He Zhenhui

Determination of Thickness and Optical Constants of ZnO Thin Films Prepared by Filtered Cathode Vacuum Arc Deposition

ZnO thin films are prepared on glass substrates by filtered cathode vacuum arc (FCVA) deposition technique. A new method is demonstrated to extract the refractive index, thickness and optical band gap of ZnO thin films from the transmission spectrum alone. The refractive index is calculated from the extremes of the interference fingers. The transmission spectrum is divided into two terms, non-interference term and interference effect term. The thickness of thin films is calculated by simulating the interference term, and the non-interference term is used to calculate optical band gap with the gained thickness. The results are compared with measurements by using an ellipsometry and a scanning electron microscope.

Dependence of Structure and Haemocompatibility of Amorphous Carbon Films on Substrate Bias Voltage

Tetrahedral amorphous hydrogenated carbon (ta-C:H) films on Si(100) substrates were prepared by using a magnetic-field-filter plasma stream deposition system. Samples with different ratios of sp3-bond to sp2-bond were obtained by changing the bias voltage applied to the substrates. The ellipsometric spectra of various carbon films in the photon energy range of 1.9–5.4 eV were measured. The refractive index n and the relative sp3 C ratio of these films were obtained by simulating their ellipsometric spectra using the Forouhi–Bloomer model and by using the Bruggeman effective medium approximation, respectively. The haemocompatibility of these ta-C:H films was analysed by observation of platelet adhesion and measurement of kinetic clotting time. The results show that the sp3 C fraction is dependent on the substrate bias voltage, and the haemocompatibility is dependent on the ratio of sp3-bond to sp2-bond. A good haemocompatibility material of ta-C:H films with a suitable sp3 C fraction can be prepared by changing the substrate bias voltage.

A Diffusion Model of Field-Induced Aggregation in Ferrofluid Film

By introducing Arrhenius behaviour to the ferroparticles on the surface of the aggregated columnar structure in a diffusion model, equilibrium equations are set up. The solution of the equations shows that to keep the aggregated structures stable, a characteristic field is needed. The aggregation is enhanced by magnetic fields, yet suppressed as the temperature increases. Analysing the influence of the magnetic field on the interaction energy between the dipolar particles, we estimate the portion of the diffusing particles, and provide the agreeable ratio of the column radius over the centre-to-centre spacing between columns in a hexagonal columnar structure formed under a perpendicular magnetic field.

Superhydrophobicity of LaMnO3 Coatings with Hierarchical Microstructures

As proposed by Herminghaus, a hierarchical structure could render any surface nonwettable as long as the roughness amplitude at small scales is sufficient to suspend a free liquid surface. Recently we reported that the wettability of La0.7Sr0.3MnO3, an intrinsic hydrophilic oxide, can be tuned from superhydrophilicity to superhydrophobicity by hierarchical microstructures generated by annealing the coatings of La0.7Sr0.3MnO3 powder in nanometric scale at different temperatures. Here we further demonstrate the similar phenomenon observed on LaMnO3 coatings, which conforms THAT the surface geometrical structure is a key factor to determine the wettability.

Plasma-Neutral Gas Structure in a Magnesium Cathodic Arc Operating at Oxygen Gas with Experimental Comparison

The plasma-neutral gas structure generated in a magnesium cathodic arc operated with oxygen gas at a constant current of 50 A has been investigated by employing a simplified one-dimensional fluid model. The model includes elastic collisions and charge-exchange reactions between metallic particles and gas molecules, and also generation and recombination of gaseous ions by electron impact. The distribution profiles of density and velocity of species along the axial direction were obtained at different background gas pressures (in the range of 0.7~3.0 Pa) by this model. A comparison with the experiments was made. At lower gas pressures, the depositing particles were mainly the metallic ions with a larger kinetic energy. As the gas pressure increased, the magnesium atoms with smaller kinetic energy acted as the dominant depositing species. Determined by the minimization of the systems total energy, MgO(100) or/and MgO(110) orientation appeared easily in the MgO films at lower gas pressures, and at higher gas pressures, the film preferred orientation was MgO(111).