The crystalline-to-amorphous transition in ion-bombarded silicon

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Mueller, G.; Kalbitzer, S.

1980-01-01

Hydrogen-free, but defect-rich a-Si can be obtained by ion bombardment of c-Si. The formation of such material has been studied in detail using carrier-removal measurements in the characterization of the bombardment damage. In order to develop an overall view of the disordering process these data are discussed together with results obtained on similar films by Rutherford back-scattering, electron spin resonance, electron microscopy and optical measurements. It is concluded that amorphous material generally evolves from an intermediate crystalline phase supersaturated with point defects. The transition occurs locally at the sites of energetic ion impacts into critically predamaged crystalline material. As a consequence, an amorphous layer is built up from small clusters with dimensions typically of the order of 50 A. From the net expansion of the bombarded layers it is concluded that regions of lower atomic density are locally present, very likely a consequence of a structural mismatch between individual amorphous clusters. In this way a heterogeneous defect structure may build up in these films which determines their electronic properties. (author)

Crystalline and amorphous carbon nitride films produced by high-energy shock plasma deposition

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bursilll, L.A.; Peng, Julin; Gurarie, V.N.; Orlov, A.V.; Prawer, S.

1995-01-01

High-energy shock plasma deposition techniques are used to produce carbon-nitride films containing both crystalline and amorphous components. The structures are examined by high-resolution transmission electron microscopy, parallel-electron-energy loss spectroscopy and electron diffraction. The crystalline phase appears to be face-centered cubic with unit cell parameter approx. a=0.63nm and it may be stabilized by calcium and oxygen at about 1-2 at % levels. The carbon atoms appear to have both trigonal and tetrahedral bonding for the crystalline phase. There is PEELS evidence that a significant fraction of the nitrogen atoms have sp 2 trigonal bonds in the crystalline phase. The amorphous carbon-nitride film component varies from essentially graphite, containing virtually no nitrogen, to amorphous carbon-nitride containing up to 10 at % N, where the fraction of sp 3 bonds is significant. 15 refs., 5 figs

Deformation-induced amorphization of crystalline particles in a Cu-Ti metallic glass

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kamentzky, E.A.; Askenazy, P.D.; Johnson, W.L.; Tanner, L.E.

1987-01-01

Crystalline particles and grains embedded in Cu 35 Ti 65 glass ribbons have been amorphized by isothermal cold rolling. The structural evolution has been studied by X-ray diffraction and TEM techniques. Initial particle morphologies are spherulitic and spherical, the latter with sizes ranging between 10 and 100 nm. The new amorphous phase seems to nucleate at crystalline-amorphous matrix interfaces. Initially there is a well defined interface between the new and the existing amorphous phases but it disappears as rolling progresses. Crystallites on a nanoscale still present in the final stages of particle amorphization have been observed by convergent beam electron diffraction. After sufficient deformation the consolidated ribbon becomes a completely glassy. A morphological description of the transformation process in terms of crystal destabilization and solid- state particle melting is presented

Amorphous and Crystalline Particulates: Challenges and Perspectives in Drug Delivery.

Science.gov (United States)

Al-Obaidi, Hisham; Majumder, Mridul; Bari, Fiza

2017-01-01

Crystalline and amorphous dispersions have been the focus of academic and industrial research due to their potential role in formulating poorly water-soluble drugs. This review looks at the progress made starting with crystalline carriers in the form of eutectics moving towards more complex crystalline mixtures. It also covers using glassy polymers to maintain the drug as amorphous exhibiting higher energy and entropy. However, the amorphous form tends to recrystallize on storage, which limits the benefits of this approach. Specific interactions between the drug and the polymer may retard this spontaneous conversion of the amorphous drug. Some studies have shown that it is possible to maintain the drug in the amorphous form for extended periods of time. For the drug and the polymer to form a stable mixture they have to be miscible on a molecular basis. Another form of solid dispersions is pharmaceutical co-crystals, for which research has focused on understanding the chemistry, crystal engineering and physico-chemical properties. USFDA has issued a guidance in April 2013 suggesting that the co-crystals as a pharmaceutical product may be a reality; but just not yet! While some of the research is still oriented towards application of these carriers, understanding the mechanism by which drug-carrier miscibility occurs is also covered. Within this context is the use of thermodynamic models such as Flory-Huggins model with some examples of studies used to predict miscibility. Copyright© Bentham Science Publishers; For any queries, please email at epub@benthamscience.org.

High-resolution observation of phase contrast at 1MeV. Amorphous or crystalline objects

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bourret, A.; Desseaux, J.

1975-01-01

Many authors have stressed the possibilities of high voltage to improve resolution, but owing to numerous experimental difficulties the resolution limit at 1MeV, which lies around 1A for conventional lenses, has so far been unattainable. Thus the phase contrast at 1MeV has not been studied on evaporated objects. On the other hand the fringes of crystal planes have been observed at 1MeV. the CEN-G microscope having been considerably modified it has been possible to observe the phase contrast of amorphous or crystalline objects [fr

Silicon Monoxide at 1 atm and Elevated Pressures: Crystalline or Amorphous?

KAUST Repository

AlKaabi, Khalid

2014-03-05

The absence of a crystalline SiO phase under ordinary conditions is an anomaly in the sequence of group 14 monoxides. We explore theoretically ordered ground-state and amorphous structures for SiO at P = 1 atm, and crystalline phases also at pressures up to 200 GPa. Several competitive ground-state P = 1 atm structures are found, perforce with Si-Si bonds, and possessing Si-O-Si bridges similar to those in silica (SiO2) polymorphs. The most stable of these static structures is enthalpically just a little more stable than a calculated random bond model of amorphous SiO. In that model we find no segregation into regions of amorphous Si and amorphous SiO2. The P = 1 atm structures are all semiconducting. As the pressure is increased, intriguing new crystalline structures evolve, incorporating Si triangular nets or strips and stishovite-like regions. A heat of formation of crystalline SiO is computed; it is found to be the most negative of all the group 14 monoxides. Yet, given the stability of SiO2, the disproportionation 2SiO (s) → Si(s)+SiO2(s) is exothermic, falling right into the series of group 14 monoxides, and ranging from a highly negative ΔH of disproportionation for CO to highly positive for PbO. There is no major change in the heat of disproportionation with pressure, i.e., no range of stability of SiO with respect to SiO2. The high-pressure SiO phases are metallic. © 2014 American Chemical Society.

Amorphous-crystalline interface evolution during Solid Phase Epitaxy Regrowth of SiGe films amorphized by ion implantation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

D'Angelo, D.; Piro, A.M.; Mirabella, S.; Bongiorno, C.; Romano, L.; Terrasi, A.; Grimaldi, M.G.

2007-01-01

Transmission Electron Microscopy was combined with Time Resolved Reflectivity to study the amorphous-crystalline (a-c) interface evolution during Solid Phase Epitaxy Regrowth (SPER) of Si 0.83 Ge 0.17 films deposited on Si by Molecular Beam Epitaxy and amorphized with Ge + ion implantation. Starting from the Si/SiGe interface, a 20 nm thick layer regrows free of defects with the same SPER rate of pure Si. The remaining SiGe regrows with planar defects and dislocations, accompanied by a decrease of the SPER velocity. The sample was also studied after implantation with B or P. In these cases, the SPER rate raises following the doping concentration profile, but no difference in the defect-free layer thickness was observed compared to the un-implanted sample. On the other hand, B or P introduction reduces the a-c interface roughness, while B-P co-implantation produces roughness comparable to the un-implanted sample

Reversible electrical resistance switching in GeSbTe thin films : An electrolytic approach without amorphous-crystalline phase-change

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Pandian, Ramanathaswamy; Kooi, Bart J.; Palasantzas, George; De Hosson, Jeff Th. M.; Wouters, DJ; Hong, S; Soss, S; Auciello, O

2008-01-01

Besides the well-known resistance switching originating from the amorphous-crystalline phase-change in GeSbTe thin films, we demonstrate another switching mechanism named 'polarity-dependent resistance (PDR) switching'. 'Me electrical resistance of the film switches between a low- and high-state

Structural, optical and mechanical properties of amorphous and crystalline alumina thin films

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Nayar, Priyanka [Department of Physics, Guru Nanak Dev University, Amritsar 143005 (India); Khanna, Atul, E-mail: akphysics@yahoo.com [Department of Physics, Guru Nanak Dev University, Amritsar 143005 (India); Kabiraj, D.; Abhilash, S.R. [Inter University Accelerator Centre, Aruna Asaf Ali Marg, New Delhi 110067 (India); Beake, Ben D.; Losset, Yannick [Micro Materials Limited, Unit 3, Wrexham Technology Park, Wrexham LL13 7YP (United Kingdom); Chen, Banghao [Chemistry and Biochemistry Department, Florida State University, Tallahassee 32306 (United States)

2014-10-01

Thin films of amorphous alumina of thickness 350 nm were deposited on fused silica substrates by electron beam evaporation. Amorphous films were annealed at several temperatures in the range: 400–1130 °C and changes in film crystallinity, short-range structure, optical and mechanical properties were studied. X-ray diffraction studies found that crystallization starts at 800 °C and produces γ and δ-alumina, the latter phase grows with heat treatment and the sample was mostly δ and θ-alumina after annealing at 1130 °C. The as-deposited amorphous alumina films have low hardness of 5 to 8 GPa, which increases to 11 to 12 GPa in crystalline sample. {sup 27}Al Magic Angle Spinning Nuclear Magnetic Resonance was used to study the short-range order of amorphous and crystalline alumina films and it was found that amorphous alumina film contains AlO{sub 5} and AlO{sub 4} structural units in the ratio of 1:2. The concentration of AlO{sub 5} was significantly suppressed in crystalline film, which contains 48% of Al{sup 3+} ions in AlO{sub 6}, 7% in AlO{sub 5} and 45% in AlO{sub 4} units. - Highlights: • Structure–property correlations in alumina films grown by electron-beam evaporation • Amorphous films crystallize into γ and δ-alumina on annealing in air at 800 °C. • δ and θ-alumina films are stable up to 1130 °C and do not transform to α-phase. • Amorphous alumina films contain {sup [5]}Al and {sup [4]}Al structural units in the ratio of 1:2. • {sup [5]}Al decreases whereas {sup [6]}Al concentration increases on crystallization.

Crystalline and amorphous H2O on Charon

Science.gov (United States)

Dalle Ore, Cristina M.; Cruikshank, Dale P.; Grundy, Will M.; Ennico, Kimberly; Olkin, Catherine B.; Stern, S. Alan; Young, Leslie A.; Weaver, Harold A.

2015-11-01

Charon, the largest satellite of Pluto, is a gray-colored icy world covered mostly in H2O ice, with spectral evidence for NH3, as previously reported (Cook et al. 2007, Astrophys. J. 663, 1406-1419 Merlin, et al. 2010, Icarus, 210, 930; Cook, et al. 2014, AAS/Division for Planetary Sciences Meeting Abstracts, 46, #401.04). Images from the New Horizons spacecraft reveal a surface with terrains of widely different ages and a moderate degree of localized coloration. The presence of H2O ice in its crystalline form (Brown & Calvin 2000 Science 287, 107-109; Buie & Grundy 2000 Icarus 148, 324-339; Merlin et al, 2010) along with NH3 is consistent with a fresh surface.The phase of H2O ice is a key tracer of variations in temperature and physical conditions on the surface of outer Solar System objects. At Charon’s surface temperature H2O is expected to be amorphous, but ground-based observations (e.g., Merlin et al. 2010) show a clearly crystalline signature. From laboratory experiments it is known that amorphous H2O ice becomes crystalline at temperatures of ~130 K. Other mechanisms that can change the phase of the ice from amorphous to crystalline include micro-meteoritic bombardment (Porter et al. 2010, Icarus, 208, 492) or resurfacing processes such as cryovolcanism.New Horizons observed Charon with the LEISA imaging spectrometer, part of the Ralph instrument (Reuter, D.C., Stern, S.A., Scherrer, J., et al. 2008, Space Science Reviews, 140, 129). Making use of high spatial resolution (better than 10 km/px) and spectral resolving power of 240 in the wavelength range 1.25-2.5 µm, and 560 in the range 2.1-2.25 µm, we report on an analysis of the phase of H2O ice on parts of Charon’s surface with a view to investigate the recent history and evolution of this small but intriguing object.This work was supported by NASA’s New Horizons project.

Vacuum ultraviolet photoabsorption spectroscopy of crystalline and amorphous benzene

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Dawes, Anita; Pascual, Natalia; Hoffmann, Soren V.

2017-01-01

We present the first high resolution vacuum ultraviolet photoabsorption study of amorphous benzene with com parisons to annealed crystalline benzene and the gas phase. Vapour deposited benzene layers w ere grow n at 25 K and annealed to 90 K under conditions pertinent to interstellaricy dust grains...

First-principles study of crystalline and amorphous AlMgB14-based materials

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ivashchenko, V. I.; Shevchenko, V. I.; Turchi, P. E. A.; Veprek, S.; Leszczynski, Jerzy; Gorb, Leonid; Hill, Frances

2016-01-01

We report first-principles investigations of crystalline and amorphous boron and M1 x M2 y X z B 14−z (M1, M2 = Al, Mg, Li, Na, Y; X = Ti, C, Si) phases (so-called “BAM” materials). Phase stability is analyzed in terms of formation energy and dynamical stability. The atomic configurations as well as the electronic and phonon density states of these phases are compared. Amorphous boron consists of distorted icosahedra, icosahedron fragments, and dioctahedra, connected by an amorphous network. The presence of metal atoms in amorphous BAM materials precludes the formation of icosahedra. For all the amorphous structures considered here, the Fermi level is located in the mobility gap independent of the number of valence electrons. The intra-icosahedral vibrations are localized in the range of 800 cm −1 , whereas the inter-icosahedral vibrations appear at higher wavenumbers. The amorphization leads to an enhancement of the vibrations in the range of 1100–1250 cm −1 . The mechanical properties of BAM materials are investigated at equilibrium and under shear and tensile strain. The anisotropy of the ideal shear and tensile strengths is explained in terms of a layered structure of the B 12 units. The strength of amorphous BAM materials is lower than that of the crystalline counterparts because of the partial fragmentation of the boron icosahedra in amorphous structures. The strength enhancement found experimentally for amorphous boron-based films is very likely related to an increase in film density, and the presence of oxygen impurities. For crystalline BAM materials, the icosahedra are preserved during elongation upon tension as well as upon shear in the (010)[100] slip system.

The potential for the fabrication of wires embedded in the crystalline silicon substrate using the solid phase segregation of gold in crystallising amorphous volumes

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Liu, A.C.Y.; McCallum, J.C.

2004-01-01

The refinement of gold in crystallising amorphous silicon volumes was tested as a means of creating a conducting element embedded in the crystalline matrix. Amorphous silicon volumes were created by self-ion-implantation through a mask. Five hundred kiloelectronvolt Au + was then implanted into the volumes. The amorphous volumes were crystallised on a hot stage in air, and the crystallisation was characterised using cross sectional transmission electron microscopy. It was found that the amorphous silicon volumes crystallised via solid phase epitaxy at all the lateral and vertical interfaces. The interplay of the effects of the gold and also the hydrogen that infilitrated from the surface oxide resulted in a plug of amorphous material at the surface. Further annealing at this temperature demonstrated that the gold, once it had reached a certain critical concentration nucleated poly-crystalline growth instead of solid phase epitaxy. Time resolved reflectivity and Rutherford backscattering and channeling measurements were performed on large area samples that had been subject to the same implantation regime to investigate this system further. It was discovered that the crystallisation dynamics and zone refinement of the gold were complicated functions of both gold concentration and temperature. These findings do not encourage the use of this method to obtain conducting elements embedded in the crystalline silicon substrate

Observing the amorphous-to-crystalline phase transition in Ge{sub 2}Sb{sub 2}Te{sub 5} non-volatile memory materials from ab initio molecular-dynamics simulations

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Lee, T.H.; Elliott, S.R. [Department of Chemistry, University of Cambridge, Lensfield Road, CB2 1EW Cambridge (United Kingdom)

2012-10-15

Phase-change memory is a promising candidate for the next generation of non-volatile memory devices. This technology utilizes reversible phase transitions between amorphous and crystalline phases of a recording material, and has been successfully used in rewritable optical data storage, revealing its feasibility. In spite of the importance of understanding the nucleation and growth processes that play a critical role in the phase transition, this understanding is still incomplete. Here, we present observations of the early stages of crystallization in Ge{sub 2}Sb{sub 2}Te{sub 5} materials through ab initio molecular-dynamics simulations. Planar structures, including fourfold rings and planes, play an important role in the formation and growth of crystalline clusters in the amorphous matrix. At the same time, vacancies facilitate crystallization by providing space at the glass-crystalline interface for atomic diffusion, which results in fast crystal growth, as observed in simulations and experiments. The microscopic mechanism of crystallization presented here may deepen our understanding of the phase transition occurring in real devices, providing an opportunity to optimize the memory performance of phase-change materials. (Copyright copyright 2012 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH and Co. KGaA, Weinheim)

Amorphous surface layer versus transient amorphous precursor phase in bone - A case study investigated by solid-state NMR spectroscopy.

Science.gov (United States)

Von Euw, Stanislas; Ajili, Widad; Chan-Chang, Tsou-Hsi-Camille; Delices, Annette; Laurent, Guillaume; Babonneau, Florence; Nassif, Nadine; Azaïs, Thierry

2017-09-01

The presence of an amorphous surface layer that coats a crystalline core has been proposed for many biominerals, including bone mineral. In parallel, transient amorphous precursor phases have been proposed in various biomineralization processes, including bone biomineralization. Here we propose a methodology to investigate the origin of these amorphous environments taking the bone tissue as a key example. This study relies on the investigation of a bone tissue sample and its comparison with synthetic calcium phosphate samples, including a stoichiometric apatite, an amorphous calcium phosphate sample, and two different biomimetic apatites. To reveal if the amorphous environments in bone originate from an amorphous surface layer or a transient amorphous precursor phase, a combined solid-state nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) experiment has been used. The latter consists of a double cross polarization 1 H→ 31 P→ 1 H pulse sequence followed by a 1 H magnetization exchange pulse sequence. The presence of an amorphous surface layer has been investigated through the study of the biomimetic apatites; while the presence of a transient amorphous precursor phase in the form of amorphous calcium phosphate particles has been mimicked with the help of a physical mixture of stoichiometric apatite and amorphous calcium phosphate. The NMR results show that the amorphous and the crystalline environments detected in our bone tissue sample belong to the same particle. The presence of an amorphous surface layer that coats the apatitic core of bone apatite particles has been unambiguously confirmed, and it is certain that this amorphous surface layer has strong implication on bone tissue biogenesis and regeneration. Questions still persist on the structural organization of bone and biomimetic apatites. The existing model proposes a core/shell structure, with an amorphous surface layer coating a crystalline bulk. The accuracy of this model is still debated because amorphous calcium

Effect of hydridation on structure of amorphous and amorphous-crystalline Fe40Ni40B20 and Co70Fe5Si15B10 bands

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Il'inskij, A.G.; Brovko, A.P.; Zelinskaya, G.M.; Kosenko, N.S.; Khristenko, T.M.; Kobzenko, G.F.; Shkola, A.A.

1988-01-01

The structure of amorphous and amorphous-crystaliline Fe 40 Ni 40 B 20 and Co 70 Fe 5 Si-1 5 B 10 alloys, exposed to hydridation at different temperatures, is studied by X-ray diffraction technique. The presence of crystalline constituent in amorphous bands was determined on DRON-3 device and by method of small-angle scattering. The experimental data obtained verify, that hydridation does not only prevent the formation of crystalline phases at annealing, but leads, as well, to disappearance of band crystalline constituent in case of its presence

First-principles study of crystalline and amorphous AlMgB{sub 14}-based materials

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Ivashchenko, V. I.; Shevchenko, V. I., E-mail: shev@materials.kiev.ua [Institute of Problems of Material Science, National Academy of Science of Ukraine, Krzhyzhanosky Str. 3, 03142 Kyiv (Ukraine); Turchi, P. E. A. [Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (L-352), P.O. Box 808, Livermore, California 94551 (United States); Veprek, S. [Department of Chemistry, Technical University Munich, Lichtenbergstrasse 4, D-85747 Garching (Germany); Leszczynski, Jerzy [Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, Interdisciplinary Center for Nanotoxicity, Jackson State University, Jackson, Mississippi 39217 (United States); Gorb, Leonid [Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, Interdisciplinary Center for Nanotoxicity, Jackson State University, Jackson, Mississippi 39217 (United States); Badger Technical Services, LLC, Vicksburg, Mississippi 39180 (United States); Hill, Frances [U.S. Army ERDC, Vicksburg, Mississippi 39180 (United States)

2016-05-28

We report first-principles investigations of crystalline and amorphous boron and M1{sub x}M2{sub y}X{sub z}B{sub 14−z} (M1, M2 = Al, Mg, Li, Na, Y; X = Ti, C, Si) phases (so-called “BAM” materials). Phase stability is analyzed in terms of formation energy and dynamical stability. The atomic configurations as well as the electronic and phonon density states of these phases are compared. Amorphous boron consists of distorted icosahedra, icosahedron fragments, and dioctahedra, connected by an amorphous network. The presence of metal atoms in amorphous BAM materials precludes the formation of icosahedra. For all the amorphous structures considered here, the Fermi level is located in the mobility gap independent of the number of valence electrons. The intra-icosahedral vibrations are localized in the range of 800 cm{sup −1}, whereas the inter-icosahedral vibrations appear at higher wavenumbers. The amorphization leads to an enhancement of the vibrations in the range of 1100–1250 cm{sup −1}. The mechanical properties of BAM materials are investigated at equilibrium and under shear and tensile strain. The anisotropy of the ideal shear and tensile strengths is explained in terms of a layered structure of the B{sub 12} units. The strength of amorphous BAM materials is lower than that of the crystalline counterparts because of the partial fragmentation of the boron icosahedra in amorphous structures. The strength enhancement found experimentally for amorphous boron-based films is very likely related to an increase in film density, and the presence of oxygen impurities. For crystalline BAM materials, the icosahedra are preserved during elongation upon tension as well as upon shear in the (010)[100] slip system.

Solid state characterization of commercial crystalline and amorphous atorvastatin calcium samples.

Science.gov (United States)

Shete, Ganesh; Puri, Vibha; Kumar, Lokesh; Bansal, Arvind K

2010-06-01

Atorvastatin calcium (ATC), an anti-lipid BCS class II drug, is marketed in crystalline and amorphous solid forms. The objective of this study was to perform solid state characterization of commercial crystalline and amorphous ATC drug samples available in the Indian market. Six samples each of crystalline and amorphous ATC were characterized using X-ray powder diffractometry (XRPD), differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), thermogravimetric analysis, Karl Fisher titrimetry, microscopy (hot stage microscopy, scanning electron microscopy), contact angle, and intrinsic dissolution rate (IDR). All crystalline ATC samples were found to be stable form I, however one sample possessed polymorphic impurity, evidenced in XRPD and DSC analysis. Amongst the amorphous ATC samples, XRPD demonstrated five samples to be amorphous 'form 27', while, one matched amorphous 'form 23'. Thermal behavior of amorphous ATC samples was compared to amorphous ATC generated by melt quenching in DSC. ATC was found to be an excellent glass former with T(g)/T(m) of 0.95. Residual crystallinity was detected in two of the amorphous samples by complementary use of conventional and modulated DSC techniques. The wettability and IDR of all amorphous samples was found to be higher than the crystalline samples. In conclusion, commercial ATC samples exhibited diverse solid state behavior that can impact the performance and stability of the dosage forms.

Reversible amorphous-crystalline phase changes in a wide range of Se1-xTex alloys studied using ultrafast differential scanning calorimetry

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Vermeulen, Paul. A.; Momand, Jamo; Kooi, Bart J.

The reversible amorphous-crystalline phase change in a chalcogenide material, specifically the Se1-xTex alloy, has been investigated for the first time using ultrafast differential scanning calorimetry. Heating rates and cooling rates up to 5000 K/s were used. Repeated reversible

Unique Bond Breaking in Crystalline Phase Change Materials and the Quest for Metavalent Bonding.

Science.gov (United States)

Zhu, Min; Cojocaru-Mirédin, Oana; Mio, Antonio M; Keutgen, Jens; Küpers, Michael; Yu, Yuan; Cho, Ju-Young; Dronskowski, Richard; Wuttig, Matthias

2018-05-01

Laser-assisted field evaporation is studied in a large number of compounds, including amorphous and crystalline phase change materials employing atom probe tomography. This study reveals significant differences in field evaporation between amorphous and crystalline phase change materials. High probabilities for multiple events with more than a single ion detected per laser pulse are only found for crystalline phase change materials. The specifics of this unusual field evaporation are unlike any other mechanism shown previously to lead to high probabilities of multiple events. On the contrary, amorphous phase change materials as well as other covalently bonded compounds and metals possess much lower probabilities for multiple events. Hence, laser-assisted field evaporation in amorphous and crystalline phase change materials reveals striking differences in bond rupture. This is indicative for pronounced differences in bonding. These findings imply that the bonding mechanism in crystalline phase change materials differs substantially from conventional bonding mechanisms such as metallic, ionic, and covalent bonding. Instead, the data reported here confirm a recently developed conjecture, namely that metavalent bonding is a novel bonding mechanism besides those mentioned previously. © 2018 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

AN INFRARED SPECTROSCOPIC STUDY OF AMORPHOUS AND CRYSTALLINE ICES OF VINYLACETYLENE AND IMPLICATIONS FOR SATURN'S SATELLITE TITAN

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kim, Y. S.; Kaiser, R. I.

2009-01-01

Laboratory infrared spectra of amorphous and crystalline vinylacetylene ices were recorded in the range of 7000-400 cm -1 . The spectra showed several amorphous features in the ice deposited at 10 K, which were then utilized to monitor a phase transition between 93 ± 1 K to form the crystalline structure. Successive heating allows monitoring of the sublimation profile of the vinylacetylene sample in the range of 101-120 K. Considering Titan's surface temperature of 94 K, vinylacetylene ice is likely to be crystalline. Analogous studies on related planetary-bound molecules such as triaceylene and cyanoacetylene may be further warranted to gain better perspectives into the composition of the condensed phases in the Titan's atmosphere (aerosol particles) and of Titan's surface. Based on our studies, we recommend utilizing the ν 1 and ν 16 //ν 11 /ν 17 fundamentals at about 3300 and 650 cm -1 to determine if solid vinylacetylene is crystalline or amorphous on Titan.

Corrosion resistance of amorphous and crystalline Pd40Ni40P20 alloys in aqueous solutions

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Wu, Y.F.; Chiang, Wen-Chi; Chu, J.

2006-01-01

The corrosion behaviors of amorphous and crystalline Pd40Ni40P20 alloys in various aqueous solutions are reported in this paper. The corrosion resistance of crystalline (annealed) Pd40Ni40P20 is better than that of amorphous Pd40Ni40P20 in various corrosive solutions, due to crystalline Pd40Ni40P20...... and mainly consists of inert Pd5P2, NI3P, Ni2Pd2P and noble Pd phases. These inert and noble properties result in a higher corrosion resistance in crystalline Pd40Ni40P20....

Terahertz time domain spectroscopy of amorphous and crystalline aluminum oxide nanostructures synthesized by thermal decomposition of AACH

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Mehboob, Shoaib, E-mail: smehboob@pieas.edu.pk [National Center for Nanotechnology, Department of Metallurgy and Materials Engineering, Pakistan Institute of Engineering and Applied Sciences (PIEAS), Nilore 45650, Islamabad (Pakistan); Mehmood, Mazhar [National Center for Nanotechnology, Department of Metallurgy and Materials Engineering, Pakistan Institute of Engineering and Applied Sciences (PIEAS), Nilore 45650, Islamabad (Pakistan); Ahmed, Mushtaq [National Institute of Lasers and Optronics (NILOP), Nilore 45650, Islamabad (Pakistan); Ahmad, Jamil; Tanvir, Muhammad Tauseef [National Center for Nanotechnology, Department of Metallurgy and Materials Engineering, Pakistan Institute of Engineering and Applied Sciences (PIEAS), Nilore 45650, Islamabad (Pakistan); Ahmad, Izhar [National Institute of Lasers and Optronics (NILOP), Nilore 45650, Islamabad (Pakistan); Hassan, Syed Mujtaba ul [National Center for Nanotechnology, Department of Metallurgy and Materials Engineering, Pakistan Institute of Engineering and Applied Sciences (PIEAS), Nilore 45650, Islamabad (Pakistan)

2017-04-15

The objective of this work is to study the changes in optical and dielectric properties with the transformation of aluminum ammonium carbonate hydroxide (AACH) to α-alumina, using terahertz time domain spectroscopy (THz-TDS). The nanostructured AACH was synthesized by hydrothermal treatment of the raw chemicals at 140 °C for 12 h. This AACH was then calcined at different temperatures. The AACH was decomposed to amorphous phase at 400 °C and transformed to δ* + α-alumina at 1000 °C. Finally, the crystalline α-alumina was achieved at 1200 °C. X-ray diffraction (XRD) and Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy were employed to identify the phases formed after calcination. The morphology of samples was studied using scanning electron microscopy (SEM), which revealed that the AACH sample had rod-like morphology which was retained in the calcined samples. THz-TDS measurements showed that AACH had lowest refractive index in the frequency range of measurements. The refractive index at 0.1 THZ increased from 2.41 for AACH to 2.58 for the amorphous phase and to 2.87 for the crystalline α-alumina. The real part of complex permittivity increased with the calcination temperature. Further, the absorption coefficient was highest for AACH, which reduced with calcination temperature. The amorphous phase had higher absorption coefficient than the crystalline alumina. - Highlights: • Aluminum oxide nanostructures were obtained by thermal decomposition of AACH. • Crystalline phases of aluminum oxide have higher refractive index than that of amorphous phase. • The removal of heavier ionic species led to the lower absorption of THz radiations.

Crystalline and amorphous solid phases in the classical hard sphere system

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Aguilera-Navarro, V.C.; Souza, R.F.T.; Llano, M. de; Mini, S.

1984-01-01

A qualitative crystalline, as well as amorphous, solid behavior is simultaneously extracted for a classical hard sphere system from its known virial power series expansion in the density augmented by only one further virial coefficient, taken from an extrapolated estimate of the Cauchy-Hadamard radius of convergence criterion. Results are compared with computer simulation data. (Author) [pt

Amorphous-crystalline transition studied in hydrated MoO3

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Camacho-Lopez, M.A.; Haro-Poniatowski, E.; Lartundo-Rojas, L.; Livage, J.; Julien, C.M.

2006-01-01

In this work we study the thermal behavior of hydrated MoO 3 synthesized via acidification of sodium molybdate. MoO 3 .nH 2 O (n = 1.4) amorphous compound was heated in air at increasing temperatures in order to obtain the crystalline MoO 3 phase. We have studied the structural changes as a function of annealing temperature by Raman spectroscopy. A statistical study to determine the average size of the crystallites at each annealing step has been realized by scanning electron microscopy. Results show that the hydrated MoO 3 .1.4H 2 O glass transforms in an amorphous MoO 3 .0.7H 2 O phase prior to its crystallization, while the sample heated at 500 deg. C crystallizes into the orthorhombic α-MoO 3 phase with micro-crystallites having an average size of 6.8 μm

Development of shear bands in amorphous-crystalline metallic alloys

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Pozdnyakov, V.A.

2004-01-01

A theoretical study is made into conditions of shear band evolution in amorphous-crystalline alloys with various morphological types of structural constituents. The condition of shear band evolution in thin amorphous alloys in the interior of the crystalline matrix is obtained. It is shown that a scale effect exists which manifests itself in suppression of the process of localized plastic flow with amorphous alloy thickness decreasing down to the limit. The analysis of the condition for shear band evolution in an amorphous alloy with nanocrystalline inclusions is accomplished. The relationship of a critical stress of shear band evolution to a volume fraction of disperse crystal inclusions is obtained. A consideration is also given to the evolution of shear bands in the material containing amorphous and crystalline areas of micro meter size. For the alloy with the structure of this type conditions for propagation of localized flows by a relay race type mechanism are determined [ru

Evolution of optical properties and band structure from amorphous to crystalline Ga2O3 films

Science.gov (United States)

Zhang, Fabi; Li, Haiou; Cui, Yi-Tao; Li, Guo-Ling; Guo, Qixin

2018-04-01

The optical properties and band structure evolution from amorphous to crystalline Ga2O3 films was investigated in this work. Amorphous and crystalline Ga2O3 films were obtained by changing the growth substrate temperatures of pulsed laser deposition and the crystallinity increase with the rising of substrate temperature. The bandgap value and ultraviolet emission intensity of the films increase with the rising of crystallinity as observed by means of spectrophotometer and cathodoluminescence spectroscopy. Abrupt bandgap value and CL emission variations were observed when amorphous to crystalline transition took place. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy core level spectra reveal that more oxygen vacancies and disorders exist in amorphous Ga2O3 film grown at lower substrate temperature. The valence band spectra of hard X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy present the main contribution from Ga 4sp for crystalline film deposited at substrate temperature of 500 oC, while extra subgap states has been observed in amorphous film deposited at 300 oC. The oxygen vacancy and the extra subgap density of states are suggested to be the parts of origin of bandgap and CL spectra variations. The experimental data above yields a realistic picture of optical properties and band structure variation for the amorphous to crystalline transition of Ga2O3 films.

Theoretical investigations on magnetic entropy change in amorphous and crystalline systems: Applications to RAg (R=Tb, Dy, Ho) and GdCuAl

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Ranke, P.J. von, E-mail: von.ranke@uol.com.br [Instituto de Física, Universidade do Estado do Rio de Janeiro – UERJ, Rua São Francisco Xavier, 524, 20550-013 RJ (Brazil); Nóbrega, E.P. [Instituto de Física, Universidade do Estado do Rio de Janeiro – UERJ, Rua São Francisco Xavier, 524, 20550-013 RJ (Brazil); Caldas, A. [Sociedade Unificada de Ensino Superior e Cultura, SUESC, 20211-351 Rio de Janeiro, RJ (Brazil); Alho, B.P. [Instituto de Aplicação Fernando Rodrigues da Silveira, Universidade do Estado do Rio de Janeiro, Rua Santa Alexandrina, 288, 20260-232 RJ (Brazil); Ribeiro, P.O.; Alvarenga, T.S.T.; Lopes, P.H.O.; Sousa, V.S.R. de [Instituto de Física, Universidade do Estado do Rio de Janeiro – UERJ, Rua São Francisco Xavier, 524, 20550-013 RJ (Brazil); Carvalho, A. Magnus G. [Laboratório Nacional de Luz Síncrotron, CNPEM, 13083-970 Campinas, SP (Brazil); Oliveira, N.A. de [Instituto de Física, Universidade do Estado do Rio de Janeiro – UERJ, Rua São Francisco Xavier, 524, 20550-013 RJ (Brazil)

2014-11-15

We report theoretical investigations on the magnetic entropy changes in amorphous systems through two different assumptions. In the first assumption, the HPZ-anisotropic model is considered to deal with the random direction of magnetic moments, where the amorphous RAg (R=Tb, Dy and Ho) were used as prototypes systems. In the second assumption, the amorphisation is parameterized through the exchange interaction distribution and GdCuAl, in amorphous and crystalline structures, were considered as prototypes systems. Comparisons between the magnetic entropy changes under amorphisation and under the usual magnetic field variation were performed. The model reveals the dependence of refrigerant capacity on the amorphisation parameter, and an optimum amorphisation parameter was calculated. - Highlights: • Theoretical investigation on RAg (R=Tb, Dy and Ho) and GdCuAl amorphous alloys. • Magnetic entropy changes in GdCuAl in both amorphous and crystalline structures. • The refrigerant capacity was compared in both amorphous and crystalline phases.

Diffusion of Lithium Ions in Amorphous and Crystalline Poly(ethylene oxide)_3:LiCF_3SO_3 Polymer Electrolytes

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Xue, Sha; Liu, Yingdi; Li, Yaping; Teeters, Dale; Crunkleton, Daniel W.; Wang, Sanwu

2017-01-01

The PEO_3:LiCF_3SO_3 polymer electrolyte has attracted significant research due to high conductivity and enhanced stability in lithium polymer batteries. Most experimental studies have shown that amorphous PEO lithium salt electrolytes have higher conductivity than the crystalline ones. Other studies, however, have shown that crystalline PEO salt complexes can conduct ions. As a result, further theoretical investigations are warranted to help clarify the issue. In this work, we use density functional theory with the climbing image nudged elastic band method to investigate the atomic-scale mechanism of lithium ion transport in the polymer electrolytes. We also use density functional theory and ab initio molecular dynamics simulations to obtain the amorphous structure of PEO_3:LiCF_3SO_3. The diffusion pathways and activation energies of lithium ions in both crystalline and amorphous PEO_3:LiCF_3SO_3 are determined. In crystalline PEO_3:LiCF_3SO_3, the activation energy for the low-barrier diffusion pathway is approximately 1.0 eV. In the amorphous phase, the value is 0.6 eV. This result would support the experimental observation that amorphous PEO_3:LiCF_3SO_3 has higher ionic conductivity than the crystalline phase.

Atomic-scale study of the amorphous-to-crystalline phase transition mechanism in GeTe thin films

CERN Document Server

Mantovan, R.; Mokhles Gerami, A.; Mølholt, T. E.; Wiemer, C.; Longo, M.; Gunnlaugsson, H. P.; Johnston, K.; Masenda, H.; Naidoo, D.; Ncube, M.; Bharuth-Ram, K.; Fanciulli, M.; Gislason, H. P.; Langouche, G.; Ólafsson, S.; Weyer, G.

The underlying mechanism driving the structural amorphous-to-crystalline transition in Group VI chalcogenides is still a matter of debate even in the simplest GeTe system. We exploit the extreme sensitivity of 57Fe emission Mössbauer spectroscopy, following dilute implantation of 57Mn (T½ = 1.5 min) at ISOLDE/CERN, to study the electronic charge distribution in the immediate vicinity  of the 57Fe probe substituting Ge (FeGe), and to interrogate the local environment of FeGe over the amorphous-crystalline phase transition in GeTe thin films. Our results show that the local structure  of as-sputtered amorphous GeTe is a combination of tetrahedral and defect-octahedral sites. The main effect of the crystallization is the conversion from tetrahedral to defect-free octahedral sites.  We discover that only the tetrahedral fraction in amorphous GeTe participates to the change of the FeGe-Te chemical bond...

Solid State Characterization of Commercial Crystalline and Amorphous Atorvastatin Calcium Samples

OpenAIRE

Shete, Ganesh; Puri, Vibha; Kumar, Lokesh; Bansal, Arvind K.

2010-01-01

Atorvastatin calcium (ATC), an anti-lipid BCS class II drug, is marketed in crystalline and amorphous solid forms. The objective of this study was to perform solid state characterization of commercial crystalline and amorphous ATC drug samples available in the Indian market. Six samples each of crystalline and amorphous ATC were characterized using X-ray powder diffractometry (XRPD), differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), thermogravimetric analysis, Karl Fisher titrimetry, microscopy (hot s...

Evolution of optical properties and band structure from amorphous to crystalline Ga2O3 films

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Fabi Zhang

2018-04-01

Full Text Available The optical properties and band structure evolution from amorphous to crystalline Ga2O3 films was investigated in this work. Amorphous and crystalline Ga2O3 films were obtained by changing the growth substrate temperatures of pulsed laser deposition and the crystallinity increase with the rising of substrate temperature. The bandgap value and ultraviolet emission intensity of the films increase with the rising of crystallinity as observed by means of spectrophotometer and cathodoluminescence spectroscopy. Abrupt bandgap value and CL emission variations were observed when amorphous to crystalline transition took place. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy core level spectra reveal that more oxygen vacancies and disorders exist in amorphous Ga2O3 film grown at lower substrate temperature. The valence band spectra of hard X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy present the main contribution from Ga 4sp for crystalline film deposited at substrate temperature of 500 oC, while extra subgap states has been observed in amorphous film deposited at 300 oC. The oxygen vacancy and the extra subgap density of states are suggested to be the parts of origin of bandgap and CL spectra variations. The experimental data above yields a realistic picture of optical properties and band structure variation for the amorphous to crystalline transition of Ga2O3 films.

Crystalline-to-amorphous phase transformation in mechanically alloyed Fe50W50 powders

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sherif El-Eskandarany, M.S.; Sumiyama, K.; Suzuki, K.

1997-01-01

A mechanical alloying process via a ball milling technique has been applied for preparing amorphous Fe 50 W 50 alloy powders. The results have shown that during the first and second stages of milling (0 to 360 ks) W atoms emigrate to Fe lattices to form nanocrystalline b.c.c. Fe-W solid solution, with a grain size of about 7 nm in diameter. After 720 ks of the milling time, this solid solution was transformed to an amorphous Fe-W alloy coexisting with the residual fraction of the unprocessed W powders. During the last stage of milling (720 to 1,440 ks) all of this residual W powder reacts with the amorphous phase to form a homogeneous Fe 50 W 50 amorphous alloy. The crystallization temperature and the enthalpy change of crystallization of amorphous Fe 50 W 50 powders milled for 1,440 ks were measured to be 860 K and -9kJ/mol, respectively. The amorphous Fe 50 W 50 powder produced is almost paramagnetic at room temperature. The powder comprises homogeneous and smooth spheres with an average size of about 0.5 microm in diameter

Photoconductivity studies on amorphous and crystalline TiO{sub 2} films doped with gold nanoparticles

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Valverde-Aguilar, G.; Garcia-Macedo, J.A. [Universidad Nacional Autonoma de Mexico, Departamento de Estado Solido, Instituto de Fisica, Mexico D.F. (Mexico); Renteria-Tapia, V. [Universidad de Guadalajara, Centro Universitario de los Valles, Departamento de Ciencias Naturales y Exactas, Ameca, Jalisco (Mexico); Aguilar-Franco, M. [Universidad Nacional Autonoma de Mexico, Departamento de Fisica Quimica, Instituto de Fisica, Mexico D.F. (Mexico)

2011-06-15

In this work, amorphous and crystalline TiO{sub 2} films were synthesized by the sol-gel process at room temperature. The TiO{sub 2} films were doped with gold nanoparticles. The films were spin-coated on glass wafers. The crystalline samples were annealed at 100 C for 30 minutes and sintered at 520 C for 2 h. All films were characterized using X-ray diffraction, transmission electronic microscopy and UV-Vis absorption spectroscopy. Two crystalline phases, anatase and rutile, were formed in the matrix TiO{sub 2} and TiO{sub 2}/Au. An absorption peak was located at 570 nm (amorphous) and 645 nm (anatase). Photoconductivity studies were performed on these films. The experimental data were fitted with straight lines at darkness and under illumination at 515 nm and 645 nm. This indicates an ohmic behavior. Crystalline TiO{sub 2}/Au films are more photoconductive than the amorphous ones. (orig.)

Fast diffusion and nucleation of the amorphous phase in Ni--Zr films

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ehrhart, P.; Averback, R.S.; Hahn, H.; Yadavalli, S.; Flynn, C.P.

1988-01-01

The nucleation of the amorphous phase by solid-state reactions has been investigated on single-crystal Zr films grown by molecular beam epitaxy and covered in situ with either polycrystalline Ni, amorphous (a-) NiZr, or single-crystalline Zr 99 N 01 films. Interfacial reactions were investigated by backscattering analysis or secondary ion mass spectroscopy. The amorphizing reaction occurred only in the specimen with the a-NiZr overlayer, although fast Ni diffusion through the single-crystalline Zr layer was observed in all three specimens. The nucleation behavior of a-NiZr is attributed to the combination of high-Ni and low-Zr mobility in crystalline Zr

Phase transitions of amorphous solid acetone in confined geometry investigated by reflection absorption infrared spectroscopy.

Science.gov (United States)

Shin, Sunghwan; Kang, Hani; Kim, Jun Soo; Kang, Heon

2014-11-26

We investigated the phase transformations of amorphous solid acetone under confined geometry by preparing acetone films trapped in amorphous solid water (ASW) or CCl4. Reflection absorption infrared spectroscopy (RAIRS) and temperature-programmed desorption (TPD) were used to monitor the phase changes of the acetone sample with increasing temperature. An acetone film trapped in ASW shows an abrupt change in the RAIRS features of the acetone vibrational bands during heating from 80 to 100 K, which indicates the transformation of amorphous solid acetone to a molecularly aligned crystalline phase. Further heating of the sample to 140 K produces an isotropic solid phase, and eventually a fluid phase near 157 K, at which the acetone sample is probably trapped in a pressurized, superheated condition inside the ASW matrix. Inside a CCl4 matrix, amorphous solid acetone crystallizes into a different, isotropic structure at ca. 90 K. We propose that the molecularly aligned crystalline phase formed in ASW is created by heterogeneous nucleation at the acetone-water interface, with resultant crystal growth, whereas the isotropic crystalline phase in CCl4 is formed by homogeneous crystal growth starting from the bulk region of the acetone sample.

Aging mechanisms in amorphous phase-change materials.

Science.gov (United States)

Raty, Jean Yves; Zhang, Wei; Luckas, Jennifer; Chen, Chao; Mazzarello, Riccardo; Bichara, Christophe; Wuttig, Matthias

2015-06-24

Aging is a ubiquitous phenomenon in glasses. In the case of phase-change materials, it leads to a drift in the electrical resistance, which hinders the development of ultrahigh density storage devices. Here we elucidate the aging process in amorphous GeTe, a prototypical phase-change material, by advanced numerical simulations, photothermal deflection spectroscopy and impedance spectroscopy experiments. We show that aging is accompanied by a progressive change of the local chemical order towards the crystalline one. Yet, the glass evolves towards a covalent amorphous network with increasing Peierls distortion, whose structural and electronic properties drift away from those of the resonantly bonded crystal. This behaviour sets phase-change materials apart from conventional glass-forming systems, which display the same local structure and bonding in both phases.

Moessbauer and EXAFS studies of amorphous iron produced by thermal decomposition of carbonyl iron in liquid phase

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Nomura, Kiyoshi; Tanaka, Junichi; Ujihira, Yusuke; Takahashi, Tamotu; Uchida, Yasuzo

1990-01-01

Decomposition of iron carbonyl Fe(CO) 5 and Fe 2 (CO) 9 in liquid phase gave amorphous and crystalline iron powders in the absence and presence of catalyst, respectively. The hyperfine fields were large in amorphous phases prepared from Fe(CO) 5 than from Fe 2 (CO) 9 . Crystalline iron, iron carbide and a trace amount of Fe 3 O 4 were detected in the decomposition products of the amorphous phase prepared from Fe(CO) 5 , and iron carbide was mainly included in the decomposition products of the amorphous phase prepared from Fe 2 (CO) 9 . (orig.)

Amorphous-crystalline transition studied in hydrated MoO{sub 3}

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Camacho-Lopez, M.A. [Facultad de Quimica, Universidad Autonoma del Estado de Mexico, Paseo Colon y Tollocan, Toluca Edo. de Mexico 50110 (Mexico); Haro-Poniatowski, E. [Departamento de Fisica, Laboratorio de Optica Cuantica, Universidad Autonoma Metropolitana-Iztapalapa, Apdo. Postal 55-534, Mexico, D.F. 09340 (Mexico); Lartundo-Rojas, L. [Laboratorio de Microscopia, Universidad Autonoma Metropolitana-Iztapalapa, Apdo. Postal 55-534, Mexico, D.F. 09340 (Mexico); Livage, J. [Chimie de la Matiere Condensee, Universite Pierre et Marie Curie, 4 Place Jussieu, 75252 Paris Cedex 05 (France); Julien, C.M. [Institut des Nano-Sciences de Paris, UMR 7588, Universite Pierre et Marie Curie, Campus Boucicaut, 140 rue de Lourmel, 75015 Paris (France)]. E-mail: Christian.Julien@insp.jussieu.fr

2006-11-25

In this work we study the thermal behavior of hydrated MoO{sub 3} synthesized via acidification of sodium molybdate. MoO{sub 3}.nH{sub 2}O (n = 1.4) amorphous compound was heated in air at increasing temperatures in order to obtain the crystalline MoO{sub 3} phase. We have studied the structural changes as a function of annealing temperature by Raman spectroscopy. A statistical study to determine the average size of the crystallites at each annealing step has been realized by scanning electron microscopy. Results show that the hydrated MoO{sub 3}.1.4H{sub 2}O glass transforms in an amorphous MoO{sub 3}.0.7H{sub 2}O phase prior to its crystallization, while the sample heated at 500 deg. C crystallizes into the orthorhombic {alpha}-MoO{sub 3} phase with micro-crystallites having an average size of 6.8 {mu}m.

The transformation of amorphous calcium carbonate, ACC, to crystalline phases as function of time and temperature.

Science.gov (United States)

Gies, Hermann; Happel, Marian; Niedermayr, Andrea; Immenhauser, Adrian

2017-04-01

We present results from a structural study of the transformation of freeze dried amorphous calcium carbonate, ACC, in crystalline material using pair distribution function analysis, PDF analysis, of X-ray powder diffraction data, XPD data. PDF analysis allows for the analysis of local order of structural subunit in the range between molecular unit (1. and 2. coordination sphere) and long range periodicity as in crystalline materials. ACC was precipitated from aqueous solutions at 298 K and 278 K using different amounts of Mg cations as stabilizer. The samples were immediately separated from the solution and freeze dried. For the transformation study, the samples were heated and analysed using XPD until they were crystallized. The radial distribution obtained from the XPD data were compared to simulated radial distributions of the calcium carbonate polymorphs and their hydrated phases. An ACC precipitated from a solution with Ca:Mg:CO3 = 1:5:4 at 298 K (ration in mmol, pH = 8.2) and freeze dried right after isolation from the solution revealed a close resemblance with ikaite in its local order. Another ACC with Ca:Mg:CO3 = 1:10:1.4 (T = 298, pH = 8.7) showed distinctly different local order resembling monohydrocalcite. Both ACC, however, still had considerable amounts of water dominating the Ca-coordination sphere. During the transformation to calcite, the structural changes in the sample concerned the hydrate water coordinating Ca which was removed and replaced by the carbonate oxygens. The study shows that ACC obtained from different starting solutions show specific local order. Freeze drying leads to solid ACC powder which still contain considerable amounts of hydrate water. Structural subunits are distinct in ACC and different from the crystalline phase. The study supplements recent reports presented by Konrad et al., Purgstaller et al., and Tobler et al.. F. Konrad et al., Cryst. Growth Des. 16, 6310-6317(2016) B. Purgstaller et al., Geochimica et Cosmochimica

Solubility of crystalline organic compounds in high and low molecular weight amorphous matrices above and below the glass transition by zero enthalpy extrapolation.

Science.gov (United States)

Amharar, Youness; Curtin, Vincent; Gallagher, Kieran H; Healy, Anne Marie

2014-09-10

Pharmaceutical applications which require knowledge of the solubility of a crystalline compound in an amorphous matrix are abundant in the literature. Several methods that allow the determination of such data have been reported, but so far have only been applicable to amorphous polymers above the glass transition of the resulting composites. The current work presents, for the first time, a reliable method for the determination of the solubility of crystalline pharmaceutical compounds in high and low molecular weight amorphous matrices at the glass transition and at room temperature (i.e. below the glass transition temperature), respectively. The solubilities of mannitol and indomethacin in polyvinyl pyrrolidone (PVP) K15 and PVP K25, respectively were measured at different temperatures. Mixtures of undissolved crystalline solute and saturated amorphous phase were obtained by annealing at a given temperature. The solubility at this temperature was then obtained by measuring the melting enthalpy of the crystalline phase, plotting it as a function of composition and extrapolating to zero enthalpy. This new method yielded results in accordance with the predictions reported in the literature. The method was also adapted for the measurement of the solubility of crystalline low molecular weight excipients in amorphous active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs). The solubility of mannitol, glutaric acid and adipic acid in both indomethacin and sulfadimidine was experimentally determined and successfully compared with the difference between their respective calculated Hildebrand solubility parameters. As expected from the calculations, the dicarboxylic acids exhibited a high solubility in both amorphous indomethacin and sulfadimidine, whereas mannitol was almost insoluble in the same amorphous phases at room temperature. This work constitutes the first report of the methodology for determining an experimentally measured solubility for a low molecular weight crystalline solute

Kinetically Controlled Two-Step Amorphization and Amorphous-Amorphous Transition in Ice

Science.gov (United States)

Lin, Chuanlong; Yong, Xue; Tse, John S.; Smith, Jesse S.; Sinogeikin, Stanislav V.; Kenney-Benson, Curtis; Shen, Guoyin

2017-09-01

We report the results of in situ structural characterization of the amorphization of crystalline ice Ih under compression and the relaxation of high-density amorphous (HDA) ice under decompression at temperatures between 96 and 160 K by synchrotron x-ray diffraction. The results show that ice Ih transforms to an intermediate crystalline phase at 100 K prior to complete amorphization, which is supported by molecular dynamics calculations. The phase transition pathways show clear temperature dependence: direct amorphization without an intermediate phase is observed at 133 K, while at 145 K a direct Ih-to-IX transformation is observed; decompression of HDA shows a transition to low-density amorphous ice at 96 K and ˜1 Pa , to ice Ic at 135 K and to ice IX at 145 K. These observations show that the amorphization of compressed ice Ih and the recrystallization of decompressed HDA are strongly dependent on temperature and controlled by kinetic barriers. Pressure-induced amorphous ice is an intermediate state in the phase transition from the connected H-bond water network in low pressure ices to the independent and interpenetrating H-bond network of high-pressure ices.

Laterally inherently thin amorphous-crystalline silicon heterojunction photovoltaic cell

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Chowdhury, Zahidur R., E-mail: zr.chowdhury@utoronto.ca; Kherani, Nazir P., E-mail: kherani@ecf.utoronto.ca [Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of Toronto, 10 King' s College Road, Toronto, Ontario M5S 3G4 (Canada)

2014-12-29

This article reports on an amorphous-crystalline silicon heterojunction photovoltaic cell concept wherein the heterojunction regions are laterally narrow and distributed amidst a backdrop of well-passivated crystalline silicon surface. The localized amorphous-crystalline silicon heterojunctions consisting of the laterally thin emitter and back-surface field regions are precisely aligned under the metal grid-lines and bus-bars while the remaining crystalline silicon surface is passivated using the recently proposed facile grown native oxide–plasma enhanced chemical vapour deposited silicon nitride passivation scheme. The proposed cell concept mitigates parasitic optical absorption losses by relegating amorphous silicon to beneath the shadowed metallized regions and by using optically transparent passivation layer. A photovoltaic conversion efficiency of 13.6% is obtained for an untextured proof-of-concept cell illuminated under AM 1.5 global spectrum; the specific cell performance parameters are V{sub OC} of 666 mV, J{sub SC} of 29.5 mA-cm{sup −2}, and fill-factor of 69.3%. Reduced parasitic absorption, predominantly in the shorter wavelength range, is confirmed with external quantum efficiency measurement.

Dangling bonds and crystalline inclusions in amorphous materials

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Ferrari, L [Ferrara Univ. (Italy). Ist. di Matematica; Russo, G [Bologna Univ. (Italy). Ist. di Fisica

1981-02-07

It is suggested that on the surface of crystalline inclusions dangling bond formation is favoured due to unbalanced local stresses. The energy for bond tearings is probably originated from the exothermic process leading to the crystalline inclusion configuration which is more stable than the original amorphous one. A thermodynamical calculation is performed giving the ratio nsub(k) of crystalline inclusions having k dangling bonds on their surface.

Imaging of Crystalline and Amorphous Surface Regions Using Time-of-Flight Secondary-Ion Mass Spectrometry (ToF-SIMS): Application to Pharmaceutical Materials.

Science.gov (United States)

Iuraş, Andreea; Scurr, David J; Boissier, Catherine; Nicholas, Mark L; Roberts, Clive J; Alexander, Morgan R

2016-04-05

The structure of a material, in particular the extremes of crystalline and amorphous forms, significantly impacts material performance in numerous sectors such as semiconductors, energy storage, and pharmaceutical products, which are investigated in this paper. To characterize the spatial distribution for crystalline-amorphous forms at the uppermost molecular surface layer, we performed time-of-flight secondary-ion mass spectroscopy (ToF-SIMS) measurements for quench-cooled amorphous and recrystallized samples of the drugs indomethacin, felodipine, and acetaminophen. Polarized light microscopy was used to localize crystallinity induced in the samples under controlled conditions. Principal component analysis was used to identify the subtle changes in the ToF-SIMS spectra indicative of the amorphous and crystalline forms for each drug. The indicators of amorphous and crystalline surfaces were common in type across the three drugs, and could be explained in general terms of crystal packing and intermolecular bonding, leading to intramolecular bond scission in the formation of secondary ions. Less intramolecular scission occurred in the amorphous form, resulting in a greater intensity of molecular and dimer secondary ions. To test the generality of amorphous-crystalline differentiation using ToF-SIMS, a different recrystallization method was investigated where acetaminophen single crystals were recrystallized from supersaturated solutions. The findings indicated that the ability to assign the crystalline/amorphous state of the sample using ToF-SIMS was insensitive to the recrystallization method. This demonstrates that ToF-SIMS is capable of detecting and mapping ordered crystalline and disordered amorphous molecular materials forms at micron spatial resolution in the uppermost surface of a material.

Thermal stability study of crystalline and novel spray-dried amorphous nilotinib hydrochloride.

Science.gov (United States)

Herbrink, Maikel; Vromans, Herman; Schellens, Jan; Beijnen, Jos; Nuijen, Bastiaan

2018-01-30

The thermal characteristics and the thermal degradation of crystalline and amorphous nilotinib hydrochloride (NH) were studied. The spray drying technique was successfully utilized for the amorphization of NH and was evaluated by spectroscopic techniques and differential scanning calorimetry (DSC). The ethanolic spray drying process yielded amorphous NH with a glass transition temperature (T g ) of 147°C. Thermal characterization of the amorphous phase was performed by heat capacity measurements using modulated DSC (mDSC). Thermal degradation was studied by thermogravimetric analysis (TGA). The derived thermodynamic properties of the amorphous NH indicate fragile behaviour and a low crystallization tendency. NH was found to be molecularly stable up to 193°C. After which, the thermal degradation displayed two phases. The values of the thermal degradation parameters were estimated using the Ozawa-Flynn-Wall and Friedman non-isothermal, model-free, isoconversional methods The results indicate the two phases to be single-step reactions. The examination of the physical stability of amorphous NH during storage and at elevated temperatures showed stability at 180°C for at least 5h and at 20-25°C/60% RH for at least 6 months. During these periods, no crystallization was observed. This study is the first to report the thermal characteristics of NH. Additionally, it is also the first to describe the full thermal analysis of a spray-dried amorphous drug. The thermal data may be used in the projection of future production processes and storage conditions of amorphous NH. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Electrical transport in crystalline phase change materials

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Woda, Michael

2012-01-01

In this thesis, the electrical transport properties of crystalline phase change materials are discussed. Phase change materials (PCM) are a special class of semiconducting and metallic thin film alloys, typically with a high amount of the group five element antimony or the group six element tellurium, such as Ge 2 Sb 2 Te 5 . The unique property portfolio of this material class makes it suitable for memory applications. PCMs reveal fast switching between two stable room-temperature phases (amorphous and crystalline) realized by optical laser or electrical current pulses in memory devices. Additionally, a pronounced property contrast in form of optical reflectivity and electrical conductivity between the amorphous and crystalline phase is the characteristic fingerprint of PCMs. The emerging electrical solid state memory PCRAM is a very promising candidate to replace Flash memory in the near future or to even become a universal memory, which is non-volatile and shows the speed and cyclability of DRAM. One of the main technological challenges is the switching process into the amorphous state, which is the most power demanding step. In order to reduce the switching power, the crystalline resistivity needs to be increased at a given voltage. Thus understanding and tayloring of this property is mandatory. In this work, first the technological relevance, i.e. optical and electrical memory concepts based on PCMs are introduced. Subsequently a description of the physical properties of PCMs in four categories is given. Namely, structure, kinetics, optical properties and electrical properties are discussed. Then important recent developments such as the identification of resonant bonding in crystalline PCMs and a property predicting coordination scheme are briefly reviewed. The following chapter deals with the theoretical background of electrical transport, while the next chapter introduces the experimental techniques: Sputtering, XRR, XRD, DSC, thermal annealing

First-principles study of the liquid and amorphous phases of In2Te3

Science.gov (United States)

Dragoni, D.; Gabardi, S.; Bernasconi, M.

2017-08-01

Structural, dynamical, and electronic properties of the liquid and amorphous phase of the In2Te3 compound have been studied by means of density functional molecular dynamics simulations. This system is of interest as a phase change material, undergoing a fast and reversible change between the crystalline and amorphous phases upon heating. It can be seen as a constituent of ternary InSbTe alloys which are receiving attention for application in electronic phase change memories. Amorphous models of In2Te3 300 -atom large have been generated by quenching from the melt by using different exchange and correlation functionals and different descriptions of the van der Waals interaction. It turns out the local bonding geometry of the amorphous phase is mostly tetrahedral with corner and edge sharing tetrahedra similar to those found in the crystalline phases of the InTe, In2Te3 , and In2Te5 compounds. Benchmark calculations on the crystalline α phase of In2Te3 in the defective zincblend geometry have also been performed. The calculations reveal that the high symmetric F 4 ¯3 m structure inferred experimentally from x-ray diffraction for the α phase must actually result from a random distribution of Te-Te bonds in different octahedral cages formed by the coalescence of vacancies in the In sublattice.

Electrical transport in crystalline phase change materials

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Woda, Michael

2012-01-06

In this thesis, the electrical transport properties of crystalline phase change materials are discussed. Phase change materials (PCM) are a special class of semiconducting and metallic thin film alloys, typically with a high amount of the group five element antimony or the group six element tellurium, such as Ge{sub 2}Sb{sub 2}Te{sub 5}. The unique property portfolio of this material class makes it suitable for memory applications. PCMs reveal fast switching between two stable room-temperature phases (amorphous and crystalline) realized by optical laser or electrical current pulses in memory devices. Additionally, a pronounced property contrast in form of optical reflectivity and electrical conductivity between the amorphous and crystalline phase is the characteristic fingerprint of PCMs. The emerging electrical solid state memory PCRAM is a very promising candidate to replace Flash memory in the near future or to even become a universal memory, which is non-volatile and shows the speed and cyclability of DRAM. One of the main technological challenges is the switching process into the amorphous state, which is the most power demanding step. In order to reduce the switching power, the crystalline resistivity needs to be increased at a given voltage. Thus understanding and tayloring of this property is mandatory. In this work, first the technological relevance, i.e. optical and electrical memory concepts based on PCMs are introduced. Subsequently a description of the physical properties of PCMs in four categories is given. Namely, structure, kinetics, optical properties and electrical properties are discussed. Then important recent developments such as the identification of resonant bonding in crystalline PCMs and a property predicting coordination scheme are briefly reviewed. The following chapter deals with the theoretical background of electrical transport, while the next chapter introduces the experimental techniques: Sputtering, XRR, XRD, DSC, thermal annealing

Multivariate Quantification of the Solid State Phase Composition of Co-Amorphous Naproxen-Indomethacin

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Andreas Beyer

2015-10-01

Full Text Available To benefit from the optimized dissolution properties of active pharmaceutical ingredients in their amorphous forms, co-amorphisation as a viable tool to stabilize these amorphous phases is of both academic and industrial interest. Reports dealing with the physical stability and recrystallization behavior of co-amorphous systems are however limited to qualitative evaluations based on the corresponding X-ray powder diffractograms. Therefore, the objective of the study was to develop a quantification model based on X-ray powder diffractometry (XRPD, followed by a multivariate partial least squares regression approach that enables the simultaneous determination of up to four solid state fractions: crystalline naproxen, γ-indomethacin, α-indomethacin as well as co-amorphous naproxen-indomethacin. For this purpose, a calibration set that covers the whole range of possible combinations of the four components was prepared and analyzed by XRPD. In order to test the model performances, leave-one-out cross validation was performed and revealed root mean square errors of validation between 3.11% and 3.45% for the crystalline molar fractions and 5.57% for the co-amorphous molar fraction. In summary, even four solid state phases, involving one co-amorphous phase, can be quantified with this XRPD data-based approach.

Molecular dynamics study of the elastic response of crystalline, amorphous and chemically disordered NiZr2

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Willaime, F.; Rosato, V.

1990-01-01

We calculate the shear elastic constants of the alloy NiZr 2 by molecular dynamics simulations in the crystalline and amorphous phases as well as upon introduction of antisite defects in the crystal at T=300K. For S (long range order parameter) equal to 0.5, the system is amorphous and C' is larger than the same quantity relative to the crystal whereas C 44 and C 66 are smaller

Bacterially-mediated weathering of crystalline and amorphous Cu-slags

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Potysz, Anna; Grybos, Malgorzata; Kierczak, Jakub; Guibaud, Gilles; Lens, Piet N.L.; Hullebusch, Eric D. van

2016-01-01

Two types of Cu-slags (CS: crystalline massive slag and GS: granulated amorphous slag) exhibiting a different chemical and mineral phase composition were compared with respect to their susceptibility to bacterial weathering using Pseudomonas aeruginosa (n° CIP 105094). Abiotic conditions e.g. sterile growth medium and ultrapure water were used for comparison. The experiments were extended up to 112 days with a systematic liquid phase renewal every 14 days. The results revealed significant release of elements in the bacterially mediated weathering experiments. Concentrations of elements (Si, Fe, Cu, Zn and Pb) in the biotic solutions were increased at least by 20% up to 99% compared to abiotic ones. From 3 to 77% of the leached elements were associated to the fraction >0.22 μm. Scanning electron microscope observations demonstrated greater weathering of mineral phases in biotic experiments than in abiotic ones which is in accordance with the solution chemistry exhibiting higher concentrations of elements leached in biotic set-ups. In the case of CS, glass and sulfides weathering was yet observed in abiotic experiment, whereas partial dissolution of fayalite (Fe_2SiO_4) was solely affected by the presence of bacteria. GS having a higher bulk content of metallic elements was found to be more stable than sulfide-bearing CS, while its (GS) glass matrix was found to weather easier under biotic conditions. - Highlights: • Pseudomonas aeruginosa significantly enhance the release of elements from Cu-slags. • Bacteria and/or associated metabolites assist as biosorbent (e.g. Zn). • Amorphous slag is more susceptible to bio-weathering. • Metal carriers of crystalline slag are prone to dissolution. • Fe-bearing fayalite is altered solely due to the presence of bacteria.

Phase Field Theory and Analysis of Pressure-Shear Induced Amorphization and Failure in Boron Carbide Ceramic

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

John D. Clayton

2014-07-01

Full Text Available A nonlinear continuum phase field theory is developed to describe amorphization of crystalline elastic solids under shear and/or pressure loading. An order parameter describes the local degree of crystallinity. Elastic coefficients can depend on the order parameter, inelastic volume change may accompany the transition from crystal to amorphous phase, and transitional regions parallel to bands of amorphous material are penalized by interfacial surface energy. Analytical and simple numerical solutions are obtained for an idealized isotropic version of the general theory, for an element of material subjected to compressive and/or shear loading. Solutions compare favorably with experimental evidence and atomic simulations of amorphization in boron carbide, demonstrating the tendency for structural collapse and strength loss with increasing shear deformation and superposed pressure.

Structure of Cu-Ti brazing filler metal in amorphous and crystalline states

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Maksymova, S; Khorunov, V [Paton Electric Welding Institute, NASU, 11 Bozhenko Str., Kyiv, 03680 (Ukraine); Zelinskaya, G [G.V. Kurdyumov Institute of Metal Physics, NASU, Kyiv, 03142 (Ukraine)], E-mail: maksymova@paton.kiev.ua

2008-02-15

Structure, chemical homogeneity and phase composition of rapidly quenched ribbons of brazing filler metal Ti{sub 57}Cu{sub 43} were investigated. The ribbons were found to be amorphous. The alloy components are uniformly distributed along the thickness of the strip. High-temperature differential thermal analysis was used to determine temperature ranges of the ribbons crystallization. X-ray diffraction analysis was performed to study phase composition of the rapidly quenched ribbons in the initial state and after their isothermal annealing. Two crystalline phases - {gamma}-CuTi and CuTi{sub 3} being identified in the latter case.

Rapid compression induced solidification of two amorphous phases of poly(ethylene terephthalate)

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Hong, S M [Laboratory of High Pressure Physics, Southwest Jiaotong University, Chengdu, 610031 (China); Liu, X R [Laboratory of High Pressure Physics, Southwest Jiaotong University, Chengdu, 610031 (China); Su, L [Laboratory of High Pressure Physics, Southwest Jiaotong University, Chengdu, 610031 (China); Huang, D H [Laboratory of High Pressure Physics, Southwest Jiaotong University, Chengdu, 610031 (China); Li, L B [Foods Research Centre Unilever R and D, Vlaardingen Olivier van Noortlaan, 120, 3133 AT Vlaardingen (Netherlands)

2006-08-21

Melts of poly(ethylene terephthalate) were solidified by rapid compression to 2 GPa within 20 ms and by a series of comparative processes including natural cooling, slow compressing and rapid cooling, respectively. By combining XRD and differential scanning calorimetry data of the recovered samples, it is made clear that rapid compression induces two kinds of amorphous phases. One is relatively stable and can also be formed in the slow compression and the cooling processes. Another is metastable and transforms to crystalline phase at 371 K. This metastable amorphous phase cannot be obtained by slow compression or natural cooling, and its crystallization temperature is remarkably different from that of the metastable amorphous phase formed in the rapid cooling sample.

Disorder-induced localization in crystalline phase-change materials.

Science.gov (United States)

Siegrist, T; Jost, P; Volker, H; Woda, M; Merkelbach, P; Schlockermann, C; Wuttig, M

2011-03-01

Localization of charge carriers in crystalline solids has been the subject of numerous investigations over more than half a century. Materials that show a metal-insulator transition without a structural change are therefore of interest. Mechanisms leading to metal-insulator transition include electron correlation (Mott transition) or disorder (Anderson localization), but a clear distinction is difficult. Here we report on a metal-insulator transition on increasing annealing temperature for a group of crystalline phase-change materials, where the metal-insulator transition is due to strong disorder usually associated only with amorphous solids. With pronounced disorder but weak electron correlation, these phase-change materials form an unparalleled quantum state of matter. Their universal electronic behaviour seems to be at the origin of the remarkable reproducibility of the resistance switching that is crucial to their applications in non-volatile-memory devices. Controlling the degree of disorder in crystalline phase-change materials might enable multilevel resistance states in upcoming storage devices.

Thermodynamically controlled crystallization of glucose pentaacetates from amorphous phase

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Wlodarczyk, P., E-mail: patrykw@imn.gliwice.pl; Hawelek, L.; Hudecki, A.; Kolano-Burian, A. [Institute of Non-Ferrous Metals, ul. Sowinskiego 5, 44-100 Gliwice (Poland); Wlodarczyk, A. [Department of Animal Histology and Embryology, University of Silesia, ul. Bankowa 9, 40-007 Katowice (Poland)

2016-08-15

The α and β glucose pentaacetates are known sugar derivatives, which can be potentially used as stabilizers of amorphous phase of active ingredients of drugs (API). In the present work, crystallization behavior of equimolar mixture of α and β form in comparison to both pure anomers is revealed. It was shown that despite the same molecular interactions and similar molecular dynamics, crystallization from amorphous phase is significantly suppressed in equimolar mixture. Time dependent X-ray diffraction studies confirmed higher stability of the quenched amorphous equimolar mixture. Its tendency to crystallization is about 10 times lower than for pure anomers. Calorimetric studies revealed that the α and β anomers don’t form solid solutions and have eutectic point for x{sub α} = 0.625. Suppressed crystallization tendency in the mixture is probably caused by the altered thermodynamics of the system. The factors such as difference of free energy between crystalline and amorphous state or altered configurational entropy are probably responsible for the inhibitory effect.

Bacterial adhesion on amorphous and crystalline metal oxide coatings

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Almaguer-Flores, Argelia; Silva-Bermudez, Phaedra; Galicia, Rey; Rodil, Sandra E.

2015-01-01

Several studies have demonstrated the influence of surface properties (surface energy, composition and topography) of biocompatible materials on the adhesion of cells/bacteria on solid substrates; however, few have provided information about the effect of the atomic arrangement or crystallinity. Using magnetron sputtering deposition, we produced amorphous and crystalline TiO 2 and ZrO 2 coatings with controlled micro and nanoscale morphology. The effect of the structure on the physical–chemical surface properties was carefully analyzed. Then, we studied how these parameters affect the adhesion of Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus aureus. Our findings demonstrated that the nano-topography and the surface energy were significantly influenced by the coating structure. Bacterial adhesion at micro-rough (2.6 μm) surfaces was independent of the surface composition and structure, contrary to the observation in sub-micron (0.5 μm) rough surfaces, where the crystalline oxides (TiO 2 > ZrO 2 ) surfaces exhibited higher numbers of attached bacteria. Particularly, crystalline TiO 2 , which presented a predominant acidic nature, was more attractive for the adhesion of the negatively charged bacteria. The information provided by this study, where surface modifications are introduced by means of the deposition of amorphous or crystalline oxide coatings, offers a route for the rational design of implant surfaces to control or inhibit bacterial adhesion. - Highlights: • Amorphous (a) and crystalline (c) TiO 2 and ZrO 2 coatings were deposited. • The atomic ordering influences the coatings surface charge and nano-topography. • The atomic ordering modifies the bacterial adhesion for the same surface chemistry. • S. aureus adhesion was lower on a-TiO 2 and a-ZrO 2 than on their c-oxide counterpart. • E. coli adhesion on a-TiO 2 was lower than on the c-TiO 2

Bacterial adhesion on amorphous and crystalline metal oxide coatings

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Almaguer-Flores, Argelia [Facultad de Odontología, División de Estudios de Posgrado e Investigación, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Circuito exterior s/n, Ciudad Universitaria, 04510 México D.F. (Mexico); Silva-Bermudez, Phaedra, E-mail: suriel21@yahoo.com [Unidad de Ingeniería de Tejidos, Terapia Celular y Medicina Regenerativa, Instituto Nacional de Rehabilitación, Calzada México-Xochimilco No. 289, Col. Arenal de Guadalupe, 14389 México D.F. (Mexico); Instituto de Investigaciones en Materiales, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Circuito Exterior s/n, Ciudad Universitaria, 04510 México D.F. (Mexico); Galicia, Rey; Rodil, Sandra E. [Instituto de Investigaciones en Materiales, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Circuito Exterior s/n, Ciudad Universitaria, 04510 México D.F. (Mexico)

2015-12-01

Several studies have demonstrated the influence of surface properties (surface energy, composition and topography) of biocompatible materials on the adhesion of cells/bacteria on solid substrates; however, few have provided information about the effect of the atomic arrangement or crystallinity. Using magnetron sputtering deposition, we produced amorphous and crystalline TiO{sub 2} and ZrO{sub 2} coatings with controlled micro and nanoscale morphology. The effect of the structure on the physical–chemical surface properties was carefully analyzed. Then, we studied how these parameters affect the adhesion of Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus aureus. Our findings demonstrated that the nano-topography and the surface energy were significantly influenced by the coating structure. Bacterial adhesion at micro-rough (2.6 μm) surfaces was independent of the surface composition and structure, contrary to the observation in sub-micron (0.5 μm) rough surfaces, where the crystalline oxides (TiO{sub 2} > ZrO{sub 2}) surfaces exhibited higher numbers of attached bacteria. Particularly, crystalline TiO{sub 2}, which presented a predominant acidic nature, was more attractive for the adhesion of the negatively charged bacteria. The information provided by this study, where surface modifications are introduced by means of the deposition of amorphous or crystalline oxide coatings, offers a route for the rational design of implant surfaces to control or inhibit bacterial adhesion. - Highlights: • Amorphous (a) and crystalline (c) TiO{sub 2} and ZrO{sub 2} coatings were deposited. • The atomic ordering influences the coatings surface charge and nano-topography. • The atomic ordering modifies the bacterial adhesion for the same surface chemistry. • S. aureus adhesion was lower on a-TiO{sub 2} and a-ZrO{sub 2} than on their c-oxide counterpart. • E. coli adhesion on a-TiO{sub 2} was lower than on the c-TiO{sub 2}.

Infrared Spectra and Band Strengths of Amorphous and Crystalline N2O

Science.gov (United States)

Hudson, R. L.; Loeffler, M. J.; Gerakines, P. A.

2017-01-01

Infrared transmission spectra from 4000 to 400 cm (exp -1), and associated band strengths and absorption coefficients, are presented for the first time for both amorphous and crystalline N2O. Changes in the spectra as a function of ice thickness and ice temperature are shown. New measurements of density, refractive index, and specific refraction are reported for amorphous and crystalline N2O. Comparisons are made to published results, and the most-likely reason for some recent disagreements in the literature is discussed. As with CO2, its isoelectronic congener, the formation of amorphous N2O is found to require greater care than the formation of amorphous solids from more-polar molecules.

Amorphization induced by chemical disorder in crystalline NiZr2: A molecular-dynamics study based on an n-body potential

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Massobrio, C.; Pontikis, V.; Martin, G.

1989-01-01

We present the first molecular-dynamics study of the amorphization of a crystalline alloy (NiZr 2 ) induced by chemical disorder. We used a n-body potential in conjunction with isobaric-isothermal molecular dynamics. The behavior of the pair distribution function suggests that the instability leading to the amorphous state is a first-order phase transformation

Demonstration of thin film pair distribution function analysis (tfPDF for the study of local structure in amorphous and crystalline thin films

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Kirsten M. Ø. Jensen

2015-09-01

Full Text Available By means of normal-incidence, high-flux and high-energy X-rays, total scattering data for pair distribution function (PDF analysis have been obtained from thin films (tf, suitable for local structure analysis. By using amorphous substrates as support for the films, the standard Rapid Acquisition PDF setup can be applied and the scattering signal from the film can be isolated from the total scattering data through subtraction of an independently measured background signal. No angular corrections to the data are needed, as would be the case for grazing incidence measurements. The `tfPDF' method is illustrated through studies of as-deposited (i.e. amorphous and crystalline FeSb3 films, where the local structure analysis gives insight into the stabilization of the metastable skutterudite FeSb3 phase. The films were prepared by depositing ultra-thin alternating layers of Fe and Sb, which interdiffuse and after annealing crystallize to form the FeSb3 structure. The tfPDF data show that the amorphous precursor phase consists of corner-sharing FeSb6 octahedra with motifs highly resembling the local structure in crystalline FeSb3. Analysis of the amorphous structure allows the prediction of whether the final crystalline product will form the FeSb3 phase with or without excess Sb present. The study thus illustrates how analysis of the local structure in amorphous precursor films can help to understand crystallization processes of metastable phases and opens for a range of new local structure studies of thin films.

Synthesis of PANi-SiO2 Nanocomposite with In-Situ Polymerization Method: Nanoparticle Silica (NPS) Amorphous and Crystalline Phase

Science.gov (United States)

Munasir; Luvita, N. R. D.; Kusumawati, D. H.; Putri, N. P.; Triwikantoro; Supardi, Z. A. I.

2018-03-01

Silica which is synthesized from natural materials such as Bancar Tuban’s sand composited with Polyaniline (PANi), where the silica used are silica has an amorphous phase and cristobalite phase. In this research, the composite method used is in- situ polymerization, which is silica entered during the fabrication of PANi, then automatically silica will be substitute into the chain bonding of PANi. The aim of this research is to find out the results of a composite process using in-situ methods as well as differences in the morphology of PANi/a- SiO2 and PANi/c-SiO2. For the characterization of samples tested in the form of FTIR to determine the functional groups of the composite and SEM to determine the morphology of the sample. From the test results of FTIR are known composite possibility has occurred because there are several functional groups belonging to silica also functional groups belonging polyaniline, functional group that’s happened in wave numbers were almost identical between PANi/a-SiO2 and PANi/c-SiO2, but there are little differences were seen in the form of a graph generated from the peak and intensity that occurred charts for PANi/c-SiO2 has peak more pointed or sharp compared to PANi/a-SiO2 because that bond of crystal is strong, stiff and has a larger particle size than the amorphous composite. Then from the data of SEM seen clearly their morphological differences between PANi/a-SiO2 and PANi/c-SiO2 where polyaniline is composited with amorphous silica will have a fault that is not uniform or irregular different from PANi/c -SiO2 has a regular fault and this is corresponding with the nature of the typical structure of amorphous and crystalline.

The configurational energy gap between amorphous and crystalline silicon

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Kail, F. [GRMT, Department of Physics, University of Girona, Montilivi Campus, 17071 Girona, Catalonia (Spain); Univ. Barcelona, Dept. Fisica Aplicada and Optica, 08028 Barcelona (Spain); Farjas, J.; Roura, P. [GRMT, Department of Physics, University of Girona, Montilivi Campus, 17071 Girona, Catalonia (Spain); Secouard, C. [Univ. Barcelona, Dept. Fisica Aplicada and Optica, 08028 Barcelona (Spain); Nos, O.; Bertomeu, J. [CEA Grenoble, LTS, 17 rue des Martyrs, 38054 Grenoble cedex (France); Roca i Cabarrocas, P. [LPICM, Ecole Polytechnique, 91128 Palaiseau (France)

2011-11-15

The crystallization enthalpy of pure amorphous silicon (a-Si) and hydrogenated a-Si was measured by differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) for a large set of materials deposited from the vapour phase by different techniques. Although the values cover a wide range (200-480 J/g), the minimum value is common to all the deposition techniques used and close to the predicted minimum strain energy of relaxed a-Si (240 {+-} 25 J/g). This result gives a reliable value for the configurational energy gap between a-Si and crystalline silicon. An excess of enthalpy above this minimum value can be ascribed to coordination defects. (copyright 2011 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH and Co. KGaA, Weinheim) (orig.)

Amorphous and crystalline TiO2 nanotube arrays for enhanced Li-ion intercalation properties.

Science.gov (United States)

Guan, Dongsheng; Cai, Chuan; Wang, Ying

2011-04-01

We have employed a simple process of anodizing Ti foils to prepare TiO2 nanotube arrays which show enhanced electrochemical properties for applications as Li-ion battery electrode materials. The lengths and pore diameters of TiO2 nanotubes can be finely tuned by varying voltage, electrolyte composition, or anodization time. The as-prepared nanotubes are amorphous and can be converted into anatase nanotubes with heat treatment at 480 degrees C. Rutile crystallites emerge in the anatase nanotube when the annealing temperature is increased to 580 degrees C, resulting in TiO2 nanotubes of mixed phases. The morphological features of nanotubes remain unchanged after annealing. Li-ion insertion performance has been studied for amorphous and crystalline TiO2 nanotube arrays. Amorphous nanotubes with a length of 3.0 microm and an outer diameter of 125 nm deliver a capacity of 91.2 microA h cm(-2) at a current density of 400 microA cm(-2), while those with a length of 25 microm and an outer diameter of 158 nm display a capacity of 533 microA h cm-2. When the 3-microm long nanotubes become crystalline, they deliver lower capacities: the anatase nanotubes and nanotubes of mixed phases show capacities of 53.8 microA h cm-2 and 63.1 microA h cm(-2), respectively at the same current density. The amorphous nanotubes show excellent capacity retention ability over 50 cycles. The cycled nanotubes show little change in morphology compared to the nanotubes before electrochemical cycling. All the TiO2 nanotubes demonstrate higher capacities than amorphous TiO2 compact layer reported in literature. The amorphous TiO2 nanotubes with a length of 1.9 microm exhibit a capacity five times higher than that of TiO2 compact layer even when the nanotube array is cycled at a current density 80 times higher than that for the compact layer. These results suggest that anodic TiO2 nanotube arrays are promising electrode materials for rechargeable Li-ion batteries.

The kinetics of solid phase epitaxy in As-doped buried amorphous silicon layers

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

McCallum, J.C.

1999-01-01

Ion implantation is the principal method used to introduce dopants into silicon for fabrication of semiconductor devices. During ion implantation, damage accumulates in the crystalline silicon lattice and amorphisation may occur over the depth range of the ions if the implant dose is sufficiently high. As device dimensions shrink, the need to produce shallower and shallower highly-doped layers increases and the probability of amorphisation also increases. To achieve dopant-activation, the amorphous or damaged material must be returned to the crystalline state by thermal annealing. Amorphous silicon layers can be crystallised by the solid-state process of solid phase epitaxy (SPE) in which the amorphous layer transforms to crystalline silicon (c-Si) layer by layer using the underlying c-Si as a seed. The atomic mechanism that is responsible for the crystallisation is thought to involve highly-localised bond-breaking and rearrangement processes at the amorphous/crystalline (a/c) interface but the defect responsible for these bond rearrangements has not yet been identified. Since the bond breaking process necessarily generates dangling bonds, it has been suggested that the crystallisation process may solely involve the formation and migration of dangling bonds at the interface. One of the key factors which may shed further light on the nature of the SPE defect is the observed dopant-dependence of the rate of crystallisation. It has been found that moderate concentrations of dopants enhance the SPE crystallisation rate while the presence of equal concentrations of an n-type and a p-type dopant (impurity compensation) returns the SPE rate to the intrinsic value. This provides crucial evidence that the SPE mechanism is sensitive to the position of the Fermi level in the bandgap of the crystalline and/or the amorphous silicon phases and may lead to identification of an energy level within the bandgap that can be associated with the defect. This paper gives details of SPE

A unified description of crystalline-to-amorphous transitions

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Lam, N.Q.; Okamoto, P.R. [Argonne National Lab., IL (United States); Devanathan, R. [Argonne National Lab., IL (United States)]|[Northwestern Univ., Evanston, IL (United States). Dept. of Materials Science and Engineering; Meshii, M. [Northwestern Univ., Evanston, IL (United States). Dept. of Materials Science and Engineering

1993-07-01

Amorphous metallic alloys can now be synthesized by a variety of solid-state processes demonstrating the need for a more general approach to crystalline-to-amorphous (c-a) transitions. By focusing on static atomic displacements as a measure of chemical and topological disorder, we show that a unified description of c-a transformations can be based on a generalization of the phenomenological melting criterion proposed by Lindemann. The generalized version assumes that melting of a defective crystal occurs whenever the sum of thermal and static mean-square displacements exceeds a critical value identical to that for melting of the defect-free crystal. This implies that chemical or topological disorder measured by static displacements is thermodynamically equivalent to heating, and therefore that the melting temperature of the defective crystal will decrease with increasing amount of disorder. This in turn implies the existence of a critical state of disorder where the melting temperature becomes equal to a glass-transition temperature below which the metastable crystal melts to a glass. The generalized Lindemann melting criterion leads naturally to an interpretation of c-a transformations as defect-induced, low-temperature melting of critically disordered crystals. Confirmation of this criterion is provided by molecular-dynamics simulations of heat-induced melting and of defect-induced amorphization of intermetallic compounds caused either by the production of Frenkel pairs or anti-site defects. The thermodynamic equivalence between static atomic disorder and heating is reflected in the identical softening effects which they have on elastic properties and also in the diffraction analysis of diffuse scattering from disordered crystals, where the effect of static displacements appears as an artificially-enlarged thermal Debye-Waller factor. Predictions of this new, unified approach to melting and amorphization are compared with available experimental information.

Electron diffraction on amorphous and crystalline AuAl2 , AuGa2 and AuIn2 thin films

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bohorquez, A.

1991-01-01

Experimental (in situ) measurements of electron diffraction and resistivity of amorphous and crystalline AuAl 2 , AuGa 2 and AuIn 2 thin films were performed. Thin films were produced by quench condensation. Interference and atomic distribution functions were analyzed assuming the same short range order for the three systems in the amorphous phase. The experimental results do not agree with this assumption, giving evidence that the short range order is not the same for the three amorphous systems. Further discussion of interference and atomic distribution functions shows a more evident tendency in amorphous AuIn 2 where short order of AuIn 2 and In can be inferred. (Author)

Magnetic Properties of Nanometer-sized Crystalline and Amorphous Particles

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Mørup, Steen; Bødker, Franz; Hansen, Mikkel Fougt

1997-01-01

Amorphous transition metal-metalloid alloy particles can be prepared by chemical preparation techniques. We discuss the preparation of transition metal-boron and iron-carbon particles and their magnetic properties. Nanometer-sized particles of both crystalline and amorphous magnetic materials...... are superparamagnetic at finite temperatures. The temperature dependence of the superparamagnetic relaxation time and the influence of inter-particle interactions is discussed. Finally, some examples of studies of surface magnetization of alpha-Fe particles are presented....

XRD and SEM study on the phase separation and crystallization behavior for an amorphous Cu+ conductor

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Yang Yuan; Hou Jianguo; Yu Wenhai

1990-01-01

The X-ray diffraction (XRD) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) study was carried out for an amorphous Cu + conductor 0.4 CuI-0.3 Cu 2 O-0.3 P 2 O 5 with the simultaneous conductivity measurement in the isothermal heat treament process. The results indicated that the initial amorphous material was phase-separated. In the course of time the separated amorphous phase disappeared, the crystalline γ-CuI and Cu 2 P 2 O 7 formed in sequence and grew up gradually. The correlation of the phase separation and crystallization behavior with the conductivity anomaly confirmed again the interface effect between different phases in amorphous fast ionic conductors and its universality

The fabrication of quantum wires in silicon utilising the characteristics of solid phase epitaxial regrowth of crystalline silicon

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Liu, A.C.Y.; McCallum, J.C.

1998-01-01

The process of solid phase epitaxy (SPE) in semiconductor materials is one which has been intensively researched due to possible applications in the semiconductor industry. SPE is a solid phase transformation, in which an amorphous layer can be recrystallized either through heating or a combination of heating and ion bombardment. The transformation is believed to occur exclusively at the interface between the amorphous and crystalline layers, with individual atoms from the amorphous phase being incorporated into the crystalline phase by some point defect mechanism. The process has been observed to follow an Arrhenius temperature dependence. A wafer silicon was subjected to a multi-energy silicon implant through a fine nickel grid to amorphise region to a depth of 5μm creating an array of amorphous wells. Metal impurity atoms were then implanted in this region at energy of 500 keV. Samples were examined using an optical microscope and the Alphastep profiler at RMIT. It was confirmed that burgeoning wells were about 2 μm wide and rose about 0.01 μm above the silicon substrate

Principles and operation of crystalline and amorphous silicon solar cells

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Chambouleyron, I.

1983-01-01

This paper deals with the fundamental aspects of photovoltaic energy conversion. Crystalline silicon solar cell physics together with design criteria and conversion losses are discussed. The general properties of hydrogenated amorphous silicon and the principles of a-Si:H solar cell operation are briefly reviewed. New trends in amorphous materials of photovoltaic interest and novel device structures are finally presented. (Author) [pt

Performance comparison between crystalline and co-amorphous salts of indomethacin-lysine

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Kasten, Georgia; Nouri, Khatera; Grohganz, Holger

2017-01-01

The introduction of a highly water soluble amino acid as co-amorphous co-former has previously been shown to significantly improve the dissolution rate of poorly water soluble drugs. In this work, dry ball milling (DBM) and liquid assisted grinding (LAG) were used to prepare different physical...... forms of salts of indomethacin (IND) with the amino acid lysine (LYS), allowing the direct comparison of their solid-state properties to their in vitro performance. X-ray powder diffraction and Fourier-transformed infrared spectroscopy showed that DBM experiments led to the formation of a fully co......-amorphous salt, while LAG resulted in a crystalline salt. Differential scanning calorimetry showed that the samples prepared by DBM had a single glass transition temperature (Tg) of approx. 100°C for the co-amorphous salt, while a new melting point (223°C) was obtained for the crystalline salt prepared by LAG...

Quantitative determination of amorphous content in ceramic materials using x-ray powder diffraction

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kuchinski, M.A.; Hubbard, C.R.

1988-01-01

A quantitative technique which employs a modified method of additions approach to analyze for low amorphous content in crystalline matrices was developed and tested. Known amounts of amorphous material are added to the starting powder. The method uses the ratio of a measure of the intensity of the amorphous phase corrected for background to the background corrected intensity of a reference line from a crystalline phase. The amorphous spiking phase must be close in composition to the amorphous phase existing in the analyte. A critical step of the method is to correctly establish the background intensity. A completely crystalline material of similar scattering power was used to establish background intensity

Multivariate Quantification of the Solid State Phase Composition of Co-Amorphous Naproxen-Indomethacin

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Beyer, Andreas; Grohganz, Holger; Löbmann, Korbinian

2015-01-01

To benefit from the optimized dissolution properties of active pharmaceutical ingredients in their amorphous forms, co-amorphisation as a viable tool to stabilize these amorphous phases is of both academic and industrial interest. Reports dealing with the physical stability and recrystallization...... components was prepared and analyzed by XRPD. In order to test the model performances, leave-one-out cross validation was performed and revealed root mean square errors of validation between 3.11% and 3.45% for the crystalline molar fractions and 5.57% for the co-amorphous molar fraction. In summary, even...

Thermal stability study of crystalline and novel spray-dried amorphous nilotinib hydrochloride

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Herbrink, Maikel; Vromans, Herman; Schellens, Jan Hm; Beijnen, Jos H; Nuijen, Bastiaan

2018-01-01

The thermal characteristics and the thermal degradation of crystalline and amorphous nilotinib hydrochloride (NH) were studied. The spray drying technique was successfully utilized for the amorphization of NH and was evaluated by spectroscopic techniques and differential scanning calorimetry (DSC).

Numerically modeling Brownian thermal noise in amorphous and crystalline thin coatings

Science.gov (United States)

Lovelace, Geoffrey; Demos, Nicholas; Khan, Haroon

2018-01-01

Thermal noise is expected to be one of the noise sources limiting the astrophysical reach of Advanced LIGO (once commissioning is complete) and third-generation detectors. Adopting crystalline materials for thin, reflecting mirror coatings, rather than the amorphous coatings used in current-generation detectors, could potentially reduce thermal noise. Understanding and reducing thermal noise requires accurate theoretical models, but modeling thermal noise analytically is especially challenging with crystalline materials. Thermal noise models typically rely on the fluctuation-dissipation theorem, which relates the power spectral density of the thermal noise to an auxiliary elastic problem. In this paper, we present results from a new, open-source tool that numerically solves the auxiliary elastic problem to compute the Brownian thermal noise for both amorphous and crystalline coatings. We employ the open-source deal.ii and PETSc frameworks to solve the auxiliary elastic problem using a finite-element method, adaptive mesh refinement, and parallel processing that enables us to use high resolutions capable of resolving the thin reflective coating. We verify numerical convergence, and by running on up to hundreds of compute cores, we resolve the coating elastic energy in the auxiliary problem to approximately 0.1%. We compare with approximate analytic solutions for amorphous materials, and we verify that our solutions scale as expected with changing beam size, mirror dimensions, and coating thickness. Finally, we model the crystalline coating thermal noise in an experiment reported by Cole et al (2013 Nat. Photon. 7 644–50), comparing our results to a simpler numerical calculation that treats the coating as an ‘effectively amorphous’ material. We find that treating the coating as a cubic crystal instead of as an effectively amorphous material increases the thermal noise by about 3%. Our results are a step toward better understanding and reducing thermal noise to

Corrosion behavior of amorphous and crystalline Cu50Ti50 and Cu50Zr50 alloys

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Naka, M.; Hoshimoto, K.; Masumoto, T.

1978-01-01

Corrosion rates and anodic polarization curves of amorphous and crystalline Cu 50 Ti 50 and Cu 50 Zr 50 alloys have been examined in various acidic, neutral and alkaline solutions. The amorphous alloys are very stable in acidic and alkaline solutions, but unstable in agressive chloride solutions. The corrosion resistance of these amorphous alloys is higher than that of the crystallized alloys. The high corrosion resistance of amorphous alloys is attributable to the high chemical homogeneity of amorphous alloys without localized crystalline defects such as precipitates, segregates, grain boundaries, etc. Metalloid elements play an important role in the corrosion behavior of amorphous alloys; the addition of phosphorus to amorphous Cu-Ti alloy greatly increases the corrosion resistance, even in 1N HCl. (Auth.)

Crystalline and amorphous rare-earth metallic compounds

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Burzo, E.

1975-01-01

During the last years the study of magnetic behaviour of rare-earth (or yttrium) compounds with cobalt and iron has growth of interest. This interest of justified by a large area of experimental and theoretical problems coming into being in the study of some rare-earth materials as well as in their technical applications. In the last three years a great number of new rare earth materials were studied and also new models explaining the magnetic behaviour of these systems have been used. In this paper we refer especially to some typical systems in order to analyse the magnetic behaviour of iron and cobalt and also the part played by the magnetic interactions in the values of the cobalt or iron moments. The model used will be generally the molecular field model. In the second chapter we present comparatively the structure of crystalline and amorphous compounds for further correlation with the magnetic properties. In chapter III we analyse the magnetic interactions in some crystalline and amorphous rare-earth alloys. Finally, we exemplify the ways in which we ensure better requried characteristics by the technical utilizations of these materials. These have in view the modifications of the magnetic interactions and are closely related with the analysis made in chapter III

Interface amorphization in hexagonal boron nitride films on sapphire substrate grown by metalorganic vapor phase epitaxy

Science.gov (United States)

Yang, Xu; Nitta, Shugo; Pristovsek, Markus; Liu, Yuhuai; Nagamatsu, Kentaro; Kushimoto, Maki; Honda, Yoshio; Amano, Hiroshi

2018-05-01

Hexagonal boron nitride (h-BN) films directly grown on c-plane sapphire substrates by pulsed-mode metalorganic vapor phase epitaxy exhibit an interlayer for growth temperatures above 1200 °C. Cross-sectional transmission electron microscopy shows that this interlayer is amorphous, while the crystalline h-BN layer above has a distinct orientational relationship with the sapphire substrate. Electron energy loss spectroscopy shows the energy-loss peaks of B and N in both the amorphous interlayer and the overlying crystalline h-BN layer, while Al and O signals are also seen in the amorphous interlayer. Thus, the interlayer forms during h-BN growth through the decomposition of the sapphire at elevated temperatures.

Theory of amorphous ices.

Science.gov (United States)

Limmer, David T; Chandler, David

2014-07-01

We derive a phase diagram for amorphous solids and liquid supercooled water and explain why the amorphous solids of water exist in several different forms. Application of large-deviation theory allows us to prepare such phases in computer simulations. Along with nonequilibrium transitions between the ergodic liquid and two distinct amorphous solids, we establish coexistence between these two amorphous solids. The phase diagram we predict includes a nonequilibrium triple point where two amorphous phases and the liquid coexist. Whereas the amorphous solids are long-lived and slowly aging glasses, their melting can lead quickly to the formation of crystalline ice. Further, melting of the higher density amorphous solid at low pressures takes place in steps, transitioning to the lower-density glass before accessing a nonequilibrium liquid from which ice coarsens.

Electrochemically synthesized amorphous and crystalline nanowires: dissimilar nanomechanical behavior in comparison with homologous flat films

Science.gov (United States)

Zeeshan, M. A.; Esqué-de Los Ojos, D.; Castro-Hartmann, P.; Guerrero, M.; Nogués, J.; Suriñach, S.; Baró, M. D.; Nelson, B. J.; Pané, S.; Pellicer, E.; Sort, J.

2016-01-01

The effects of constrained sample dimensions on the mechanical behavior of crystalline materials have been extensively investigated. However, there is no clear understanding of these effects in nano-sized amorphous samples. Herein, nanoindentation together with finite element simulations are used to compare the properties of crystalline and glassy CoNi(Re)P electrodeposited nanowires (φ ~ 100 nm) with films (3 μm thick) of analogous composition and structure. The results reveal that amorphous nanowires exhibit a larger hardness, lower Young's modulus and higher plasticity index than glassy films. Conversely, the very large hardness and higher Young's modulus of crystalline nanowires are accompanied by a decrease in plasticity with respect to the homologous crystalline films. Remarkably, proper interpretation of the mechanical properties of the nanowires requires taking the curved geometry of the indented surface and sink-in effects into account. These findings are of high relevance for optimizing the performance of new, mechanically-robust, nanoscale materials for increasingly complex miniaturized devices.The effects of constrained sample dimensions on the mechanical behavior of crystalline materials have been extensively investigated. However, there is no clear understanding of these effects in nano-sized amorphous samples. Herein, nanoindentation together with finite element simulations are used to compare the properties of crystalline and glassy CoNi(Re)P electrodeposited nanowires (φ ~ 100 nm) with films (3 μm thick) of analogous composition and structure. The results reveal that amorphous nanowires exhibit a larger hardness, lower Young's modulus and higher plasticity index than glassy films. Conversely, the very large hardness and higher Young's modulus of crystalline nanowires are accompanied by a decrease in plasticity with respect to the homologous crystalline films. Remarkably, proper interpretation of the mechanical properties of the nanowires

Pressure induced Amorphization of Ln1/3(Nb,Ta)O3

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Melchior, A.; Noked, O.; Sterer, E.; Shuker, R.

2014-01-01

The research focuses on the phenomenon of pressure induced amorphization (PIA) in Ln1/3MO3, Ln - La,Pr,Nd and M-Nb,Ta. In most pressure induced phase transitions the material changes from a crystalline phase to another crystalline phase. However, if this transition is kinetically hindered, the increased free energy due to the applied pressure will result in a structural collapse to an amorphous intermediate phase. This phenomenon is known as pressure induced amorphization

First-principles study of the amorphous In3SbTe2 phase change compound

Science.gov (United States)

Los, Jan H.; Kühne, Thomas D.; Gabardi, Silvia; Bernasconi, Marco

2013-11-01

Ab initio molecular dynamics simulations based on density functional theory were performed to generate amorphous models of the phase change compound In3SbTe2 by quenching from the melt. In-Sb and In-Te are the most abundant bonds with only a minor fraction of Sb-Te bonds. The bonding geometry in the amorphous phase is, however, strongly dependent on the density in the range 6.448-5.75 g/cm3 that we investigated. While at high density the bonding geometry of In atoms is mostly octahedral-like as in the cubic crystalline phase of the ternary compound In3SbTe2, at low density we observed a sizable fraction of tetrahedral-like geometries similar to those present in the crystalline phase of the two binary compounds InTe and InSb that the ternary system can be thought to be made of. We show that the different ratio between octahedral-like and tetrahedral-like bonding geometries has fingerprints in the optical and vibrational spectra.

In situ atomic layer nitridation on the top and down regions of the amorphous and crystalline high-K gate dielectrics

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Tsai, Meng-Chen [Department of Materials Science and Engineering, National Taiwan University, Taipei 10617, Taiwan (China); Lee, Min-Hung [Institute of Electro-Optical Science and Technology, National Taiwan Normal University, Taipei 11677, Taiwan (China); Kuo, Chin-Lung; Lin, Hsin-Chih [Department of Materials Science and Engineering, National Taiwan University, Taipei 10617, Taiwan (China); Chen, Miin-Jang, E-mail: mjchen@ntu.edu.tw [Department of Materials Science and Engineering, National Taiwan University, Taipei 10617, Taiwan (China)

2016-11-30

Highlights: • The structural and electrical characteristics of the ZrO{sub 2} high-K dielectrics, treated with the in situ atomic layer doping of nitrogen into the top and down regions (top and down nitridation, TN and DN, respectively), were investigated. • The amorphous DN sample has a lower leakage current density (J{sub g}) than the amorphous TN sample, attributed to the formation of SiO{sub x}N{sub y} in the interfacial layer (IL). • The crystalline TN sample exhibited a lower CET and a similar J{sub g} as compared with the crystalline DN sample, which can be ascribed to the suppression of IL regrowth. • The crystalline ZrO{sub 2} with in situ atomic layer doping of nitrogen into the top region exhibited superior scaling limit, electrical characteristics, and reliability. - Abstract: Amorphous and crystalline ZrO{sub 2} gate dielectrics treated with in situ atomic layer nitridation on the top and down regions (top and down nitridation, abbreviated as TN and DN) were investigated. In a comparison between the as-deposited amorphous DN and TN samples, the DN sample has a lower leakage current density (J{sub g}) of ∼7 × 10{sup −4} A/cm{sup 2} with a similar capacitance equivalent thickness (CET) of ∼1.53 nm, attributed to the formation of SiO{sub x}N{sub y} in the interfacial layer (IL). The post-metallization annealing (PMA) leads to the transformation of ZrO{sub 2} from the amorphous to the crystalline tetragonal/cubic phase, resulting in an increment of the dielectric constant. The PMA-treated TN sample exhibits a lower CET of 1.22 nm along with a similar J{sub g} of ∼1.4 × 10{sup −5} A/cm{sup 2} as compared with the PMA-treated DN sample, which can be ascribed to the suppression of IL regrowth. The result reveals that the nitrogen engineering in the top and down regions has a significant impact on the electrical characteristics of amorphous and crystalline ZrO{sub 2} gate dielectrics, and the nitrogen incorporation at the top of crystalline

Atomic mobility in the overheated amorphous GeTe compound for phase change memories

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sosso, G.C.; Behler, J.; Bernasconi, M.

2016-01-01

Abstractauthoren Phase change memories rest on the ability of some chalcogenide alloys to undergo a fast and reversible transition between the crystalline and amorphous phases upon Joule heating. The fast crystallization is due to a high nucleation rate and a large crystal growth velocity which are actually possible thanks to the fragility of the supercooled liquid that allows for the persistence of a high atomic mobility at high supercooling where the thermodynamical driving force for crystallization is also high. Since crystallization in the devices occurs by rapidly heating the amorphous phase, hysteretic effects might arise with a different diffusion coefficient and viscosity on heating than on cooling. In this work, we have quantified these hysteretic effects in the phase change compound GeTe by means of molecular dynamics simulations. The atomic mobility in the overheated amorphous phase is lower than in supercooled liquid at the same temperature and the viscosity is consequently higher. Still, the simulations of the overheated amorphous phase reveal a breakdown of the Stokes-Einstein relation between the diffusion coefficient and the viscosity, similarly to what we found previously in the supercooled liquid. Evidences are provided that the breakdown is due to the emergence of dynamical heterogeneities at high supercooling. (copyright 2015 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH and Co. KGaA, Weinheim)

Influence of amorphous layers on the thermal conductivity of phononic crystals

Science.gov (United States)

Verdier, Maxime; Lacroix, David; Didenko, Stanislav; Robillard, Jean-François; Lampin, Evelyne; Bah, Thierno-Moussa; Termentzidis, Konstantinos

2018-03-01

The impact of amorphous phases around the holes and at the upper and lower free surfaces on thermal transport in silicon phononic membranes is studied. By means of molecular dynamics and Monte Carlo simulations, we explore the impact of the amorphous phase (oxidation and amorphous silicon), surfaces roughness, and a series of geometric parameters on thermal transport. We show that the crystalline phase drives the phenomena; the two main parameters are (i) the crystalline fraction between two holes and (ii) the crystalline thickness of the membranes. We reveal the hierarchical impact of nanostructurations on the thermal conductivity, namely, from the most resistive to the less resistive: the creation of holes, the amorphous phase around them, and the amorphization of the membranes edges. The surfaces or interfaces perpendicular to the heat flow hinder the thermal conductivity to a much greater extent than those parallel to the heat flow.

Preparation by a facile method and characterization of amorphous and crystalline nickel sulfide nanophases

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Nagaveena, S., E-mail: nagaveena3@gmail.com; Mahadevan, C.K.

2014-01-05

Highlights: • Amorphous NiS, and crystalline NiS{sub 1.03}, β-NiS and α-NiS nanophases prepared. • Simple microwave assisted solvothermal method used. • Nanoparticles with low grain size, high phase purity and homogeneity obtained. • High coercivity observed indicates the applicability in data storage devices. -- Abstract: A simple solvothermal route using a domestic microwave oven has been developed to prepare the prominent nickel sulfide nanophases (amorphous NiS, and crystalline NiS{sub 1.03}, β-NiS and α-NiS). The prepared nanophases have been characterized chemically, structurally, optically, electrically, and magnetically by the available methods like thermogravimetric and differential thermal analyses, X-ray powder diffraction analysis, scanning electron microscopic, and transmission electron microscopic analyses, energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopic, Fourier transform-infrared spectral, UV–Vis spectral and photoluminescence spectral analyses, AC and DC electrical measurements at various temperatures in the range 40–150 °C, and vibrating sample magnetometric measurements. The average particle sizes obtained through transmission electron microscopic analysis are 15, 17, 18, 20 nm respectively for the amorphous NiS, NiS{sub 1.03}, β-NiS and α-NiS nanophases. Results obtained in the present study indicates that the method adopted is found to be an effective and economical one for preparing these nanophases with high purity, reduced size, homogeneity, and useful optical, electrical and magnetic properties.

PETROLOGIC CONSTRAINTS ON AMORPHOUS AND CRYSTALLINE MAGNESIUM SILICATES: DUST FORMATION AND EVOLUTION IN SELECTED HERBIG Ae/Be SYSTEMS

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Rietmeijer, Frans J. M.; Nuth, Joseph A.

2013-01-01

The Infrared Space Observatory, Spitzer Space Telescope, and Herschel Space Observatory surveys provided a wealth of data on the Mg-silicate minerals (forsterite, enstatite), silica, and ''amorphous silicates with olivine and pyroxene stoichiometry'' around Herbig Ae/Be stars. These incredible findings do not resonate with the mainstream Earth Sciences because of (1) disconnecting ''astronomical nomenclature'' and the long existing mineralogical and petrologic terminology of minerals and amorphous materials, and (2) the fact that Earth scientists (formerly geologists) are bound by the ''Principle of Actualism'' that was put forward by James Hutton (1726-1797). This principle takes a process-oriented approach to understanding mineral and rock formation and evolution. This paper will (1) review and summarize the results of laboratory-based vapor phase condensation and thermal annealing experiments, (2) present the pathways of magnesiosilica condensates to Mg-silicate mineral (forsterite, enstatite) formation and processing, and (3) present mineralogical and petrologic implications of the properties and compositions of the infrared-observed crystalline and amorphous dust for the state of circumstellar disk evolution. That is, the IR-observation of smectite layer silicates in HD142527 suggests the break-up of asteroid-like parent bodies that had experienced aqueous alteration. We discuss the persistence of amorphous dust around some young stars and an ultrafast amorphous to crystalline dust transition in HD 163296 that leads to forsterite grains with numerous silica inclusions. These dust evolution processes to form forsterite, enstatite ± tridymite could occur due to amorphous magnesiosilica dust precursors with a serpentine- or smectite-dehydroxylate composition.

PETROLOGIC CONSTRAINTS ON AMORPHOUS AND CRYSTALLINE MAGNESIUM SILICATES: DUST FORMATION AND EVOLUTION IN SELECTED HERBIG Ae/Be SYSTEMS

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Rietmeijer, Frans J. M. [Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, MSC 03 2040, 1-University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM 87131-001 (United States); Nuth, Joseph A., E-mail: fransjmr@unm.edu [Astrochemistry Laboratory, Solar System Exploration Division, Code 691, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD 20771 (United States)

2013-07-01

The Infrared Space Observatory, Spitzer Space Telescope, and Herschel Space Observatory surveys provided a wealth of data on the Mg-silicate minerals (forsterite, enstatite), silica, and ''amorphous silicates with olivine and pyroxene stoichiometry'' around Herbig Ae/Be stars. These incredible findings do not resonate with the mainstream Earth Sciences because of (1) disconnecting ''astronomical nomenclature'' and the long existing mineralogical and petrologic terminology of minerals and amorphous materials, and (2) the fact that Earth scientists (formerly geologists) are bound by the ''Principle of Actualism'' that was put forward by James Hutton (1726-1797). This principle takes a process-oriented approach to understanding mineral and rock formation and evolution. This paper will (1) review and summarize the results of laboratory-based vapor phase condensation and thermal annealing experiments, (2) present the pathways of magnesiosilica condensates to Mg-silicate mineral (forsterite, enstatite) formation and processing, and (3) present mineralogical and petrologic implications of the properties and compositions of the infrared-observed crystalline and amorphous dust for the state of circumstellar disk evolution. That is, the IR-observation of smectite layer silicates in HD142527 suggests the break-up of asteroid-like parent bodies that had experienced aqueous alteration. We discuss the persistence of amorphous dust around some young stars and an ultrafast amorphous to crystalline dust transition in HD 163296 that leads to forsterite grains with numerous silica inclusions. These dust evolution processes to form forsterite, enstatite {+-} tridymite could occur due to amorphous magnesiosilica dust precursors with a serpentine- or smectite-dehydroxylate composition.

Molecular origins of anisotropic shock propagation in crystalline and amorphous polyethylene

Science.gov (United States)

O'Connor, Thomas C.; Elder, Robert M.; Sliozberg, Yelena R.; Sirk, Timothy W.; Andzelm, Jan W.; Robbins, Mark O.

2018-03-01

Molecular dynamics simulations are used to analyze shock propagation in amorphous and crystalline polyethylene. Results for the shock velocity Us are compared to predictions from Pastine's equation of state and hydrostatic theory. The results agree with Pastine at high impact velocities. At low velocities the yield stress becomes important, increasing the shock velocity and leading to anisotropy in the crystalline response. Detailed analysis of changes in atomic order reveals the origin of the anisotropic response. For shock along the polymer backbone, an elastic front is followed by a plastic front where chains buckle with a characteristic wavelength. Shock perpendicular to the chain backbone can produce plastic deformation or transitions to different orthorhombic or monoclinic structures, depending on the impact speed and direction. Tensile loading does not produce stable shocks: Amorphous systems craze and fracture while for crystals the front broadens linearly with time.

Use of low-frequency Raman spectroscopy and chemometrics for the quantification of crystallinity in amorphous griseofulvin tablets

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Mah, Pei T.; Fraser, Sara J.; Reish, Matthew E.

2015-01-01

in stored amorphous samples earlier than the mid-frequency 785 nm Raman system. Overall, this study suggests that low-frequency Raman spectroscopy has at least equally good performance compared to mid-frequency Raman for quantitative analysis of crystallinity in the pharmaceutical setting. More generally......Low-frequency Raman spectroscopy, which directly probes phonon lattice modes of crystal structures, has much unexplored potential for sensitive qualitative and quantitative analysis of crystallinity in drugs and excipients. In this study, the level of crystallinity in tablets containing amorphous...

Nonlinear Optical Functions in Crystalline and Amorphous Silicon-on-Insulator Nanowires

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Baets, R.; Kuyken, B.; Liu, X.

2012-01-01

Silicon-on-Insulator nanowires provide an excellent platform for nonlinear optical functions in spite of the two-photon absorption at telecom wavelengths. Work on both crystalline and amorphous silicon nanowires is reviewed, in the wavelength range of 1.5 to 2.5 µm....

Moessbauer study of the amorphous Pd70Fe10Si20 alloy upon transition to the crystalline state

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sitek, J.; Prejsa, M.; Cirak, J.; Hucl, M.; Lipka, J.

1978-01-01

Foils of the amorphous alloy Pd 70 Fe 10 Si 20 were investigated after isothermal heating at the temperature range 350-450 0 C with a heating period from 15 min to 4 h. At 350 0 C no changes were observed in the shape of the Moessbauer spectra. At 400 0 C and at 450 0 C up to 30 min only the parameters of Moessbauer spectra consisting of two quadrupole doublets corresponding to palladium and silicon vicinities of iron atoms were changed. After further heating at 450 0 C crystalline phases of Pd 3 Fe and Fe 3 Si appeared on the Moessbauer spectra. (Auth.)

PETROGRAPHY AND APPLICATION OF THE RIETVELD METHOD TO THE QUANTITATIVE ANALYSIS OF PHASES OF NATURAL CLINKER GENERATED BY COAL SPONTANEOUS COMBUSTION

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Pinilla A. Jesús Andelfo

2010-06-01

Full Text Available

Fine-grained and mainly reddish color, compact and slightly breccious and vesicular pyrometamorphic rocks (natural clinker are associated to the spontaneous combustion of coal seams of the Cerrejón Formation exploited by Carbones del Cerrejón Limited in La Guajira Peninsula (Caribbean Region of Colombia. These rocks constitute remaining inorganic materials derived from claystones, mudstones and sandstones originally associated with the coal and are essentially a complex mixture of various amorphous and crystalline inorganic constituents. In this paper, a petrographic characterization of natural clinker, aswell as the application of the X-ray diffraction (Rietveld method by mean of quantitative analysis of its mineral phases were carried out. The RIQAS program was used for the refinement of X ray powder diffraction profiles, analyzing the importance of using the correct isostructural models for each of the existing phases, which were obtained from the Inorganic Crystal Structure Database (ICSD. The results obtained in this investigation show that the Rietveld method can be used as a powerful tool in the quantitative analysis of phases in polycrystalline samples, which has been a traditional problem in geology.

Moessbauer study of isothermally annealed amorphous Fe-Nb-Cu-Si-B alloys

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sitek, J.; Toth, I.; Miglierini, M.

1993-01-01

Amorphous ribbons of Fe 73.5 Nb 3 Cu 1 Si 13.5 B 9 have been annealed above the crystallization temperature. Annealed samples consisted of crystalline and amorphous phases in a wide temperature range. Two samples of different thicknesses of 33 μm and 27 μm were isothermally annealed at a temperature of 545 C from 0.5 to 5 h in a vacuum furnace. The amount of crystalline phase increases rapidly in the ticker sample. The crystalline part of the Moessbauer spectrum consists of four sharp sextets which can be assigned to a DO 3 -structure FeSi alloy. After 700 C annealing the amorphous phase was not observed and the crystalline phase consisted of the DO 3 -structure FeSi alloy, paramagnetic FeNbB and presumably Fe 23 B 6 and Fe 3 SiB 2 . (orig.)

Miedema model based methodology to predict amorphous-forming-composition range in binary and ternary systems

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Das, N., E-mail: nirupamd@barc.gov.in [Materials Science Division, Bhabha Atomic Research Centre, Trombay, Mumbai 400 085 (India); Mittra, J. [Materials Science Division, Bhabha Atomic Research Centre, Trombay, Mumbai 400 085 (India); Murty, B.S. [Department of Metallurgical and Materials Engineering, IIT Madras, Chennai 600 036 (India); Pabi, S.K. [Department of Metallurgical and Materials Engineering, IIT Kharagpur, Kharagpur 721 302 (India); Kulkarni, U.D.; Dey, G.K. [Materials Science Division, Bhabha Atomic Research Centre, Trombay, Mumbai 400 085 (India)

2013-02-15

Highlights: Black-Right-Pointing-Pointer A methodology was proposed to predict amorphous forming compositions (AFCs). Black-Right-Pointing-Pointer Chemical contribution to enthalpy of mixing {proportional_to} enthalpy of amorphous for AFCs. Black-Right-Pointing-Pointer Accuracy in the prediction of AFC-range was noticed in Al-Ni-Ti system. Black-Right-Pointing-Pointer Mechanical alloying (MA) results of Al-Ni-Ti followed the predicted AFC-range. Black-Right-Pointing-Pointer Earlier MA results of Al-Ni-Ti also conformed to the predicted AFC-range. - Abstract: From the earlier works on the prediction of amorphous forming composition range (AFCR) using Miedema based model and also, on mechanical alloying experiments it has been observed that all amorphous forming compositions of a given alloy system falls within a linear band when the chemical contribution to enthalpy of the solid solution ({Delta}H{sup ss}) is plotted against the enthalpy of mixing in the amorphous phase ({Delta}H{sup amor}). On the basis of this observation, a methodology has been proposed in this article to identify the AFCR of a ternary system that is likely to be more precise than what can be obtained using {Delta}H{sup amor} - {Delta}H{sup ss} < 0 criterion. MA experiments on various compositions of Al-Ni-Ti system, producing amorphous, crystalline, and mixture of amorphous plus crystalline phases have been carried out and the phases have been characterized using X-ray diffraction and transmission electron microscopy techniques. Data from the present MA experiments and, also, from the literature have been used to validate the proposed approach. Also, the proximity of compositions, producing a mixture of amorphous and crystalline phases to the boundary of AFCR in the Al-Ni-Ti ternary has been found useful to validate the effectiveness of the prediction.

Investigation of electrochemical behaviour and structure of oxide films on Ni60Nb40 alloy in amorphous and crystalline states

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Tomashov, N.D.; Skvortsova, I.B.; Gorodetskij, A.E.; Bogomolov, D.B.

1987-01-01

Electrochemical properties of Ni 60 Nb 40 alloy in amorphous and crystalline states as well as structure of oxide films forming during anode polarization in electrolytes on the surface of this alloy in both its states are investigated. It is stated that increased passive ability of Ni 60 Nb 40 alloys in amorphous state and high efficiency of chlorine evolution (2 n NaCl+HCl up to pH=0) anode process in comparison with crystalline state are defined by increased homogeneity and uniformity of passive films forming on amorphous alloy and their increased electron conductivity, that is in direct dependence on different structure of passive films forming on alloys in amorphous and crystalline states

In-situ observation of the transformation of amorphous calcium phosphate to crystalline hydroxyapatite

Science.gov (United States)

Stammeier, Jessica; Hippler, Dorothee; Mavromatis, Vasileios; Sacher, Stephan; Dietzel, Martin

2016-04-01

Amorphous calcium phosphate (Ca3(PO4)2*nH2O; ACP) is often a precursor phase of the mineral (hydroxy-) apatite (Ca5(PO4)3(OH)) that can be formed in natural settings during both authigenic and biogenic mineral formation. Particularly, in the biomineralization process of fish tissue, ACP has shown to be an important transient phase. In solution ACP rapidly transforms into the crystalline phase. The transformation rate highly depends on the physico-chemical conditions of the solution: Ca & P availability, pH and temperature. In natural settings Ca can be provided by different sources: from (1) seawater, (2) porewater, or (3) diagenetically-altered carbonates, whereas local supersaturation of P can be induced by microbial activity. In this study, we performed phosphate precipitation experiments in order to monitor the transformation process of the ACP to crystalline hydroxyapatite (HAP) using in-situ Raman spectroscopy. During the experiments the temperature was kept constant at 20.0 ± 0.01 ° C and pH at 9 ± 0.1. 50 ml of 0.3 CaCl 2H2O was titrated at a rate of 5 ml/min to an equal volume of 0.2 M Na2HPO4. The pH was kept constant by titration of 1 M NaOH. During the experiment samples were taken from the solution and instantly filtered. The obtained solid samples were lyophilized and analyzed with XRD, ATR and SEM. The respective solution samples were analyzed using ion chromatography and ICP OES, coupling the spectroscopic data with detailed solution chemistry data. We observed transformation of ACP to HAP to occur within 14 hours, illustrated in a clear peak shift in Raman spectra from 950 cm-1 to 960 cm-1. The obtained results are discussed in the aspects of distribution of major elements during the formation of phosphates and/or the diagenetic alteration of carbonates to phosphates in geologic settings. Financial support by DFG-FG 736 and NAWI Graz is kindly acknowledged.

Method to quantify the delocalization of electronic states in amorphous semiconductors and its application to assessing charge carrier mobility of p -type amorphous oxide semiconductors

Science.gov (United States)

de Jamblinne de Meux, A.; Pourtois, G.; Genoe, J.; Heremans, P.

2018-01-01

Amorphous semiconductors are usually characterized by a low charge carrier mobility, essentially related to their lack of long-range order. The development of such material with higher charge carrier mobility is hence challenging. Part of the issue comes from the difficulty encountered by first-principles simulations to evaluate concepts such as the electron effective mass for disordered systems since the absence of periodicity induced by the disorder precludes the use of common concepts derived from condensed matter physics. In this paper, we propose a methodology based on first-principles simulations that partially solves this problem, by quantifying the degree of delocalization of a wave function and of the connectivity between the atomic sites within this electronic state. We validate the robustness of the proposed formalism on crystalline and molecular systems and extend the insights gained to disordered/amorphous InGaZnO4 and Si. We also explore the properties of p -type oxide semiconductor candidates recently reported to have a low effective mass in their crystalline phases [G. Hautier et al., Nat. Commun. 4, 2292 (2013), 10.1038/ncomms3292]. Although in their amorphous phase none of the candidates present a valence band with delocalization properties matching those found in the conduction band of amorphous InGaZnO4, three of the seven analyzed materials show some potential. The most promising candidate, K2Sn2O3 , is expected to possess in its amorphous phase a slightly higher hole mobility than the electron mobility in amorphous silicon.

Synthesis of Fe-based amorphous composite coatings with low purity materials by laser cladding

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Zhu Qingjun [School of Materials Science and Engineering, Shandong University, Jinan 250061 (China)]. E-mail: sduzhu@yahoo.com.cn; Qu Shiyao [School of Materials Science and Engineering, Shandong University, Jinan 250061 (China); Wang Xinhong [School of Materials Science and Engineering, Shandong University, Jinan 250061 (China); Zou Zengda [School of Materials Science and Engineering, Shandong University, Jinan 250061 (China)

2007-06-30

Amorphous composite coatings Fe{sub 38}Ni{sub 30-X}Si{sub 16}B{sub 14}V{sub 2}M {sub X} (X = 0, 1, 2) (M contains Al, Ti, Mo, and C) were prepared with low purity of raw materials by laser cladding. X-ray diffraction and transmission electron microscopy results show that the coating have an amorphous structure with a few crystalline phase on it. The amorphous phase is the primary phase. The glass forming ability as well as the microhardness of the Fe-based alloy made from low purity raw materials can be much enhanced by adding small amount of multi-components. However, the elements addition has its optimal quantity. When X is equal to 1, the microstructure of the coating contains 97.93% amorphous phase and 2.07% crystalline phase on it. As a result, the microhardness of the coating reaches maximum. With further increasing of the additions, the amorphous phase in the coating lessens instead of augment and the crystalline phase begins to accumulate, which result in the decrease of the microhardness.

Infrared Spectra and Optical Constants of Astronomical Ices: I. Amorphous and Crystalline Acetylene

Science.gov (United States)

Hudson, R. L.; Ferrante, R. F.; Moore, M. H.

2013-01-01

Here we report recent measurements on acetylene (C2H2) ices at temperatures applicable to the outer Solar System and the interstellar medium. New near- and mid-infrared data, including optical constants (n, k), absorption coefficients (alpha), and absolute band strengths (A), are presented for both amorphous and crystalline phases of C2H2 that exist below 70 K. Comparisons are made to earlier work. Electronic versions of the data are made available, as is a computer routine to use our reported n and k values to simulate the observed IR spectra. Suggestions are given for the use of the data and a comparison to a spectrum of Makemake is made.

Transmission X-ray Diffraction (XRD) Patterns Relevant to the MSL Chemin Amorphous Component: Sulfates And Silicates

Science.gov (United States)

Morris, R. V.; Rampe, E. B.; Graff, T. G.; Archer, P. D., Jr.; Le, L.; Ming, D. W.; Sutter, B.

2015-01-01

The Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) CheMin instrument on the Curiosity rover is a transmission X-ray diffractometer (Co-Kalpha radiation source and a approx.5deg to approx.52deg 2theta range) where the analyzed powder samples are constrained to have discrete particle diameters XRD amorphous component. Estimates of amorphous component abundance, based on the XRD data itself and on mass-balance calculations using APXS data crystalline component chemistry derived from XRD data, martian meteorites, and/or stoichiometry [e.g., 6-9], range from approx.20 wt.% to approx.50 wt.% of bulk sample. The APXSbased calculations show that the amorphous component is rich in volatile elements (esp. SO3) and is not simply primary basaltic glass, which was used as a surrogate to model the broad band in the RN CheMin pattern. For RN, the entire volatile inventory (except minor anhydrite) is assigned to the amorphous component because no volatile-bearing crystalline phases were reported within detection limits [2]. For JK and CB, Fesaponite, basanite, and akaganeite are volatile-bearing crystalline components. Here we report transmission XRD patterns for sulfate and silicate phases relevant to interpretation of MSL-CheMin XRD amorphous components.

First-principles study of nitrogen doping in cubic and amorphous Ge2Sb2Te5

Science.gov (United States)

Caravati, S.; Colleoni, D.; Mazzarello, R.; Kühne, T. D.; Krack, M.; Bernasconi, M.; Parrinello, M.

2011-07-01

We investigated the structural, electronic and vibrational properties of amorphous and cubic Ge2Sb2Te5 doped with N at 4.2 at.% by means of large scale ab initio simulations. Nitrogen can be incorporated in molecular form in both the crystalline and amorphous phases at a moderate energy cost. In contrast, insertion of N in the atomic form is very energetically costly in the crystalline phase, though it is still possible in the amorphous phase. These results support the suggestion that N segregates at the grain boundaries during the crystallization of the amorphous phase, resulting in a reduction in size of the crystalline grains and an increased crystallization temperature.

Moessbauer study of isothermally annealed amorphous Fe-Nb-Cu-Si-B alloys

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Sitek, J. (Dept. of Nuclear Physics and Technology, Slovak Technical Univ., Bratislava (Slovakia)); Toth, I. (Dept. of Nuclear Physics and Technology, Slovak Technical Univ., Bratislava (Slovakia)); Miglierini, M. (Dept. of Nuclear Physics and Technology, Slovak Technical Univ., Bratislava (Slovakia))

1993-11-01

Amorphous ribbons of Fe[sub 73.5]Nb[sub 3]Cu[sub 1]Si[sub 13.5]B[sub 9] have been annealed above the crystallization temperature. Annealed samples consisted of crystalline and amorphous phases in a wide temperature range. Two samples of different thicknesses of 33 [mu]m and 27 [mu]m were isothermally annealed at a temperature of 545 C from 0.5 to 5 h in a vacuum furnace. The amount of crystalline phase increases rapidly in the ticker sample. The crystalline part of the Moessbauer spectrum consists of four sharp sextets which can be assigned to a DO[sub 3]-structure FeSi alloy. After 700 C annealing the amorphous phase was not observed and the crystalline phase consisted of the DO[sub 3]-structure FeSi alloy, paramagnetic FeNbB and presumably Fe[sub 23]B[sub 6] and Fe[sub 3]SiB[sub 2]. (orig.)

Crystalline-Amorphous Core−Shell Silicon Nanowires for High Capacity and High Current Battery Electrodes

KAUST Repository

Cui, Li-Feng

2009-01-14

Silicon is an attractive alloy-type anode material for lithium ion batteries because of its highest known capacity (4200 mAh/g). However silicon\\'s large volume change upon lithium insertion and extraction, which causes pulverization and capacity fading, has limited its applications. Designing nanoscale hierarchical structures is a novel approach to address the issues associated with the large volume changes. In this letter, we introduce a core-shell design of silicon nanowires for highpower and long-life lithium battery electrodes. Silicon crystalline- amorphous core-shell nanowires were grown directly on stainless steel current collectors by a simple one-step synthesis. Amorphous Si shells instead of crystalline Si cores can be selected to be electrochemically active due to the difference of their lithiation potentials. Therefore, crystalline Si cores function as a stable mechanical support and an efficient electrical conducting pathway while amorphous shells store Li ions. We demonstrate here that these core-shell nanowires have high charge storage capacity (̃1000 mAh/g, 3 times of carbon) with ̃90% capacity retention over 100 cycles. They also show excellent electrochemical performance at high rate charging and discharging (6.8 A/g, ̃20 times of carbon at 1 h rate). © 2009 American Chemical Society.

Spectroscopic ellipsometry characterization of amorphous and crystalline TiO{sub 2} thin films grown by atomic layer deposition at different temperatures

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Saha, D., E-mail: babaisps@rrcat.gov.in [Laser Materials Processing Division, Raja Ramanna Centre for Advanced Technology, Indore 452013 (India); Ajimsha, R.S. [Laser Materials Processing Division, Raja Ramanna Centre for Advanced Technology, Indore 452013 (India); Rajiv, K.; Mukherjee, C. [Mechanical and Optical Support Section, Raja Ramanna Centre for Advanced Technology, Indore 452013 (India); Gupta, M. [UGC-DAE Consortium, Indore Centre, Khandwa Road, Indore 452017 (India); Misra, P.; Kukreja, L.M. [Laser Materials Processing Division, Raja Ramanna Centre for Advanced Technology, Indore 452013 (India)

2014-10-01

Highlights: • Refractive index was found to be increased from amorphous to the nanocrystalline films. • Refractive index was found to be inversely proportional with growth per cycle. • Large-grained anatase films showed lower refractive indices than the amorphous films. • Roughness was taken into consideration due to the columnar growths of crystalline films. - Abstract: TiO{sub 2} thin films of widely different structural and morphological characteristics were grown on Si (1 0 0) substrates using Atomic Layer Deposition (ALD) by varying the substrate temperature (T{sub s}) in a wide range (50 °C ≤ T{sub s} ≤ 400 °C). Spectroscopic ellipsometry (SE) measurements were carried out to investigate the effect of growth temperature on the optical properties of the films. Measured SE data were analyzed by considering double layer optical model for the sample together with the single oscillator Tauc-Lorentz dispersion relation. Surface roughness was taken into consideration due to the columnar growths of grains in crystalline films. The refractive index was found to be increased from amorphous (T{sub s} ≤ 150 °C) to the nanocrystalline films (250{sup 0} < T{sub s} ≤ 400 °C). The pronounced surface roughening for the large-grained anatase film obtained at the amorphous to crystalline phase transformation temperature of 200 °C, impeded SE measurement. The dispersions of refractive indices below the interband absorption edge were found to be strongly correlated with the single oscillator Wemple–DiDomenico (WD) model. The increase in dispersion energy parameter in WD model from disordered amorphous to the more ordered nanocrystalline films was found to be associated with the increase in the film density and coordination number.

Momentum-dependent excitation processes in crystalline and amorphous films of conjugated oligomers

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zojer, E.; Knupfer, M.; Shuai, Z.; Fink, J.; Bredas, J.L.; Hoerhold, H.-H.; Grimme, J.; Scherf, U.; Benincori, T.; Leising, G.

2000-01-01

The electronic structure of periodic materials is usually described on the basis of band-structure models, in which each state is not only characterized by its energy but also by the corresponding electron momentum. In this paper we present investigations of momentum-dependent excitation processes in a number of molecular crystals and amorphous thin films. For our studies we have chosen ladder-type quinquephenyl (5LP), distyrylbenzene (3PV), a substituted quinquephenylenevinylene (5PV), and a bridged quarterthienyl (4TB). These substances are representative for several classes of conjugated organic materials. Their physical properties are dominated by the molecular building blocks. The investigated films, however, also allow us to study differences in the characteristics of crystalline (3PV and 4TB), partly amorphous (5LP) and fully amorphous (5PV) systems. Momentum-dependent excitations are induced by inelastic electron scattering in electron-energy-loss spectroscopy (EELS) experiments. The experimental data are compared to molecule based post-Hartree-Fock quantum-chemical simulations performed with the intermediate neglect of differential overlap (INDO) approach coupled to a configuration interaction (CI) technique applying the proper momentum-dependent transition matrix elements. Our results show that even in relatively small systems the molecular electronic states can be characterized by an associated range in momentum space. In addition, differences between inelastic electron scattering spectra for low values of momentum transfer and the optical data obtained for the crystalline samples underline the strong impact of light propagation on the absorption characteristics of highly anisotropic crystalline materials

Update on the Chemical Composition Of Crystalline, Smectite, and Amorphous Components for Rocknest Soil and John Klein and Cumberland Mudstone Drill Fines at Gale Crater, Mars

Science.gov (United States)

Morris, R. V.; Ming, D. W.; Gellert, R.; Vaniman, D. T.; Bish, D. L.; Blake, D. F.; Chipera, S. J.; Morrison, S. M.; Downs, R. T.; Rampe, E. B.;

Confined crystallization, crystalline phase deformation and their effects on the properties of crystalline polymers

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, Haopeng

volume hole size in propylene/ethylene copolymers over a range in comonomer content. Above the glass transition temperature (Tg), the reduced free volume hole size and the densification of the amorphous phase were attributed to constraint imposed on rubbery amorphous chain segments by attached chain segments in crystals. However constant free volume fraction was found at Tg, across the crystallinity range of the copolymers, in agreement with the iso-free volume concept of glass transition.

Solid solution and amorphous phase in Ti–Nb–Ta–Mn systems synthesized by mechanical alloying

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Aguilar, C., E-mail: claudio.aguilar@usm.cl [Departamento de Ingeniería Metalúrgica y Materiales, Universidad Técnica Federico Santa María, Av. España 1680, Valparaíso (Chile); Guzman, P. [Departamento de Ingeniería Metalúrgica y Materiales, Universidad Técnica Federico Santa María, Av. España 1680, Valparaíso (Chile); Lascano, S. [Departamento de Ingeniería Mecánica, Universidad Técnica Federico Santa María, Av. España 1680, Valparaíso (Chile); Parra, C. [Departamento de Física, Universidad Técnica Federico Santa María, Av. España 1680, Valparaíso (Chile); Bejar, L. [Instituto de Investigaciones Metalúrgicas, Universidad Michoacana de San Nicolás de Hidalgo, Ciudad Universitaria, Morelia C.P. 58000, Michoacán (Mexico); Medina, A. [Facultad de Ingeniería Mecánica, Universidad Michoacana de San Nicolás de Hidalgo, Ciudad Universitaria, C.P. 58000, Michoacán (Mexico); Guzman, D. [Departamento de Metalurgia, Universidad de Atacama, Av. España 485, Copiapó (Chile)

2016-06-15

This work discusses the formation of Ti–30Nb–13Ta–xMn (x: 2, 4 and 6 wt%) solid solution by mechanical alloying using a shaker mill. A solid solution was formed after 15 h of milling and an amorphous phase was formed after 30 h of milling, according to X-ray diffraction results. Disappearance of strongest X-ray diffraction peaks of Nb, Ta and Mn indicated the formation of solid solution, while, X-ray diffraction patterns of powders milled for 30 h showed an amorphous hump with crystalline peaks in the angular range of 35–45° in 2θ. TEM image analysis showed the presence of nanocrystalline intermetallic compounds embedded in an amorphous matrix. Mn{sub 2}Ti, MnTi and NbTi{sub 4} intermetallic compounds were detected and revealed crystallites with size ranging from 3 to 20 nm. The Gibbs free energy for the formation of solid solution and amorphous phase of three ternary systems (Ti–Nb–Ta, Ti–Nb–Mn and Ti–Ta–Mn) was calculated using extended Miedema's model. Experimental and thermodynamic data confirmed that solid solution was first formed in the alloy with 6wt% Mn followed by the formation of an amorphous phase as milling time increases. The presence of Mn promoted the formation of amorphous phase because the atomic radius difference between Mn with Ti, Nb and Ta. - Highlights: • Thermodynamics analysis of extension of solid solution of the Ti–Nb–Ta–Mn system. • Formation of amorphous phase and intermetallic compounds were observed. • Nanocrystalline intermetallic compounds were formed with the sizes between 3 and 20 nm.

Generalized melting criterion for beam-induced amorphization

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lam, N. Q.; Okamoto, Paul R.

1993-09-01

Recent studies have shown that the mean-square static atomic displacements provide a generic measure of the enthalpy stored in the lattice in the form of chemical and topological disorder, and that the effect of the displacements on the softening of shear elastic constants is identical to that of heating. This finding lends support to a generalized form of the Lindemann phenomenological melting criterion and leads to a natural interpretion of crystalline-to-amorphous transformations as defect-induced melting of metastable crystals driven beyond a critical state of disorder where the melting temperature falls below the glass-transition temperature. Application of the generalized Lindemann criterion to both the crystalline and amorphous phases indicates that the enthalpies of the two phases become identical when their shear moduli become equal. This thermo-elastic rule provides a basis for predicting the relative susceptibility of compounds to amorphization in terms of their elastic properties as measured by Debye temperatures. The present approach can explain many of the basic findings on beam-induced amorphization of intermetallic compounds as well as amorphous phase formation associated with ion implantation, ion-beam mixing and other solid-state processes

Aluminium base amorphous and crystalline alloys with Fe impurity

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sitek, J.; Degmova, J.

2006-01-01

Aluminium base alloys show remarkable mechanical properties, however their low thermal stability still limits the technological applications. Further improvement of mechanical properties can be reached by partial crystallization of amorphous alloys, which gives rise to nanostructured composites. Our work was focused on aluminium based alloys with Fe, Nb and V additions. Samples of nominal composition Al 90 Fe 7 Nb 3 and Al 94 Fe 2 V 4 were studied in amorphous state and after annealing up to 873 K. From Moessbauer spectra taken on the samples in amorphous state the value of f-factor was determined as well as corresponding Debye temperatures were calculated. Annealing at higher temperatures induced nano and microcrystalline crystallization. Moessbauer spectra of samples annealed up to 573 K are fitted only by distribution of quadrupole doublets corresponding to the amorphous state. An increase of annealing temperature leads to the structural transformation, which consists in growth of nanometer sized aluminium nuclei. This is partly reflected in Moessbauer parameters. After annealing at 673 K intermetallic phase Al 3 Fe and other Al-Fe phases are created. In this case Moessbauer spectra are fitted by quadrupole doublets. During annealing up to 873 K large grains of Fe-Al phases are created. (authors)

Formation of nanocrystalline and amorphous phase of Al-Pb-Si-Sn-Cu powder during mechanical alloying

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ran Guang; Zhou Jingen; Xi Shengqi; Li Pengliang

2006-01-01

Al-15%Pb-4%Si-1%Sn-1.5%Cu alloys (mass fraction, %) were prepared by mechanical alloying (MA). Phase transformation and microstructure characteristics of the alloy powders were investigated by X-ray diffraction (XRD) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). The results show that the nanocrystalline supersaturated solid solutions and amorphous phase in the powders are obtained during MA. The effect of ball milling is more evident to lead than to aluminum. During MA, the mixture powders are firstly fined, alloyed, nanocrystallized and then the nanocrystalline partly transforms to amorphous phase. A thermodynamic model is developed based on semi-experimental theory of Miedema to calculate the driving force for phase evolution. The thermodynamic analysis shows that there is no chemical driving force to form a crystalline solid solution from the elemental components. But for the amorphous phase, the Gibbs free energy is higher than 0 for the alloy with lead content in the ranges of 0-86.8 at.% and 98.4-100 at.% and lower than 0 in range of 86.8-98.4 at.%. For the Al-2.25 at.%Pb (Al-15%Pb, mass fraction, %), the driving force for formation of amorphization and nanocrystalline supersaturated solid solutions are provided not by the negative heat of mixing but by mechanical work

Amorphous silicon crystalline silicon heterojunction solar cells

CERN Document Server

Fahrner, Wolfgang Rainer

2013-01-01

Amorphous Silicon/Crystalline Silicon Solar Cells deals with some typical properties of heterojunction solar cells, such as their history, the properties and the challenges of the cells, some important measurement tools, some simulation programs and a brief survey of the state of the art, aiming to provide an initial framework in this field and serve as a ready reference for all those interested in the subject. This book helps to "fill in the blanks" on heterojunction solar cells. Readers will receive a comprehensive overview of the principles, structures, processing techniques and the current developmental states of the devices. Prof. Dr. Wolfgang R. Fahrner is a professor at the University of Hagen, Germany and Nanchang University, China.

Amorphous/crystalline (A/C) thermodynamic "rules of thumb": estimating standard thermodynamic data for amorphous materials using standard data for their crystalline counterparts.

Science.gov (United States)

Holland, Diane; Jenkins, H Donald Brooke

2012-05-07

Standard thermochemical data (in the form of Δ(f)H° and Δ(f)G°) are available for crystalline (c) materials but rarely for their corresponding amorphous (a) counterparts. This paper establishes correlations between the sets of data for the two material forms (where known), which can then be used as a guideline for estimation of missing data. Accordingly, Δ(f)H°(a)/kJ mol(-1) ≈ 0.993Δ(f)H°(c)/kJ mol(-1) + 12.52 (R(2) = 0.9999; n = 50) and Δ(f)G°/kJ mol(-1) ≈ 0.988Δ(f)H°(c)/kJ mol(-1) + 0.70 (R(2) = 0.9999; n = 10). Much more tentatively, we propose that S°(298)(c)/J K(-1) mol(-1) ≈ 1.084S°(298)(c)/J K(-1) mol(-1) + 6.54 (R(2) = 0.9873; n = 11). An amorphous hydrate enthalpic version of the Difference Rule is also proposed (and tested) in the form [Δ(f)H°(M(p)X(q)·nH(2)O,a) - Δ(f)H°(M(p)X(q),a)]/kJ mol(-1) ≈ Θ(Hf)n ≈ -302.0n, where M(p)X(q)·nH(2)O represents an amorphous hydrate and M(p)X(q) the corresponding amorphous anhydrous parent salt.

Spectroscopic ellipsometry characterization of amorphous and crystalline TiO2 thin films grown by atomic layer deposition at different temperatures

Science.gov (United States)

Saha, D.; Ajimsha, R. S.; Rajiv, K.; Mukherjee, C.; Gupta, M.; Misra, P.; Kukreja, L. M.

2014-10-01

TiO2 thin films of widely different structural and morphological characteristics were grown on Si (1 0 0) substrates using Atomic Layer Deposition (ALD) by varying the substrate temperature (Ts) in a wide range (50 °C ≤ Ts ≤ 400 °C). Spectroscopic ellipsometry (SE) measurements were carried out to investigate the effect of growth temperature on the optical properties of the films. Measured SE data were analyzed by considering double layer optical model for the sample together with the single oscillator Tauc-Lorentz dispersion relation. Surface roughness was taken into consideration due to the columnar growths of grains in crystalline films. The refractive index was found to be increased from amorphous (Ts ≤ 150 °C) to the nanocrystalline films (2500 < Ts ≤ 400 °C). The pronounced surface roughening for the large-grained anatase film obtained at the amorphous to crystalline phase transformation temperature of 200 °C, impeded SE measurement. The dispersions of refractive indices below the interband absorption edge were found to be strongly correlated with the single oscillator Wemple-DiDomenico (WD) model. The increase in dispersion energy parameter in WD model from disordered amorphous to the more ordered nanocrystalline films was found to be associated with the increase in the film density and coordination number.

Modification of dielectric function and electronic structure of the alloys at the phase transformation amorphous-crystalline state

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Belij, M.U.; Poperenko, L.V.; Shajkevich, I.A.; Karpusha, V.D.; Kravets, V.G.

1989-01-01

The relation between the features of the optical spectrum and the electronic structure parameters for non-crystalline nickel- and iron-based alloys is not yet precisely found. Therefore the main purpose of the study consists in investigation of the basic metal band structure modification at metalloid alloying. The density of electron states N(E) and structural parameters of amorphous alloys nickel-M, iron-M, Fe-TM-M (M - metalloid B,Si,C; TM - transition metal 3d (Ti,V,Cr,Mn,Co,Ni), 4d (Nb,Mo), 5d (Hf,Ta,W) and their transformation changes from amorphous (AS) to crystalline state (CS) have been determined. The methods of ellipsometry, Auger-spectroscopy and X-ray absorption spectroscopy are used. The function N(E) of the Ni- and Fe-based alloys has shown 4 density-of-states peaks, one of them located above the Fermi level E F and the others - below it. The observed features of the absorbed spectra of Ni-M (M = B,P) are related both to the interband transition from the levels falling into the occupied peaks of N(E) to the levels at E F , and to the 1-peak-states. When B increases the distance between 1-peak and E F decreases. With introduction of the TM atoms into Fe-B the impurities states related to them are formed above E F . From the X-ray data the cluster with nonhomogeneous electronic density for FeBSi (7.0 nm) and FeNbBSi (7.0 and 4.2 nm along and transverse to foil respectively) are estimated. The frequencies of relaxation and plasma oscillations are also calculated. (author)

Wetting behavior of molten In-Sn alloy on bulk amorphous and crystalline Cu40Zr44Al8Ag8

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ma, G. F.; Zhang, H. F.; Li, H.; Hu, Z. Q.

2007-01-01

Using the sessile-drop method, the wettability of the molten In-Sn alloy on bulk amorphous and crystalline Cu 40 Zr 44 Al 8 Ag 8 alloy was studied at different temperatures. It was found that the equilibrium contact angle of In-Sn alloy melt on bulk amorphous substrate was smaller than that of the crystalline one. An intermetallic compound existed at the interface of In-Sn alloy on amorphous Cu 40 Zr 44 Al 8 Ag 8 , while no intermediate reaction layer was formed at the interface of In-Sn alloy on crystalline Cu 40 Zr 44 Al 8 Ag 8 in the temperature range studied

Effect of amorphous lamella on the crack propagation behavior of crystalline Mg/amorphous Mg-Al nanocomposites

Science.gov (United States)

Hai-Yang, Song; Yu-Long, Li

2016-02-01

The effects of amorphous lamella on the crack propagation behavior in crystalline/amorphous (C/A) Mg/Mg-Al nanocomposites under tensile loading are investigated using the molecular dynamics simulation method. The sample with an initial crack of orientation [0001] is considered here. For the nano-monocrystal Mg, the crack growth exhibits brittle cleavage. However, for the C/A Mg/Mg-Al nanocomposites, the ‘double hump’ behavior can be observed in all the stress-strain curves regardless of the amorphous lamella thickness. The results indicate that the amorphous lamella plays a critical role in the crack deformation, and it can effectively resist the crack propagation. The above mentioned crack deformation behaviors are also disclosed and analyzed in the present work. The results here provide a strategy for designing the high-performance hexagonal-close-packed metal and alloy materials. Project supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant Nos. 11372256 and 11572259), the 111 Project (Grant No. B07050), the Program for New Century Excellent Talents in University of Ministry of Education of China (Grant No. NCET-12-1046), and the Program for New Scientific and Technological Star of Shaanxi Province, China (Grant No. 2012KJXX-39).

Determination of crystallinity of ceramic materials from the Ruland Method

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kniess, C.T.; Prates, P.B.; Gomes Junior, J.C.; Lima, J.C. de; Riella, H.G.; Kuhnen, N.C.

2011-01-01

Some methods found in literature approach the different characteristics between crystalline and amorphous phases by X ray diffraction technique. These methods use the relation between the intensities of the crystalline peaks and background amorphous or the absolute intensity of one of these to determine the relative amount of crystalline and amorphous material. However, a crystalline substance presents shows coherent diffuse scattering and a loss in the intensity of the peaks of diffraction in function of thermal vibrations of atoms and imperfections in the crystalline structure. A correct method for the determination of the crystallinity must take in account these effects. This work has as objective to determine the crystallinity of ceramic materials obtained with the addition of mineral coal bottom ashes, using the X ray diffraction technique and the Ruland Method, that considers the diminution of the intensity of the crystalline peak because of the disorder affects. The Ruland Method shows adequate for the determination of the crystallinity of the ceramic materials. (author)

Novel family of solid acid catalysts: substantially amorphous or partially crystalline zeolitic materials

CSIR Research Space (South Africa)

Nicolaides, CP

1999-01-01

Full Text Available of the samples obtained at the various temperatures showed that for synthesis temperatures of up to 70 degrees C, X-ray amorphous aluminosilicates were obtained, whereas treatment at 90 degrees C produced a material exhibiting a 2% XRD crystallinity. Higher...

Amorphization of ceramics by ion beams

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

McHargue, C.J.; Farlow, G.C.; White, C.W.; Williams, J.M.; Appleton, B.R.; Naramoto, H.

1984-01-01

The influence of the implantation parameters fluence, substrate temperature, and chemical species on the formation of amorphous phases in Al 2 O 3 and α-SiC was studied. At 300 0 K, fluences in excess of 10 17 ions.cm -2 were generally required to amorphize Al 2 O 3 ; however, implantation of zirconium formed the amorphous phase at a fluence of 4 x 10 16 Zr.cm -2 . At 77 0 K, the threshold fluence was lowered to about 2 x 10 15 Cr.cm -2 . Single crystals of α-SiC were amorphized at 300 0 K by a fluence of 2 x 10 14 Cr.cm -2 or 1 x 10 15 N.cm -2 . Implantation at 1023 0 K did not produce the amorphous phase in SiC. The micro-indentation hardness of the amorphous material was about 60% of that of the crystalline counterpart

Identifying low and high density amorphous phases during zeolite amorphisation using small and wide angle X-ray scattering

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Meneau, F.; Greaves, G.N.

2005-01-01

In situ experiments following the thermal amorphisation of zeolites reveal massive increases in small angle X-ray scattering (SAXS), persisting well beyond the stage where wide angle X-ray scattering (WAXS) can detect that any crystalline phase is present. This heterogeneity in the amorphised phase is attributed to the transition from a low density amorphous phase (LDA) to a high density amorphous phase (HDA) at the glass transition. The fractions of zeolite, LDA and HDA phases obtained from SAXS analysis are discussed in the context of non-linear changes detected in 29 Si solid state NMR during zeolite amorphisation. Whilst the HDA phase is chemically disordered, the LDA phase exhibits much of the Al-Si ordering present in the starting zeolite. These findings are considered in the context of perfect glasses predicted to occur when super strong liquids are supercooled

Femtosecond laser-induced phase transformations in amorphous Cu{sub 77}Ni{sub 6}Sn{sub 10}P{sub 7} alloy

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Zhang, Y.; Zou, G.; Wu, A.; Bai, H. [Department of Mechanical Engineering, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084 (China); Liu, L., E-mail: liulei@tsinghua.edu.cn [Department of Mechanical Engineering, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084 (China); The State Key Laboratory of Tribology, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084 (China); Chen, N. [School of Materials Science and Engineering, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084 (China); Zhou, Y. [Department of Mechanical Engineering, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084 (China); Department of Mechanical and Mechatronics Engineering, University of Waterloo, Waterloo, Ontario N2L 3G1 (Canada)

2015-01-14

In this study, the femtosecond laser-induced crystallization of CuNiSnP amorphous ribbons was investigated by utilizing an amplified Ti:sapphire laser system. X-ray diffraction and scanning electronic microscope were applied to examine the phase and morphology changes of the amorphous ribbons. Micromachining without crystallization, surface patterning, and selective crystallization were successfully achieved by changing laser parameters. Obvious crystallization occurred under the condition that the laser fluence was smaller than the ablation threshold, indicating that the structural evolution of the material depends strongly on the laser parameters. Back cooling method was used to inhibit heat accumulation; a reversible transformation between the disordered amorphous and crystalline phases can be achieved by using this method.

First-principles study of nitrogen doping in cubic and amorphous Ge{sub 2}Sb{sub 2}Te{sub 5}

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Caravati, S; Mazzarello, R; Kuehne, T D; Parrinello, M [Computational Science, Department of Chemistry and Applied Biosciences, ETH Zurich, USI Campus, Via Giuseppe Buffi 13, CH-6900 Lugano (Switzerland); Colleoni, D; Bernasconi, M [Dipartimento di Scienza dei Materiali, Universita di Milano-Bicocca, Via R Cozzi 53, I-20125 Milano (Italy); Krack, M [Paul Scherrer Institut, CH-5232 Villigen (Switzerland)

2011-07-06

We investigated the structural, electronic and vibrational properties of amorphous and cubic Ge{sub 2}Sb{sub 2}Te{sub 5} doped with N at 4.2 at.% by means of large scale ab initio simulations. Nitrogen can be incorporated in molecular form in both the crystalline and amorphous phases at a moderate energy cost. In contrast, insertion of N in the atomic form is very energetically costly in the crystalline phase, though it is still possible in the amorphous phase. These results support the suggestion that N segregates at the grain boundaries during the crystallization of the amorphous phase, resulting in a reduction in size of the crystalline grains and an increased crystallization temperature.

Investigation of the milling-induced thermal behavior of crystalline and amorphous griseofulvin.

Science.gov (United States)

Trasi, Niraj S; Boerrigter, Stephan X M; Byrn, Stephen Robert

2010-07-01

To gain a better understanding of the physical state and the unusual thermal behavior of milled griseofulvin. Griseofulvin crystals and amorphous melt quench samples were milled in a vibrating ball mill for different times and then analyzed using differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) and powder X-ray diffraction (PXRD). Modulated DSC (mDSC) and annealing studies were done for the milled amorphous samples to further probe the effects of milling. Milling of griseofulvin crystals results in decrease in crystallinity and amorphization of the compound. A double peak is seen for crystallization in the DSC, which is also seen for the milled melt quench sample. Both enthalpy and temperature of crystallization decrease for the milled melt quenched sample. Tg is visible under the first peak with the mDSC, and annealing shows that increasing milling time results in faster crystallization upon storage. Milling of griseofulvin results in the formation of an amorphous form and not a mesophase. It increases the amount of surface created and the overall energy of the amorphous griseofulvin, which leads to a decreased temperature of crystallization. The two exotherms in the DSC are due to some particles having nuclei on the surface.

Bringing nanomagnetism to the mesoscale with artificial amorphous structures

Science.gov (United States)

Muscas, G.; Brucas, R.; Jönsson, P. E.

2018-05-01

In the quest for materials with emergent or improved properties, an effective route is to create artificial superstructures. Novel properties emerge from the coupling between the phases, but the strength of this coupling depends on the quality of the interfaces. Atomic control of crystalline interfaces is notoriously complicated and to elude that obstacle, we suggest here an all-amorphous design. Starting from a model amorphous iron alloy, we locally tune the magnetic behavior by creating boron-doped regions by means of ion implantation through a lithographic mask. This process preserves the amorphous environment, creating a non-topographic magnetic superstructure with smooth interfaces and no structural discontinuities. The absence of inhomogeneities acting as pinning centers for the magnetization reversal is demonstrated by the formation of magnetic vortexes for ferromagnetic disks as large as 20 µm in diameter embedded within a paramagnetic matrix. Rigid exchange coupling between two amorphous ferromagnetic phases in a microstructured sample is evidenced by an investigation involving first-order reversal curves. The sample consists of a soft matrix with embedded elements constituting a hard phase where the anisotropy originates from an elongated shape of the elements. We provide an intuitive explanation for the micrometer-range exchange coupling mechanism and discuss how to tailor the properties of all-amorphous superstructures.

Amorphous-to-crystalline phase transformation by neutron irradiation of the alloy Fe83B17

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Weis, J.; Gabris, F.; Cerven, I.; Sitek, J.

1984-01-01

The purpose of the present work is to investigate the structural changes of amorphous Fe 83 B 17 alloy after irradiation with fast neutrons ( > 1 MeV) and to compare with the crystallization behaviour of the amorphous Fe 83 B 17 alloy after annealing. The structural changes were studied by Moessbauer spectroscopy and X-ray diffraction with the usual Fourier analysis. (author)

The photoexcitation of crystalline ice and amorphous solid water: A molecular dynamics study of outcomes at 11 K and 125 K

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Crouse, J.; Loock, H.-P., E-mail: hploock@chem.queensu.ca; Cann, N. M., E-mail: ncann@chem.queensu.ca [Department of Chemistry, Queen’s University, Kingston, Ontario K7L 3N6 (Canada)

2015-07-21

Photoexcitation of crystalline ice Ih and amorphous solid water at 7-9 eV is examined using molecular dynamics simulations and a fully flexible water model. The probabilities of photofragment desorption, trapping, and recombination are examined for crystalline ice at 11 K and at 125 K and for amorphous solid water at 11 K. For 11 K crystalline ice, a fully rigid water model is also employed for comparison. The kinetic energy of desorbed H atoms and the distance travelled by trapped fragments are correlated to the location and the local environment of the photoexcited water molecule. In all cases, H atom desorption is found to be the most likely outcome in the top bilayer while trapping of all photofragments is most probable deeper in the solid where the likelihood for recombination of the fragments into H{sub 2}O molecules also rises. Trajectory analysis indicates that the local hydrogen bonding network in amorphous solid water is more easily distorted by a photodissociation event compared to crystalline ice. Also, simulations indicate that desorption of OH radicals and H{sub 2}O molecules are more probable in amorphous solid water. The kinetic energy distributions for desorbed H atoms show a peak at high energy in crystalline ice, arising from photoexcited water molecules in the top monolayer. This peak is less pronounced in amorphous solid water. H atoms that are trapped may be displaced by up to ∼10 water cages, but migrate on average 3 water cages. Trapped OH fragments tend to stay near the original solvent cage.

Mesomorphous versus traces of crystallinity: The itraconazole example

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Atassi, Faraj, E-mail: fatassi@yahoo.com; Behme, Robert J.; Patel, Phenil J.

2013-12-20

Highlights: • Characterizing partially disordered pharmaceuticals is very challenging due to the fact that more than one discrete disordered phase can be present. • Dynamic mechanical analysis and dielectric analysis are extremely helpful in characterizing pharmaceutical mesophases (liquid crystals). • Thermotropic pharmaceutical mesophases, often mistaken as amorphous or partially crystalline, can show different phases of liquid crystallinity at different temperature. • Liquid crystalline pharmaceutical materials often show amorphous behavior along with other characteristics specific to mesomorphous materials. • The thermal and mechanical history of pharmaceutical disordered samples has a significant effect on their phase composition. - Abstract: Characterizing disordered pharmaceutical materials can be challenging, especially materials with partially disordered structures that lose one or two directional order (mesophases) and do not fit the traditional characterization categories of amorphous, crystalline or a combination of the two. Itraconazole, an antifungal agent, was chosen as a model compound that, when quench cooled, exhibits atypical disordered structure. Five different analytical tools were used to map out the molecular structure of this material and how it changes with changing temperature. X-ray diffraction showed some remnant crystallinity while dielectric analysis, dynamic mechanical analysis, DSC and hot stage microscopy gave more detailed molecular structure of the disordered material and explained all temperature related structural changes. The characterization of mesomorphous Itraconazole described here will help characterize a wide range of pharmaceuticals that exhibit thermotropic (temperature induced) mesomorphism at the molecular level.

Mesomorphous versus traces of crystallinity: The itraconazole example

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Atassi, Faraj; Behme, Robert J.; Patel, Phenil J.

2013-01-01

Highlights: • Characterizing partially disordered pharmaceuticals is very challenging due to the fact that more than one discrete disordered phase can be present. • Dynamic mechanical analysis and dielectric analysis are extremely helpful in characterizing pharmaceutical mesophases (liquid crystals). • Thermotropic pharmaceutical mesophases, often mistaken as amorphous or partially crystalline, can show different phases of liquid crystallinity at different temperature. • Liquid crystalline pharmaceutical materials often show amorphous behavior along with other characteristics specific to mesomorphous materials. • The thermal and mechanical history of pharmaceutical disordered samples has a significant effect on their phase composition. - Abstract: Characterizing disordered pharmaceutical materials can be challenging, especially materials with partially disordered structures that lose one or two directional order (mesophases) and do not fit the traditional characterization categories of amorphous, crystalline or a combination of the two. Itraconazole, an antifungal agent, was chosen as a model compound that, when quench cooled, exhibits atypical disordered structure. Five different analytical tools were used to map out the molecular structure of this material and how it changes with changing temperature. X-ray diffraction showed some remnant crystallinity while dielectric analysis, dynamic mechanical analysis, DSC and hot stage microscopy gave more detailed molecular structure of the disordered material and explained all temperature related structural changes. The characterization of mesomorphous Itraconazole described here will help characterize a wide range of pharmaceuticals that exhibit thermotropic (temperature induced) mesomorphism at the molecular level

Electronic transport in mixed-phase hydrogenated amorphous/nanocrystalline silicon thin films

Science.gov (United States)

Wienkes, Lee Raymond

Interest in mixed-phase silicon thin film materials, composed of an amorphous semiconductor matrix in which nanocrystalline inclusions are embedded, stems in part from potential technological applications, including photovoltaic and thin film transistor technologies. Conventional mixed-phase silicon films are produced in a single plasma reactor, where the conditions of the plasma must be precisely tuned, limiting the ability to adjust the film and nanoparticle parameters independently. The films presented in this thesis are deposited using a novel dual-plasma co-deposition approach in which the nanoparticles are produced separately in an upstream reactor and then injected into a secondary reactor where an amorphous silicon film is being grown. The degree of crystallinity and grain sizes of the films are evaluated using Raman spectroscopy and X-ray diffraction respectively. I describe detailed electronic measurements which reveal three distinct conduction mechanisms in n-type doped mixed-phase amorphous/nanocrystalline silicon thin films over a range of nanocrystallite concentrations and temperatures, covering the transition from fully amorphous to ~30% nanocrystalline. As the temperature is varied from 470 to 10 K, we observe activated conduction, multiphonon hopping (MPH) and Mott variable range hopping (VRH) as the nanocrystal content is increased. The transition from MPH to Mott-VRH hopping around 100K is ascribed to the freeze out of the phonon modes. A conduction model involving the parallel contributions of these three distinct conduction mechanisms is shown to describe both the conductivity and the reduced activation energy data to a high accuracy. Additional support is provided by measurements of thermal equilibration effects and noise spectroscopy, both done above room temperature (>300 K). This thesis provides a clear link between measurement and theory in these complex materials.

Pigment dispersion syndrome associated with spontaneous subluxation of crystalline lens

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Vikas Veerwal

2017-01-01

Full Text Available Pigment dispersion syndrome (PDS is an ocular condition characterized by a dispersion of iris pigment throughout the eye. This pigment is deposited in a characteristic manner on the corneal endothelium as Krukenberg's spindle, anterior surface of the iris, in the trabecular meshwork, on the lens and zonule and occasionally on the anterior hyaloid face. Even with deposition of pigment on zonular fibers, no zonular weakness, or zonular dehiscence has been reported in these cases. We report a unique case of PDS with bilateral spontaneous subluxation of crystalline lens. With characteristic findings of pigment distribution in both his eyes, the patient had concave iris configuration with heavily pigmented trabecular meshwork confirming the diagnosis of PDS. The patient had bilateral 180° temporal subluxation of crystalline lens in both his eyes. The usual cause of lens subluxation such as Marfan's Syndrome and Ehler's Danlos Syndrome was ruled out. The patient underwent right eye followed by left eye intracapsular cataract extraction with ab-interno technique with postoperative best-corrected visual acuity (BCVA of 6/9 in both eyes. Spontaneous subluxation of crystalline lens in isolated PDS is not known to occur and has been reported by means of this case. We recommend a thorough assessment of zonular status in all cases of PDS.

Pigment dispersion syndrome associated with spontaneous subluxation of crystalline lens.

Science.gov (United States)

Veerwal, Vikas; Goyal, Jawahar Lal; Jain, Parul; Arora, Ritu

2017-01-01

Pigment dispersion syndrome (PDS) is an ocular condition characterized by a dispersion of iris pigment throughout the eye. This pigment is deposited in a characteristic manner on the corneal endothelium as Krukenberg's spindle, anterior surface of the iris, in the trabecular meshwork, on the lens and zonule and occasionally on the anterior hyaloid face. Even with deposition of pigment on zonular fibers, no zonular weakness, or zonular dehiscence has been reported in these cases. We report a unique case of PDS with bilateral spontaneous subluxation of crystalline lens. With characteristic findings of pigment distribution in both his eyes, the patient had concave iris configuration with heavily pigmented trabecular meshwork confirming the diagnosis of PDS. The patient had bilateral 180° temporal subluxation of crystalline lens in both his eyes. The usual cause of lens subluxation such as Marfan's Syndrome and Ehler's Danlos Syndrome was ruled out. The patient underwent right eye followed by left eye intracapsular cataract extraction with ab-interno technique with postoperative best-corrected visual acuity (BCVA) of 6/9 in both eyes. Spontaneous subluxation of crystalline lens in isolated PDS is not known to occur and has been reported by means of this case. We recommend a thorough assessment of zonular status in all cases of PDS.

Amorphous-to-Cu51Zr14 phase transformation in Cu60Ti20Zr20 alloy

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Cao, Q P; Zhou, Y H; Horsewell, A; Jiang, J Z

2003-01-01

The kinetics of an amorphous-to-Cu 51 Zr 14 phase transformation in an as-cast Cu 60 Ti 20 Zr 20 rod have been investigated by differential scanning calorimetry. The relative volume fractions of the transferred crystalline phase as a function of annealing time, obtained at 713, 716, 723, 728, and 733 K, have been analysed in detail using 14 nucleation and growth models together with the JMA model. A time-dependent nucleation process is revealed. A steady-state nucleation rate of the order of 10 22 - 10 23 nuclei m -3 s -1 in the temperature range 713-733 K and an activation energy of the order of 550 kJmol -1 for the phase transformation in the as-cast Cu 60 Ti 20 Zr 20 rod were detected, for which some possible reasons are suggested

Design of multi materials combining crystalline and amorphous metallic alloys

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Volland, A.; Ragani, J.; Liu, Y.; Gravier, S.; Suéry, M.; Blandin, J.J.

2012-01-01

Highlights: ► Elaboration of multi materials associating metallic glasses and conventional crystalline alloys by co-deformation performed at temperatures close to the glass transition temperature of the metallic glasses. ► Elaboration of filamentary metal matrix composites with a core in metallic glass by co extrusion. ► Sandwich structures produced by co-pressing. ► Detection of atomic diffusion from the glass to the crystalline alloys during the processes. ► Good interfaces between the metallic glasses and the crystalline alloys, as confirmed by mechanical characterisation. - Abstract: Multi materials, associating zirconium based bulk metallic glasses and crystalline metallic alloys like magnesium alloys or copper are elaborated by co-deformation processing performed in the supercooled liquid regions (SLR) of the bulk metallic glasses. Two processes are investigated: co-extrusion and co-pressing. In the first case, filamentary composites with various designs can be produced whereas in the second case sandwich structures are obtained. The experimental window (temperature, time) in which processing can be carried out is directly related to the crystallisation resistance of the glass which requires getting information about the crystallisation conditions in the selected metallic glasses. Thermoforming windows are identified for the studied BMGs by thermal analysis and compression tests in their SLR. The mechanical properties of the produced multi materials are investigated thanks to specifically developed mechanical devices and the interfaces between the amorphous and the crystalline alloys are characterised.

Structure-Property Relationships in Polymer Derived Amorphous/Nano-Crystalline Silicon Carbide for Nuclear Applications

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zunjarrao, Suraj C.; Singh, Abhishek K.; Singh, Raman P.

2006-01-01

Silicon carbide (SiC) is a promising candidate for several applications in nuclear reactors owing to its high thermal conductivity, high melting temperature, good chemical stability, and resistance to swelling under heavy ion bombardment. However, fabricating SiC by traditional powder processing route generally requires very high temperatures for pressureless sintering. Polymer derived ceramic materials offer unique advantages such as ability to fabricate net shaped components, incorporate reinforcements and relatively low processing temperatures. Furthermore, for SiC based ceramics fabricated using polymer infiltration process (PIP), the microstructure can be tailored by controlling the processing parameters, to get an amorphous, nanocrystalline or crystalline SiC. In this work, fabrication of polymer derived amorphous and nano-grained SiC is presented and its application as an in-core material is explored. Monolithic SiC samples are fabricated by controlled pyrolysis of allyl-hydrido-poly-carbo-silane (AHPCS) under inert atmosphere. Chemical changes, phase transformations and microstructural changes occurring during the pyrolysis process are studied as a function of the processing temperature. Polymer cross-linking and polymer to ceramic conversion is studied using infrared spectroscopy (FTIR). Thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) and differential thermal analysis (DTA) are performed to monitor the mass loss and phase change as a function of temperature. X-ray diffraction studies are done to study the intermediate phases and microstructural changes. Variation in density is carefully monitored as a function of processing temperature. Owing to shrinkage and gas evolution during pyrolysis, precursor derived ceramics are inherently porous and composite fabrication typically involves repeated cycles of polymer re-infiltration and pyrolysis. However, there is a limit to the densification that can be achieved by this method and porosity in the final materials presents

One-Pot Synthesis of Tunable Crystalline Ni3 S4 @Amorphous MoS2 Core/Shell Nanospheres for High-Performance Supercapacitors.

Science.gov (United States)

Zhang, Yu; Sun, Wenping; Rui, Xianhong; Li, Bing; Tan, Hui Teng; Guo, Guilue; Madhavi, Srinivasan; Zong, Yun; Yan, Qingyu

2015-08-12

Transition metal sulfides gain much attention as electrode materials for supercapacitors due to their rich redox chemistry and high electrical conductivity. Designing hierarchical nanostructures is an efficient approach to fully utilize merits of each component. In this work, amorphous MoS(2) is firstly demonstrated to show specific capacitance 1.6 times as that of the crystalline counterpart. Then, crystalline core@amorphous shell (Ni(3)S(4)@MoS(2)) is prepared by a facile one-pot process. The diameter of the core and the thickness of the shell can be independently tuned. Taking advantages of flexible protection of amorphous shell and high capacitance of the conductive core, Ni(3)S(4) @amorphous MoS(2) nanospheres are tested as supercapacitor electrodes, which exhibit high specific capacitance of 1440.9 F g(-1) at 2 A g(-1) and a good capacitance retention of 90.7% after 3000 cycles at 10 A g(-1). This design of crystalline core@amorphous shell architecture may open up new strategies for synthesizing promising electrode materials for supercapacitors. © 2015 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

Crystalline phases by an improved gradient expansion technique

Science.gov (United States)

Carignano, S.; Mannarelli, M.; Anzuini, F.; Benhar, O.

2018-02-01

We develop an innovative technique for studying inhomogeneous phases with a spontaneous broken symmetry. The method relies on the knowledge of the exact form of the free energy in the homogeneous phase and on a specific gradient expansion of the order parameter. We apply this method to quark matter at vanishing temperature and large chemical potential, which is expected to be relevant for astrophysical considerations. The method is remarkably reliable and fast as compared to performing the full numerical diagonalization of the quark Hamiltonian in momentum space and is designed to improve the standard Ginzburg-Landau expansion close to the phase transition points. For definiteness, we focus on inhomogeneous chiral symmetry breaking, accurately reproducing known results for one-dimensional and two-dimensional modulations and examining novel crystalline structures, as well. Consistently with previous results, we find that the energetically favored modulation is the so-called one-dimensional real-kink crystal. We propose a qualitative description of the pairing mechanism to motivate this result.

Electronic transport in amorphous phase-change materials

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Luckas, Jennifer Maria

2012-01-01

Phase change materials combine a pronounced contrast in resistivity and reflectivity between their disordered amorphous and ordered crystalline state with very fast crystallization kinetics. Due to this exceptional combination of properties phase-change materials find broad application in non-volatile optical memories such as CD, DVD or Bluray Disc. Furthermore, this class of materials demonstrates remarkable electrical transport phenomena in their disordered state, which have shown to be crucial for their application in electronic storage devices. The threshold switching phenomenon denotes the sudden decrease in resistivity beyond a critical electrical threshold field. The threshold switching phenomenon facilitates the phase transitions at practical small voltages. Below this threshold the amorphous state resistivity is thermally activated and is observed to increase with time. This effect known as resistance drift seriously hampers the development of multi-level storage devices. Hence, understanding the physical origins of threshold switching and resistance drift phenomena is crucial to improve non-volatile phase-change memories. Even though both phenomena are often attributed to localized defect states in the band gap, the defect state density in amorphous phase-change materials has remained poorly studied. Starting from a brief introduction of the physics of phase-change materials this thesis summarizes the most important models behind electrical switching and resistance drift with the aim to discuss the role of localized defect states. The centerpiece of this thesis is the investigation of defects state densities in different amorphous phase-change materials and electrical switching chalcogenides. On the basis of Modulated Photo Current (MPC) Experiments and Photothermal Deflection Spectroscopy, a sophisticated band model for the disordered phase of the binary phase-change alloy GeTe has been developed. By this direct experimental approach the band-model for a

Electronic transport in amorphous phase-change materials

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Luckas, Jennifer Maria

2012-09-14

Phase change materials combine a pronounced contrast in resistivity and reflectivity between their disordered amorphous and ordered crystalline state with very fast crystallization kinetics. Due to this exceptional combination of properties phase-change materials find broad application in non-volatile optical memories such as CD, DVD or Bluray Disc. Furthermore, this class of materials demonstrates remarkable electrical transport phenomena in their disordered state, which have shown to be crucial for their application in electronic storage devices. The threshold switching phenomenon denotes the sudden decrease in resistivity beyond a critical electrical threshold field. The threshold switching phenomenon facilitates the phase transitions at practical small voltages. Below this threshold the amorphous state resistivity is thermally activated and is observed to increase with time. This effect known as resistance drift seriously hampers the development of multi-level storage devices. Hence, understanding the physical origins of threshold switching and resistance drift phenomena is crucial to improve non-volatile phase-change memories. Even though both phenomena are often attributed to localized defect states in the band gap, the defect state density in amorphous phase-change materials has remained poorly studied. Starting from a brief introduction of the physics of phase-change materials this thesis summarizes the most important models behind electrical switching and resistance drift with the aim to discuss the role of localized defect states. The centerpiece of this thesis is the investigation of defects state densities in different amorphous phase-change materials and electrical switching chalcogenides. On the basis of Modulated Photo Current (MPC) Experiments and Photothermal Deflection Spectroscopy, a sophisticated band model for the disordered phase of the binary phase-change alloy GeTe has been developed. By this direct experimental approach the band-model for a

Sorption and permeation of gaseous molecules in amorphous and crystalline PPX C membranes: molecular dynamics and grand canonical Monte Carlo simulation studies

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bian Liang; Shu Yuan-Jie; Wang Xin-Feng

2012-01-01

Amorphous and crystalline poly (chloro-p-xylylene) (PPX C) membranes are constructed by using a novel computational technique, that is, a combined method of NVT+NPT-molecular dynamics (MD) and gradually reducing the size (GRS) methods. The related free volumes are defined as homology clusters. Then the sorption and the permeation of gases in PPX C polymers are studied using grand canonical Monte Carlo (GCMC) and NVT-MD methods. The results show that the crystalline PPX C membranes provide smaller free volumes for absorbing or transferring gases relative to the amorphous PPX C area. The gas sorption in PPX C membranes mainly belongs to the physical one, and H bonds can appear obviously in the amorphous area. By cluster analyzing on the mean square displacement of gases, we find that gases walk along the x axis in the crystalline area and walk randomly in the amorphous area. The calculated permeability coefficients are close to the experimental data. (electromagnetism, optics, acoustics, heat transfer, classical mechanics, and fluid dynamics)

Enhanced proton conductivity of niobium phosphates by interfacing crystal grains with an amorphous functional phase

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Huang, Yunjie; Yu, Lele; Li, Haiyan

2016-01-01

Niobium phosphate is an interesting proton conductor operational in the intermediate temperature range. In the present work two forms of phosphates were prepared: an amorphous one with high specific area and a crystalline one with low specific surface area. Both phosphates exhibited very low prot...... the high surface area amorphous phosphate was used as the precursor. At 250 °C thus obtained niobium phosphate showed a high and stable conductivity of 0.03 S cm−1 under dry atmosphere and of 0.06 S cm−1 at a water partial pressure of 0.12 atm....... conductivities. An activation process was developed to convert the phosphates into crystal grains with a phosphorus rich amorphous phase along the grain boundaries. As a result, the obtained niobium phosphates showed considerably enhanced and stable proton conductivities. The activation effect was prominent when...

Physico-chemical and thermochemical studies of the hydrolytic conversion of amorphous tricalcium phosphate into apatite

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Somrani, Saida; Banu, Mihai; Jemal, Mohamed; Rey, Christian

2005-01-01

The conversion of amorphous tricalcium phosphate with different hydration ratio into apatite in water at 25 deg. C has been studied by microcalorimetry and several physical-chemical methods. The hydrolytic transformation was dominated by two strong exothermic events. A fast, relatively weak, wetting process and a very slow but strong heat release assigned to a slow internal rehydration and the crystallization of the amorphous phase into an apatite. The exothermic phenomenon related to the rehydration exceeded the crystalline transformation enthalpy. Rehydration occurred before the conversion of the amorphous phase into apatite and determined the advancement of the hydrolytic reaction. The apatitic phases formed evolved slightly with time after their formation. The crystallinity increased whereas the amount of HPO 4 2- ion decreased. These data allow a better understanding of the behavior of biomaterials involving amorphous phases such as hydroxyapatite plasma-sprayed coatings

PHOTOMETRIC MEASUREMENTS OF H{sub 2}O ICE CRYSTALLINITY ON TRANS-NEPTUNIAN OBJECTS

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Terai, Tsuyoshi [Subaru Telescope, National Astronomical Observatory of Japan, 650 North A‘ohoku Place, Hilo, HI 96720 (United States); Itoh, Yoichi [Center for Astronomy, University of Hyogo, 407-2 Nishigaichi, Sayo-cho, Sayo-gun, Hyogo 679-5313 (Japan); Oasa, Yumiko [Faculty of Education, Saitama University, 255 Shimo-Okubo, Sakura, Saitama 338-8570 (Japan); Furusho, Reiko; Watanabe, Junichi, E-mail: tsuyoshi.terai@nao.ac.jp [National Astronomical Observatory of Japan, 2-21-1 Osawa, Mitaka, Tokyo 181-8588 (Japan)

2016-08-10

We present a measurement of H{sub 2}O ice crystallinity on the surface of trans-neptunian objects with near-infrared narrow-band imaging. The newly developed photometric technique allows us to efficiently determine the strength of a 1.65 μ m absorption feature in crystalline H{sub 2}O ice. Our data for three large objects—Haumea, Quaoar, and Orcus—which are known to contain crystalline H{sub 2}O ice on the surfaces, show a reasonable result with high fractions of the crystalline phase. It can also be pointed out that if the grain size of H{sub 2}O ice is larger than ∼20 μ m, the crystallinities of these objects are obviously below 1.0, which suggests the presence of the amorphous phase. In particular, Orcus exhibits a high abundance of amorphous H{sub 2}O ice compared to Haumea and Quaoar, possibly indicating a correlation between the bulk density of the bodies and the degree of surface crystallization. We also found the presence of crystalline H{sub 2}O ice on Typhon and 2008 AP{sub 129}, both of which are smaller than the minimum size limit for inducing cryovolcanism as well as a transition from amorphous to crystalline phase through thermal evolution due to the decay of long-lived isotopes.

Effect of crystallization on corrosion behavior of Fe40Ni38B18Mo4 amorphous alloy in 3.5% sodium chloride solution

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Wu, Y.F.; Chiang, Wen-Chi; Wu, J.K.

2008-01-01

After the crystallization of F40Ni38B18Mo4 amorphous alloy by vacuum annealing, the corrosion resistance of its crystalline state shows inferior to its amorphous state due to the local cell action between Ni phase and (Fe, Ni, Mo)(23)B-6 phase in matrix.......After the crystallization of F40Ni38B18Mo4 amorphous alloy by vacuum annealing, the corrosion resistance of its crystalline state shows inferior to its amorphous state due to the local cell action between Ni phase and (Fe, Ni, Mo)(23)B-6 phase in matrix....

Role of the bond defect for structural transformations between crystalline and amorphous silicon: A molecular-dynamics study

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Stock, D. M.; Weber, B.; Gaertner, K.

2000-01-01

The relation between the bond defect, which is a topological defect, and structural transformations between crystalline and amorphous silicon, is studied by molecular-dynamics simulations. The investigation of 1-keV boron implantation into crystalline silicon proves that the bond defect can also be generated directly by collisional-induced bond switching in addition to its formation by incomplete recombination of primary defects. This supports the assumption that the bond defect may play an important role in the amorphization process of silicon by light ions. The analysis of the interface between (001) silicon and amorphous silicon shows that there are two typical defect configurations at the interface which result from two different orientations of the bond defect with respect to the interface. Thus the bond defect appears to be a characteristic structural feature of the interface. Moreover, annealing results indicate that the bond defect acts as a growth site for interface-mediated crystallization

The transition from amorphous to crystalline in Al/Zr multilayers

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zhong Qi; Zhang Zhong; Ma Shuang; Qi Runze; Li Jia; Wang Zhanshan; Le Guen, Karine; André, Jean-Michel; Jonnard, Philippe

2013-01-01

The amorphous-to-crystalline transition in Al(1.0%wtSi)/Zr and Al(Pure)/Zr multilayers grown by direct-current magnetron sputtering system has been characterized over a range of Al layer thicknesses (1.0–5.0 nm) by using a series of complementary measurements including grazing incidence X-ray reflectometry, atomic force microscopy, X–ray diffraction, and high-resolution transmission electron microscopy. The Al layer thickness transition exhibits the Si doped in Al could not only disfavor the crystallization of Al but also influence the changing trends of surface roughness and diffraction peak position of phase Al . An interesting feature of the presence of Si in Al layer is that Si could influence the transition process in Al(1%wtSi) layer, in which the critical thickness (1.6 nm) of Al(Pure) layer in Al(Pure)/Zr shifts to 1.8 nm of Al(1.0%wtSi) layer in Al(1.0%wtSi)/Zr multilayer. We also found that the Zr-on-Al interlayer is wider than the Al-on-Zr interlayer in both systems, and the Al layers do not have specific crystal orientation in the directions vertical to the layer from selected area electron diffraction patterns below the thickness (3.0 nm) of Al layers. Above the thickness (3.0 nm) of Al layers, the Al layers are highly oriented in Al , so that the transformation from asymmetrical to symmetrical interlayers can be observed. Based on the analysis of all measurements, we build up a model with four steps, which could explain the Al layer thickness transition process in terms of a critical thickness for the nucleation of Al(Pure) and Al(1%wtSi) crystallites.

Amorphous to crystalline phase transition in carbon induced by intense femtosecond x-ray free-electron laser pulses

Czech Academy of Sciences Publication Activity Database

Gaudin, J.; Peyrusse, O.; Chalupský, Jaromír; Toufarová, Martina; Vyšín, Luděk; Hájková, Věra; Sobierajski, R.; Burian, Tomáš; Dastjani-Farahani, S.; Graf, A.; Amati, M.; Gregoratti, L.; Hau-Riege, S.P.; Hoffmann, G.; Juha, Libor; Krzywinski, J.; London, R.A.; Moeller, S.; Sinn, H.; Schorb, S.; Störmer, M.; Tschentscher, T.; Vorlíček, Vladimír; Vu, H.; Bozek, J.; Bostedt, C.

2012-01-01

Roč. 86, č. 2 (2012), "024103-1"-"024103-7" ISSN 1098-0121 R&D Projects: GA ČR(CZ) GAP108/11/1312; GA ČR GAP205/11/0571; GA ČR GAP208/10/2302; GA AV ČR IAAX00100903; GA MŠk EE.2.3.20.0087 Grant - others:OP VK 2 LaserGen(XE) CZ.1.07/2.3.00/20.0087 Institutional research plan: CEZ:AV0Z10100523 Keywords : amorphous carbon * phase transition * graphitization * x-ray laser * free-electron laser Subject RIV: BH - Optics, Masers, Lasers Impact factor: 3.767, year: 2012

Analysis and simulation of phase transformation kinetics of zeolite A from amorphous phases

CERN Document Server

Marui, Y; Uchida, H; Takiyama, H

2003-01-01

Experiments on transformation rates of zeolite A from amorphous phases at different feed rates to alter the particle size of the amorphous phases were carried out to analyze the kinetics of the transformation, and were analyzed by performing simulation of the transformation. A clear dependence of the induction time for nucleation of zeolite A crystals on the surface area of the amorphous phase was recognized, indicating that the nucleation of zeolite A was heterogeneous and the nucleation rate was almost proportional to the size of the amorphous particles. From the simulation, the mechanism of the transformation was found to be heterogeneous nucleation of zeolite A crystals on the surface of amorphous particles followed by solution mediated phase transformation, and the transformation kinetics were well reproduced at different feed rates. (author)

First-principles study of amorphous Ga4Sb6Te3 phase-change alloys

Science.gov (United States)

Bouzid, Assil; Gabardi, Silvia; Massobrio, Carlo; Boero, Mauro; Bernasconi, Marco

2015-05-01

First-principles molecular dynamics simulations within the density functional theory framework were performed to generate amorphous models of the Ga4Sb6Te3 phase change alloy by quenching from the melt. We find that Ga-Sb and Ga-Te are the most abundant bonds with only a minor amount of Sb-Te bonds participating to the alloy network. Ga and four-coordinated Sb atoms present a tetrahedral-like geometry, whereas three-coordinated Sb atoms are in a pyramidal configuration. The tetrahedral-like geometries are similar to those of the crystalline phase of the two binary compounds GaTe and GaSb. A sizable fraction of Sb-Sb bonds is also present, indicating a partial nanoscale segregation of Sb. Despite the fact that the composition Ga4Sb6Te3 lies on the pseudobinary Ga Sb -Sb2Te3 tie line, the amorphous network can be seen as a mixture of the two binary compounds GaTe and GaSb with intertwined elemental Sb.

Proceedings of the international workshop on structural analyses bridging over between amorphous and crystalline materials (SABAC2008)

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Shamoto, Shin-ichi; Kodama, Katsuaki

2008-07-01

International workshop entitled 'Structural Analyses Bridging over between Amorphous and Crystalline Materials' (SABAC2008) was held on January 10 and 11, 2007 at Techno Community Square 'RICOTTI' in Tokai. Amorphous and crystalline materials are studied historically by various approaches. Recent industrial functional materials such as optical memory material, thermoelectric material, hydrogen storage material, and ionic conductor have intrinsic atomic disorders in their lattices. These local lattice disorders cannot be studied by conventional crystal structure analyses such as Rietveld analysis. Similar difficulty also exists in the structure analysis of nanomaterials. In the workshop, new approaches to the structural analysis on these materials were discussed. This report includes abstracts and materials of the presentations in the workshop. (author)

Directional and short-range ordering kinetics in metallic alloys, crystalline and amorphous

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hillairet, J.

1985-01-01

This presentation describes the methods (resistometric and anelastic) based on analysis of stress-induced directional ordering and short-range ordering and their application to the study of metallic alloys, crystalline and amorphous. It focuses on the determination of the atomic mobility and point defect properties. It discusses also the structural information which can be gained by Zener relaxation studies about the order-disorder transition and self-induced directional ordering phenomena

Solar-light photocatalytic disinfection using crystalline/amorphous low energy bandgap reduced TiO2

Science.gov (United States)

Kim, Youngmin; Hwang, Hee Min; Wang, Luyang; Kim, Ikjoon; Yoon, Yeoheung; Lee, Hyoyoung

2016-01-01

A generation of reactive oxygen species (ROS) from TiO2 under solar light has been long sought since the ROS can disinfect organic pollutants. We found that newly developed crystalline/amorphous reduced TiO2 (rTiO2) that has low energy bandgap can effectively generate ROS under solar light and successfully remove a bloom of algae. The preparation of rTiO2 is a one-pot and mass productive solution-process reduction using lithium-ethylene diamine (Li-EDA) at room temperature. Interestingly only the rutile phase of TiO2 crystal was reduced, while the anatase phase even in case of both anatase/rutile phased TiO2 was not reduced. Only reduced TiO2 materials can generate ROS under solar light, which was confirmed by electron spin resonance. Among the three different types of Li-EDA treated TiO2 (anatase, rutile and both phased TiO2), the both phased rTiO2 showed the best performance to produce ROS. The generated ROS effectively removed the common green algae Chlamydomonas. This is the first report on algae degradation under solar light, proving the feasibility of commercially available products for disinfection. PMID:27121120

The nature of the photoluminescence in amorphized PZT

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Silva, M.S.; Cilense, M.; Orhan, E.; Goes, M.S.; Machado, M.A.C.; Santos, L.P.S.; Paiva-Santos, C.O.; Longo, E.; Varela, J.A.; Zaghete, M.A.; Pizani, P.S.

2005-01-01

The polymeric precursor method was used to synthesize lead zirconate titanate powder (PZT). The crystalline powder was then amorphized by a high-energy ball milling process during 120 h. A strong photoluminescence emission was observed at room temperature for the amorphized PZT powder. The powders were characterized by XRD and the percentage of amorphous phase was calculated through Rietveld refinement. The microstructure for both phases was investigated by TEM. The optical gap was calculated through the Wood and Tauc method using the UV-Vis. data. Quantum mechanical calculations were carried out to give an interpretation of the photoluminescence in terms of electronic structure

Electrostatic Effects in Phase Transitions of Biomembranes between Cubic Phases and Lamellar Liquid-Crystalline (Lα) phase

Science.gov (United States)

Masum, Shah Md.; Li, Shu Jie; Tamba, Yukihiro; Yamashita, Yuko; Yamazaki, Masahito

2004-04-01

Elucidation of the mechanisms of transitions between cubic phase and liquid-crystalline (Lα) phase, and between different IPMS cubic phases, are essential for understanding of dynamics of biomembranes and topological transformation of lipid membranes. Recently, we found that electrostatic interactions due to surface charges of lipid membranes induce transition between cubic phase and Lα phase, and between different IPMS cubic phases. As electrostatic interactions increase, the most stable phase of a monoolein (MO) membrane changes: Q224 ⇒ Q229 ⇒ Lα. We also found that a de novo designed peptide partitioning into electrically neutral lipid membrane changed the phase stability of the MO membranes. As peptide-1 concentration increased, the most stable phase of a MO membrane changes: Q224 ⇒ Q229 ⇒Lα. In both cases, the increase in the electrostatic repulsive interaction greatly reduced the absolute value of spontaneous curvature of the MO monolayer membrane. We also investigated factors such as poly (L-lysine) and osmotic stress to control structure and phase stability of DOPA/MO membranes. Based on these results, we discuss the mechanism of the effect of electrostatic interactions on the stability of cubic phase.

Amorphization reaction in thin films of elemental Cu and Y

Science.gov (United States)

Johnson, R. W.; Ahn, C. C.; Ratner, E. R.

1989-10-01

Compositionally modulated thin films of Cu and Y were prepared in an ultrahigh-vacuum dc ion-beam deposition chamber. The amorphization reaction was monitored by in situ x-ray-diffraction measurements. Growth of amorphous Cu1-xYx is observed at room temperature with the initial formation of a Cu-rich amorphous phase. Further annealing in the presence of unreacted Y leads to Y enrichment of the amorphous phase. Growth of crystalline CuY is observed for T=469 K. Transmission-electron-microscopy measurements provide real-space imaging of the amorphous interlayer and growth morphology. Models are developed, incorporating metastable interfacial and bulk free-energy diagrams, for the early stage of the amorphization reaction.

Fabrication of single-crystalline plasmonic nanostructures on transparent and flexible amorphous substrates

Science.gov (United States)

Mori, Tomohiro; Mori, Takeshi; Tanaka, Yasuhiro; Suzaki, Yoshifumi; Yamaguchi, Kenzo

2017-02-01

A new experimental technique is developed for producing a high-performance single-crystalline Ag nanostructure on transparent and flexible amorphous substrates for use in plasmonic sensors and circuit components. This technique is based on the epitaxial growth of Ag on a (001)-oriented single-crystalline NaCl substrate, which is subsequently dissolved in ultrapure water to allow the Ag film to be transferred onto a wide range of different substrates. Focused ion beam milling is then used to create an Ag nanoarray structure consisting of 200 cuboid nanoparticles with a side length of 160 nm and sharp, precise edges. This array exhibits a strong signal and a sharp peak in plasmonic properties and Raman intensity when compared with a polycrystalline Ag nanoarray.

Local order dynamics: its application to the study of atomic mobility, of point defects in crystalline alloys, and of structural relaxation in amorphous alloys

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Balanzat, Emmanuel

1983-01-01

This research thesis addressed the study of the atomic mobility mechanism and of the atom movement dynamics in the case of crystalline alloys and of amorphous alloys. The first part is based on a previous study performed on an α-Cu 70 -Zn 30 crystalline alloy, and addresses the case of an α-Au 70 -Ni 30 alloy. The specificity of this case relies in the fact that the considered solid solution is metastable and susceptible to de-mixing in the considered temperature range. This case of off-equilibrium crystalline alloy is at the crossroad between steady crystalline alloys and metallic glasses which are studied in the second part. The third part addresses the irradiation of metallic amorphous alloys by fast particles (neutrons or electrons). The author tried to characterise atomic defects induced by irradiation and to compare them with pre-existing ones. He studied how these defects may change atomic mobility, and, more generally, to which extent the impact of energetic particles could modify local order status

Effect of boron addition to the hard magnetic bulk Nd60Fe30Al10 amorphous alloy

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kong, H.Z.; Li, Y.; Ding, J.

2000-01-01

A detailed study of the effect of boron addition to crystallinity, magnetic properties and thermal properties was carried out for alloys Nd 60-x Fe 30 Al 10 B x with x=0, 1, 3 and 5 produced by copper mold chill casting and melt-spinning. The cast rods of alloys Nd 60-x Fe 30 Al 10 B x were largely amorphous. Remanence up to 0.154 T and coercivity up to 355 kA/m were observed, which were higher than those of the bulk amorphous Nd 60 Fe 30 Al 10 rod of the same diameter. A step in hysteresis loop was observed for the hard magnetic cast rod and ribbon melt-spun at a low speed of 5 m/s of the alloys with boron addition. Consistent increase in the amplitude of the step and magnetic field (H) at which the step was observed as the boron content increased. A single magnetic phase with low coercivity was observed for fully amorphous ribbon melt-spun at high speed of 30 m/s. Full crystallization due to heat treatment resulted in transition of hard magnetic amorphous phase of Nd 55 Fe 30 Al 10 B 5 cast rod to paramagnetic crystalline phases. TEM results of the as-cast rods illustrated the existence of numerous minute Nd-crystallites in amorphous matrix

Volume phase transitions of cholesteric liquid crystalline gels.

Science.gov (United States)

Matsuyama, Akihiko

2015-05-07

We present a mean field theory to describe anisotropic deformations of a cholesteric elastomer without solvent molecules and a cholesteric liquid crystalline gel immersed in isotropic solvents at a thermal equilibrium state. Based on the neoclassical rubber theory of nematic elastomers, we derive an elastic energy and a twist distortion energy, which are important to determine the shape of a cholesteric elastomer (or gel). We demonstrate that when the elastic energy dominates in the free energy, the cholesteric elastomer causes a spontaneous compression in the pitch axis and elongates along the director on the plane perpendicular to the pitch axis. Our theory can qualitatively describe the experimental results of a cholesteric elastomer. We also predict the first-order volume phase transitions and anisotropic deformations of a gel at the cholesteric-isotropic phase transition temperature. Depending on a chirality of a gel, we find a prolate or oblate shape of cholesteric gels.

Volume phase transitions of cholesteric liquid crystalline gels

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Matsuyama, Akihiko, E-mail: matuyama@bio.kyutech.ac.jp [Department of Bioscience and Bioinformatics, Faculty of Computer Science and Systems Engineering, Kyushu Institute of Technology, Kawazu 680-4, Iizuka, Fukuoka 820-8502 (Japan)

2015-05-07

We present a mean field theory to describe anisotropic deformations of a cholesteric elastomer without solvent molecules and a cholesteric liquid crystalline gel immersed in isotropic solvents at a thermal equilibrium state. Based on the neoclassical rubber theory of nematic elastomers, we derive an elastic energy and a twist distortion energy, which are important to determine the shape of a cholesteric elastomer (or gel). We demonstrate that when the elastic energy dominates in the free energy, the cholesteric elastomer causes a spontaneous compression in the pitch axis and elongates along the director on the plane perpendicular to the pitch axis. Our theory can qualitatively describe the experimental results of a cholesteric elastomer. We also predict the first-order volume phase transitions and anisotropic deformations of a gel at the cholesteric-isotropic phase transition temperature. Depending on a chirality of a gel, we find a prolate or oblate shape of cholesteric gels.

Hydroxylated crystalline edingtonite silica faces as models for the amorphous silica surface

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Tosoni, S; Civalleri, B; Ugliengo, P [Dipartimento di Chimica IFM and NIS (Centre of Excellence), Universita di Torino, Via P. Giuria 7, 10125 Torino - ITALY (Italy); Pascale, F [Laboratoire de Cristallographie ed Modelisation des Materiaux Mineraux et Biologiques, UMR-CNRS-7036. Universite Henri Poincare - Nancy I, B.P. 239, 54506 Vandoeuvre-les-Nancy Cedex 05 - FRANCE (France)], E-mail: piero.ugliengo@unito.it

2008-06-01

Fully hydroxylated surfaces derived from crystalline edingtonite were adopted to model the variety of sites known to exist at the amorphous silica surface, namely isolated, geminal and interacting silanols. Structures, energetics and vibrational features of the surfaces either bare or in contact with water were modelled at DFT level using the B3LYP functional with a GTO basis set of double-zeta polarized quality using the periodic ab-initio CRYSTAL06 code. Simulated infrared spectra of both dry and water wet edingtonite surfaces were in excellent agreement with the experimental ones recorded on amorphous silica. Water interaction energies were compared with microcalorimetric differential heats of adsorption data showing good agreement, albeit computed ones being slightly underestimated due to the lack of dispersive forces in the B3LYP functional.

Mesoporous calcium carbonate as a phase stabilizer of amorphous celecoxib--an approach to increase the bioavailability of poorly soluble pharmaceutical substances.

Science.gov (United States)

Forsgren, Johan; Andersson, Mattias; Nilsson, Peter; Mihranyan, Albert

2013-11-01

The bioavailability of crystalline pharmaceutical substances is often limited by their poor aqueous solubility but it can be improved by formulating the active substance in the amorphous state that is featured with a higher apparent solubility. Although the possibility of stabilizing amorphous drugs inside nano-sized pores of carbon nanotubes and ordered mesoporous silica has been shown, no conventional pharmaceutical excipients have so far been shown to possess this property. This study demonstrates the potential of using CaCO3 , a widely used excipient in oral drug formulations, to stabilize the amorphous state of active pharmaceutical ingredients, in particular celecoxib. After incorporation of celecoxib in the vaterite particles, a five to sixfold enhancement in apparent solubility of celecoxib is achieved due to pore-induced amorphization. To eliminate the possibility of uncontrolled phase transitions, the vaterite particles are stored in an inert atmosphere at 5 °C throughout the study. Also, to demonstrate that the amorphization effect is indeed associated with vaterite mesopores, accelerated stress conditions of 100% relative humidity are employed to impose transition from mesoporous vaterite to an essentially non-porous aragonite phase of CaCO3 , which shows only limited amorphization ability. Further, an improvement in solubility is also confirmed for ketoconazole when formulated with the mesoporous vaterite. Synthesis of the carrier particles and the incorporation of the active substances are carried out simultaneously in a one-step procedure, enabling easy fabrication. These results represent a promising approach to achieve enhanced bioavailability in new formulations of Type II BCS drugs. Copyright © 2013 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

Electronic Structures Localized at the Boron Atom in Amorphous Fe-B and Fe-B-P Alloys

Science.gov (United States)

Yasuda, Hidehiro; Nakayama, Hiroshi; Fujita, Hiroshi

1989-11-01

The electronic structures localized at the B in amorphous Fe-B and Fe-B-P alloys and their crystallized alloys were studied by Auger valence electron spectroscopy and the states of solute B are discussed based on the change in the degree of covalent bonding and the charge transfer between the Fe and B atoms. In amorphous phases, the charge transfers from Fe to B above 15at%B where B atoms occupy the substitutionallike situations, and from B to Fe below 15at%B where B atoms occupy the interstitiallike situations. Magnetic properties depend on such states of solute B. In crystalline phases, covalent bonding becomes dominant because the electron excitation occurs to the B2p state. Consequently, amorphous phases are more metallic in character than crystalline phases and amorphous structures are stabilized by a mixture of more than two different bonding states.

Plasticity induced phase transformation in molecular crystals

OpenAIRE

Koslowski, Marisol

2014-01-01

Solid state amorphization (SSA) can be achieved in crystalline materials including metal alloys, intermetallics, semiconductors, minerals and molecular crystals. Even though the mechanisms may differ in different materials, the crystalline to amorphous transformation occurs when the crystal reaches a metastable state in which its free energy is higher than that of the amorphous phase. SSA is observed in metal alloys because of interdiffusion of the crystalline elements during mechanical milli...

Effect of the milling conditions on the degree of amorphization of selenium by milling in a planetary ball mill

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ksiazek, K; Wacke, S; Gorecki, T; Gorecki, Cz

2007-01-01

The effect of the milling parameters (rotation speed of the milling device and duration of milling) on the phase composition of the products of milling of fully crystalline selenium has been investigated. The milling was conducted using a planetary micromill and the phase composition of the milling products was determined by differential thermal analysis. It has been found that ball milling leads to the partial amorphization of the starting crystalline material. The content of amorphous phase in the milling products depends, in a rather complicated way, on the milling parameters. At the milling parameters adopted in the present study, the milling product was never fully amorphous. The complicated way the milling parameters affect the content of amorphous phase in the milling products is a result of competition of two processes: amorphization due to deformation and refinement of grains of milled material and crystallization of the already produced amorphous material at the cost of heat evolved in the milling vial during the milling process

On the nature of amorphous polymorphism of water

OpenAIRE

Koza, Michael Marek; Geil, Burkhard; Winkel, Katrin; Koehler, Christian; Czeschka, Franz; Scheuermann, Marco; Schober, Helmut; Hansen, Thomas

2005-01-01

We report elastic and inelastic neutron scattering experiments on different amorphous ice modifications. It is shown that an amorphous structure (HDA') indiscernible from the high-density phase (HDA), obtained by compression of crystalline ice, can be formed from the very high-density phase (vHDA) as an intermediate stage of the transition of vHDA into its low-density modification (LDA'). Both, HDA and HDA' exhibit comparable small angle scattering signals characterizing them as structures he...

Room temperature photoluminescence in crystalline/amorphous Er-doped Cd{sub 2}V{sub 2}O{sub 7}

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Cid-Garcia, A. [Benemerita Universidad Autonoma de Puebla. Postgrado en Fisica Aplicada. Facultad de Ciencias Fisico-Matematicas, Mexico (Mexico); Lozada-Morales, R., E-mail: rlozada@fcfm.buap.mx [Benemerita Universidad Autonoma de Puebla. Postgrado en Fisica Aplicada. Facultad de Ciencias Fisico-Matematicas, Mexico (Mexico); Lopez-Calzada, G. [Centro de Investigacion y de Estudios Avanzados del IPN, Unidad Queretaro, Apartado Postal 1-798, Queretaro, Qro. 76001 (Mexico); Zayas, Ma. E. [Departamento de Investigacion en Fisica de la Universidad de Sonora, Edificio 3I, Blvd. Edificio 5 E, Luis Encinas s/n, Col. Centro, 83000. Hermosillo, Sonora, Mexico (Mexico); Zelaya Angel, O. [Departamento de Fisica, Centro de Investigacion y de Estudios Avanzados, P.O. Box 14-740, Mexico 07360 D. F. (Mexico); and others

2012-06-15

Er{sup 3+} ions were introduced into a new type of oxide matrixes prepared with different proportions of CdO and V{sub 2}O{sub 5}. The source of Er{sup 3+} employed was Er(NO{sub 3}){sub 3}{center_dot}5H{sub 2}O, which yielded an Er{sup 3+} concentration of {approx}1 at%. Depending on the reactants proportions, the samples resulted in crystalline or amorphous structures. X-ray diffraction indicated that the crystalline samples were constituted by polycrystalline Cd{sub 2}V{sub 2}O{sub 7}, in agreement with Raman spectroscopy measurements. Depending on the proportions of the component oxides, the band gap changed in the 2.49-1.77 eV energy range, as determined through photoacoustic spectroscopy. From photoluminescence spectra, the following electronic transitions of Er{sup 3+} were observed in both types of samples: {l_brace}{sup 2}H{sub 11/2}, {sup 4}S{sub 3/2}, {sup 4}F{sub 9/2}, {sup 4}I{sub 9/2}{r_brace}{yields}{sup 4}I{sub 15/2} and {sup 4}S{sub 3/2}{yields}{sup 4}I{sub 13/2}. In the case of crystalline samples manifolds, originating from the Stark effect, were measured for the {l_brace}{sup 2}H{sub 11/2}, {sup 4}S{sub 3/2}, {sup 4}F{sub 9/2}{r_brace}{yields}{sup 4}I{sub 15/2} and {sup 4}S{sub 3/2}{yields}{sup 4}I{sub 13/2} transitions. - Highlights: Black-Right-Pointing-Pointer The Cd{sub 2}V{sub 2}O{sub 7} has been fabricated in amorphous and crystalline phases. Black-Right-Pointing-Pointer The band gap of crystalline samples varied in the 2.49-2.41 eV range. Black-Right-Pointing-Pointer The absorption edge for the glasses had lower values with a minimum of 1.77 eV. Black-Right-Pointing-Pointer The {l_brace}{sup 2}H{sub 11/2}, {sup 4}S{sub 3/2}, {sup 4}F{sub 9/2}, {sup 4}I{sub 9/2}{r_brace}{yields}{sup 4}I{sub 15/2} and {sup 4}S{sub 3/2}{yields}{sup 4}I{sub 13/2,} were observed in PL.

Moessbauer spectroscopy studies of spin reorientations in amorphous and crystalline (Co0.2Fe0.8)72.5Si12.5B15 glass coated micro-wires

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Nowik, I.; Felner, I.; Garcia-Miquel, H.

2007-01-01

Thermo-gravimetric, differential scanning calorimetry and comprehensive 57 Fe Moessbauer spectroscopy studies of amorphous and crystalline ferromagnetic glass coated (Co 0.2 Fe 0.8 ) 72.5 Si 12.5 B 15 micro-wires have been recorded. The Curie temperature of the amorphous phase is T C (amorp) ∼730 K. The analysis of the Moessbauer spectra reveals that below 623 K the easy axis of the magnetization is axial-along the wires, and that a tangential or/and radial orientation occurs at higher temperatures. At 770 K, in the first 4 hours the Moessbauer spectrum exhibits a pure paramagnetic doublet. Crystallization and decomposition to predominantly α-Fe(Si) and Fe 2 B occurs either by raising the temperature above 835 K or isothermally in time at lower temperatures. Annealing for a day at 770 K, leads to crystallization. In the crystalline material the magnetic moments have a complete random orientation. After cooling back to ambient temperature, both α-Fe(Si) and Fe 2 B in the glass coated wire show pure axial magnetic orientation like in the original amorphous state. The observed spin reorientations are associated with changes in the stress induced by the glass coating

Experimental hydrothermal alteration of crystalline and radiation-damaged pyrochlore

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Geisler, T.; Seydoux-Guillaume, A.-M.; Poeml, P.; Golla-Schindler, U.; Berndt, J.; Wirth, R.; Pollok, K.; Janssen, A.; Putnis, A.

2005-01-01

We have performed hydrothermal experiments with a crystalline microlite and a heavily self-irradiation-damaged (i.e., X-ray amorphous) betafite in a solution containing 1 mol/l HCl and 1 mol/l CaCl 2 at 175 deg. C for 14 days. The well-crystalline microlite grains were partly (∼5-10 μm rim) replaced by a Ca and Na-poorer, defect pyrochlore phase with a larger unit-cell and a sharp chemical gradient at the interface (on a nm scale) to the unreacted core. The amorphous betafite grains (up to ∼2 mm in diameter), on the other hand, were completely transformed into an intergrowth of different crystalline phases (polycrystalline anatase and rutile, a yet unidentified Nb-Ta oxide, and a Y-REE phase), showing complex non-equilibrium structures. Our experimental observations bear a remarkable resemblance to those made on natural samples. They indicate that the processes of the fluid-pyrochlore interaction are influenced by self-irradiation structural damage and that thermodynamic equilibrium models can hardly be applied to adequately describe such systems

Engineering and Scaling the Spontaneous Magnetization Reversal of Faraday Induced Magnetic Relaxation in Nano-Sized Amorphous Ni Coated on Crystalline Au.

Science.gov (United States)

Li, Wen-Hsien; Lee, Chi-Hung; Kuo, Chen-Chen

2016-05-28

We report on the generation of large inverse remanent magnetizations in nano-sized core/shell structure of Au/Ni by turning off the applied magnetic field. The remanent magnetization is very sensitive to the field reduction rate as well as to the thermal and field processes before the switching off of the magnetic field. Spontaneous reversal in direction and increase in magnitude of the remanent magnetization in subsequent relaxations over time were found. All of the various types of temporal relaxation curves of the remanent magnetizations are successfully scaled by a stretched exponential decay profile, characterized by two pairs of relaxation times and dynamic exponents. The relaxation time is used to describe the reduction rate, while the dynamic exponent describes the dynamical slowing down of the relaxation through time evolution. The key to these effects is to have the induced eddy current running beneath the amorphous Ni shells through Faraday induction.

Goldstone bosons in a crystalline chiral phase

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Schramm, Marco

2017-01-01

The phase diagram of strong interaction matter is expected to exhibit a rich structure. Different models have shown, that crystalline phases with a spatially varying chiral condensate can occur in the regime of low temperatures and moderate densities, where they replace the first-order phase transition found for spatially constant order parameters. We investigate this inhomogeneous phase, where in addition to the chiral symmetry, translational and rotational symmetry are broken as well, in a two flavor Nambu--Jona-Lasinio model. The main goal of this work is to describe the Goldstone bosons in this phase, massless excitations that occur for spontaneously broken symmetries. We take one of the simplest possible modulations, the chiral density wave, and show how to derive the quark propagator of the theory analytically, by means of transformations in chiral and momentum space. We apply this to a test case for the gap equation. We show the derivation of Nambu-Goldstone modes in the inhomogeneous phase and find, that for our case only three different modes have to be taken into account. We proceed to calculate the Goldstone boson related to the breaking of spatial symmetry, which can be related to the neutral pion. By evaluating a Bethe-Salpeter equation, we can show, that we have indeed found a Goldstone boson and give its dispersion relation in terms of momenta perpendicular, as well as parallel to the mass modulation.

Goldstone bosons in a crystalline chiral phase

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Schramm, Marco

2017-07-24

The phase diagram of strong interaction matter is expected to exhibit a rich structure. Different models have shown, that crystalline phases with a spatially varying chiral condensate can occur in the regime of low temperatures and moderate densities, where they replace the first-order phase transition found for spatially constant order parameters. We investigate this inhomogeneous phase, where in addition to the chiral symmetry, translational and rotational symmetry are broken as well, in a two flavor Nambu--Jona-Lasinio model. The main goal of this work is to describe the Goldstone bosons in this phase, massless excitations that occur for spontaneously broken symmetries. We take one of the simplest possible modulations, the chiral density wave, and show how to derive the quark propagator of the theory analytically, by means of transformations in chiral and momentum space. We apply this to a test case for the gap equation. We show the derivation of Nambu-Goldstone modes in the inhomogeneous phase and find, that for our case only three different modes have to be taken into account. We proceed to calculate the Goldstone boson related to the breaking of spatial symmetry, which can be related to the neutral pion. By evaluating a Bethe-Salpeter equation, we can show, that we have indeed found a Goldstone boson and give its dispersion relation in terms of momenta perpendicular, as well as parallel to the mass modulation.

Crystalline and amorphous phases in carbon nitride films produced by intense high-pressure plasma

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gurarie, V.N.; Orlov, A.V.; Bursill, L.A.; JuLin, P.; Nugent, K.W.; Chon, J.W.; Prawer, S.

1997-01-01

Carbon-nitride films are prepared using a high-intensity pulsed plasma deposition technique. A wide range of nitrogen pressure and discharge intensity are used to investigate their effect on the morphology, nitrogen content, structure, bonding, phase composition and mechanical characteristics of the CN films deposited. Increasing the nitrogen pressure from 0.1 atm to 10 atm results in an increase of nitrogen incorporation into CN films to maximum of 45 at %. Under the high-energy density deposition conditions which involve ablation of the quartz substrate the CN films are found to incorporate in excess of 60 at %N. Raman spectra of these films contain sharp peaks characteristic of a distinct crystalline CN phase. TEM diffraction patterns for the films deposited below 1 atm unambiguously show the presence of micron-sized crystals displaying a cubic symmetry. (authors)

Health hazards due to the inhalation of amorphous silica

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Merget, R.; Bruening, T. [Research Institute for Occupational Medicine (BGFA), Bochum (Germany); Bauer, T. [Bergmannsheil, University Hospital, Department of Internal Medicine, Division of Pneumonology, Allergology and Sleep Medicine, Bochum (Germany); Kuepper, H.U.; Breitstadt, R. [Degussa-Huels Corp., Wesseling (Germany); Philippou, S. [Department of Pathology, Augusta Krankenanstalten, Bochum (Germany); Bauer, H.D. [Research Institute for Hazardous Substances (IGF), Bochum (Germany)

2002-01-01

Occupational exposure to crystalline silica dust is associated with an increased risk for pulmonary diseases such as silicosis, tuberculosis, chronic bronchitis, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and lung cancer. This review summarizes the current knowledge about the health effects of amorphous (non-crystalline) forms of silica. The major problem in the assessment of health effects of amorphous silica is its contamination with crystalline silica. This applies particularly to well-documented pneumoconiosis among diatomaceous earth workers. Intentionally manufactured synthetic amorphous silicas are without contamination of crystalline silica. These synthetic forms may be classified as (1) wet process silica, (2) pyrogenic (''thermal'' or ''fumed'') silica, and (3) chemically or physically modified silica. According to the different physico-chemical properties, the major classes of synthetic amorphous silica are used in a variety of products, e.g. as fillers in the rubber industry, in tyre compounds, as free-flow and anti-caking agents in powder materials, and as liquid carriers, particularly in the manufacture of animal feed and agrochemicals; other uses are found in toothpaste additives, paints, silicon rubber, insulation material, liquid systems in coatings, adhesives, printing inks, plastisol car undercoats, and cosmetics. Animal inhalation studies with intentionally manufactured synthetic amorphous silica showed at least partially reversible inflammation, granuloma formation and emphysema, but no progressive fibrosis of the lungs. Epidemiological studies do not support the hypothesis that amorphous silicas have any relevant potential to induce fibrosis in workers with high occupational exposure to these substances, although one study disclosed four cases with silicosis among subjects exposed to apparently non-contaminated amorphous silica. Since the data have been limited, a risk of chronic bronchitis, COPD or

Health hazards due to the inhalation of amorphous silica

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Merget, R.; Bruening, T.; Bauer, T.; Kuepper, H.U.; Breitstadt, R.; Philippou, S.; Bauer, H.D.

2002-01-01

Occupational exposure to crystalline silica dust is associated with an increased risk for pulmonary diseases such as silicosis, tuberculosis, chronic bronchitis, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and lung cancer. This review summarizes the current knowledge about the health effects of amorphous (non-crystalline) forms of silica. The major problem in the assessment of health effects of amorphous silica is its contamination with crystalline silica. This applies particularly to well-documented pneumoconiosis among diatomaceous earth workers. Intentionally manufactured synthetic amorphous silicas are without contamination of crystalline silica. These synthetic forms may be classified as (1) wet process silica, (2) pyrogenic (''thermal'' or ''fumed'') silica, and (3) chemically or physically modified silica. According to the different physico-chemical properties, the major classes of synthetic amorphous silica are used in a variety of products, e.g. as fillers in the rubber industry, in tyre compounds, as free-flow and anti-caking agents in powder materials, and as liquid carriers, particularly in the manufacture of animal feed and agrochemicals; other uses are found in toothpaste additives, paints, silicon rubber, insulation material, liquid systems in coatings, adhesives, printing inks, plastisol car undercoats, and cosmetics. Animal inhalation studies with intentionally manufactured synthetic amorphous silica showed at least partially reversible inflammation, granuloma formation and emphysema, but no progressive fibrosis of the lungs. Epidemiological studies do not support the hypothesis that amorphous silicas have any relevant potential to induce fibrosis in workers with high occupational exposure to these substances, although one study disclosed four cases with silicosis among subjects exposed to apparently non-contaminated amorphous silica. Since the data have been limited, a risk of chronic bronchitis, COPD or emphysema cannot be excluded. There is no

First principles study of the optical contrast in phase change materials

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Caravati, S; Parrinello, M [Department of Chemistry and Applied Biosciences, ETH Zurich, USI Campus, Via Giuseppe Buffi 13, 6900 Lugano (Switzerland); Bernasconi, M, E-mail: marco.bernasconi@mater.unimib.i [Dipartimento di Scienza dei Materiali, Universita di Milano-Bicocca, Via R Cozzi 53, I-20125, Milano (Italy)

2010-08-11

We study from first principles the optical properties of the phase change materials Ge{sub 2}Sb{sub 2}Te{sub 5} (GST), GeTe and Sb{sub 2}Te{sub 3} in the crystalline phase and in realistic models of the amorphous phase generated by quenching from the melt in ab initio molecular dynamics simulations. The calculations reproduce the strong optical contrast between the crystalline and amorphous phases measured experimentally and exploited in optical data storage. It is demonstrated that the optical contrast is due to a change in the optical matrix elements across the phase change in all the compounds. It is concluded that the reduction of the optical matrix elements in the amorphous phases is due to angular disorder in p-bonding which dominates the amorphous network in agreement with previous proposals (Huang and Robertson 2010 Phys. Rev. B 81 081204) based on calculations on crystalline models.

Amorphous-to-crystalline phase transformation by neutron irradiation of the alloy Fe/sub 83/B/sub 17/

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Weis, J.; Gabris, F.; Cerven, I.; Sitek, J. (Slovenska Vysoka Skola Technicka, Bratislava (Czechoslovakia))

1984-03-01

The purpose of the present work is to investigate the structural changes of amorphous Fe/sub 83/B/sub 17/ alloy after irradiation with fast neutrons ( > 1 MeV) and to compare with the crystallization behaviour of the amorphous Fe/sub 83/B/sub 17/ alloy after annealing. The structural changes were studied by Moessbauer spectroscopy and X-ray diffraction with the usual Fourier analysis.

Atomic structure and electronic properties of the SixSb100-x phase-change memory material

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Verma, Ashok K.; Modak, Paritosh; Svane, Axel

2011-01-01

The electronic and structural properties of SixSb100-x (x∼16) materials are investigated using first-principles molecular dynamics simulations. Crystalline-liquid-amorphous phase transitions are examined and remarkable changes in the local structure around the Si atoms are found. The average Si...... coordination number 6 (3 long + 3 short Si-Sb bonds) of the crystalline phase changes to 4 (3 long Si-Sb + 1 short Si-Si bonds) by preserving three Si-Sb bonds in both the liquid and the amorphous phases. In the amorphous phase ∼90% of the Si atoms are fourfold coordinated compared to 40% in the liquid....... The electronic density of states is metal-like in both the crystalline and the liquid phases, but it exhibits a pseudogap at the Fermi level in the amorphous phase, reflecting the strong abundance of fourfold coordinated Si in the amorphous phase....

Formation of iron disilicide on amorphous silicon

Science.gov (United States)

Erlesand, U.; Östling, M.; Bodén, K.

1991-11-01

Thin films of iron disilicide, β-FeSi 2 were formed on both amorphous silicon and on crystalline silicon. The β-phase is reported to be semiconducting with a direct band-gap of about 0.85-0.89 eV. This phase is known to form via a nucleation-controlled growth process on crystalline silicon and as a consequence a rather rough silicon/silicide interface is usually formed. In order to improve the interface a bilayer structure of amorphous silicon and iron was sequentially deposited on Czochralski silicon in an e-gun evaporation system. Secondary ion mass spectrometry profiling (SIMS) and scanning electron micrographs revealed an improvement of the interface sharpness. Rutherford backscattering spectrometry (RBS) and X-ray diffractiometry showed β-FeSi 2 formation already at 525°C. It was also observed that the silicide growth was diffusion-controlled, similar to what has been reported for example in the formation of NiSi 2 for the reaction of nickel on amorphous silicon. The kinetics of the FeSi 2 formation in the temperature range 525-625°C was studied by RBS and the activation energy was found to be 1.5 ± 0.1 eV.

Quantifying low amorphous or crystalline amounts of alpha-lactose-monohydrate using X-ray powder diffraction, near-infrared spectroscopy, and differential scanning calorimetry.

Science.gov (United States)

Fix, I; Steffens, K J

2004-05-01

Efficient and accurate quantification of low amorphous and crystalline contents within pharmaceutical materials still remains a challenging task in the pharmaceutical industry. Since X-ray powder diffraction (XRPD) equipment has improved in recent years, our aim was 1) to investigate the possibility of substantially lowering the detection limits of amorphous or crystalline material to about 1% or 0.5% w/w respectively by applying conventional Bragg Brentano optics, combined with a fast and simple evaluation technique; 2) to perform these measurements within a short time to make it suitable for routine analysis; and 3) to subject the same data sets to a partial least squares regression (PLSR) in order to investigate whether it is possible to improve accuracy and precision compared to the standard integration method. Near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) and differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) were chosen as reference method. As model substance, alpha lactose monohydrate was chosen to create calibration curves based on predetermined mixtures of highly crystalline and amorphous substance. In contrast to DSC, XRPD and NIRS revealed an excellent linearity, precision, and accuracy with the percent of crystalline amount and a detectability down to about 0.5% w/w. Chemometric evaluation (partial least squares regression) applied to the XRPD data further improved the quality of our calibration.

Amorphization of metals by ion implantation and ion beam mixing

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Rauschenbach, B.; Heera, V.

1988-01-01

Amorphous metallic systems can be formed either by high-fluence ion implantation of glassforming species or by irradiation of layered metal systems with inert gas ions. Both techniques and experimental examples are presented. Empirical rules are discussed which predict whether a given system can be transformed into an amorphous phase. Influence of temperature, implantation dose and pre-existing crystalline metal composition on amorphization is considered. Examples are given of the implantation induced amorphous structure, recrystallization and formation of quasicrystalline structures. (author)

The evolution of strength and crystalline phases for alkali-activated ground blast furnace slag and fly ash-based geopolymers

KAUST Repository

Oh, Jae Eun

2010-02-01

The increase in strength and evolution of crystalline phases in inorganic polymer cement, made by the alkali activation of slag, Class C and Class F fly ashes, was followed using compressive strength test and synchrotron X-ray diffraction. In order to increase the crystallinity of the product the reactions were carried out at 80 °C. We found that hydrotalcite formed in both the alkali-activated slag cements and the fly ash-based geopolymers. Hydroxycancrinite, one member of the ABC-6 family of zeolites, was found only in the fly ash geopolymers. Assuming that the predominantly amorphous geopolymer formed under ambient conditions relates to the crystalline phases found when the mixture is cured at high temperature, we propose that the structure of this zeolitic precursor formed in Na-based high alkaline environment can be regarded as a disordered form of the basic building unit of the ABC-6 group of zeolites which includes poly-types such as hydroxycancrinite, hydroxysodalite and chabazite-Na. © 2009 Elsevier Ltd.

The evolution of strength and crystalline phases for alkali-activated ground blast furnace slag and fly ash-based geopolymers

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Oh, Jae Eun; Monteiro, Paulo J.M.; Jun, Ssang Sun; Choi, Sejin; Clark, Simon M.

2010-01-01

The increase in strength and evolution of crystalline phases in inorganic polymer cement, made by the alkali activation of slag, Class C and Class F fly ashes, was followed using compressive strength test and synchrotron X-ray diffraction. In order to increase the crystallinity of the product the reactions were carried out at 80 deg. C. We found that hydrotalcite formed in both the alkali-activated slag cements and the fly ash-based geopolymers. Hydroxycancrinite, one member of the ABC-6 family of zeolites, was found only in the fly ash geopolymers. Assuming that the predominantly amorphous geopolymer formed under ambient conditions relates to the crystalline phases found when the mixture is cured at high temperature, we propose that the structure of this zeolitic precursor formed in Na-based high alkaline environment can be regarded as a disordered form of the basic building unit of the ABC-6 group of zeolites which includes poly-types such as hydroxycancrinite, hydroxysodalite and chabazite-Na.

Engineering and Scaling the Spontaneous Magnetization Reversal of Faraday Induced Magnetic Relaxation in Nano-Sized Amorphous Ni Coated on Crystalline Au

Science.gov (United States)

Li, Wen-Hsien; Lee, Chi-Hung; Kuo, Chen-Chen

2016-01-01

We report on the generation of large inverse remanent magnetizations in nano-sized core/shell structure of Au/Ni by turning off the applied magnetic field. The remanent magnetization is very sensitive to the field reduction rate as well as to the thermal and field processes before the switching off of the magnetic field. Spontaneous reversal in direction and increase in magnitude of the remanent magnetization in subsequent relaxations over time were found. All of the various types of temporal relaxation curves of the remanent magnetizations are successfully scaled by a stretched exponential decay profile, characterized by two pairs of relaxation times and dynamic exponents. The relaxation time is used to describe the reduction rate, while the dynamic exponent describes the dynamical slowing down of the relaxation through time evolution. The key to these effects is to have the induced eddy current running beneath the amorphous Ni shells through Faraday induction. PMID:28773549

Amorphous silicon/crystalline silicon heterojunctions for nuclear radiation detector applications

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Walton, J.T.; Hong, W.S.; Luke, P.N.; Wang, N.W.; Ziemba, F.P.

1996-10-01

Results on characterization of electrical properties of amorphous Si films for the 3 different growth methods (RF sputtering, PECVD [plasma enhanced], LPCVD [low pressure]) are reported. Performance of these a-Si films as heterojunctions on high resistivity p-type and n- type crystalline Si is examined by measuring the noise, leakage current, and the alpha particle response of 5mm dia detector structures. It is demonstrated that heterojunction detectors formed by RF sputtered films and PECVD films are comparable in performance with conventional surface barrier detectors. Results indicate that the a-Si/c-Si heterojunctions have the potential to greatly simplify detector fabrication. Directions for future avenues of nuclear particle detector development are indicated

Amorphous silicon/crystalline silicon heterojunctions for nuclear radiation detector applications

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Walton, J.T.; Hong, W.S.; Luke, P.N.; Wang, N.W.; Ziemba, F.P.

1996-01-01

Results on the characterization of the electrical properties of amorphous silicon films for the three different growth methods, RF sputtering, PECVD, and LPCVD are reported. The performance of these a-Si films as heterojunctions on high resistivity p-type and n-type crystalline silicon is examined by measuring the noise, leakage current and the alpha particle response of 5 mm diameter detector structures. It is demonstrated that heterojunction detectors formed by RF sputtered films and PECVD films are comparable in performance with conventional surface barrier detectors. The results indicate that the a-Si/c-Si heterojunctions have the potential to greatly simplify detector fabrication. Directions for future avenues of nuclear particle detector development are indicated

An IR investigation of solid amorphous ethanol - Spectra, properties, and phase changes

Science.gov (United States)

Hudson, Reggie L.

2017-12-01

Mid- and far-infrared spectra of condensed ethanol (CH3CH2OH) at 10-160 K are presented, with a special focus on amorphous ethanol, the form of greatest astrochemical interest, and with special attention given to changes at 155-160 K. Infrared spectra of amorphous and crystalline forms are shown. The refractive index at 670 nm of amorphous ethanol at 16 K is reported, along with three IR band strengths and a density. A comparison is made to recent work on the isoelectronic compound ethanethiol (CH3CH2SH), and several astrochemical applications are suggested for future study.

Molecular reorientations in a substance with liquid-crystalline and plastic-crystalline phases

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Nguyen, Xuan Phuc.

1986-05-01

Results of dielectric relaxation (DR), quasielastic neutron scattering (QNS), far infrared absorption (FIR), proton magnetic resonance (PMR), differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) and preliminary X-ray diffraction measurements on the di-n-pentyloxyazoxybenzene (5.OAOB) are presented. The measurements carried out by all these methods showed that 5.OAOB exhibits a nontypical for liquid-crystalline materials phase diagram. It has two mesophases: a nematic (N) and an ''intermediate'' crystalline phase just below it. A complex interpretation of results obtained is given. All suggestions concerning the character of reorientational motions of the molecule as a whole as well as of its segments in mesomorphic phases are analyzed. From comparison of the DR and QNS studies one can conclude that in the N phase the molecule as a whole performs rotational diffusion around the long axis (τ DR ∼ 100 ps) and at the same time the two moieties perform faster independent reorientations around N - benzene rings bonds withτ QNS ∼ 5 ps. On the basis of various experimental data it is shown that the CrI phase is a plastic-crystalline phase for which the molecule and its segments perform fast stochastic unaxial reorientations. This is the first case where the existence of such a phase in liquid-crystalline materials has been experimentally confirmed. (author)

Depth-resolution imaging of crystalline nanoclusters attached on and embedded in amorphous films using aberration-corrected TEM

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Yamasaki, Jun, E-mail: yamasaki@uhvem.osaka-u.ac.jp [Research Center for Ultra-High Voltage Electron Microscopy, Osaka University, 7-1 Mihogaoka, Ibaraki, Osaka 567-0047 (Japan); EcoTopia Science Institute, Nagoya University, Furo-cho, Chikusa-ku, Nagoya 464-8603 (Japan); Mori, Masayuki [Graduate School of Engineering, Nagoya University, Furo-cho, Chikusa-ku, Nagoya 464-8603 (Japan); Hirata, Akihiko [Advanced Institute for Materials Research, Tohoku University, 2-1-1 Katahira, Aoba-ku, Sendai 980-8577 (Japan); Hirotsu, Yoshihiko [Institute of Scientific and Industrial Research, Osaka University, 8-1 Mihogaoka, Ibaraki, Osaka 567-0047 (Japan); Tanaka, Nobuo [EcoTopia Science Institute, Nagoya University, Furo-cho, Chikusa-ku, Nagoya 464-8603 (Japan)

2015-04-15

For observations of crystalline nanoclusters, the features and capabilities of depth-resolution imaging by aberration-corrected transmission electron microscopy (TEM) were investigated using image simulations and experiments for two types of samples. The first sample was gold clusters attached on an amorphous carbon film. The experimental through-focal series indicated that the focal plane for the cluster was shifted 3 nm from that for the supporting film. This difference is due to the depth-resolution imaging of the cluster and film, the mid-planes of which are separated by 3 nm along the depth direction (the electron incident direction). On the basis of this information, the three-dimensional configuration of the sample, such as the film thickness of 2 nm, was successfully illustrated. The second sample was a Zr{sub 66.7}Ni{sub 33.3} metallic glass including a medium-range-order (MRO) structure, which was approximately considered to be a crystalline cluster with a diameter of 1.6 nm. In the experimental through-focal series, the lattice fringe of the MRO cluster was visible at limited focal conditions. Image simulations reproduced well the focal conditions and also indicated a structural condition for the visualization that the embedded cluster must be apart from the mid-plane of the matrix film. Similar to the case of the first sample, this result can be explained by the idea that the “effective focal planes” for the film and cluster are at different heights. This type of depth-resolution phase contrast imaging is possible only in aberration-corrected TEM and when the sample has a simple structure and is sufficiently thin for the kinematical scattering approximation. - Highlights: • Depth-resolution imaging by aberration-corrected TEM was demonstrated. • Thickness of a carbon film supporting gold nano-crystals was successfully estimated. • A crystalline nanocluster embedded in an amorphous matrix was successfully observed. • It was clarified that

Thermal behavior for a nanoscale two ferromagnetic phase system based on random anisotropy model

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Muraca, D.; Sanchez, F.H.; Pampillo, L.G.; Saccone, F.D.

2010-01-01

Advances in theory that explain the magnetic behavior as function of temperature for two phase nanocrystalline soft magnetic materials are presented. The theory developed is based on the well known random anisotropy model, which includes the crystalline exchange stiffness and anisotropy energies in both amorphous and crystalline phases. The phenomenological behavior of the coercivity was obtained in the temperature range between the amorphous phase Curie temperature and the crystalline phase one.

On the relevance of the micromechanics approach for predicting the linear viscoelastic behavior of semi-crystalline poly(ethylene)terephtalates (PET)

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Diani, J.; Bedoui, F.; Regnier, G.

2008-01-01

The relevance of micromechanics modeling to the linear viscoelastic behavior of semi-crystalline polymers is studied. For this purpose, the linear viscoelastic behaviors of amorphous and semi-crystalline PETs are characterized. Then, two micromechanics modeling methods, which have been proven in a previous work to apply to the PET elastic behavior, are used to predict the viscoelastic behavior of three semi-crystalline PETs. The microstructures of the crystalline PETs are clearly defined using WAXS techniques. Since microstructures and mechanical properties of both constitutive phases (the crystalline and the amorphous) are defined, the simulations are run without adjustable parameters. Results show that the models are unable to reproduce the substantial decrease of viscosity induced by the increase of crystallinity. Unlike the real materials, for moderate crystallinity, both models show materials of viscosity nearly identical to the amorphous material

Magnetic and magnetocaloric properties of amorphous Y{sub 3}Fe{sub 5}O{sub 12} compound

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Nóbrega, E.P., E-mail: pilad@cbpf.br; Costa, S.S.; Alvarenga, T.S.T.; Alho, B.P.; Caldas, A.; Ribeiro, P.O.; Sousa, V.S.R de; Oliveira, N.A. de; Ranke, P.J. von

2017-01-15

We report a theoretical model formed by two coupled magnetic sublattices of localized spins in the presence of an applied magnetic field to investigate the magnetic characteristics and magnetocaloric properties of amorphous yttrium iron garnet. The magnetic state equation is based on Handrich–Kobe´s theory, where the amorphization is taken into account by introducing fluctuations in the exchange parameters. Experimental results report that Y{sub 3}Fe{sub 5}O{sub 12} presents a structural phase transition from crystalline to amorphous caused by a variation of external pressure. This phase transition on Y{sub 3}Fe{sub 5}O{sub 12} leads to interesting results in the magnetic properties and magnetocaloric quantities. - Highlights: • Study of magnetic and magnetocaloric properties of amorphous Y{sub 3}Fe{sub 5}O{sub 12} compound. • Theoretical model formed by two coupled magnetic sublattices of localized spins in the presence of an applied magnetic field. • The influence of crystalline/amorphous transition on the magnetocaloric effect.

Electrochemical synthesis of self-organized TiO2 crystalline nanotubes without annealing

Science.gov (United States)

Giorgi, Leonardo; Dikonimos, Theodoros; Giorgi, Rossella; Buonocore, Francesco; Faggio, Giuliana; Messina, Giacomo; Lisi, Nicola

2018-03-01

This work demonstrates that upon anodic polarization in an aqueous fluoride-containing electrolyte, TiO2 nanotube array films can be formed with a well-defined crystalline phase, rather than an amorphous one. The crystalline phase was obtained avoiding any high temperature annealing. We studied the formation of nanotubes in an HF/H2O medium and the development of crystalline grains on the nanotube wall, and we found a facile way to achieve crystalline TiO2 nanotube arrays through a one-step anodization. The crystallinity of the film was influenced by the synthesis parameters, and the optimization of the electrolyte composition and anodization conditions (applied voltage and time) were carried out. For comparison purposes, crystalline anatase TiO2 nanotubes were also prepared by thermal treatment of amorphous nanotubes grown in an organic bath (ethylene glycol/NH4F/H2O). The morphology and the crystallinity of the nanotubes were studied by field emission gun-scanning electron microscopy (FEG-SEM) and Raman spectroscopy, whereas the electrochemical and semiconducting properties were analyzed by means of linear sweep voltammetry, impedance spectroscopy, and Mott-Schottky plots. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and ultraviolet photoelectron spectroscopy (UPS) allowed us to determine the surface composition and the electronic structure of the samples and to correlate them with the electrochemical data. The optimal conditions to achieve a crystalline phase with high donor concentration are defined.

Study of amorphous phases in the ash of power plant (Zemianske Kostolany site); Studium amorfnych faz v elektrarenskych popoloch (lokalita Zemianske Kostolany)

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Petkova, K [Univerzita Komenskeho v Bratislave, Prirodovedecka fakulta, Katedra geocheomie, 84215 Bratislava (Slovakia); Lalinska-Volekova, B [Univerzita Komenskeho v Bratislave, Prirodovedecka fakulta, Katedra mineralogie a petrologie, 84215 Bratislava (Slovakia)

2012-04-25

Using mineralogical methods (SEM, BSE, WDS, TEM, XRD) a chemical and mineral composition of selected samples of fresh power plant ash and of soils containing buried ash sediments in the area Zemianske Kostolany was studied. Chemically, the ash samples mainly comprised of Si, Fe, Al and Ca, followed by Mg, K, Na, Ti and S. From potentially toxic elements in the ash significantly increased arsenic content (358 - 1859 mg/kg), which is present mainly in the finest fraction of the studied samples. The dominant component of the investigated samples (average 74%) is created by amorphous aluminosilicate glass. These amorphous components have variable representation of Si, Al, Ca, Fe and were identified as a major phase bearing arsenic (by 2.28 wt. %). Arsenic binds to aggregates of nanoparticles, which consist of Al, Si, Ca, Fe, less to the phases of Fe and Ca. In addition to amorphous glass, arsenic binds also to unburned coal residues (up to 0.5 wt.%). From crystalline phases were identified quartz, calcite, mullite, feldspars, hematite, magnetite, cristobalite, rutile, mica light, pyrotite, pyrite, montmorillonite and perovskite. (authors)

Inverse Resistance Change Cr2Ge2Te6-Based PCRAM Enabling Ultralow-Energy Amorphization.

Science.gov (United States)

Hatayama, Shogo; Sutou, Yuji; Shindo, Satoshi; Saito, Yuta; Song, Yun-Heub; Ando, Daisuke; Koike, Junichi

2018-01-24

Phase-change random access memory (PCRAM) has attracted much attention for next-generation nonvolatile memory that can replace flash memory and can be used for storage-class memory. Generally, PCRAM relies on the change in the electrical resistance of a phase-change material between high-resistance amorphous (reset) and low-resistance crystalline (set) states. Herein, we present an inverse resistance change PCRAM with Cr 2 Ge 2 Te 6 (CrGT) that shows a high-resistance crystalline reset state and a low-resistance amorphous set state. The inverse resistance change was found to be due to a drastic decrease in the carrier density upon crystallization, which causes a large increase in contact resistivity between CrGT and the electrode. The CrGT memory cell was demonstrated to show fast reversible resistance switching with a much lower operating energy for amorphization than a Ge 2 Sb 2 Te 5 memory cell. This low operating energy in CrGT should be due to a small programmed amorphous volume, which can be realized by a high-resistance crystalline matrix and a dominant contact resistance. Simultaneously, CrGT can break the trade-off relationship between the crystallization temperature and operating speed.

Black GE based on crystalline/amorphous core/shell nanoneedle arrays

Science.gov (United States)

Javey, Ali; Chueh, Yu-Lun; Fan, Zhiyong

2014-03-04

Direct growth of black Ge on low-temperature substrates, including plastics and rubber is reported. The material is based on highly dense, crystalline/amorphous core/shell Ge nanoneedle arrays with ultrasharp tips (.about.4 nm) enabled by the Ni catalyzed vapor-solid-solid growth process. Ge nanoneedle arrays exhibit remarkable optical properties. Specifically, minimal optical reflectance (<1%) is observed, even for high angles of incidence (.about.75.degree.) and for relatively short nanoneedle lengths (.about.1 .mu.m). Furthermore, the material exhibits high optical absorption efficiency with an effective band gap of .about.1 eV. The reported black Ge can have important practical implications for efficient photovoltaic and photodetector applications on nonconventional substrates.

Distinct Short-Range Order Is Inherent to Small Amorphous Calcium Carbonate Clusters (<2 nm)

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Sun, Shengtong [Physical Chemistry, University of Konstanz, Universitätsstrasse 10 78457 Konstanz Germany; School of Chemical Engineering, State Key Laboratory of Chemical Engineering, Shanghai Key Laboratory of Multiphase Materials Chemical Engineering, East China University of Science and Technology, 130 Meilong Road Shanghai 200237 P.R. China; Chevrier, Daniel M. [Department of Chemistry and Institute for Research in Materials, Dalhousie University, Halifax Nova Scotia B3H 4R2 Canada; Zhang, Peng [Department of Chemistry and Institute for Research in Materials, Dalhousie University, Halifax Nova Scotia B3H 4R2 Canada; Gebauer, Denis [Physical Chemistry, University of Konstanz, Universitätsstrasse 10 78457 Konstanz Germany; Cölfen, Helmut [Physical Chemistry, University of Konstanz, Universitätsstrasse 10 78457 Konstanz Germany

2016-09-09

Amorphous intermediate phases are vital precursors in the crystallization of many biogenic minerals. While inherent short-range orders have been found in amorphous calcium carbonates (ACCs) relating to different crystalline forms, it has never been clarified experimentally whether such orders already exist in very small clusters less than 2 nm in size. Here, we studied the stability and structure of 10,12-pentacosadiynoic acid (PCDA) protected ACC clusters with a core size of ca. 1.4 nm consisting of only seven CaCO₃ units. Ligand concentration and structure are shown to be key factors in stabilizing the ACC clusters. More importantly, even in such small CaCO₃ entities, a proto-calcite short-range order can be identified but with a relatively high degree of disorder that arises from the very small size of the CaCO₃ core. Our findings support the notion of a structural link between prenucleation clusters, amorphous intermediates, and final crystalline polymorphs, which appears central to the understanding of polymorph selection.

CFA Films in Amorphous Substrate: Structural Phase Induction and Magnetization Dynamics

Science.gov (United States)

Correa, M. A.; Bohn, F.; Escobar, V. M.

We report a systematic study of the structural and quasi-static magnetic properties, as well as of the dynamic magnetic response through MI effect, in Co2FeAl and MgO//Co2FeAl single layers and a MgO//Co2FeAl/Ag/Co2FeAl trilayered film, all grown onto an amorphous substrate. We present a new route to induce the crystalline structure in the Co2FeAl alloy and verify that changes in the structural phase of this material leads to remarkable modifications of the magnetic anisotropy and, consequently, dynamic magnetic behavior. Considering the electrical and magnetic properties of the Co2FeAl, our results open new possibilities for technological applications of this full-Heusler alloy in rigid and flexible spintronic devices.

On the processing-structure-property relationship of ITO layers deposited on crystalline and amorphous Si

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Diplas, S.; Ulyashin, A.; Maknys, K.; Gunnaes, A.E.; Jorgensen, S.; Wright, D.; Watts, J.F.; Olsen, A.; Finstad, T.G.

2007-01-01

Indium-tin-oxide (ITO) antireflection coatings were deposited on crystalline Si (c-Si), amorphous hydrogenated Si (a-Si:H) and glass substrates at room temperature (RT), 160 deg. C and 230 deg. C by magnetron sputtering. The films were characterised using atomic force microscopy, transmission electron microscopy, angle resolved X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, combined with resistance and transmittance measurements. The conductivity and refractive index as well as the morphology of the ITO films showed a significant dependence on the processing conditions. The films deposited on the two different Si substrates at higher temperatures have rougher surfaces compared to the RT ones due to the development of crystallinity and growth of columnar grains

Magnetomechanical coupling in thermal amorphous solids

Science.gov (United States)

Hentschel, H. George E.; Ilyin, Valery; Mondal, Chandana; Procaccia, Itamar

2018-05-01

Standard approaches to magnetomechanical interactions in thermal magnetic crystalline solids involve Landau functionals in which the lattice anisotropy and the resulting magnetization easy axes are taken explicitly into account. In glassy systems one needs to develop a theory in which the amorphous structure precludes the existence of an easy axis, and in which the constituent particles are free to respond to their local amorphous surroundings and the resulting forces. We present a theory of all the mixed responses of an amorphous solid to mechanical strains and magnetic fields. Atomistic models are proposed in which we test the predictions of magnetostriction for both bulk and nanofilm amorphous samples in the paramagnetic phase. The application to nanofilms with emergent self-affine free interfaces requires a careful definition of the film "width" and its change due to the magnetostriction effect.

On Grounds of the Memory Effect in Amorphous and Crystalline Apatite: Kinetics of Crystallization and Biological Response.

Science.gov (United States)

Uskoković, Vuk; Tang, Sean; Wu, Victoria M

2018-04-17

Memory effects, despite being intrinsic to biological systems, are rarely potentiated in biomaterials. By exploring the transition between amorphous calcium phosphate (ACP) and hydroxyapatite (HAp) from different empirical angles, here, we attempt to set the basis for elicitation of structural memory effects in CPs. Two CPs precipitated under different degrees of saturation (DS), yielding HAp at a low DS and ACP at a high DS, were shown to evolve into structures with a high level of crystallographic similarity after their prolonged aging in the solution and served as the basis for this study. Amorphous-to-crystalline transition was abrupt in both precipitates, indicating an autocatalytic process preceded by considerable nucleation lag times, but it was more dynamic and proceeded in multiple stages in the precipitate formed at a higher DS, involving a greater degree of lattice rearrangements. ACP was found to exist in one of the two stoichiometrically and crystallographically different forms, one of which, amounting to ≥60 wt %, resembled tricalcium phosphate and transformed to HAp through the surface dissolution/reprecipitation mechanism and the other one, amounting to ≤20 wt %, was apatitic, enabling the transformation of ACP to HAp via martensitic, bulk lattice reordering phenomena. Large density of stacking faults was responsible for the comparatively high lattice strain, the property to which biogenic apatite owes its ability to accommodate foreign ions and act as a mineral reservoir for the body. Being the precursor for biogenic apatite during biomineralization and a thermodynamically logical intermediate in the ripening of HAp per the Ostwald law of stages, ACP proved to be more prone to structural transformation than the final and the most stable of the CP phases in this sequence of events: HAp. Amorphized upon gelation, two CPs transformed into HAp, albeit at different rates, which were higher for the material that had been crystalline prior to

Competing covalent and ionic bonding in Ge-Sb-Te phase change materials.

Science.gov (United States)

Mukhopadhyay, Saikat; Sun, Jifeng; Subedi, Alaska; Siegrist, Theo; Singh, David J

2016-05-19

Ge2Sb2Te5 and related phase change materials are highly unusual in that they can be readily transformed between amorphous and crystalline states using very fast melt, quench, anneal cycles, although the resulting states are extremely long lived at ambient temperature. These states have remarkably different physical properties including very different optical constants in the visible in strong contrast to common glass formers such as silicates or phosphates. This behavior has been described in terms of resonant bonding, but puzzles remain, particularly regarding different physical properties of crystalline and amorphous phases. Here we show that there is a strong competition between ionic and covalent bonding in cubic phase providing a link between the chemical basis of phase change memory property and origins of giant responses of piezoelectric materials (PbTiO3, BiFeO3). This has important consequences for dynamical behavior in particular leading to a simultaneous hardening of acoustic modes and softening of high frequency optic modes in crystalline phase relative to amorphous. This different bonding in amorphous and crystalline phases provides a direct explanation for different physical properties and understanding of the combination of long time stability and rapid switching and may be useful in finding new phase change compositions with superior properties.

Parametric Study of Amorphous High-Entropy Alloys formation from two New Perspectives: Atomic Radius Modification and Crystalline Structure of Alloying Elements

Science.gov (United States)

Hu, Q.; Guo, S.; Wang, J. M.; Yan, Y. H.; Chen, S. S.; Lu, D. P.; Liu, K. M.; Zou, J. Z.; Zeng, X. R.

2017-01-01

Chemical and topological parameters have been widely used for predicting the phase selection in high-entropy alloys (HEAs). Nevertheless, previous studies could be faulted due to the small number of available data points, the negligence of kinetic effects, and the insensitivity to small compositional changes. Here in this work, 92 TiZrHfM, TiZrHfMM, TiZrHfMMM (M = Fe, Cr, V, Nb, Al, Ag, Cu, Ni) HEAs were prepared by melt spinning, to build a reliable and sufficiently large material database to inspect the robustness of previously established parameters. Modification of atomic radii by considering the change of local electronic environment in alloys, was critically found out to be superior in distinguishing the formation of amorphous and crystalline alloys, when compared to using atomic radii of pure elements in topological parameters. Moreover, crystal structures of alloying element were found to play an important role in the amorphous phase formation, which was then attributed to how alloying hexagonal-close-packed elements and face-centered-cubic or body-centered-cubic elements can affect the mixing enthalpy. Findings from this work not only provide parametric studies for HEAs with new and important perspectives, but also reveal possibly a hidden connection among some important concepts in various fields.

Comparison of the electronic structure of amorphous versus crystalline indium gallium zinc oxide semiconductor: structure, tail states and strain effects

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

De Jamblinne de Meux, A; Genoe, J; Heremans, P; Pourtois, G

2015-01-01

We study the evolution of the structural and electronic properties of crystalline indium gallium zinc oxide (IGZO) upon amorphization by first-principles calculation. The bottom of the conduction band (BCB) is found to be constituted of a pseudo-band of molecular orbitals that resonate at the same energy on different atomic sites. They display a bonding character between the s orbitals of the metal sites and an anti-bonding character arising from the interaction between the oxygen and metal s orbitals. The energy level of the BCB shifts upon breaking of the crystal symmetry during the amorphization process, which may be attributed to the reduction of the coordination of the cationic centers. The top of the valence band (TVB) is constructed from anti-bonding oxygen p orbitals. In the amorphous state, they have random orientation, in contrast to the crystalline state. This results in the appearance of localized tail states in the forbidden gap above the TVB. Zinc is found to play a predominant role in the generation of these tail states, while gallium hinders their formation. Last, we study the dependence of the fundamental gap and effective mass of IGZO on mechanical strain. The variation of the gap under strain arises from the enhancement of the anti-bonding interaction in the BCB due to the modification of the length of the oxygen–metal bonds and/or to a variation of the cation coordination. This effect is less pronounced for the amorphous material compared to the crystalline material, making amorphous IGZO a semiconductor of choice for flexible electronics. Finally, the effective mass is found to increase upon strain, in contrast to regular materials. This counterintuitive variation is due to the reduction of the electrostatic shielding of the cationic centers by oxygen, leading to an increase of the overlaps between the metal orbitals at the origin of the delocalization of the BCB. For the range of strain typically met in flexible electronics, the induced

Crystalline and Amorphous Phosphorus – Carbon Nanotube Composites as Promising Anodes for Lithium-Ion Batteries

KAUST Repository

Smajic, Jasmin

2016-05-04

Battery research has been going full steam and with that the search for alternative anodes. Among many proposed electrode materials, little attention has been given to phosphorus. Phosphorus boasts the third highest gravimetric charge capacity and the highest volumetric charge capacity of all elements. Because of that, it would be an attractive battery anode material were it not for its poor cyclability with significant capacity loss immediately after the first cycle. This is known to be the consequence of considerable volume changes of phosphorus during charge/discharge cycles. In this work, we propose circumventing this issue by mixing amorphous red phosphorus with carbon nanotubes. By employing a non-destructive sublimation-deposition method, we have synthesized composites where the synergetic effect between phosphorus and carbon nanotubes allow for an improvement in the electrochemical performance of battery anodes. In fact, it has been shown that carbon nanotubes can act as an effective buffer to phosphorus volumetric expansions and contractions during charging and discharging of the half-cells [1]. By modifying the synthesis parameters, we have also been able to change the degree of crystallinity of the phosphorus matrix in the composites. In fact, the less common phase of red phosphorus, named fibrous phosphorus, was obtained, and that explains some of the varying electrochemical performances observed in the composites. Overall, it is found that a higher surface area of amorphous phosphorus allows for a better anode material when using single-walled carbon nanotubes as fillers.

Metal - Insulator Transition Driven by Vacancy Ordering in GeSbTe Phase Change Materials

OpenAIRE

Bragaglia, Valeria; Arciprete, Fabrizio; Privitera, Stefania; Rimini, Emanuele; Mazzarello, Riccardo; Calarco, Raffaella; Zhang, Wei; Mio, Antonio Massimiliano; Zallo, Eugenio; Perumal, Karthick; Giussani, Alessandro; Cecchi, Stefano; Boschker, Jos Emiel; Riechert, Henning

2016-01-01

Phase Change Materials (PCMs) are unique compounds employed in non-volatile random access memory thanks to the rapid and reversible transformation between the amorphous and crystalline state that display large differences in electrical and optical properties. In addition to the amorphous-to-crystalline transition, experimental results on polycrystalline GeSbTe alloys (GST) films evidenced a Metal-Insulator Transition (MIT) attributed to disorder in the crystalline phase. Here we report on a f...

Computer simulation of range and damage distributions of 0.5 to 8 keV helium ions in crystalline and amorphous niobium

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Maderlechner, G.

1976-03-01

The binary collision cascade simulation program MARLOWE is used to study the influence of the crystal lattice, electronic energy loss and crystal temperature on the range and damage distributions of 0.5 to 8 keV He ions penetrating into a Nb target. If the ions enter the crystal parallel to the close-packed direction, the penetration depth profiles show temperature dependent channeling and dechanneling effects. The range distributions in amorphous Nb agree generally with Lindhard's transport theory if surface effects are taken into account. The damage distributions are nearly independent of the electronic energy loss models. The number of vacancies per incident ion increases linearly with the mean nuclear energy loss of the ion in amorphous as well as in crystalline Nb. (orig./GSCH) [de

Highly tilted liquid crystalline materials possessing a direct phase transition from antiferroelectric to isotropic phase

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Milewska, K.; Drzewiński, W. [Institute of Chemistry, Military University of Technology, 00-908 Warsaw (Poland); Czerwiński, M., E-mail: mczerwinski@wat.edu.pl [Institute of Chemistry, Military University of Technology, 00-908 Warsaw (Poland); Dąbrowski, R. [Institute of Chemistry, Military University of Technology, 00-908 Warsaw (Poland); Piecek, W. [Institute of Applied Physics, Military University of Technology, 00-908 Warsaw (Poland)

2016-03-01

Pure compounds and multicomponent mixtures with a broad temperature range of high tilted liquid crystalline antiferroelectric phase and a direct phase transition from antiferroelectric to isotropic phase, were obtained. X-ray diffraction analysis confirms these kinds of materials form a high tilted anticlinic phase, with a fixed layer spacing and very weak dependency upon temperature, after the transition from the isotropic phase. Due to this, not only pure orthoconic antiferroelectric liquid crystals but also those with a moderate tilt should generate a good dark state. Furthermore, due to the increased potential for forming anticlinic forces, such materials could minimize a commonly observed asymmetry of a rise and fall switching times at a surface stabilized geometry. - Highlights: • The new class of liquid crystalline materials with the direct SmC{sub A}*. • Iso phase transition were obtained. • Materials possess the layer spacing fixed and very weak dependent upon temperature. • Smectic layers without shrinkage are observed. • A good dark state can be generate in SSAFLC.

Amorphization of Laves-Phase Precipitates in Zircaloy-4 by Neutron Irradiation

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Peters, H.R.; Taylor, D.F.; Yang, Walter J.S.

1999-04-23

Examination of corrosion coupons by transmission electron microscopy after their exposure in the Idaho Advanced Test Reactor (ATR) has broadened the Zircaloy-4 precipitate-amorphization database and validated a new kinetic model for previously unavailable values of temperature and fast-neutron flux. The model describes the amorphization of Zr(Fe,Cr){sub 2} intermetallic precipitates in zirconium alloys as a dynamic competition between radiation damage and thermal annealing that leaves some iron atoms available for flux-assisted diffusion to the zirconium matrix. It predicts the width of the amorphous zone as a function of neutron flux (E>1 MeV), temperature, and time. In its simplest form, the model treats the crystalline/amorphous and precipitate/matrix interfaces as parallel planes, and its accuracy decreases for small precipitates and high fluence as the amorphous-zone width approaches precipitate dimensions. The simplest form of the model also considers diffusion to be rate-determining. This is an accurate approximation for steady-state conditions or slow changes in flux and temperature, but inappropriate for the analysis of faster transients. The paper addresses several difficulties inherent in measuring amorphous-zone width, and utilizes the expanded database to evaluate the improvements in predictive accuracy available through both conversion of the model to spherical coordinates and extension of its time dependency.

Nonlinear optical properties of TeO$_2$ crystalline phases from first principles

OpenAIRE

Berkaine, Nabil; Orhan, Emmanuelle; Masson, Olivier; Thomas, Philippe; Junquera, Javier

2010-01-01

We have computed second and third nonlinear optical susceptibilities of two crystalline bulk tellurium oxide polymorphs: $\\alpha$-TeO$_{2}$ (the most stable crystalline bulk phase) and $\\gamma$-TeO$_{2}$ (the crystalline phase that ressembles the more to the glass phase. Third order nonlinear susceptibilities of the crystalline phases are two orders of magnitude larger than $\\alpha$-SiO$_{2}$ cristoballite, thus extending the experimental observations on glasses to the case of crystalline com...

Pressure-induced amorphization of NaVO/sub 3 at room temperature and its re-crystallization

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Shen, Z.X.; Ong, C.W.; Tang, S.H.; Kuok, M.H.

1994-01-01

Pressure-induced amorphization is the subject of intense study for the past few years because of its importance in material science and in solid state physics. We reported a crystalline-amorphous phase transition at ca 60kbar in NaVO1/3, which is the lowest pressure for such transitions in ionic crystals. The transition is marked by the sudden appearance of very broad bands at the 800 and 350 cm/sup -1 regions. The amorphization includes the complete breaking up of the infinite chains of corner-linked tetrahedral VO/sub 4, most likely into VO/sup -/sub 3. On decompression, the amorphous phase transforms to another phase, probably also amorphous at ca 40 kbar. It reverts to the stable ambient condition α-phase upon heating. Here we report on the details of the transtitional region and the re-linking of the VO/sub 4 chains upon heating. (authors)

Boron-implantation-induced crystalline-to-amorphous transition in nickel: An experimental assessment of the generalized Lindemann melting criterion

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Liu, P.C.; Okamoto, P.R.; Zaluzec, N.J.; Meshii, M.

1999-01-01

The generalized Lindemann melting hypothesis has recently been used to develop a unified thermodynamic criterion for melting applicable to both heat-induced melting and disorder-induced crystalline-to-amorphous (c-a) transformation. The hypothesis stipulates that the sum left-angle μ 2 right-angle Total of the static and dynamic root-mean-square (rms) atomic displacements is a constant fraction of the nearest-neighbor distance along the melting curve of a solid. To test this hypothesis, energy-filtered selected area electron-diffraction intensity measurements were used to determine the generalized Lindemann parameter δ=√ (left-angle μ 2 right-angle Total ) /d nn , in which d nn represents the nearest-neighbor distance, as a function of boron concentration during implantation of 50-keV ampersand hthinsp;B + into polycrystalline Ni at 77 K. The onset of amorphization was found to occur close to 10 at.ampersand hthinsp;% boron, which is in good agreement with the value predicted by T o curve calculated using the generalized Lindemann hypothesis. Moreover, the critical value of the generalized Lindemann parameter for amorphization, δ Critical =0.115±0.01, is within experimental error, identical to that for Ni just below its thermodynamic melting temperature of T=1728 ampersand hthinsp;K, hence providing a direct confirmation for the generalized Lindemann melting hypothesis. copyright 1999 The American Physical Society

Using containerless methods to develop amorphous pharmaceuticals.

Science.gov (United States)

Weber, J K R; Benmore, C J; Suthar, K J; Tamalonis, A J; Alderman, O L G; Sendelbach, S; Kondev, V; Yarger, J; Rey, C A; Byrn, S R

2017-01-01

Many pipeline drugs have low solubility in their crystalline state and require compounding in special dosage forms to increase bioavailability for oral administration. The use of amorphous formulations increases solubility and uptake of active pharmaceutical ingredients. These forms are rapidly gaining commercial importance for both pre-clinical and clinical use. Synthesis of amorphous drugs was performed using an acoustic levitation containerless processing method and spray drying. The structure of the products was investigated using in-situ high energy X-ray diffraction. Selected solvents for processing drugs were investigated using acoustic levitation. The stability of amorphous samples was measured using X-ray diffraction. Samples processed using both spray drying and containerless synthesis were compared. We review methods for making amorphous pharmaceuticals and present data on materials made by containerless processing and spray drying. It was shown that containerless processing using acoustic levitation can be used to make phase-pure forms of drugs that are known to be difficult to amorphize. The stability and structure of the materials was investigated in the context of developing and making clinically useful formulations. Amorphous compounds are emerging as an important component of drug development and for the oral delivery of drugs with low solubility. Containerless techniques can be used to efficiently synthesize small quantities of pure amorphous forms that are potentially useful in pre-clinical trials and for use in the optimization of clinical products. Developing new pharmaceutical products is an essential enterprise to improve patient outcomes. The development and application of amorphous pharmaceuticals to increase absorption is rapidly gaining importance and it provides opportunities for breakthrough research on new drugs. There is an urgent need to solve problems associated with making formulations that are both stable and that provide high

Amorphous Phase Mediated Crystallization: Fundamentals of Biomineralization

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Wenjing Jin

2018-01-01

Full Text Available Many biomineralization systems start from transient amorphous precursor phases, but the exact crystallization pathways and mechanisms remain largely unknown. The study of a well-defined biomimetic crystallization system is key for elucidating the possible mechanisms of biomineralization and monitoring the detailed crystallization pathways. In this review, we focus on amorphous phase mediated crystallization (APMC pathways and their crystallization mechanisms in bio- and biomimetic-mineralization systems. The fundamental questions of biomineralization as well as the advantages and limitations of biomimetic model systems are discussed. This review could provide a full landscape of APMC systems for biomineralization and inspire new experiments aimed at some unresolved issues for understanding biomineralization.

Radiation amorphization of materials

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Neklyudov, I.M.; Chernyaeva, T.P.

1993-01-01

The results of experimental and theoretical research on radiation amorphization are presented in this analytical review. Mechanism and driving forces of radiation amorphization are described, kinetic and thermodynamic conditions of amorphization are formulated. Compositional criteria of radiation amorphization are presented, that allow to predict irradiation behaviour of materials, their tendency to radiation amorphization. Mechanism of transition from crystalline state to amorphous state are considered depending on dose, temperature, structure of primary radiation damage and flux level. (author). 134 refs., 4 tab., 25 fig

Maxwell rigidity and topological constraints in amorphous phase-change networks

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Micoulaut, M.; Otjacques, C.; Raty, J.-Y.; Bichara, C.

2011-01-01

By analyzing first-principles molecular-dynamics simulations of different telluride amorphous networks, we develop a method for the enumeration of radial and angular topological constraints, and show that the phase diagram of the most popular system Ge-Sb-Te can be split into two compositional elastic phases: a tellurium rich flexible phase and a stressed rigid phase that contains most of the materials used in phase-change applications. This sound atomic scale insight should open new avenues for the understanding of phase-change materials and other complex amorphous materials from the viewpoint of rigidity.

TEM study of amorphous alloys produced by ion implantation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Johnson, E.; Grant, W.A.; Wohlenberg, P.; Hansen, P.; Chadderton, L.T.

1978-01-01

Ion implantation is a technique for introducing foreign elements into surface layers of solids. Ions, as a suitably accelerated beam, penetrate the surface, slow down by collisions with target atoms to produce a doped layer. This non-equilibrium technique can provide a wide range of alloys without the restrictions imposed by equilibrium phase diagrams. This paper reports on the production of some amorphous transition metal-metalloid alloys by implantation. Thinned foils of Ni, Fe and stainless steel were implanted at room temperature with Dy + and P + ions at doses between 10 13 - 10 17 ions/cm 2 at energies of 20 and 40 keV respectively. Transmission electron microscopy and selected area diffraction analysis were used to investigate the implanted specimens. Radial diffracted intensity measurements confirmed the presence of an amorphous implanted layer. The peak positions of the maxima are in good agreement with data for similar alloys produced by conventional techniques. Only certain ion/target combinations produce these amorphous layers. Implantations at doses lower than those needed for amorphization often result in formation of new crystalline phases such as an h.c.p. phase in nickel and a b.c.c. phase in stainless steel. (Auth.)

Structure and properties of bulk amorphous magnetically soft coatings prepared by plasma spraying

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kalita, V.I.; Kekalo, I.B.; Komlev, D.I.; Taranichev, V.E.

1995-01-01

Co-Ni-Fe-Si-B composition plasma coatings consisting of amorphous disk-shaped particles forming the bulk of a coating, of crystalline particles and of a threshold space, were studied. Iron and metalloid distribution heterogeneous by the thickness represents a peculiar feature for coating amorphous particles. Structure of coatings and their magnetic properties depend on some technological parameters. Conclusion is made that at annealing the variation of magnetic properties is determined by the processes of directed ordering and stratification of amorphous phase, while the low level of the initial magnetic properties of coatings is caused alongside with structure peculiarities, by occurrence of independent fine-dispersive domain structure in each disk-shaped amorphous phase. 14 refs., 8 figs., 6 tabs

Methods of amorphization and investigation of the amorphous state

OpenAIRE

EINFALT, TOMAŽ; PLANINŠEK, ODON; HROVAT, KLEMEN

2013-01-01

The amorphous form of pharmaceutical materials represents the most energetic solid state of a material. It provides advantages in terms of dissolution rate and bioavailability. This review presents the methods of solid-state amorphization described in literature (supercooling of liquids, milling, lyophilization, spray drying, dehydration of crystalline hydrates), with the emphasis on milling. Furthermore, we describe how amorphous state of pharmaceuticals differ depending on method of prepara...

Stoichiometrical trends in differential scanning calorimetry measurements on phase-change materials

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Klein, Michael; Linn, Malte; Wuttig, Matthias [I. Physikalisches Institut, RWTH Aachen University, Aachen (Germany)

2009-07-01

Phase-change materials are alloys which can be rapidly switched between two metastable states, the amorphous and the crystalline phase. At the same time they show pronounced contrast in their electrical and optical properties. They are widely used as the functional layer in rewritable optical discs. Prototypes of electrical devices employing phase change materials as non-volatile memory are already entering the market. Here we present calorimetric measurements, mainly on ternary Ge-Sb-Te alloys. Scratched-off thin film samples were heated in a differential scanning calorimeter to measure the transition from as-deposited amorphous to metastable crystalline phase and finally to the stable crystalline phase. The different transition temperatures will be analysed as a function of stoichiometry in order to improve the understanding of their interconnection.

The strength of crystalline color superconductors

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Mannarelli, Massimo; Rajagopal, Krishna; Sharma, Rishi

2007-01-01

We present a study of the shear modulus of the crystalline color superconducting phase of quark matter, showing that this phase of dense, but not asymptotically dense, quark matter responds to shear stress as a very rigid solid. This phase is characterized by a gap parameter Δ that is periodically modulated in space and therefore spontaneously breaks translational invariance. We derive the effective action for the phonon fields that describe space- and time-dependent fluctuations of the crystal structure formed by Δ, and obtain the shear modulus from the coefficients of the spatial derivative terms. Within a Ginzburg-Landau approximation, we find shear moduli which are 20 to 1000 times larger than those of neutron star crusts. This phase of matter is thus more rigid than any known material in the universe, but at the same time the crystalline color superconducting phase is also superfluid. These properties raise the possibility that the presence of this phase within neutron stars may have distinct implications for their phenomenology. For example (some) pulsar glitches may originate in crystalline superconducting neutron star cores

Extended x-ray absorption fine structure studies of amorphous and crystalline Si-Ge alloys with synchrotron radiation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kajiyama, Hiroshi

1988-01-01

Extended X-ray absorption fine structure (EXAFS) is a powerful probe to study the local structure around the atom of a specific element. In conventional EXAFS analysis, it has been known that reliable structures are obtained with the different values of absorption edge energy for different neighboring atoms. It is shown in this study that the Ge-K edge EXAFS resulting from the Ge-Ge and Ge-Si bonds in hydrogenated amorphous Si-Ge alloys was able to be excellently explained by a unique absorption edge energy value, provided that a newly developed formula based on the spherical wave function of photoelectrons is used. The microscopic structures of hydrogenated amorphous Si-Ge alloys and crystalline Si-Ge alloys have been determined using the EXAFS method. The lengths of Ge-Ge and Ge-Si bonds were constant throughout their entire composition range, and it was found that the length of Ge-Si bond was close to the average value of the bond lengths of both Ge and Si crystals. In crystalline Si-Ge alloys, it has been shown that the bonds relaxed completely, while the lattice constant varied monotonously with the composition. (Kako, I.)

Atomistic modeling of ion beam induced amorphization in silicon

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Pelaz, Lourdes; Marques, Luis A.; Lopez, Pedro; Santos, Ivan; Aboy, Maria; Barbolla, Juan

2005-01-01

Ion beam induced amorphization in Si has attracted significant interest since the beginning of the use of ion implantation for the fabrication of Si devices. Nowadays, a renewed interest in the modeling of amorphization mechanisms at atomic level has arisen due to the use of preamorphizing implants and high dopant implantation doses for the fabrication of nanometric-scale Si devices. In this work, we briefly describe the existing phenomenological and defect-based amorphization models. We focus on the atomistic model we have developed to describe ion beam induced amorphization in Si. In our model, the building block for the amorphous phase is the bond defect or IV pair, whose stability increases with the number of surrounding IV pairs. This feature explains the regrowth behavior of different damage topologies and the kinetics of the crystalline to amorphous transition. The model provides excellent quantitative agreement with experimental results

Universal aspects of sonolubrication in amorphous and crystalline materials

Science.gov (United States)

Pfahl, V.; Ma, C.; Arnold, W.; Samwer, K.

2018-01-01

We studied sonolubricity, a phenomenon reducing the friction between two sliding surfaces by ultrasound. Friction force measurements were performed using an atomic force microscope (AFM) when the tip-surface contact was excited to out-of-plane oscillations by a transducer attached to the rear of the sample or by oscillating the AFM cantilever by the built-in piezoelectric element in the cantilever holder. Experiments were carried out near or at the first cantilever contact-resonance. We studied friction on crystalline and amorphous Pd77.5Cu6Si16.5 ribbons, on a silicon wafer at room temperature, and on a La0.6Sr0.4MnO3 (LSMO) thin film at different temperatures. Measurements were carried out varying the cantilever amplitude, the ultrasonic frequency, and the normal static load. The effect of sonolubrication is explained by the non-linear force-distance curve between the sample and the tip due to the local interaction potential. The reduction of friction in LSMO as a function temperature is due to the direct coupling of the tip's stress-field to the electrons.

Reversible Resistance Switching Effect in Amorphous Ge1Sb4Te7 Thin Films without Phase Transformation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hua-Jun, Sun; Li-Song, Hou; Yi-Qun, Wu; Xiao-Dong, Tang

2009-01-01

We demonstrate a reversible resistance switching effect that does not rely on amorphous-crystalline phase transformation in a nanoscale capacitor-like cell using Ge 1 Sb 4 Te 7 films as the working material. The polarity and amplitude of the applied electric voltage switches the cell resistance between low- and high-resistance states, as revealed in the current-voltage characteristics of the film by conductive atomic force microscopy (CAFM). This reversible SET/RESET switching effect is induced by voltage pulses and their polarity. The change of electrical resistance due to the switching effect is approximately two orders of magnitude

Thermodynamics of water-solid interactions in crystalline and amorphous pharmaceutical materials.

Science.gov (United States)

Sacchetti, Mark

2014-09-01

Pharmaceutical materials, crystalline and amorphous, sorb water from the atmosphere, which affects critical factors in the development of drugs, such as the selection of drug substance crystal form, compatibility with excipients, dosage form selection, packaging, and product shelf-life. It is common practice to quantify the amount of water that a material sorbs at a given relative humidity (RH), but the results alone provide minimal to no physicochemical insight into water-solid interactions, without which pharmaceutical scientists cannot develop an understanding of their materials, so as to anticipate and circumvent potential problems. This research was conducted to advance the science of pharmaceutical materials by examining the thermodynamics of solids with sorbed water. The compounds studied include nonhygroscopic drugs, a channel hydrate drug, a stoichiometric hydrate excipient, and an amorphous excipient. The water sorption isotherms were measured over a range of temperature to extract the partial molar enthalpy and entropy of sorbed water as well as the same quantities for some of the solids. It was found that water-solid interactions spanned a range of energy and entropy as a function of RH, which was unique to the solid, and which could be valuable in identifying batch-to-batch differences and effects of processing in material performance. © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. and the American Pharmacists Association.

Amorphous GaP produced by ion implantation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Shimada, T.; Kato, Y.; Shiraki, Y.; Komatsubara, K.F.

1976-01-01

Two types of non-crystalline states ('disordered' and 'amorphous') of GaP were produced by using ion implantation and post annealing. A structural-phase-transition-like annealing behaviour from the 'disordered' state to the 'amorphous' state was observed. The ion dose dependence and the annealing behaviour of the atomic structure of GaP implanted with 200 keV -N + ions were studied by using electron diffraction, backscattering and volume change measurements. The electronic structure was also investigated by measuring optical absorption and electrical conductivity. The implanted layer gradually loses the crystalline order with the increase of the nitrogen dose. The optical absorption coefficient α and electric conductivity sigma of GaP crystals implanted with 200 keV -N + ions of 1 x 10 16 cm -2 were expressed as αhν = C(hν - E 0 )sup(n) and log sigma = A -BTsup(-1/4), respectively. Moreover, the volume of the implanted layer increased about three percent and the electron diffraction pattern was diffused halo whose intensity monotonically decreases along the radial direction. These results indicate that the as-implanted layer has neither a long range order or short range order ('disordered state'). In the sample implanted at 1 x 10 16 cm -2 , a structural phase-transition-like annealing stage was observed at around 400 0 C. That is, the optical absorption coefficient abruptly fell off from 6 x 10 4 to 7 x 10 3 cm -1 and the volume of the implanted layer decreased about 2% within an increase of less than 10 degrees in the anneal temperature. Moreover, the short range order of the lattice structure appeared in the electron diffraction pattern. According to the backscattering experiment, the heavily implanted GaP was still in the non-crystalline state even after annealing. These facts suggest that heavily implanted GaP, followed by annealing at around 400 0 C, is in the 'amorphous' state, although as-implanted GaP is not in the 'amorphous' state but in the

The crystallization of amorphous Fe2MnGe powder prepared by ball milling

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zhang, L.; Brueck, E.; Tegus, O.; Buschow, K.H.J.; Boer, F.R. de

2003-01-01

We synthesized for the first time the intermetallic compound Fe 2 MnGe. To avoid preferential evaporation of volatile components we exploited mechanical alloying. Amorphous Fe 2 MnGe alloy powder was prepared by planetary ball milling elemental starting materials. The amorphous-to-crystalline transition was studied by means of differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) and X-ray diffraction (XRD). A cubic D0 3 phase is formed at low temperature and transforms to a high-temperature hexagonal D0 19 phase. The apparent activation energy was determined by means of the Kissinger method

Electrical and Magnetic Properties of Binary Amorphous Transition Metal Alloys.

Science.gov (United States)

Liou, Sy-Hwang

The electrical, superconductive and magnetic properties of several binary transition metal amorphous and metastable crystalline alloys, Fe(,x)Ti(,100-x) (30 (LESSTHEQ) x (LESSTHEQ) 100), Fe(,x)Zr(,100-x) (20 (LESSTHEQ) x (LESSTHEQ) 93), Fe(,x)Hf(,100-x) (20 (LESSTHEQ) x (LESSTHEQ) 100), Fe(,x)Nb(,100 -x) (22 (LESSTHEQ) x (LESSTHEQ) 85), Ni(,x)Nb(,100-x) (20 (LESSTHEQ) x (LESSTHEQ) 80), Cu(,x)Nb(,100-x) (10 (LESSTHEQ) x (LESSTHEQ) 90) were studied over a wide composition range. Films were made using a magnetron sputtering system, and the structure of the films was investigated by energy dispersive x-ray diffraction. The composition region of each amorphous alloys system was determined and found in good agreement with a model proposed by Egami and Waseda. The magnetic properties and hyperfine interactions in the films were investigated using a conventional Mossbauer spectrometer and a ('57)Co in Rh matrix source. In all Fe-early transition metal binary alloys systems, Fe does not retain its moment in the low iron concentration region and the result is that the critical concentration for magnetic order (x(,c)) is much larger than anticipated from percolation considerations. A direct comparison between crystalline alloys and their amorphous counterparts of the same composition illustrate no clear correlation between crystalline and amorphous states. Pronounced discontinuities in the magnetic properties with variation in Fe content of all Fe-early transition metal alloys at phase boundaries separating amorphous and crystalline states have been observed. This is caused by the differences in the atomic arrangement and the electronic structure between crystalline and amorphous solids. The temperature dependence of resistivity, (rho)(T), of several binary amorphous alloys of Fe-TM (where TM = Ti, Zr, Hf, Nb etc.) has been studied from 2K to 300K. The Fe-poor (x x(,c)) samples have distinctive differences in (rho)(T) at low temperature (below 30K). All the magnetic samples

Crystalline color superconductivity

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Alford, Mark; Bowers, Jeffrey A.; Rajagopal, Krishna

2001-01-01

In any context in which color superconductivity arises in nature, it is likely to involve pairing between species of quarks with differing chemical potentials. For suitable values of the differences between chemical potentials, Cooper pairs with nonzero total momentum are favored, as was first realized by Larkin, Ovchinnikov, Fulde, and Ferrell (LOFF). Condensates of this sort spontaneously break translational and rotational invariance, leading to gaps which vary periodically in a crystalline pattern. Unlike the original LOFF state, these crystalline quark matter condensates include both spin-zero and spin-one Cooper pairs. We explore the range of parameters for which crystalline color superconductivity arises in the QCD phase diagram. If in some shell within the quark matter core of a neutron star (or within a strange quark star) the quark number densities are such that crystalline color superconductivity arises, rotational vortices may be pinned in this shell, making it a locus for glitch phenomena

Atomic pairwise distribution function analysis of the amorphous phase prepared by different manufacturing routes

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Boetker, Johan P.; Koradia, Vishal; Rades, Thomas

2012-01-01

was subjected to quench cooling thereby creating an amorphous form of the drug from both starting materials. The milled and quench cooled samples were, together with the crystalline starting materials, analyzed with X-ray powder diffraction (XRPD), Raman spectroscopy and atomic pair-wise distribution function...... (PDF) analysis of the XRPD pattern. When compared to XRPD and Raman spectroscopy, the PDF analysis was superior in displaying the difference between the amorphous samples prepared by milling and quench cooling approaches of the two starting materials....

High transmittance contrast in amorphous to hexagonal phase of Ge2Sb2Te5: Reversible NIR-window

Science.gov (United States)

Singh, Palwinder; Singh, A. P.; Kanda, Neetu; Mishra, Monu; Gupta, Govind; Thakur, Anup

2017-12-01

Ge2Sb2Te5 (GST) is one of the best phase change materials because of its splendid set of properties, viz., high thermal stability, fast crystallization speed, good endurance, scalability, and reliability. Phase transition [amorphous → face centered cubic (fcc) → hexagonal close packed (hcp)] of GST thin films with annealing was studied using X-ray diffraction. Thin films in amorphous, fcc, and hcp phases are highly, medium, and negligible transparent in the near infra-red region, respectively. The optical transmission in amorphous, fcc, and hcp phases is ˜92%, ˜46%, and ˜2%, respectively, at the wavelength of 2740 nm. At 2740 nm, a high transmission contrast (˜90%) is observed with phase transition from the amorphous to hcp phase. By utilizing large transmission contrast, it is demonstrated that GST can be availed as a potential candidate for reversible near infra-red-window. The sharp change in optical transmission with phase transition can be understood from the change in density of states in the valence band.

PH-Induced Nanosegregation of Ritonavir to Lyotropic Liquid Crystal of Higher Solubility Than Crystalline Polymorphs

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Rodriguez-Spong, B.; Acciacca, A.; Fleisher, D.; Rodriguez-Hornedo, N.

2009-01-01

Birefringent spherical vesicles of ritonavir (RTV) are formed by increasing the pH of aqueous solutions from 1 to 3 or to 7 and by addition of water to ethanol solutions at room temperature. Increasing the pH creates supersaturation levels of 30--400. Upon this change in pH, the solutions become translucent, implying that some kind of RTV assembly was formed. Small spherical vesicles of narrow size distribution are detectable only after a few hours by optical microscopy. The vesicles show similar X-ray diffraction patterns and differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) behavior to amorphous RTV prepared by melt-quenching crystalline RTV. Examination by polarized optical microscopy suggests that these are lyotropic liquid crystalline (LLC) assemblies. Small-angle X-ray scattering and synchrotron X-ray diffraction further support the presence of orientational order that is associated with a nematic structure. RTV self-organizes into various phases as a result of the supersaturation created in aqueous solutions. The LLC vesicles do not fuse but slowly transform to the polymorphs of RTV (in days), Form I and finally Form II. Amorphous RTV in aqueous suspension also undergoes a transformation to a mesophase of similar morphology. Transformation pathways are consistent with measured dissolution rates and solubilities: amorphous > LLC >> Form I > Form II. The dissolution and solubility of LLC is slightly lower than that of the amorphous phase and about 20 times higher than that of Form II. RTV also self-assembles at the air/water interface as indicated by the decrease in surface tension of aqueous solutions. This behavior is similar to that of amphiphilic molecules that induce LLC formation.

Influence of crystallinity on CO gas sensing for TiO{sub 2} films

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Seeley, Zachary Mark [School of Mechanical and Materials Engineering, Washington State University, Pullman, WA 99164-2920 (United States); Bandyopadhyay, Amit [School of Mechanical and Materials Engineering, Washington State University, Pullman, WA 99164-2920 (United States)], E-mail: amitband@wsu.edu; Bose, Susmita [School of Mechanical and Materials Engineering, Washington State University, Pullman, WA 99164-2920 (United States)

2009-08-15

In the present research, carbon monoxide (CO) gas sensing response was studied for TiO{sub 2} thick films calcined and sintered between 700 and 900 deg. C. Crystalline phase, crystallite size, surface area, particle size, and amorphous content were measured for the calcined powder. Crystallinity of the powder was found to affect sensing response significantly towards CO. Anatase phase of TiO{sub 2} thick film was stable up to 900 deg. C however, as calcination temperature increased from 700 to 900 deg. C, surface area and amorphous phase content decreased. Films calcined and sintered at 700 deg. C showed a lower response towards CO than those calcined at 800 deg. C. Upon increasing the calcination temperature further, particle growth and reduced surface area hindered the sensing response. A calcination temperature of 800 deg. C was necessary to achieve sufficient order in the crystal structure leading to more efficient adsorption and desorption of oxygen ions on the surface of TiO{sub 2}.

Tuning Eu"3"+ emission in europium sesquioxide films by changing the crystalline phase

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Mariscal, A.; Quesada, A.; Camps, I.; Palomares, F.J.; Fernández, J.F.; Serna, R.

2016-01-01

Highlights: • PLD production of high quality europium sesquioxide (Eu_2O_3) films. • The deposition of Al_2O_3 capping and/or buffer layers modifies the crystallization for Eu_2O_3 films upon annealing. • The formation of cubic or monoclinic phases can be favored. • Eu"3"+ emission tuning is achieved as a consequence of crystal field effects. - Abstract: We report the growth of europium sesquioxide (Eu_2O_3) thin films by pulsed laser deposition (PLD) in vacuum at room temperature from a pure Eu_2O_3 ceramic bulk target. The films were deposited in different configurations formed by adding capping and/or buffer layers of amorphous aluminum oxide (a-Al_2O_3). The optical properties, refractive index and extinction coefficient of the as deposited Eu_2O_3 layers were obtained. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) measurements were done to assess its chemical composition. Post-deposition annealing was performed at 500 °C and 850 °C in air in order to achieve the formation of crystalline films and to accomplish photoluminescence emission. According to the analysis of X-ray diffraction (XRD) spectra, cubic and monoclinic phases were formed. It is found that the relative amount of the phases is related to the different film configurations, showing that the control over the crystallization phase can be realized by adequately designing the structures. All the films showed photoluminescence emission peaks (under excitation at 355 nm) that are attributed to the intra 4f-transitions of Eu"3"+ ions. The emission spectral shape depends on the crystalline phase of the Eu_2O_3 layer. Specifically, changes in the hypersensitive "5D_0 → "7F_2 emission confirm the strong influence of the crystal field effect on the Eu"3"+ energy levels.

Low Thermal Conductivity of Bulk Amorphous Si1- x Ge x Containing Nano-Sized Crystalline Particles Synthesized by Ball-Milling Process

Science.gov (United States)

Muthusamy, Omprakash; Nishino, Shunsuke; Ghodke, Swapnil; Inukai, Manabu; Sobota, Robert; Adachi, Masahiro; Kiyama, Makato; Yamamoto, Yoshiyuki; Takeuchi, Tsunehiro; Santhanakrishnan, Harish; Ikeda, Hiroya; Hayakawa, Yasuhiro

2018-06-01

Amorphous Si0.65Ge0.35 powder containing a small amount of nano-sized crystalline particles was synthesized by means of the mechanical alloying process. Hot pressing for 24 h under the pressure of 400 MPa at 823 K, which is below the crystallization temperature, allowed us to obtain bulk amorphous Si-Ge alloy containing a small amount of nanocrystals. The thermal conductivity of the prepared bulk amorphous Si-Ge alloy was extremely low, showing a magnitude of less than 1.35 Wm-1 K-1 over the entire temperature range from 300 K to 700 K. The sound velocity of longitudinal and transverse waves for the bulk amorphous Si0.65Ge0.35 were measured, and the resulting values were 5841 m/s and 2840 m/s, respectively. The estimated mean free path of phonons was kept at the very small value of ˜ 4.2 nm, which was mainly due to the strong scattering limit of phonons in association with the amorphous structure.

Linking Spectral Features with Composition, Crystallinity, and Roughness Properties of Silica and Implications for Candidate Hydrothermal Systems on Mars

Science.gov (United States)

Hamilton, V. E.; McDowell, M. L.; Berger, J. A.; Cady, S. L.; Knauth, L. P.

2011-12-01

We have collected visible to near infrared reflectance (VNIR, ~0.4 - 2.5 um), thermal infrared emissivity (TIR, ~5 - 45 um), SEM, XRD, surface roughness, and petrographic data for 18 silica samples. These rocks (e.g., replacement chert, geyserite, opal-A/-CT) represent a variety of geologic formation environments, including hydrothermal, and have XRD-determined crystallinities ranging from 10 according to the quartz crystallinity index. Our findings are relevant to the interpretation of orbital and in situ spectral observations of crystalline or amorphous silica on the Martian surface, some of which may have formed in hydrothermal systems. Almost all of our samples' VNIR spectra contain discernible bands. The most common features are related to hydration (H2O and/or OH) of silica (e.g., at ~1.4, 1.9, and 2.2 um). The visibility and strength of these bands is not always constant between spectra from different areas of a sample. Other features include those of carbonate, phyllosilicate, and iron oxide impurities. All of our amorphous silica samples have hydration features in the VNIR, but we note that the absorptions around ~2.2 um can be very weak in amorphous samples relative to features at other wavelengths and relative to ~2.2-um features observed in Martian data, suggesting that some amorphous silica on Mars could go undetected. Deposits containing significant anhydrous, crystalline silica (chert) may be assumed to lack features in the VNIR, but many of our cherts have spectral features and could be misidentified as materials dominated by what is a minor contaminant. Thermal infrared spectra of chert and opaline silica differ from each other as a result of the loss of long-range Si-O order in increasingly amorphous samples. Our samples display a clear trend in TIR band shapes where features attributable to crystalline quartz and amorphous silica are blended in samples with intermediate crystallinities. Most diagnostic TIR spectral features observable in

X-Ray Amorphous Phases in Antarctica Dry Valley Soils: Insight into Aqueous Alteration Processes on Mars?

Science.gov (United States)

Ming, D. W.; Morris, R. V.; Rampe, E. B.; Golden, D. C.; Quinn, J. E.

2015-01-01

The Chemistry and Mineralogy (CheMin) instrument onboard the Mars Curiosity rover has detected abundant amounts (approx. 25-30 weight percentage) of X-ray amorphous materials in a windblown deposit (Rocknest) and in a sedimentary mudstone (Cumberland and John Klein) in Gale crater, Mars. On Earth, X-ray amorphous components are common in soils and sediments, but usually not as abundant as detected in Gale crater. One hypothesis for the abundant X-ray amorphous materials on Mars is limited interaction of liquid water with surface materials, kinetically inhibiting maturation to more crystalline phases. The objective of this study was to characterize the chemistry and mineralogy of soils formed in the Antarctica Dry Valleys, one of the driest locations on Earth. Two soils were characterized from different elevations, including a low elevation, coastal, subxerous soil in Taylor Valley and a high elevation, ultraxerous soil in University Valley. A variety of techniques were used to characterize materials from each soil horizon, including Rietveld analysis of X-ray diffraction data. For Taylor Valley soil, the X-ray amorphous component ranged from about 4 weight percentage in the upper horizon to as high as 15 weight percentage in the lowest horizon just above the permafrost layer. Transmission electron microscopy indicated that the presence of short-range ordered (SRO) smectite was the most likely candidate for the X-ray amorphous materials in the Taylor Valley soils. The SRO smectite is likely an aqueous alteration product of mica inherited from granitic materials during glaciation of Taylor Valley. The drier University Valley soils had lower X-ray amorphous contents of about 5 weight percentage in the lowest horizon. The X-ray amorphous materials in University Valley are attributed to nanoparticles of TiO2 and possibly amorphous SiO2. The high abundance of X-ray amorphous materials in Taylor Valley is surprising for one of the driest places on Earth. These materials

Influence of the local structure in phase-change materials on their dielectric permittivity.

Science.gov (United States)

Shportko, Kostiantyn V; Venger, Eugen F

2015-01-01

Ge-Sb-Te alloys, which belong to the phase-change materials, are promising materials for data storage and display and data visualization applications due to their unique properties. This includes a remarkable difference of their electrical and optical properties in the amorphous and crystalline state. Pronounced change of optical properties for Ge-Sb-Te alloys is linked to the different bonding types and different atomic arrangements in amorphous and crystalline states. The dielectric function of phase-change materials has been investigated in the far infrared (FIR) range. Phonons have been detected by FTIR spectroscopy. Difference of the dispersion of the dielectric permittivity of amorphous and crystalline samples is caused by different structures in different states which contribute to the dielectric permittivity.

Naturally occurring crystalline phases: analogues for radioactive waste forms

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Haaker, R.F.; Ewing, R.C.

1981-01-01

Naturally occurring mineral analogues to crystalline phases that are constituents of crystalline radioactive waste forms provide a basis for comparison by which the long-term stability of these phases may be estimated. The crystal structures and the crystal chemistry of the following natural analogues are presented: baddeleyite, hematite, nepheline; pollucite, scheelite;sodalite, spinel, apatite, monazite, uraninite, hollandite-priderite, perovskite, and zirconolite. For each phase in geochemistry, occurrence, alteration and radiation effects are described. A selected bibliography for each phase is included

Naturally occurring crystalline phases: analogues for radioactive waste forms

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Haaker, R.F.; Ewing, R.C.

1981-01-01

Naturally occurring mineral analogues to crystalline phases that are constituents of crystalline radioactive waste forms provide a basis for comparison by which the long-term stability of these phases may be estimated. The crystal structures and the crystal chemistry of the following natural analogues are presented: baddeleyite, hematite, nepheline; pollucite, scheelite;sodalite, spinel, apatite, monazite, uraninite, hollandite-priderite, perovskite, and zirconolite. For each phase in geochemistry, occurrence, alteration and radiation effects are described. A selected bibliography for each phase is included.

Pressure-induced amorphization and collapse of magnetic order in the type-I clathrate Eu8Ga16Ge30

Science.gov (United States)

Mardegan, J. R. L.; Fabbris, G.; Veiga, L. S. I.; Adriano, C.; Avila, M. A.; Haskel, D.; Giles, C.

2013-10-01

We investigate the low temperature structural and electronic properties of the type-I clathrate Eu8Ga16Ge30 under pressure using x-ray powder diffraction (XRD), x-ray absorption near-edge structure (XANES), and x-ray magnetic circular dichroism (XMCD) techniques. The XRD measurements reveal a transition to an amorphous phase above 18 GPa. Unlike previous reports on other clathrate compounds, no volume collapse is observed prior to the crystalline-amorphous phase transition which takes place when the unit cell volume is reduced to 81% of its ambient pressure value. Fits of the pressure-dependent relative volume to a Murnaghan equation of state yield a bulk modulus B0=65±3 GPa and a pressure derivative B0'=3.3±0.5. The Eu L2-edge XMCD data shows quenching of the magnetic order at a pressure coincident with the crystalline-amorphous phase transition. This information along with the persistence of an Eu2+ valence state observed in the XANES spectra up to the highest pressure point (22 GPa) indicates that the suppression of XMCD intensity is due to the loss of long range magnetic order. When compared with other clathrates, the results point to the importance of guest ion-cage interactions in determining the mechanical stability of the framework structure and the critical pressure for amorphization. Finally, the crystalline structure is not found to recover after pressure release, resulting in an amorphous material that is at least metastable at ambient pressure and temperature.

Fabrication and characterization of nano/amorphous dual-phase FINEMET microwires

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Wang, H. [School of Materials Science and Engineering, Harbin Institute of Technology, Harbin 150001 (China); Advanced Composites Centre for Innovation and Science (ACCIS), Department of Aerospace Engineering, University of Bristol, Bristol BS8 1TR (United Kingdom); Qin, F.X. [Advanced Composites Centre for Innovation and Science (ACCIS), Department of Aerospace Engineering, University of Bristol, Bristol BS8 1TR (United Kingdom); Xing, D.W.; Cao, F.Y. [School of Materials Science and Engineering, Harbin Institute of Technology, Harbin 150001 (China); Peng, H.X. [Advanced Composites Centre for Innovation and Science (ACCIS), Department of Aerospace Engineering, University of Bristol, Bristol BS8 1TR (United Kingdom); Bristol Centre for NanoScience and Quantum Information (NSQI), University of Bristol, Bristol BS8 1FD (United Kingdom); Sun, J.F., E-mail: jfsun@hit.edu.cn [School of Materials Science and Engineering, Harbin Institute of Technology, Harbin 150001 (China)

2013-12-01

Highlights: • Nano/amorphous dual-phase FINEMET microwire was fabricated and characterized. • The unique dual-phase structure is correlated to its different cooling experience. • The extracted microwires possess high tensile strength over 1800 MPa. • Excellent EMI property was elucidated by the multiple magnetic loss mechanisms. -- Abstract: A nano/amorphous dual-phase FINEMET microwire was fabricated directly from molten alloy without any interstage annealing by a home-built melt extraction technique (MET). The microstructure, mechanical and pronounced electromagnetic interference shielding (EMI) effectiveness of this dual-phase microwire has been systematically evaluated. The structural analysis reveals that the as-cast FINEMET microwire consists of two distinct structures, i.e., amorphous and nanocrystalline phase due to their different cooling characteristics. Compared with other reported FINEMET alloys, the extracted microwire exhibits a superior high tensile strength of 1800 MPa. These nanocrystals enabled dual-phase microwires also exhibit large EMI SE values in the frequency range of 8–12 GHz (X-band) due to the multiple magnetic loss mechanisms associated with their intrinsic structural characteristics. The combination of excellent mechanical properties and electromagnetic properties make this kind of melt-extracted dual-phase FINEMET microwire promising for a range of structure and multifunctional applications.

Mechanical response of melt-spun amorphous filaments

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Leal, A A; Reifler, F A; Hufenus, R; Mohanty, G; Michler, J

2014-01-01

High-speed melt spinning of a cyclo-olefin polymer (COP) and a copolyamide (CoPA) have been performed. Differential scanning calorimetry curves of the resulting monofilaments show that they remain in an amorphous state even after hot drawing. Wide angle x-ray diffraction patterns of undrawn and drawn COP filaments show that although the material remains in an amorphous state, a degree of orientation is induced in the polymer after drawing. The amorphous filaments show an enhanced bending recovery with respect to different semi-crystalline monofilaments commercially available. However, single fiber axial compressive testing indicates that the amorphous filaments exhibit a compressive modulus value which is 50% lower than what is observed for a reference semi-crystalline PET filament. Analysis of the compressive strains applied by the bending recovery test indicates that while the maximum applied strains remain well within the region of elastic deformation of the amorphous materials, the threshold between elastic and plastic deformation is reached for the semi-crystalline materials. (paper)

Crystallization of amorphous phase in niobium alloys with oxygen

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Dekanenko, V.M.; Samojlenko, Z.A.; Revyakin, A.V.

1982-01-01

Crystallization and subsequent phase transformations of amorphous phase during annealings in the system Nb-O are studied. It is shown that quenching from liquid state of niobium alloys with oxygen with a rate of 10 5 -10 6 K/s results in partial crystallization of the melt. Phase transition from amorphous to crystal state at 670 K in all probability takes place without the change of chemical composition. After crystallization the decomposition of oversaturated solid solution on the basis of NbO takes place with the separation of low- temperature modification, γ-Nb 2 O 5 . Niobium pentoxide of both modifications during prolong annealings at 770 K and short- time annealings higher 1070 K disappears completely [ru

Band Offsets at the Interface between Crystalline and Amorphous Silicon from First Principles

Science.gov (United States)

Jarolimek, K.; Hazrati, E.; de Groot, R. A.; de Wijs, G. A.

2017-07-01

The band offsets between crystalline and hydrogenated amorphous silicon (a -Si ∶H ) are key parameters governing the charge transport in modern silicon heterojunction solar cells. They are an important input for macroscopic simulators that are used to further optimize the solar cell. Past experimental studies, using x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and capacitance-voltage measurements, have yielded conflicting results on the band offset. Here, we present a computational study on the band offsets. It is based on atomistic models and density-functional theory (DFT). The amorphous part of the interface is obtained by relatively long DFT first-principles molecular-dynamics runs at an elevated temperature on 30 statistically independent samples. In order to obtain a realistic conduction-band position the electronic structure of the interface is calculated with a hybrid functional. We find a slight asymmetry in the band offsets, where the offset in the valence band (0.29 eV) is larger than in the conduction band (0.17 eV). Our results are in agreement with the latest XPS measurements that report a valence-band offset of 0.3 eV [M. Liebhaber et al., Appl. Phys. Lett. 106, 031601 (2015), 10.1063/1.4906195].

Selecting polymers for two-phase partitioning bioreactors (TPPBs): Consideration of thermodynamic affinity, crystallinity, and glass transition temperature.

Science.gov (United States)

Bacon, Stuart L; Peterson, Eric C; Daugulis, Andrew J; Parent, J Scott

2015-01-01

Two-phase partitioning bioreactor technology involves the use of a secondary immiscible phase to lower the concentration of cytotoxic solutes in the fermentation broth to subinhibitory levels. Although polymeric absorbents have attracted recent interest due to their low cost and biocompatibility, material selection requires the consideration of properties beyond those of small molecule absorbents (i.e., immiscible organic solvents). These include a polymer's (1) thermodynamic affinity for the target compound, (2) degree of crystallinity (wc ), and (3) glass transition temperature (Tg ). We have examined the capability of three thermodynamic models to predict the partition coefficient (PC) for n-butyric acid, a fermentation product, in 15 polymers. Whereas PC predictions for amorphous materials had an average absolute deviation (AAD) of ≥16%, predictions for semicrystalline polymers were less accurate (AAD ≥ 30%). Prediction errors were associated with uncertainties in determining the degree of crystallinity within a polymer and the effect of absorbed water on n-butyric acid partitioning. Further complications were found to arise for semicrystalline polymers, wherein strongly interacting solutes increased the polymer's absorptive capacity by actually dissolving the crystalline fraction. Finally, we determined that diffusion limitations may occur for polymers operating near their Tg , and that the Tg can be reduced by plasticization by water and/or solute. This study has demonstrated the impact of basic material properties that affects the performance of polymers as sequestering phases in TPPBs, and reflects the additional complexity of polymers that must be taken into account in material selection. © 2015 American Institute of Chemical Engineers.

Nature of amorphous polymorphism of water

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Koza, M.M.; Schober, H.; Hansen, T.; Geil, B.; Winkel, K.; Koehler, C.; Scheuermann, M.; Czeschka, F.

2005-01-01

We report elastic and inelastic neutron scattering experiments on different amorphous ice modifications. It is shown that an amorphous structure (HDA ' ) indiscernible from the high-density phase (HDA), obtained by compression of crystalline ice, can be formed from the very high-density phase (vHDA) as an intermediate stage of the transition of vHDA into its low-density modification (LDA ' ). Both HDA and HDA ' exhibit comparable small-angle scattering signals characterizing them as structures heterogeneous on a length scale of a few nanometers. The homogeneous structures are the initial and final transition stages vHDA and LDA ' , respectively. Despite their apparent structural identity on a local scale, HDA and HDA ' differ in their transition kinetics explored by in situ experiments. The activation energy of the vHDA-to-LDA ' transition is at least 20 kJ/mol higher than the activation energy of the HDA-to-LDA transition

Crystallinity, etchability, electrical and mechanical properties of Ga doped amorphous indium tin oxide thin films deposited by direct current magnetron sputtering

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lee, Hyun-Jun; Song, Pung-Keun

2014-01-01

Indium tin oxide (ITO) and Ga-doped ITO (ITO:Ga) films were deposited on glass and polyimide (PI) substrates by direct current (DC) magnetron sputtering using different ITO:Ga targets (doped-Ga: 0, 0.1 and 2.9 wt.%). The films were deposited with a thickness of 50 nm and then post-annealed at various temperatures (room temperature-250 °C) in a vacuum chamber for 30 min. The amorphous ITO:Ga (0.1 wt.% Ga) films post-annealed at 220 °C exhibited relatively low resistivity (4.622x10 −4 Ω cm), indicating that the crystallinity of the ITO:Ga films decreased with increasing Ga content. In addition, the amorphous ITO:Ga films showed a better surface morphology, etchability and mechanical properties than the ITO films. - Highlights: • The Ga doped indium tin oxide (ITO) films crystallized at higher temperatures than the ITO films. • The amorphisation of ITO films increases with increasing Ga content. • Similar resistivity was observed between crystalline ITO and amorphous Ga doped ITO films. • Etching property of ITO film was improved with increasing Ga content

Effects of Polymeric Additives on the Crystallization and Release Behavior of Amorphous Ibuprofen

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Su Yang Lee

2013-01-01

Full Text Available Some polymeric additives were studied to understand their effects on the amorphous phase of ibuprofen (IBU, used as a poorly water soluble pharmaceutical model compound. The amorphous IBU in bulk, as well as in nanopores (diameter ~24 nm of anodic aluminum oxide, was examined with the addition of poly(acrylic acid, poly(N-vinyl pyrrolidone, or poly(4-vinylphenol. Results of bulk crystallization showed that they were effective in limiting the crystal growth, while the nucleation of the crystalline phase in contact with water was nearly instantaneous in all cases. Poly(N-vinyl pyrrolidone, the most effective additive, was in specific interaction with IBU, as revealed by IR spectroscopy. The addition of the polymers was combined with the nanoscopic confinement to further stabilize the amorphous phase. Still, the IBU with addition of polymeric additives showed sustained release behavior. The current study suggested that the inhibition of the crystal nucleation was probably the most important factor to stabilize the amorphous phase and fully harness its high solubility.

500 keV Ar2+ ion irradiation induced anatase to brookite phase transformation and ferromagnetism at room temperature in TiO2 thin films

Science.gov (United States)

Bharati, B.; Mishra, N. C.; Kanjilal, D.; Rath, Chandana

2018-01-01

In our earlier report, where we have demonstrated ferromagnetic behavior at room temperature (RT) in TiO2 thin films deposited through electron beam evaporation technique followed by annealing either in Ar or O2 atmosphere [Mohanty et al., Journal of Magnetism and Magnetic Materials 355 (2014) 240-245], here we have studied the evolution of structure and magnetic properties after irradiating the TiO2 thin films with 500 keV Ar2+ ions. The pristine film while exhibits anatase phase, the films become amorphous after irradiating at fluence in the range 1 × 1014 to 1 × 1016 ions/cm2. Increasing the fluence up to 5 × 1016 ions/cm2, amorphous to crystalline phase transformation occurs and the structure becomes brookite. Although anatase to rutile phase transformation is usually reported in literatures, anatase to brookite phase transformation is an unusual feature which we have reported here for the first time. Such anatase to brookite phase transformation is accompanied with grain growth without showing any change in film thickness evidenced from Rutherford's Back Scattering (RBS) measurement. From scanning probe micrographs (SPM), roughness is found to be more in amorphous films than in the crystalline ones. Anatase to brookite phase transformation could be realized by considering the importance of intermediate amorphous phase. Because due to amorphous phase, heat deposited by energetic ions are localized as dissipation of heat is less and as a result, the localized region crystallizes in brookite phase followed by grain growth as observed in highest fluence. Further, we have demonstrated ferromagnetic behavior at RT in irradiated films similar to pristine one, irrespective of their phase and crystallinity. Origin for room temperature ferromagnetism (RTFM) is attributed to the presence of oxygen vacancies which is confirmed by carrying out XPS measurement.

Discrete time-crystalline order in black diamond

Science.gov (United States)

Zhou, Hengyun; Choi, Soonwon; Choi, Joonhee; Landig, Renate; Kucsko, Georg; Isoya, Junichi; Jelezko, Fedor; Onoda, Shinobu; Sumiya, Hitoshi; Khemani, Vedika; von Keyserlingk, Curt; Yao, Norman; Demler, Eugene; Lukin, Mikhail D.

2017-04-01

The interplay of periodic driving, disorder, and strong interactions has recently been predicted to result in exotic ``time-crystalline'' phases, which spontaneously break the discrete time-translation symmetry of the underlying drive. Here, we report the experimental observation of such discrete time-crystalline order in a driven, disordered ensemble of 106 dipolar spin impurities in diamond at room-temperature. We observe long-lived temporal correlations at integer multiples of the fundamental driving period, experimentally identify the phase boundary and find that the temporal order is protected by strong interactions; this order is remarkably stable against perturbations, even in the presence of slow thermalization. Our work opens the door to exploring dynamical phases of matter and controlling interacting, disordered many-body systems.

Amorphous nano-curcumin stabilized oil in water emulsion: Physico chemical characterization.

Science.gov (United States)

Aditya, N P; Hamilton, Ian E; Norton, Ian T

2017-06-01

Particle characteristics e.g. size and polymorphism are known to significantly affect the Pickering ability of the solid particles by influencing their interaction at the oil and water (O/W) interface. In this study, nano-sized amorphous curcumin particles were fabricated using nanonization technology to use them as Pickering particles. After nanonization, native crystalline curcumin particles were converted into amorphous, nanosized particles of ∼220nm. Amorphous nature of the particle was evident from the decreased melting point from 177±1°C (native curcumin) to 146±3°C (nanonized curcumin) and enthalpy from 27±2J/g to 3.5±1J/g. Interfacial tension (IFT) studies have shown a decrease in IFT at the O/W interface from ∼27mN/m to ∼15mN/m in the presence of amorphous curcumin particles in water phase compared to crystalline curcumin particles. Curcumin stabilized O/W emulsion has an initial droplet size of ∼1.2μm and they were stable for 30days at 4°C. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

ZnTe Amorphous Semiconductor Nanowires Array Electrodeposited into Polycarbonate Membrane Thin Films

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ohgai, T; Ikeda, T; Ohta, J

2013-01-01

ZnTe amorphous semiconductor nanowires array was electrodeposited into the nanochannels of ion-track etched polycarbonate membrane thin films from acidic aqueous solution at 313 K. ZnTe electrodeposits with Zn-rich composition was obtained over the wide range of cathode potential from −0.8 V to −1.1 V and the growth rate of ZnTe amorphous nanowires was around 3 nm.sec −1 at the cathode potential of −0.8 V. Cylindrical shape of the nanowires was precisely transferred from the nanochannels and the aspect ratio reached up to ca. 40. ZnTe amorphous phase electrodeposited at 313 K was crystallized by annealing at 683 K and the band gap energy of ZnTe crystalline phase reached up to ca. 2.13 eV.

Production and characterization of amorphous and crystalline zirconium phosphate for using as ion exchanger

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Medeiros, F.F.P.; Serafim, M.J.S.

1996-01-01

This work presents and discusses the results obtained from the development of sintered zirconium phosphates in their amorphous and crystalline structures aimed to be used as ionic exchanger. Such materials, prepared with suitable stoichiometric formula, were obtained from zirconila chloride originated from brazilian zirconite. We have used chemical analysis along with thermogravimetric, differential thermogravimetric, and X-ray diffraction techniques to determine the synthesis parameters obtained from on techniques to determine the synthesis parameters obtained from the suitable powders. The physical characteristics of the samples were available from the analysis of surface area, size and shape of the particles and agglomerates and also from the porosity of the powders. (author)

Synthesis and Screening of Phase Change Chalcogenide Thin Film Materials for Data Storage.

Science.gov (United States)

Guerin, Samuel; Hayden, Brian; Hewak, Daniel W; Vian, Chris

2017-07-10

A combinatorial synthetic methodology based on evaporation sources under an ultrahigh vacuum has been used to directly synthesize compositional gradient thin film libraries of the amorphous phases of GeSbTe alloys at room temperature over a wide compositional range. An optical screen is described that allows rapid parallel mapping of the amorphous-to-crystalline phase transition temperature and optical contrast associated with the phase change on such libraries. The results are shown to be consistent with the literature for compositions where published data are available along the Sb 2 Te 3 -GeTe tie line. The results reveal a minimum in the crystallization temperature along the Sb 2 Te 3 -Ge 2 Te 3 tie line, and the method is able to resolve subsequent cubic-to-hexagonal phase transitions in the GST crystalline phase. HT-XRD has been used to map the phases at sequentially higher temperatures, and the results are reconciled with the literature and trends in crystallization temperatures. The results clearly delineate compositions that crystallize to pure GST phases and those that cocrystallize Te. High-throughput measurement of the resistivity of the amorphous and crystalline phases has allowed the compositional and structural correlation of the resistivity contrast associated with the amorphous-to-crystalline transition, which range from 5-to-8 orders of magnitude for the compositions investigated. The results are discussed in terms of the compromises in the selection of these materials for phase change memory applications and the potential for further exploration through more detailed secondary screening of doped GST or similar classes of phase change materials designed for the demands of future memory devices.

Photoluminescence properties of BaMoO4 amorphous thin films

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Marques, Ana Paula Azevedo; Melo, Dulce M.A. de; Longo, Elson; Paskocimas, Carlos A.; Pizani, Paulo S.; Leite, Edson R.

2005-01-01

BaMoO 4 amorphous and crystalline thin films were prepared from polymeric precursors. The BaMoO 4 was deposited onto Si wafers by means of the spinning technique. The structure and optical properties of the resulting films were characterized by FTIR reflectance spectra, X-ray diffraction (XRD), atomic force microscopy (AFM) and optical reflectance. The bond Mo-O present in BaMoO 4 was confirmed by FTIR reflectance spectra. XRD characterization showed that thin films heat-treated at 600 and 200 deg. C presented the scheelite-type crystalline phase and amorphous, respectively. AFM analyses showed a considerable variation in surface morphology by comparing samples heat-treated at 200 and 600 deg. C. The reflectivity spectra showed two bands, positioned at 3.38 and 4.37 eV that were attributed to the excitonic state of Ba 2+ and electronic transitions within MoO 2- 4 , respectively. The optical band gaps of BaMoO 4 were 3.38 and 2.19 eV, for crystalline (600 deg. C/2 h) and amorphous (200 deg. C/8 h) films, respectively. The room-temperature luminescence spectra revealed an intense single-emission band in the visible region. The PL intensity of these materials was increased upon heat-treatment. The excellent optical properties observed for BaMoO 4 amorphous thin films suggested that this material is a highly promising candidate for photoluminescent applications

Polyamorphism and substructure of short-range order in amorphous boron films

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Palatnik, L.S.; Nechitajlo, A.A.; Koz'ma, A.A.

1981-01-01

The structure and substructure of boron amorphous films are studied in detail. Amorphous condensate of Bsup(a) boron is built of the same (but only disorientedly located) 12 B icosahedrons as boron crystalline modifications: B 105 -equilibrium β-rhombic, metastable: B 50 -tetragonal, B 12 -α-rhombohedral Coordination number for Bsup(a) (Z 1 =6.4) is lower than in B 105 (Z 1 =6.6) but higher than in B 50 modification (Z 1 =6.1). In crystalline modifications B 105 , B 50 , B 12 coordination numbers ω in first coordination spheres of icosahedrons are equal to ν 105 =6+4.6=10.6; ν 50 =10+3=14; ν 12 =6 respectively. Both amorphous modifications of boron Bsub(1)sup(a) and Bsub(15)sup(a) are analogs to B 50 in respect of the short-range order of icosahedron location. The difference between them is in ''substructure'' of short-range order: part of boron atoms (approximately 12%) do not occupy the vertices (so that vacancies appear) and enter the emptinesses between icosahedrons. In other words, the structure B 50 is the model basis of both amorphous phases [ru

Quantitative X-ray methods of amorphous content and crystallinity determination of SiO2, in Quartz and Opal mixture

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ketabdari, M.R.; Ahmadi, K.; Esmaeilnia Shirvani, A.; Tofigh, A.

2001-01-01

X-ray diffraction technique is commonly used for qualitative analysis of minerals, and has also been successfully used for quantitative measurements. In this research, the matrix flushing and a new X-ray diffraction method have been used for the determination of crystallinity and amorphous content of Opal and Quartz mixture. The PCAPD is used to determine the quantitative analysis of these two minerals

Fabrication of TiO2 Crystalline Coatings by Combining Ti-6Al-4V Anodic Oxidation and Heat Treatments

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

María Laura Vera

2015-01-01

Full Text Available The bio- and hemocompatibility of titanium alloys are due to the formation of a TiO2 layer. This natural oxide may have fissures which are detrimental to its properties. Anodic oxidation is used to obtain thicker films. By means of this technique, at low voltages oxidation, amorphous and low roughness coatings are obtained, while, above a certain voltage, crystalline and porous coatings are obtained. According to the literature, the crystalline phases of TiO2, anatase, and rutile would present greater biocompatibility than the amorphous phase. On the other hand, for hemocompatible applications, smooth and homogeneous surfaces are required. One way to obtain crystalline and homogeneous coatings is by heat treatments after anodic oxidation. The aim of this study is to evaluate the influence of heat treatments on the thickness, morphology, and crystalline structure of the TiO2 anodic coatings. The characterization was performed by optical and scanning electron microscopy, X-ray diffraction, and X-ray reflectometry. Coatings with different colors of interference were obtained. There were no significant changes in the surface morphology and roughness after heat treatment of 500°C. Heat treated coatings have different proportions of the crystalline phases, depending on the voltage of anodic oxidation and the temperature of the heat treatment.

Preparation and Cycling Performance of Iron or Iron Oxide Containing Amorphous Al-Li Alloys as Electrodes

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Franziska Thoss

2014-12-01

Full Text Available Crystalline phase transitions cause volume changes, which entails a fast destroying of the electrode. Non-crystalline states may avoid this circumstance. Herein we present structural and electrochemical investigations of pre-lithiated, amorphous Al39Li43Fe13Si5-powders, to be used as electrode material for Li-ion batteries. Powders of master alloys with the compositions Al39Li43Fe13Si5 and Al39Li43Fe13Si5 + 5 mass-% FeO were prepared via ball milling and achieved amorphous/nanocrystalline states after 56 and 21.6 h, respectively. In contrast to their Li-free amorphous pendant Al78Fe13Si9, both powders showed specific capacities of about 400 and 700 Ah/kgAl, respectively, after the third cycle.

Switching of the direction of reflectionless light propagation at exceptional points in non-PT-symmetric structures using phase-change materials.

Science.gov (United States)

Huang, Yin; Shen, Yuecheng; Min, Changjun; Veronis, Georgios

2017-10-30

We introduce a non-parity-time-symmetric three-layer structure, consisting of a gain medium layer sandwiched between two phase-change medium layers for switching of the direction of reflectionless light propagation. We show that for this structure unidirectional reflectionlessness in the forward direction can be switched to unidirectional reflectionlessness in the backward direction at the optical communication wavelength by switching the phase-change material Ge 2 Sb 2 Te 5 (GST) from its amorphous to its crystalline phase. We also show that it is the existence of exceptional points for this structure with GST in both its amorphous and crystalline phases which leads to unidirectional reflectionless propagation in the forward direction for GST in its amorphous phase, and in the backward direction for GST in its crystalline phase. Our results could be potentially important for developing a new generation of compact active free-space optical devices.

Vibrational and optical properties of amorphous metals: Progress report, July 1, 1987--June 30, 1988

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lannin, J.S.

1988-02-01

Substantial progress has been achieved in the three areas of Raman scattering, inelastic neutron scattering and optical studies of amorphous metal alloys. In the Raman area, studies of amorphous disilicides of Ni and W, a-NiSi 2 and a-WSi 2 , were obtained that provide information on both the dynamics and short range order in the amorphous phase. Measurements of the Raman spectra have been compared to the neutron weighted densities of states of the corresponding crystalline systems. A detailed evaluation of the inelastic neutron spectra of the concentrated Ni alloy of a-Ni/sub .95/Tb/sub .05/ has recently been completed. Optical measurements of the real and imaginary parts of the dielectric function of a-Ni/sub .95/Tb/sub .05/ were also performed during this year using the technique of spectroscopic ellipsometry. Raman scattering measurements were performed on the amorphous state of the counterpart of the high temperature superconductor of crystalline YBa 2 Cu 3 O/sub x/

Crystallization behavior of nanocomposites based on poly(L-lactide) and layered double hydroxides - Unbiased determination of the rigid amorphous phases due to the crystals and the nanofiller

Science.gov (United States)

Schoenhals, Andreas; Leng, Jing; Wurm, Andreas; Schick, Christoph

Semicrystalline polymers have to be described by a three phase model consisting of a mobile amorphous (MAF), a crystalline (CF), and a rigid amorphous fraction (RAF). For nanocomposites based on a semicrystalline polymer the RAF is due to both the crystallites (RAFcrystal) and the filler (RAFfiller) . In most cases a separation of both contributions is not possible without further assumptions. Here polymer nanocomposite based on poly(L-lactide) and layered double hydroxide nanofiller were prepared. Due to the low crystallization rate of PLA its crystallization can be suppressed by a high enough cooling rate, and the RAF is due only to the nanofiller. The MAF, CF, and RAF were estimated by Temperature Modulated DSC. For the first time CF, MAF, RAFcrystal, and RAFfiller could be estimated without any assumption. Two different systems with a different degree of exfoliation were prepared and discussed in detail.

Design, Construction and Effectiveness Analysis of Hybrid Automatic Solar Tracking System for Amorphous and Crystalline Solar Cells

OpenAIRE

Bhupendra Gupta

2013-01-01

- This paper concerns the design and construction of a Hybrid solar tracking system. The constructed device was implemented by integrating it with Amorphous & Crystalline Solar Panel, three dimensional freedom mechanism and microcontroller. The amount of power available from a photovoltaic panel is determined by three parameters, the type of solar tracker, materials of solar panel and the intensity of the sunlight. The objective of this paper is to present analysis on the use of two differ...

Crystallization characteristics of amorphous alloys of FeZr

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Rozhan, M. Idrus; Grundy, P.J.

1993-01-01

The crystallization characteristics of sputter-deposited amorphous alloys of Fe 100-x Zr x prepared at zirconium concentrations between 9 and 89 at.% was investigated. The transformation of the alloys from the amorphous to the crystalline state has been examined by thermal analysis, electrical resistance and X-ray diffraction. The crystallization temperatures were determined by differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) and electrical resistance as a function of temperature. The final phases were determined by X-ray diffraction. The activation energies were calculated from the Kissinger plots and the heats of crystallization were calculated and correlations between the thermal analysis and the resistance results are presented

Transportation properties of amorphous state InSb and its metastable middle phase

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Cao Xiaowen

1990-09-01

The variation of the substrate temperature induces the metal-semiconductor transition in the condensation InSb films at low temperatrue. The electron conduction is dominant in the metal-type amorphous InSb and the hole in semiconductor-type one. In the metal-type amorphous InSb the electron-electron is correlated under the field above 0.1T in the temperature region of liquid nitrogen. The structure relaxation leads to not only the increase of the short range order but also the change of electron structure in metal-type amorphous InSb. The first conductance jump originates mainly from the increase of Hall mobility of the carrier, i.e. the increase of the short range order, and the system relaxes from the liquid-like to the lattice-like amorphous state. The three types of the crystallization phase transition for the metal-type amorphous InSb present obviously different transportation behaviours. Both metal-type amorphous state and metastable middle phase of InSb all are one of superconducting system with the lowest carrier concentration (n 0 ∼10 18 cm -3 ). Superconducting T c of the metastable middle phase is related to the state density near Fermi surface, i.e. the higher T c corresponds to the higher state density. The quasi-two-dimensional structure is favourable to superconductivity

Calcium aluminates hydration in presence of amorphous SiO2 at temperatures below 90 deg. C

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Rivas Mercury, J.M.; Turrillas, X.; Aza, A.H. de; Pena, P.

2006-01-01

The hydration behaviour of Ca 3 Al 2 O 6 , Ca 12 Al 14 O 33 and CaAl 2 O 4 with added amorphous silica at 40, 65 and 90 deg. C has been studied for periods ranging from 1 to 31 days. In hydrated samples crystalline phases like katoite (Ca 3 Al 2 (SiO 4 ) 3- x (OH) 4 x ) and gibbsite, Al(OH) 3 , were identified, likewise amorphous phases like Al(OH) x , calcium silicate hydrates, C-S-H, and calcium aluminosilicate hydrates, C-S-A-H, were identified. The stoichiometry of Ca 3 Al 2 (SiO 4 ) 3- x (OH) 4 x (0≤3-x≤0.334), which was the main crystalline product, was established by Rietveld refinement of X-ray and neutron diffraction data and by transmission electron microscopy. - Graphical abstract: Katoite, Ca 3 Al 2 (SiO 4 ) 3- x (OH) 4 x (0≤3-x≤0.334), was identified besides gibbsite, Al(OH) 3 , as a crystalline stable hydration products in Ca 3 Al 2 O 6 , Ca 12 Al 14 O 33 and CaAl 2 O 4 hydrated with added amorphous silica between 40 and 90 deg. C

Tungsten oxide nanowires grown on amorphous-like tungsten films

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Dellasega, D; Pezzoli, A; Russo, V; Passoni, M; Pietralunga, S M; Nasi, L; Conti, C; Vahid, M J; Tagliaferri, A

2015-01-01

Tungsten oxide nanowires have been synthesized by vacuum annealing in the range 500–710 °C from amorphous-like tungsten films, deposited on a Si(100) substrate by pulsed laser deposition (PLD) in the presence of a He background pressure. The oxygen required for the nanowires formation is already adsorbed in the W matrix before annealing, its amount depending on deposition parameters. Nanowire crystalline phase and stoichiometry depend on annealing temperature, ranging from W_1_8O_4_9-Magneli phase to monoclinic WO_3. Sufficiently long annealing induces the formation of micrometer-long nanowires, up to 3.6 μm with an aspect ratio up to 90. Oxide nanowire growth appears to be triggered by the crystallization of the underlying amorphous W film, promoting their synthesis at low temperatures. (paper)

Distortion of Local Atomic Structures in Amorphous Ge-Sb-Te Phase Change Materials

Science.gov (United States)

Hirata, A.; Ichitsubo, T.; Guan, P. F.; Fujita, T.; Chen, M. W.

2018-05-01

The local atomic structures of amorphous Ge-Sb-Te phase-change materials have yet to be clarified and the rapid crystal-amorphous phase change resulting in distinct optical contrast is not well understood. We report the direct observation of local atomic structures in amorphous Ge2Sb2Te5 using "local" reverse Monte Carlo modeling dedicated to an angstrom-beam electron diffraction analysis. The results corroborated the existence of local structures with rocksalt crystal-like topology that were greatly distorted compared to the crystal symmetry. This distortion resulted in the breaking of ideal octahedral atomic environments, thereby forming local disordered structures that basically satisfied the overall amorphous structure factor. The crystal-like distorted octahedral structures could be the main building blocks in the formation of the overall amorphous structure of Ge-Sb-Te.

The Stabilization of Amorphous Zopiclone in an Amorphous Solid Dispersion.

Science.gov (United States)

Milne, Marnus; Liebenberg, Wilna; Aucamp, Marique

2015-10-01

Zopiclone is a poorly soluble psychotherapeutic agent. The aim of this study was to prepare and characterize an amorphous form of zopiclone as well as the characterization and performance of a stable amorphous solid dispersion. The amorphous form was prepared by the well-known method of quench-cooling of the melt. The solid dispersion was prepared by a solvent evaporation method of zopiclone, polyvinylpyrrolidone-25 (PVP-25), and methanol, followed by freeze-drying. The physico-chemical properties and stability of amorphous zopiclone and the solid dispersion was studied using differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), hot-stage microscopy (HSM), X-ray diffractometry (XRD), solubility, and dissolution studies. The zopiclone amorphous solid-state form was determined to be a fragile glass; it was concluded that the stability of the amorphous form is influenced by both temperature and water. Exposure of amorphous zopiclone to moisture results in rapid transformation of the amorphous form to the crystalline dihydrated form. In comparison, the amorphous solid dispersion proved to be more stable with increased aqueous solubility.

Morphology and kinetics of crystals growth in amorphous films of Cr2O3, deposited by laser ablation

Science.gov (United States)

Bagmut, Aleksandr

2018-06-01

An electron microscopic investigation was performed on the structure and kinetics of the crystallization of amorphous Cr2O3 films, deposited by pulsed laser sputtering of chromium target in an oxygen atmosphere. The crystallization was initiated by the action of an electron beam on an amorphous film in the column of a transmission electron microscope. The kinetic curves were plotted on the basis of a frame-by-frame analysis of the video recorded during the crystallization of the film. It was found that the amorphous phase - crystal phase transition in Cr2O3 films occurs as a layer polymorphic crystallization and is characterized by the values of the dimensionless relative length unit δ0 ≈ 2000-3100. The action of the electron beam initiates the formation of crystals of two basic morphological forms: disk-shaped and sickle-shaped. Growth of a disk-shaped crystals is characterized by a constant rate v and the quadratic dependence of the fraction of the crystalline phase x on the time t. Sickle-shaped crystal at an initial stage, as it grows, becomes as ring-shaped and disk-shaped crystal. The growth of a sickle-shaped crystal is characterized by normal and tangential velocity components, which depend on the time as ∼√t and as ∼1/√t respectively The end point of the arc at the interface between the amorphous and crystalline phases as the crystal grows describes a curve, which is similar to the Fermat helix. For sickle-shaped, as well as for disk-shaped crystals, the degree of crystallinity x ∼ t2.

Structural Analyses of Phase Stability in Amorphous and Partially Crystallized Ge-Rich GeTe Films Prepared by Atomic Layer Deposition.

Science.gov (United States)

Gwon, Taehong; Mohamed, Ahmed Yousef; Yoo, Chanyoung; Park, Eui-Sang; Kim, Sanggyun; Yoo, Sijung; Lee, Han-Koo; Cho, Deok-Yong; Hwang, Cheol Seong

2017-11-29

The local bonding structures of Ge x Te 1-x (x = 0.5, 0.6, and 0.7) films prepared through atomic layer deposition (ALD) with Ge(N(Si(CH 3 ) 3 ) 2 ) 2 and ((CH 3 ) 3 Si) 2 Te precursors were investigated using Ge K-edge X-ray absorption spectroscopy (XAS). The results of the X-ray absorption fine structure analyses show that for all of the compositions, the as-grown films were amorphous with a tetrahedral Ge coordination of a mixture of Ge-Te and Ge-Ge bonds but without any signature of Ge-GeTe decomposition. The compositional evolution in the valence band electronic structures probed through X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy suggests a substantial chemical influence of additional Ge on the nonstoichiometric GeTe. This implies that the ALD process can stabilize Ge-abundant bonding networks like -Te-Ge-Ge-Te- in amorphous GeTe. Meanwhile, the XAS results on the Ge-rich films that had undergone post-deposition annealing at 350 °C show that the parts of the crystalline Ge-rich GeTe became separated into Ge crystallites and rhombohedral GeTe in accordance with the bulk phase diagram, whereas the disordered GeTe domains still remained, consistent with the observations of transmission electron microscopy and Raman spectroscopy. Therefore, amorphousness in GeTe may be essential for the nonsegregated Ge-rich phases and the low growth temperature of the ALD enables the achievement of the structurally metastable phases.

Method of forming an oxide superconducting thin film having an R1A2C3 crystalline phase over an R2A1C1 crystalline phase

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lelental, M.; Romanofsky, H.J.

1992-01-01

This patent describes a process which comprises forming a mixed rare earth alkaline earth copper oxide layer on a substrate and converting the mixed rare earth alkaline earth copper oxide layer to an electrically conductive layer. It comprises crystalline R 1 A 2 C 3 oxide phase by heating in the presence of oxygen, wherein rare earth and R is in each instance chosen from among yttrium, lanthanum, samarium, europium, gadolinium, dysprosium, holmium, erbium, thulium, ytterbium, and lutetium and alkaline earth and A is in each instance chosen from among calcium, strontium and barium, characterized in that a crystalline R 2 A 1 C 1 oxide phase is first formed as a layer on the substrate and the crystalline R 1 A 2 C 3 oxide phase is formed over the crystalline R 2 A 1 C 1 oxide phase by coating a mixed rare earth alkaline earth copper oxide on the crystalline R 2 A 1 C 1 oxide phase and heating the mixed rare earth alkaline earth copper oxide to a temperature of at least 1000 degrees C

Thermally-activated internal friction peaks in amorphous films of Nb3Ge and Nb3Si

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Berry, B.S.; Pritchet, W.C.

1978-01-01

A large number of the thermally-activated internal friction peaks observed in crystalline solids are associated with the general mechanism of stress-induced directional short-range ordering. These peaks are an indirect but nevertheless valuable structural probe, and provide an important means of obtaining quantitative information on the kinetics of local atomic movements. This paper deals with what are thought to be the first-known examples of such peaks in the field of metallic glasses. The peaks have been observed in amorphous films of Nb 3 Ge and Nb 3 Si which are both superconductors with transition temperatures Tsub(c) near 3.6K. Although Tsub(c) is thus well below the record values of approximately equal to 23K reported for crystalline films of Nb 3 Ge, Tsuei has found the amorphous films to be much superior mechanically to their crystalline counterparts. Consequently, the amorphous films have technological interest as an easily-handled source from which the brittle high-Tsub(c) phase may be obtained by a final in-situ anneal. (author)

Study of clay chemical composition in formation of new phases in crystalline materials ceramic

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lima, L.K.S.; Goncalves, W.P.; Silva, V.J.; Dias, G.; Neves, G.A.; Santana, L.N.L.

2016-01-01

The knowledge of the characteristics of raw materials and the behavior of these during the heat treatment is crucial before starting any manufacturing process of clay-based products. The objective of this work was to study phase transformations of clay under different heat treatments using conventional oven. To achieve the same were used two clays coming from the municipality of Cubati - PB and kaolin from an industry in the Northeast. The samples were subjected to beneficiation process, crushing, grinding and sieving and further characterized: chemical analysis, particle size, thermal and mineralogical. For heat treatment temperatures employed were 1000, 1100 and 1200 ° C, heating rate 5 ° C / min and residence time of 60min. After this step, the mineralogical characterization was performed by x-ray diffraction technique. Clays with larger particle size fraction below 2um and greater amount of flux oxides showed higher amount of mullite for the temperatures studied. The results also showed nucleation of mullite phase from 1100 °C, a band 2theta in the range of between 20 and 25°, characteristic of amorphous silica and the temperature rise was observed intensification of crystalline phases. (author)

Amorphous and nanocrystalline titanium nitride and carbonitride materials obtained by solution phase ammonolysis of Ti(NMe2)4

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Jackson, Andrew W.; Shebanova, Olga; Hector, Andrew L.; McMillan, Paul F.

2006-01-01

Solution phase reactions between tetrakisdimethylamidotitanium (Ti(NMe 2 ) 4 ) and ammonia yield precipitates with composition TiC 0.5 N 1.1 H 2.3 . Thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) indicates that decomposition of these precursor materials proceeds in two steps to yield rocksalt-structured TiN or Ti(C,N), depending upon the gas atmosphere. Heating to above 700 deg. C in NH 3 yields nearly stoichiometric TiN. However, heating in N 2 atmosphere leads to isostructural carbonitrides, approximately TiC 0.2 N 0.8 in composition. The particle sizes of these materials range between 4-12 nm. Heating to a temperature that corresponds to the intermediate plateau in the TGA curve (450 deg. C) results in a black powder that is X-ray amorphous and is electrically conducting. The bulk chemical composition of this material is found to be TiC 0.22 N 1.01 H 0.07 , or Ti 3 (C 0.17 N 0.78 H 0.05 ) 3.96 , close to Ti 3 (C,N) 4 . Previous workers have suggested that the intermediate compound was an amorphous form of Ti 3 N 4 . TEM investigation of the material indicates the presence of nanocrystalline regions x (C,N) y crystalline phases

Characterization of Amorphous and Co-Amorphous Simvastatin Formulations Prepared by Spray Drying

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Goedele Craye

2015-12-01

Full Text Available In this study, spray drying from aqueous solutions, using the surface-active agent sodium lauryl sulfate (SLS as a solubilizer, was explored as a production method for co-amorphous simvastatin–lysine (SVS-LYS at 1:1 molar mixtures, which previously have been observed to form a co-amorphous mixture upon ball milling. In addition, a spray-dried formulation of SVS without LYS was prepared. Energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS revealed that SLS coated the SVS and SVS-LYS particles upon spray drying. X-ray powder diffraction (XRPD and differential scanning calorimetry (DSC showed that in the spray-dried formulations the remaining crystallinity originated from SLS only. The best dissolution properties and a “spring and parachute” effect were found for SVS spray-dried from a 5% SLS solution without LYS. Despite the presence of at least partially crystalline SLS in the mixtures, all the studied formulations were able to significantly extend the stability of amorphous SVS compared to previous co-amorphous formulations of SVS. The best stability (at least 12 months in dry conditions was observed when SLS was spray-dried with SVS (and LYS. In conclusion, spray drying of SVS and LYS from aqueous surfactant solutions was able to produce formulations with improved physical stability for amorphous SVS.

Characterization of Amorphous and Co-Amorphous Simvastatin Formulations Prepared by Spray Drying.

Science.gov (United States)

Craye, Goedele; Löbmann, Korbinian; Grohganz, Holger; Rades, Thomas; Laitinen, Riikka

2015-12-03

In this study, spray drying from aqueous solutions, using the surface-active agent sodium lauryl sulfate (SLS) as a solubilizer, was explored as a production method for co-amorphous simvastatin-lysine (SVS-LYS) at 1:1 molar mixtures, which previously have been observed to form a co-amorphous mixture upon ball milling. In addition, a spray-dried formulation of SVS without LYS was prepared. Energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS) revealed that SLS coated the SVS and SVS-LYS particles upon spray drying. X-ray powder diffraction (XRPD) and differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) showed that in the spray-dried formulations the remaining crystallinity originated from SLS only. The best dissolution properties and a "spring and parachute" effect were found for SVS spray-dried from a 5% SLS solution without LYS. Despite the presence of at least partially crystalline SLS in the mixtures, all the studied formulations were able to significantly extend the stability of amorphous SVS compared to previous co-amorphous formulations of SVS. The best stability (at least 12 months in dry conditions) was observed when SLS was spray-dried with SVS (and LYS). In conclusion, spray drying of SVS and LYS from aqueous surfactant solutions was able to produce formulations with improved physical stability for amorphous SVS.

Use of isoconcentrational phase diagrams for prediction of amorphization of binary systems

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lazarev, A.I.; Belashchenko, D.K.

1992-01-01

Based on the application of isoconcentrational diagrams of phase equilibria of liquid with solid solutions of various crystal structures the thermodynamic method was considered for prediction of concentration ranges of amorphization in binary systems.To confirm the applicability of the thermodynamic criterion in practice caclulations of phase diagrams were accomplished for complex binary eutectic systems (Hf-Be, Zr-Be) with the known concentration ranges of amorphization

Irreversible altering of crystalline phase of phase-change Ge-Sb thin films

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Krusin-Elbaum, L.; Shakhvorostov, D.; Cabral, C. Jr.; Raoux, S.; Jordan-Sweet, J. L.

2010-01-01

The stability of the crystalline phase of binary phase-change Ge x Sb 1-x films is investigated over a wide range of Ge content. From Raman spectroscopy we find the Ge-Sb crystalline structure irreversibly altered after exposure to a laser beam. We show that with increasing beam intensity/temperature Ge agglomerates and precipitates out in the amount growing with x. A simple empirical relation links Ge precipitation temperature T Ge p to the rate of change dT cryst /dx of crystallization, with the precipitation easiest on the mid-range x plateau, where T cryst is nearly constant. Our findings point to a preferable 15% < or approx. x < 50% window, that may achieve the desired cycling/archival properties of a phase-change cell.

Fingerprinting analysis of non-crystalline pharmaceutical compounds using high energy X-rays and the total scattering pair distribution function

Science.gov (United States)

Davis, Timur D.

2011-12-01

In the development of new medicinal products, poor oral bioavailability, due to the low solubilities of many active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs), is increasingly a barrier for treatments to be administered using tablet or capsule formulations and one of the main challenges facing the pharmaceutical industry. Non-crystalline phases such as the amorphous and nanostructured states can confer increased solubility to a drug, and therefore, have recently garnered a lot of interest from pharmaceutical researchers. However, little is known about local ordering in non-crystalline pharmaceuticals due to the lack of reliable experimental probes, hindering the clinical application of these compounds. The powerful tools of crystallography begin to lose their potency for structures on the nanoscale; conventional X-ray powder diffraction (XRPD) patterns become broad and featureless in these cases and are not useful for differentiating between different local molecular packing arrangements. In this thesis, we introduce the use of high energy X-rays coupled with total scattering pair distribution function (TSPDF) and fingerprinting analysis to investigate the local structures of non-crystalline pharmaceutical compounds. The high energy X-rays allow us to experimentally collect diffuse scattering intensities, which contain information about a sample's local ordering, in addition to the Bragg scattering available in conventional XRPD experiments, while the TSPDF allows us to view the intra- and inter-molecular correlations in real space. The goal of this study was to address some fundamental problems involving fingerprinting non-crystalline APIs using TSPDF in order to lay the groundwork for the proper use of the technique by the pharmaceutical community. We achieved this by developing the methodology as well as the exploring the scientific implications. On the methodology side, we introduced PDFGetX3, a new software program for calculating TSPDFs that simplifies the procedure

Biorelevant characterisation of amorphous furosemide salt exhibits conversion to a furosemide hydrate during dissolution

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Nielsen, Line Hagner; Gordon, Sarah; Pajander, Jari Pekka

2013-01-01

, as well as of crystalline furosemide salt and acid showed a higher rate of dissolution of the salt forms in comparison with the two acid forms. The measured dissolution rates of the four furosemide forms from the UV imaging system and from eluted effluent samples were consistent with dissolution rates...... obtained from micro dissolution experiments. Partial least squares-discriminant analysis of Raman spectra of the amorphous acid form during flow through dissolution showed that the amorphous acid exhibited a fast conversion to the crystalline acid. Flow through dissolution coupled with Raman spectroscopy...... showed a conversion of the amorphous furosemide salt to a more stable polymorph. It was found by thermogravimetric analysis and hot stage microscopy that the salt forms of furosemide converted to a trihydrate during dissolution. It can be concluded that during biorelevant dissolution, the amorphous...

Structural and phase transformations in the low-temperature annealed amorphous “finemet”-type microwires

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Tcherdyntsev, V.V., E-mail: vvch08@yandex.ru [National University of Science and Technology “MISIS”, Moscow 119049 (Russian Federation); Aleev, A.A. [SSC RF Institute for Theoretical and Experimental Physics, Moscow 117218 (Russian Federation); Churyukanova, M.N.; Kaloshkin, S.D. [National University of Science and Technology “MISIS”, Moscow 119049 (Russian Federation); Medvedeva, E.V. [Institute of Electrophysics, Ural Branch, Russian Academy of Sciences, Yekaterinburg 620016 (Russian Federation); Korchuganova, O.A. [SSC RF Institute for Theoretical and Experimental Physics, Moscow 117218 (Russian Federation); Zhukova, V. [Dpto. de Fns. Mater., UPV/EHU, San Sebastian 20018 (Spain); Zhukov, A.P. [Dpto. de Fns. Mater., UPV/EHU, San Sebastian 20018 (Spain); IKERBASQUE, Basque Foundation for Science, 48011 Bilbao (Spain)

2014-02-15

Highlights: • Structure and magnetic properties evolution at heating of amorphous microwires was studied. • Relaxation processes in the amorphous phase correlate with an increase in Curie temperature. • Curie temperature change can not be stabilized by a prolonged exposure at pre-crystallization temperatures. • Tomographic atom probe microscopy supports the formation of α-Fe phase precipitations enriched in Si. -- Abstract: Finemet-type glass-coated microwires with amorphous and nanocrystalline structure have been investigated. The relaxation and crystallization processes at heating of amorphous alloy have been studied by DSC method. We observed that the relaxation processes in the amorphous phase correlate with an increasing of the Curie temperature. Additionally a prolonged exposure of the samples below the crystallization temperatures does not stabilize the Curie temperature change. An investigation by the tomographic atom probe microscopy supports the formation of precipitations, probably α-Fe phase, as a result of low-temperature annealing (400 °C, 5 min). We found that the observed nano-sized areas were enriched in silicon.

Structural and phase transformations in the low-temperature annealed amorphous “finemet”-type microwires

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Tcherdyntsev, V.V.; Aleev, A.A.; Churyukanova, M.N.; Kaloshkin, S.D.; Medvedeva, E.V.; Korchuganova, O.A.; Zhukova, V.; Zhukov, A.P.

2014-01-01

Highlights: • Structure and magnetic properties evolution at heating of amorphous microwires was studied. • Relaxation processes in the amorphous phase correlate with an increase in Curie temperature. • Curie temperature change can not be stabilized by a prolonged exposure at pre-crystallization temperatures. • Tomographic atom probe microscopy supports the formation of α-Fe phase precipitations enriched in Si. -- Abstract: Finemet-type glass-coated microwires with amorphous and nanocrystalline structure have been investigated. The relaxation and crystallization processes at heating of amorphous alloy have been studied by DSC method. We observed that the relaxation processes in the amorphous phase correlate with an increasing of the Curie temperature. Additionally a prolonged exposure of the samples below the crystallization temperatures does not stabilize the Curie temperature change. An investigation by the tomographic atom probe microscopy supports the formation of precipitations, probably α-Fe phase, as a result of low-temperature annealing (400 °C, 5 min). We found that the observed nano-sized areas were enriched in silicon

Optoelectronic transport properties in amorphous/crystalline silicon solar cell heterojunctions measured by frequency-domain photocarrier radiometry: Multi-parameter measurement reliability and precision studies

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zhang, Y.; Melnikov, A.; Mandelis, A.; Halliop, B.; Kherani, N. P.; Zhu, R.

2015-01-01

A theoretical one-dimensional two-layer linear photocarrier radiometry (PCR) model including the presence of effective interface carrier traps was used to evaluate the transport parameters of p-type hydrogenated amorphous silicon (a-Si:H) and n-type crystalline silicon (c-Si) passivated by an intrinsic hydrogenated amorphous silicon (i-layer) nanolayer. Several crystalline Si heterojunction structures were examined to investigate the influence of the i-layer thickness and the doping concentration of the a-Si:H layer. The experimental data of a series of heterojunction structures with intrinsic thin layers were fitted to PCR theory to gain insight into the transport properties of these devices. The quantitative multi-parameter results were studied with regard to measurement reliability (uniqueness) and precision using two independent computational best-fit programs. The considerable influence on the transport properties of the entire structure of two key parameters that can limit the performance of amorphous thin film solar cells, namely, the doping concentration of the a-Si:H layer and the i-layer thickness was demonstrated. It was shown that PCR can be applied to the non-destructive characterization of a-Si:H/c-Si heterojunction solar cells yielding reliable measurements of the key parameters

Optoelectronic transport properties in amorphous/crystalline silicon solar cell heterojunctions measured by frequency-domain photocarrier radiometry: multi-parameter measurement reliability and precision studies.

Science.gov (United States)

Zhang, Y; Melnikov, A; Mandelis, A; Halliop, B; Kherani, N P; Zhu, R

2015-03-01

A theoretical one-dimensional two-layer linear photocarrier radiometry (PCR) model including the presence of effective interface carrier traps was used to evaluate the transport parameters of p-type hydrogenated amorphous silicon (a-Si:H) and n-type crystalline silicon (c-Si) passivated by an intrinsic hydrogenated amorphous silicon (i-layer) nanolayer. Several crystalline Si heterojunction structures were examined to investigate the influence of the i-layer thickness and the doping concentration of the a-Si:H layer. The experimental data of a series of heterojunction structures with intrinsic thin layers were fitted to PCR theory to gain insight into the transport properties of these devices. The quantitative multi-parameter results were studied with regard to measurement reliability (uniqueness) and precision using two independent computational best-fit programs. The considerable influence on the transport properties of the entire structure of two key parameters that can limit the performance of amorphous thin film solar cells, namely, the doping concentration of the a-Si:H layer and the i-layer thickness was demonstrated. It was shown that PCR can be applied to the non-destructive characterization of a-Si:H/c-Si heterojunction solar cells yielding reliable measurements of the key parameters.

Phase-change materials: vibrational softening upon crystallization and its impact on thermal properties

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Matsunaga, Toshiyuki [Materials Science and Analysis Technology Centre, Panasonic Corporation, Osaka (Japan); Japan Synchrotron Radiation Research Institute Hyogo (Japan); Yamada, Noboru [Digital and Network Technology Development Centre, Panasonic Corporation, Osaka (Japan); Japan Synchrotron Radiation Research Institute Hyogo (Japan); Kojima, Rie [Digital and Network Technology Development Centre, Panasonic Corporation, Osaka (Japan); Shamoto, Shinichi [Neutron Science Research Centre, Japan Atomic Energy Research Institute, Ibaraki (Japan); Sato, Masugu; Tanida, Hajime; Uruga, Tomoya; Kohara, Shinji [Japan Synchrotron Radiation Research Institute, Hyogo (Japan); Takata, Masaki [SPring-8/RIKEN, Hyogo, Japan, Department of Advanced Materials Science, School of Frontier Sciences, The University of Tokyo, Chiba (Japan); Zalden, Peter; Bruns, Gunnar; Wuttig, Matthias [I. Physikalisches Institut und JARA-FIT, RWTH Aachen Univ. (Germany); Sergueev, Ilya [European Synchrotron Radiation Facility, Grenoble (France); Wille, Hans Christian [Deutsches Elektronen-Synchrotron, Hamburg (Germany); Hermann, Raphael Pierre [Juelich Centre for Neutron Science JCNS and Peter Gruenberg, Institut PGI, JARA-FIT, Forschungszentrum Juelich GmbH (Germany); Faculte des Sciences, Universite de Liege (Belgium)

2011-06-21

Crystallization of an amorphous solid is usually accompanied by a significant change of transport properties, such as an increase in thermal and electrical conductivity. This fact underlines the importance of crystalline order for the transport of charge and heat. Phase-change materials, however, reveal a remarkably low thermal conductivity in the crystalline state. The small change in this conductivity upon crystallization points to unique lattice properties. The present investigation reveals that the thermal properties of the amorphous and crystalline state of phase-change materials show remarkable differences such as higher thermal displacements and a more pronounced anharmonic behavior in the crystalline phase. These findings are related to the change of bonding upon crystallization, which leads to an increase of the sound velocity and a softening of the optical phonon modes at the same time. (Copyright copyright 2011 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH and Co. KGaA, Weinheim)

Ge L{sub 3}-edge x-ray absorption near-edge structure study of structural changes accompanying conductivity drift in the amorphous phase of Ge{sub 2}Sb{sub 2}Te{sub 5}

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Mitrofanov, K. V. [Nanoelectronics Research Institute, National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (AIST), 1-1-1 Higashi, Tsukuba 305-8562 (Japan); Kolobov, A. V., E-mail: a.kolobov@aist.go.jp; Fons, P. [Nanoelectronics Research Institute and Green Nanoelectronics Center, National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (AIST), 1-1-1 Higashi, Tsukuba 305-8562, Japan and Synchrotron Radiation Research Institute (JASRI), SPring-8, 1-1-1, Kouto, Sayo, Hyogo 679-5198 (Japan); Wang, X.; Tominaga, J. [Nanoelectronics Research Institute and Green Nanoelectronics Center, National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (AIST), 1-1-1 Higashi, Tsukuba 305-8562 (Japan); Tamenori, Y.; Uruga, T. [Synchrotron Radiation Research Institute (JASRI), SPring-8, 1-1-1, Kouto, Sayo, Hyogo 679-5198 (Japan); Ciocchini, N.; Ielmini, D. [DEIB - Politecnico di Milano, Piazza L. Da Vinci 32, 20133 Milano (Italy)

2014-05-07

A gradual uncontrollable increase in the resistivity of the amorphous phase of phase-change alloys, such as Ge{sub 2}Sb{sub 2}Te{sub 5}, known as drift, is a serious technological issue for application of phase-change memory. While it has been proposed that drift is related to structural relaxation, no direct structural results have been reported so far. Here, we report the results of Ge L{sub 3}-edge x-ray absorption measurements that suggest that the drift in electrical conductivity is associated with the gradual conversion of tetrahedrally coordinated Ge sites into pyramidal sites, while the system still remains in the amorphous phase. Based on electronic configuration arguments, we propose that during this process, which is governed by the existence of lone-pair electrons, the concentration of free carriers in the system decreases resulting in an increase in resistance despite the structural relaxation towards the crystalline phase.

A Density Functional Tight Binding Study of Acetic Acid Adsorption on Crystalline and Amorphous Surfaces of Titania

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Sergei Manzhos

2015-02-01

Full Text Available We present a comparative density functional tight binding study of an organic molecule attachment to TiO2 via a carboxylic group, with the example of acetic acid. For the first time, binding to low-energy surfaces of crystalline anatase (101, rutile (110 and (B-TiO2 (001, as well as to the surface of amorphous (a- TiO2 is compared with the same computational setup. On all surfaces, bidentate configurations are identified as providing the strongest adsorption energy, Eads = −1.93, −2.49 and −1.09 eV for anatase, rutile and (B-TiO2, respectively. For monodentate configurations, the strongest Eads = −1.06, −1.11 and −0.86 eV for anatase, rutile and (B-TiO2, respectively. Multiple monodentate and bidentate configurations are identified on a-TiO2 with a distribution of adsorption energies and with the lowest energy configuration having stronger bonding than that of the crystalline counterparts, with Eads up to −4.92 eV for bidentate and −1.83 eV for monodentate adsorption. Amorphous TiO2 can therefore be used to achieve strong anchoring of organic molecules, such as dyes, that bind via a -COOH group. While the presence of the surface leads to a contraction of the band gap vs. the bulk, molecular adsorption caused no appreciable effect on the band structure around the gap in any of the systems.

Infrared Spectra and Optical Constants of Elusive Amorphous Methane

Science.gov (United States)

Gerakines, Perry A.; Hudson, Reggie L.

2015-01-01

New and accurate laboratory results are reported for amorphous methane (CH4) ice near 10 K for the study of the interstellar medium (ISM) and the outer Solar System. Near- and mid-infrared (IR) data, including spectra, band strengths, absorption coefficients, and optical constants, are presented for the first time for this seldom-studied amorphous solid. The apparent IR band strength near 1300 cm(exp -1) (7.69 micrometer) for amorphous CH4 is found to be about 33% higher than the value long used by IR astronomers to convert spectral observations of interstellar CH4 into CH4 abundances. Although CH4 is most likely to be found in an amorphous phase in the ISM, a comparison of results from various laboratory groups shows that the earlier CH4 band strength at 1300 cm(exp -1) (7.69 micrometer) was derived from IR spectra of ices that were either partially or entirely crystalline CH4 Applications of the new amorphous-CH4 results are discussed, and all optical constants are made available in electronic form.

High-pressure Raman spectroscopy of phase change materials

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Hsieh, Wen-Pin, E-mail: wphsieh@stanford.edu; Mao, Wendy L. [SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory, Stanford Institute for Materials and Energy Sciences, Menlo Park, California 94025 (United States); Department of Geological and Environmental Sciences, Stanford University, Stanford, California 94305 (United States); Zalden, Peter [SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory, Stanford Institute for Materials and Energy Sciences, Menlo Park, California 94025 (United States); Wuttig, Matthias [I. Physikalisches Institut (IA), RWTH Aachen University, 52056 Aachen (Germany); JARA – Fundamentals of Future Information Technology, RWTH Aachen University, 52056 Aachen (Germany); Lindenberg, Aaron M. [SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory, Stanford Institute for Materials and Energy Sciences, Menlo Park, California 94025 (United States); Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Stanford University, Stanford, California 94305 (United States); SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory, PULSE Institute, Menlo Park, California 94025 (United States)

2013-11-04

We used high-pressure Raman spectroscopy to study the evolution of vibrational frequencies of the phase change materials (PCMs) Ge{sub 2}Sb{sub 2}Te{sub 5}, GeSb{sub 2}Te{sub 4}, and SnSb{sub 2}Te{sub 4}. We found that the critical pressure for triggering amorphization in the PCMs decreases with increasing vacancy concentration, demonstrating that the presence of vacancies, rather than differences in the atomic covalent radii, is crucial for pressure-induced amorphization in PCMs. Compared to the as-deposited amorphous phase, the pressure-induced amorphous phase has a similar vibrational spectrum but requires much lower laser power to transform into the crystalline phase, suggesting different kinetics of crystallization, which may have implications for applications of PCMs in non-volatile data storage.

Determination of the fraction of amorphous phases in superconducting samples

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gomes Junior, G.G.; Ogasawara, T.; Amorim, H.S.

2010-01-01

The study phase formation of high critical temperature superconducting (Bi, Pb) - 2223 by partial melting and recrystallization aims to improve the microstructure of the material. Was used for X-ray diffraction characterization of the phases present. The DDM method (Derivative Difference Minimization) was used for the refinement of structures, quantification of the phases and determination the fraction of this amorphous. The advantage this method is not necessary to introduce an internal standard to determine the amorphous fraction. Were observed in the powder precursor phases (Bi, Pb) 2 Sr 2 Ca 2 Cu 3 O x (Bi, Pb) -2223, 93% of the sample, Bi 2 Sr 2 CaCu 2 O y (Bi-2212) and Bi 2 Sr 2 CuO z (Bi-2201). The powder precursor was heat treated at 820-870 deg C. To minimize volatilization of lead, the material was placed in silver crucibles closed. To get a high recovery of (Bi, Pb) - 2223, the material was cooled slowly, due to slow kinetic of formation of this phase. We observed a partial recovery phase (Bi, Pb) -2223. (author)

Direct separation of short range order in intermixed nanocrystalline and amorphous phases

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Frenkel, Anatoly I.; Kolobov, Alexander V.; Robinson, Ian K.; Cross, Julie O.; Maeda, Yoshihito; Bouldin, Charles E.

2002-01-01

Diffraction anomalous fine-structure (DAFS) and extended x-ray absorption fine-structure (EXAFS) measurements were combined to determine short range order (SRO) about a single atomic type in a sample of mixed amorphous and nanocrystalline phases of germanium. EXAFS yields information about the SRO of all Ge atoms in the sample, while DAFS determines the SRO of only the ordered fraction. We determine that the first-shell distance distribution is bimodal; the nanocrystalline distance is the same as the bulk crystal, to within 0.01(2) A ring , but the mean amorphous Ge-Ge bond length is expanded by 0.076(19) Angstrom. This approach can be applied to many systems of mixed amorphous and nanocrystalline phases

Development of ultrafine and pure amorphous and crystalline new materials and their fabrication process

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Yang, Myung Seung; Kim, Y. E.; Kim, J. G.; Gu, J. H.; Yoon, N. K.; Seong, S. Y.; Ryu, S. E.; Lee, J. C.

1996-07-01

Based on an estimation of annual rice production of 5.2 Million tons, rice husks by-production reaches to 1.17 Million tons per year in Korea. distinguished to other corns, rice contains a lot of Si; 10 ∼ 20 % by weight in rice husks calculated as silica. The aim of this research project is to develop technologies for ceramic powders and materials utilizing the silica in rice husks called phytoliths. In this researches of the following subjects were performed; decomposition of the organic components, acid treatments, extraction of the organic matter, effect of gamma-ray irradiation on the acid treatment, plasma treatment, crystallization of silica powder, dispersion of amorphous silica powder, fabrication of ultrafine crystalline fibrous materials.. (author). 18 refs., 5 tabs., 55 figs

Evidence of eutectic crystallization and transient nucleation in Al89La6Ni5 amorphous alloy

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Zhuang, Yanxin; Jiang, Jianzhong; Lin, Z. G.

2001-01-01

The phase evolution with the temperature and time in the process of crystallization of Al89La6Ni5 amorphous alloy has been investigated by in situ high-temperature and high-pressure x-ray powder diffraction using synchrotron radiation. Two crystalline phases, fcc-Al and a metastable bcc-(AlNi)(11...

Amorphization and evolution of magnetic properties during mechanical alloying of Co{sub 62}Nb{sub 6}Zr{sub 2}B{sub 30}: Dependence on starting boron microstructure

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Moreno, L.M.; Blázquez, J.S., E-mail: jsebas@us.es; Ipus, J.J.; Conde, A.

2014-02-05

Highlights: • Mechanical alloying of Co{sub 62}Nb{sub 6}Zr{sub 2}B{sub 30} leads to amorphous phase with B inclusions. • Using optimized amorphous B, amorphization occurs earlier. • B is more effectively introduced in the matrix using amorphous B. • Magnetoelasic contribution to effective magnetic anisotropy is negligible. -- Abstract: Co{sub 62}Nb{sub 6}Zr{sub 2}B{sub 30} composition was mechanically alloyed using three different types of boron powders in the starting mixture: crystalline β-B, commercial amorphous B and optimized amorphous B via ball milling. Using optimized amorphous B, amorphization process of the alloy is more efficient but milling to optimize amorphous B introduces some iron contamination. Boron inclusions (100–150 nm in size) remain even after long milling times. However, using amorphous boron reduces the fraction of boron distributed as inclusions to ∼40% of the total B. Thermal stability at the end of the milling process is affected by the initial boron microstructure. Coercivity is reduced a half using amorphous B instead of crystalline B in the starting mixture.

Anisotropic imprint of amorphization and phase separation in manganite thin films via laser interference irradiation

KAUST Repository

Ding, Junfeng; Lin, Zhipeng; Wu, Jianchun; Dong, Zhili; Wu, Tao

2014-01-01

Materials with mesoscopic structural and electronic phase separation, either inherent from synthesis or created via external means, are known to exhibit functionalities absent in the homogeneous counterparts. One of the most notable examples is the colossal magnetoresistance discovered in mixed-valence manganites, where the coexistence of nano-to micrometer-sized phase-separated domains dictates the magnetotransport. However, it remains challenging to pattern and process such materials into predesigned structures and devices. In this work, a direct laser interference irradiation (LII) method is employed to produce periodic stripes in thin films of a prototypical phase-separated manganite Pr0.65(Ca0.75Sr0.25)0.35MnO3 (PCSMO). LII induces selective structural amorphization within the crystalline PCSMO matrix, forming arrays with dimensions commensurate with the laser wavelength. Furthermore, because the length scale of LII modification is compatible to that of phase separation in PCSMO, three orders of magnitude of increase in magnetoresistance and significant in-plane transport anisotropy are observed in treated PCSMO thin films. Our results show that LII is a rapid, cost-effective and contamination-free technique to tailor and improve the physical properties of manganite thin films, and it is promising to be generalized to other functional materials.

Anisotropic imprint of amorphization and phase separation in manganite thin films via laser interference irradiation

KAUST Repository

Ding, Junfeng

2014-09-16

Materials with mesoscopic structural and electronic phase separation, either inherent from synthesis or created via external means, are known to exhibit functionalities absent in the homogeneous counterparts. One of the most notable examples is the colossal magnetoresistance discovered in mixed-valence manganites, where the coexistence of nano-to micrometer-sized phase-separated domains dictates the magnetotransport. However, it remains challenging to pattern and process such materials into predesigned structures and devices. In this work, a direct laser interference irradiation (LII) method is employed to produce periodic stripes in thin films of a prototypical phase-separated manganite Pr0.65(Ca0.75Sr0.25)0.35MnO3 (PCSMO). LII induces selective structural amorphization within the crystalline PCSMO matrix, forming arrays with dimensions commensurate with the laser wavelength. Furthermore, because the length scale of LII modification is compatible to that of phase separation in PCSMO, three orders of magnitude of increase in magnetoresistance and significant in-plane transport anisotropy are observed in treated PCSMO thin films. Our results show that LII is a rapid, cost-effective and contamination-free technique to tailor and improve the physical properties of manganite thin films, and it is promising to be generalized to other functional materials.

Synthesis, characterization and structural control of nano crystalline molybdenum oxide MoO{sub 3} single phase by low cost technique

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Afify, H.H.; Hassan, S.A. [Solid State Department, Physics Division, National Research Centre, 33 El Bohouthst. (fromer El Tahrirst.), Dokki, P.O. 12622, Giza (Egypt); Abouelsayed, A., E-mail: as.abouelsayed@gmail.com [Spectroscopy Department, Physics Division, National Research Centre, 33 El Bohouthst. (fromer El Tahrirst.), Dokki, P.O. 12622, Giza (Egypt); Demian, S.E. [Solid State Department, Physics Division, National Research Centre, 33 El Bohouthst. (fromer El Tahrirst.), Dokki, P.O. 12622, Giza (Egypt); Zayed, H.A. [Physics Department, Faculty of Girls for Art, Sciences and Education, Ain Shams University (Egypt)

2016-06-15

Thermodynamically stable α- MoO{sub 3} thin film is prepared without any other phases of the molybdenum oxides. Simple and low coast spray pyrolysis technique is used. Growth conditions are optimized to produce pure α- MoO{sub 3} with controlled crystallite size and surface morphology. Small angle (GAXRD) diffractometer is used to elucidate the structure. Profile shape function (PSF) model is made for the experimental data. WinFit software is going first to fit (PSF) to use the refined profile parameters for determination of crystallite size and internal residual strain. The (GAXRD) patterns prove the existence of α- MoO{sub 3} only with layered structure, indicated by the appearance of only (0k0). The calculated crystallite sizes and the strain are found to range from 10 to 28 nm and 0.28%–0.05% respectively. Ultraviolet and Visible transmission measurements were performed over a wavelength range 190–2500 nm on the MoO{sub 3} thin films synthesized by spray pyrolysis technique at different substrate temperature. The two sub-bands corresponds to the electronic transition between the molybdenum oxidation states Mo{sup 4+}, Mo{sup 5+} and Mo{sup 6+} are observed. Quantitative information on the temperature-induced blue shift of the sub-bands was obtained by fitting the spectra with Lorentz functions. The transition from Mo{sup 5+} to Mo{sup 6+} oxidation states show a blue shift up to Tc = 325 °C. Above Tc, the transition Mo{sup 5+} to Mo{sup 6+} increases more drastically, resulting in an anomaly in the temperature-induced shift at Tc. The anomaly can be attributed to the amorphous-to-crystalline phase transition at 325 °C. In addition, both refractive index and extinction coefficient are calculated as a function of substrate temperature. - Highlights: • Single phase α-MoO{sub 3} nano crystalline MoO{sub 3} thin films have been synthesized. • Amorphous-to-crystalline phase transition occurs at 325 °C for MoO{sub 3} thin films. • A clear

Formation, Physicochemical Characterization, and Thermodynamic Stability of the Amorphous State of Drugs and Excipients.

Science.gov (United States)

Martino, Piera Di; Magnoni, Federico; Peregrina, Dolores Vargas; Gigliobianco, Maria Rosa; Censi, Roberta; Malaj, Ledjan

2016-01-01

Drugs and excipients used for pharmaceutical applications generally exist in the solid (crystalline or amorphous) state, more rarely as liquid materials. In some cases, according to the physicochemical nature of the molecule, or as a consequence of specific technological processes, a compound may exist exclusively in the amorphous state. In other cases, as a consequence of specific treatments (freezing and spray drying, melting and co-melting, grinding and compression), the crystalline form may convert into a completely or partially amorphous form. An amorphous material shows physical and thermodynamic properties different from the corresponding crystalline form, with profound repercussions on its technological performance and biopharmaceutical properties. Several physicochemical techniques such as X-ray powder diffraction, thermal methods of analysis, spectroscopic techniques, gravimetric techniques, and inverse gas chromatography can be applied to characterize the amorphous form of a compound (drug or excipient), and to evaluate its thermodynamic stability. This review offers a survey of the technologies used to convert a crystalline solid into an amorphous form, and describes the most important techniques for characterizing the amorphous state of compounds of pharmaceutical interest.

Production of amorphous alloys by ion implantation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Grant, W.A.; Chadderton, L.T.; Johnson, E.

1978-01-01

Recent data are reported on the use of ion implantation to produce amorphous metallic alloys. In particular data on the dose dependence of the crystalline to amorphous transition induced by P + implantation of nickel is presented. (Auth.)

Interface Characterization of Metals and Metal-nitrides to Phase Change Materials

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Roy, Deepu; Gravesteijn, Dirk J; Wolters, Robertus A.M.

2011-01-01

We have investigated the interfacial contact properties of the CMOS compatible electrode materials W, TiW, Ta, TaN and TiN to doped-Sb2Te phase change material (PCM). This interface is characterized both in the amorphous and in the crystalline state of the doped-Sb2Te. The electrical nature of the

Crystallization of an amorphous Fe72Ni9Si8B11 alloy upon laser heating and isothermal annealing

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Girzhon, V.V.; Smolyakov, A.V.; Yastrebova, T.S.

2003-01-01

With the use of methods of x-ray diffraction, resistometric and metallographic analyses specific features of crystallization and phase formation in amorphous alloy Fe 72 Ni 9 Si 8 B 11 are studied under various heating conditions. It is shown that laser heating results in alloy crystallization by an explosive mechanism when attaining a certain density of irradiation power. It is stated that ribbon surface laser heating with simultaneous water cooling of an opposite surface allows manufacturing two-layer amorphous-crystalline structures of the amorphous matrix + α-(Fe, Si) - amorphous matrix type [ru

Hyperfine interaction and some thermomagnetic properties of amorphous and partially crystallized Fe70−xMxMo5Cr4Nb6B15 (M = Co or Ni, x = 0 or 10 alloys

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Rzącki Jakub

2015-03-01

Full Text Available As revealed by Mössbauer spectroscopy, replacement of 10 at.% of iron in the amorphous Fe70Mo5Cr4Nb6B15 alloy by cobalt or nickel has no effect on the magnetic structure in the vicinity of room temperature, although the Curie point moves from 190 K towards ambient one. In the early stages of crystallization, the paramagnetic crystalline Cr12Fe36Mo10 phase appears before α-Fe or α-FeCo are formed, as is confirmed by X-ray diffractometry and transmission electron microscopy. Creation of the crystalline Cr12Fe36Mo10 phase is accompanied by the amorphous ferromagnetic phase formation at the expense of amorphous paramagnetic one.

The influence of glass composition on crystalline phase stability in glass-ceramic wasteforms

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Maddrell, Ewan; Thornber, Stephanie; Hyatt, Neil C.

2015-01-01

Highlights: • Crystalline phase formation shown to depend on glass matrix composition. • Zirconolite forms as the sole crystalline phase only for most aluminous glasses. • Thermodynamics indicate that low silica activity glasses stabilise zirconolite. - Abstract: Zirconolite glass-ceramic wasteforms were prepared using a suite of Na 2 O–Al 2 O 3 –B 2 O 3 –SiO 2 glass matrices with variable Al:B ratios. Zirconolite was the dominant crystalline phase only for the most alumina rich glass compositions. As the Al:B ratio decreased zirconolite was replaced by sphene, zircon and rutile. Thermodynamic data were used to calculate a silica activity in the glass melt below which zirconolite is the favoured crystalline phase. The concept of the crystalline reference state of glass melts is then utilised to provide a physical basis for why silica activity varies with the Al:B ratio

Tuning Eu{sup 3+} emission in europium sesquioxide films by changing the crystalline phase

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Mariscal, A., E-mail: antonio.mariscal@csic.es [Laser Processing Group, Instituto de Óptica, CSIC, C/ Serrano 121, 28006 Madrid (Spain); Quesada, A. [Ceramics for Smart Systems Group, Instituto de Cerámica y Vidrio, C/ Kelsen 5, 28049 Madrid (Spain); Camps, I. [Laser Processing Group, Instituto de Óptica, CSIC, C/ Serrano 121, 28006 Madrid (Spain); Palomares, F.J. [Instituto de Ciencia de Materiales de Madrid, C/ Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz 3, 28049 Madrid (Spain); Fernández, J.F. [Ceramics for Smart Systems Group, Instituto de Cerámica y Vidrio, C/ Kelsen 5, 28049 Madrid (Spain); Serna, R. [Laser Processing Group, Instituto de Óptica, CSIC, C/ Serrano 121, 28006 Madrid (Spain)

2016-06-30

Highlights: • PLD production of high quality europium sesquioxide (Eu{sub 2}O{sub 3}) films. • The deposition of Al{sub 2}O{sub 3} capping and/or buffer layers modifies the crystallization for Eu{sub 2}O{sub 3} films upon annealing. • The formation of cubic or monoclinic phases can be favored. • Eu{sup 3+} emission tuning is achieved as a consequence of crystal field effects. - Abstract: We report the growth of europium sesquioxide (Eu{sub 2}O{sub 3}) thin films by pulsed laser deposition (PLD) in vacuum at room temperature from a pure Eu{sub 2}O{sub 3} ceramic bulk target. The films were deposited in different configurations formed by adding capping and/or buffer layers of amorphous aluminum oxide (a-Al{sub 2}O{sub 3}). The optical properties, refractive index and extinction coefficient of the as deposited Eu{sub 2}O{sub 3} layers were obtained. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) measurements were done to assess its chemical composition. Post-deposition annealing was performed at 500 °C and 850 °C in air in order to achieve the formation of crystalline films and to accomplish photoluminescence emission. According to the analysis of X-ray diffraction (XRD) spectra, cubic and monoclinic phases were formed. It is found that the relative amount of the phases is related to the different film configurations, showing that the control over the crystallization phase can be realized by adequately designing the structures. All the films showed photoluminescence emission peaks (under excitation at 355 nm) that are attributed to the intra 4f-transitions of Eu{sup 3+} ions. The emission spectral shape depends on the crystalline phase of the Eu{sub 2}O{sub 3} layer. Specifically, changes in the hypersensitive {sup 5}D{sub 0} → {sup 7}F{sub 2} emission confirm the strong influence of the crystal field effect on the Eu{sup 3+} energy levels.

The amorphous phase transition in irradiated NiTi alloy

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Brimhall, J.L.; Kissinger, H.E.; Pelton, A.R.

1985-01-01

Observed supralinear dose dependence for the amorphous transformation during irradiation of NiTi is compatible with a cascade overlap model for heavy ion (2.5 MeV Ni + , 6 MeV Ta +++ ) irradiations. A model based on total defect build-up, however, is necessary to explain the amorphous transition induced by electron irradiation and can also be applied to heavy ion irradiation. The cascade effects in this latter model are manifested by non-uniform defect distribution in the lattice. The defect build-up model requires a high activation energy for interstitial migration which is not incompatible with recent findings. The form of the temperature dependence can also be rationalized using a defect build-up model (amorphous phase transition, heavy-ion irradiation, electron irradiation, NiTi, defect build-up, cascade overlap). (author)

Differences in gene expression and cytokine production by crystalline vs. amorphous silica in human lung epithelial cells

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Perkins Timothy N

2012-02-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Exposure to respirable crystalline silica particles, as opposed to amorphous silica, is associated with lung inflammation, pulmonary fibrosis (silicosis, and potentially with lung cancer. We used Affymetrix/GeneSifter microarray analysis to determine whether gene expression profiles differed in a human bronchial epithelial cell line (BEAS 2B exposed to cristobalite vs. amorphous silica particles at non-toxic and equal surface areas (75 and 150 × 106μm2/cm2. Bio-Plex analysis was also used to determine profiles of secreted cytokines and chemokines in response to both particles. Finally, primary human bronchial epithelial cells (NHBE were used to comparatively assess silica particle-induced alterations in gene expression. Results Microarray analysis at 24 hours in BEAS 2B revealed 333 and 631 significant alterations in gene expression induced by cristobalite at low (75 and high (150 × 106μm2/cm2 amounts, respectively (p 6μm2/cm2 induced 108 significant gene changes. Bio-Plex analysis of 27 human cytokines and chemokines revealed 9 secreted mediators (p FOS, ATF3, IL6 and IL8 early and over time (2, 4, 8, and 24 h. Patterns of gene expression in NHBE cells were similar overall to BEAS 2B cells. At 75 × 106μm2/cm2, there were 339 significant alterations in gene expression induced by cristobalite and 42 by amorphous silica. Comparison of genes in response to cristobalite (75 × 106μm2/cm2 revealed 60 common, significant gene alterations in NHBE and BEAS 2B cells. Conclusions Cristobalite silica, as compared to synthetic amorphous silica particles at equal surface area concentrations, had comparable effects on the viability of human bronchial epithelial cells. However, effects on gene expression, as well as secretion of cytokines and chemokines, drastically differed, as the crystalline silica induced more intense responses. Our studies indicate that toxicological testing of particulates by surveying viability and

Amorphous-to-crystalline transition in Ge8Sb(2-x)BixTe11 phase-change materials for data recording

Czech Academy of Sciences Publication Activity Database

Svoboda, R.; Karabyn, V.; Málek, J.; Frumar, M.; Beneš, L.; Vlček, Milan

2016-01-01

Roč. 674, July (2016), s. 63-72 ISSN 0925-8388 Institutional support: RVO:61389013 Keywords : amorphous materials * calorimetry * data strorage materials Subject RIV: CA - Inorganic Chemistry Impact factor: 3.133, year: 2016

Electrically Controllable Spontaneous Magnetism in Nanoscale Mixed Phase Multiferroics

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

He, Q.; Chu, Y. H.; Heron, J. T.; Yang, S. Y.; Wang, C. H.; Kuo, C. Y.; Lin, H. J.; Yu, P.; Liang, C. W.; Zeches, R. J.; Chen, C. T.; Arenholz, E.; Scholl, A.; Ramesh, R.

2010-08-02

The emergence of enhanced spontaneous magnetic moments in self-assembled, epitaxial nanostructures of tetragonal (T-phase) and rhombohedral phases (R-phase) of the multiferroic BiFeO{sub 3} system is demonstrated. X-ray magnetic circular dichroism based photoemission electron microscopy (PEEM) was applied to investigate the local nature of this magnetism. We find that the spontaneous magnetization of the R-phase is significantly enhanced above the canted antiferromagnetic moment in the bulk phase, as a consequence of a piezomagnetic coupling to the adjacent T-phase and the epitaxial constraint. Reversible electric field control and manipulation of this magnetic moment at room temperature is shown using a combination of piezoresponse force microscopy and PEEM studies.

Crystallization Behavior of A Bulk Amorphous Mg62Cu26Y12 Alloy

Science.gov (United States)

Wu, Shyue-Sheng; Chin, Tsung-Shune; Su, Kuo-Chang

1994-07-01

The crystallization temperature, the associated activation energy and the crystallized structure of a bulk amorphous Mg62Cu26Y12 alloy with a diameter of 2.5 mm were studied. It possesses a one-step crystallization behavior. The crystallization reaction was found to be represented by: AM(MG62Cu26Y12)→Mg2Cu+MgY+CuY+Mg, ( Tx=188°C, Eac=134 kJ/mol) where AM represents the amorphous state, T x the crystallization temperature at an infinitesimal heating rate, and E ac the associated activation energy. The amount of crystalline phases were found to be Mg2Cu:MgY:CuY=76:17:7. The Mg phase is identifiable only by high resolution electron microscopy, not by X-ray diffraction. The crystallization leads to a sharp rise in electrical resistivity which is reversed to those of iron-based amorphous alloys.

Development of bifunctional microencapsulated phase change materials with crystalline titanium dioxide shell for latent-heat storage and photocatalytic effectiveness

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Chai, Luxiao; Wang, Xiaodong; Wu, Dezhen

2015-01-01

Highlights: • We designed and synthesized a sort of bifunctional PCMs-based microcapsules. • These microcapsules have an n-eicosane core and a crystalline TiO 2 shell. • Such a crystalline TiO 2 shell exhibited a good photocatalytic activity. • The microcapsules showed good performance in energy storage and sterilization. - Abstract: A sort of novel bifunctional microencapsulated phase change material (PCM) was designed by encapsulating n-eicosane into a crystalline titanium dioxide (TiO 2 ) shell and, then, was successfully synthesized through in-situ polycondensation in the sol–gel process using tetrabutyl titanate as a titania precursor. The resultant microcapsule samples were characterized by Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy, energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy, and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy to determine their chemical compositions and structures. Furthermore, the crystallinity of the TiO 2 shell was verified by powder X-ray diffraction patterns. It was confirmed that the fluorinions could induce the phase transition from the amorphous TiO 2 to the brookite-form crystals during the sol–gel process, thus resulting in a crystalline TiO 2 shell for the microencapsulated n-eicosane. The scanning and transmission electron microscopy investigations indicated that all of the resultant microcapsules presented a perfect spherical shape with a uniform particle size of 1.5–2 μm, and they also exhibited a well-defined core–shell structure as well as a smooth and compact shell. The crystalline TiO 2 shell made the resultant microcapsules a photocatalytic activity, and therefore, these microcapsules demonstrated a good photocatalytic effect for the chemical degradation and an antimicrobial function for some of the Gram-negative bacteria. Most of all, all of the microencapsulated n-eicosane samples indicated good phase-change performance and high thermal reliability for latent-heat storage and release, and moreover, they achieved a high

Structural change upon annealing of amorphous GeSbTe grown on Si(111)

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Bragaglia, V., E-mail: bragaglia@pdi-berlin.de; Jenichen, B.; Giussani, A.; Perumal, K.; Riechert, H.; Calarco, R. [Paul-Drude-Institut für Festkörperelektronik, Hausvogteiplatz 5-7, 10117 Berlin (Germany)

2014-08-07

The structural change upon annealing of an amorphous GeSbTe (GST) film deposited by molecular beam epitaxy on a Si(111) substrate is studied by means of X-ray diffraction (XRD), X-ray reflectivity (XRR), and atomic force microscopy (AFM). XRD profiles reveal that both metastable cubic and stable hexagonal phases are obtained with a single out-of-plane orientation. XRR study shows a density increase and consequent thickness decrease upon annealing, in accordance with literature. From both, the XRD and the AFM study, it emerges that the crystalline substrate acts as a template for the film, favoring the crystallization of the amorphous GST into the [111] oriented metastable cubic phase, and the latter turns into the [0001] stable hexagonal phase for higher annealing temperature.