Characterization of DC magnetron sputtering deposited thin films of TiN for SBN/MgO/TiN/Si structural waveguide

Optimal parameters for depositing Titanium nitride （TIN） thin films by DC reactive magnetron sputtering were determined. TiN thin films were deposited on Si （100） substrates by DC reactive magnetron sputtering, at different temperatures, different electrical current values, and different N2/Ar ratios. Structural characteristics of TiN thin films were measured by X-ray diffraction （XRD）; surface morphology of the thin films was characterized using an atomic force microscope （AFM）. The electric resistivity of the TiN films was measured by a four-point probe. In the result, temperature is 500℃, electrical current value is 1.6 A, pure N2 is the reacting gas, TiN thin film has the preferred （200） orientation, resistance is small enough for its use as bottom electrodes.

Solidification Structure Refining of 430 Ferrite Stainless Steel With TiN Nucleation

The thermodynamics of TiN precipitation in liquid steel of 430 ferrite stainless steel has been calculated to find out the condition of TiN precipitation during the initial solidification stage. The difference in the solidification structure of 430 ferrite stainless steel has been discussed through comparative tests of vacuum induction furnace melting with different contents of Ti. It has been found that the equiaxed grain proportion can be increased from 20% to 69% as the content of Ti from 0.1% up to 0. 4%. The size of the TiN particles precipitated is 1-3 μm and the number of TiN particles is about （200- 300）/μm^2. It is found that the effect of using TiN to refine the solidification structure has been confirmed under the strict process condition used for 430 ferrite stainless steel.

Facile integration of electro-optic SiO_(2)/ITO heterointerfaces in MIS structures for CMOS-compatible plasmonic waveguide modulation

By taking advantage of the absence of diffraction limit restrictions in plasmonic structures,strong modal confinement is made possible,paving the way for improved optical processes and miniaturized photonic circuit integration.Indium tin oxide(ITO)has emerged as a promising plasmonic material that serves as a relatively low-carrier density Drude metal by its electro-optic tunability and versatility as an integrative oxide.We herein demonstrate the facile integration of SiO_(2)/ITO heterointerfaces into metal-insulator-semiconductor(MIS)electro-optic structures.The first MIS device employs a SiO_(2)/ITO heterostructure grown on thin polycrystalline titanium nitride(poly-TiN)and capped at the ITO side with thin aluminum(Al)film contact electrode.The TiN interlayer acts as a bottom electrode,forming a metal-insulator-semiconductor-metal(MISM)heterojunction device,and grows directly on(100)-oriented silicon(Si).This MISM device enables one to examine the electrical properties of semiconductive ITO layers.The second MIS device incorporates a semiconductive ITO layer with a SiO_(2)dielectric spacer implemented on a silicon-on-insulator(SOI)platform,forming a graded-index coupled hybrid plasmonic waveguide(CHPW)modulator.This device architecture represents a crucial step towards realizing plasmonic modulation using oxide materials.The CHPW device performance presented herein provides a proof-of-concept that demonstrates the advantages offered by such device topology to perform optical modulation via charge carrier dispersion.The graded-index CHPW can be dynamically reconfigured for amplitude,phase,or 4-quadrature amplitude modulation utilizing a triode-like biasing strategy.It exhibited extinction ratio(ER)and insertion loss(IL)levels of around 1 dB/μm and 0.128 dB/μm,respectively,for a 10μm waveguide length.