Electron Cyclotron Resonance Deposition of Wide Bandgap a-SiC:H Films Using Acetylene under High Hydrogen Dilution

The deposition of hydrogenated amorphous silicon carbide (a-SiC.H) films from a mixture of silane, acetylene and hydrogen gas using the electron cyclotron resonance chemical vapour deposition (ECR-CVD) process is reported. The variation of the deposition and film characteristics such as the deposition rate- optical bandgap, photoluminescence and the infra-red (IR) absorption as a function of the hydrogen dilution is investigated. The deposition rate increases to a maximum value of ~25 nm/min at a moderate hydrogen diIution ratio of ~20 [hydrogenflow (sccm)/acetylene+silane flow (sccm)], and decreases in response to a further increase in the hydrogen dilution. There is no strong dependence of the optical bandgap on the hydrogen dilution within the dilution range investigated (10 to 60), and the optical bandgap calculated from the E04 method varied marginally from ~2.85 eV to ~3.17 eV. The room temperaturephotoluminescence (PL) peak energy and intensity shows a prominent shift to a maximum value of ~2.17 eV corresponding to maximum PL intensity at a moderate hydrogen diIution of ~30.The PL intensity shows a strong dependence on the hydrogen dilution variation. IR absorption results show that films deposited at higher hydrogen dilution have more Si-C bonding.

Semi-quantitative study on the Staebler-Wronski effect of hydrogenated amorphous silicon films prepared with HW-ECR-CVD system

The method of numerical simulation is used to fit the relationship between the photoconductivity in films and the illumination time. The generation and process rule of kinds of different charged defect states during illumination are revealed. It is found surprisingly that the initial photoconductivity determines directly the total account of photoconductivity degradation of sample.

Oxidation and Hot Corrosion of Gradient Thermal Barrier Coatings Prepared by EB-PVD

The performances of gradient thermal barrier coatings (GTBCs) produced by EB-PVD were evaluated by isothermal oxidation and cyclic hot corrosion (HTHC) tests. Compared with conventional two-layered TBCs, the GTBCs exhibite better resistance to not only oxidation but also hot-corrosion. A dense Al2O3 layer in the GTBCs effectively prohibites inward diffusion of O and S and outward diffusion of Al and Cr during the tests. On the other hand, an "inlaid" interface, resulting from oxidation of the Al along the columnar grains of the bond coat, enhances the adherence of AI2O3 layer. Failure of the GTBC finally occurred by cracking at the interface between the bond coat and AI2O3 layer, due to the combined effect of sulfidation of the bond coat and thermal cvcling.

Failure of EB-PVD Thermal Barrier Coatings Subjected to Thermo-Mechanical Loading

Thermal barrier coatings （TBCs） were developed to protect metallic blades and vanes working in turbo-engines. The two-layered structure TBCs, consisting of NiCoCrAlY bond coat and yttria stabilized zirconia （YSZ）, were deposited on a cylinder of superalloy substrate by the electron beam-physical vapor deposition （EB-PVD）. The failure mechanism of the TBCs was investigated with a thermo-mechanical fatigue testing system under the service condition similar to that for turbine blades. Non-destructive evaluation of the coated specimens was conducted through the impedance spectroscopy. It is found that the crack initiation mainly takes place on the top coat at the edge of the heated zones.

Electroluminescence of double-doped diamond thin films

A new electroluminescence device is fabricated by microwave plasma chemical vapour deposition system and electron beam vapour deposition system. It is comprised of highly doped silicon/diamond/boron/nitrogen-doped diamond/indium tin oxide thin films. Effects of process parameters on morphologies and structures of the thin films are detected and analysed by scanning electron microscopy, Raman spectrometer and x-ray photoelectron spectrometer. A direct-current （DC） power supply is used to drive the electroluminescence device. The blue light emission with a luminance of 1.2 cd·m^-2 is observed from this double-doped diamond thin film electroluminescence device at an applied voltage of 105 V.

Characterization of EBPVD micro-layer composites and simulation of its internal stress state

Based on the basic operating principal and the technology characteristic of electron beam physical vapor deposition(EBPVD) technique, EBPVD was used to prepare the micro-layer composites. The effect on the substrate preheating temperature was taken into accounts and the finite element analysis package ANSYS was used to simulate the internal stress field and the potential displacement changing tendency. The results show that one of the most important quality factors on the judgment of micro-layer composites is the adhesion between the substrate and the deposition layers as well as among the different deposition layers. Besides the existance of temperature gradient through the thickness of layers, the main reason for the internal stress in micro-layer composites is the mismatch of various properties of the layer and the substrate of different thermal expansions and crystal lattice types. With the increase of substrate preheating temperature, the inter-laminar shear stress also takes on a tendency of increase but the axial residual stress decrease.

DC Characteristics of Lattice-Matched InAlN/AlN/GaN High Electron Mobility Transistors

Lattice-matched InAlN/AlN/GaN high electron mobility transistors (HEMTs) grown on sapphire substrate by using low-pressure metallorganic chemical vapor deposition were prepared, and the comprehensive DC characteristics were implemented by Keithley 4200 Semiconductor Characterization System. The experimental results indicated that a maximum drain current over 400 mA/mm and a peak external transconductance of 215 mS/mm can be achieved in the initial HEMTs. However, after the devices endured a 10-h thermal aging in furnace under nitrogen condition at 300 ℃, the maximum reduction of saturation drain current and external transconductance at high gate-source voltage and drain-source voltage were 30% and 35%, respectively. Additionally, an increased drain-source leakage current was observed at three-terminal off-state. It was inferred that the degradation was mainly related to electron-trapping defects in the InAlN barrier layer.

Optimum Duty Cycle of Unsteady Plasma Aerodynamic Actuation for NACA0015 Airfoil Stall Separation Control

Unsteady dielectric barrier discharge（DBD） plasma aerodynamic actuation technology is employed to suppress airfoil stall separation and the technical parameters are explored with wind tunnel experiments on an NACA0015 airfoil by measuring the surface pressure distribution of the airfoil.The performance of the DBD aerodynamic actuation for airfoil stall separation suppression is evaluated under DBD voltages from 2000 V to 4000 V and the duty cycles varied in the range of 0.1 to 1.0.It is found that higher lift coefficients and lower threshold voltages are achieved under the unsteady DBD aerodynamic actuation with the duty cycles less than 0.5as compared to that of the steady plasma actuation at the same free-stream speeds and attack angles,indicating a better flow control performance.By comparing the lift coefficients and the threshold voltages,an optimum duty cycle is determined as 0.25 by which the maximum lift coefficient and the minimum threshold voltage are obtained at the same free-stream speed and attack angle.The non-uniform DBD discharge with stronger discharge in the positive half cycle due to electrons deposition on the dielectric slabs and the suppression of opposite momentum transfer due to the intermittent discharge with cutoff of the negative half cycle are responsible for the observed optimum duty cycle.

High temperature cyclic oxidation behavior of Y_2O_3-ZrO_2 thermal barrier coatings irradiated by high-intensity pulsed ion beam

The high-temperature oxidation resistance behavior of 7% （mass fraction） Y203-ZrO2 thermal barrier coatings （TBCs） irradiated by high-intensity pulsed ion beam （HIPIB） was investigated under the cyclic oxidation condition of 1 050 ℃ and 1 h. The columnar grains in the TBCs disappear after the HIPIB irradiation at ion current densities of 100-200 A/cm^2 and the irradiated surface becomes smooth and densified after remelting and ablation due to the HIPIB irradiation. The thermally grown oxide （TGO） layer thickness of the irradiated TBCs is smaller than that of the original TBCs. After 15 cycles, the mass gains of the original TBCs and those irradiated by ion current densities of 100 and 200 A/cm^2 due to the oxidation are found to be 0.8-0.9, 0.6-0.7, and 0.3-0.4 mg/cm^2, respectively. The inward diffusion of oxygen through the irradiated TBCs is significantly impeded by the densified top layer formed due to irradiation, which is the main reason for the improved overall oxidation resistance of the irradiated TBCs.

Light induced microstructure transformation in a-Si：H films

A series of a-Si：H films are deposited by hot wire assisted microwave electron cyclotron resonant chemical vapour deposition （HW-MWECR-CVD）, subsequently exposed under simulated illumination for three hours. This paper studies the microstructure change during illumination by Fourier Transformation Infrared （FTIR） spectra. There are two typical transformation tendencies of microstructure after illumination. It proposes a model of light induced structural change based on the experimental results. It is found that all samples follow the same mechanism during illumination, and intrinsic structure of samples affect the total H content.

Relative Irradiance Measurement and Bonding Configurations of Amorphous Fluorinated Carbon Films Deposited by Electron Cyclotron Resonance Plasma

a-C:F films are deposited by microwave electron cyclotron resonance (ECR)plasma chemical vapor deposition (CVD) using trifluoromethane (CHF3) and benzene (C6H6) as source gases at different microwave powers. The radicals in plasma originating from source gases dissociation are analyzed by relative irradiance measurement. The bonding configurations and binding state of a-C:F films are measured with Fourier-transformed infrared spectrometer (FTIR) and x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). The results show that a-C:F films are mainly composed of CF radical at lower powers but of CF2 radical at higher powers. The deposition of films is related to the radicals generated in plasma and the main bonding configurations are dependent on the ratio of CF to CF2 radicals in films.

Morphology and Field Emission of ZnO Nanomaterials at Different Positions

By simply adjusting the temperature and the number of materials, rod-like ZnO with different morphology, such as ZnO nanoneedles, were synthesized by a flexible thermal evaporation method. The ZnO nanorod array has the lowest turn-on field, the highest current density, and the highest emission efficiency due to its good contact with the substrate and relatively weak field shielding effect. Experiments show that the morphology and orientation of one-dimensional ZnO nanomaterials have a great influence on its conduction field and emission current density, and the nanoarrays also contribute to electron emission. The research results have a certain reference value for the application of ZnO nanorod arrays as cathode materials for field emission devices.

The effect of discharge conditions of ICP etching reactor on plasma parameters

This study investigated the inductively coupled plasma etching reactor and RF coils developed by North Microelectronic Corporation. Full three dimensional simulations were made at different discharge conditions. The simulations examined and compared the distribution and non-uniformity of several plasma parameters at a fixed position upon the wafer at different pressures and coil currents. These parameters included electron density, electron temperature and power deposition. The results demonstrate that the electron density, power deposition and uniformity increase with either higher pressure or stronger coil currents, while the electron temperature decreases at this condition. Coil number increase can reduce the non-uniformity of parameters in the spatial distribution. The linear relationship between power deposition and electron density does not always exist. The comparison between simulation results and experiment results is also presented in the paper.

Preparation and Characterization of La0.67–x Li3x TiO3 Solid-State Electrolyte Used for Electrochromic Mirrors

With the aim of producing all-solid-state electrochromic mirrors, La0.67–xLi3xTiO3 (LLTO) and the WO3 were prepared by electron beam deposition. The LLTO (with x = 0.11) powder was synthesized by thermally ball-grinding method and the Li+ ionic conductivity of the LLTO ceramic targets was found to be of ca. 3.25 × 10–3 S/cm. Using LLTO targets for e-beam evaporation, 300 nm-thick films with the Li+ ionic conductivity of 5.50 × 10–5 S/cm were deposited. Combining LLTO films with WO3/ITO and LiMn2O4 layers, all-solid-state electrochromic mirrors with a laminar structure of Al/LiMn2O4/LLTO/WO3/ITO were prepared. The reversible reflectance of the mirrors was well controlled by applying polarized potentials onto the ITO electrode. The obtained results suggest useful applications for electrochromic windows working as a smart reflectance mirror that can be used for auto rear-view mirrors.

Theoretical Study of ECRH Heating Of HL-2A Tokamak Plasma

Electron cyclotron resonance heating （ECRH） is one of the main auxiliary heating schemes for the HL-2A tokamak. Routinely, the ohmic heating can provide a heating power about 300-450 kW in this device （ estimated from that the total toroidal current is about 300 kA while the totoidal voltage is 1-1.5 V）. The total power for the ECRH now is 1 MW and in future 2 MW.

Factors affecting the superconductivity in the process of depositing Nd_(1.85)Ce_(0.15)CuO_(4-δ)by the pulsed electron deposition technique

On SrTiO3 single crystal substrate,by using the pulsed electron deposition tech-nique,the high-quality electron doped Nd1.85Ce0.15CuO4?δ superconducting film was successfully fabricated. After careful study on the R-T curves of the obtained sam-ples deposited with different substrate temperatures,thicknesses,annealing methods and pulse frequencies,the effects of them on the superconductivity of the films were found,and the reasons were also analyzed. Additionally,by using the same model of the pulsed laser deposition technique,the relation between the target-to-substrate distance and the deposition pressure was drawn out as a quantitative one.

A Study of Electron Beam Induced Deposition and Nano Device Fabrication Using Liquid Cell TEM Technology

SiCx nano dots and nano wires with sizes from 60 nm to approximately 2μm were fabricated using liquid cell transmission electron microscope(TEM)technology.A SiCl_(4)in CH_(2)Cl_(2)solution was sealed between two pieces of Si_(3)N_(4)window grids in an in situ TEM liquid cell.Focused 200 keV electron beams were used to bombard the sealed precursors,which caused decomposition of the precursor materials,and deposition of the nano materials on the Si_(3)N_(4)window substrates.The size of nano dots increased with beam exposure time,following an approximately exponential relationship with the beam doses.Secondary electrons are attributed as the primary sources for the Si and C reduction.A nano device was formed from a deposited nano wire,with its electrical property characterized.

Effects of Dy on Transient Oxidation Behavior of EB-PVD β-NiAl Coatings at Elevated Temperatures

β-NiAl is a potential oxidation-resistant coating material to be operated at temperatures above 1 150 ℃. In this paper,β-NiAl coatings with 0-0.5 at% Dy are prepared by electron beam physical vapor deposition （EB-PVD）. Transient oxidation behavior of the coatings is investigated. At 1 200 ℃, only stable α-Al2O3 phase is observed on the 0.05 at% doped coating, whereas the phase transfomlation from θ-Al2O3 to α-Al2O3 occurs in the 0.5 at% Dy doped coating during 1 h oxidation. At 1 100 ℃, all the coatings reveal the transient transformation of θ-α in the early 15 min and the transformation for the 0.05 at% Dy doped coating is completed within 45 min, much earlier than that for the 0.5 at% Dy doped coating. Overdoping of Dy retards the transformation of θ-α. The undoped and overdoped coatings reveal the whisker structure of θ-Al2O3 even after 20 h oxidation at 1 100 ℃, while the 0.05 at% Dy coating reveals typical granulated structure of α-Al2O3.

Improved mechanical properties of Ni-rich Ni3Al coatings produced by EB-PVD for repairing single crystal blades

Active control of turbine blade tip clearance for aircraft engine continues to be a concern in engine opera- tion, because turbine blades are subjected to wear and therefore cause an increasing tip clearance between the rotating blades and the shroud and also reduce the engine efficiency. In this work, a Ni-rich Ni3A1 coating with γ＇/γ two-phase microstructure was deposited by electron beam physical vapor deposition （EB-PVD）, which worked as repairing the worn blade tips of single crystal blades. Nb molten pool was used to increase the molten pool tem- perature and thus to enhance the deposition rate. The microstructures and mechanical properties can be modified by the deposition temperatures and the following heat treatments. All coatings consist of γ＇ and γ phases. At deposition temperature of 600 ℃, a dense microstructure can be achieved to produce a coating with grain size of 1 μm and microhardness of -HV 477. After being heated for 4 h at a temperature of 1,100 ℃, the coatings have a more uniform microstructure, and microhardness maintains at a high level of -HV 292. Effect of Hf and Zr on EB-PVD Ni3Al repair coating will be further investigated.

Mechanical properties of stabilized zirconia nanocrystalline EB-PVD coating evaluated by micro and nano indentation

Yttria-stabilized zirconia(YSZ)thin nanocrystalline coatings at different substrate preheating temperatures were deposited via electron beam-physical vapour deposition(EB-PVD).Nanocrystalline ZrO_(2)-Y_(2)O_(3) was deposited on the bond coat in order to compensate for the coefficient of thermal expansion(CTE),which can be functionalized as a thermal barrier coating(TBC).The aim of this study was to evaluate mechanical properties with respect to adhesion of zirconia nanocrystalline’s top ceramic layer to the interfacial bond coat by utilizing micro and nano indentation tests.In the present paper,the structural studies were carried out using X-ray diffraction(XRD)analysis of coating content(8 mol%of Y_(2)O_(3)).The tetragonal phase of stabilized zirconia was observed.Field emission scanning electron microscopy(FESEM)and atomic force microscopy(AFM)were employed to characterize the coatings’morphology and microstructure.The mechanical behavior of ZrO_(2)-Y_(2)O_(3) thin films under point loading conditions was studied by nanoindentation using a Berkovich indenter with 130 nm tip radius.Therefore,adhesion of top coat to the interfacial underlying metallic bond coat known as MCrAlY(M=Ni,Co)was estimated according to the highest peak load tests;for a 120 mN peak load,the film manifested tolerable adhesion properties.Moreover,nanoindentation of ZrO_(2)-Y_(2)O_(3) nanostructure deposited at 1050℃substrate preheating temperature produced the highest hardness value of about 21.7 GPa.Vickers micro hardness was utilized with the aid of the Tabor equation in order to achieve deeper insight into the correlation between adhesion and deposition process parameters.