Comparative study of crystallization processes in Sb2Te3 films using laser and thermal annealing techniques

Adherent and pin-hole free amorphous Sb₂Te₃ thin films have been obtained by vacuum evaporation at substrate temperatures ≤25 °C. The films have been crystallized by thermal and laser annealing, and the crystallization processes monitored as a function of annealing temperature and laser scan speed. A comparative study of topography reveals disk-shaped crystallized areas in thermal crystallization and dendrite growth in the laser induced process. The crystallized films in both cases contain a single Sb₂Te₃ phase. Activation energy of 2 eV for crystallization, determined using differential scanning calorimetery indicates good room temperature stability of the amorphous states.     

Modified Imidazoles: Degradation Inhibitors and Adhesion Promoters for Polyimide Films on Copper Substrates

Polyimide films on copper substrates that are exposed to elevated temperatures and an oxidizing environment will be subject to degradation. In order to halt this degradation without changing the properties of the system, a polymeric agent could be placed between the polyimide and the copper. This paper will investigate three such materials that will not only slow down the degradation of the polyimide and the oxidation of the copper, but will also improve adhesion within the system. Fourier transform infrared reflection-absorption spectroscopy (FTIR-RAS) will be used to investigate the polyimide/polymeric agent/copper system.     

Quasi-bound states determination using a perturbed wavenumbersmethod in a large quantum box

A perturbed wavenumbers method (PWM) is presented that is capable of determining the quasi-bound-state eigenenergies and their lifetimes for quantum heterostructures having arbitrary potential profiles. The numerical method presented solves the single-band effective-mass Schrodinger equation without using complex energies. It is applicable to quantum structures that are symmetric, asymmetric, unbiased, or biased. For multiple quantum heterostructures, extensive comparisons of this numerical method with other currently used techniques are included. In addition, a modified density of states formulation is presented and applied to these example cases