BaSO4 nanotubes were biomimetically synthesized by the combined assembly of eggshell membrane and C12H25SH. The products were tubular structure with the external diameter of 90–140 nm and the length of 1.5–2.5 μm. The formation mechanism was also investigated. It provided a novel method for the fabrication of inorganic oxysalt nanotubes.

Tubular and capsular needlelike crystals of C60 with a few hundreds nanometers to about one micrometer in diameter were discovered among the precipitates prepared by the liquid–liquid interfacial precipitation method. Addition of a small amount of (η2–C60)Pt(PPh3)2 to the toluene solution of C60 produced various morphologies of hollow C60 crystals. This paper gives the first report on the formation of structures we named “C60 nanotubes.”

Well-aligned ZnO nanorods arrays were fabricated by sintering powder Zn underneath a Si–SiO2 substrate. In this fabrication, ZnO was produced by the displacement reactions between Zn and SiO vapors. We found that these ZnO nanorods grew toward the [0001] direction. The diameter and the alignment of these nanorods strongly depended on the sintering temperature. When the temperature was increased from 740 to 800 °C, the diameter of the rods was increased from 30–70 nm to 300–700 nm, and their alignment was also improved. A model is proposed to describe the formation of these nanorods.

Organic solar cell research has developed during the past 30 years, but especially in the last decade it has attracted scientific and economic interest triggered by a rapid increase in power conversion efficiencies. This was achieved by the introduction of new materials, improved materials engineering, and more sophisticated device structures. Today, solar power conversion efficiencies in excess of 3% have been accomplished with several device concepts. Though efficiencies of these thin-film organicdevices have not yet reached those of their inorganic counterparts (η ≈ 10–20%); the perspective of cheap production (employing, e.g., roll-to-roll processes) drives the development of organic photovoltaic devices further in a dynamic way. The two competitive production techniques used today are either wet solution processing or dry thermal evaporation of the organic constituents. The field of organic solar cells profited well from the development of light-emitting diodes based on similar technologies, which have entered the market recently. We review here the current status of the field of organic solar cells and discuss different production technologies as well as study the important parameters to improve their performance.

Results are presented from a systematic investigation to design and optimize a low-pressure chemical vapor deposition (CVD) process for manganese-doped zinc sulfide (ZnS:Mn) thin films for electroluminescent (EL) device applications. The CVD process used diethylzinc (DEZ), di-π-cyclopentadienyl manganese (CPMn), and hydrogen sulfide (H2S) as co-reactants and hydrogen (H2) as carrier gas. A design of experiments approach was used to derive functionality curves for the dependence of ZnS:Mn film properties on substrate temperature and flow rates (partial pressures) of DEZ, CPMn, H2S, and H2. Film physical, chemical, structural, and optical properties were examined using Rutherford backscattering spectrometry, dynamic secondary ion mass spectroscopy, x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, nuclear-reaction analysis, x-ray diffraction, transmission electron microscopy, atomic force microscopy, and scanning electron microscopy. EL measurements were carried out on ZnS:Mn-based dielectric–sulfur–dielectric stacks incorporated into alternating-current thin-film electroluminescent devices. An optimized process window was established for the formation of films with predominantly (0 0 2) orientation, grain size larger than 0.2 μm, and Mn dopant level approximately 0.5 at.%. A brightness of 407 cd/m2 (119 fL) and efficiency of 1.6 lm/W were obtained, as measured at 40 V above threshold voltage and 60 Hz frequency.

By studying reactions between Au foils and Sn(Cu) alloys, we found that the Au consumption rate depended on the Cu-content of the Sn(Cu) solders. The higher Cu-content alloys had faster Au consumption rates. When the Au foil was pre-coated with a Ni layer and then reacted with Sn(Cu) alloys having a Cu-content of morethen 1.5 wt%, a stable ternary (Cu,Ni)6Sn5 compound layer was observed on theAu foil. This ternary compound layer then served as a barrier layer that effectively prevented the Au foil from reacting with the molten solder. This result enabled the implementation of a flip-chip assembly process for the fabrication of optoelectronic devices.

This review surveys the phenomenon of plastic instabilities occurring in depth-sensing indentation measurements. Investigations presented focus on the characterization of Portevin–Le Châtelier type instabilities observed in different metal alloys during indentation. The effect of some important factors such as solute concentration, the formation of Guinier–Preston zones, and grain size and orientation are described and discussed. The phenomenon of plastic instabilities as serrated flow recently observed in bulk metallic glasses is also briefly reviewed.

Multilayer films of pure ZrO2 and CeO2 were grown using molecular beam epitaxy on a yttria-stabilized zirconia (YSZ) substrate. Distinctive forbidden diffraction spots of (odd, odd, even) type were observed on the selected-area electron-diffraction patterns of the film. Dark-field imaging clearly revealed that these forbidden diffraction spots were solely due to the ZrO2 layers. Comparison of the electron diffraction pattern with that simulated by dynamical calculations suggest that the pure ZrO2 layers possess a cubic structure of space with the group P4 3m oxygen sublattice being displaced diagonally, rather than along the c axis as suggested for YSZ. Our results further suggest that the displacement of the oxygen from the ideal (¼, ¼, ¼) position might have been introduced during the film growth process.

The development of instrumented nanoindentation equipment has occurred concurrently with the discovery of many new families of bulk metallic glass during the past decade. While indentation testing has long been used to assess the mechanical properties of metallic glasses, depth-sensing capabilities offer a new approach to study the fundamental physics behind glass deformation. This article is a succinct review of the research to date on the indentation of metallic glasses. In addition to standard hardness measurements, the onset of plasticity in metallic glasses is reviewed as well as the role of shear banding in indentation, structural changes beneath the indenter, and rate-dependent effects measured by nanoindentation. The article concludes with perspectives about the future directions for nanocontact studies on metallic glasses.

Zirconia nanocrystals were prepared by hydrothermal reaction of 0.05 M zirconyl nitrate and zirconyl acetate solutions at supercritical conditions of 400 °C and30 MPa for 1.8 s reaction time. Characterization of products were performed byx-ray diffraction, transmission electron microscopy, and Brunauer–Emmett–Teller measurements. The product particles were compared with zirconia particles prepared by conventional hydrothermal synthesis routes and precipitation-calcination. From the results, zirconia powders prepared in supercritical water had higher crystallinity than those obtained by other methods. Product particles with tetragonal crystal structure with a mean diameter of 6.8 nm could be formed from 0.05 M zirconyl acetate solution in the presence of 0.1 M potassium hydroxide at supercritical conditions.

A series of Nb-rich Zr/Nb and Ti/Nb multilayers were sputter deposited. Upon a reduction in thickness, a pseudomorphic bcc phase was stabilized in the Zr and Ti layers. X-ray and electron diffraction techniques were used to confirm these phase transformations. The change in phase stability was modeled by the competition between volumetric and interfacial components of the total free energy of a unit bilayer representing the multilayer. An outcome of this model is the ability to plot phase stability diagrams for multilayers, referred to as biphase diagrams, as a function of bilayer thickness and volume fraction. A comparison of the phase stability boundary between hcp/bcc and bcc/bcc for these two systems has shown that the bcc Ti’s pseudomorphic phase stabilization is maintained for a much larger layer thickness as compared to Zr. Atom probe compositional profiles of the Ti/Nb multilayers have indicated that the Nb layers interdiffused into the Ti layers thus helping to facilitate the bcc Ti phase stability in the Ti/Nb multilayers.

InN nanowires were synthesized and characterized using a variety of techniques. A two-zone chemical vapor deposition technique was used to operate the vapor generation and the nanowire growth at differential temperatures, leading to high-quality single-crystalline nanowires and growth rates as high as 4–10 μm/h. Precise diameter control was achieved by using monodispersed gold clusters as the catalyst. Photoluminescence and Raman studies have been carried out for the InN nanowires at room temperature. Devices consisting of single nanowires have been fabricated to explore their electronic transport properties. The temperature dependence of the conductance revealed thermal emission as the dominating transport mechanism.

Fe–Cr–Mo–(Y,Ln)–C–B bulk metallic glasses (Ln are lanthanides) with maximum diameter thicknesses reaching 12 mm have been obtained by casting. The high glass formability is attained despite a low reduced glass transition temperature of 0.58. The inclusion of Y/Ln is motivated by the idea that elements with large atomic sizes can destabilize the competing crystalline phase, enabling the amorphous phase to be formed. It is found that the role of Y/Ln as a fluxing agent is relatively small in terms of glass formability enhancement. The obtained bulk metallic glasses are non-ferromagnetic and exhibit high elastic moduli of approximately 180–200 GPa and microhardness of approximately 13 GPa.

The zeolite LTA (Linde type A) framework is composed of an equal amount of silica and alumina arranged in a three-dimension tetrahedral structure. This high alumina content zeolite possesses a strong negative surface charge in a basic solution due to the substitution of aluminum atoms into a SiO4 tetrahedral structure making it difficult to form a continuous layer in solution. Synthesis parameters such as synthesis duration, chemical composition, and synthesis temperature were varied. The crystallization kinetics was carried out using the particle size measurement, percent crystallinity from x-ray diffraction analysis, infrared absorption of tetrahedra using attenuated total reflectance Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, and the exponential growth model. The results showed that the zeolite A crystallization in a solution depends on the chemical kinetics of the zeolite formation, surface charge of the substrate, and the mass transfer in the solution.

Metal contacts using doped self-aligning metallization to [100] and [111] p-type silicon were investigated. Contacts formed in this manner allow the formation of a pn-junction and provide front metallization for photovoltaic applications. Formulated screen-printable thick films were annealed above Ag/Si eutectic temperature of 830 °C. The annealing process resulted in a junction depth of 0.3–1.1 μm with improved Ag/Si metal contacts due to the reduction of parasitic native oxide layer via the use of a wetting agent. The technique inhibits shunts (high conductivity paths through the solar cell pn-junction caused by excessive metal penetration) due to limited solubility of Ag in Si. The technique also reduces series resistance (a parasitic resistance due to surface states that also limit solar cell performance) due to a robust thermal processing window. The use of magnesium (Mg) as a wetting agent in the thick film Ag matrix was explored. We observed a correlation between increased wetting and improved dark saturation current J02 in the absence of a pre-existing junction.

First, a grating decay rate and a thermal diffusion rate of the transient gratings are determined out of the energy-time trace observed by using a transient grating technique with 266-nm laser pulse inducing transient gratings in a LaCoO3 thin film. Second, the grating models aimed at studying two different thermal diffusion phenomena in contrast with the previous paper are described. The difference between both phenomena is attributable to the volume of photon scattering to characterize induced transient gratings. It is concluded that a reliable energy-time trace is observed when the transient gratings with a thickness smaller than a film are induced on the very surface of a thin film sample.

Microscale polymeric structures with intricate three-dimensional (3D) shapes and nanoscale features were synthesized by using silica-based microshells of diatoms (unicellular algae) as transient scaffolds. Diatom microshells were immersed in dilute solutions of polymer precursors in volatile solvents. After extraction and solvent evaporation, the resulting thin films on the microshells were cross-linked to form rigid polymer coatings. Selective silica dissolution then yielded freestanding polymeric structures that retained the microshell shapes and fine features. By utilizing bioscaffolds capable of genetically precise and massively parallel replication, enormous numbers of polymeric micro/nanostructures with identical 3D shapes may be generated for various applications.

The observation and finite element simulation of Ti–6Al–4V loaded by a spherical indenter were compared. The contact radius at the maximum load was 40% of the indenter radius, which resulted in a high degree of plasticity induced beneath the indenter. The spherical impression profile predicted by the simulation was in agreement with that of the observation. The local curvature of the spherical impression was shown to vary with radial distance. The overall curvature change with radial distance was more distinctive in the presence of static friction. Due to the large plastic zone in the material, neither the Field–Swain nor the Oliver–Pharr method was able to predict the elastic recovery depths in the center of indentation and at the perimeter of contact. The ratio of the two depths predicted by the latter method, however, may be used to verify the applicability of the method itself in determining the elastic modulus of a ductile material.

A facile, surfactant-assisted, hydrothermal approach has been developed to synthesize lanthanide phosphate single-crystalline nanowires/nanorods with smooth surface, uniform diameter, and good crystallinity. The surfactant Pluronic P123 was found to play a crucial role on the uniform morphology of lanthanide phosphate single-crystalline nanowires/nanorods. Photoluminescence spectra of the lanthanide phosphate single-crystalline nanowires/nanorods show that these nanowires/nanorods have strong photoluminescent emissions in the ultraviolet-visible and near-infrared regions. The present work is a preliminary and significant step toward the potential luminescent and catalytic applications of lanthanide compound based one-dimensional nanostructures.

The organic thin-film transistor (OTFT) is now a mature device that has developed tremendously during the last twenty years. The aim of this paper is to update previous reviews on that matter that have been published in the past. The operating mode of OTFTs is analyzed in view of recent model development. This mainly concerns the distribution of charges in the conducting channel and problems connected with contact resistance. We also delineate what differentiates n- and p-type semiconductors, and show how this concept differs from what it covers in conventional semiconductors. In the chapter devoted to fabrication techniques, emphasis is placed on solution-based techniques and particularly printing processes. Similarly, soluble materials are given a prominent place in the section dedicated to the performance of devices. Finally, special attention is given to devices at the nanoscale level, which demonstrate a new route toward molecular electronics.