Controlled growth of Co nanofilms on Si(100) by ion-beam sputtering

The effect of process conditions on the properties of cobalt films grown on silicon by ion-beam sputtering is analyzed from the nucleation stage to film thicknesses corresponding to the properties of bulk material. The argon ion energy is shown to play a central role in determining the sputtering process. Sputtering a cobalt target with argon ions less than 0.8 keV in energy produces granular layers. The cobalt layers grown at argon ion energies above 1.2 keV are continuous even in the nucleation stage. The layers 1.2 to 2 nm in thickness have high resistivity and are comparable in magnetic properties to bulk material. The high-energy component of the total flux of cobalt atoms ejected from the target plays an important role in the initial stages of deposition, especially at argon ion energies from 1.2 to 2.2 keV. In the nucleation stage, the energy deposited by cobalt atoms in the silicon substrate facilitates the formation of a continuous layer in the initial stage of the process.     

Magnetic behavior of cobalt oxide films prepared by pulsed liquid injection chemical vapor deposition from a metal-organic precursor

Thin films of cobalt oxide were prepared by the pulsed liquid injection chemical vapor deposition technique from metal-organic precursor. By using a β-diketonate complex of cobalt, namely cobalt (II) acetylacetonate (Co(acac)₂) as the precursor, oxygen as the reactant and argon as the carrier gas, cobalt oxide films 100 nm in thick were deposited onto Si (100) substrates at 650 °C in about 40 min. According to the characterization by X-ray diffraction and atomic force microscopy, smooth and polycrystalline films, consisting exclusively of the Co₃O₄ phase, were deposited. Magnetic properties, such as saturation magnetization, the remanence, the coercivity, the squareness ratio and the switching field distribution, were extracted from the hysteresis loop. Cobalt oxide films with coercivities of 6.61 mT, squareness ratio of 0.2607 and saturation magnetization of 12.17 nA m², corresponding to a soft magnetic material, were achieved.     

Thickness dependence of the polar Kerr effect in thin ferromagnetic films

Using a general scattering matrix approach in the theoretical analysis the polar Kerr rotation is shown to have a marked dependence on sample thickness when the thickness is less than 60 nm. The polar Kerr rotation is calculated for thin films of iron and cobalt for normal incidence in the wavelength range 400–1400 nm for both unbloomed and bloomed specimens.     

Ferroelectric and piezoelectric behavior of (111)-oriented Pb(ZrxTi1−x)O3 thin films on cobalt ferrite nano-seed layered Pt(111)/Si substrate

Perfect (111)-oriented Pb(Zr_xTi_1?x)O₃ (PZT) thin films were grown on cobalt ferrite buffered Pt(111)/Ti/SiO₂/Si substrate by pulsed laser deposition method using various targets with different Zr/Ti ratios ranging from 30/70 to 70/30. The results of X-ray diffraction analyses indicated that the composition of morphotropic phase boundary in the present PZT films is same as the bulk PZT (Zr/Ti = 52/48). The effect of Zr/Ti ratio of the PZT films was investigated by the ferroelectric domain structure and the piezoelectric characteristics of the films by piezoresponse force microscopy, as well as polarization measurement. The results revealed that the present tetragonal PZT film has a higher ferroelectric domain switching than rhombohedral one and the film with composition of Zr/Ti = 52/48 showed relatively high value of squareness of P–E loop and E_c as well as high piezoresponse.     

Influence of irradiation on the switching behavior in PZT thin films

Spatially nonuniform imprint behavior induced by X-ray synchrotron, electron and neutron irradiation has been investigated in sol–gel Pb(Zr,Ti)O₃ thin films. The analysis of the switching current data reveals the strong influence of irradiation on the switching current shape. The obtained effects have been explained as a result of acceleration of the bulk screening process induced by irradiation. It was shown that the spatial distribution of the internal bias field is determined by the domain structure existing during irradiation. The changes in the structural characteristics during fatigue cycling have been reveled by high resolution synchrotron X-ray diffraction experiments on (1 1 1)-oriented PZT-based capacitors with a composition in the morphotropic region. From both ex situ and in situ measurements, microstructural changes with cyclic switching during fatigue have been evidenced and correlated with the evolution of the switching characteristics.     

透明硫化钴对电极在染料敏化太阳能电池中的应用

硫化钴纳米材料是一种重点研究的染料敏化太阳能电池对电极材料。本工作以氟掺杂二氧化锡导电玻璃为基片, 采用反向恒压电沉积法制备透明硫化钴薄膜。实验结果表明: 电镀溶液的pH是硫化钴薄膜表面形貌形成的关键性因素, 而电沉积圈数可以有效控制硫化钴薄膜的厚度。电化学测试结果表明: 硫化钴薄膜对电极展现出了良好的电催化活性, 尤其是在电镀溶液pH为7.2、电沉积圈数为12圈的最佳条件下制备的硫化钴对电极具有大量的纳米薄片状结构, 有利于增加电催化活性位点, 使得其展现出了比铂电极更加优异的电催化性能。由此电极组装的染料敏化太阳能电池的能量转换效率达到7.26%, 10个电池器件的平均效率为7.18%, 高于相应铂电极器件的电池效率(6.94%)。     

A method for calculating hysteresis loops of interacting single-domain particle systems in a nonmagnetic binder

A method is given for calculating the minor and full hysteresis loops of a system of uniaxial single-domain particles with a common direction of easiest magnetization. A probabilistic approach is used in formulating the problem by means of two differential equations which are solved for the simple case of an infinite particle chain. The method is based on a model in which each particle is characterized by a rectangular hysteresis loop with a specific saturation field Hs, and the loops are influenced by the (homogeneous) external magnetic fieldHas well by the magnetization-dependent interaction of the particles among themselves.     

退火温度对TiO2基电阻开关器件性能的影响

采用直流磁控溅射法在n+-Si上制备了TiO2薄膜,采用电子束蒸发镀膜仪在TiO2薄膜上沉积Au电极,获得了Au/TiO2/n+-Si结构的器件.研究了退火温度对薄膜结晶性能及器件电阻开关特性的影响.Au/TiO2/n+-Si结构的器件具有单极性电阻开关特性,置位(set)电压,复位(reset)电压、reset电流及功率的大小随退火温度的不同而不同,并基于灯丝理论对器件的电阻开关效应的工作机理进行了探讨.研究结果表明,500℃退火的器件具有良好的非易失性.器件高低阻态的阻值比大于103,其信息保持特性可达10年之久.在读写次数为100次时,器件仍具有电阻开关效应.     

陶瓷型铁电复合物厚片介电系数的电场依赖性

建立起高压介电测试装置和相应的数据处理方法。研究了PZT/P (VDF-T rFE) 和PT/P (VDF- rFE) 0-3型铁电复合物厚片介电系数的电场依赖性。对于陶瓷体积分数U> 0.3 的复合物, 介电系数随测试场强的升高明显增大。在U< 0.1 时, 可用M axw ell-Garnet t 方程拟合试验结果。B ruggeman 方程适合于低电场(< 1MV/m ) 下复合物介电系数的预测。通过L z 的变化, 用Yamada 模型可拟合复合物介电系数随电场变化的关系, 说明L z 是由复合物的组分维数、粒子形状以及粒子间静电相互作用所决定的参数。      

Rectifying switching characteristics of Pt/ZnO/Pt structure based resistive memory

40 nm thick amorphous ZnO thin films were deposited by radio frequency magnetron sputtering at room temperature and asymmetric electrical switching characteristics are observed in the macroscopic symmetric Pt/ZnO/Pt structure. The crystal structure was examined by X-ray diffraction (XRD). The chemical bonding states of ZnO resistive switching layer was investigated by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). Keithley 4200 semiconductor characterization system was used to measure the current-voltage (I-V) characteristics of the fabricated devices. The results reveal that a reversible resistive switching behavior between the high resistance state and the low resistance state with rectifying effects can be repeated for more than 100 dc cycles. This asymmetric electrical behavior is thought to be related to the naturally self-formed PtOx between ZnO film and the Pt bottom electrode, which introduces an energy barrier when electrons flow from top electrode towards the bottom electrode. The model of Pt/ZnO/Pt memory cell is expected to be able to alleviate the misreading error in cross-point array for high density integrations.     

Microstructure and magnetic properties of electrodeposited cobalt films

Cobalt films were electrodeposited onto both iron and copper substrates from an aqueous solution containing a mixture of cobalt sulfate, boric acid, sodium citrate, and vanadyl sulfate. The structural, intermetallic diffusion and magnetic properties of the electrodeposited films were studied. Cobalt electrodeposition was carried out in a passively divided cell aided by addition of vanadyl sulfate to keep the counter electrode clean. The divided electrolytic cell with very negative current densities cause the electrodeposited Co to adopt a face-centered cubic (fcc) structure, which is more magnetically reversible than the hexagonally close-packed (hcp) structured Co. The coercive field is also significantly less in the fcc-electrodeposited cobalt than in the hcp. SEM images show dense, uniform Co films without any cracks or porosity. Beside the deposition current, thickness of the film was also found to affect the crystal orientation particularly on iron substrates. Diffusion of cobalt film into the iron substrate was studied under reduced environment and a fast process was observed.     

On the growth mechanism of nickel and cobalt nanowires and comparison of their magnetic properties

Magnetic nanowires (NWs) are ideal materials for the fabrication of various multifunctional nanostructures which can be manipulated by an external magnetic field. Highly crystalline and textured nanowires of nickel (Ni NWs) and cobalt (Co NWs) with high aspect ratio (∼330) and high coercivity have been synthesized by electrodeposition using nickel sulphate hexahydrate (NiSO₄·6H₂O) and cobalt sulphate heptahydrate (CoSO₄·7H₂O) respectively on nanoporous alumina membranes. They exhibit a preferential growth along 〈110〉. A general mobility assisted growth mechanism for the formation of Ni and Co NWs is proposed. The role of the hydration layer on the resulting one-dimensional geometry in the case of potentiostatic electrodeposition is verified. A very high interwire interaction resulting from magnetostatic dipolar interactions between the nanowires is observed. An unusual low-temperature magnetisation switching for field parallel to the wire axis is evident from the peculiar high field M(T) curve.      

Resistive switching behavior of (Zn1−xMgx)O films prepared by sol-gel processes

Highly c-axis oriented sol-gel (Zn_1 − xMg_x)O films were deposited on Pt/Ti/SiO2/Si substrates. Resistive switching behaviors with stable switching and high resistance ratio were demonstrated for the Pt/(Zn_0.9Mg_0.1)O/Pt stacks. The effect of the film thickness and the annealing temperature on resistive switching was discussed. Higher substitution of Mg for Zn results in higher resistance of (Zn_1 − xMg_x)O films, which is beneficial for resistive switching to occur at thinner film thickness. The mechanisms dominating the low and the high resistance states are Ohmic conduction and Poole-Frenkel emission, respectively. The resistance ratio varies from 140 to 1000, which is much higher than the value 25 reported recently for sol-gel (Zn_0.8Mg_0.2)O films. Films annealed at higher annealing temperatures possess higher resistance ratio.     

Magnetization configurations and magnetization reversal of thin submicron permalloy ellipses with structural defects

We have studied the magnetic switching behavior of thin elliptical permalloy films with structural defects by micromagnetic simulations. The nonmagnetic void was found to tend to pin the adjacent magnetic moment, which alters the local equilibrium magnetization patterns and modifies the switching behavior of magnetization. In particular, for the case of voids close to the edge, the curling effect of voids is significant, and induces the occurrence of the multiple-stage modes of magnetization reversal, resulting in a high switching field.     

Microfluidic T-form mixer utilizing switching electroosmotic flow

This paper presents a microfluidic T-form mixer utilizing alternatively switching electroosmotic flow. The microfluidic device is fabricated on low-cost glass slides using a simple and reliable fabrication process. A switching DC field is used to generate an electroosmotic force which simultaneously drives and mixes the fluid samples. The proposed design eliminates the requirements for moving parts within the microfluidic device and delicate external control systems. Two operation modes, namely, a conventional switching mode and a novel pinched switching mode, are presented. Computer simulation is employed to predict the mixing performance attainable in both operation modes. The simulation results are then compared to those obtained experimentally. It is shown that a mixing performance as high as 97% can be achieved within a mixing distance of 1 mm downstream from the T-junction when a 60 V/cm driving voltage and a 2-Hz switching frequency are applied in the pinched switching operation mode. This study demonstrates how the driving voltage and switching frequency can be optimized to yield an enhanced mixing performance. The novel methods presented in this study provide a simple solution to mixing problems in the micro-total-analysis-systems field.     

Defect-Enhanced Polarization Switching in the Improper Ferroelectric LuFeO3

Results of switching behavior of the improper ferroelectric LuFeO₃ are presented. Using a model set of films prepared under controlled chemical and growth-rate conditions, it is shown that defects can reduce the quasi-static switching voltage by up to 40% in qualitative agreement with first-principles calculations. Switching studies show that the coercive field has a stronger frequency dispersion for the improper ferroelectrics compared to a proper ferroelectric such as PbTiO₃. It is concluded that the primary structural order parameter controls the switching dynamics of such improper ferroelectrics.     

Double switching hysteresis loop in a single layer Fe3Pt alloy thin films

The Fe₃Pt alloy thin films were epitaxially grown on MgO(100) substrate by e-beam evaporation. The films were partially ordered at the substrate deposition temperature above 350 °C. These partially ordered films exhibit very large biaxial magnetic anisotropy constant in the order of 10⁵ J/m³ and produce double switching in the hysteresis loops. The difference of the switching field of these films can be up to about 3 × 10⁵ A/m by tuning the angle of the applied field with respect to the easy axes. This double switching behavior stems from the large biaxial magnetic anisotropy of the films.     

Structural and magnetic properties of Co-Ga co-doped ZnO thin films fabricated by pulsed laser deposition

Co-Ga co-doped ZnO films were fabricated by pulsed laser deposition on quartz substrates. The obtained films exhibited a wurtzite structure with c-axes growth preference. Optical measurements showed the presence of the cobalt ions in a tetrahedral crystal field, which proved that the Co ion substitution in the ZnO lattice, acting as magnetic cation. Hall measurements indicated that the films were n-type conductive with the electron concentrations of ~ 10²⁰/cm³. This value was much higher than that of the Co-doped films, suggesting the effective incorporation of Ga in the films. Room temperature ferromagnetism was observed for the Ga-Co co-doped thin films.     

Retrieval of some parameters of an amorphous chalcogenide semiconductor from the temperature and field dependences of its conductivity

We study the conductivity of amorphous chalcogenide films used in phase-change-memory (PCM) devices which are based on the effect of reversible switching of a semiconductor from the high-(amorphous) to the low-resistivity (crystalline) state under the external electrical actions. Temperature and electric-field dependences are studied for the high fields E ≥ 10⁵ V/cm. It is shown that in this domain, the conductivity is mainly contributed by the field emission of nonequilibrium carriers (holes) from deep levels near the Fermi energy. Based on the developed model, we calculate such parameters as the density of the emission centers and the mean free path of nonequilibrium holes at room temperature. The results of calculations are compared with data obtained by other methods. It is shown that the adopted model adequately describes the basic experimental dependences.