline as well as (001) oriented SrRuO3 films. Our analysis reveals that the application of a scaling law in the field-cooled magnetization data extracts the value of the critical exponent only when it is measured at H -> 0. To substantiate the actual nature without any ambiguity, the critical behavior is studied across the phase transition using the modified Arrott plot, Kouvel-Fisher plot and M-H isotherms. The critical analysis yields self-consistent beta, gamma and delta values and the spin interaction follows the long-range mean field model. Further the directional dependence of the critical exponent is studied in thin films and it reveals the isotropic nature. It is elucidated that the different experimental protocols followed by different groups are the reason for the ambiguity in determining the critical exponents in SrRuO3.

Stable p-type conductivity in B and N co-doped ZnO epitaxial thin film

We report on the observation of stable p-type conductivity in B and N co-doped epitaxial ZnO thin films grown by pulsed laser deposition. Films grown at higher oxygen partial pressure (similar to 10(-1) Torr) shows p-type conductivity with a carrier concentration of similar to 3 x 10(16) cm(-3). This p-type conductivity is associated with the significant decrease in defect emission peaks due to the vacancy oxygen (V-O) and Schottky type-I native defects compared to films grown at low oxygen partial pressure (similar to 10(-5) Torr). The p-type conductivity is explained with the help of density functional theory (DFT) calculation considering off-stoichiometric BN1+x in the ZnO lattice. (C) 2015 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim

Design Optimization of Thin-Film Transistors Based on a Metal-Substrate-Semiconductor Architecture for High DC Voltage Sensing

We discuss the potential application of high dc voltage sensing using thin-film transistors (TFTs) on flexible substrates. High voltage sensing has potential applications for power transmission instrumentation. For this, we consider a gate metal-substrate-semiconductor architecture for TFTs. In this architecture, the flexible substrate not only provides mechanical support but also plays the role of the gate dielectric of the TFT. Hence, the thickness of the substrate needs to be optimized for maximizing transconductance, minimizing mechanical stress, and minimizing gate leakage currents. We discuss this optimization, and develop n-type and p-type organic TFTs using polyvinyldene fluoride as the substrate-gate insulator. Circuits are also realized to achieve level shifting, amplification, and high drain voltage operation.