Michael Hietschold

Parasitic charging of dielectric surfaces in capacitive microelectromechanical systems (MEMS)

Silicon dioxide and silicon nitride coatings are preferably used as dielectric layers for short-circuit protection in capacitive silicon microsensors and microactuators. However, their tendency to electrostatic charging can diminish the device reliability. Gas discharges in the air gap of silicon cantilever actuators have been observed, resulting in surface charge accumulation on the electrode passivation of the devices. Charge decay characteristics were recorded for a silicon oxide passivation and a multilayer passivation by silicon oxide and silicon nitride. The charges are found to be highly stable in time. Based on these observations, rules for the application and design of dielectric layers in microdevices are proposed.

Self‐Assembled Two‐Dimensional Molecular Host‐Guest Architectures From Trimesic Acid

The adsorption of 1,3,5-Benzenetricarboxylic (Trimesic) Acid (TMA) to a single crystal graphite surface has been studied under Ultra High Vacuum conditions. This work focuses on inducing a particular self-assembly structure by OMBE (Organic Molecular Beam Epitaxy), characterized by periodic non-dense-packing of the molecules. Two coexisting phases could be imaged with sub-molecular resolution by STM. Induced by directed hydrogen bonding, the organic molecules built in both cases a two-dimensional grid architecture with molecular caves. This two-dimensional host structure can accept single trimesic acid guest molecules in different positions.

Enhancement of the thermoelectric properties of PEDOT:PSS thin films by post-treatment

In this work, the thermoelectric (TE) properties of poly(3,4-ethylenedioxylthiophene):poly(styrene sulfonate) (PEDOT:PSS) thin films at room temperature are studied. Different methods have been applied for tuning the TE properties: 1st addition of polar solvent, dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO), into the PEDOT:PSS solution; 2nd post-treatment of thin films with a mixture of DMSO and ionic liquid, 1-ethyl-3-methylimidazolium tetrafluoroborate (EMIMBF4). It is verified that DMSO post-treatment is more efficient than DMSO addition in improving the electrical conductivity with a trivial change in the Seebeck coefficient. The power factor is increased up to 30.1 μW mK−2 for the film with DMSO post-treatment, while the optimized power factor by DMSO addition is 18.2 μW mK−2. It is shown that both DMSO addition and post-treatment induce morphological changes: an interconnected network of elongated PEDOT grains is generated, leading to higher electrical conductivity. In contrast, for those films post-treated in the presence of EMIMBF4, an interconnected network of short and circular PEDOT grains with increased polaron density is created, resulting in the improvement in the Seebeck coefficient and a concomitant compromise in the electrical conductivity. An optimized power factor of 38.46 μW mK−2 is achieved at 50 vol% of EMIMBF4, which is the highest reported so far for PEDOT:PSS thin films to our knowledge. Assuming a thermal conductivity of 0.17 W mK−1, the corresponding ZT is 0.068 at 300 K. These results demonstrate that post-treatment is a promising approach to enhance the TE properties of PEDOT:PSS thin films. Furthermore, ionic liquid, EMIMBF4, shows the potential for tuning the TE properties of PEDOT:PSS thin films via a more environmentally benign process.

Copper Oxide Films Grown by Atomic Layer Deposition from Bis(tri-n-butylphosphane)copper(I)acetylacetonate on Ta, TaN, Ru, and SiO2

The thermal atomic layer deposition (ALD) of copper oxide films from the nonfluorinated yet liquid precursor bis(tri-n-butylphosphane)copper(I)acetylacetonate, [( n Bu 3 P) 2 Cu(acac)], and wet O 2 on Ta, TaN, Ru, and SiO 2 substrates at temperatures of < 160°C is reported. Typical temperature-independent growth was observed at least up to 125°C with a growth-per-cycle of ∼0. A for the metallic substrates and an ALD window extending down to 100°C for Ru. On SiO 2 and TaN, the ALD window was observed between 110 and 125°C, with saturated growth shown on TaN still at 135°C. Precursor self-decomposition in a chemical vapor deposition mode led to bimodal growth on Ta, resulting in the parallel formation of continuous films and isolated clusters. This effect was not observed on TaN up to ∼130°C and neither on Ru or SiO 2 for any processing temperature. The degree of nitridation of the tantalum nitride underlayers considerably influenced the film growth. With excellent adhesion of the ALD films on all substrates studied, the results are a promising basis for Cu seed layer ALD applicable to electrochemical Cu metallization in interconnects of ultralarge-scale integrated circuits.

Formation and characterization of coronene monolayers on HOPG(0001) and MoS2(0001) : a combined STM/STS and tight-binding study

Abstract Ordered monolayers of the highly symmetric organic molecule coronene (C 24 H 12 ) have been deposited under ultrahigh vacuum conditions onto several atomically flat surfaces, such as HOPG(0001) and MoS 2 (0001). The adsorbates have been investigated by scanning tunneling microscopy (STM) and scanning tunneling spectroscopy (STS). We were able to achieve submolecular resolution in the STM images, also while doing STS experiments. Reproducible STS characteristics could also be measured. Monolayer adsorbates of coronene on graphite are found to form a commensurate ( 21 × 21 ) R10.9° superlattice, which is in agreement with LEED data from the literature. By applying a density-functional tight-binding method we have calculated the electronic structure of the coronene molecule. These calculations of the spatial distribution of the charge densities and the energetic distribution of the electronic orbitals are compared with our STS measurement data.

Metastable β‐Bi2O3 Nanoparticles with Potential for Photocatalytic Water Purification Using Visible Light Irradiation

Photocatalytic studies under visible light irradiation using nanosized β-Bi2O3 are reported. β-Bi2O3 nanoparticles are prepared starting from the well-defined bismuth oxido cluster [Bi38O45(OMc)24(DMSO)9]⋅2 DMSO⋅7 H2O (OMc=O2CC3H5) using a straightforward hydrolysis and annealing protocol. Powder X-ray diffraction studies, transmission electron microscopy, diffuse reflectance UV/Vis spectroscopy and nitrogen adsorption measurements (using the Brunauer–Emmett–Teller (BET) theory) are used for the characterization of the as-prepared β-Bi2O3. By time-dependent annealing, the crystallite size can be controlled between (17±2) nm and (45±5) nm with BET surface areas of 7 to 29 m2 g−1. The indirect band gap of the as-prepared β-Bi2O3 amounts to (2.15±0.05) eV. The decomposition rates for rhodamine B (RhB) solutions are in the range of 2.46×10−5 to 4.01×10−4 s−1 and depend on the crystallite size, amount of catalyst and concentration of RhB. Photocorrosion experiments have shown the formation of Bi2O2CO3 after several catalytic cycles. However, the catalyst can be recycled to phase-pure β-Bi2O3 nanoparticles by annealing for one hour under argon atmosphere at 380 °C. Furthermore, the photocatalytic activity of as-prepared β-Bi2O3 nanoparticles for the decomposition of phenol, 4-chlorophenol, 2,4-dichlorphenol, 4-nitrophenol, triclosan and ethinyl estradiol is demonstrated.

Modification of the optical properties of liquid crystals using near‐field scanning optical microscopy

Near‐field scanning optical microscopy (NSOM) has been utilized to study the behavior of liquid crystals at room temperature. The material, 4′‐octyl‐4‐biphenylcarbonitrile (8cb) was studied at the air–liquid interface. The NSOM probe is shown to take an active role in modifying, and subsequently reading, the liquid crystal with about 65 nm resolution. The optical modification is proven to be independent of topographic modification. Results indicate potential technological uses in data storage and displays.

Site-dependent donation/backdonation charge transfer at the CoPc/Ag(111) interface.

The organic/metal interface formed upon adsorption of cobalt(II) phthalocyanine (CoPc) molecules on a flat Ag(111) single crystal was investigated using a combination of scanning tunneling microscopy (STM) and photoemission spectroscopy (PES). A flat-lying molecular adsorption with the π conjugated phthalocyanine ligand parallel to the substrate was found to lead to an effective molecule-substrate coupling which governs a template-guided molecular growth. A voltage polarity dependence at the cobalt ion site was emphasized and correlated with the Co 2p core level spectra evolution which sustains an interface-confined reduction effect of the cobalt oxidation state. The formation of interface dipoles was observed via monitoring the changes in the work function (WF) upon deposition. The observations are discussed on the basis of a site-dependent donation/backdonation charge transfer at the molecule-substrate interface.

Mechanical properties and microstructural changes of ultrafine-grained AA6063T6 during high-cycle fatigue

Abstract Fatigue behaviour and mechanical properties of peak-aged AA6063T6 with ultra-fine grain size, produced by equal channel angular extrusion, were evaluated with special emphasis on the microstructure before and after cyclic loading. The strength significantly increased with grain size reduction and is described by an exponential power-law constitutive relationship. A remarkable enhancement of fatigue life compared to commercial AA6063T6 with coarse grains was found in the high-cycle regime after the first two extrusions. Further extrusions eliminated this improvement. It is shown that the optimum fatigue performance correlates very well with the minimum tensile ductility. Electron backscatter diffraction revealed that the material behaviour can basically be attributed to the grain boundary characteristics. Low grain boundary misorientation angles yield the best fatigue performance in the ultrafine-grained microstructure.

Chemical post-treatment and thermoelectric properties of poly(3,4-ethylenedioxylthiophene):poly(styrenesulfonate) thin films

We report on the modification of the thermoelectric properties of poly(3,4-ethylenedioxylthiophene):poly(styrenesulfonate) (PEDOT:PSS) thin films by means of a simple post treatment of the solid thin films realized by drop-coating. We show that the organic polar solvents, dimethyl sulfoxide and ethylene glycol as secondary dopants for PEDOT:PSS, only affect the film morphology for which a high electrical conductivity is observed. In contrast, ethanolamine (MEA) and ammonia solutions are reduction agents that improve the density of PEDOT chains in the reduced forms (polaron and neutral states), resulting in the trade-off between Seebeck coefficient and electrical conductivity. Furthermore, we show that the nature of amines determines the reduction degree: the nitrogen lone pair electrons in MEA are easier to be donated than those in ammonia solution and will therefore neutralize the PEDOT chains.