We report the studies on the effect of grain alignment on lateral carrier transport in nominally 〈001〉-oriented aligned-crystalline silicon (ACSi) films on polycrystalline substrates. With improving grain alignment, energy barrier height at the grain boundaries was reduced from 150 to less than 1 meV, and both conductivity and Hall mobility became less sensitive to hydrogen passivation. This suggests that the dangling bonds in ACSi films are a major source of trapping sites, and that they become less dominant with improving grain alignment. These results demonstrate that improving grain alignment enhances the lateral carrier transport in small-grained (≤1 μm) polycrystalline silicon films, by reducing dangling bond density at the grain boundaries.

Void formation in lead-free solder joints, away from the joint interface, has been observed after solid-state aging. These voids are attached to intermetallic precipitates in the solder matrix, especially to those that are adjacent to the layered intermetallic at the joint interface. Two potential void formation mechanisms are discussed. The mechanism proposed to describe void formation is that a flux of vacancies is created due to volume contraction during solid-state reaction. The ripening process among the intermetallics also assists this process. Using the suggested mechanisms, the void size was estimated. This phenomenon differs from the classical Kirkendall void formation because it is a nonequilibrium state of void formation and stress generation.

The recent interest in oxidation catalysis provides the focus for this article. Until recently, gold has been overlooked as a key component of both homogeneous and heterogeneous catalysts. However, the observation in the 1980s that nanocrystalline gold supported on oxides was an effective catalyst for low-temperature carbon monoxide oxidation has now captured the imagination of many researchers. At present, low-temperature carbon monoxide oxidation remains an intensely studied field, but in recent years increased emphasis has been placed on using gold catalysts for selective oxidation. For example, the oxidation of alkanes, alkenes, and alcohols have all been shown to be effective with gold-based catalysts. In addition gold–palladium bimetallic catalysts have been shown to be very effective for the direct formation of hydrogen peroxide, and this will be described in this article.

We report on the selective area heteroepitaxy and facet evolution of AlGaN nanostructures on GaN/sapphire substrate using various mask materials. We also report on the challenges associated with selection of an appropriate mask material for selective area heteroepitaxy of AlGaN with varying Al composition. The shape and the growth rate of the nanostructures are observed to be greatly affected by the mask material. The evolution of the AlGaN nanostructures and Al incorporation were studied exhaustively as a function of growth parameters including temperature, pressure, NH3 flow, total alkyl flow, and TMAl/(TMAl+TMGa) ratio. The growth rate of nanostructures was reduced drastically when higher Al percentage AlGaN nanostructures were grown. The growth rates were increased for higher Al percentage AlGaN using a surfactant, which resulted in a high-quality pyramidal structure. As indicated by high-resolution x-ray diffraction and cathodoluminescence spectroscopy, the composition of Al in the AlGaN nanostructure is significantly different from that of a thin film grown under the same growth conditions.

Synchrotron x-ray topography with a high-resolution setup using 1128 reflection was carried out on 4H-SiC epilayers. Four different shapes of threading-edge dislocation according to Burgers vector direction were observed. The four types of threading-edge dislocation images were calculated by computer simulation, and the experimental results correlated well with the simulation results. The detailed topographic features generated by plural screw dislocations and basal plane dislocations were also investigated.

Dry aerosol synthesis applying the flame spray pyrolysis was used to manufacture and directly (in situ) deposit tin dioxide nanoparticles on sensor substrates. For the first time this technique was used to synthesize a combination of two porous layers for gas-sensor fabrication. Two different sensing layers were deposited on ceramic substrates, i.e., pure tin dioxide and palladium-doped tin dioxide. The top layer was a palladium-doped alumina as a filter. The fabricated sensors were tested with methane, CO, and ethanol. In the case of CH4, the pure tin dioxide sensor with the Pd/Al2O3 filter showed higher sensor signals and improved selectivity with respect to water vapor compared to single tin dioxide films. At temperatures up to 250 °C the Pd doping of the tin dioxide strongly increased the sensitivity to all gases. At higher temperatures the sensor signal significantly decreased for the Pd/SnO2 sensor with a Pd/Al2O3 filter, indicating high catalytic activity.

Cao and Huber [J. Mater. Res., 21, 1810 (2006)] proposed parameter-dependent representative strains, which have the potential to measure plastic properties from one conical indentation test. However, the potential performance of such a technique was not systematically analyzed. In this commentary, through a comprehensive numerical investigation, it is found that the two basic variables in Cao and Huber’s formulation are not completely independent, and it is difficult to obtain the two independent (sufficiently separated) representative stress–strain points needed for determining the plastic properties. Consequently, systematic errors (which could well exceed 100%) are generated for a wide range of materials, and the results are quite sensitive to small perturbations. As a complementary and critical examination of the original article, this commentary suggests that it is unreliable to use the representative strains proposed by Cao and Huber [J. Mater. Res., 21, 1810 (2006)] to measure the material plastic properties from one indentation.

A class of Ni–Co–Nb–Ta bulk metallic glasses (BMGs) with a high glass-forming ability is developed. With proper compositional modification, the BMGs exhibit the enhanced plastic strain (up to 4%) and the ultimate strength (up to 3540 MPa). It is found that the interactions of shear bands such as intersecting, arresting, and branching, which normally are related to the plastic metallic glasses, can be observed both in the plastic and brittle Ni–Co–Nb–Ta BMGs. Obvious serrated flow behavior is observed during plastic deformation. The origins of the plasticity and the serrated flow in the Ni-based BMGs are analyzed in analogy to that in crystalline materials.

The enthalpies of formation of rare-earth (RE)-doped Hf1−xRExO2−x/2 solid solutions (RE = Sm, Gd, Dy, Yb; x = 0.25 to 0.62) with respect to the oxide end members, monoclinic HfO2 and C-type REO1.5, were determined using oxide melt solution calorimetry. The enthalpies of formation fit a function quadratic in composition. The strongly negative interaction parameters in all solid solutions confirm a strong tendency for short-range order. Though strongly negative for all systems, the interaction parameters become less negative with increasing ionic potential (decreasing RE radius). Crystallization energetics were investigated for amorphous coprecipitation products with x = 0.4. The energy difference between the crystalline (fluorite and pyrochlore) and amorphous phases decreases with decreasing dopant radius. This suggests that systems doped with small RE ions have more similar local structures in the fluorite and amorphous phases. These observations may result in a smaller kinetic barrier to recrystallization and account for the greater radiation resistance of materials with smaller RE cations.

An ionic ferrofluid is prepared using coprecipitation and acid treatment techniques. In the ferrofluid, Co3+ and Fe2+ dissolved from CoFe2O4 nanoparticles via suitable acid attack, are absorbed on the surface of the magnetic particles and thus prevent them from aggregating. We call this self-formed ferrofluid. The colloidal particles in the ferrofluid are constructed with a magnetic core and a nonmagnetic surface layer about 2 nm. The size and the volume fraction of particles in the ferrofluid are described with geometric diameter d and volume fraction ϕv, as well as magnetic diameter dm and magnetic volume fraction ϕm. The viscous and magnetic properties of this ferrofluid depend on these parameters. The viscosity can be tunable for any volume fraction of particles by adding poly(ethylene glycol) into the carrier liquid.

Poly(methyl methacrylate) was contacted by a Berkovich indenter at a range of constant loading strain rates. This particular loading scheme was used to maintain the strain-rate-dependent elastic modulus and indentation hardness of the creeping solid constant throughout loading. A loading curve analysis method identical to that of Malzbender and de With but based on the elastic-perfectly plastic contact model of Hochstetter et al. [Tribol. Int.36, 973–985, 2003] was used to process the load-displacement curves. Using the analysis method together with the strain-rate-dependent elastic modulus of the creeping solid known a priori, the strain-rate-dependent hardness could then be predicted. The predicted hardness versus strain-rate relationship was compared with that evaluated from the observed topographic images of the residual impressions due to heavier indentations at three constant loading strain rates. Based on this comparison, the elastic-perfectly plastic contact model was shown to be applicable to the creeping solid only when deformation takes place at a quasi-static strain rate.

To explore the mechanism of grain growth, gas phase synthesized nanopowders of Al2O3 were heated in ambient conditions at elevated temperatures. Transmission electron microscopy and x-ray line broadening studies were performed to determine the microstructural parameters like crystallite size and root-mean-square (rms) strain. Increase in crystallite size with a decrease in dislocation density was observed for annealing the powder at higher temperatures. From a detailed analysis of the dislocation interactions, it was shown that polygonization like interaction of dislocations is the primary cause for such growth. A model for such growth is proposed. From the measured values of the rms strain and crystallite size at different temperatures, the ratio of the bulk to the shear modulus was determined. The measured ratio was found, within experimental uncertainties, to be close to the bulk value.

This work reports on a new morphology-inheriting methodology to MgO nanoplates. Precursor of Mg(OH)2 nanoplates was synthesized by a solvothermal method and showed a hexagonal shape. The morphological features of Mg(OH)2 nanoplates were retained to the resulting MgO nanoplates using a programmed heating process. MgO nanoplates showed highly hydroxylated surfaces. Upon excitation, the interactions between hydroxyl groups and surface O2−4c and O2−3c species gave rise to a dominant ultraviolet emission at 415 nm.

An analysis of size effects and doping on the strength of ultrananocrystalline diamond (UNCD) thin films is presented. The doping was achieved by the addition of nitrogen gas to the Ar/CH4 microwave plasma. The strength data, obtained by means of the membrane deflection experiment (MDE) were interpreted using Weibull statistics. The validity and predictive capability of the theory were examined in conjunction with detailed fractographic and transmission electron microscopy microstructural analysis. The Weibull parameters were estimated nonlinear regression based on 480 tests when the specimen volume varied from 500 to 16,000 μm3. Both undoped and doped UNCD films exhibited a decrease in strength with an increase in specimen size. A significant drop in strength was measured when the films were doped with nitrogen. Such a drop was almost independent of the percentage of doping. The results also showed that one can predict the fracture strength of a component possessing any arbitrary volume to within ±3%. Moreover, the failure mode of UNCD was found to be volume controlled. We also report changes in Young’s modulus as a function of doping for n-doped UNCD thin films.

Finite element analysis is used to simulate indentation creep experiments with a cone-shaped indenter. The purpose of the work is to help identify the relationship between the strain-rate sensitivity of the hardness, νH, and that of the flow stress, νσ in materials for which elastic deformations are significant. In general, νH differs from νσ, but the ratio νH/νσ is found to be a unique function of H/E* where H is the hardness and E* is the modulus relevant to Hertzian contact. νH/νσ approaches 1 for small H/E*, 0 for large H/E*, and is insensitive to work hardening. The trend in νH/νσ as a function of H/E* can be explained based on a generalized analysis of Tabor’s relation in which hardness is proportional to the flow stress H = k × σeff and in which the proportionality factor k is a function of σeff/E*.

ZnO nanostructures were grown directly on sapphire substrates and GaN epilayers by thermal evaporation. Their morphologies and densities were found to be strongly dependent on the synthesis position and the kinds of substrate loaded into the reactor due to the different oxygen densities and the lattice mismatch, respectively. Scanning electron microscopy and transmission electron microscopy studies revealed that ZnO nanorods on sapphire substrates grew in four directions, one 〈0001〉Sapphire and three (1014)Sapphire directions. It was found that the in-plane lattice mismatch of inclined ZnO nanorods was remarkably reduced by forming the planar relationship of (0002)ZnO//(1014)Sapphire, compared to that of (1120)ZnO//(1010)Sapphire in the ZnO film. On the other hand, for the GaN epilayers, vertically well-aligned ZnO nanorods were grown after growing an epitaxial ZnO film due to reduced lattice mismatch. Electron energy-loss spectroscopy data showed that Zn-rich stoichiometry was responsible for the formation of ZnO nanostructures.

Epitaxial ZnO thin films were grown on (111) MgAl2O4 with a pre-seeded, two-step chemical solution deposition process. Isolated, epitaxial ZnO islands (seeds) were formed on the substrate in the first step by spin coating a very thin layer of the precursor solution and heat-treating to 950 °C/3 h. In the second step, the seeded substrate was coated with another layer of precursor to produce an epitaxial film. The result was compared with the case in which a MgAl2O4 substrate was not seeded. Both the seeded and unseeded ZnO films have out-of-plane and in-plane orientation relationships of , respectively. However, only the seeded ZnO films have very faceted surface morphology without grain boundaries, indicating epitaxy, whereas the unseeded ZnO films have deep grain boundaries indicative of polycrystalline nature. This result shows that the formation of seeds in the first step plays an instrumental role in the formation of an epitaxial ZnO film.

The facet and dislocation structure of 5° and 7° [001]-tilt grain boundaries of YBa2Cu3O7−δ (YBCO) and Y0.7Ca0.3Ba2Cu3O7−δ (YCaBCO) thin film bicrystals were studied. A 24° [001]-tilt YBCO grain boundary was also examined to contrast with the low angle grain boundary faceting behavior. All the low-angle grain boundaries exhibit strong faceting along (100)/(010) and (110) and possess both straight symmetric segments containing equally spaced [100] unit dislocations and step asymmetric segments composed of (110) and (100)/(010) facets. Grain boundaries with a higher degree of meander acquired up to 40% (110) facets. The atomic structure of (110) facets was revealed by the atomic resolution Z-contrast imaging. The (110) facets are dissociated for both the YBCO and YCaBCO grain boundaries. We also found the Ca-doped (110) facets to be more extended along the grain boundary plane, consistent with our earlier finding of a dissociated dislocation core in Ca-doped (100) facets. These 5° and 7° misorientations that we studied are just in the range at which YBCO grain boundaries start to become obstacles to current flow. The above results will be helpful for understanding the current transport across YBCO low-angle grain boundaries.

MIn(WO4)2 (M = Li, Na, and K) with InO6 and WO6 octahedra were synthesized via a conventional solid-state reaction method. The photophysical and photocatalytic properties were studied. Compared with WO3, which is unable to evolve H2 from an aqueous CH3OH solution under illumination, the three materials can evolve H2 and O2 from aqueous solutions with CH3OH and AgNO3 sacrificial reagents, respectively. The activity order of photocatalytic H2 evolution is NaIn(WO4)2 > LiIn(WO4)2 > KIn(WO4)2 under irradiation (λ > 200 nm). Under irradiation (λ > 300 nm), however, LiIn(WO4)2 has a high activity for photocatalytic H2 evolution over NaIn(WO4)2. It is also noteworthy that LiIn(WO4)2 and NaIn(WO4)2 exhibit the ability to split pure water. The results suggest that the bottoms of the conduction bands in these photocatalysts are raised to meet the potential requirements of photocatalytic H2 evolution.

A commercial Mg–6 wt% Zn–0.5 wt% Zr (ZK60) alloy was used to investigate the effect of precipitate shapes on fracture toughness. The ZK60 alloy was extruded at a temperature of 653 K (extruded alloy). The extruded alloy was annealed at 633 K for 86.4 ks (annealed alloy), and then the annealed alloy was aged at 448 K for 100 ks (aged alloy). The average grain size in all the conditions was about the same, 13.5 ± 1.0 μm. The extruded and aged alloys had different shaped precipitates: spherical and rod shaped precipitates, respectively. The plane-strain fracture toughness KIC of the extruded, annealed, and aged alloys were estimated to be 22.4, 20.2, and 21.0 MPam1/2, respectively, by the stretched zone analysis. Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) observations showed that the deformation during the fracture toughness test was dominated by a dislocations on the basal slip planes in all the conditions. Such dislocations are commonly activated in magnesium alloys during the tensile and compression tests. The spherical shaped precipitates were found to be more effective than the rod shaped precipitates for improving the fracture toughness in the magnesium alloy.