Shih-Chang Weng

Local environment surrounding S and Cd in CdS:O thin film photovoltaic materials probed by x-ray absorption fine structures

Local environments surrounding Cd and S in CdS:O thin films have been determined using extended x-ray absorption fine structure (EXAFS) and near-edge x-ray absorption fine structure (NEXAFS). As indicated by the Cd EXAFS, Cd atoms remain predominantly bonded with S. The S EXAFS and NEXAFS clearly demonstrate the presence of S–O bonds. The oxygen atoms actually combine with S to form SO3 and SO4 complexes. Combined with the transmission electron micrograph, these x-ray results suggest formation of oxygen-free CdS nanocrystals and provide an unambiguous explanation for the mystery of increased band gap that appears to violate the band anticrossing model.

Local structures surrounding Zr in nanostructurally stabilized cubic zirconia: Structural origin of phase stability

Local environment surrounding Zr atoms in the thin films of nanocrystalline zirconia (ZrO2) has been investigated by using the extended x-ray absorption fine structure (EXAFS) technique. These films prepared by the ion beam assisted deposition exhibit long-range structural order of cubic phase and high hardness at room temperature without chemical stabilizers. The local structure around Zr probed by EXAFS indicates a cubic Zr sublattice with O atoms located on the nearest tetragonal sites with respect to the Zr central atoms, as well as highly disordered locations. Similar Zr local structure was also found in a ZrO2 nanocrystal sample prepared by a sol-gel method. Variations in local structures due to thermal annealing were observed and analyzed. Most importantly, our x-ray results provide direct experimental evidence for the existence of oxygen vacancies arising from local disorder and distortion of the oxygen sublattice in nanocrystalline ZrO2. These oxygen vacancies are regarded as the essential stabil...

Diffraction-Enhanced Beam-Focusing for X-rays in Curved Multi-Plate Crystal Cavity

Unusual x-ray focusing effect is reported for parabolic curved multi-plate x-ray crystal cavities of silicon consisting of compound refractive lenses (CRL). The transmitted beam of the (12 4 0) back reflection near 14.4388 keV from these monolithic silicon crystal devices exhibits extraordinary focusing enhancement, such that the focal length is reduced by as much as 18% for 2-beam and 56% for 24-beam diffraction from the curved crystal cavity. This effect is attributed to the presence of the involved Bragg diffractions, in which the wavevector of the transmitted beam is bent further when traversing several curved crystal surfaces.

Focusing X-Rays with Curved Multiplate Crystal Cavity

An overview is given of the study on X-ray focusing using the Fabry-Perot type multi-plate silicon crystal cavities consisting of compound refractive lenses. Silicon (12 4 0) is used as the back reflection for cavity resonance at the photon energy of 14.4388 keV. Measurements of focal length of the transmitted beam through the crystal cavities show enhanced focusing effect due to the presence of back diffraction. Also, an incident beam with ultrahigh energy resolution can improve the focusing owing to the wider acceptance angle of the back diffraction. Considerations based on the excitation of dispersion surface within the framework of X-ray dynamical diffraction theory are also presented to reveal the origin of this enhanced focusing.