R. C. Lima

Toward an Understanding of Intermediate- and Short-Range Defects in ZnO Single Crystals. A Combined Experimental and Theoretical Study †

A joint use of experimental and theoretical techniques allows us to understand the key role of intermediate- and short-range defects in the structural and electronic properties of ZnO single crystals obtained by means of both conventional hydrothermal and microwave-hydrothermal synthesis methods. X-ray diffraction, Raman spectra, photoluminescence, scanning electronic and transmission electron microscopies were used to characterize the thermal properties, crystalline and optical features of the obtained nano and microwires ZnO structures. In addition, these properties were further investigated by means of two periodic models, crystalline and disordered ZnO wurtzite structure, and first principles calculations based on density functional theory at the B3LYP level. The theoretical results indicate that the key factor controlling the electronic behavior can be associated with a symmetry breaking process, creating localized electronic levels above the valence band.

Photoluminescence in disordered sm-doped PbTiO3: Experimental and theoretical approach

Sm-doped PbTiO3 powder was synthesized by the polymeric precursor method, and was heat treated at different temperatures. The x-ray diffraction, photoluminescence, and UV-visible were used as a probe for the structural order degree short-, intermediate-, and long-range orders. Sm3+ ions were used as markers of these order-disorder transformations in the PbTiO3 system. From the Rietveld refinement of the Sm-doped PbTiO3 x-ray diffraction data, structural models were obtained and analyzed by periodic ab initio quantum mechanical calculations using the CRYSTAL 98 package within the framework of density functional theory at the B3LYP level. This program can yield important information regarding the structural and electronic properties of crystalline and disordered structures. The experimental and theoretical results indicate the presence of the localized states in the band gap, due to the symmetry break, which is responsible for visible photoluminescence at room temperature in the disordered structure.

Influência do método de síntese na obtenção de pós de Na2TiSiO5

This work presents a systematic study of the synthesis and characterization of Na2TiSiO5 compounds. We studied their structural and morphologic properties using X-ray diffraction, Raman spectroscopy and scanning electron microscopy. The samples were produced through two different synthetic routes, both based on Pechini method and heat treatments at different conditions. Raman spectroscopy measurements of the polymeric resins were performed in order to verify the influence of different routes on the obtained powders. The X-ray diffraction data were used to study the thermal evolution of the crystalline phases. The crystalline structures of the samples were analyzed by Rietveld refinement. Finally, the morphology of the Na2TiSiO5 compounds was investigated by scanning electron microscopy. Such results showed that the use of different synthetic routes allowed an improvement of the quality of Na2TiSiO5 samples.