The interaction of the near IR femtosecond laser pulses with photochromic glass sample is investigated. Two different types of microstructures due to the optical properties modification of the sample are observed at the irradiated regions with single laser pulses. Laser fluence and shot number dependency of the structures are investigated. The optical transmission of irradiated areas is analyzed spectroscopically.

Electrodes and the nature of their contact with organic materials play a crucial role in the realization of efficient optoelectronic components. Whether the injection (organic light-emitting diodes – OLEDs) or collection (organic photovoltaic cells – OPV cells) of carriers, contacts must be as efficient as possible. To do this, it is customary to refer to electrode surface treatment and/or using a buffer layer all things to optimize the contact. Efficiency of organic photovoltaic cells based on organic electron donor/organic electron acceptor junctions can be strongly improved when the transparent conductive anode is coated with a buffer layer (ABL). We show that an ultra-thin gold (0.5 nm) or a thin molybdenum oxide (3–5 nm) can be used as efficient ABL. However, the effects of these ABL depend on the highest occupied molecular orbital (HOMO) of different electron donors of the OPV cells. The results indicate that, in the case of metal ABL, a good matching between the work function of the anode and the highest occupied molecular orbital of the donor material is the major factor limiting the hole transfer efficiency. Indeed, gold is efficient as ABL only when the HOMO of the organic donor is close to its work function ФAu. MoO3 has a wider field of application as ABL than gold. The role of the oxide is not so clearly understood than that of Au, different models proposed to interpret the experimental results are discussed.

The proposed method allows the detection and the measurement, in the sense of metrology, of smooth elongated curvilinear shapes. Such measurements are required in many fields of physics, for example: mechanical engineering, biology or medicine (deflection of beams, fibers or filaments), fluid mechanics or chemistry (detection of fronts). Contrary to actual methods, the result is given in an analytical form of class C∞ (and not a finite set of locations or pixels) thus curvatures and slopes, often of great interest in science, are given with good confidence. The proposed Virtual Image Correlation (VIC) method uses a virtual beam, an image which consists in a lateral expansion of the curve with a bell-shaped gray level. This figure is deformed until it fits the best the physical image with a method issued from the Digital Image Correlation method in use in solid mechanics. The precision of the identification is studied in a benchmark and successfully compared to two state-of-the-art methods. Three practical examples are given: a bar bending under its own weight, a thin fiber transported by a flow within a fracture and a thermal front. The first allows a comparison with theoretical solution, the second shows the ability of the method to deal with complex shapes and crossings and the third deals with ill-defined image.

In a trend for sustainable engineering and functionalization of surfaces, we explore the possibilities of gas phase processes to deposit nanocomposite films. From an analysis of pulsed plasma polymerization of maleic anhydride in the presence of nanocellulose whiskers, it seems that thin nanocomposite films can be deposited with various patterns. By specifically modifying plasma parameters such as total power, duty cycle, and monomer gas pressure, the nanocellulose whiskers are either incorporated into a buckled polymer film or single nanocellulose whiskers are deposited on top of a polymeric film. The density of the latter can be controlled by modifying the exact positioning of the substrate in the reactor. The resulting morphologies are evaluated by optical microscopy, AFM, contact angle measurements and ellipsometry.

This article describes a new principle of transduction involving an heterojunction between a Molecular Semiconductor and a Doped Insulator (MSDI). Herein, we report on an MSDI-based sensor featuring an heterojunction between a lutetium bisphthalocyanine (LuPc2), which acts as Molecular Semiconductor (MS) and a thin film of Doped Insulator (DI) made of substituted or fluorinated copper phthalocyanine (CuFnPc, where n = 0, 8, 16). Previously, we reported the peculiar effect of the heterojunction on the MSDI’s electronic behavior, suggesting this device as a new kind of transducer for gas chemosensing. Indeed, of particular significance was the key role of modulator played by the nature of the doped insulator sub-layer. While the MS thin film remains the only layer of the sensor exposed to gas atmosphere, the DI’s ability to tune the electronic characteristics of the organic heterojunction allows it to drastically affect the nature of the effective charge carriers. In particular, an increase in fluorination of the doped insulator can cause an inversion of the LuPc2 response toward electron accepting (ozone, ppb level) or donating (ammonia, ppm level) gases. The present work focuses on the structural, electronic and electrical properties of the MSDI heterojunction, which have been studied by UV-vis spectroscopy, atomic force microscopy, current-voltage measurements and chemical doping, in order to shed some light on this phenomenon. The unique ambipolar nature of LuPc2 is suggested to be the main property responsible for the MSDI’s unique behavior.

This research work involves the plasma treatment of polyethylene terephthalate fiber to improve performance of various ionic lubricating agents. To do this, polyester fabric was pre-scoured with detergent, treated with atmospheric-air plasma and then coated with anionic, cationic and nonionic emulsions. Chemical and physical properties of samples were investigated by the use of Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), bending lengths (BL), wrinkle recovery angles (WRA), fiber friction coefficient analysis (FFCA), moisture absorbency (MA), scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and reflectance spectroscopy (RS). Study on chemical properties of fibers revealed that the plasma pretreatment modifies the surface of fibers and increases the reactivity of substrate toward various ionic emulsions. Physical properties of textiles indicated that the combination of plasma and emulsion treatments on polyester can improve crease resistant, drapeability and water repellency due to uniform coating of various emulsions on surface of textiles.

In this work, we have investigated the influence of the magnetic field configuration during magnetron sputtering of WO3 in order to establish the ion flux-film structure relationship. An asymmetric bipolar pulsed DC magnetron sputtering (PDMS) was used with two magnetic field configurations: balanced (BM) and unbalanced (UMB) magnetic configurations. Ion Energy Distribution Functions (IEDFs) of the main ion populations (Ar+, O+) were recorded. The IEDFs are broad with, in addition of the thermalized distribution around 2 eV, two peaks with available ion kinetic energy up to 40–100 eV associated with the positive part of the pulse. Comparing the BM and UBM data, we calculated an increase by a factor of 5 of the ionic current while the average energy per ion was kept constant (~44 eV). X-ray diffraction demonstrates the influence of the magnetic configuration on the coating phase constitution. The films are crystallized in the WO3 monoclinic phase with preferential orientations along the c axis using the BM configuration and along the a axis using the UBM one’s. On the other hand, it has been demonstrated that the grain size increases with the thickness using the BM configuration (up to 18 nm) while it remains constant using the UBM one’s (~7 nm).

We report on the effects of continuous UV-visible light illumination at 60 °C in the absence of oxygen on P3HT:PCBM blend films commonly used active layer of bulk heterojunction solar cells. A full description of the behavior of P3HT:PCBM blend films either unconfined or confined by an Al cathode and a PEDOT:PSS layer during annealing treatment and irradiation is provided. We also focused on the impact of the P3HT type on the photostability. It was shown that the microstructure of P3HT dramatically influenced the photodegradation process of P3HT thin films deposited on inert substrate. The rate of photodegradation process was decreased when P3HT was blended with PCBM. It was shown that the photostability of the active layer was not influenced by a PEDOT-PSS sub-layer. Solar cells were then fabricated from high-regioregular P3HT. Many large PCBM crystals were observed in P3HT:PCBM blend films and it was shown that the top surface of the active layer in contact with the Al cathode was nearly entirely composed of P3HT. Both results account for the low performances of the devices. Finally, photo-aging experiments provoked a rapid failure of the Al cathodes which was tentatively attributed to an increase of internal strain within the devices.

Organic metal-semiconductor field-effect transistors (OMESFETs) were fabricated with a polycrystalline organic semiconductor (pentacene) and characterized in order to systematically analyze their operation mechanism. Impedance measurements confirmed full depletion of the thick pentacene film (1 μm) due to the low doping concentration of unintentional doping (typically less than 1014 cm−3). The necessity of developing a specific device model for OMESFET is emphasized as the classical (inorganic) MESFET theory based on the depletion modulation is not applicable to a fully-depleted organic semiconductor. By means of joint electrical measurements and numerical simulation, it is pointed out that the gate voltage controls the bulk distribution of injected carriers, so that the competition between the gate and drain currents is critical for determining the operation mode. Finally, the geometrical effect is investigated with comparing a number of transistors with various channel widths and lengths.

The oxide semiconductor compounds such as SnO2, In2O3, ITO, ZnO and others brought about a new attention for the metal-insulator-semiconductor structures as photovoltaic converters because of the high values of transmission and conductivity and the possibility of metal replacement in above-mentioned structures. The characteristics of the solar cells based on these oxide semiconductor compounds can be improved with conductivity increasing of the transparent semiconductor films and that is why the purpose of this paper is obtaining of F-doped tin oxide thin films, preparation of SnO2:F-Si solar cells and studying of their properties. The F-doped tin oxide thin films were prepared by spray pyrolysis technique [1–8]. This method was chosen because of the simplicity of the apparatus and relatively low cost. Aqueous solutions containing 0.1 M (TT, BTT or DTD) and 0.07 M NH4F (in the case of doping with F) have been sprayed by an atomizer on Si or glass substrates, heated up to 420 °C by maintaining the spray liquid volume, the spray time and the pressure of the carrier gas. Spray pyrolysis deposition of transparent and conductive SnO2 is a low-cost and very flexible technique applicable to solar cells. For SnO2, the drawback is that polycrystalline films are only obtained at relatively high deposition temperatures, largely above 450 °C. This constraint may cause damage to the photovoltaic junction. In the present work, it will be demonstrated that the photovoltaic parameters can be influenced by adding small amounts of hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) to the source solution.

Plasma polymerized tetraethoxysilane (ppTEOS) thin films deposited on quartz crystal microbalance (QCM) electrode were used as sensitive layer for the detection of a number of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) such as methanol, ethanol, acetone and chloroform molecules. Their sensing properties were examined by measuring the resonance frequency shifts (∆f) of QCM which are due to additional mass loading. The results showed that ∆f of QCM were found to be linearly correlated with different vapor pressure of analyte. The sensor showed good reproducibility and reversibility. The ppTEOS film is found to be highly sensitive to methanol vapor than other vapors. Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) analysis showed the presence of CHx peaks around 2962 cm−1 making the elaborated layer more porous and low dense, resulting in the promotion of VOC vapor diffusion into the film.

The effect of OTS (octadecyltrichlorosilane) Self-Assembled Monolayer (SAM) grafted on SiO2 gate dielectric of pentacene-based OFETs (organic field-effect transistors) is investigated. A significant improvement of the charge mobility (μ), up to 0.74 cm2/V s, is reached thanks to OTS treatment. However, in spite of improved performances, several drawbacks, such as an increase in mobility dispersion, substantial hysteresis in IDS-VG characteristics and high threshold voltages (VT), are observed. Changing solvent and deposition method turns out to have no significant effect on the mobility dispersion. A more accurate approach on the evolution of the mobility and the threshold voltage dispersion with OTS storage time highlights the effect of the OTS solution aging. Even if no difference is evidenced in the surface energy and roughness of the OTS layer, electrical characteristics exhibit considerable deterioration with OTS solution storage time. Using an “aged” OTS solution, opened under air, kept under argon and distilled before use, results in an increase of the IDS-VG hysteresis as well as in VT and in mobility dispersion. In comparison, fresh-OTS-based OFETs present a very low hysteresis, a threshold voltage close to 0 and a much lower mobility dispersion. It is demonstrated that aged OTS solutions contain impurities that are not removed by distillation process, which leads to a less densely packed layer causing interfacial charge traps thus deteriorated performances.

Ramsey fringes observed in an atomic fountain are formed by the superposition of the individual atomic signals. Due to the atomic beam residual temperature, the atoms have slightly different trajectories and thus are exposed to a different average magnetic field, and a velocity-dependent Ramsey interaction time. As a consequence, both the velocity distribution and magnetic field profile are imprinted in the Ramsey fringes observed on Zeeman sensitive microwave transitions. In this work, we perform a Fourier analysis of the measured Ramsey signals to retrieve both the time-averaged magnetic field associated with different trajectories and the velocity distribution of the atomic beam. We use this information to reconstruct Ramsey fringes and establish an analytical expression for the value of the microwave frequency for which individual Ramsey fringes add most constructively and are thus visible in the microwave spectrum.

Small plasma spheroids are evidenced and analyzed in front of the electrodes of a capacitively-coupled radio-frequency discharge in which dust particles are growing. These regions are characterized by a spherical shape, a slightly enhanced luminosity and are related to instabilities induced by the presence of dust particles. Several types of behaviors are identified and particularly their chaotic appearance or disappearance and their rotational motion along the electrode periphery. Correlations with the unstable behavior of the global plasma glow are performed. These analyses are obtained thanks to high-speed imaging which is the only diagnostics able to evidence these plasma spheroids.

Methods to induce non-thermal atmospheric pressure plasma filaments are presented with related properties for micro, streamer and prevented spark discharges, respectively, induced in planar Dielectric Barrier Discharges with one electrode covered by dielectric material (mono-DBD) or point-to-plane Corona. Two mechanisms of nano-particles formation are depicted from aerosol size distributions and TEM analysis. 0.1–10 mJ prevented spark discharges produce 10–100 nm droplets ejected from melted craters as well as nucleated primary particles and subsequent 10–100 nm agglomerates, by nucleation and coagulation in expanding vapor jets. With smaller energy per filament, 0.1–10 μJ micro-discharges and 0.1–100 μJ streamers, the initial local vapor fluxes emitted from spots of interaction between plasma filaments and electrodes are reduced. Subsequent smaller primary particle density limits the local coagulation in the vapor plume since 2–10 nm non-agglomerated crystalline metal nano-particles are produced in mono-DBD with Au, Ag and Cu electrode. Besides, the evolution of the aerosol size from primary nano-particles to agglomerates with transit time suggests slow coagulation of these primary metal particles in mono-DBD. Aerosol properties depend on the energy per filament and on the electrode. The final size is controlled by plasma parameters and transit time in and after the plasma. The aim is to underline emerging applications of atmospheric pressure plasmas for the production of tailored particles with tunable size, composition and structure with non-thermal plasma filaments to control the resulting properties of nano-powders and materials. Production rates and related energetic yields are compared.

The expansion of a plume generated during laser ablation is studied with the Direct Simulation Monte Carlo method. The plume is a mixture of four disparate molecular mass components and expands in vacuum or into ambient gas. The time dependence of deposition rate is studied and the transition from an initial vacuum-like to a diffusion-like regime of expansion in ambient gas is shown. The lack of stoichiometry increases with the ratio of molecular masses of ablated particles and at disparate masses the stoichiometry is seriously affected. Ambient gas worsens the stoichiometry unless it supplies particles compensating the backward and sideward flows of plume constituents.

The nanostructure of the active layer in polymer/fullerene bulk heterojunction solar cells is known to have a strong impact on the device performances. Controlling the polymer/fullerene blend morphology is therefore particularly important. In this work, a rod-coil block copolymer, based on a regioregular poly(3-hexylthiophene) electron-donor rod block and a C60-grafted coil block, is used as compatibilizer and its influences on the thin film morphology as well as the photovoltaic performances are investigated. It is shown that a small fraction of compatibilizer can enhance the device performances in an otherwise non-optimized process. At higher fractions or long annealing times however, the fullerene-grafted copolymer is found to behave as a nucleation center and triggers the formation of fullerene crystals.

We report the design and operation of a differential scanning calorimeter (DSC) for use with either solid or liquid samples with a volume down to a few microliters. The calorimeter is based on lithium tantalite pyroelectric bulk material used to perceive the energy involved in any phase transformation process. The device consists of a pyroelectric substrate, a thermoelectric cooler and a heat dissipation system. Its effectiveness is demonstrated by scanning the freezing and melting phase shifts of water droplets, ranging from 1 to 2 μl. The latent heat of fusion and solidification were measured to within 3% of the bulk value.

In this paper we report a detailed study of emission dynamics of an organic solid-state laser structure so-called VECSOL standing for Vertical External-Cavity Surface-emitting Organic Laser recently developed in our group. An optical-optical efficiency of 43% and 6.3% was reported for a 4-mm-long cavity incorporating 18-μm-thick film of Poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) doped with 1 wt.% of Rhodamine 640 when pumped with 7-ns-long and 0.5-ns-long pulses respectively. In order to understand the difference seen in lasing efficiency as a function of different parameters such as cavity length or pump pulse duration, Tang-Statz-deMars cavity rate equations are used to model the emission behavior in a pulsed regime. Based on this model, conversion efficiency could be optimized practically to values as high as 57%. Furthermore, some characteristics of this laser architecture such as lasing lifetime (up to 140 000 pulses at two times above lasing threshold), wavelength tuning (over 40 nm) and the system power scalability with potential operation up to mJ level are investigated.

Two different atmospheric pressure microplasma systems are discussed and used for the synthesis and surface engineering of a range of nanomaterials. Specifically a gas-phase approach from vaporized tetramethylsilane has been used to synthesize silicon carbide nanoparticles with diameters below 10 nm. A different microplasma system that interfaces with a liquid solution has then been used for the synthesis of surfactant-free electrically stabilized gold nanoparticles with varying size. A similar microplasma-liquid system has been finally successfully used to tailor surface properties of silicon nanoparticles and to reduce graphene oxide into graphene. The synthesis and surface engineering mechanisms are also discussed.