Nanoscale Crystallization in Amorphous Fe–P–Mn Alloys

Mössbauer effect measurements and physicochemical analysis demonstrate that annealing of amorphous Fe–P–Mn alloys leads to the formation of a nanocrystalline structure.     

Improving narrow bandgap a-SiGe:H alloys grown by hot-wire chemical vapor deposition

We have improved the electronic properties of narrow-bandgap (Tauc gap below 1.5 eV) amorphous-silicon germanium alloys (a-SiGe:H) grown by hot-wire chemical vapor deposition (HWCVD) by lowering the substrate temperature and deposition rate. Prior to this work, we were unable to grow a-SiGe:H alloys with bandgaps below 1.5 eV that had photo-to-dark conductivity ratios comparable with our plasma-enhanced CVD (PECVD) grown materials [B.P. Nelson et al., Mater. Res. Soc. Symp. 507 (1998) 447]. Decreasing the filament diameter from our standard configuration of 0.5 mm to 0.38 or 0.25 mm provides first big improvements in the photoresponse of these alloys. Lowering the substrate temperature from our previous optimal temperatures (T_sub starting at 435 °C) to at 250 °C provides additional photo-to-dark conductivity ratio increasing by two orders of magnitude for growth conditions containing 20–30% GeH₄ in the gas phase (relative to the total GeH₄+SiH₄ flow).     

Fabrication, assembly, and characterization of molecular electronic components

One of the ultimate miniaturizations in nanotechnology is molecular electronics, where devices will consist of individual molecules. There are many complications associated with the use of molecules in electronic devices, such as the electronic perturbations in the molecule associated with being bonded to an electrode, how electrons traverse the metal-molecule junction, and the difficulty of macroscopically addressing single to very few molecules. Whether fabricating a test structure or a usable device, the use of self-assembly is fundamental to the fabrication of molecular electronic devices. We will discuss how to fabricate self-assembled monolayers into test assemblies and how to use intermolecular interactions to direct molecules into desired positions to create nanostructures and to connect functional molecules to the outside world. These assemblies serve as test structures for measurements on single or bundled molecules. The development of several experimental techniques, including various scanning probes, mercury drop junctions, break junctions, nanopores, crossed wires, and other techniques using nanoparticles have enabled the ability to test these structures and make reproducible measurements on single molecules. Many of these methods have been developed to test molecules with potential for integration into devices such as oligo (phenylene-ethynylene) molecules and other /spl pi/-conjugated molecules, in ensemble or single-molecule measurements.     

TEM Studies of High Temperature Corrosion Behaviour of TiAl Intermetallics with Surface Modifications

The oxidation/sulphidation behaviour of a Ti‐46.7Al‐1.9W‐0.5Si alloy with a TiAl₃ diffusion coating was studied in an environment of H₂/H₂S/H₂O at 850^oC. The kinetic results demonstrate that the TiAl₃ coating significantly increased the high temperature corrosion resistance of Ti‐46.7Al‐1.9W‐0.5Si. The SEM, EDX, XRD and TEM analysis reveals that the formation of an Al₂O₃ scale on the surface of the TiAl₃‐coated sample was responsible for the enhancement of the corroison resistance. The Ti‐46.7Al‐1.9W‐0.5Si alloy was also modified by Nb ion implantation. The Nb ion implanted and as received sampels were subjected to cyclic oxidation in an open air at 800^oC. The Nb ion implantation not only increased the oxidation resistance but also substantially improved the adhesion of scale to the substrate.     

Estimating crystallinity in high density polyethylene fibers using online Raman spectroscopy

Online Raman spectra, obtained at different points along the spin line during pilot‐scale nonisothermal melt spinning of high density polyethylene (HDPE) fibers, are presented for the first time. The fraction of the crystalline phase corresponding to each spectrum was determined from the normalized integrated intensity of the 1418 cm^?1 Raman band. It is well established that this band represents the orthorhombic crystalline phase in polyethylene. The estimates of percent crystallinity obtained from decomposition of the Raman spectrum were compared with the percent crystallinity from differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) measurements. It is concluded that online Raman spectroscopy can be successfully used to monitor the development of crystallinity in HDPE fibers as a function of distance from the spinneret. © 2003 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 88: 545–549, 2003     

Perceptually-weighted evaluation criteria for segmentation masks in video sequences

In order to complement subjective evaluation of the quality of segmentation masks, this paper introduces a procedure for automatically assessing this quality. Algorithmically computed figures of merit are proposed. Assuming the existence of a perfect reference mask (ground truth), generated manually or with a reliable procedure over a test set, these figures of merit take into account visually desirable properties of a segmentation mask in order to provide the user with metrics that best quantify the spatial and temporal accuracy of the segmentation masks. For the sake of easy interpretation, results are presented on a peaked signal-to-noise ratio-like logarithmic scale.     

Structural modifications and fibre processing of hydroxy-functionalised mesogenic polyazomethines

A number of semiflexible homopolyazomethines and copolyazomethines based on hydroxy-functionalised mesogenic cores have been synthesised and characterised. The reported polymers include structural modifications such as an alteration of the coaxiality, shortening of the flexible spacers or copolymerisation to attain materials with reduced melting temperatures and suitable processability. These structural alterations have been introduced by condensing different ,ω-bis-[(4-formyl-3-hydroxyphenyl)oxy]alkanes with 2-methyl-1,4-phenylenediamine and/or 4-methyl-1,3-phenylenediamine. Fibres have been melt extruded from those nematic polyazomethines with the most favourable thermal properties. As-spun and tension-annealed fibres have been investigated by thermal analysis (TGA and DSC), X-ray diffraction and SEM microscopy in an attempt to infer a relationship between microstructure and tensile properties. From the results presented here, copolymerisation incorporating flexible spacers of different lengths seems to be the best strategy to balance ease of processing and tensile properties. Some of the fibres have improved mechanical properties compared with those previously reported for this class of semiflexible polyazomethine. A nematic polyazomethine with a decamethylenic spacer has also been modified with low percentages of several metal ions [Fe(III), Zn(II), V(IV) and Ni(II)] in order to establish a comparison with previously reported Cu(II)-modified fibres.     

Surface effects in nanocrystalline silicon

Exposure to ammonia (NH₃) increases the dark current (DC) in nanocrystalline silicon. Light soaking (LS) for short periods also enhances the dark current, which remains at a high value for a long time. Pumping alone is unable to restore the initial annealed state, but annealing brings it back. The final state obtained by LS and NH₃ exposure depends on the order in which they are performed. Evaporated selenium (Se) deposited on nanocrystalline silicon decreases the DC. These effects cannot be explained entirely by the presence of a-Si : H alone, in our sample. DC and photoluminescence (PL) measurements indicate the presence of two types of center in our sample, which behave differently when exposed to NH₃.     

Blind feedforward cyclostationarity-based timing estimation for linear modulations

By exploiting a general cyclostationary (CS) statistics-based framework, this letter develops a rigorous and unified asymptotic (large sample) performance analysis setup for a class of blind feedforward timing epoch estimators for linear modulations transmitted through time nonselective flat-fading channels. Within the proposed CS framework, it is shown that several estimators proposed in the literature can be asymptotically interpreted as maximum likelihood (ML) estimators applied on a (sub)set of the second- (and/or higher) order statistics of the received signal. The asymptotic variance of these ML estimators is established in closed-form expression and compared with the modified Crame/spl acute/r-Rao bound. It is shown that the timing estimator proposed by Oerder and Meyr achieves asymptotically the best performance in the class of estimators which exploit all the second-order statistics of the received signal, and its performance is insensitive to oversampling rates P as long as P/spl ges/3. Further, an asymptotically best consistent estimator, which achieves the lowest asymptotic variance among all the possible estimators that can be derived by exploiting jointly the second- and fourth-order statistics of the received signal, is also proposed.     

Platinum Binuclear Complexes as Phosphorescent Dopants for Monochromatic and White Organic Light‐Emitting Diodes

Efficient blue‐, green‐, and red‐light‐emitting organic diodes are fabricated using binuclear platinum complexes as phosphorescent dopants. The series of complexes used here have pyrazolate bridging ligands and the general formula C^∧NPt(μ‐pz)₂PtC^∧N (where C^∧N = 2‐(4′,6′‐difluorophenyl)pyridinato‐N,C^2′, pz = pyrazole ( 1 ), 3‐methyl‐5‐tert‐butylpyrazole ( 2 ), and 3,5‐bis(tert‐butyl)pyrazole ( 3 )). The Pt–Pt distance in the complexes, which decreases in the order 1 > 2 > 3 , solely determines the electroluminescence color of the organic light‐emitting diodes (OLEDs). Blue OLEDs fabricated using 8 % 1 doped into a 3,5‐bis(N‐carbazolyl)benzene (mCP) host have a quantum efficiency of 4.3 % at 120 Cd m^–2, a brightness of 3900 Cd m^–2 at 12 V, and Commission Internationale de L'Eclairage (CIE) coordinates of (0.11, 0.24). Green and red OLEDs fabricated with 2 and 3 , respectively, also give high quantum efficiencies (～ 6.7 %), with CIE coordinates of (0.31, 0.63) and (0.59, 0.46), respectively. The current‐density–voltage characteristics of devices made using dopants 2 and 3 indicate that hole trapping is enhanced by short Pt–Pt distances (< 3.1 Å). Blue electrophosphorescence is achieved by taking advantage of the binuclear molecular geometry in order to suppress dopant intermolecular interactions. No evidence of low‐energy emission from aggregate states is observed in OLEDs made with 50 % 1 doped into mCP. OLEDs made using 100 % 1 as an emissive layer display red luminescence, which is believed to originate from distorted complexes with compressed Pt–Pt separations located in defect sites within the neat film. White OLEDs are fabricated using 1 and 3 in three different device architectures, either with one or two dopants in dual emissive layers or both dopants in a single emissive layer. All the white OLEDs have high quantum efficiency (～ 5 %) and brightness (～ 600 Cd m^–2 at 10 V).