Dual-phase coexistence enables to alleviate resistance drift in phase-change films

The amorphous phase-change materials with spontaneous structural relaxation leads to the resistance drift with the time for phase-change neuron synaptic devices. Here, we modify the phase change properties of the conventional Ge_2Sb_2Te_5(GST) material by introducing an SnS phase. It is found that the resistance drift coefficient of SnS-doped GST was decreased from 0.06 to 0.01. It can be proposed that the origin originates from the precipitation of GST nanocrystals accompanied by the precipitation of SnS crystals compared to single-phase GST compound systems. We also found that the decrease in resistance drift can be attributed to the narrowed bandgap from 0.65 to 0.43 eV after SnS-doping. Thus, this study reveals the quantitative relationship between the resistance drift and the band gap and proposes a new idea for alleviating the resistance drift by composition optimization, which is of great significance for finding a promising phase change material.

Effect of Heat-treatment on Crystalline Phase and UV Absorption of 60CeO_2-40TiO_2 Thin Films by Magnetron Sputtering

60CeO2-40TiO2 thin films were deposited on soda-lime silicate glass substrates by R.F. magnetron sputtering. The effects of heat-treatment on the UV-absorption of the thin films were studied on the 60CeO2-40TiO2 thin film with the largest UV cut-off wavelength. The sample films with CeO2：TiO2=60：40 were heated at 773 K, 873 K, 973 K for 30 min. These films are characterized by X-ray diffraction （XRD）, scanning electron microscopy （SEM）, and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy and spectrometer （XPS）. XRD analysis proves that the addition of TiO2 to CeO2 changed the crystalline state of CeO2. But the UV absorption effect of CeO2-TiO2 films with CeO2 crystallite phase is inferior to that of the amorphous phase CeO2-TiO2 films. XPS analysis also indicates that the amorphous phase CeO2-TiO2 films have the most Ce3＋ content in these films. Amorphous phase and crystalline phase of the CeO2-TiO2 films have different effects on UV absorption of the thin films.

OES study of the gas phase during diamond films deposition in high power DC arc plasma jet CVD system

This paper used optical emission spectroscopy （OES） to study the gas phase in high power DC arc plasma jet chemical vapour deposition （CVD） during diamond films growth processes. The results show that all the deposition parameters （methane concentration, substrate temperature, gas flow rate and ratio of H2/Ar） could strongly influence the gas phase. C2 is found to be the most sensitive radical to deposition parameters among the radicals in gas phase. Spatially resolved OES implies that a relative high concentration of atomic H exists near the substrate surface, which is beneficial for diamond film growth. The relatively high concentrations of C2 and CH are correlated with high deposition rate of diamond. In our high deposition rate system, C2 is presumed to be the main growth radical, and CH is also believed to contribute the diamond deposition.

Growth of β-Ga_2O_3 Films on Sapphire by Hydride Vapor Phase Epitaxy

Two-inch Ga_2O_3 films with（ˉ201）-orientation are grown on c-sapphire at 850–1050°C by hydride vapor phase epitaxy. High-resolution x-ray diffraction shows that pure β-Ga_2O_3 with a smooth surface has a higher crystal quality, and the Raman spectra reveal a very small residual strain in β-Ga_2O_3 grown by hydride vapor phase epitaxy compared with bulk single crystal. The optical transmittance is higher than 80% in the visible and near-UV regions, and the optical bandgap energy is calculated to be 4.9 e V.

Diagnosis of gas phase near the substrate surface in diamond film deposition by high-power DC arc plasma jet CVD

Optical emission spectroscopy （OES） was used to study the gas phase composition near the substrate surface during diamond deposition by high-power DC arc plasma jet chemical vapor deposition （CVD）. C2 radical was determined as the main carbon radical in this plasma atmosphere. The deposition parameters, such as substrate temperature, anode-substrate distance, methane concentration, and gas flow rate, were inspected to find out the influence on the gas phase. A strong dependence of the concentrations and distribution of radicals on substrate temperature was confirmed by the design of experiments （DOE）. An explanation for this dependence could be that radicals near the substrate surface may have additional ionization or dissociation and also have recombination, or are consumed on the substrate surface where chemical reactions occur.

The effect of annealing temperature and film thicknesson the phase of pentacene on the p^+-Si substrate

This paper investigates the morphology and crystallization properties of the two crystalline phases of pentacene grown by thermal evaporation on p^＋-Si substrates at room temperature by the methods of atomic force microscopy and x-ray diffraction. This kind of substrate induces a thin film phase and a triclinic phase which are formed directly onto p^＋-Si substrates and constitute a layer consisting of faceted grains with a step height between terraces of 15.8A（1A=0.1 nm） and 14.9A, respectively. Above the critical thickness of the thin film phase, lamellar structures are found with an increasing fraction with the increase of the film thickness. When the film thickness is fixed, the fraction of lamellar structures increases with the increase of annealing temperature. These lamellar structures are identified as the second phase with a interplanar distance of 14.9A corresponding to the pentacene triclinic phase. Furthermore, the thin film phase consisting of several micrometre sized uniformly oriented grains at an annealing temperature of less than 80℃ and a deposition rate of 0.6A/s is observed.

PHASE SEPARATION OF RETINAL SCHIFF BASE IN TWO-COMPONENT LB FILM WITH DIFFERENT LIPIDS

Phase sepertion of 9-cis-retinal schiff base in two-component LB film with different lipids has been observed under Brewster Angle Microscope

Phase shift of polarized light through sculptured thin films: Experimental measurements and theoretical study

A slanted columnar TiO2 sculptured anisotropic thin film （ATF） is prepared via the glancing angle deposition technique and used as the phase retardation plate. The tilted nanocolumn microstructures of thin film induce the optical anisotropy. With the biaxial birefringent model, the optical constants dispersion equations of TiO2 ATF are derived by fitting the transmittance spectra for s-and p-polarized waves measured at normal and oblique incidence within 400 nm–1200 nm. The phase shift of polarized light after reflection and/or transmission through the TiO2 ATF is analyzed with the characteristic matrix employing the extracted structure parameters. The theoretical studies reasonably well accord with the experimental results measured with spectroscopic ellipsometry. In addition, the dependences of the phase shift on the coating physical thickness and oblique incidence angle are also discussed. Birefringence of the biaxial ATF provides a sophisticated phase modulation by varying incidence angles over a broad range to have a wide-angle phase shift.

Three dimensional phase field study on the thickness effect of ferroelectric polymer thin film

The electromechanical behavior of poly(vinylidene fluoride-trifluoroethylene)[P(VDF -TrFE)]ferroelectric thin film was investigated using the three dimensional(3D) phase-field method. Various energetic contributions,including elastic,electrostatic,and domain wall energy were taken into account in the variational functional of the phase field model.Evolution of the microscopic domain structures of P(VDF-TrFE) polymer film was simulated.Effects of the in-plane residual stress,the film thickness and externally applied electric bias field on the electromechanical properties of the film were explored.The obtained numerical results showed that the macroscopic responses of the electric hysteresis loops are sensitive to the residual stress and electric bias field.It was also found that thickness has a great effect on the electric hysteresis loops and remanent polarization.

Crystallization Process of Superlattice-Like Sb/SiO_2 Thin Films for Phase Change Memory Application

After compositing with SiO_2 layers, it is shown that superlattice-like Sb/SiO_2 thin films have higher crystallization temperature（~240°C）, larger crystallization activation energy（6.22 e V）, and better data retention ability（189°C for 10 y）. The crystallization of Sb in superlattice-like Sb/SiO_2 thin films is restrained by the multilayer interfaces. The reversible resistance transition can be achieved by an electric pulse as short as 8 ns for the Sb（3 nm）/SiO_2（7 nm）-based phase change memory cell. A lower operation power consumption of 0.09 m W and a good endurance of 3.0 × 10~6 cycles are achieved. In addition, the superlattice-like Sb（3 nm）/SiO_2（7 nm） thin film shows a low thermal conductivity of 0.13 W/（m·K）.

Epitaxy surface effect on the first-order phase transition properties in a ferroelectric thin film

By modifying the interchange interactions and the transverse fields on the epitaxy surface layer, this paper studies the phase transition properties of an n-layer ferroelectric thin film by the Fermi-type Green＇s function technique based on the transverse Ising model with a four-spin interaction. The special attention is given to the effect of the epitaxy surface layer on the first-order phase transition properties in the parameter space constructed by the ratios of the bulk transverse field and the bulk four-spin interaction to the bulk two-spin interaction with the framework of the higher-order decoupling approximation to the Fermi-type Green＇s function. The results show that the first-order phase transition properties will be changed significantly due to the modification of interchange interaction and transverse field parameters on the epitaxy surface layer. The dependence of the first-order phase transition properties on the thickness of ferroelectric thin films is also discussed.

Coacervate Structures of CdI_2 Thin Film Grown during Phase Transformation

The microstructure of CdI2 thin film grown during vapor-phase deposition was investigated by scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The thin film deposited on Si crystal consists of numerous sunflower-like aggregates. These aggregates display well self-assembly characteristics. The size of Sunflower-like aggregates is between 12 and 44 μm. Each sunflower-like aggregate is surrounded with many adjacent wings-'petals'. The structure of central region of the 'sunflower' is obviously difFerent from that of the 'petal'. Electron spectroscopy for chemical analysis (ESCA) was employed in determining the chemical valence of the thin film. Self-organization efFect is used to explain the coring growth process of CdI2 thin film

Phase diagrams and magnetic properties of the mixed spin-1 and spin-3/2 Ising ferromagnetic thin film: Monte Carlo treatment

Phase diagrams and magnetic properties of the mixed spin-1 and spin-3/2 Ising film with different single-ion anisotropies are investigated, by the use of Monte Carlo simulation based on heat bath algorithms. The effects of the crystal-fields and the surface coupling on the phase diagrams are investigated in detail and the obtained phase diagrams are presented. Depending on the Hamiltonian parameters, the system exhibits both second-and first-order phase transitions besides tricritical point, triple point, and isolated critical end point.

The model developed for stress-induced structural phase transformations of micro-crystalline silicon films

The nanoindentations were applied to island-shaped regions with metal-induced Si crystallizations. The experimental stress-strain relationship is obtained from the load-depth profile in order to investigate the critical stresses arising at various phase transitions. The stress and strain values at various indentation depths are applied to determine the Gibbs free energy at various phases. The intersections of the Gibbs free energy lines are used to determine the possible paths of phase transitions arising at various indentation depths. All the critical contact stresses corresponding to the various phase transitions at four annealing temperatures were found to be consistent with the experimental results.

Phase structure of the CPD prepared CdS films before and after Ar^+ ion irradiation

CdS films prepared with chemical pyrolysis deposition (CPD) at differ- ent temperature during film growth were characterized by XRD. Hexagon-like struc- ture appeared at the temperature of 350-500℃, while wurtzite phase was observed at temperature of 540℃ during film growth. Also CdS films prepared by CPD at 400℃ were undergone post annealing at different temperature of 200-600℃ or post Ar+ ion irradiation. It is found that wurtzite phase happened when the annealing temperature rose to 600℃. And hexagon-like structure existed at the annealing temperature from 25℃ to near 500℃. Ar+ ion irradiation could not cause phase transformation. but induce some preferred orientations and an increase in grain size for the CdS films.

INFLUENCE OF CRYSTALLIZATION TEMPERATURE ON PHASE TRANSFORMATION IN Ti-RICH NiTi THIN FILMS

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Preparation of High-Quality Poly-Si Films by a Solid Phase Crystallizing Method

A solid phase crystallizing method has been developed to grow a Si crystal at tem-peratures as low as 550 ℃. Using this method, a high-quality thin-film polycrystalline silicon (Poly-Si) was obtained. The largest grain size, examined with X-ray diffraction spectroscopy and scanning electron microscopy images of recrystallized samples, is approximately 1 /μm for substrate temperature at 300 ℃ and annealed at 550℃ for 3 hours.

Improvement of Joint Strength of SiCp/Al Metal Matrix Composite in Transient Liquid Phase Bonding Using Cu/Ni/Cu Film Interlayer

The compact oxide on the surface of SiCp/Al metal matrix composite （SiCp/Al MMC） greatly depends on the property of the joint. Inlaid sputtering target was applied to etch the oxide completely on the bonding surface of SiCp/Al MMC by plasma erosion. Cu/Ni/Cu film of 5μm in thickness was prepared by magnetron sputtering method on the clean bonding surface in the same vacuum chamber, which was acted as an interlayer in transient liquid phase （TLP） bonding process. Compared with the same thickness of single Cu foil and Ni foil interlayer, the shear strength of 200 MPa was obtained using Cu/Ni/Cu film interlayer during TLP bonding, which was 89.7% that of base metal. In addition, homogenization of the bonding region and no particle segregation in interfacial region were found by analysis of the joint microstructure. Scanning electron microscopy （SEM） was used to observe the micrograph of the joint interface. The result shows that a homogenous microstructure of joint was achieved, which is similar with that of based metal.

Low Temperature Coating of Anatase Thin Films on Silica Glass Fibers by Liquid Phase Deposition

Uniform crystalline TiO2 thin films were coated on silica glass fibers by liquid phase deposition from aqueous solution of ammonium hexafluorotitanate at low temperature. TiO2 thin films and nanopowders were prepared by adding H3BO3 into （NH4）2TiF6 solution supersaturated with anatase nano-crystalline TiO2 at 40 ℃. The effects of the deposition conditions on the surface morphology, section morphology, thickness of the deposited TiO2 thin films were investigated. The results indicate that the growth rate and particle size of the thin films were controlled by both the deposition conditions and the amount of anatase nano-crystalline TiO2.

Influence of residual stress on the phase equilibrium of Ti(C_xN_y) thin films

In order to provide a theoretic basis for the research of Ti(C_xN_y) thinfilms, the thermodynamic database of Ti-C-N ternary system is established and the phase diagramsections are calculated. In addition to the assessed thermodynamic properties of Ti-C-N system, theinfluence of the residual strain energy of Ti(C_xN_y) thin films on the phase equilibria isanalyzed. The classical formula for calculating the elastic strain energy is expressed into aRedlich-Kister form in order to perform the thermodynamic and equilibrium calculations using theThermo-Calc software. Isothermal sections at 900 and 1100 K are calculated with this database andcompared with those calculated without considering the residual stress. As a result, with theaddition of strain energy delta-fcc Ti(C_xN_y) phase area shrinks. It is therefore concluded thatwith the influence of the residual stress in Ti(C_xN_y) thin solid film, the precipitation of puredelta film requires more precise control of composition.