Characterization of nanocrystalline cadmium telluride thin films grown by successive ionic layer adsorption and reaction (SILAR) method

Structural, electrical and optical characteristics of CdTe thin films prepared by a chemical deposition method, successive ionic layer adsorption and reaction (SILAR), are described. For deposition of CdTe thin films, cadmium acetate was used as cationic and sodium tellurite as anionic precursor in aqueous medium. In this process hydrazine hydrate is used as reducing agent and NH₄OH as the catalytic for the decomposition of hydrazine. By conducting several trials optimization of the adsorption, reaction and rinsing time duration for CdTe thin film deposition was done. In this paper the structural, optical and electrical properties of CdTe film are reported. The XRD pattern shows that films are nanocrystalline in nature. The resistivity is found to be of the order of 411 × 10³ Ω-cm at 523 K temperature with an activation energy of ∼ 0.2 eV. The optical absorption studies show that films have direct band gap (1.41 eV).     

黏弹性复合材料结构的多目标优化设计

黏弹性复合材料具有良好的阻尼性能,但黏弹性层的存在对黏弹性复合材料结构的强度性能会有所影响,黏弹性复合材料结构只有同时兼备良好的阻尼和强度才能满足工程要求。该文在经典层合板及小挠度弯曲理论基础上,运用Ritz法建立黏弹性复合材料结构应变能损耗因子和横向均布荷载作用下初始破坏强度计算模型。提出新的遗传算法适应度函数构造办法,克服了多目标优化问题中优化结果的偏移现象,对黏弹性复合材料结构进行单目标和双目标优化设计。优化结果表明:改进的遗传算法适用于黏弹性复合材料结构阻尼和强度性能的优化设计,而且多目标优化设计可以权衡复合结构的阻尼性能和强度性能,有利于发挥黏弹性复合材料结构良好的整体性能。     

Two efficient algorithms for constructing almost even approximations of the Pareto front in multi-objective optimization problems

In this article, two algorithms are proposed for constructing almost even approximations of the Pareto front of multi-objective optimization problems. The first algorithm is a hybrid of the ε-constraint and Pascoletti–Serafini scalarization methods for solving bi-objective problems. The second is a modification of the successive Pareto optimization (SPO) algorithm for solving three-objective problems. In these algorithms, the MATLAB fmincon solver is used to solve single-objective optimization problems, which returns a local optimal solution. Some metrics are considered to evaluate the quality of approximations obtained by the suggested algorithms on six test problems, and their results are compared with other algorithms (normal constraint, weighted constraint, SPO, differential evolution, multi-objective evolutionary algorithm/decomposition–differential evolution, non-dominated sorting genetic algorithm-II and S-metric selection evolutionary multi-objective algorithm). Experimental results show that the proposed algorithms provide almost even approximations of the whole Pareto front, and better quality of approximation and CPU time compared with established algorithms.     

Influence of precursor source on sol–gel deposited ZnO thin films properties

Zinc oxide thin films were deposited by sol gel technique on glass substrates using different precursors (zinc acetate, zinc nitrate and zinc chloride). In the present work we investigate the precursor nature influence on structural, morphological, optical, electrical properties and photocatalytic activity of ZnO thin films. For this purpose we have used X-rays diffraction (XRD), atomic force microscopy (AFM), UV–visible spectroscopy and Hall effect measurements for films characterization. The obtained results indicated that ZnO films properties are strongly influenced by the nature of the used precursor as reactant. Films photocatalytic activity was evaluated by the photo-degradation of methylene blue (MB) dissolved in aqueous solution under UV-A light. The obtained results indicated that ZnO thin films prepared from zinc acetate are more efficient than those prepared from zinc nitrate and zinc chloride.     

Hydrogen plasma treatment of very thin p-type nanocrystalline Si films grown by RF-PECVD in the presence of B(CH3)3

We have characterized the structure and electrical properties of p-type nanocrystalline silicon films prepared by radio-frequency plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition and explored optimization methods of such layers for potential applications in thin-film solar cells. Particular attention was paid to the characterization of very thin (∼20 nm) films. The cross-sectional morphology of the layers was studied by fitting the ellipsometry spectra using a multilayer model. The results suggest that the crystallization process in a high-pressure growth regime is mostly realized through a subsurface mechanism in the absence of the incubation layer at the substrate-film interface. Hydrogen plasma treatment of a 22-nm-thick film improved its electrical properties (conductivity increased more than ten times) owing to hydrogen insertion and Si structure rearrangements throughout the entire thickness of the film.     

Influences of organic ligands on the microstructure and properties of sol-gel antimony-doped tin oxide thin films

The antimony-doped tin oxide (ATO) thin films were prepared by sol-gel dip-coating process from SnCl2 2H2O and SbCl3 in alcoholic solutions. The influences of organic ligands, including acetic acids (HAc), acetic acids with monoethanolamine (in brief HAc + MEA), and acetic acids with acetylacetone (in brief HAc + AcAc), on the the microstructure and electrical properties of the thin films have been investigated. The thermal behavior of the ATO gels powders and the microstructures of the thin films have been characterized by using thermogravimetric (TG), differential scanning calorimetric (DSC), Fourier transform infra-red spectral (FTIR), X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM) analysis. The electrical resistivity of the thin films was detected by four-probe instrument measurement. The thin films with HAc + MEA as coordination ligands had a good crystal quality and showed a preferred orientation along (101) plane when heated at 450 degrees C. As a consequence, it exhibited the best electrical performance. An electrical resistivity of about 6.3 x 10(-3) omega cm could be achieved for the films with 500 nm thickness.     

Hydrogen plasma treatment of very thin p-type nanocrystalline Si films grown by RF-PECVD in the presence of B(CH3)3

Abstract

We have characterized the structure and electrical properties of p-type nanocrystalline silicon films prepared by radio-frequency plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition and explored optimization methods of such layers for potential applications in thin-film solar cells. Particular attention was paid to the characterization of very thin (～20 nm) films. The cross-sectional morphology of the layers was studied by fitting the ellipsometry spectra using a multilayer model. The results suggest that the crystallization process in a high-pressure growth regime is mostly realized through a subsurface mechanism in the absence of the incubation layer at the substrate-film interface. Hydrogen plasma treatment of a 22-nm-thick film improved its electrical properties (conductivity increased more than ten times) owing to hydrogen insertion and Si structure rearrangements throughout the entire thickness of the film.     

Effect on thickness of Al layer in poly-crystalline Si thin films using aluminum(Al) induced crystallization method

The polycrystalline silicon (poly-Si) thin films were prepared by aluminum induced crystallization. Aluminum (Al) and amorphous silicon (a-Si) layers were deposited using DC sputtering and plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition method, respectively. For the whole process Al properties of bi-layers can be one of the important factors. In this paper we investigated the structural and electrical properties of poly-crystalline Si thin films with a variation of Al thickness through simple annealing process. All samples showed the polycrystalline phase corresponding to (111), (311) and (400) orientation. Process time, defined as the time required to reach 95% of crystalline fraction, was within 60 min and Al(200 nm)/a-Si(400 nm) structure of bi-layer showed the fast response for the poly-Si films. The conditions with a variation of Al thickness were executed in preparing the continuous poly-Si films for solar cell application.     

Comparing carbon nanotubes and graphene nanoplatelets as reinforcements in polyamide 12 composites

We investigate the influence of nanofillers including carbon nanotubes (CNTs) and graphene nanoplatelets on a thermoplastic engineering polymer, polyamide 12 (PA12). The comparison between these two important nanofillers as to how they influence the structure and properties of the polymer is systematically studied. The polymer-nanofiller composites were prepared using a twin-screw micro-extruder and the composite was thereafter hot pressed into thin films. The structure (using wide angle x-ray diffraction and differential scanning calorimetry) and properties (through tensile testing and conductivity measurement) of the thin films have been investigated. The composites incorporating surfactant showed the best CNT distribution and dispersion, causing an improvement of up to 80% in the toughness modulus over pure PA12. Electrical percolation could also be achieved at nanofiller concentrations of 1 to 2?wt%. In this study we observed that CNT fillers bring about more pronounced improvements in PA12 compared to graphene nanoplatelets, as far as mechanical and electrical properties are concerned.     

Preparation and characterization of metalorganic chemical vapor deposited nickel oxide and lithium nickel oxide thin films

Thin films of nickel oxide and lithium nickel oxide were deposited through the pyrolysis of nickel acetylacetonate and lithium nickel acetylacetonate, respectively in the temperature range 350–420 °C. The single solid source precursors, nickel acetylacetonate and lithium nickel acetylacetonate were prepared and characterized using Energy Dispersive X-Ray Fluorescence (EDXRF), X-Ray Diffraction (XRD) and infrared spectroscopy. The composition, optical and electrical properties of the prepared thin films were analysed using a variety of techniques, including, Rutherford Backscattering Spectroscopy (RBS), EDXRF, XRD, UV–Visible Spectrophotometry and van der Pauw conductivity method. The amount of metals in the prepared thin films did not reflect the ratio of the metals in the precursor but was found to depend on the deposition temperature. The energy gaps of the nickel oxide and lithium nickel oxide thin films are 3.7 and 3.2 eV, respectively. The electrical conductivity showed that lithium nickel oxide thin film has an activation energy of 0.11 eV. The conduction was explained by a hopping mechanism.     

On the optical and electrical properties of rf and a.c. plasma polymerized aniline thin films

Polyaniline is a widely studied conducting polymer and is a useful material in its bulk and thin film form for many applications, because of its excellent optical and electrical properties. Pristine and iodine doped polyaniline thin films were prepared by a.c. and rf plasma polymerization techniques separately for the comparison of their optical and electrical properties. Doping of iodine was effectedin situ. The structural properties of these films were evaluated by FTIR spectroscopy and the optical band gap was estimated from UV-vis-NIR measurements. Comparative studies on the structural, optical and electrical properties of a.c. and rf polymerization are presented here. It has been found that the optical band gap of the polyaniline thin films prepared by rf and a.c. plasma polymerization techniques differ considerably and the band gap is further reduced byin situ doping of iodine. The electrical conductivity measurements on these films show a higher value of electrical conductivity in the case of rf plasma polymerized thin films when compared to the a.c. plasma polymerized films. Also, it is found that the iodine doping enhanced conductivity of the polymer thin films considerably. The results are compared and correlated and have been explained with respect to the different structures adopted under these two preparation techniques.     

Designing Paper Machine Headbox Using GA

A non-smooth biobjective optimization problem for designing the shape of a slice channel in a paper machine headbox is described. The conflicting goals defining the optimization problem are the ones determining important quality properties of produced paper: 1) basis weight should be even and 2) the wood fibers of paper should mainly be oriented to the machine direction across the width of the whole paper machine. The novelty of the considered approach is that maximum deviations are used instead of least squares when objective functions are formed. For the solution of this problem, a multiobjective genetic algorithm based on nondominated sorting is considered. The numerical results demonstrate the ability to obtain a large set of nondominated designs.     

磁控溅射沉积Cu-W薄膜的特征及热处理的影响

采用磁控共溅射法制备含钨1.51%~14.20%(原子分数,下同)的Cu-W合金薄膜,并用EDX、XRD、SEM、显微硬度仪和电阻仪研究了其成分、结构及性能。结果表明,添加W可显著细化Cu-W薄膜基体相晶粒,晶粒尺寸随W含量的增加而减小,Cu-W薄膜呈纳米晶结构。Cu-W薄膜中存在W在Cu中形成的fcc Cu(W)非平衡亚稳过饱和固溶体,固溶度随W含量的增加而提高,最大值为10.65%。与纯Cu膜对比发现,薄膜的显微硬度和电阻率总体上随W含量的增加而显著增大。经200℃、400℃及650℃热处理1h后,Cu-W薄膜基体相晶粒长大,EDX分析显示晶界处出现富W第二相;薄膜显微硬度降低,电阻率下降,降幅与退火温度呈正相关。添加W引起的晶粒细化效应以及退火中基体相晶粒度增大分别是Cu-W薄膜微观结构和性能形成及演变的主要原因。     

Handling constraints using multiobjective optimization concepts

In this paper, we propose a new constraint‐handling technique for evolutionary algorithms which we call inverted‐shrinkable PAES (IS‐PAES). This approach combines the use of multiobjective optimization concepts with a mechanism that focuses the search effort onto specific areas of the feasible region by shrinking the constrained search space. IS‐PAES also uses an adaptive grid to store the solutions found, but has a more efficient memory‐management scheme than its ancestor (the Pareto archived evolution strategy for multiobjective optimization). The proposed approach is validated using several examples taken from the standard evolutionary and engineering optimization literature. Comparisons are provided with respect to the stochastic ranking method (one of the most competitive constraint‐handling approaches used with evolutionary algorithms currently available) and with respect to other four multiobjective‐based constraint‐handling techniques. Copyright© 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

基于直接搜索方法的层合板多目标优化设计

直接多目标搜索方法(DMS)是一种不需要计算梯度信息并且能实现全局收敛的多目标优化方法。基于直接多目标搜索方法,以简支层合板铺设角度为设计变量,基频和声功率为目标函数进行层合板结构振动与声多目标优化。分别以4层、8层复合材料层合板为例,用DMS方法对其优化设计,并与传统的遗传算法(GA)对比。结果表明,对于4层复合材料层合板,DMS方法比GA方法优化速度快,且能得到全局最优解;对于8层复合材料层合板,用DMS方法比4层板优化所需时间多,但相比GA方法,DMS方法优化更快。     

Sol–gel derived ZnO/PVP nanocomposite thin film for superoxide radical sensor

Pure ZnO films and ZnO nanoparticle-dispersed polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP) composite films are prepared on Pyrex glass substrates by the sol–gel dip-coating technique utilizing zinc acetate precursor. The thin films are extensively characterized for surface morphology, chemistry, and nanocrystallite size using various advanced analytical techniques including Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), and atomic force microscopy (AFM). For the processing conditions considered, ZnO semiconductor thin films with nanocrystallite size 20–30 nm are obtained. The ZnO nanoparticle size in the PVP composite film increases with increase in ZnO content. The resistance of both the synthesized ZnO and ZnO/PVP thin films decrease significantly after exposure to solution containing superoxide anion radicals (SOR). The results thus indicate that ZnO and ZnO/PVP composite thin films can be used as biosensors for SOR and potentially for characterizing the antioxidant properties of fluids.     

磁控溅射Cu-Nb和Cu-Mo薄膜结构与性能

采用磁控溅射制备含1.16%～15.8%(原子分数)Nb的Cu-Nb及含2.2%～27.8%Mo的Cu-Mo合金薄膜,井采用EDX、XRD、SEM、显微硬度仪和电阻计对薄膜的成分、结构和性能进行研究。结果表明,Nb和Mo的添加分别使Cu-Nb及Cu-Mo薄膜晶粒显著细化,Cu-Nb和Cu-Mo薄膜呈纳米晶结构,存在Nb在Cu中的fcc Cu(Nb)和Mo在Cu中的fcc Cu(Mo)非平衡亚稳过饱和固溶体,固溶度随Nb或Mo含量增加而上升。添加Nb和Mo显著提高Cu-Nb及Cu-Mo薄膜的显微硬度和电阻率,且随Nb或Mo含量增加而升高。经650℃热处理1h后,Cu-Nb和Cu-Mo薄膜显微硬度和电阻率均下降,且分析表明均发生基体相晶粒长大,并出现微米-亚微米级富Cu第二相,Cu-Nb及Cu-Mo薄膜结构和性能形成及演变的主要原因是添加的Nb、Mo引起的晶粒细化效应以及退火中基体相晶粒度的增大。     

Low-temperature preparation of flexible a-Si:H solar cells with hydrogenated nanocrystalline silicon p layer

In this paper we report on flexible a-Si:H solar cells prepared on polyethylene naphthalate (PEN) substrates using p-type hydrogenated nanocrystalline silicon thin films (p-nc-Si:H) as the window layer. The p-nc-Si:H films were prepared at low temperature (150 °C) using trimethylboron (TMB) as a dopant gas. The influence of the silane concentration (SC) on the electrical and structural properties of ultra-thin p-nc-Si:H as well as the performance of solar cells on PEN was investigated. The results show that the crystalline fraction and conductivity of p-nc-Si:H thin films diminished, while the deposition rate and RMS roughness of films increased, when the SC increases from 0.53% to 0.8%. For the a-Si:H solar cells on PEN with the non-textured electrodes, the best efficiency of 6.3% was achieved with the p-nc-Si:H thin films deposited at SC = 0.67%.     

Optimal Design of Alloy Steels Using Multiobjective Genetic Algorithms

Determining the optimal heat treatment regimen and the required weight percentages for the chemical composites to obtain the desired mechanical properties of steel is a challenging problem for the steel industry. To tackle what is in essence an optimization problem, several neural network-based models, which were developed in the early stage of this research work, are used to predict the mechanical properties of steel such as the tensile strength (TS), the reduction of area (ROA), and the elongation. Because these predictive models are generally data driven, such predictions should be treated carefully. In this research work, evolutionary multiobjective (EMO) optimization algorithms are exploited not only to obtain the targeted mechanical properties but also to consider the reliability of the predictions. To facilitate the implementation of a broad range of single-objective and multi-objective algorithms, a versatile Windows 2000®-based application is developed. The obtained results from the single-objective and the multiobjective optimization algorithms are presented and compared, and it is shown that the EMO techniques can be effectively used to deal with such optimization problems.     

Effect of thickness on nanostructured SnO2 thin films by spray pyrolysis as highly sensitive H2S gas sensor

Nanostructured SnO2 thin films were prepared by spray pyrolysis technique onto glass substrates with different thickness by varying quantity of precursor solution. The structural, optical and electrical properties of these films have been studied. The crystallographic structure of the films was studied by X-ray diffraction (XRD). It is found that the films are tetragonal with (110) orientation. The grain size increases with thickness. Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM) showed that the nanocrystalline nature of the films with porous nature. The grain size increased 14 to 29 nm with increase in film thickness. The studies on the optical properties show that the direct band gap value decreases from 3.75 to 3.50 eV. The temperature dependence of the electrical conductivity was studied. The activation energies of the films are calculated from the conductance temperature characteristics. The nanostructured SnO2 thin films were used as sensing layers for resistive gas sensors. The dependence of gas sensing properties on the thickness of SnO2 thin films was investigated. The gas response of the SnO2 thin films towards the H2S gas was determined at an operating temperature of 150 degrees C. The sensitivity towards H2S gas is strongly depending on surface morphology of the SnO2 thin films.