<p>  </p> <p>By means of this dissertation we bring to light that FETs (that are either Si or 2D-TMD based) when coupled with piezoelectric or ferroelectric materials can offer attractive solutions such as (i) technology scaling, (ii) non-volatile memory functionality and (iii) beyond-von-Neumann computing paradigms that address the limitations of current architectures. Our efforts encompass the domains of steep switching devices, non-volatile memories, computation-in-memory and non-Boolean computing, wherein we explore devices embedded with piezoelectric (strain-based) and ferroelectric (polarization-based) properties and propose novel circuits based on them, while focusing on understanding their device-circuit interactions and system implications.</p>

The generation and application of human stem-cell-derived functional neural circuits promises novel insights into neurodegenerative diseases. These networks are often studied using stem-cell derived random neural networks in vitro, with electrical stimulation and recording using multielectrode arrays. However, the impulse response function of networks is best obtained with spatiotemporally well-defined stimuli, which electrical stimulation does not provide. Optogenetics allows for the functional control of genetically altered cells with light stimuli at high spatiotemporal resolution. Current optogenetic investigations of neural networks are often conducted using full field illumination, potentially masking important functional information. This can be avoided using holographically shaped illumination. In this article, we present a digital holographic illumination setup with a spatial resolution of about 8 µm, which suffices for the stimulation of single neurons, and offers a temporal resolution of less than 0.6 ms. With this setup, we present preliminary single-cell stimulation recording of stem-cell derived induced human neurons in a random neural network. This will offer the opportunity for further studies on connectivity in such networks.

Title: Spectroscopic investigations of lattice dynamics in multidomain ferroelectrics Author: Elizabeth Vakkechalil John Department: Department of Condensed Matter Physics Institution: Department of Dielectrics, Institute of Physics, AVČR, Na Slovance 2, Praha 8, 182 21, Czech Republic. Supervisor: Ing. Jiří Hlinka, PhD., Department of Dielectrics, Institute of Physics, AVČR., Na Slovance 2, Praha 8, 182 21, Czech Republic. Consultants: RNDr. Stanislav Kamba CSc., Ing. Ivan Gregora CSc. Fyzikální ústav AVČR, Na Slovance 2, Praha 8, 182 21, Czech Republic. Abstract: Lead based ferroelectric perovskites exhibit attractive physical and structural properties. Ferroelectric domains are known to have a very essential impact on dielectric and piezoelectric properties of ferroelectrics. Tailoring of domain structures allows to change the macroscopic symmetry of the material and to purposely modify its average tensor properties. Ferroelastic domains play also a key role in physics of epitaxial ferroelectric films. Here we studied signature of domain structure in PbTiO3 thin film grown by metalorganic chemical vapor deposition technique on different substrates, namely LaAlO3, MgO, NdGaO3, SrTiO3 (100), SrTiO3 (110), SrTiO3 (111) doped with 0.5% Nb and LSAT. Certain aspects of domain structure can be...

Refractive index measurements of the Strontium-Barium-Niobate (SBN) crystals show that none of the known second-harmonic-generation scheme (SHG) can be hold responsible for the SHG in SBN. Based on observations of the SHG experiments carried out with several compositions of the crystals in different setup-geometries a new model of second harmonic generaion was developed. The new SHG model, domain-induced second-harmonic generation (DISHG), which considers that the needle-like domain structure of this material plays an active role in the quasi phase matching of the produced second harmonic light has been experimentally proved using two different experiments. The new SHG process in the SBN crystals is a potential light source of cylindrically polarized light. The easy way of obtaining cylindrically polarized light with the SBN crystal broadens the potential applications for this material. The (DISHG) allows to investigate several properties of the ferroelectric domains. Using SHG measurements it was possible to analyze the development of the domain densities for domains of different sizes during the poling of the crystal. SHG measurements allow us to determine the minimum length of the ferroelectric domains. It was shown that this does not depend on the [Sr]/[Ba] ratio and domains are not getting longer after the sample was poled, except for the case of doped SBN. The ferroelectric-paraelectric phase transition has also been investigated. From the inflection point of the nonlinear susceptibility as function of the temperature the phase transition temperature was determined. The non fully-linear dependence of the phase transition temperature as function of the [Sr]/[Ba] ratio can be explained by a system of three different sublattices at the crystallographic positions of Strontium and Barium atoms.

Several SBN-x crystals of different composition have been investigated using the following methods: Optical absorption in the band gap spectral region, optical absorption of the OH-stretch-mode in the near infrared, Raman scattering, pyroelectric and dielectric measurements.The band edge position depends on the crystal composition in a non-linear manner, thus showing band bowing, typical for mixed systems. A new method has been developed to increase the hydrogen content in the bulk. This doping depends on the composition in an almost linear manner. The observed OH stretch mode spectra have been deconvoluted into three sub bands which can be attributed to different sites in the lattice. The composition dependent spectra have been modelled with a few parameters, using different line shapes and both linear and quadratic dependences of the band position.Raman spectra of several crystals of different composition were recorded for four different scattering configurations. Changes for wave numbers below 500 have been found, but could not attributed to particular modes. A prominent feature at about 600 wave numbers was not disturbed by other modes allowing a decomposition and an assigned of this mode to a certain vibration. It was found that the behaviour of this mode is governed by the [Sr]/[Ba] ratio in the pentagonal channel of SBN-x.The ferroelectric relaxor phase-transition of SBN-x has been studied with pyroelectric measurements. From the nonlinear susceptibility as a function of temperature the phase-transition temperature was deduced using the inflection point. The non fully-linear dependence of the phase-transition temperature as a function of the [Sr]/[Ba] ratio can be explained by a system of three different sublattices for the Strontium and Barium atoms.First results obtained with a setup for measuring the dielectric constant confirmed already reported data of other groups.

Les matériaux caloriques à l'état solide, qui subissent un changement de température adiabatique ou un changement d'entropie isothermal lorsque certains stimuli externes (champ électrique, champ magnétique, contrainte ou pression mécanique) est appliquée ou retirée, sont prometteurs pour la réfrigération à l'état solide, comme alternative aux dispositifs de refroidissement conventionnels inventé il y a cent ans qui utilisent des gaz dangereux. Compte tenu des améliorations des systèmes de réfrigération à compression de vapeur approchant très vite de leur limite d'efficacité théorique, en plus des préoccupations environnementales accrues, il y a eu récemment une recrudescence de la recherche mondiale pour de nouvelles solutions de réfrigération plus économiques et respectueuses de l'environnement. Les caloriques les plus importants sont les matériaux "ferroiquement" ordonnés (ferroélectriques, ferroélastiques et ferromagnétique / antiferromagnétique) qui présentent souvent des effets caloriques géants près de leurs transitions ferroïques. Dans cette thèse, nous présentons nos résultats théoriques et expérimentaux sur l'effet électrocalorique, élastocalorique, barocalorique et magnétocalorique dans différents matériaux ferroïques. Nos résultats montrent que tous ces effets caloriques peuvent donner des solutions de réfrigération prometteuses avec un faible impact environnemental. Nous abordons les ferroélectriques qui apparaissent comme matériaux idéaux permettant à la fois des réponses électrocaloriques, élastocaloriques et barocaloriques géantes près de la température ambiante. Pour la première fois, nous mettons en évidence un effet électrocalorique négatif dans des films minces antiferroélectriques et nous proposons un nouveau mécanisme pour comprendre la réponse calorique dans antiferroiques en général incluant antiferroélectrique et antiferromagentique. Par ailleurs, pour la première fois en utilisant une caméra infra-rouge, nous effectuons la mesure résolue spatialement sur l'effet électrocalorique dans des condensateurs multicouches, l'un des systèmes les plus étudiés considérés comme le prototype électrocalorique le plus prometteur. Nos résultats fournissent la première preuve expérimentale directe sur le flux de chaleur électrocalorique à la fois temporellement et spatialement dans un dispositif électrocalorique spécifique. En outre, pour la première fois, nous concevons un cycle de réfrigération multicalorique combinant effet électrocalorique avec des effets élastocaloriques / magnétocaloriques via des matériaux ferroélectriques. Nous avons réalisé ce cycle mutlicalorique pour résoudre un problème réel et de longue date, à savoir une grande hystérésis magnétique qui a empêché l'utilisation pourtant prometteuse de FeRh découvert il y a près de 26 ans en tant que matériau magnétocalorique. Nous espérons que cette thèse fournira non seulement des connaissances utiles pour comprendre fondamentalement l'effet calorique à l'état solide dans les matériaux ferroïques et ce qui est véritablement mesuré, mais pourra aussi servir de guide pratique pour exploiter et développer les ferrocalorics vers la conception de dispositifs appropriés. / Solid-state caloric materials, which undergo an adiabatic temperature change or isothermal entropy change when some external stimulus (electric field, magnetic field, stress and pressure) is applied or withdrawn, are promising for solid-state refrigeration, as an alternative to hazardous gases used in conventional cooling devices invented a hundred years ago. Given that the highly refined vapor-compression refrigeration systems asymptotically approach their theoretical efficiency limit in addition to the concern on environment, there has been a recent upsurge in worldwide search for new refrigeration solution which is economical and environmentally friendly. The most prominent calorics are ferroically ordered materials (ferroelectric, ferroelastic and ferromagnetic/antiferromagentic) that often exhibit giant caloric effects near their ferroic transitions. In this thesis, we present our theoretical and experimental results on electrocaloric effect, elastocaloric effect, barocaloric effect and magnetocaloric effect in different ferroic materials. Our findings show that all these caloric effects may appear promising with low environmental impact. We address ferroelectrics emerging as ideal materials which permit both giant elastocaloric, electrocaloric and barocaloric responses near room temperature. For the first time, we find a large negative electrocaloric effect in antiferroelectric thin films and we propose a new mechanism to understand the caloric response in antiferroics including antiferroelectric and antiferromagentic. In addition, for the first time using Infra-red camera we carry out spatially-resolved measurement on electrocaloric effect in multilayer capacitors, one of the most studied systems which are regarded as the most promising electrocaloric prototype. Our findings provide the first direct experimental evidence on the electrocaloric heat flux both temporally and spatially in a specific electrocaloric device. Moreover, for the first time, we design a multicaloric refrigeration cycle combining electrocaloric effect with elastocaloric/magentocaloric effects bridged by ferroelectric materials. We realized such mutlicaloric cycle to solve a real and longstanding problem, i.e., a large hysteresis that impeded reversibility in an otherwise promising magnetocaloric material FeRh discovered almost 26 years ago. We hope that this thesis will not only provide a useful background to fundamentally understand the solid-state caloric effect in ferroics and what we are really measuring, but also may act as a practical guide to exploit and develop ferrocalorics towards design of suitable devices.

To overcome the fundamental limit of the transistor subthreshold swing of 60 mV/dec at room temperature, the use of negative capacitance (NC) in ferroelectric materials was proposed [1]. Due to the recent discovery of ferroelectricity in CMOS compatible HfO₂ and ZrO₂ based thin films [2], [3], the promise of ultra-low power steep-slope devices seems within reach. However, concerns have been raised about switching-speed limitations and unavoidable hysteresis in NC devices [4], [5]. Nevertheless, it was shown that NC effects without hysteresis can be observed in fast pulsed voltage measurements on ferroelectric/dielectric capacitors [6], which was recently confirmed using ferroelectric Hf₀.₅ Zr₀.₅ O₂[7], [8]. While in these works only the integrated charge after each pulse was studied, here we investigate for the first time if the transient voltage and charge characteristics are also hysteresis-free.

We report on the retention properties of double-layer hafnium zirconium oxide (Hf₀.₅Zr₀.₅O₂; HZO) based ferroelectric tunnel junctions (FTJ). Utilizing HZO as the ferroelectric layer and aluminum oxide (Al₂ O₃) as the tunneling barrier a scalable FTJ memory operation with good endurance and an on/off ratio of about 10 was achieved. Due to inherent depolarization fields from the double layer structure, the device suffers from strong retention loss over time. An extrapolation to 10 years at room temperature shows vanishing differences between the on and off state currents. We propose a way to avert this retention loss by using a constant bias that can be built-in by a work function difference from the metal electrode. This leads to more stable on-current retention and only small off-current increase, giving rise to an improved retention behavior of the FTJ.

The aim of the work was a processing of ceramic material based on BST for ferroelectric application. Wet chemical techniques based on precipitations and sol-gel methods with ultrasound, hydrothermal or mechanochemical treatment supporting deaglomeration and reducing particle growth were used for BST ceramic powder synthesis. Suitable powders were selected by the evaluation of particle morphology, size and agglomeration, from these powders BST bulk ceramic with defined phase composition and morphology applicable for ferroelectric applications was prepared. It was found, that the most suitable method for preparation of phase pure and nanosized BST powder was sol-gel synthesis with solvothermal treatment (200 °C/48 h). Ceramic with relative density of 85 % TD and with the average grain size of about 1, 22 µm was prepared by pressing and sintering of the powder synthesized by the sol-gel method.

No description available.